Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
Roland Lim has published a review of the Canon 5D Mark II.
The image quality is simply amazing with very high resolution and very good high ISO performance. As far as image quality is concerned, I think most users would be more than pleased with the 5D Mark II. However, in areas such autofocus, Canon still lacks behind the competition.
For the latest news and reviews on the 5D Mark II, be sure to stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Canon 5D Mark II Reviews and Resources.
For our bilingual readers out there (yes, I know you’re out there), Quesabesde has published a hands-on review (and comparison to the E-3) of the Olympus E-30.
¿Puede suponer la E-30 el entierro de la E-3? Para el 90% de los usuarios, sin duda. Y es que sólo quienes necesiten trabajar con la cámara en condiciones extremas -polvo y agua mediando- no caerán en la tentación de ahorrarse unos euros y decantarse por la nueva E-30.
For more news and reviews, stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Olympus E-30 Reviews and Resources.
Photo Review has posted a review of the Canon 5D Mark II.
Image noise was barely visible in test shots taken at ISO settings up to 3200, regardless of whether they were short or long exposures. Beyond that point, the visibility of noise increased steadily, although colour accuracy and sharpness were retained right up to ISO 25,600.
For the latest news and reviews on the 5D Mark II, be sure to stay tuned to Photography Bay’s Canon 5D Mark II Reviews and Resources.
Digital Rev has published a hands-on review with sample images of the Nikon D3x.
For Nikon users, they have finally got a pro DSLR body that could offer them high resolution beyond the measly 12.1 megapixels ceiling that had to live with before without having to consider going medium format.
For more news and reviews, visit Photography Bay’s Nikon D3x Reviews and Resources.
PhotographyBLOG has posted a review of the Sony A300.
The Sony A300 is certainly a fun camera to use, owing to its zippy Live View performance, tilting screen and advanced feature set. While plastic, it is well made, looking and feeling like it was built to last.
For the latest news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Sony A300 Reviews and Resources.
B&H Photo has sent out an email regarding their holiday deals on digital cameras (some are better than others). However, the big deal about this for those last minute shoppers of you is that you can get free overnight shipping on all Canon cameras and certain video cameras. Here’s the link to B&H’s Holiday Deals page.
Jeremy D. over in the forums posted a question that’s gone unanswered for a few days now. Can anyone lend him a hand?
I have a Canon Rebel XTi (400D) and would like to buy an external flash. If I purchase the Sigma EF-500 DG ST, can I manually control the flash brightness with the in-camera FEC controls?
Here’s a link to the forum thread.
Digital Photography School has posted a review of the Canon Powershot G10.
Each day I became more and more enamored with the quality and accessibility of this little camera.
For the latest news and reviews, see Photography Bay’s Canon G10 Reviews and Resources.
Remember ColorRight, the cool little white balance filter-like device that makes custom white balance a breeze? (Read the ColorRight review.)
Well, the folks at ColorRight have an updated version called ColorRight MAX. It offers the same reflective light custom white balance settings that it handled before. Now, however, you can tweak white balance for different skin tones by just clicking on the appropriate white balance reference in your RAW editor.
Frankly, ColorRight MAX does more than I need it to do. It is definitely more “pro” oriented than the original ColorRight (which is still available and, as far as I know, will remain available). However, those of you who can use this tool will immediately understand how that it can help your work flow.
Essentially, you’ll have your model hold the ColorRight MAX while you capture a reference shot that you’ll revisit in post-processing, then you go on with the rest of your shoot. When you’re in post, you pull the reference shot up and can use the dropper tool to select the appropriate white balance from the ColorRight MAX’s skin tone references.
Here’s an image and description from ColorRight:
The revolutionary skin tone selector is on the back side of COLORRIGHT MAX. This new patent pending method of providing pleasing skin tones for people of all different skin tones. The skin tone selector provides 6 one click skin patches for proper, and pleasing, skin color. As you can see in the image above, these 6 patches are arranged like pie slices in a semi-circle. Patches for people with lighter skin tones are found on the left side, while darker skin tone patches are located on the right. Medium skin tone patches are found in the center.
In addition to the 6 skin patches, the top half of the above image shows off the 2 guaranteed neutral gray references.
One of the best examples that I’ve seen for use of the ColorRight MAX was at a wedding reception, where the photographer grabbed a quick shot of someone holding the ColorRight MAX before leaving for the evening. It gave him a great reference for all the images shot under that light at the reception. (See the Jamie Roberts review link below.)
Again, I don’t see this as the perfect tool for every prosumer photographer out there, but many photographers will “get it” immediately and see the benefits in their work flow. I see wedding and portrait photographers as two broad classes of potential ColorRight MAX users. Even if you don’t use the skin tone and neutral reference patches on every shoot, the MAX still functions like the traditional ColorRight too.
You can learn more about the ColorRight MAX at the ColorRight website. Also, see Jamie Roberts’ review of the MAX, which shows off some real world examples of how he incorporated the device in his work flow.
Canon USA has released an official statement regarding the 5D Mark II and its, now infamous, black dots phenomenon, along with a banding issue for sRAW1 settings.
We have learned that some users of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II digital SLR camera have identified two types of image quality phenomena that appear under certain shooting conditions.
- “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
- Vertical banding noise
We are currently investigating and analysing the causes, and examining measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena by providing correction firmware. An announcement will be made on the Canon Web site when such measures have been determined.
Details of the phenomena and shooting conditions under which they are likely to occur are as follows.
- “Black dot” phenomenon (the right side of point light sources becomes black)
When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100% or above on a monitor or, if large prints of the images are made.- Vertical banding noise
If the recording format is set to sRAW1, vertical banding noise may become visible depending on the camera settings, subject, and background.
- Vertical banding noise is not noticeable if the recording format is set to sRAW2.
- Vertical banding noise does not occur if the recording format is set to RAW or JPEG.
Noise can be reduced if C.Fn II-3: Highlight tone priority is set to 0: Disable.
Additional information can be found on Canon USA’s website.