Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
jill-e designs will be at CES 2011 showing off their new, stylish camera bags for girls and guys. The Messenger-Style Carryall Bag (above) accommodates a DSLR and accessories and can be customized by swapping out the designer covers for the bag. Other stylish bags for the guys include the new jack Rolling Satchel and jack Small Messenger Bag, which you can see below. [Read more…]
Amazon is serving up several year-end deals on a number of products – including cameras and photography gear.
Lots more deals can be found on Amazon’s dedicated page for year-end camera deals.
The Think Tank Photo Digital Holster series is designed to handle one DSLR with a lens attached. This makes for a lightweight setup when heading out for a casual day of activities and photography is not your primary objective. It’s also ideal for those who are never without their DSLR. I’ve been using the Digital Holster 10 V2.0 for a couple of months and have been pretty impressed with it so far. [Read more…]
It’s time for our weekly break from the gear for a few minutes so we can enjoy another round of reader photos from the Photography Bay Flickr Group.
Check out the rest of the photos below. [Read more…]
Here’s a sleigh full of cool Christmas 2010 photos to enjoy on your Christmas Day.
See all of the photos below, and click on any photo to go to the photographer’s Flickr page for larger versions of these images and more info about the photographer. [Read more…]
Understanding Exposure is a book by Bryan Peterson that teaches the basic elements of exposure and is now in its 3rd edition. As was the case the prior two editions, the 3rd edition of Understanding Exposure provides the novice photographer with easy-to-read chapters and great information overall.
Peterson really breaks down the nuts and bolts of what goes into making a well-exposed image at the beginning of the book. Then he delves a little deeper into the creative aspects of aperture and shutter speed – and how you can use these settings to make a “creatively correct” exposure. [Read more…]
Below you will find this week’s firmware updates. Hit the manufacturer website links for more details and download instructions for the firmware.
Nikon D7000 version 1.01 – “Bright spots were sometimes noticeable with live view mode or movie recording of especially dark scenes or subjects. Occurrence of this issue has been reduced.” [Nikon Website]
Fuji FinePix REAL 3D W3 version 1.10 – “In [HD][1280] movie recording mode, Economy mode [HD][1280]E) can be selected. In this Economy mode, movie quality for long period is optimized. For long continuous recording of 3D HD movies, Economy mode setting is recommended.” [Fuji Website]
Leica S2 version 1.0.0.24 – “The FW 1.0.0.24 firmware update enables a multitude of enhanced camera functions.” [Leica Website – login required]
In the early morning hours of December 21, 2010, there was a total lunar eclipse (in North America). It was the first time in 372 years that a total lunar eclipse fell on the winter solstice.
As you may have guessed, there were some keen photographers out to capture some stunning images of the moon in its amber glow. See the rest of the photos below, and click on any photo to go to the photographer’s Flickr page for larger versions of these images and more info about the photographer. [Read more…]
There are several great deals on cameras and photo gear right now. Below, you will find a quick recap of these deals, some of which end in the next few days.
Also, if you are doing some last minute Christmas shopping, both Amazon and B&H have free one-day shipping on select products – Amazon’s one-day shipping – B&H one-day shipping.
If a recent patent application from Sony is any indicator of coming products, it looks like we could see a translucent mirror in future NEX-format cameras.
The obvious benefit of using this design in future NEX cameras is the ability to use a phase-difference autofocus mechanism (as typically found in DSLRs) instead of the slower, less accurate contrast-detection method that so-called “mirrorless” cameras have used to date.
Sony has already forged this technology in current Alpha “DSLR” models – Sony A33 and A55. The rapid live view and video autofocus in the A33 and A55 looks to be a hit among reviewers so far.
Essentially, this patent application presents the A55 in an NEX-5 body. It’s actually a design that should have been pretty easy to see coming. There’s nothing really new that’s not already in the A55 . . . Sony’s just taking out the parts that make it look like a DSLR and presenting it in a smaller package more akin to the NEX cameras we already know. And, it could very well be an Alpha mount camera in a compact shell, which would mean native functionality with Alpha lenses.
While I found the AF speed and accuracy in the Sony NEX-3 and NEX-5 to be quite acceptable, taking it up a notch or two wouldn’t hurt at all.
What do you think about this design? Would you be interested in an APS-C camera that is this compact and has DSLR-like AF speed?
[via PhotoRumors]