Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Think Tank Photo Airport Addicted V 2.0 Review

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The Think Tank Photo Airport Addicted V 2.0 is a professional quality camera bag that’s designed for serious travelers.  The Airport Addicted V 2.0 is big.  The size is intended to allow you to carry the maximum amount of gear possible on a plane as a legal carry-on.

The Airport Addicted V 2.0 has backpack straps that hide away behind velcro panels when not in use. Additionally, it has handles on the top and side to allow you to tote it with one hand for short distances.  It’s made of tough material that looks nice and professional too.  What I really like about the looks though is that it does not look like a camera bag.  It really looks like a typical black carry-on bag that will blend right in with all the other travelers out there.  Very unassuming. [Read more…]

 

Laptops for Photographers of All Sorts

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You’re in the market for a new laptop to supplement your photographic tendencies. Depending on your job, you may have different needs and wants to suit your demands. I used the PCMag Network for some pointers and tips in addition to my own hands-on experiences, here are some of the best for you depending on what your needs may be.

macbook

Macbook

The smallest of the bunch, it well suits and compliments the needs of a photojournalist in need of a light laptop to accompany his/her light DSLR. The screen is very nice and can help you edit your photos to get the very best usage of your colors during the editing process. At around 13″, it perfectly compliments my Olympus E-510 and will be a welcome companion to your Canon T1i or Nikon D90. With two USB 2.0 ports, mini-DVI and Firewire 400 it will surely keep up with the needs of everyday shooting, writing and editing while allowing you to travel light. It fits perfectly into a messenger bag. Your hard drive space may go quicker than you like though, so keep an external with you too. These days, the Macbook starts at $999. [Read more…]

Kodak EasyShare Z980 Review at PhotographyBLOG

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PhotographyBLOG has posted a review of the Kodak EasyShare Z980.

Image quality is at the heart of any camera, but unfortunately it’s also at the top of the Z980’s list of problems. Noise is evident even at the slowest ISO speed of 64, and it will become apparent even in prints at ISO 400 and faster, limiting the Z980 to hand-held use in good lighting conditions only.

Crumpler 8 Million Dollar Home Review

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Cool, Tough, Trendy are the three words I first used when describing this bag to photographer friend of mine looking for a new bag to take with him on trips that he could also utilize for other purposes, and this bag fills that requirement perfectly.

The Crumpler 8 Million Dollar Home is plenty big for a large kit, but also small enough and disguised enough to carry around without shouting to the world that you are a photographer. The bag has a small handle on its top and a large and comfortable shoulder strap that is big enough to be worn across the chest for extra comfort and security. The stitching throughout the bag is sturdy and it appears it could hold quite a load of equipment without worry. [Read more…]

Gorillapod SLR-Zoom Review

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The Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom is one of the more recent additions to the popular Gorillapod line.  The previous Gorillapod SLR offered the ability to mount your DSLR and small lightweight lens onto it with a maximum capacity of 1.75 pounds.  The new Gorillapod SLR-Zoom allows you to drop a big lens on the camera (like the 70-200mm f/2.8 above) for a maximum capacity of 6.6 pounds. [Read more…]

Zacuto Gunstock Mount for DSLR Video

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Introducing the DSLR Gunstock Shooters from Steve Weiss, Zacuto USA on Vimeo.

Shortly after the Canon 5D Mark II and Nikon D90 cameras were announced last Summer, Zacuto brought us some really cool video accessories to turn these hybrid-DSLRs into pro-capable video cameras.

Well, Zacuto just made things a lot better with their new gunstock rigs for DSLRs.

The key here is not to encage with metal, keeping it light at 6.5 lbs. including camera & follow focus make it the only true portable capable of shallow DOF.

Steve Weiss, product designer, Zacuto USA

They also became much more reasonable in price, going from the $5k range down to the $2k range.

More details on Zacuto’s site.

Ricoh CX1 Firmware Update – Version 1.16

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Ricoh has released a firmware update for the CX1 digital camera.  The update addresses the following issues:

1. Modified the following phenomena.
• If you take pictures with the M-Cont. Plus, a MP file may be recorded with missing a partial frame(s).
• In the Focus-Bracketing, a self-timer feature may not work properly.

2. Corrected a part of the information on a file in the MPO / JPEG format to comply with the Multi-Picture Format.

Download Firmware Ver. 1.16 Update Here

More news and reviews available on Photography Bay’s Ricoh CX1 Reviews and Resources.

Ricoh CX1 Review at Digicam Review

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Digicam Review has posted a review of the Ricoh CX1.

Image quality is generally very good – with good colour, saturation and contrast. Noise is noticable but photos come out quite smooth with few hot pixels, compared to the competition, and detail is generally good (until ISO800 and above).

For more news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Ricoh CX1 Reviews and Resources.

Reader Question: Wide Angle Digital Cameras?

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Here’s a reader question that asks for recommendations for wide angle digital cameras suitable for real estate appraisers.  Do you have some advice to offer this experienced real estate appraiser to help him get better images?

I’ve been a real estate appraiser for twenty years. Finding a true wide angle camera with a decent zoom capability, is very difficult. Most appraisers and real estate agents need a well made camera that will shoot interiors and exteriors and produce a quality photo.

Optical view finders have been replaced by LCD screens that are impossible to see in the bright sun light.  I’ve tried the dual lens camera and the latest wide angle camera are not as wide as needed. I have a number of cameras but the one I use more than others, is a Kodak DC5000 with a 28mm lens.

There must be a good market for a wide angle camera of this type. I would like to hear from some folks with a similar problem and some good ideas that will resolve this dilemma. Helpful ideas?

I’m going to start off with a recommendation to visit the Photography for Real Estate Blog and browse around for useful tips and techniques.

Now, the spotlight is on Photography Bay readers.  I’ll let you guys handle the camera recommendations. What are architecture and real estate shooters using out there?  Based on his question and current gear, let’s think about mostly point and shoot solutions and perhaps some useful suggestions on low-end DSLRs.

Fire away with your advice, recommendations and thoughts in the comments below.