Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
New York Times has posted a review of the Sony A300 with plenty of praise for Sony’s breakthrough Live View feature.
The camera focuses quickly as you aim the lens, without ever blacking out the screen. When you press the shutter, the screen doesn’t go on-off-on, there’s no loud clacking, and there’s no baffling exhibition of mirror calisthenics inside the camera.
For the latest news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Sony A300 page.
Olympus has surprised us this morning with the announce of the new E-420 four-thirds DSLR. The E-420 is a 10 megapixel DSLR and is a follow-up to the popular E-410.
Alongside the E-420, Olympus also announced the ZUIKO DIGITAL 25mm f/2.8 pancake lens, which is also available in a kit with the new E-420. For more details, read the press release below.
The world’s smallest digital SLR does not disappoint. The Olympus E-420 packs professional features and performance into a remarkably small, lightweight and comfortable camera body. It’s obvious that Olympus’s designers thought this one through.
There’s very little to criticise in the overall specification and performance of the E-420. I like it’s size – it’s ideal for travelling and is reminiscent of my old OM4 in some aspects of its handling.
Despite its small dimensions the camera is surprisingly well specified; even more so when considering its price point. You won’t find live view and the E-420’s level of customization on other manufacturers’ entry level offerings (at least not if they’re in the same price bracket). In fact, the E-420’s spec sheet looks more like something we’d expect from a mid-range SLR.
If you want to move into the world of Digital SLRs and don’t know where to start then the Olympus EVOLT E-420 is probably one of the best cameras to choose – despite being Olympus’ “budget” digital SLR – it is not overly limited in any way like some of the other budget Digital SLRs.
So while existing owners don’t have quite a compelling enough reason to upgrade, those buying into the Olympus Four Thirds system now will get a reliable performer at a bargain price. Beginners will also relish the ease of use and the lack of bulk and weight normally associated with a DSLR.
In all, the E-420 aims big, striving for a digital SLR with mainstream accessibility and the utmost in portability, and to a large extent, it succeeds.
The extremely compact FourThirds DSLR had some help from its predecessors, however, the improvements carried out in particular to the image sensor, leave behind a positive feeling. FourThirds has proven itself in practice and it is a true joy to shoot with the Olympus E-420.
Indeed while being perfectly suitable as a primary DSLR, the E-420 and pancake lens will equally appeal to those with larger DSLRs looking for a secondary, smaller option – even if they use a different brand. These people may have been considering enthusiasts compacts like the Canon G9 or Sigma DP1, but by going only a little larger they could enjoy a fully-fledged DSLR with the power and flexibility that brings.
The Olympus EVOLT E-420 is a good choice if you are thinking of upgrading from your point-and-shoot digicam. It is compact and light and comes closest to working like a P&S: its Live View pretty much works like on your P&S digicam; and, it has AUTO mode, plus easy-to-use Scene Modes, that make it point-and-shoot easy to capture great photos.
Make no mistake about it, the E-420 didn’t cut out features or performance on its way to being small. Typical DSLR manual controls and a full suite of automatic modes, a better-than-average continuous shooting rate, live view (if you insist), a generous monitor, on-par ISO performance, and good image and color quality all combine to make this a nice little camera for folks moving into the DSLR field or more seasoned users who want or need good performance in a compact body.
If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices.
Hamburg, 5 March 2008 – The latest addition to the Olympus E-System, the E-420, represents a winning formula for both seasoned photographers and entrants to the D-SLR domain alike. Users benefit from the remarkable quality only D-SLR photography can deliver, yet also enjoy the ease of use usually only associated with a compact camera. This includes Live View depictions on the LCD, which can significantly simplify image composition. In addition, as one of the world’s smallest and lightest D-SLRs, mobility is hardly an issue. The E-420 will fit just about anywhere – from a small daypack to a lady’s handbag. This makes it a perfect companion for journalists, travellers or other adventurers who appreciate the one-of-a-kind portability, performance and value for money it delivers. The easy-to-use 10.0 Megapixel E-420 features 28 shooting modes to suit a multitude of photographic situations and is ready to use straight out of the box. It will be available in stores from late April 2008.
More performance, more ease of use
With the E-420, Olympus proves that high performance D-SLR photography can be enjoyed by everyone. Despite packing even more potential than its predecessor, this new E-System model boasts extreme user-friendliness in an amazingly light and compact take-anywhere form. Whatever the photographer’s level of experience, high-quality images are quite literally for the taking. 28 shooting modes, including automatic, semi-automatic and manual shooting options, ensure complete versatility – while retaining both ease of use and the distinct D-SLR quality advantages.
A powerful 10.0 Megapixel Live MOS sensor provides plentiful resolution for crisp, detailed shots. This is supported by the incorporation of the TruePic III image processor which enables the implementation of Shadow Adjustment Technology (SAT). It guarantees exceptionally true-to-life image reproduction while reducing noise and enhancing processing speed. Sequential shooting at up to 3.5fps in full Megapixel mode is possible with up to eight images in RAW buffer.
For state-of-the-art protection against the threat of dust, Olympus’ own Supersonic Wave Filter is the E-System’s native dust reduction system – and has positioned itself as the world’s leading solution against dust on the image sensor.
Purely intuitive
The E-420 brings even the most advanced features into a natural framework that enables virtually anyone to achieve high-level photography. With continuous Live View, users can frame compositions on the camera’s generous 2.7″/6.9cm HyperCrystal II LCD, which provides 100% coverage of scenes with the on-screen contrast, brightness and colour of depictions all being easily adjustable. Thanks to Perfect Shot Preview, the effects of exposure compensation and white balance can also be monitored in real-time directly on the LCD. Furthermore, professional depth of field previewing is possible and users can see the effects of Face Detection and Shadow Adjustment Technology in action. In addition, the LCD enables the magnification of subjects by a factor of 7 or 10 while framing. This makes manual focusing during macro shooting, for example, considerably easier and more accurate.
Autofocus performance has also been enhanced to boost user friendliness. On top of the phase detection AF system, the E-420 now also features a contrast AF system*. It allows subjects to be focused upon more conveniently as the mirror does not need to move to the down position for measurements to be taken. And as a major additional benefit for photographers, implementation of the contrast AF system lets the effect of autofocus be seen on the Live View LCD immediately.
A built-in flash adds to this model’s flexibility. More shooting versatility is also provided due to the option of wireless flash control in up to three groups. Using the Olympus FL-36R and FL-50R flash units, multiple flash set-ups which can be controlled remotely – significantly extend lighting options. And thanks to the availability of sensitivities ranging from ISO 100 to 1600, the E-420 remains a versatile companion, even in less-than-perfect lighting conditions and in situations when a flash is not desired.
With 38 languages available, the E-420 enables ease-of-use no matter the user’s native tongue. A USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed) interface guarantees fast data transfer, and with its long-life rechargeable battery, shooting sessions can easily go into overtime.
Part of the E-System family
The E-420 is compatible with virtually all Olympus E-System accessories. Adhering to the Four Thirds Standard, these various accessories open the door to an amazing range of photographic options – without compromising quality. All Four Thirds lenses, for example, feature near-telecentric construction ensuring edge-to-edge sharpness. Furthermore, the Four Thirds System enables the design of smaller camera bodies and lenses to allow for much more compact photographic set-ups. This advantage is perfectly embodied in the go-anywhere E-420, one of the world’s smallest and lightest D-SLRs. And to accentuate this fact further, a new so-called pancake lens is also being introduced. Featuring an extremely short-barrelled, lightweight design, the ZUIKO DIGITAL 25mm 1:2.8 (equivalent to 50mm on a 35mm camera) represents the perfect accompaniment for the E-420. With its overall compactness, the set-up is reminiscent of the legendary improvement to mobility that the famous Olympus OM series provided.
Adding to this model’s cool elegance, an attractive, retro-styled camera case that attaches to the base of the camera is also being introduced. Made entirely of leather, it will be available in a choice of white, brown or black.
The newest addition to the E-System family, the E-420 will hit stores from late April 2008.
The Olympus E-420 digital SLR – main features:
The Olympus E-420 is available in the following configurations:
*Full contrast AF performance is available with new Olympus lenses including the ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6, the ZUIKO DIGITAL 40-150mm 1:4.0-5.6, and the new ZUIKO DIGITAL 25mm 1:2.8 “pancake” lens. A free firmware update can be downloaded from the Olympus homepage to enable this feature for lenses that were purchased previously.
Photo Review Australia has posted a full review of the Sony A350.
Low-light performance was very good, with accurate colours in long exposures (up to 30 seconds) and no apparent noise in exposures up to ISO 800. Colour noise became evident at ISO 3200 but at a relatively low level, although some shadow detail was lost with this setting. Neither of the noise reduction processing settings produced visible image softening but they did provide an obvious reduction in both colour and pattern noise.
For the latest news and reviews of the A350, check out Photography Bay’s Sony A350 page.
Creative Pro has posted a review of the Canon 40D.
Fortunately, a breakthrough allowed Canon to use a larger area on the sensor for each photosite, and the 40D employs the company’s excellent DIGIC III image processor, which does a much better job of handling noise. The practical upshot is that the 40D does achieve higher resolution without a noise penalty.
Get the latest news and reviews on Photography Bay’s Canon 40D page.
Digital Camera Review has posted a review of the Nikon D3.
Unparalleled ISO performance, a 9 fps full resolution shooting rate, exceptional color and image quality, a superb monitor, robust construction, outstanding build quality and a full frame sensor offering wide angle and depth of field lens performance like a 35mm film camera are some of the attributes that makes Nikon’s latest pro model a must-have for serious Nikon shooters.
Get the latest news and reviews on Photography Bay’s Nikon D3 page.
Trusted Reviews has posted a full review of the Nikon D60.
Pictures from the D60 impress, with a lovely smooth tonality and crisp punchy colours. Contrast is generally good, while the Active D-Lighting quickly takes care of those that need a little help to achieve their best. Exposures are generally good, though occasionally the camera underexposes by a quarter to half a stop, especially if there’s a lot of brightness in the image such as a bright sky.
Get the latest news and reviews on Photography Bay’s Nikon D60 page.
The Sony DSC-W130 is a 8.1-megapixel compact point and shoot digicam with a 4x optical zoom and 2.5 inch LCD screen. The Sony W120 features a number of powerful features, including: Sony’s D-Range Optimizer to retrieve picture detail in photos with harsh highlights or dark shadows; semi-manual focus that allows you to select the focusing distance based on your subject’s location; an improved auto focus system that includes macro ranges; Super SteadyShot image stabilization; high sensitivity settings up to ISO 3200; and in-camera editing functions such as “unsharp mask” to sharpen images.
The Sony Cybershot W130 is very “point and shoot” friendly – the camera produces great results in almost every situation – and provides features designed specifically for taking photos of friends and family with face detection and smile shutter technology.
It is incredibly easy to use with several automatic shooting modes to assist you in difficult situations (not to mention a very handy Smile Shutter mode). The quality of our images was very good, as was the video.
It has a great selection of useful preset modes and creative shooting tools, and most impressive, it combines its Face Detection technology with a smile detector for an extremely useful Smile Shutter mode, giving you in-focus images of wiggly kids or small groups of people, without resorting to a continuous shooting mode.
The W130’s quick performance and decent image quality make it a solid follow-up to the W90, and a good choice for a pocket point-and-shoot camera.
If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices.
The Sony W120 is a 7.2-megapixel compact point and shoot digicam with a 4x optical zoom and 2.5 inch LCD screen. The Sony W120 features a number of powerful features, including: Sony’s D-Range Optimizer to retrieve picture detail in photos with harsh highlights or dark shadows; semi-manual focus that allows you to select the focusing distance based on your subject’s location; an improved auto focus system that includes macro ranges; Super SteadyShot image stabilization; high sensitivity settings up to ISO 3200.
Reviews
Combines design, sturdiness, layout of controls, comfort in use.
The W120, like almost all other “W” models, is a stylish and durable digicam that can be tucked almost anywhere. It offers some appealing features for an ultra-compact, like 7- megapixels of resolution, a versatile Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 4x optical zoom lens, 9 area AF system, 2.5-inch LCD monitor, zoom-coupled optical viewfinder (something you almost never see anymore) as well as an exposure mode for just about everyone in your household or office.
Where to Buy
First off, consider going to your local camera store (and I don’t necessarily mean Wolf Camera at the mall). By going to your local camera store, you’re supporting your community and you just might build a lasting relationship with people you can rely on when you need some help or answers. If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices.
The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens is an easy-to-use standard zoom lens that can cover a large zoom area ranging from 24mm wide-angle to 105mm portrait-length telephoto, and its Image Stabilizer Technology steadies camera shake up to three stops. Constructed with one Super-UD glass element and three aspherical lenses, this lens minimizes chromatic aberration and distortion. The result is excellent picture quality, even at wide apertures. Canon’s ring-type USM gives silent but quick AF, along with full-time manual focus. Moreover, with dust- and moisture-resistant construction, this is a durable yet sophisticated lens that meets the demands of advanced amateur photographers and professional photographers alike. (Canon) [Read more…]
Sony has packed a mind-boggling 13.6 megapixels into a tiny CCD image sensor in its new DSC-W300, which features a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom, up to ISO 6400 and a 5 frames per second burst mode. [Read more…]