Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

B&H Photo: Free Shipping Upgrade on ALL Products

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Just got the following email from B&H Photo:

B&H is offering a free shipping upgrade on ALL PRODUCTS! In-Stock and shippable via UPS items purchased today will be upgraded to 2-Day Shipping- at no extra charge!

This offer is good on all items, including thousands that are already free shipping. Simply select standard Ground or 3-5 Day shipping, and it will be automatically upgraded to 2-Day shipping, guaranteed to arrive by Christmas.

Orders must be placed by 11:00PM Tonight

This promotion is a great way for our customers to shop with confidence for last second holiday gifts.

If you still want to get you little (or big) Billy that special camera, lens, MacBook or whatever for Christmas, then you’d better hurry.

B&H Photo Homepage

[tags]b&h, shipping, Christmas, presents, free[/tags]

 

Olympus E-3 Full Review at Photography Review

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Photography Review has posted a full review of the Olympus E-3:

Photographing with the Olympus E-3 is a bit like driving a sports sedan. You may not need the speed and power most of the time, but you’re sure glad it’s there when you do. Plus, you get comfort and style with your scoot. The E-3 is more than competent for everyday shooting, and its speed and burst depth handle demanding moments with ease. Then, when you’re pushing pixels, the E-3’s files help you get back to pushing shutters sooner.

Thanks for the tip John. Keep up with the latest Olympus E-3 news and reviews on this post.

[tags]olympus, e-3, review, test[/tags]

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens Reviews

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Compact and lightweight, the EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS offers the longest zoom range in the EF-S series to date. The 88-400mm equivalent focal length opens up new framing possibilities for owners of EF-S mount cameras shooting wildlife, sports and travel photography. Optical quality is assured through a UD element, which minimizes chromatic aberrations that could otherwise cause reduced contrast and color fringing.

Canon EF-S 55-250mm Reviews

PopPhoto

A natural for globe-trotting vacationers and soccer parents, this is the obvious second lens for Canon EOS 40D and Rebel XSi owners. Clearly it and the 18-55mm IS make an attractive team that promises sharp pictures in dicey light across an amply wide 13.9X zoom range. And you can’t beat that price.

The Digital Picture

The one great feature the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens has beyond just the basics is a 4-stop Image Stabilizer with vertical and horizontal auto-panning detection. With IS switched on, A half-press of the camera shutter release results in a much less jittery view through the viewfinder.

Photozone

Technically the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS is a tiny lens with a great performance potential. The resolution is very good across the range. Chromatic aberrations are basically a non-issue. The level of distortions remain moderate. The most obvious flaw is, unsurprisingly, vignetting at large apertures. The build quality is fine for a lens in this class and it is one step up from the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS that we’ve seen here recently.

Where to Buy

If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo and Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices.

[tags]canon, ef-s, 55-250mm, lens, is, usm, review[/tags]

Canon to Announce Next DSLR on January 24

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It seems that Robert Westin, VP for Canon Sweden, has spilled the beans on Canon’s upcoming Pre-PMA 2008 announcement. This article on Kamerabild.se (a Swedish site) quotes Westin regarding Canon’s 2007 performance and thoughts on the upcoming year. A little help from Google and some translation sites helped me read some of this stuff.

Key points:

1. Canon will announce the next big thing on January 24 – the week before PMA starts.

2. Canon will release more photo products in 2008 than 2007.

My Thoughts:

1. My money is on a Canon Rebel XTi replacement (aka 450D) being announced on January 24th. As I’ve said before, the Rebel XTi (aka 400D) is due for replacement – now at the end of its 18 month produce life cycle. Read more about this camera here.

2. If not announced alongside the 450D, the Canon 5D Mark II is sure to follow later this year. For all the reasons why I think this is the case, check out this page.

3. Something else may be coming too. Canon had three big ones for 2007 – the PowerShot G9, EOS 1Ds Mark III and EOS 40D. If he’s talking about more cameras, then we could be looking at a gap filler DSLR. 3D or 7D anyone?

[tags]canon, 5d, mark ii, rebel xti, replacement, 450d, rumor, news, announcement[/tags]

5 Great Photography Gift Ideas

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Christmas is almost upon us now. So, what to get for that special photographer?

Here’s 5 ideas that will make any shutterbug happy:

1. The easy bet is a new camera, right? But the real question is, which one? If your special photographer didn’t spell it out for you, then you’re left to decide between a DSLR or point and shoot camera. For a primer on how to choose, read Photography Bay’s Holiday Shopping Guide.

2. Get you shutterbug a good book. If he or she owns a camera or you’re getting one for them, then they’ll needs to read Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. Does your photographer like tinkering with photos on the computer? Get a book by Scott Kelby on Photoshop or Lightroom.

3. Photoshop. If they don’t have it and you know they like tinkering on the computer with their photos, get Photoshop Elements – available for Windows or Mac.

4. Lightroom. Do you know your shutterbug shoots in RAW? If so, pick up Lightroom and the Scott Kelby book suggested in number 2.

5. Give the gift of flickr. Sign your special someone up on a Pro account on flickr. While flickr is free, the Pro account is only $25 per year (if they like it, you’ve got an “in” on Christmas gifts for life) and it gives the gift unlimited bandwidth, photos and no size limits. It also allows your shutterbug to share all those photos that they doesn’t know what to do with. As cousin Eddie would say, “It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year!”

Good luck and Merry Christmas!

[tags]photography, camera, gifts, christmas[/tags]

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Reviews

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The new Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS was developed by Canon in response to consumer demand for a high-quality yet affordable optically image stabilized lens. While it features the wide-angle to mid-range zoom flexibility of its non-IS predecessor, this new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens offers the significant advantage of a true lens-shift image stabilization system that yields up to a full four stops of image-shake correction. [Read more…]

Scott Kelby’s Nikon D300 Review

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Scott Kelby has posted his review of the Nikon D300 and really thinks that it kicks butt.

Nitpicking above aside, the D300 is a much better, more fully featured update to the D200 than I had ever imagined it would be. How much so? Well, needless to say, I’m selling my D200 (through the EquipmentLady.com), but I guess what I’m most shocked about is that I’m going to sell my Nikon D2Xs now, too.

Get more news and reviews for the Nikon D300 on this page.

[tags]nikon, d300, review[/tags]

Canon EF-S f/2.8 60mm Macro USM Reviews

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Canon EF-S 60mm Macro USMThe Canon EF-S f/2.8 60mm Macro USM is a portrait-length lens designed for Canon APS-C sized DSLRs like the Canon Rebel XTi and Canon 40D. This lens has an angle of view is equivalent to a 96mm lens on a 35mm camera, with a floating optical system that can focus down to full life-size (1:1) magnification. Inner focusing, driven by a silent and powerful ring-type USM, means the lens’ overall length never changes during focus. It has frequently been heralded as L-quality glass by reviewers and in photography forums around the web. [Read more…]

Nikon D300 Review by Popular Photography

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Popular Photography has put the Nikon D300 through the ringer and is very pleased with the results.

A major factor in the D300’s stellar image quality is the new Sony-made 12.3MP (effective) CMOS sensor that captures RAW data with up to 14 bits of color per red, green, and blue channels. Most other DSLRs in this class only provide 12 bits per channel. This gives the D300 an advantage in reproducing fine color gradations, shadow details, and wider dynamic range. But it also increases the file size of images recorded in the 14-bit mode (selectable over normal 12-bit RAW). (Read more)

Popular Photography also named the Nikon D300 its “Camera of the Year,” beating out competitors like the Olympus E-3, Canon’s 40D and Sony’s A700.

You can follow all of the Nikon D300 news and reviews on this page. (Thanks for the tip Jeff.)

Canon 1Ds Mark III Review by Phil Holland

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Phil Holland has posted his extensive review of the Canon 1Ds Mark III:

After shooting with the camera with a few days under numerous conditions I can confidently say the Canon 1Ds Mark III is easily the most versatile full frame digital SLR currently available. Currently the only thing similar on the market is the camera it’s replacing. The 1Ds Mark II. In terms of pure image resolution the only cameras that come close are digital medium format bodies and backs. I’ve used a range of PhaseOne backs now and I know they can squeeze out more detail. That said you lose a lot of flexibility for that gain in resolution and in price point.

You can follow the latest reviews of the Canon 1Ds Mark III on this page.

[tags]canon, eos, 1ds mark iii, review[/tags]