Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Nikon Press Conference on October 22 Could Be “BIG”

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Seems Nikon’s BIG news may be out of the bag rather soon – say, October 22?  According to Zoom, Nikon has given notice of a press release for October 22, which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark. If true, I imagine we’ll be hearing more from other parts of the world soon.

Nikon’s product secrecy has a terrible track record lately and I wouldn’t be surprise to see this next product leak out in the next few days.

What do you think?  Is it the Nikon MX format?  Is it the Nikon D3x?  Is it something else?  Or are we all having our legs pulled?

 

Nikon D90 Reviews at PhotographyBLOG and DP Review

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PhotographyBLOG and DP Review have published reviews of the Nikon D90.

PhotographyBLOG – The Nikon D90 is a difficult camera to rate. When viewed as a ‘traditional’ SLR, it is simply an excellent camera that I very much enjoyed using. All the frequently used functions have direct controls assigned to them, be it aperture, shutter speed, ISO speed, file quality, drive mode, AF mode, AE Lock – you name it.

DP Review – We described the D80 as a photographer’s camera and, despite the addition of video, the D90 appears to share that same ethos. On a purely specification level, it’s a highly competitive piece of kit, but it’s the way the features have been chosen and put together that make it the camera that it is.

For the latest news and reviews, visit Photography Bay’s Nikon D90 Reviews and Resources.

Olympus E-520 Review at PopPhoto

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PopPhoto has published a review of the Olympus E-520.

Image quality? Impressive. The E-520 showed great consistency, both across the ISO range and in RAW and JPEG capture. It’s one thing to garner Excellent imaging scores at ISO 100 in a huge TIFF made from a RAW file, and another in a JPEG at ISO 1600 — exactly what the E-520 did.

For the latest news and reviews, see Photography Bay’s Olympus E-520 Reviews and Resources.

Book Review: The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion

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If you’ve recently stepped up from a point and shoot camera to the Canon Rebel XSi, which is also known as the 450D in non-US markets, then you might have a bit of learning curve to adapt to. There are a number of books out there that can get you acquainted with your new DSLR, including the manual.

The Rebel XSi manual does a great job of familiarizing you with the features found in the camera; however, it doesn’t really tie them all together for you.  This new book by Ben Long does and it does it well.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion starts off by setting out the camera’s features and then goes on to put those features in context of daily shooting situations that you’ll come across with your new camera.  If you really want to get the most out of your Rebel XSi, then this book is a great place to start.

The Companion is a great book for beginners and avid amateurs alike.  If you feel like you have been just getting by with your Rebel XSi (maybe getting some solid shots, but not really understanding what goes into making a technically great photograph), then the Companion can really help you out.

Generally, my recommendation to all new DSLR owners is to pick up Bryan Peterson’s Understanding Exposure.  For the fundamentals of creating a properly exposed photograph, I still think it’s the best book out there.  Canon Rebel XSi owners can go a beyond the fundamentals with the Companion though.  It is a book that you can grow with for a while and really launch you into a full understanding of the creative tool that is the Canon Rebel XSi.

If you own the Rebel XSi and want to get more out of it, The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D Companion is a great place to start.  Ben Long has really put together a flowing educational resource that Rebel XSi owners can use to propel themselves to the next level of their photography.

It is currently available at a reasonable price of $16.49 at Amazon.com.

Pentax Announces K20D Price Drop

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Pentax has announced a price drop of its 14.6 megapixel flagship K20D.  The new lower price is $999.95, which is a steal given the feature set and image quality packed into this DSLR.  For more on the K20D, check out Photography Bay’s Pentax K20D Reviews and Resources.

Additionally, the waterproof Pentax Optio W60 is receiving a price cut to $299.95.

Both cameras are available for even less than these new retail prices at Amazon.com – Pentax K20D – Pentax Optio W60.

Press Release

PENTAX Imaging Company has announced significant savings on its flagship, award-winning digital SLR. Beginning Sunday, October 12, 2008, the price of the PENTAX K20D digital SLR camera body has dropped to $999.95. The full-featured, 14.6 megapixel, weather-resistant DSLR features a three-step dust reduction system, the PRIME image processor, fully customizable capture and control settings, and PENTAX developed Shake Reduction that works with any of the 25 million PENTAX lenses ever manufactured. More details are available at www.pentaxslr.com.

PENTAX also reduced the price of the popular, rugged and waterproof PENTAX Optio W60 digital camera to $299.95. Lightweight and fully waterproof, the Optio W60 features 10 megapixels and a 5X zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle capability. The Optio W60 operates up to 13 feet underwater for two hours and at extreme temperatures well below freezing. More details are available at www.h20camera.com.

Nikon D3 Review at Neocamera

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Neocamera has published a short hands-on review of the Nikon D3.

The first impression from the D3 comes from its size and weight. At around 1.5kg (3 lbs) with battery, this is one of the heaviest DSLR. Its integrated vertical grip and large pentaprism make this camera one of the biggest. It feels built-like-a-tank.

For the latest news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Nikon D3 Reviews and Resources.

Pentax K20D Review at Photo.net

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Photo.net has published a review of the Pentax K20D, which is a huge bargain now..

The K20D would be ideal for travel, nature, macro, and studio photographers. Along with the superior resolution, the weather sealing and high quality compact lens system makes great for nature and travel photographers, and for close to $1000 it’s one of the best cameras on the market if you don’t need a blazing fast fps, or a higher flash sync.

For more reviews of the K20D, check out Photography Bay’s Pentax K20D Reviews and Resources.

ColorRight Winners

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Thanks to everyone who participated in the Photography Bay Forum over the past couple weeks.  Based on the posting rules in the ColorRight contest, we now have our three winners of new ColorRight white balance tools.

  1. Defiant00
  2. JohnnyA
  3. TexasAg03

Congratulations to each of you and thanks to everyone for being members of the Photography Bay community.  I’ll be contacting each of the winners via email to work out the details of shipping the ColorRight tools to you.

Again, I’d like to thank our sponsor, ColorRight, for providing the prizes.  If you haven’t read it yet, I would encourage you to read our ColorRight review.

Did you miss out?

Don’t worry, there are more prizes coming soon.  Just stay tuned to Photography Bay for the next announcement.

Consider subscribing to Photography Bay’s news feed (it’s free) and registering on Photography Bay’s forum (also free).

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Drop us a line at contact@photographybay.com for details on how you can sponsor a giveaway and get your name out to hundreds of thousands of photographers worldwide.