Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Sony Touchscreen DSLR

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A pair recent Sony patent applications reveal what is clearly an Alpha-system DSLR with a touchscreen display that is functional with both the standard grip and a vertical accessory grip.  (See US Patent Appl. Nos. 2010/0134676 and 2010/0134433.)  According to the patent application, the challenge with integrating a touchscreen on a DSLR is keeping your nose from activating it when looking through the viewfinder, while at the same time allowing you to access features mapped to the touchscreen controls. [Read more…]

 

Canon Voice Recognition Camera Patent: “Say Cheese”

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We’ve got menus, buttons and touch screens to help use operate our cameras.  However, imagine telling your subjects to “say cheese” and the camera listens to your command as well, waits for people to smile and handles the shutter button for you.  The latter portion of those operations is are already available on today’s cameras with features like SmileShot and ShutterSmile, which wait for smiles before releasing the shutter.  And, if one of Canon’s latest patents comes to life, we could have the voice recognition features on our cameras in the near future. [Read more…]

Daros Films’ “Leave Me” Puts Canon Camera in Pivotal Role

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Leave Me is a  short film that centers around a broken Canon DSLR and the images within.  While the human element makes the film, it’s a very cool use of a camera to tie it all together.

The film was shot with a Panasonic HVX200 with a Brevis35 lens adapter and Nikon primes.

Extra credit if you can identify the camera in the film.

Samsung NX10 vs. Canon Rebel T2i ISO Comparison

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Samsung NX10

The Samsung NX10 is the one of the new kids on the hybrid camera block.  Like Micro Four Thirds cameras from Panasonic and Olympus, the NX10 features a DSLR-sized sensor, but offers full time live view and no optical viewfinder (but rather an electronic viewfinder).

However, the Samsung NX10 features a larger sensor than the Micro Four Thirds cameras.  In fact, the NX10’s imaging sensor is about the same physical size as the one found in the Canon Rebel T2i.

As part of my upcoming review of the Samsung NX10, I decided to pit the NX10 against the Canon Rebel T2i to see how the noise control holds up.  [Read more…]

Panasonic Lumix G Fisheye 8mm/F3.5 Lens Announced

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Panasonic has unveiled the Lumix G 8mm fisheye lens for it’s G-series Micro Four Thirds cameras.  The new lens offers an equivalent focal length of 16mm on a full frame camera thanks to the Micro Four Thirds 2x crop factor.

No word yet on pricing or availability.

More details in the press release below. [Read more…]

Photokina 2010 Report

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Photokina 2010

Updated: Check out all of the recently announced cameras and other gear at the bottom of this page.

Photokina 2010 is set to take place from Tuesday, September 21 to Sunday, September 26, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.  Photokina occurs every two years, and in 2008, 1523 companies exhibited at the show and more than 169,000 people attended the show.

Photokina is a trade show in which many new cameras, lenses and accessories are frequently introduced.  Cameras introduced at or around Photokina 2008 include, the Canon PowerShot G10, Canon Rebel XS, Canon 50D, Canon 5D Mark II, Nikon D90, Nikon D700, Panasonic G1, Pentax K2000, Sony A900 and Sigma DP2. All the major camera manufacturers are typically in attendance and are rather high profile at Photokina events.  Expect no less this year.

Photokina 2010 Trends to Watch

Camera features and formats haven’t seen a state of flux like we are currently seeing for quite some time.  As a result, I don’t think that it would be unreasonable to expect big things from big players in the months and weeks leading up to Photokina 2010.

Mirrorless Camera Systems

Sony has already busted out of the gate with a serious mirrorless camera system this year, leaving the two big camera makers, Canon and Nikon, to play catch up.  The industry is seemingly waiting for these traditional camera manufacturers to bless this new format by entering into the field with a product of their own.  The killer (as in entry-level DSLR killer) mirrorless camera hasn’t hit the market yet.  Could Canon or Nikon deliver one this year at Photokina?

HDSLRs

No one really knew what kind of potential that the Canon 5D Mark II had when it was introduced nearly two years ago.  Now, with an abundance of short films, commercials and broadcast TV episodes under its belt, this market segment is a serious piece of the pie.

Canon is the clear front-runner; however, Nikon is sure to add 1080p video capture at some point.  The next DSLRs in the Nikon line-up would be a perfect time to seize a piece of this still-yet-to-be-defined market segment.  We know Sony is working on some AVCHD-capable DSLRs, so it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see these guys at Photokina 2010.

Compact Cameras with Large Sensors

Enthusiasts have been dying for these cameras to break out to the mainstream manufacturers.  It’s not a segment that’s necessarily hot, but has been rumored to be “coming” from a number of manufacturers for years now.  Perhaps it’s wishful thinking, or maybe enthusiasts will soon get their serious compact cameras with DSLR-sized sensors (instead of the handful of niche products currently on the market).  Of course, the rise of mirrorless camera systems could be the death knell to these pipe dreams as well.

New Cameras and Gear Added Soon

With Summer upon us, I will be adding new camera and gear announcements to this page on a rolling basis as we approach Photokina 2010.  Expect any serious cameras or gear announced from now on to play a roll in manufacturers’ exhibits at this year’s Photokina.  Feel free to bookmark this page for future updates, or check the front page of Photography Bay for regular updates as we approach September.

Photokina Map

DSLR / Interchangeable Lens Cameras

Compact / Point & Shoot Cameras

Medium Format

Video Cameras

Camera Accessories

Concepts, Prototypes and Industry News

Stay tuned for the latest updates in the days leading up to Photokina 2010.

Sigma SD15 Delayed . . . Again

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Sigma SD15

The SD15 was announced two years ago and has still yet to see a store shelf.  It looks like it’s going to have to wait a bit longer too.  Amateur Photographer recently learned that the SD15 has been pushed back until “the end of June.”

Perhaps Sigma should just go ahead and skip to the SD16?

While Sigma had a partially functional prototype available to handle at PMA 2010 when it was “reintroduced”, it was far from prime time.  This is rather hard to believe since it uses the same 14MP Foveon X3 sensor used in the current SD14.

While Amazon will let you make an SD15 pre-order, I wouldn’t hold my breath that it’ll be in your hands by the Fourth of July.

Canon Shows Off 1D Mark IV in the Hands of Vincent Laforet

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Vincent Laforet VW Commercial

Canon has launched a new Shooter’s Insight video series in the Canon Digital Learning Center featuring the 1D Mark IV with Vincent Laforet.  A number of episodes appear to be in the works and “coming soon” that will focus on Laforet’s use of the 1D Mark IV in a recent VW spec commercial.

More on this series can be found online at the Canon Digital Learning Center.

Canon 5D Mark II Firmware Update Version 2.0.7

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Canon has issued a firmware update for the 5D Mark II.  Firmware version 2.0.7 addresses the following issues, which were introduced in firmware versions 2.0.4 and 2.0.3.

  1. Fixes a phenomenon in which the aperture exhibits abnormal movement when shooting movies in manual exposure mode and Aperture Priority AE (Av mode) using some Canon lenses (such as macro lenses).
  2. Fixes a phenomenon in which the exposure level shown in the LCD panel differs from what is shown in the viewfinder when shooting still images in manual exposure mode.
  3. Fixes a phenomenon in which the Wireless File Transmitter (WFT-E4 or WFT-E4 II) may not automatically power off when used for FTP transfers.

Download and installation instructions for the firmware are available on Canon’s website.

Nikon D90 Goes 3D

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StereoPortraitProjectRig-nikon-d90

That’s 2 Nikon D90s rigged to be about the same distance apart as the human eyes.

The Stereo Portrait Project was put together by Alex Fry and Jamie Nimmo.  These guys assembled the custom rig shown above to capture Anaglyphic 3D images.  They’ve even put together a book featuring their 3D images.

Head over to Nikon Rumors for a full rundown of the setup and art behind the Stereo Portrait Project.