Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
ISO 6400 – HDR Composite of 9 Bracketed Images
I’ve just been getting to know the Nikon D3S a bit, but I brought it along with me on a quick trip to NYC to visit my good friends at B&H Photo. I had some time to kill last night and I couldn’t resist a walk down to Times Square with the D3S to see what the high ISO handling looked like in a real world environment. [Read more…]
Tamron recently started a new video learning series on YouTube. The series will be comprised of 1-minute videos geared toward new DSLR owners (like the above intro video) and will be added on a weekly basis to Tamron’s YouTube channel.
You can get more details about the new educational directive in the press release below or head over to Tamron’s YouTube channel to see if you want to subscribe for future updates. [Read more…]
The Nikon D3S offers video recording to its FX-format 12.1-megapixel sensor at 1280×720 resolution and 24fps. These videos are short clips from panning a landscape – with the top one being a slow pan and zoom and the bottom video being a faster panning action. [Read more…]
Tamrac recently introduced the Zipshot tripod, which is a light and ultra-portable alternative to the run-of-the-mill tripods out there. The Zipshot weighs 11 ounces and can carry a maximum load of 3 lbs (e.g., a prosumer DSLR with a kit lens). It also includes a built-in ball head.
As you can see in the video, the whole thing pops open in just a few seconds thanks to the bungee cords inside the tripod legs. It’s not exactly the sturdiest tripod, but can still get the job done, particularly if you use a remote or timer. [Read more…]
Canon is holding a new contest for aspiring filmmakers that gives you a chance to win a Canon 7D, 5D Mark II or some Canon lenses. Vincent Laforet has created a new short film, Cabbie (seen above), but you have to pick up with the subsequent chapters based on the still image provided by Laforet at the end of Cabbie. Laforet and other all star film makers will pick the winning chapters after Cabbie for a total of seven chapters (six winners).
The deadline for chapter 2 is February 11.
You can get details in the press release below and over on the Vimeo group, Beyond the Still. [Read more…]
Canon’s Instant Rebate program for DSLRs and lenses, which has been running for a few months, is set to expire on Saturday, January 16, 2010. For more details on which products are currently discounted, hit the links below.
The Canon BG-E6 battery grip serves a couple of different purposes for the 5D Mark II. As the name implies, it holds batteries – either two LP-E6 lithium-ion batteries or 6 AA batteries in the included battery holder. Likewise, the BG-E6 serves as a grip for handling the camera in portrait orientation, featuring controls for the shutter release, scroll wheel, and focus point adjustments, among others.
The BG-E6 is a nice accessory to have; however, it runs $250. For some, that’s a little steep for a battery grip. Third party grips are much more affordable at less than $100, but are they worth the compromise? This question comes up on forums quite a bit and finds its way in my inbox now and then.
In this little exercise, we are going to take a look at the Canon BG-E6 grip and see how a couple of third party grips from Vivitar and Zeikos stack up against it.
[UPDATE: I’ve supplemented this review with a review of the Vello BG-C2 and BG-C4 grips for the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D.]
This video of the Canon 1D Mark IV firing at 10 frames per second is mostly pointless; however, I still find myself watching it over and over thanks to the gadget nut in me.
Looks a little grainy, doesn’t it? That’s because it was shot at ISO 25600 on a Nikon D3S. A single overhead tungsten bulb supplied the light.
Stay tuned for more serious content on both of these new work horses. In the mean time, watch the video again. ;-)
The SDXC card specification has been announced for more than a year now. However, it’s only now that we are starting to see products supporting this new specification. There are a few important things to note about SDXC cards and how they fit into photographers’ gear bags.
The SDXC specification comes from the SD Association, which is an industry standards organization founded by Panasonic, SanDisk and Toshiba in 2000. If a manufacturer is going to use SD technology in product, they have to license the right to use that technology from the SD Association. Most, if not all, of the major camera manufacturers are members of the SD Association and license the patents and other intellectual property necessary for developing SD-compatible cameras and memory cards.
There are a number of different specifications that the SD Association has developed over the past decade, including SD, miniSD, microSD, SDHC, miniSDHC, microSDHC and SDXC, among others. Each specification has its own limitations or capabilities. For instance, the original SD specification offered storage only up to 2GB. When SDHC came along, it took the capacity up to 32GB. The latest specification, SDXC, offers storage capacities up to 2TB. [Read more…]
B&H Photo currently has a deal on the Rebel XS and two Canon lenses that shows $669 on the product page; however, when you add it to the cart, it drops to $509.
I’m not sure how long it will last, but since the Canon DSLR and lens rebates expire later this week, I wouldn’t expect it to last past that. If you’re interested, here’s the link.