Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
SanDisk is a universally-recognized brand in the digital imaging world. No matter what brand of camera that you own, there’s a good chance that you’ve got a SanDisk memory card somewhere in your bag.
I had never heard the story behind SanDisk’s origins until I read this recent article on SanDisk CEO Eli Harari at USA Today. Turns out, many years ago, he was ousted by the board of directors from a company he had founded. From there, SanDisk was born. Now, it’s a 3.6 billion dollar company.
The Litepanels MicroPro Hybrid is a new flash and continuous output light source that is geared toward DSLR shooters who crossover between stills and video. The MicroPro Hybrid is an LED light source that draws 9 watts and operates on 6 AA batteries. Because it uses LED bulbs, almost no heat is generated from the device.
The continuous light mode is fully dimmable from 0% to 100%, while the “flash” feature produces a 400% brighter burst. To enable the flash feature, you just need to plug the MicroPro into your camera’s PC port.
The MicroPro Hybrid includes a ball head shoe mount with a 1/4-20 thread. Of course, it can also be mounted off-camera for other lighting situations.
The MicroPro Hybrid delivers 5600° K daylight balanced output and includes three filters – a 3200° K filter, a 1/4 warming filter and a diffusion filter.
You can find the MicroPro Hybrid at B&H Photo.
The Fuji Z700EXR is a 12-megapixel point and shoot camera featuring Fuji’s popular EXR sensor technology. The Z700EXR offers a 3.5? wide touchscreen display in 16:9 format, a 5x optical zoom and is capable of capturing HD video at 720p.
To see how well this casual shooter handles, read on. [Read more…]
Canon Rebel XT – ISO 100 – f/16 – 4 seconds
With the Fourth of July coming up next week, a lot of folks are looking to get some great shots of some of the awesome fireworks shows around the country. With that in mind, here are a few fundamental tips and settings to help you get it right – even if you don’t have a tripod with you during the fireworks show. [Read more…]
I’ve been a SmugMug user for a little over 4 years now. And, if you’ve been reading Photography Bay for a while, you know that I’ve been a big fan since day one. The handful of times that I’ve emailed customer service, I’ve gotten an response and solution within minutes. They listen to their customers, and the prices are incredibly generous for the service delivered.
I’ve heard about SMUGs (aka SmugMug User Groups) before, but I had never been to SMUG meet up – until this week. [Read more…]
Yesterday, I showed off a little of what Lightroom 3’s noise killing prowess could do. And then, I started looking back at some of my basketball photos from this season, most of which were shot at ISO 3200. Some of them could use a little help from Lightroom 3’s noise reduction panel; however, some looked just fine, even with a little bit of grain. [Read more…]
I’ve been digging into Lightroom 3 for a couple of days now. I’m a big fan of the improvements – happy to see my video files, love the tethered shooting capability, as well as the improved speed. Last night, however, I decided to dig up some of my photos from the Canon 1D Mark IV and Nikon D3s ISO comparisons and take a closer look at the improved noise control that we’ve all heard so much about.
While I experienced a taste of what was to come in the Lightroom 3 beta, I was not prepared for the magnitude of improvement that I saw in the images as I wiped my Lightroom 2 adjustments and made new adjustments in Lightroom 3’s noise control panel.
I could go on and on about it, but you really need to see for yourself. [Read more…]
It was a slow week, but below you will find this week’s firmware updates. Hit the manufacturer website links for more details and download instructions for the firmware. [Read more…]
Nearly two years ago, Canon changed the game (and, perhaps redefined the game) with the introduction of the 5D Mark II. (And, while the Nikon D90 was the first DSLR to hit the scene with HD video capture, few will argue that Canon’s 5D Mark II was the real game changer.) As the story goes, the addition of HD video to the 5D Mark II was almost an afterthought, which isn’t too far fetched of a story – given the rough implementation and numerous workarounds required to get a polished video out of the camera in those early firmware versions.
And then there was Reverie.
Reverie changed the way we looked at this new camera before we even knew what it was supposed to do. I’ve heard Vincent Laforet recount the almost accidental acquisition of a prototype 5D Mark II a couple of times now. He had the prototype camera in hand for roughly 72 hours and really made the most of that time. That accidental spark ignited a huge flame in demand for the 5D Mark II – as well as a demand for knowledge to learn what it takes to do the same thing with a $2700 (at the time) camera.
A new niche market was born almost overnight. [Read more…]
