September 9th, 2008 , No Comments »
Today Sony has announced it’s new full frame digital SLR, called Alpha 900. The full details of the new camera can be viewed at dpreview.
The full frame sensor with 24.6 megapixels sounds impressive and puts Sony at the top when it comes to resolution in digital SLR cameras (except medium format). Of course than could change pretty quickly and it’s expected that both Nikon and Canon will introduce a new full frame camera soon.
The new Sony Alpha 900 can shoot 5 frames per second, which is not bad for such a high resolution. It has AF micro adjustments and weather sealing.
All in all the new features are not bad, but also not too impressive except for the 24.6 megapixels. But what I think is pretty impressive is the announced price of US $2999.99.
That’s really a very competitive price for a 24.6 megapixel full frame camera and puts a lot of pressure on Canon and Nikon.
And this is why the Alpha 900 is great news not only for Sony photographers but also for Canon and Nikon shooters. I expect to see a serious drop in prices for full frame cameras in the next 12 to 24 months.
The first images taken with the Alpha 900 that were published at the above mentioned preview at dpreview are not bad, but not very impressive either. There is a lot of noise in the images with higher ISO like 1.600. What I can see, it does not reach the quality of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III. But this is just a preview and we should wait until more detailed reviews of a production model are available.
Many expect Nikon to use this sensor in an upcoming full frame sensor with a higher resolution than their current Nikon D3 and Nikon D700. If this is really the case, I can’t say. There is so much rumor on the internet that it’s hard to really say anything before the final camera will be released.
Does it make sense switching brands and go to Sony?
No! If you’ve already been shooting with Sony or still use Minolta film cameras, the A900 might be just what you want.
On the other side, if you are a Nikon or Canon shooter, I don’t see any reason to change brands just because the A900 has the highest megapixel count (for now). Sony does not offer the huge selection of lenses Nikon and Canon do - although Sony is constantly adding new lenses and they may be in a more competitive position here in a few years.
For now, I miss - among others - a 4/500 from Sony. This alone makes Sony not very interesting for bird and wildlife photographers as a 4/500 is the most popular choice for many bird and wildlife photographers.
Conclusion:
I think the introduction of the Sony Alpha 900 is great news for all digital photographers. More competition will result in better (and cheaper) products for all of us. Let’s see what follows from Canon and Nikon. Exciting times!
More Information about the Sony Alpha 900:
Sony Alpha DSLR-A900 Preview at dpreview.com
Sony Alpha 900 at photographyblog.com
Sony Alpha A900 Digital SLR at letgodigital.org
Sony Alpha A900 - 24MP Full Frame DSLR at bobatkins.com
September 7th, 2008 , No Comments »
Sensor dust is a real pain for many owners of a digital SLR camera. Most new DSLRs now have some form of sensor cleaning built in that has reduced the problem considerably. But none is a 100% solution and because of this it still makes sense to avoid getting dust on your sensor in the first place.
Here are some tips to avoid dust on your camera’s sensor:
Avoid changing lenses in a dusty environment
Of course this is not always possible but sometimes you can find a place less dusty to change your lens.
Avoid strong wind
When photographing outdoors, you often have to change the lens under windy conditions. If you can’t avoid that (for example when photographing birds at the coast), try to stand with your back against the wind and hold the camera close to your chest when changing the lens.
Hold your camera downward
This will cause the dust to fall out of your camera instead of falling on the sensor.
Switch off your camera when changing lenses
The electrically charged sensor will attract dust. You can avoid this when you turn your camera off before changing the lens.
Keep your camera clean
It’s a good idea to keep your camera clean and in clean room where there isn’t too much dust. If your camera get’s dirty, clean it.
Clean the lenses before mounting it on the camera
Always clean the rear end of the lenses (for example with a blower bulb) before mounting it on your camera. If the lens mount is dirty, you might get the dirt in the camera. Take care of your lenses and avoid dust setting on the lens mount.
Use the sensor cleaning system of your camera
Most recently introduced new digital SLR cameras have a sensor cleaning system. Switch it on and use it. After changing the lens, I always switch on my Canon EOS 40D, even if I don’t plan to use it. This causes the sensor cleaning system to clean the sensor once and helps get rid of dust that has just settled on the sensor.
I use all of those measures and together with the very good self cleaning system of my Canon EOS 40D, I rarely have to clean my sensor. If I do, I either use or SensorKlear or the sensor swaps from VisibleDust. So far, those tools have worked without problems. For a more detailed overview of ways to clean your sensor, I recommend reading this article by E.J. Peiker on Naturescapes.Net.
September 6th, 2008 , 2 Comments »
If you want to get the most sharpness out of your digital camera, you should use the mirror lock-up feature of your camera for longer shutter speeds.
Most current digital SRL cameras (DSLRs) come with a feature called mirror lock-up. It’s used to reduce the vibrations caused the the mirror in the camera. After you press the shutter button, the mirror flips up before the shutter opens and lets light on the sensor.
This is a mechanical operation that can cause a slight shake inside the camera. It’s not really noticeable from the outside but you often can see it the effect (reduced sharpness) in the final image.
With mirror lock-up (MLU) you can tell the camera to flip up the mirror and then open the shutter only after the camera has “calmed down”. See below on how to best use mirror lock-up.
Here are two pictures taken to show the difference. Both shots are 100% crops of a picture I took today with a Canon EOS 40D and my Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM, which is one of Canon’s best lenses. The combination was mounted on a tripod and I used a cable release for all shots. The shutter speed was 1/8th second.
Without mirror lock-up
With mirror lock-up
No sharpening in Photoshop was applied to those picture. If you look closely, you can see that the shot without mirror lock-up is not nearly as sharp as the one taken with mirror lock-up. Of course you could correct it to some degree with Lightroom or Photoshop, but the better the original image, the better the results with Photoshop.
When to use mirror lock-up?
Using mirror lock-up makes sense for all images taken with a shutter speed longer than 1/30th second. For long lenses like super telephoto lenses it makes sense even for shorter shutter speeds.
Because of the delay caused by using mirror lock-up, it’s not useful for moving targets, for example, a slowly swimming duck.
Image stabilization should be turned on (if your lens supports it when used with a tripod) but is not a complete substitute for mirror lock-up.
I use mirror lock-up for all my landscape and macro shots for which I use a shutter speed longer than 1/125th or 1/60th second.
How to use mirror lock-up
The camera must be mounted on a tripod and for best results I recommend using a cable release, as this avoid camera shake caused by the photographer when pressing the shutter button.
An alternative offered by some DSLRs is to use the self timer in combination with mirror lock-up. My Canon EOS 40D allows to set the self timer to 2 or 10 seconds. When I press the shutter (and mirror lock-up is enabled), the mirror flips up and after 2 or 10 seconds the shutter is opened and the image taken.
I hope this helps to make clear that mirror lock-up is an important feature of any DSLR camera. Almost every photographer comes into situations where he or she has to use long shutter speeds. Using mirror lock-up really can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful picture.
If the manufacturer or the salesman in the camera shop tells you that mirror lock-up is no longer needed in modern cameras, don’t believe him.
Don’t buy a DSLR without mirror lock-up.
Unfortunately using mirror lock-up can be a pain when you need it often because some camera manufactures bury it deep inside the camera menu and you have to press several buttons to use it. But that should not keep you from using it.
September 3rd, 2008 , No Comments »
The people at Photography BLOG have just published their review of the Nikon D700. It’s quite long and detailed with 6 pages. As expected, the review is very positive overall and the D700 earns a “Highly Recommended”.
So far the D700 has gotten many great reviews and Nikon really has a winner here. It will be interesting to see what Canon’s answer to the D700 will be. Many expected a successor to the Canon EOS 5D to be announced for Photokina 2008. So far we have only seen the introduction to the EOS 50D. But maybe the 5D successor will be announced soon. Or something completely different.
This are exciting times for the digital photographer and with the manufacturers pushing each other to new limits, we as photographers all benefit, no matter which brand we use.
From that point of view, the Nikon D700 is also great news for all Canon shooters.
Get the Nikon D700 from amazon:
August 29th, 2008 , No Comments »
If you own a Canon EOS 40D and want to see what the best settings for bird photography are, check out the this article by famous bird photographer Arthur Morris.
The article also includes some interesting comments on the EOS 40D and some great bird pictures.
The following follow up article includes one correction for the first article.
Arthur Morris is one of the best bird photographers in the world and I highly recommend reading his bulletin archives and subscribing to them. They contain many great images and useful tips on how to improve your bird photography.
The settings in the articles mentioned above apply not only for birds but for most other uses in nature and other types of photography.
August 28th, 2008 , No Comments »
Since the Nikon D90 was announced two days ago, the camera has generated quite a lot of attention and discussion. Interestingly many people only seem to talk about it’s new video feature which makes the D90 the first DSLR that can record video. Some love the new feature, other consider it pointless.
But I think there is much more to this camera, and video or not, it’s definitely worth looking at. So lets do this.
I won’t cover in detail all the new features, but as in my post about the Canon EOS 50D, I will write about what I think are the most interesting features of Nikon’s latest DSLR.
12.3 effective Megapixels: According to Nikon the D90 has the same image quality as the Nikon D300. Compared to the old D80 the increase from 10 MP to 12.3 is not too much, but the overall image quality, especially at high ISO is probably better with the D90.
Sensor cleaning: Similar to the D300 and D700, the D90 also has a sensor cleaning feature that should reduce the sensor dust problem drastically compared the D80.
4.5 frames per second:. This is 1.5 frames per second more than the D80 and a welcome feature for everyone shooting action like birds in flight and playing children.
3.0” LCD display: The larger display of the D300, D3 and D700 can now also be found in the D90, making the display much better than the one in the D80.
Video capability: The D90 is the first camera than can record videos. There are some limitations. For example there is no AF during video capture and the maximum length of videos is limited (only 5 minutes for a 1280 x 720 video and 20 minutes for smaller formats).
This won’t replace the need for a video camera for everyone who is serious about video capture. But it’s a nice feature if you want to capture short movies and I think the D90 is just the first camera to offer video capabilities. More cameras, not only from Nikon, will follow.
Conclusion:
I think the D90 is a wonderful new camera with an attractive price. If you are a D80 user and want to upgrade, I think there are many features in the D90 that justify an upgrade. On the other side, if you are still perfectly satisfied with your D80, I think it would be wiser to save the money or spend it on a good lens.
The D90 is a solid evolution of the D80 and I am sure, Nikon will sell a lot of them.
D90 or D300?
The D300 is definitely the better camera. It has faster AF, can shoot up to 8 frames per second and has a more robust body and weather sealing.
If you are doing a lot of action photography like sports or birds in flight, I highly recommend to get the D300.
If you shoot mostly landscapes, portraits or close-ups, the D90 will offer the same image quality as the D300 but at a much cheaper price.
See what your needs are and if the D90 has everything you want. If not, go for the D300.
If you already own a D300, the D90 will make a great backup camera.
This was a summary of my thoughts on Nikon’s new D90. If you have any questions, leave a comment.
Get it from amazon:
August 26th, 2008 , 4 Comments »
This morning, the new Canon EOS 50D was announced. I won’t cover all the details of the new camera in this post. If you are interested in those, check this article by Rob Galbraith about the EOS 50D.
In this post, I want to write about some of the new features and what I think of them.
15 Megapixels: Probably the feature many people are most excited about is the new sensor with 15 megapixels. Compared to the EOS 40D, this is an increase of about 50% which is pretty huge. The 15 MP give you are lot more flexibility when cropping.
When I first read about the 15 MP I was worried that this can only mean an increase in noise due to the much higher pixel density compared the the EOS 40D. But according to Canon, the 50D should actually be better than the EOS 40 at high ISO settings (between 1 and 1.5 stops).
There are no detailed reviews of the camera yet, but if this is true, then Canon has really made a huge step forward.
The new sensor will demand even better quality lenses due to the high pixel density.
ISO 12.800: The 50D supports ISO up to 3.200 in 1/3 step increments and also ISO 6.400 and 12.800. If the last two numbers are of any real value remains to be seen until the first tests are available. But I don’t think Canon would have included those options if the image quality was just awful.
AF up to f5.6: No change here compared to the EOS 40D. I was hoping that the EOS 50D would allow AF up to f8, at least with the central sensor. That would allow sport and nature photographers who own lenses like a 4/500 or 4/600 to use Canon’s 2x extender and still have AF. So far it seems that Canon will keep this feature to the EOS 1D cameras only.
Compact Flash Cards: Some people feared that Canon would abandon CF cards with the 50D and only support SD cards. But they stick to CF cards which is good for all people who already have spent a lot of money an CF cards.
New LCD with 920.000 pixels: This is a welcome increase and should allow better evaluation of the images after shooting. But this is, of course, no substitute for checking your files later on the computer.
Creative Auto:. Couldn’t car less. I only shoot in AV and M mode and image quality set to RAW. But this may be interesting to other people who like to give more control to the camera but still be able to change settings.
Direct Print Button: This is probably the most useless button on any EOS camera. It would be great if Canon would allow a CF-Function to change it to support Mirror Lock-Up. But after all I’ve read, this can still only be accessed via the Menu settings. I wonder why Canon does not fix this, even after many, many photographers have complained about this for many years.
EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6: This new zoom lens looks very interesting and the large zoom range will be of interest to many photographers. I think it’s sad that it’s an EF-S lens, which means it won’t work on the EOS 5D, EOS 1D Mark III and EOS 1Ds Mark III. Another thing that I don’t like about this lens is the fact that it does not have an USM motor for fast AF. Maybe it’s fast enough without it but Canon integrates USM in almost all it’s lenses (including the cheap ones). So I don’t understand why this new lens doesn’t have USM.
Conclusion:
I think the new Canon EOS 50D looks like a great camera. If the Camera is as good as Canon says, then I think it’s definitely worth upgrading if you still own a EOS 10D, 20D or 30D.
If you own a EOS 40D (like I do), it’s still a significant leap but I am not sure if an upgrade is always worth it. Right now, I have no plans to upgrade. I will definitely wait how the EOS 50D performs in the first tests and what else Canon will offer either for Photokina in September or after that event.
My EOS 40D is great and that doesn’t change a tiny little bit just because the 50D is out. If you are not sure if you should upgrade, maybe it’s wiser to spend the money on a good lens, some good photography books or a photography trip.
If I buy the 50D I won’t sell my 40D but will keep it as a backup and 2nd camera for those situations when I need two simultaneously.
August 18th, 2008 , No Comments »
A DSLR has many advantages over a Point & Shoot camera and if you are serious about photography as a hobby (or even as a profession) than you need a DSLR. Here are some of the main advantages:
1. Interchangeable lenses
For most people this is the main advantage of a DSLR. With a Point & Shoot camera, you are stuck with the lens that is built into the camera. But with a DSLR you can change the lens and use the best for your current situation (of course only if you own such a lens, have rented one or a friend let you use his).
All DSLR manufactures offer a wide variety of lenses including wide-angle, macro or telephoto lenses. Canon and Nikon are the largest companies and offer the widest range of lenses. For example, Canon offers more than 60 lenses which range from ultra-wide angle zooms like the EF-S 10-22 to large super telephoto lenses like the EF 5.6/800L IS.
Beside the lenses from Canon itself, you can also use third party lenses from Sigma, Tamron or Tokina which are all available for Canon DSLRs (and of course also for Nikon and often also for the DSLRs of other manufactures).
Beside the flexibility to change lenses, the lenses for DSLRs are also of better quality than the lenses in most Point & Shoot cameras. Hight quality lenses like the Nikon 2.8/14-24 or the Canon 2.8/300 are way ahead of the lenses you will find in non DSLR cameras.
2. Better sensors
DSLRs have larger sensors than almost all Point & Shoot cameras. That is also true for sensors with a crop factor. The sensors in those cameras are still much larger than in non DSLR cameras.
Larger sensors mean better image quality and less noise. That’s why full frame cameras like the Nikon D3 or the Canon EOS 5D deliver amazing results at high ISO settings like ISO 1.600 or even higher. Those values are either not available on Point & Shoot cameras or if they are, they are not usable.
3. Full control
Although some Point & Shoot allow you to set many parameters including exposure compensation, they normally don’t offer all the features of a DSLRs, definitely not the possibilities of a pro DSLR like the Canon EOS 1D Mark III.
All DSLRs allow you to set the exposure in manual mode which is often necessary despite all the claims of the camera manufactures about how good their metering systems are. Beside manual exposure, DSLRs also let you configure other things like White-Balance or which AF mode you want to use.
Only with a DSLR do you have full creative control!
4. You keep the control over depth-of-field
Due to the very small sensors (and therefore large crop factors) of most Point & Shoot, they use lenses with a very small focal length, often below 10mm. This results in a very large depth-of-field which is often not what you want.
When shooting portraits, for example, you often want a calm background. Where you would use something like 15mm with a Point & Shoot camera, you would use something between 50mm and 150mm with a DSLR. The longer focal length makes it much easier to get a calm out-of-focus background because of the smaller depth-of-field and angle of view.
Portrait photography with Point & Shoot cameras is not fun at all as you just can’t get small depth-of-field.
The small depth-of-field is why many portrait photographers prefer full frame DSLRs over those with a crop factor.
5. DSLRs are faster
With a Point & Shoot camera, you often wait quite some times (sometimes several seconds) until the camera finally makes the image after you have pressed the shutter button. A DSLR works much faster and has only a very short shutter lag. That means, when you press the shutter button, the camera takes the image (almost) immediately.
Beside this, DSLRs normally allow you to shoot much more frames per seconds than a Point & Shoot camera. This is due to the more powerful processors and software in DSLRs. Professional DSLRs allow you to take up to 8 and more frames per second.
Even midrange cameras like the EOS 40D can shoot more than 5 frames per second.
To be honest, a DSLR also has some disadvantages like the normally higher price, dust on the sensor (although this has gotten much better with the recent cameras with self-cleaning sensors) or just being larger and heavier. A small Point & Shoot camera will easily fit into the pocket of your jacket.
But for me, the advantages of DSLRs are much more important than the disadvantages just mentioned.
If you are serious about photography and want full creative control, you need a DSLR!
August 18th, 2008 , No Comments »
The guys over at dpreview have just published their long awaited and very detailed review of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III.
If you want to spend around 8.000 dollars for a new camera or if you just want 21 MP, then read the review of the 1Ds Mark III to see if it is worth spending so much money.
For myself, I would love to have one but the price is just too high and for most of my work, the 10 MP of the EOS 40D are more than enough.
August 18th, 2008 , No Comments »
Moose Peterson, one of the world’s most famous wildlife photographers, has been using the D700 for a week and shot over 10,000 images with it.
He has written about his experiecne in a new blog post called A week of D700 shooting.
It’s a very interesting read, especially if you think of adding a D700 as a backup to your D3 or if you are currently trying to choose between a D3 and D700.
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