But who ever heard of a camera with a fixed lens and no zoom?

To answer, you have only to look at the major companies with their DSLRs. Fine cameras you say. But what makes them even finer is the availability of a fixed focus ‘pancake lens’.

The advantages are a small form factor along with high optical quality, a lack of aberrations in a no-zoom lens and reduced internal flare.

Ricoh GR Digital III Features

So, the Digital III stands alone. Powered up, the lens extends about 22mm from the body but it is still a relatively low profile camera. And did I tell you it has a totally black, die-cast alloy body?
 
The lens is a fast f1.9 with a focal length equating to a 28mm lens on a 35 SLR. You can access a 4x digital enlargement — but at the expense of picture quality. Picture capture is 10.0 megapixels, leading to a maximum image size of 3648×2736 pixels. Movie specs are quite poor, with a maximum of only 640×480 pixels at 30fps.

However, the shutter speeds are a revelation: all the way from a long, long 180 seconds to an industry equaling 1/2000 second.

Exposure modes include auto, Program AE, aperture and shutter priority plus manual. You can choose from multi segment, centre-weighted and spot metering modes.

Test shot: ISO 100 f8 1/25 sec.

Test shot: ISO 400 f8 1/160 sec.

Test shot: ISO 1600 f8 1/640 sec.

ISO settings: choose from the lowest at 100 or rack up to ISO 1600, if you need it. I commend the absence of absurd levels like 6400 and higher, sensitivities virtually unachievable in a compact digicam with a small 15cm CCD. Coupled with this is its ability to apply noise reduction at selectable ISO settings … over ISO 201, 401, etc.

Auto focus: there’s multi-zone and spot, plus manual and a mode called ‘snap’, where you can preset the focus point — to 1 metre, 2.5m, 5m or infinity — then ‘snap’ to it when you want it.

Like the earlier Ricoh CX, the new camera has dynamic range ‘double shot’ mode that takes a pair of exposures, then combines the correctly exposed areas from each to make a single picture with a ‘natural’ contrast range; an ideal helper with subjects showing an excessive brightness range.

But double shot is just one of the camera’s scene modes; others include skew correction, to straighten ‘leaning buildings’; B&W shots of text; and here’s where you find — oddly — movie mode.

A welcome feature is a dial lock, preventing the mode dial from slipping in use and helping you make secure choices of exposure modes. Auto bracketing is in the package: the camera can take three shots, varying in exposure or colour balance.

Some of these attractive tricks are not available when RAW capture is selected. The Ricoh can capture in two quality levels of JPEG or RAW (Adobe’s DNG format) as well as JPEG+RAW.

There’s no optical finder but the 7.6cm LCD screen is to die for! It boasts a resolution of 920,000 pixels with a picture so sharp you could shave by it! I also found it bright enough to frame shots, even with sunlight directly onto its surface. One of the best.
 
A novel add-on is the ADJ button to rapidly tweak metering settings or those of colour saturation (standard, vivid etc) and AF. It also adjusts aperture at the front and/or shutter speed at the back of the camera.

And a few notes:

• There is a tilt indicator that, if you’ve never encountered one before, will surprise at how useful it can be and keep you on the straight and level …
• Engaging macro mode is a snap: tap the macro button and you’re in … tap it again, and you’re out!

Startup Time

Two to three seconds after power-up I could begin shooting, then catch subsequent shots about a second apart.

Distortion

You would expect a single focal length lens to be a top performer — and it is. No sign of any distortion.

Comment

Picture quality was extremely sharp and accurately coloured.

I found the camera subject to flare in bright conditions; that front element is very exposed!

There’s a bunch of accessories with which you can bedeck the camera — like an external flash, a 21mm converter lens plus an optical finder. For me, I would embrace all of these and make the Ricoh a very, very superior digicam — without peers.

All of this means that the Digital III is a powerhouse of a camera and, while it is ostensibly a ‘point and shooter’, it could, in some situations, result in the enthusiastic but uneducated photographer not bringing home the bacon!

Ricoh GR Digital III Specifications

• Image Sensor: 10 million effective pixels.
• Metering: Averaging; centre-weighted; spot.
• Effective Sensor Size: 14.9mm diameter.
• Memory: SD and SDHC cards.
• Image Sizes (pixels): 3648×2736, 3648×2432, 2736×2736, 3264×2448, 2592×1944, 2048×1536, 1280×960, 640×480.
• File Formats: JPEG, RAW (DNG), AVI/Motion JPEG.
• ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100 to 1600.
• Flash: Auto, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction slow sync, first and second curtain sync, forced on and off.
• Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery, AC.
• Dimensions: 107.6×58x25 WHDmm.
• Weight: Approx. 188 g (minus battery).
• Price: Get the latest price on the Ricoh GR Digital III at Amazon.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Ricoh GR Digital III – Review

But back to the aquatic Canon. Via Olympus.

The latter company has made much of its success with the Tough digicams, successfully operable down to 10 metres underwater. I recently had great fun with the Olympus Tough 8000 and felt it was ideally suited to the Australian lifestyle: outdoors, wet and wild.

Belatedly, Canon has picked up the scent of this success and launched its own go-anywhere digicam: PowerShot D10.

CANON POWERSHOT D10 Features

It’s all there: waterproof down to 10 meters, dust proof, shockproof to one meter and able to withstand temps down to minus 10 degrees Centigrade.

In picture terms it can shoot 12.1 megapixel images, sized up to a maximum 4000×3000 pixels, or 34×25cm in print terms. In movies, the camera disappoints: only 640×480 or 320×240 pixels at 30 fps. Surely, for a camera selling close to $600 you could expect near-High Def capture.

The zoom is an optically stabilized 3x job, with a 35 SLR equivalent of 35-105mm in range. Straight away I smell trouble: the wide end of 35mm is already very narrow; dunk the digicam and, thanks to water refraction, the zoom range runs from a narrower 50mm at the wide end to 150mm at the tele end. The Olympus was wider: 28mm (underwater 40mm). The message in underwater photography is to use as wide a lens as possible and move as close to the subject as possible: water clarity is rarely perfect.

The body design is unusual: rounded at every edge, it has four corner mounting points so you can attach a sturdy lanyard, according to your needs: you can now shoot left hand, right hand, camera over or under your head.

Viewing is with a 6.4cm LCD screen — no optical finder. The camera, unusually these days, accepts a wide range of memory cards: SD, SSDHC, MMC etc. Also unusually, there is no internal memory.

For metering, you have to rely on either auto or Program AE. Fair enough: if you’re shooting underwater, the fewer options the better. To help you along there are a few aids: like scene detection, face detection and blink detection. Besides these, you can choose any of the 17 scene modes accessed through the viewfinder menu.

Test shot: ISO 100 f4.9 1/40

Test shot: ISO 800 f4.9 1/400

Test shot: ISO 3200 f14 1/250

CANON POWERSHOT D10 Accessories

You can add fun to the D10 by picking up some accessories: like additional shoulder or neck straps and even screw-on face plates to ‘militarise’ your camera — in camouflage, orange or grey.

There’s even a clip on external flash.

Comment

As I said earlier, the D10 helped me discover a totally new way of making pictures, freeform, abstract, full of motion, swirls and colour. All you need to indulge in this is the Canon, clear water, bright sunlight, some people and/or colourful objects around you and the opportunities are magic!

Love the camera. But I think the zoom’s wide end should have been more like 20mm or less for improved underwater shooting.

CANON POWERSHOT D10 Specs

Image Sensor: 12.1 million effective pixels.
Metering: Evaluative, centre-weighted; spot.
Sensor Size: 11mm.
Lens: f2.8-4.9/6.2-18.6mm.
Shutter Speed: 15 to 1/1500 second.
Continuous Shooting: 1.1fps.
Memory: SD, SDHC, MMC, MMCplus, HC MMCplus cards.
Image Sizes (pixels): 4000×3000, 4000×2248, 3264×2488, 2592×1944, 640×480. Movies: 640×480, 320×240 at 30 fps.
File Formats: JPEG, AVI Motion JPEG.
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 80 to 1600.
Interface: USB 2.0, AV, DC input.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery.
Dimensions: 103.6×66.9×48.8 WHDmm.
Weight: Approx. 190 g (body only).
Price: The Canon Powershot D10 is available at Amazon for $284.87 (14% off)

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Canon Powershot D10 – Review

Into the new PEN went the 4/3rds inch Micro Four Thirds Live MOS sensor. Out went the mirror box. Onto it went a large 7.6cm LCD screen. No optical viewfinder and no onboard flash. Quite a revolution.

You still get Program AE, shutter and aperture priority plus manual exposure modes, precise control of exposure and colour, as well as access to a rapidly increasingly range of interchangeable lenses from not only Olympus but Panasonic as well.

You can use the other Four Thirds system lenses as well as earlier Olympus OM lenses used by the company’s film SLRs, with adaptors for both.

The PEN is not a compact digicam. It’s not a DSLR. However, it does resemble the venerable film rangefinder style of camera — in digital form — with all its advantages.

Railway station, taken with 17mm lens.

Olympus PEN E-P1 Ergonomics

The camera has aluminium top and bottom surfaces, with stainless steel on the sides and back. It sure feels solid.
Pocketable? Yes — until you strap on a lens! Clean lines? Yes. The number of external controls is few — about 10 plus the four way jog wheel, which controls ISO setting, white balance, auto focus setting as well as single/continuous shooting.

Macro is accessed from the mode dial, along with 18 other scene modes like panorama, beach/snow shots, portraits etc. This also supports the various exposure modes (Program AE, etc), movie shooting (16:9 ratio/1280×720 pixels) and Olympus’ set of Art Filters that will either infuriate you or delight.

Test shot: ISO 100 f5.6 1/30 sec.

Test shot: ISO 800 f5.6 1/250 sec.

Test shot: ISO 6400 f5.6 1/2000 sec.

Detail from shot taken at ISO 6400 of Sydney’s State Theatre.

Olympus PEN E-P1 Features

The sensor can capture a maximum image size of 4032×3024 pixels or enough to make a 34×26cm print.

As an interchangeable lens camera, dust removal is crucial: you have only to detach a lens to see the sensor naked before your eyes, with not even the reflex mirror to protect it. Yu must rely on the camera’s Super-Sonic Wave filter to remove dust particles, using lateral supersonic vibrations to shake them off.

The camera uses an internal stabiliser in stills shooting. It compensates for up to four halving degrees of shutter speed; in other words, you can use 1/50 second when you should be using 1/800th.

Once you’ve started shooting movies stabilisation is an electronic process — the recorded image is enlarged slightly; face detection is out of play; the run time is limited to seven minutes at 720p; focus and zoom must be performed manually.

Some will enjoy Live Control, a screen display which indicates and gives access to functions like ISO, white balance, AF mode etc; there’s even a control point for the times when you’re using external flash.

The iAUTO function is a clever trick and could be useful when a know-all or a novice share the same camera; as a fuss-free point-and-shoot mode it tips the camera into the ideal shooting mode to capture the subject in front of the lens.

Another feature that will please the ambitious operator is the PEN’s ability to superimpose multiple RAW pictures onto each other: additional images can be overlaid onto an earlier image and varied in exposure, white balance etc. The PEN’s face detection function can ‘read’ detects up to eight faces, optimising focus and exposure.

A dual axis sensor provides a two direction level gauge to show vertical and horizontal alignment.

Startup Time

I was disappointed at the slow startup time: about three seconds to first shot; follow-on shots could be taken at one to two second intervals.

Distortion

Both lenses (14-22mm and 17mm) performed extremely well, with the zoom showing very, very little barrel and pincushion distortion at the wide and tele ends respectively of the zoom; the wide angle was 100 per cent.

Comment

The brings all the advantages of digital capture without the baggage of a reflex camera. The camera body enjoyably small, the lenses are compact and lightweight.

I’m not so happy with the LCD screen as the sole viewfinder, unless you’re using the 17m lens with its associated optical finder: in bright sunlight the LCD screen is almost useless, with the focusing indicators near-illegible; the 230,000 pixel resolution is also poor.

I question the wisdom of the 17mm lens, with a focal length that sits within the range of the 14-42mm optic. Perhaps it should have been a 12 or 13mm.

Olympus PEN E-P1 Picture quality:

The PEN E-P1 could be a camera for all the family: the knowledgeable would have a ball with the mass of features, while raw novices could use the iAUTO feature and not miss a shot.

However, I cannot help wondering how terrific version number two of the PEN will be!

Olympus PEN E-P1 Specifications

• Image Sensor: 12.3 million effective pixels.
• Metering: Digital ESP, centre-weighted; spot.
• Effective Sensor Size: 22.5mm diameter.
• 35 SLR Lens Factor: 2x.
• Shutter Speed: 60 to 1/4000 second.
• Memory: SD and SDHC cards.
• Image Sizes (pixels): 4032×3024, 3200×2400, 2560×1920, 1600×1200, 1280×960, 1024×768, 640×480. Movies: 1280×720, 640×480.
• File Formats: JPEG, RAW, AVI Motion JPEG.
• ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100 to 6400.
• Interface: USB, AV, HDMI.
• Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery.
• Dimensions: 120.5×70x35 WHDmm.
• Weight: Approx. 335 g (body only).
• Price: The Olympus PEN E-P1 comes in a variety of lens kits including Olympus PEN E-P1 with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens – $799.99, Olympus PEN E-P1 with 17mm f/2.8 Lens – $899.99 and Olympus PEN E-P1 Body Only – $749.99.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Olympus PEN E-P1 Review

A couple of years ago I wrote about my experience of buying a battery grip for my DSLR – while it added bulk and weight to my camera – I did find it had some benefits.

However two years later I have to say that I don’t really use it that often.

The only real times I’ve pulled it out have been on days that I know I’ve got to take a lot of images (weddings mainly). Otherwise It stays at home.

I’m interested to hear what others think – do you have a battery grip for your DSLR? If so – do you actually use it much?

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Do you have a Battery Grip for your DSLR?

I asked the guys over at DigitalRev.com to help me out with a test that I wanted to run – we took two memory cards, a more expensive “well known” brand and a more budget “lesser known” branded CF card and ran them up in real world conditions along side each other to see how they performed.

First, I took the aData card along with me to a night at the Jazz Cafe to photograph a soul singer for Blues&Soul magazine. I wanted to get the job done and couldn’t afford to have any issues, so I figured that with this new card I’d have no trouble. I popped the card into my camera before the gig and formatted it a couple of times, took a few shots and formatted it again. I photographed the gig, checking my display from time to time to see that the images were recording OK and that my focus was as on as a 3″ screen will tell me. Arriving home, I imported the images into Lightroom from the new memory card that I was using and this is what I found…

You can see above that the selected image is missing some information. This is sometimes caused by the card not being able to take all the data that you’re pushing to it from your camera and spitting some onto the floor (basically) This most likely happened when I reeled off a whole lot of shots during one very active part of their performance and the card just wasn’t up to the task.

So, let’s compare the two cards that I was shooting with; The card that caused the failure above was an aData “speedy” 16GB card, It is priced as a budget card at £49.55 and every other time that I’ve used it since this incident it has performed just fine, but I will not use it “when it matters” I shoot with a Canon 5DMk2 and I pretty much always shoot in full resolution RAW a lot of the time in burst mode, so that’s around 3 – 4 images per second (more like 2 -3 in RAW) at about 23MB per file, so a good solid amount of data charging through your camera and onto the CF card. The other card that I was using for this little speed test was the SanDisk Extreme IV 16GB. It’s rated at “45MBps” I used the SanDisk last night when photographing an American R&B singer, Ginuwine, a fast paced concert full of squealing teenagers, and am very happy to report that the SanDisk happily stood and delivered.

I ran basic “full load” test with my 5DMk2 whereby I placed the camera into burst mode in the RAW setting and held the shutter release down until the card could take no more, the aData lasted a whole 12 images while the SanDisk ate it up and kept going and going and.. going! If you want to know how fast your card is or how many images you will fit on it, there’s a handy table over here

This little test doens’t mean that if you’ve purchased an aData card that you’ve got a lemon, it just means that if you use a cheap memory card when it matters, there is more chance that something will go horribly wrong! It is true, you do get what you pay for…

Luckily on this occassion, I didn’t like any images form my  CF card failure inducing burst during Nate’s performance, so no bother.

One other aspect of this test that you should take into account is that with bigger memory cards coming down in price, you’re going to buy them and put more images on the one card, or if you will “more eggs in one basket” I will always only shoot one concert (three songs, no flash!) and then upload, and format my cards.

Big thanks to the guys at DigitalRev for helping us out with the testing for this mini review.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Memory Cards – Get what you pay for!

Image by Claudio Matsuoka

When you first got into photography, you probably started out pretty simple. Maybe you started with an advanced point and shoot camera or an SLR with the kit lens. Photography seemed so simple back then, didn’t it?

Then, as your interest grew, you started buying more and more gear, until all of a sudden, out of nowhere, you found yourself surrounded by mountains of camera gear: lenses, filters, flashes, memory cards, cleaning kits, bags, camera bodies, lens hoods, tripods, ballheads, panheads, levels, tripod collars, camera straps, card readers, remote shutter releases, and the list goes on forever…

But, is all this gear really worth it? Is it really all necessary to achieve your end goal of capturing light?

Problems with having too much camera gear

Whenever you get new gear, you may just think about its cost in money: can you afford it? Should you wait until they lower the price? Is it really worth it to get the name brand or should you buy an off-brand?

But, anytime you get new gear there’s a whole lot of hidden costs too, which Leo Babauta illustrates brilliantly in a recent post on his new blog about minimalism. Here are some of those hidden costs he talks about (along with some adaptations I’ve made about how they relate to photography):

• Too much gear clutters your space, causing distractions and stress
• You have to constantly move your gear from your house, to your camera bag, to your car, and finally to the photo location (and then move it all back)
• When you move to a new house, you’ll have to move all that camera gear
• For a lens or camera body, you have to store the warranty information somewhere, and make sure not to lose it
• If your gear breaks, you have to get it repaired (or replaced), which costs more money and time
• If you went into debt to buy your gear, then you have to constantly worry about that debt
• If you eventually decide to get rid of your gear, then you have to spend time (and possibly money) to get rid of it (e.g. eBay, craigslist, etc)

One of the biggest costs that personally affects me is trying to decide which gear to bring. As a nature photographer, I can only carry so much gear in my backpack, so I’m at a point now where I can’t carry it all in one bag! Having so much camera stuff has become a hassle because now I have to seriously think about what to take and what not to take on a hike.

Why gear isn’t the most important thing

So, maybe now you recognize all the hidden costs of your camera stuff, but after thinking about your gear, you still think it’s all necessary for capturing great images.

Although you certainly need special gear to capture certain types of images (i.e. you can’t really photograph birds without a long telephoto lens), the gear isn’t the most important thing. In photography (and just about everything), it isn’t the gear that makes an image great, it’s the photographer.

Nothing illustrates this more beautifully than the new book by Chase Jarvis, The Best Camera is the One That’s With You. The book is full of remarkable photos he took with the simple camera on his iPhone. He didn’t even use Photoshop to edit the photos, but instead relied entirely on iPhone apps.

Often times, I think that instead of pushing the limits of our existing gear, we just buy something new in hopes that it’ll solve our problem. Everyone loves to get a fancy new toy, right?

How to minimize your gear

Although I don’t think you should necessarily get rid of all your camera stuff and just use your iPhone for now on, I do think it’s a good idea to minimize your gear and focus on what you really need. I have a feeling there’s probably some stuff in your camera bag right now that you haven’t used in awhile.

So, how do you minimize your gear? And, how do you resist the urge to buy even more?

Well, here are a few things that have worked for me:

1. Keep a list of what you use and don’t use during a photo shoot. I actually learned this trick from a backpacker that always wanted to reduce the weight of his bag. Whenever he left for a trip, he would make a list of everything he put in his backpack. While on the trip, he would cross something off if he used it. If he went on enough trips without using something, he stopped bringing it. The same thing has worked great for me as a nature photographer (I always want to hike with as little weight as possible).

2. Push the limits of your existing gear. Learn the limits of the gear you already have, and if you get an overwhelming urge to pass those limits, then that’s the time to get another lens or another camera body.

3. Focus on adding knowledge, not gear, to your camera bag. I think this is the single most effective way to minimize your gear. Read blogs (like DPS, heh), books, and magazines. Attend workshops or other classes. And, perhaps most importantly: experiment with the gear you do have! Learn as much as you can: knowledge doesn’t take up space, and it doesn’t cost nearly as much to obtain!

About the Author: Steve Berardi is a naturalist, photographer, and computer scientist. You can usually find him hiking in the San Gabriel Mountains or the Mojave Desert, both located in the beautiful state of California. Read more of his articles on nature photography at the PhotoNaturalist and follow him on Twitter.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Do you have Too Much Camera Gear?

Here are 7 natural predators of the digital camera and how to avoid them:

Photo by ccdoh1

1. Sunscreen and Insect Repellent

It is important to protect yourself from the elements of sun and insect bites when shooting outdoors, however some of the things that you’ll use to do it can cause your camera harm. Sunscreen is generally oily and insect repellent often contains chemicals that you wouldn’t want to get in touch with the more delicate parts of your camera.

The way to limit the impact that these things have on your camera is pretty obvious and largely involves keeping those parts of your body that come into contact with these things clean. Wash your hands in fresh water after applying sunscreen and repellent and you’ll go a long way to keeping your camera clean. If you do get your camera greasy make sure you clean it off as quickly as you can.

Lastly – don’t fall into the temptation of putting sunscreen and repellent into your camera bag. I know it’s tempting so that you don’t have to carry another bag – but it’s really not worth the risk as a leak could end your camera’s life. If you do travel with them together make sure you have a sealed bag for the liquids.

Photo by Burps Liberty

2. Sand

There is nothing that frightens me more than the thought of sand getting into my camera. Cameras have moving parts and to get something as gritty and abrasive as sand into them can quickly put your camera out of action or at least damage it so that you end up with scratches through it.

Ultimately the only protection against sand is not taking your camera to sandy places. Of course this is not particularly feasible and you’ll need to do what you can to keep sand and your camera separate.

Sealable bags are great to travel with, cleaning brushes to get those stray grains off your camera can be useful and cleaning clothes are helpful.

Always be particularly aware of your surrounds and things like wind or people kicking balls or throwing Frisbees when you’re changing lenses, memory cards and batteries as these are high risk moments that sand just loves to swoop in. Also – learn to think ahead about what lens you might need so that you can change it inside in a more stable environment before hitting the beach.

Photo by Ahmed Zahid

3. Dust

Like sand, dust is a natural enemy of the digital camera. It’s a more subtle attacker in that it generally won’t scratch your moving parts – but it is just as damaging, particularly when it works its way into your camera’s inner parts and settles on your image sensor.

Once again – wipe your camera down each day, be careful of when and where you change lenses and travel with your camera in a sealed bag.

Also if you have a DSLR consider getting it’s image sensor professionally cleaned (or learn to do it yourself – with care) every now and again if you do find marks on your sensor (you’ll notice them most at small apertures – to test it, set your camera to it’s smallest aperture and shoot at a white wall or ceiling).

Photo by B e r n a

4. Moisture/Water

Moisture attacks cameras in numerous ways. At it’s most extreme it attacks as water which has the ability to quickly end the life of your camera (I regularly get emails from digital camera owners who’ve dropped cameras in all kinds of liquids including the ocean, baths, rivers and even toilets). Use you camera’s wrist or neck straps to keep your cameras out of water and always be aware of where you put it an how it can be knocked.

A more subtle attacker when it comes to moisture is condensation. Particularly noticeable is when you move from one temperature to another with your camera (for example from air-conditioning to humid ones). Investing in silica gel packs is one way to help with this as they absorb moisture in your camera bag. Some people suggest putting it in a sealed plastic bag when moving between temperatures – this might work well but is not particularly practical in many situations, especially when you have a large camera. Ideally you want to warm your camera up naturally and slowly – it’s definitely a challenge. Other than that – wipe off your camera regularly when in humid environments.

Photo by photo fiddler

5. Salt

While the beach presents photographers with wonderful photographic opportunities it also can be a dangerous place with many digital camera predators – not the least of which is salt which has a habit of getting into your camera and lenses and causing all kinds of problems (including corrosion).

Fight the impact that salt has on your camera by wiping it clean at least once per day while shooting in salty places.

If you have a DSLR use UV filters on your lenses to give an extra level of protection and avoid opening your camera up (to change batteries, memory cards or lenses) as much as possible. When not shooting, keep your camera safely in your camera bag and be particularly aware of positioning yourself in sea spray on windy days.

Photo by pixelsnap

6. Thieves

Another natural predator of expensive photographic equipment is the thief when you least expect it will swoop in and steal your gear away from you – leaving you feeling frustrated, violated and wondering what you did to deserve it.

Always be aware of where your gear is and how accessible it is to others. Get yourself a camera bag that doesn’t scream ‘I’ve got a camera in here’ if you can (there are some great brands on the market – I use this Crumpler bag for this reason).

Keep your cameras on your body if in a risky environment, keep your bags zipped up and well fastened, consider having your bag on your front rather than your back in high risk situations, insure your gear and try to be selective and not every travel with too much of it at any one time.

Photo by pointnshoot

7. Bumps and Drops

The downfall of many cameras comes quite literally when they are dropped or bumped into other hard objects. While some cameras now come with shock proof casings the majority of cameras do not and need to be treated as delicate objects.

Use a padded camera bag or casing (and use it when your camera is not in use, be aware of where you put your camera, be careful when passing it from one person to another etc. Also check your house and contents insurance to see whether it covers accidental damage (many do). It’s just common sense really but I’m quite amazed at how often silly accidents end the lives of expensive pieces of equipment.

Good Gear

Hopefully you’re feeling a little more prepared to venture out with your digital camera feeling confident at your ability to keep it’s natural predators away.

If you’re looking for some gear to help you with some of the above you might like to check out some of the camera cleaning products at Amazon and their range of Crumpler Camera Bags which I’m a big fan of.

This post was originally published in September 2006 but was updated and republished in September 2007

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

7 Digital Camera Predators and How to Keep them at Bay

While hard and fast stats have not been released, and while the press release last week is heavy on information about new lenses, it is exciting to see Maymiya bringing more options to the medium format market.

While the initial prices for even the DM22 and DM28 lower range cameras will likely be in the multiple thousand dollar range, Mamiya still describes them as, “priced at extremely attractive points.”

Which brings me to a question for our readers; For camera body alone, when does a medium format camera like those from Mamiya start to become a realistic choice for your photography?

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Mamiya Announces New Medium Format DSLRs

Now three models: Sony Alpha 230, 330 and 380. The 230 is claimed to be “world’s lightest dSLR camera with a built-in image stabilisation system” in the body. Only the 330 and 380 have Sony’s unique Quick AF Live View feature.

Sony Alpha A380 Features

The Sony Alpha 380’s 14.2 megapixel CCD has a maximum image size of 4592×3056 pixels or 4592×2576, if you’re shooting 16:9 pictures; print sizes are 39×26cm or 39×22cm respectively. Images are saved to Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo media, SD or SDHC memory cards, thanks to two slots. File formats: JPEG or RAW along with JPEG+RAW.

The CCD has an area of 23.5×15.7mm so a factor of 1.5x can be used to arrive at a 35 SLR figure. The lens supplied with the review camera was a f3.5-5.6/18-55mm objective, so the zoom range can be considered equal to 27-83mm in 35 SLR-speak. Note: this is not a Carl Zeiss lens.

If you need continuous shooting to capture rapid action then this may not be ideal for you: with Live View in play, the maximum speed is 2 fps. Use the optical finder and the speed reaches only 2.5fps. You can store a burst of only three frames in JPEG+RAW but with no limits (aside from card capacity) in JPEG solo.

The optical finder is supported by a rear 6.7cm LCD screen that pulls away from the body and tilts vertically 135 degrees up and down by 55 degrees; you can effectively line up a shot with the camera on the ground or above your head.

Auto focus settings can be used with a matrix of nine areas, a localised single area or a single spot. The lens carries a switch giving access to auto or manual focus. AF can be determined for single shot photography, continuous AF or a mix of single and continuous.

The camera is compact in size and, with the kit lens attached, weighs less than 800 grams.

My first impressions were that the camera has a very user-friendly interface, with an easy to find Live View on/off button sited right next to the power button. Live View can be set to be operative for periods from 20 seconds to 30 minutes.

At left, the mode dial carries settings for normal exposure modes — auto, Program AE, shutter and aperture priority as well as manual — plus useful scene modes such as sports, macro, portraits etc. Metering can be multi-segment, centre-weighted and spot readings.

The four way control rocker gives access to flash settings, drive mode, display options and ISO settings — from ISO 100 to 3200.

Hinting at the target market for the camera, a new Graphic setting helps explain to entry-level users the aperture/shutter speed relationship and the effect each has on an image. The mode dial has six scene modes: macro, portrait etc.  Overall, the number of external buttons and control points is few, so the user is less likely to be bamboozled by a forest of techy tools.

The Auto Brightness Control function monitors ambient light levels and auto boosts LCD monitor brightness. Another attraction is an auto eye-starter function that automatically activates the autofocus when you bring your eye close to the finder.

Although the camera has no video capture function there is an HDMI output so you can run an HD slide show on a compatible tele.

Comment

On test, I have to say I was agreeably surprised at the quality of colour and sharpness in the pictures I shot. In a series of shots made with varying ISO settings, I found the upper levels — even ISO 3200 — delivered excellent quality.

A well-priced, fine camera, capable of excellent work. But no video shooting capability!

Sony Alpha A380 Specs

• Image Sensor: 14.2 million effective pixels.
• Metering: Digital ESP, centre-weighted; spot.
• Sensor Size: 23.5×15.7mm.
• 35 SLR Lens Factor: 1.5x.
• Shutter Speed: 30 to 1/4000 second.
• Memory: Memory Stick Pro Duo, SD and SDHC.
• Image Sizes (pixels): 4592×3056, 4592×2576, 3408×2272, 3408×1920, 2288×1520, 2288×1280. Movies: 1280×720, 640×480.
• File Formats: RAW, JPEG.
• ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 100 to 3200.
• Interface: USB 2.0, AV, HDMI.
• Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery.
• Dimensions: 128×97x71.4 WHDmm.
• Weight: Approx. 490 g (body only).
• Price:Sony Alpha A380L with 18-55mm ($799.99) – Sony Alpha A380Y with 18-55mm and 55-200mm Lenses ($999.99)

Body and DT f3.5-5.6/18-55m SAM kit lens: $1499. Body with DT f3.5-5.6/18-55m SAM and DT f4-5.6/55-200mm SAM kit lenses: $1799.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

Sony Alpha A380 DSLR Review

First, the stats. 

• i-gotU GT-120 GPS Data Logger
• SiRF StarIII 65nm chipset
• 16MB of flash memory, recording up to 65,000 points
• 2 LEDs and 1 button
• Nifty rubberized cover, has loop for strap on the back
• Hole for lanyard attachement
• USB 1.1.  Comes with cable as it uses a proprietary plug
• Comes with @trip PC software (update: please note that it’s not available for Mac)
• Retail price – $70US

Operation In The Field

This unit is very easy to use in the field.  With one button, it’s hard to go wrong and it’s very easy for travel companions to use if you want to lend it out.  Holding down the button will cause the blue LED to the right of the button to illuminate.  Now you’re cooking with gas!  Once a signal has been acquired both the blue and red light will flash twice in quick sequence to indicate a satellite lock has been established and a waypoint has been recorded.  All the while, the blue light will continue to flash letting you know the unit is on the job.  Shutting off the unit is just as easy as turning it on.  Holding down the button will cause the red LED to illuminate for a couple of seconds, letting you know the unit is powering off.

In reality, I found signal acquisition to be well within my acceptable limit of two minutes when moved large distances (Philadelphia, USA to Brisbane, Australia).  When kept in a relatively stagnant location between power cycles, the unit acquired and started logging within 30 seconds or less.  For half of my trips the unit was placed on the dash of a vehicle (minivan, campervan and RV with overhang) where the rubberized cover became very useful to prevent sliding.  For the other half of the trip the unit was either in a front shirt pocket or the pockets of my shorts.

Can you find the small blue and white device in this geek-tangle?

From such a small unit I was not expecting much in the way of extreme accuracy while the unit was in my pocket.  Frankly, I would have been happy with a location within 100′ of my actual spot on the Earth.  What I found was there was little difference between when the unit was out in the open or close up to my body.  Nor was the unit greatly affected by the large overhang in the RV.  In fact, short of underground garages and the lower holds of BC Ferries, accuracy was within 40′ for more than 90% of the trips.  I was impressed with the GT-120’s ability to both acquire and accurately record location in a wide variety of terrain and geographic locations.

My main complaint about the unit’s operation has to do with battery charging.  This unit requires a USB connection to charge.  While charging times are fairly short (full charge from dead in about an 40 minutes), I often travel to remote locations and leave my laptop at home.  The unit can be plugged into a wall unit USB charging device, however, I prefer a unit that can run on standard batteries of some type.  That being said, once this limitation is understood adaptations can easily be made.  For the trips mentioned, I was not far from a laptop for more than a day.  Battery life on the unit was close to nine hours of continuous use.   Again, I was pleased with the performance on this statistic as I’d regularly leave the unit on for a full day of travel and photography.  Only twice was I left without power, but that was due to my own inability to remember to plug in the unit.

One last note on field use.  This unit was regularly nestled between a SPOT Personal Satellite Messenger and a Delorme GPS.  Often times when there are multiple GPS devices in close proximately, the signal reception can degrade.  I did not notice any such degradation beyond the acceptable parameters mentioned above.  In other words, even when surround by unit with more powerful antennas, the SiRF chipset in GT-120 was able to receive enough signal to keep locations within a 40′ radius.

Operation At Home

Click for larger view

The GT-120 comes with its own software, called @trip PC (sorry, PC only).  The software is basic and to the point.  When a unit is plugged in the software will automatically start downloading track data.  File structure is kept simple; each data set is marked with the time downloaded.  I would have liked to see some customization in this feature but after data is downloaded, those file names can be changed.  It’s just an extra step.

At this point my process diverges from the way @trip PC handles pictures.  For me, I normally take a .gpx file and use other software to geotag images.  But @trip PC can handle this all for me and even make a spiffy Google Map when it’s done.  This is a great feature if you intend to share your photos with friends and family (it even comes complete with webserver space to handle your images and map).  The map is familiar to those who use Google Maps and retains Googles easy of navigation while adding in photos and track data for easy clicking.

Sharing via the @trip server is straight forward, but not highly utilized at this time.  Images can also be uploaded to Picasa Web Albums or Flickr, giving the software some true utility.  The software can also export saved log files to the more popular GPX file format for use in any number of GPS programs and units.

Conclusion

I enjoyed both the size and simplicity of the i-gotU GT-120 I tested.  The unit functioned as advertised and took a lot of beating during the three months it saw thousands of miles and kilometers.  While I’d enjoy having a charging source available other than yet another USB cord, it suited my needs while on ‘connected’ road trips. 

For more information on where to purchase a GT-120, check out their website.

Post from: Digital Photography School - Photography Tips.

i-gotU GT-120 GPS Data Logger Review