Digital Camera reviews - Best Reflex Camera

Photo of The Day: Smoothly Blue

Dphotojournal com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 04:39:34 +0000

Smoothly Blue by Rafro

Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD Macro AF SP: Lens Test

8e88 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:50:00 +0000

Tamron means business with its first high-speed tele zoom in more than 10 years. This full-framer ($700, street) scales up, approximately, to a 109-310mm on most DSLRs, and as a member of Tamron's SP (Super Performance) family, was designed as a pro-quality lens. It boasts two costly LD glass elements that control color fringing and coatings to suppress flare off digital sensors. The lens makes a logical mate to Tamron's 28-75mm f/2.8 SP pro zoom.

HANDS ON: At 2 pounds, 14.6 ounces (including magnesium-alloy tripod collar and reverse-stowing lenshood), the lens might seem heavy, but it's actually lighter than most in its class. (Sigma's comparable 70-200mm f/2.8, for example, weighs more than 3 pounds, including hood.) With the petal-type lenshood in place, it's almost 11 inches long. Internal-zooming (and -focusing), at least it doesn't extend past that.

Its AF action is moderately fast, moderately quiet, and sure. Both manual-focus and zoom rings are very well-damped and even-turning. Each is textured with both knurled and ribbed patterns of rubber. Nearly 2 inches wide, the manual-focusing ring is unusually large, and well-designed for quick focusing touch-ups.

While the lens doesn't allow manual focus in the AF mode, it flips between the two with unusual ease thanks to this manual-focus ring that doubles as an easy-to-use, push/pull-type AF on/off switch. Its barrel markings are a bit unusual, though. When the switch is in the MF position, the markings that show the lens' AF/MF status are concealed under the ring. Result: First-time users can spend several minutes wondering how to go from manual to AF.

Julia Silber

more : popphoto

Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro Lens Review

8e88 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:49:00 +0000

The Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens delivers sharp images from a great focal length range and a wide/fast aperture. It is a light and economical package. The autofocus system is the clear downside to this lens.

Overall, and especially for the price, I'm very pleased with the image quality of the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens. On the wide end (70mm), this lens is sharp wide open (f/2.8) across the entire 35mm frame. Stopping down only makes a small improvement in sharpness - reduced vignetting is the primary difference seen. By 100mm, the center is still sharp wide open, but corner softness is setting in due to a slightly curved focus plane. Stopping down to f/5.6 results in excellent image quality across the frame.

The weak spot for this lens is 135mm - especially in my first purchased-retail-new copy of the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens which exhibited a very soft right side. This was due mostly to a curved focus plane but the left side was far sharper than the right side (examples showing the right side of this lens are shown in the ISO 12233 test results for lens sample #2). Here is a closer look at the problem that was most apparent at 135mm f/2.8.

more : the-digital-picture

Sony DSLR-A300 Review

8e88 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:42:00 +0000

The bundled software disk contains Picture Motion Browser Ver. 2.1.02 for Windows, Image Data Lightbox SR Ver. 1.0 for Windows and Macintosh and Image Data Converter SR Ver. 2.0 for Windows and Macintosh. Picture Motion Browser is a general-purpose downloading and image organiser application with basic editing facilities and support for printing images and burning them to optical disk.

The application initially requires you to 'register' folders of images. It will then display thumbnails in calendar form and you can select months and days by clicking on thumbnails. It will even show the time of day in which shots were taken.

Editing facilities include an automatic correction (which covers brightness and colour balance), brightness, saturation sharpness and tone curve adjustments and red-eye correction. You can also run slideshows of shots in selected folders.

Image Data Converter SR is a better-than-average raw file converter that supports a wide range of adjustments. It also lets you change the Creative Style settings, adjust the DRO parameters and apply colour and edge noise-reduction processing before converting raw files to TIFF or JPEG format. TIFF files can be saved in 8- or 16-bit format. You can also apply several special effects, including B&W and sepia conversion, solarisation and negative conversion.

Image Data Lightbox SR allow users to display and compare raw and JPEG images recorded with the camera and rate them on a scale of one to five. It also provides a seamless interface with Image Data Converter SR for raw file conversion.

Margaret Brown

more : photoreview

Olympus Digital Camera: The Emperor

chalacuna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:27:00 +0000

Beautiful moments as well as some dazzling moments can occur any time without any previous warning. At that time, everyone wish to capture those moments. Now there is an option by that one can capture the beautiful moments easily and this option is digital camera. There are many camera manufacturers available in the market. Olympus is different from all. It is to be known as one of the oldest camera manufacturers.

This camera manufacturer has completed a long journey in manufacturing field of cameras. Its digital cameras are being used all over the world today. Olympus digital camera offers variety of zoom, lenses and mega-pixels. Even though digital cameras had been offered by various other digital camera manufacturers during the 80â€™s and 90â€™s. They were not of very high quality and also were not suited for web publishing and making low resolution prints.

Olympus digital cameras are designed in such a way that users get quick right to use to most if not all features including setting flash and also deleting picture that simply requires pressing a single button. Moreover, these digital cameras also allow users to simply print pictures without the need of any connecting cable. Thus, when in the year 1996, Olympus digital cameras come in way of life, and the world of digital camera underwent a major change.

That time Olympus digital cameras together with P&S type of cameras that had an excellent motion. Continue improvement in the camera made Olympus mature and in 2000, it started to offer 2 and 3 mega-pixels cameras. It also features stabilizing digital images so that burs can be done away that may have been caused by shuddering cameras or because of objects that were moving, which allows users to obtain crisper as well as clearer pictures. Another main advantage of the Olympus digital camera is that users can use them in all weather conditions. Its designs allows for seals and gaskets that protect the camera and allow users to shoot without perturbing about rain, or snow, or sunshine.

Olympus houses a range of digital cameras. Few of them are mentioned here: Olympus Stylus 770 SW, EVOLT E-510, Olympus FE-230, and Olympus EVOLT E-410, FE-280, SP-550 ultra zoom, SP-560 UZ, Stylus 790 SW, and SP-320 and many others. With the considerable selection of the choice in the series of digital cameras presented by Olympus, you will be certain to find something that fulfills your needs. For your right choice about Olympus digital camera, you are to search over the internet and you will find different serious of digital camera.

About the Author
Porter's Camera Store has all photography equipments including camera accessories, digital camera, film, camera bags and other photography items. You can choose either Olympus Digital Camera or Nikon Digital Camera, and other digital cameras form here.

Easy to Use Nikon Digital Camera

chalacuna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:26:00 +0000

Camera is an option of capturing the beautiful moments of life. Many years ago, capturing the beautiful moment was not easy. Users or photographers had to set the camera and after a boring process it was possible to capture the pictures. Now everything has changed. Continue improvements of camera have changed methods of capturing. Photography used for professional or entertainment is easy now. Digital camera has changed the methods of capturing photos and videos.

There are many camera manufacturers available in the photography market, but Nikon digital camera has occupied a special place in the photography market as well as in the heart of users. All digital cameras are good for something, but users want clear and detailed image captured by the camera. Users also want camera that should be easy to use and have a few functions like simple camera. For that Nikon digital cameras are suitable for you. Suddenly occurred actions can be easily captured with its help.

People are sure of buying Nikon digital camera because they know that they are paying for quality, durability, functionality and reputation. The advantage of these digital cameras is that it gives the opportunity to amateur photographer to have the quality professional shot. Nikon produced less expensive units of their professional cameras. Nikon houses a top camera manufacturer reputation in the photography world.

Nikon D2X is packed with all possible features, which most amateurs will hardly use in a lifetime as this camera is very expensive. Nikon D80 shares many features such as improved auto-focus, interchangeable lenses, 10.2 mega-pixels, wider flash range and longer battery life. Digital cameras are loaded with hi-speed USB card reader, memory card, lenses and LCD screens.
Now Nikon FX format D700 DSLR is the camera that will definitely fit for your needs. This newly launched digital camera equipped with 12.1 mega-pixel FX-format sensors. It can work with an area of up to 36.0 x 23.9mm. It is capable of taking 5 frames per second that gives you an option of shooting anything successfully. Nikon P4 houses 8 mega-pixels with 2.5 inch viewing screen with auto mode. Nikon S50C offers 7.2mega-pixels and houses a wireless interface. This camera is impressive with 3 inch viewing screen, three times optical and four times digital zoom.
There are a lot of Nikon digital cameras available and they are their own reputation in various areas. You are to select one according to your requirements.

About the Author
Porter's Camera Store has all photography equipments including camera accessories, digital camera, film, camera bags and other photography items. You can choose either Olympus Digital Camera or Nikon Digital Camera, and other digital cameras form here.

Learn Digital Photography .. Understanding Digital Camera Flash Units

chalacuna — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:24:00 +0000

Flash units can come in many sizes and shapes for digital photography. Those cameras on the lower end of the scale come with low energy built in flash units. However, some gear such as the high end digital SLR cameras can accommodate external flash units advanced in their abilities to provide excellent lighting in complicated situations. Know the basic facts about the difference between built in and external flash units.

Many advances have been made with flash units since the early days of photography. In photography's infancy, flash units were using powder that was lit by electrical current and then "blown up" to generate the light energy. This method was most certainly a risk. It also proved a challenge as the flash units were not automatically in time with the camera's shutter so the photographer had to coordinate the flash to go off at the exact time the photo was shot.

Today flash units have eliminated this challenge. An electronic flash tube ensures flash timing is synchronized to the camera. The photographer now gets to concentrate on other aspects of the photo. New digital cameras can even determine on their own if the flash is even needed, set its intensity and other parameters and fire the flash at the precise time the shutter is opened. All of this is automatically done in the background. Should the user want to make their own adjustments, digital cameras also allow the user to manually control the flash, set its intensity and more.

Flash units are separated into two basic categories: Internal built-in flash units or external flash units. Internal flash units are naturally built into the camera. Nearly all digital cameras come with such a unit and permit the user some control over it through the camera's menus and buttons. External flash units are attached to the camera's body through a dedicated slide-in slot or by using an electrical cable. Not all digital cameras can support external flash units. Generally the lower end pocket cameras do not support external flash units while all high end digital SLR cameras will. There can be quite a bit of difference in external flash units. They can have different light energy levels that they can emit and different mechanical characteristics. Some external flash units also include smart sensors to measure ambient light, distance and other optical parameters in order to make the most of the flash effect.

Flash units can be used in both automatic and manual mode in most digital cameras. When in automatic mode, the camera measures ambient light and fires the flash when there is a lack of enough light. There can be times the camera will make the incorrect choice in using the flash and will either fire or not fire the flash when the contrary was needed. Setting the flash intensity is important also. Should the flash unit fire too much light energy on objects that are too close to the camera the digital photo will be washed out. Of course if the flash unit fires a small amount of light energy on an object that is farther away from the digital camera the digital photo will be a too dark.

Flash units do have boundaries. They do not light any view and any object at any distance from the camera. You should know the limitations of your flash unit. As an example, experiment to see what the highest amount of light energy it can produce and at what distance an object can effectively be lit from. Use a tripod with a longer exposure and turn off the flash itself if the object is out of the effective flash range. There can be cases where it is still useful to use the flash even if there is enough ambient light available. In this situation, you can manually fire the camera's flash. This technique is known as fill-in flash and is typically used to fill-in shadowed or darkened areas on objects in the digital photograph.

Looking into digital photography? Check out this Digital Photography Guide HERE... http://www.learndigitalphotographynow.com Get Great Tips on how to take Digital Photographs plus Digital Camera Reviews

About the Author
Now You Can Shoot Beautiful Digital Photos and Create Awesome Digital Memories - Guaranteed! This is just a small part of what's on offer for you to learn about digital photography and start to get to grips with all that technical digital jargon and really feel at ease when you pick up your digital camera.

Canon PowerShot A580 8MP Digital Camera

cute girl — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:42:00 +0000

Even beginners can create phenomenal images with the amazing PowerShot A580. This impressive 8.0-megapixel digital camera has a 4x optical zoom and bright 2.5-inch LCD that make shooting simple and convenient. To give you superior quality images without having to worry about the details, there’s a full range of Canon’s highly advanced features at your service -- including a powerful DIGIC III image processor, enhanced Face Detection technology, a host of shooting modes including a new Easy Mode and more.

Picture the possibilities of this impressive digital camera. The 8.0-megapixel design lets you create images of breath-taking detail and radiant color that you can print, enlarge, crop or email to friends and family. The Canon 4x optical zoom gives you the power you need to get in close and capture special moments -- whether they’re happening across the room or across the schoolyard.

The camera’s 2.5-inch LCD screen gives you the big picture, whether you’re shooting, reviewing or showing off your images. This high-resolution screen offers a crisp, clear and bright picture. It also features Night Display for easy viewing in low light.

Photo of The Day: a Carrige Ride in Palma

Dphotojournal com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:48:04 +0000

a Carrige Ride in Palma by Paul Holmes

Product Review - Ray Flash: The Ring Flash Adapter from ExpoImaging

T. Michael Testi — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:16:00 +0000

Technorati Tags: Photography,Ray Flash,Ring Flash,ExpoImaging

Written by T. Michael Testi

The new Ray Flash from ExpoImaging is a unique adapter for your hot-shoe flash unit that is designed to replicate the lighting effect that produced by traditional and much more expensive studio ring flash units. The Ray Flash was built to be lightweight and to be powered by your existing hot-shoe unit, it contains no heavy electronics.

What is a ring flash? First invented in 1952 by Lester A. Dine, it was originally used in dental photography to pinpoint light into a patient's mouth so that a clear picture of patents teeth could be made. In the 1970's, it was found to have other photographic benefits and took off in other genres.

The device itself is a circular photographic flash that fits around the lens of a camera. It is meant to provide even illumination on the subject, and is effective in reducing the number of shadows that can be produced by traditional flashes. In many ways, it works like a soft box in that it spreads the light from many angles and softens the shadows. It is now used in many different areas of photography, especially portrait and fashion photography.

The way the Ray Flash works is through little channels that direct the light from the flash around the ring. Closer to the top of the ring, the spot where your native flash is, there are no little reflectors, and as it channels to the bottom, more channels spread the light around the ring. One thing to note is that you will lose a little lighting power from your flash. It's about a full stop, so you will have to run your flash with a bit more power which in turn will affect your battery life, but that is one of the trade-offs for having a lighter unit.

Installation is really easy as well. As you can see in the image below you just slide the Ray Flash over the head of your flash unit and turn the lock on the top of the unit. Each Ray Flash is made for certain flash/camera combinations so you will need to make sure that you get the correct combinations. There is a list on the ExpoImaging site to make sure that you get the right one for your system.

The unit itself seems to be pretty well made. Its lightness is because it is made of a plastic material. While I think that if it were used roughly, it could show some adverse effects and probably be irreparably damaged if mistreated, when treated with a little common sense and care, it should have no problems. My first thought was that it would be easy for this to fall off when using, but I had no problems with it. Despite flinging and flipping my camera, it all felt snug.

Once you have it attached, shooting with it is as easy as ever. There is a little weight noticed, especially when shooting freehand and flipping the camera back and forth, but nowhere like a full mechanical ring flash attachment, or some of the do-it-yourself configurations I have seen.

In the sample below, the image on the left was shot with a Canon 20D and a Canon Speedlight 580EX II. You can see the harsh shadows that were produced behind the subject. The image on the right was done using the Ray Flash. No harsh shadows. I did no editing to either picture other than cropping and sizing.

As with all ring flash units, there is a certain amount of fall off. If you want the background to be illuminated by the Ray Flash, then what you are shooting needs to be close to background or use additional fill lights. Keep in mind that this is not isolated to the Ray Flash, but to ring flashes in general and I only mention it if you have not worked with a ring flash before.

At $299.00 USD, the Ray Flash may be a little pricey for the average hobbyist, but for someone who is doing portraits, fashion work, commercial, or wedding photography, this will make for a nice addition to your bag of tricks and will pay for itself many times over. If you are looking for a lightweight, easy to use ring flash, then you really need to check out Ray Flash.

Nintendo DS

Paul Lasaine — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:33:00 +0000

Last year, my wife bought me a Nintendo DS with the hopes of using it as a digital sketch book. It's been sitting in the box since December, but I finally got all the necessary software and got it running last week.

Here are my first feeble attempts to paint on the thing. I have one thing to say...it ain't a Cintiq! The 2" screen, two brush choices (soft-round & hard-round), no undo function, and no selection tools are a long way from Photoshop CS3. But stripping all the bells and whistles away from the digital painting experience is quite humbling and darn good practice.

I'm going on a trip to Italy with my family soon and I'm taking it with me. Hopefully I'll have a few sketches to post when I get back. (And hopefully they'll be better than these!)

Photo of The Day: Boris Our Family Cat

Dphotojournal com — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:15:05 +0000

Boris Our Family Cat by Larry Davidson

The cropping tool

imageo — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:44:00 +0000

One of the best and easiest to use tools for digital photos is the cropping tools, which cuts a desired section out of an image, trimming off unwanted parts (at the edges). Using Picasa, cropping is easy. In the editing view, click Crop. There are three default sizes(in cm 10 x 15, 13 x 18, and 20 x 25). The fourth option, Manual, is the one I use most, it allow you to click a point in the shot and the drag the mouse pointer to selection the portion that you want to crop. The rest of the photo will go grey. Click Preview to see the crop. If you like it, click Apply; otherwise click Reset and try again.

Why a cropping tool is so good? It allows you to improve the composition of your photo. Most digital cameras now do a wonderful job of exposure and focus, but none as yet include a magic button to make your image interesting. That is in my opinion now the biggest difference between a mediocre photographer and a great one. There is plenty of advice on the web on the basics of good composition. Sometimes you do need to use your judgement and not follow the rules blindly, for example I left the horizon in the middle of my final crop, because there were enough shapes and lines to draw the viewers eye into the image.

Most Photo software, including the software bundled with your camera, and even photo kiosks will have a cropping tool. Many cameras now have built in cropping tool. So go now and try cropping that photo you liked but where disappointed with when it was printed.

Out on the sundeck

imageo — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 01:25:00 +0000

Leica M8 review

8e88 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Should you buy the Leica M8? That all depends on who you are, what you are trying to shoot, and how much money you have in your pocket. For the person who has $10,000 in Leica lenses at home, doesn't see the price of an M8 as an obstacle, and just wants to have a digital camera to use them on, the M8 is the best of your two choices (the other being to buy a used Epson R-D1) and your only choice if you want a new factory-warranty camera. If you are a less wealthy photographer who is dedicated to digital, but longs to have a digital RF, I would probably suggest the used R-D1 route. If you are the kind of person who cannot imageine spending $5400 on a camera that was not perfect in every way, you should probably keep walking. I'm not sure where you will end up (Canon and Nikon have their own issues even at that price point), but it sure won't be here in M8-land

Since the SLR revolution of the 1970's, the Leica M series has always been about something other than cramming the most gadgets and features in a camera. Buying a Leica M is a lot like buying a car such as a Lotus Elise. The Elise and a Lexus GS both start at around $45,000. With the Lexus, you get a fine performing car with all of the best creature comforts and reliability of a Japanese made luxury car. With the Lotus Elise you get nothing but a very fast very fun car to drive. The lotus has virtually no creature comforts, costs an arm and a leg to repair, and comes from a company with a dubious reliability record. Why get the Elise? Because you are buying more than the end result of getting down the road, you are buying an experience. No matter how many speakers or climate-control zones or cupholders the Lexus has, it will never EVER feel the same rallying around a twisty country road in the Lotus.

Josh Root

more : photo.net

Canon Digital Rebel XSi Review

8e88 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:04:00 +0000

The Rebel XSi seems to be a combination of the Rebel XTi and the EOS 40D, with a few new features of its own thrown into the mix. It has the basic form of the XTi with the same shutter speed range, the same flash sync speed and the same ISO range. However it also has features of the EOS 40D such as Live View, Highlight Tone Priority, High ISO Noise reduction, Spot metering, a 14-bit A/D converter and viewfinder ISO display.

The performance is perhaps closer to the 40D than to the XTi. Resolution is measurably higher, though the difference in practice is quite small. Noise appears to be a little higher, perhaps because of the smaller pixels.

Overall the XSi is an improvement over the XTi, though more in terms of features than image quality, which is good in both cameras. Upgrading from the XTi to the XSi makes sense if you need things like spot metering, a larger LCD and Live View, but if you're looking for a noticeable leap in image quality, I don't think you'll see it. If you want a significant increase in image quality, you'd probably need to look at a full frame DSLR like the Canon EOS 5D

Bob Atkins

more : photo.net

Sony Cybershot DSCW150/B 8.1MP Digital Camera

cute girl — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:31:00 +0000

Take stunning shots in a variety of conditions. The Sony DSC-W150 Cyber-shot(R) 8.1-Megapixel Digital Camera features an Intelligent Scene mode, which automatically selects the right settings for your environment. Smile Shutter technology lets you instantly capture smiles the moment they happen. A Carl Zeiss 5x optical zoom lens and Sony's Double Anti-Blur solution provide crisp, clear images. Because an off-center subject can make your shot more interesting, a 9-point auto-focus measures the focus at 9 precision points instead of 5 for a greater creative freedom to compose your image. A large, bright 2.7" Clear Photo LCD display includes an anti-reflective coating that provides for excellent visibility to help you compose, view, and share photos with superb clarity and color reproduction, even in bright sunlight. Face Detection technology automatically controls focus, exposure, color, and flash to help reveal faces in shadows, make skin tones look more natural, reduce red-eye, and eliminate harsh facial glare, so your photos bring out every expression on every face in every shot. A built-in optical viewfinder lets you compose your photos in traditional rangefinder camera style and helps save battery power by turning off your LCD display. Shutter Speed - Auto (1/4 - 1/1,600) / Program Auto (1 - 1/1,600) ISO - Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200 Flash Modes - Auto, Flash On, Slow Syncro, and Flash Off Scene Modes - Auto, Easy Shooting, Program Auto, Movie, High Sensitivity, Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Soft Snap, Landscape, Beach, Snow, Fireworks, Smile Shutter, and Underwater Movie Modes - MPEG VX Fine with Audio (640x480 at 30fps), MPEG VX Standard with Audio (640x480 at 16fps), 320 (QVGA, 320 x 240, Approx.8.3fps) Operating System - Microsoft 2000 Professional, Me, XP Home and Professional, Macintosh OS 9.1, 9.2, and OS X (10.0-10.4)

Sony Cyber-shot DSCH50 9.1 MP Digital Camera

cute girl — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 04:28:00 +0000

Beauty is in the details, and this model captures them all. The DSC-H50 is a full-featured point-and-shoot with outstanding high-power zoom capability. It includes Smile Shutter technology which captures smile the moment they happen, as well as Face Detection technology to optimize focus, exposure and color for up to eight faces. Shoot detailed images with 9.1-megapixel resolution, and bring your subjects closer with the 15x optical zoom Carl Zeiss lens. Intelligent Scene Recognition automatically selects your camera's settings based on detected lighting conditions, while Sony's Double Anti-Blur solution helps keep your images blur-free. The DSC-H50 completes the package with a 3.0-inch ClearPhoto LCD Plus display that lets you easily view your images and menu options.

Nikon 50mm lens review

Rick — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 23:59:00 +0000

Today I bought myself the Nikon 50mm lens. I heard that this very affordable lens is not only very sharp, but very fast too. There is a faster version, the Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF, but it is over twice the price. I figured f 1.8 was plenty fast enough. What a treat this lens is! Not only is it tack-sharp, but it gives nice punchy contrast too. This shot of a wine glass was one of my very first shots, and I'm quite pleased with it. The build quality is just slightly on the cheap side, but I don't...

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Mornington morning

imageo — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:20:00 +0000

Brand New Social Network for Artistic Talent

Rick — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:58:00 +0000

Fans find artists. Talent find gigs, casting calls, and get famous. Industry professionals find the stars of tomorrow. Taltopia is THE social network for artistic talent. Sign up for FREE. How It Works Create a FREE profile. If you upload a video, audio, or picture, you are considered a talent. If you don't, you are a fan...it's that simple. Vote. Browse through the site and vote on media you find. Each "fame" vote will increase the score by 1, whereas a...

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Sammy Sue!!

Joel Eckman Maus — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:39:00 +0000

I have been wanting to shoot little Samantha for a long time- you'd think I wouldn't have to wait too long considering she's my niece:) I have taken many shots of her since she was born but I really wanted to shoot her in the studio:
Created a custom Lightroom Preset just for this shoot. I love the high-contrast-but-still-kinda-vintage look. What do you think?

My favorite for last, this one's getting printed big for the studio!!
Thanks for the shoot Sammy-Sue. Just as I thought, super cute!!

Shooting Sammy for these great shots is just come full circle: her big brother was one of my first subjects when he was a baby- I got a first place in the first annual 'Zone One Student Exhibition' with a shot of him during my last semester at Orange Coast College- but I shot him with film and printed it in the darkroom!

Nikon D60 Review

8e88 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:25:00 +0000

The Nikon D60 is a good option for new DSLR owners. It is a well-built camera with very good image quality and excellent speed of operation. Most people upgrading from a fixed-lens camera are looking for speed and image quality. At the same time, the D60 gives users access to the second largest lens lineup of the industry.

Images from the D60 are characterized by low image noise, plenty of details and accurate colors. The only concern with respect to image quality is this camera's tendency to over-expose. It can always be correctly by using exposure-compensation, but requires more intervention than is ideal.

The feature set and ergonomics of the Nikon D60 are very reasonable for an entry-level DSLR. Pros may feel too limited but novices will not find this camera too daunting. The inclusion of the eye-start sensor is incredibly useful and numerous features like spot-metering and white-balance fine-tuning are made to make nearly any result achievable.

In the end, the D60 is impressive because it delivers what novice DSLR users expect from a DSLR: image quality and speed above all. With users building experience on the D60, Nikon can expect improved skills to eventually lead users to higher-end models.

more : neocamera

Sony Alpha DSLR-A200 Review

8e88 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:22:00 +0000

Sony's start into the world of Digital SLRs was quite a slow paced one. The first Sony branded model, the A100, appeared on the scene in June 2006 and it took over a year for it to be joined by a companion, the A700 prosumer model which was launched in September 2007. More recently though Sony has stepped up a gear and launched not one, but three cameras to replace the A100 - the DSLR A200, A300 and A350.

There is now something for everybody in the Sony line-up. The A350 for the feature-loving photographer on a budget, the A200 for those whose number one buying criterion is value-for-money and the A300 for bargain hunters who want a balance of the two. The A200 is, in terms of specification, not a million miles away from the veteran A100. It's got a larger screen, comes with an ISO3200 mode and user controlled High ISO noise reduction but in turn lacks the A100's depth of field preview (it's unsurprisingly much cheaper though).

Sony is not the only manufacturer which is diversifying its offerings in the entry-level sector and the A200 will have to face fierce competition in the bottom bracket of the market. Let's see how it shapes up on the following pages.

Lars Rehm

more : dpreview

Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II review

8e88 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:21:00 +0000

The 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II is one of Sigma's latest lenses, which was first announced in December 2007 for Canon, Nikon and Sigma, with a slew of follow-on releases adding compatibility for the remaining SLR mounts (i.e. Four Thirds, Sony and Pentax; however none of these versions are yet shipping). It's a successor to the 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Macro HSM of February 2006, with a refined optical layout offering improved optical performance, and becomes the fourth iteration of the same basic EX design first unveiled in 1999 (which was itself preceded by a well-respected 70-210mm F2.8 for 35mm). The HyperSonic Motor (HSM) focusing system promises fast, silent and accurate autofocus for users of all brands of DSLR, although Pentax users should be aware that this lens is effectively of 'KAF-3' mount specification, and therefore won't focus on bodies which don't support SDM lenses. Aside from that specific incompatibility, this is a design which will work on almost every DSLR ever made, and is therefore of unusually broad buyer appeal.

Sigma are fond of using a plethora of letters in their lens names (presumably on the principle that when faced with a choice, potential buyers will purchase the one with the most initials) and the 70-200mm declares its credentials accordingly. 'EX' stands for 'Excellence' and designates Sigma's premium lens line, with superior build and optical quality, while 'DG' means that the lens coatings are optimized for use on digital SLRs, and the image circle covers the full-frame 35mm format. Finally 'Macro' is a pointer towards the closer-than-usual minimum focusing distance of just 1m, which compares favorably to the 1.5m more typical of lenses of this class, although it has recently been trumped by the 0.95m of Tamron's SP AF 70-200mm F2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro.

Of course as one of Sigma's flagship lenses, the 70-200mm F2.8 boasts a suitably complex optical design, featuring 18 elements in 15 groups, two of which are Extraordinary Low Dispersion (ELD) glass and two Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass for correction of chromatic aberrations. Other attractions include internal focusing and zooming mechanisms, and a quick-release tripod mount collar which can be removed from the lens in seconds. On paper at least, this is a lens which might interest a huge number of photographers across a range of abilities; so is it worthy of that interest?

Andy Westlake

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