Tag Archives: DSLR

Nikon D80 – Announced!

By Chris Garrett | Published August 9, 2006

We have been following the Nikon D80 rumours, the teaser countdown and then the leaked D80 pictures and now it is finally announced the server goes down!

When it is back you will be able to find out more at the Nikon D80 website here but there is also a dedicated site at Nikon-d80.com with a prize draw.

D80 front view D80 left view D80 front view flash D80 right view flash
D80 top view D80 right view D80 left view flash D80 front view body only

DPReview have managed to get their hands one one though and we have the press release to draw details from. Expected price, £949 or $1299 with kit lens.

First the bad news,

  • according to DPReview the sensor might be the same as used in the Sony A100 – let’s hope not as that sensor has been criticised as noisy
  • shutter and flash are slightly slower than the D70s (down to 1/4000 from 1/8000).
  • Strangest choice is SD rather than CF slot, putting it in “consumer” territory.

Good news,

  • obviously more megapixels which is always handy for bigger prints and more generous crops. (funny how Nikon used to say megapixels don’t matter when the 350D had more, heh).
  • More AF points, 11 as opposed to 5.
  • ISO from 100 to 1600 (again Nikon used to say you don’t need ISO 100) with up to 3200 with boost. 
  • TTL can now act as commander. 
  • Multiple exposures in-camera. 
  • 2.5″  LCD. USB 2.0 at 480 Mbps. 
  • The new kit lens is a 18-135mm beast. Will be interesting to see what the quality is like of such a wide range.

On with the specs:

  • 10.2 megapixel DX format CCD (1.5x FOV crop)
  • Image processing engine (similar to D200 / D2X)
  • 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor (same as D50)
  • 11-area AF system (new version of Multi-CAM 1000, similar to D200)
  • Auto ISO (selectable maximum ISO, minimum shutter speed)
  • Configurable high ISO and long exposure noise reduction
  • Mechanical only shutter (maximum 1/4000 sec, flash sync to 1/200 sec)
  • Quoted 80 ms shutter lag (short viewfinder blackout; 160 ms)
  • Larger, brighter pentaprism viewfinder (x0.94 magnification)
  • Support for SD-HC (SD cards over 2 GB in capacity)
  • In-camera retouching
    • D-Lighting (shadow / highlight enhancement)
    • Red-eye reduction
    • Trimming
    • Monochrome and Filter
    • Small picture
    • Image overlay
  • Multiple-exposures
  • Compact body (smaller, lighter than D70/D70s)
  • Improved menu user interface (same as D200)
  • Higher capacity EN-EL3e battery (provides detailed information, same as D200)
  • Wireless flash integration (same as D200)

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Camera Lenses Top Ten 2006

By Chris Garrett | Published August 2, 2006

Pretty much all the big names were featured in this top ten list of lenses compiled by PopPhoto

This year our favorite new lenses are evenly split—between those designed for full-frame 35mm coverage and optics specifically made for the smaller-than-35mm chips found in all but a couple of digital SLRs. Does this mean that 35mm film photography is alive and well? Or that lens makers are expecting us to clamor for full-frame digital SLRs?

To answer the question, I think Film is alive and well but Nikon would hate for photographers to even consider full frame as they do not have any full frame digital products. Canon users (and possibly Kodak) on the other hand associate 35mm with professional products and performance. For myself I am happy to use APS-C lenses and sensors for now as I have little chance of being a full time pro any time soon but definitely see a full frame sensor body in my future.

Here is a run-down of the lenses that made the list:

  • Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX VR II
  • Nikon 105mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
  • Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
  • Sigma 150mm f/2.8 APO MACRO
    DG HSM
  • Tamron
    SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 XR LD Di-II
  • Pentax DA FISHEYE 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 ED [IF]
  • Zeiss ZF Planar T*
    85mm f/1.4
  • Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 8mm f/3.5 Full-Frame Fish
  • Leica D
    Vario-Elmarit 14-50 mm f/2.8-3.5 ASPH

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Nikon DSLR Camera Rumours – New D70s?

By Chris Garrett | Published July 20, 2006

I don’t know if the Nikon fans amongst you have gone to the Nikon Site lately but they have a flash teaser there about a new 10.2 megapixel Nikon DSLR due in 20 days. A replacement for the D70s? With the release of the Sony Alpha sporting the same sensor as the pro line of Nikons (but hundreds of dollars cheaper) hurting Nikon marketing machine that is where I would put my money right now …

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Nikkor 18-200 G f/3.5-5.6 ED-IF AF-S VR DX Reviewed at Photodoto

By Chris Garrett | Published July 11, 2006

Yesterday we looked at the Sigma 18-200mm and I mentioned that on Canon there isn’t a first party alternative but there is for Nikon. It turns out in the review at Photodoto that for Nikon owners, although pricier than the Sigma, the Nikkor is a great lens. He starts by doubting the need for such a lens first which isn’t a great start for the product …

I mean, who buys a high-end SLR with the intention of only using a single lens? I used to think no one did, but then this hit the market and you can’t even get it it’s so popular.

He does go on to say that he does like it and it is good value ..

Overall, it’s a nice lens and produces good images. If you’re looking specifically for something with an 11x zoom range, for whatever reason, you could do much worse than buying this lens. I’d recommend it if you have to travel light or for day trips with the family. It’s economical, too, when you consider the cost of buying two or more lenses to cover the same range. But any lens covering such a broad range has to make compromises. If you don’t mind switching lenses once in a while, you’ll get better image quality from more specialized zooms or primes.

I guess the main thing to separate the two will be price, you would be choosing either the low cost Sigma or the higher priced but VR-enabled Nikkor. Two slightly different markets I am thinking so the two will find their own following.

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Canon 350D DSLR Upgrade – What will replace the Rebel?

By Chris Garrett | Published June 16, 2006

Over at Flickr: Photographer’s Tech Resources I asked the members to speculate what the replacement for the Canon 350D will look like. I got some great answers and the discussion is still going on.

There are a couple of features that would be great but I can’t see
happening, resolution increase and full size sensor. Full sensor would
make it ridiculously expensive even if the engineers could sneak it
past marketing. On the resolution side I think they could feasibly
manage a consumer camera now with 10mp for same price as the current
8mp but I don’t think they would want to eat into the rest of their
lineup. Having said that the 300 to 350 did bring with it an increase
of 2mp …

One thing I would love them to do is match the Nikons and have digital
overlays for the focus screen, I find them so nice to line up horizons
and for rule of thirds shots (so shoot me, I am an amateur, why do you
think I own a 350d in the first place!).

All the features I can think of them adding would eat into the 20D/30D
market in some way. My wishlist makes it basically a smaller, lighter
20D.

So what do you think the 350D replacement will be like and what will they call it? The 400D?

FWGroove suggested a list of features that I completely agree with apart from number 3, I think the 350D starts up just fine and it is actually one of the faster DSLRs on the market for boot time:

  1. Put focus points in “rule of thirds” locations. After all, that’s where you’re supposed to put your subjects right?
  2. Flash exposure compensation. We shouldn’t have to hack our firmware to get this feature.
  3. Faster startup.
  4. Stop making the grey ones…They tarnish the image of the 300D/350D.
    I just feel they look like cheap point and shoots and they look funny
    with black or white lenses.
  5. Larger viewfinder for better manual focus.

We all seem to be agreed that Sony is going to have a big influence on the final design, they are aggressively entering the market with a decent machine with a good heritage. There is some discussion about in-body vibration reduction, probably to early to draw conclusions about what impact that feature will have and there is some doubt that Nikon and Canon will follow suit. Sensor cleaning, another Sony feature, would be a welcome addition. As Fenster says though, perhaps too late to change the design of this coming model he also speculates if the successor will not be an upgrade but a dumbed-down model like the D50 was to the D70s.

Back when we were rumour-mongering about what turned out to be the Canon 30D there was talk of a budget DSLR, the 3000D. Perhaps that will be it?

My guess is while we might know by autumn in time for Christmas,
probably some big photo show like Photokina, it might well be Feb 2007
(PMA?) like the 30D ..

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Canon Adds New DSLR Camera Photo and Raw Software Tutorial

By Chris Garrett | Published June 15, 2006

Rob Galbraith has pointed out that Canon has added a couple of new New Digital Photo Professional tutorials. If you are an EOS owner and haven’t tried out the bundled software yet, get on over and download an update and try it out, you might be surprised at how good it is.

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Carl Zeiss Lenses for Sony Alpha

By Chris Garrett | Published June 6, 2006

One thing I had missed yesterday when discussing the new Sony Alpha announcement was the fact in the official line-up there Carl Zeiss lenses. It’s not as impressive as it sounds, not all the range is Carl Zeiss. Other sites seem to be buzzing with this news, for example The Online Photographer.

There is an official list of lenses, specifications and prices here in their accessories pages if you are interested, and you can check out what DPReview have to say.

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Sony Announce α (alpha) A100 DSLR and 18-70mm Lens

By Chris Garrett | Published June 5, 2006

News just in from Sony, their much anticipated first DSLR offspring from their Sony-Konica-Minolta mashup, the Sony Alpha A100 DSLR plus 18-70mm lens kit. Judging from the pictures it looks pretty nice, pretty much standard DSLR fare. Only practical hands on experience would tell if it is usable and comfortable.

DSLRA100KDSLRA100KDSLRA100K
10mp puts it in competition, in purely sensor terms, with Nikon D200, D2X, Canon 5D, etc, although it is very strange the ISO starts at a wopping 160 – where is the ISO 50 and 100? It goes up to 1600 maximum. Not a huge problem but not a competitor to pro-level cameras that currently have greater range and also steps in between. Remains to be seen what the noise is like, presumably it is so good at 200 they do not see the need to go any further but as a ISO 100 user on a camera with great noise control I think they have missed a trick. The sensor is a 1.5x crop, like Nikon.

The kit lens is a pretty standard walk-around zoom, pretty bog standard. I don’t expect anyone to be jumping for joy but neither will too many people be disappointed, it would have been nice for them to come out with a real knock-out lens to get people talking.

Specifications
Imaging Device: 10.2 (effective) APC CCD Sensor; 23.6 x 15.8 mm; RGB primary color filter
Chipset: Bionz™ Processor LSI with Dynamic Range Optimizer (DRO/DRO+)
Recording Media:
Memory Stick® Duo/Memory Stick PRO™ Duo media (via MSAC-MCF1N adaptor);
CompactFlash™ Type I/ CompactFlash Type II / Microdrive™ media
Shutter Speed: 30 ~ 1/4000 sec, with Bulb
Exposure: Manual Exposure: Yes, w/EV indicator
EV Compensation: ±2.0 EV, 1/3 EV Steps
ISO: Auto/160/200/400/800/1600
LCD: 2.5-inch (measured diagonally) TFT (230k pixels) LCD with Clear Photo ™ design; Eye-start Auto-focus sensor
Display: Histogram: Yes, Live, RGB Playback
Microphone/Speaker: No/ No
Red-Eye Reduction: Yes: On/ Off
White Balance: Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash ( with custom White Balance color temperature adjustments)
Burst Mode: Continuous burst mode at 3 FPS to limit of media; Up to 6 RAW images in burst.
Color Mode(s): Black & White, Standard, Vivid, Adobe RGB (Except for Adobe RGB, all other color modes use the sRGB color space)
Scene Modes: Portrait, Landscape, Sunset, Night View/Night Portrait
Self Timer: Yes (10 seconds, 2 seconds, Off)
Still Image Mode(s): Normal (JPEG Fine/Standard), High-speed Burst (JPEG, RAW, RAW + JPEG), RAW (.ARW)
Memory Stick PRO™ Media Compatibility: Tested to support up to 4GB media capacity; does not support Access Control security function
Flash Modes: Manual Pop-up: Auto, Fill-flash, Rear flash sync, Wireless off camera flash (with Flash HVL-F56AM, F36AM)
Flash Effective Range: GN12 at ISO 100 (39 feet/ 12 meters)
Output(s): Video: Yes, NTSC/PAL Selectable
USB Port(s): Yes, Supports USB 2.0 Hi-speed
Battery Type: NP-FM55 Lithium-ion rechargeable battery (
Battery Capacity: 7.2V, 1600 mAh; CIPA standard: approx. 750 pictures3
Supplied Software: Picture Motion Browser for Sony v1.1 (Windows), Image Data Converter SR Ver. 1.1 (Windows & Macintosh), USB Driver
Operating System Compatibility: Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional, ME, XP Home and Professional; Macintosh®
OS X (v 10.3 or later). OS must be installed at the factory.
Limited Warranty: 1 Year Parts & Labor
Weight: 1 lb., 3 oz (545 g) body, not including battery, lens and media
Dimensions (WHD): (WHD) 5 1/4″ x 3 3/4″ x 2 7/8″ (133 x 95 x 71 mm)
SAL1870 DT18-70mm F3.5-5.6 Lens Specifications:
DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Standard Zoom
DT Lens Design for optimum DSLR performance
Superb wide-angle to mid-range telephoto shots
Aspherical Lens Elements for wide-angle accuracy
ED Glass for telephoto shots with well defined colors
Circular Aperture for pleasing defocused effects
Focal Length – 35mm Equivalent: 18-70 mm
Focal Length – APS: 27-105 mm
Angle of View – 35mm Equivalent: N/A
Angle of View – APS: 76ﾟ- 23ﾟ
Min Focus Distance: 1’ 2.4″ (38 cm)
Aperture – Maximum: f3.5-5.6
Aperture – Minimum: f22-36
Maximum Magnification: 0.25X
Lens Construction: 11 elements in 9 groups with 7 aperture blades
Filter Diameter: 55 mm
Dimensions: 2-5/8 x 3-1/8” (66 x 77 mm)
Weight: 8.3 oz (235 g)
Supplied Accessories: Front and rear lens cap, SH0006 lens hood
Supplied Accessories:
NP-FM55 Lithium-Ion Battery
BC-VM10 Battery Charger
Video Cable
USB Cable
Sony Picture Package software
Sony Image Data Converter .SRF software
Shoulder strap with eyepiece cap and Remote Commander clip
MSAC-MCF1N MS-Duo to CF Adaptor
Body cap
Accessory shoe cap
Image Data Converter SR Ver.1.1/Picture Motion Browser Ver.1.1 CD-ROMs
NOTE: No Memory Stick media or adapters are included.

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Nikon announce D2Xs 12.4 megapixel pro DSLR

By Chris Garrett | Published June 1, 2006

D2XsNikon have announced their new replacement for the D2X DSLR aimed at top end users.

Nikon D2Xs

D2Xs shares many performance and design innovations with the D2X. It also offers Nikon’s acclaimed DX-format CMOS image sensor capturing 12.4 million effective pixels per image, producing 4,288 x 2,848-pixel images with the high resolution and sharp detail needed for demanding professional assignments. The D2Xs, however, also introduces a range of revised features that make operation significantly more responsive – including refined viewfinder performance that makes for easier composition when shooting in Nikon’s exclusive High-Speed Crop mode, a new 2.5 inch LCD with a 170-degree wide viewing angle calibrated at the factory to ensure consistent color fidelity, significantly increased battery life and a wide range of firmware enhancements.

Most of the buzz seems to be around the features that I find quite ho-hum. It’s hard to get excited about 12mp and 2.5 LCD screens, not much news there. No, the specs that have me intrigued are

  • 6mp crop mode allowing 8 frames a second burst
  • GPS capability (with optional adapter)
  • Wireless transmission and control through WiFi

Go check out the D2Xs announcement at the Nikon site, and the preview by Nikonians/LetsGoDigital. I am sure there will be a boatload of reviews in coming weeks.

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Sony Serious About DSLR

By Chris Garrett | Published May 12, 2006

Sony have been talking about their plans for their newly named Alpha range of Digital SLR Cameras. These plans include releasing 20 new lenses this year and have underlined they are committed to this market for the long term. While they have some heritage with their Konica Minolta partnership they have a heck of a lot of ground to make up outside of the consumer market.

“Our goal is to become the shin’uchi, or headline performer, of digital SLR cameras. In the traditional Japanese art of rakugo storytelling, the shin’uchi is the performer recognized by everyone as the undisputed master of his craft.”

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