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December 22, 2005
[ NIKON D200 arrives in Oz ]
The eagerly awaited NIKON D200 has arrived in the shops in Australia. dpexpert has just received a test and review unit, fitted with the Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18~200mm zoom. [The VR in the name referring to the image stabilisation built into the lens.]
First impressions are very favourable. The D200 seems to keep detail in shadows and highlights better than just about any other camera we have tested. The 10.2mp sensor does deliver better detail than the 6.2mp sensor in the D70. Picture noise, even at 1600ISO, is not a problem.
The D200 is a big advance on the D100, but of course it also costs a lot more. $3000 for a body only is going to be a big deterrent for most people.
As soon as we have some sample photos from the D200 we will post them in the Gallery.
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Posted by terry at 10:42 AM | Comments (2)
December 07, 2005
[ ‘TIS THE SEASON TO BE HAGGLING ]
BUYING A DIGITAL CAMERA and accessories is becoming as bewildering as buying health insurance. There are so many special deals that it is hard to work out the real price being charged for a camera.
To start with it is difficult to get an idea of the real retail price of a camera. Only suburban photo shops put the RRP on their price stickers these days. Many, but not all, electrical goods retailers and the big city camera shops and chains advertise discount prices. Shops offering interest free terms are usually selling at full retail price, but not always. One city department store has the superb Sony DSC-H1 on special for $700 -- the RRP is $800.
Some companies, notably Nikon (Maxwell Photographics), Sony and Canon put their camera retail prices on their web sites.
Canon and Kodak offer camera/printer bundles that represent value for money. In the case of Canon there are two combinations -- the Powershot A520 camera with the Pixma iP6210 A4 inkjet printer ($398) and the the Powershot A410 camera plus the Selphy 10x15cm printer and a battery charger and 4 batteries. ($298)
The Canon combo is an illustration of how careful the buyer has to be to check the facts before going to the shop. One well-known city store is advertising the Canon A410/Selphy combination for $2 more than the recommended retail price and calling it “on special”.
The Kodak combination units consist of camera plus 10x15 cm dye sublimation printers. One such offer combines the EasyShare Z740 5 megapixel camera with the EasyShare printer for a street price of $500. It makes sense to think beyond the camera and to take into consideration the future reproduction of the photographs.
If you’re feeling adventurous keep an eye on the on-line auction site at GraysOnline Auctions. This is where superseded cameras go to die. Companies like Kodak, Nikon (Maxwells) and Olympus sell off their remainders on Grays.
Some companies offer cashback rebates to customers. Canon, for instance, offers variable rebates depending on the equipment purchased. The popular 350D single lens reflex can be bought with various accessories and there is a calculator on the canon.com.au web site that instantly calculates the rebate that can be claimed.
Nikon’s version of the rebate was to offer impressive free accessories for their D50 SLR. The most recent version of this offer has now ended but it is worth keeping an eye out for similar inducements in the future.
Retailers sometimes advertise “bonuses” with digital cameras. Some of these bonuses are of doubtful value -- cheap carry cases, flimsy tripods or cleaning kits -- but sometimes they can add real value to the purchase. One city camera store currently offers a free 128 meg memory card with Fujifilm Finepix compact cameras. The camera is not much use without memory and this is a reasonable capacity xD card.
Retailing cameras is fiercely competitive and once the best discount has been found there is not much point in beating the footpath just to save a couple of dollars.
Read the camera reviews in magazines (we recommend the Australian magazine PhotoReview for the best, objective print reviews), dpreview, the acknowledged world reference on digital cameras. Work out what you want and check the retail price with the distributor. Then look through advertisements in Livewire or in the junk mail to check discounts. Be prepared to haggle but be reasonable. Salesmen have to make a living too.
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Posted by terry at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)
[ REVIEW—CASIO EXILIM EX-Z110 ]
Price: $399
Rating: 3.5
The low-down: The Casio Exilim Ex-Z110 is a 6 megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom with a range of 35 to 114mm (film equivalent). The camera has image stabilisation that Casio calls “anti shake DSP”.
The Casio conforms to the pocket camera style having a face area the same as a credit card and being about 26mm thick.
The Ex-Z110 is a well made camera that balances the expectations of the technophobe who wants point and shoot automation with the thinking snapper who wants control of aperture and shutter speed in some situations. The mode dial has conventional settings for aperture and shutter priority and for full manual setting but it doesn’t have the conventional P for program mode. Instead it has Snapshot and Easy modes. The instruction manual treats these settings as state secrets and gives no clue as to what they mean or how they differ in operation.
However the little Casio does provide for different metering setups from full screen average to centre spot.
The camera runs on two AA batteries which is uses frugally. However it might be as well to factor the cost of a couple of rechargeables and a batter charger into the price of the camera. Of course the advantage of using standard batteries is that you will never be far from a power supply.
Like this: The Casio Exilim EX-Z110 immediately endeared itself to us by having an optical viewfinder. It is a very small affair but it has reasonable image area coverage of about 80 per cent of what the sensor will capture.
Exposure was generally good. Focus was a little soft, needing a touch of sharpening in Photoshop. We turned a sequence of images taken with this camera into a slide show for display on a large television set and the results were excellent.
Dislike that: The Casio has one curious defect. At first we assumed that there was something wrong with the camera settings because we were getting consistently poor results, at least judging by what we could see in the 50mm LCD screen. On the LCD screen the pictures were washed out and dull. But when we transferred the images to the computer and opened them in Photoshop they were fine. It is possible that this fault is specific to our test camera.
Parting shot: With a 6 megapixel sensor and image stabilisation the Casio represents excellent value for money.
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Posted by terry at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)
December 03, 2005
[ PhotoReview:26 ]
PhotoReview Australia, issue 26 [Dec/Feb] is now in the newsagents.
This issue contains a comparative roundup of digital single lens reflex cameras in the under $1500 category. The new Olympus E-500 is recommended and is also reviewed by Margaret Brown.
There are reviews of the Canon 5D and a first impression of the yet-to-be-released Sony Cybershot DSC-R1, the company's new top-of-the-line still camera.
Margaret Brown contributes an interesting article about the use of film camera lenses on digital bodies. Why do the film lenses deliver less resolution than the lenses made for digital?
News agent price: $8.95
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Posted by terry at 10:04 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2005
[ NIKON D200 prices ]
MAXWELL PHOTOGRAPHICS, the Australian distributors of Nikon cameras, today announced the price of the Nikon D200.
Body only will be $2899.
With Nikkor 80~200mm lens: $3999
With Nikkor 17~55mm lens: $5299
With both lenses: $7999
The US shop price seems to be about AUD$2300.
Vanbar Photographics in Carlton are taking orders at $2649.70 for the body only.
Maxwell's advise shipping in Australia in late December.
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Posted by terry at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2005
[ RICOH CAPLIO R3 digital camera ]
Price: $600
Rating: 4
The low-down: Ricoh’s Caplio R3 is a little 5 megapixel point and shoot camera with a zoom range from 28mm to 200mm film equivalent. This is a long range for a compact camera, making it ideal for the tourist who doesn’t want to carry a digital SLR and a bag of lenses.
5 megapixels is not a lot these days, but 5 million clean pixels can deliver better pictures than 8 million noisy ones -- and these are very clean pixels indeed.
Focus, colour and exposure are always spot on. Shadow detail is particularly good with the Ricoh, but at the other extreme highlight detail is not. There is an exposure compensation adjustment at hand but it takes time to set and the subject might well have disappeared by the time the shutter is released.
There is no optical viewfinder but the LCD screen is reasonably visible in daylight. However on a bright afternoon with the sun behind you there won’t be a lot to see in the LCD.
While the camera is is intended for the technophobe there are a few manual over-rides for ISO setting, white balance and exposure compensation. There are also “scene” selections for portraits, sports, landscape etc. Does anyone use these things?
The Ricoh Caplio R3 has something called Camera Shake Correction. It is not advertised as a feature of the camera but it seems to work, whatever it is. Hand held pictures at slow shutter speeds are always sharp.
Like this: The Ricoh Caplio R3 delivers consistently well exposed, sharp, well coloured photographs. The combination of lens and sensor produce exceptionally detailed and sharp pictures. Flash mode is good -- subjects don’t look as though they are lit by an atomic blast.
The R3 comes with an attractive leather carrying case.
Dislike that: The absence of an optical viewfinder is a disappointment.
Parting shot: The Ricoh Caplio R3 is competing with the Canon Ixus 55 which does have an optical viewfinder. Image quality from both cameras is excellent and the Ricoh has the advantage of the 28mm wide angle lens and the vibration correction. Try them both.
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Posted by terry at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)
[ REVIEW—KODAK 1400 DIGITAL PHOTO PRINTER ]
Price: $890
Rating: 4.8
The low-down: Kodak’s new Professional 1400 Digital Photo Printer is a medium format thermal dye sublimation printer. It will print images up to 20cm by 30 cm.
Kodak depart from the inkjet norm to offer a printer based on different technology. For this printer there are no ink cartridges because the toner comes on a ribbon and the consumables -- paper and ribbon -- come together in a box of either 50 or 25 sheets with exactly the right length of ribbon to make the prints.
The word Professional in the model designation suggests that the printer is expensive and complicated. It is neither. At $890 it is competitive with the best Canon and Epson A4 printers. It is easy to use. And consumables are reasonably priced -- bought in 50 sheet boxes the paper and toner work out at about $3.80 per print.
The print quality is outstanding. What makes this printer particularly appealing to what Kodak call the AdAm (advanced amateur, would you believe?) is that every print is winner. If the monitor is correctly calibrated and the operator understands how Photoshop communicates with a printer, then every print will match the image on the PC screen.
The paper passes through the printer four times -- cyan, yellow and magenta, plus a protective coating which makes the print “last for a lifetime” according to Kodak. It takes about 90 seconds. Colour fidelity and resolution are very good. The gloss paper has a gorgeous surface. There is also a matte paper which we didn’t try.
The 1400 is not a general purpose printer. It is for photos only and is not suitable from writing a letter to Granny or printing out the manuscript of the Great Australian Novel. The 1400 does just one thing and does it well.
Like this: The sheer ease of use of the Kodak 1400 printer and the absolute consistency of results impresses. Black and white prints are excellent.
Dislike that: The Kodak 1400 is noisy. It has a PC processor-type fan sitting on top of the workings and it makes a racket. Also we had two mysterious malfunctions where the printing stopped and the computer claimed that the printer was not connected.
Parting shot: The Kodak Professional 1400 Digital Photo Printer is exactly right for anyone who wants consistently good results without having to nail down all the variables inherent in inkjet printers. Just load the paper, insert the toner ribbon and you can’t go wrong. Very highly recommended.
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Posted by terry at 07:58 AM | Comments (2)