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November 26, 2008
[REVIEW–SONY a900 DSLR & Zeiss 24-70mm lens]
Price: $4500 camera $2700 lens
The Most!
The low-down: This is a full frame DSLR with a 24.6 megapixel CMOS sensor – currently the most pixels on a 35mm sized sensor. The camera is beautifully made with a luxurious feel to all controls. It also feels solid, with extensive environmental sealing. Image stabilisation is by sensor shift and is effective to about 2 extra stops and there is automatic dust removal. The 75mm LCD is high resolution. The Zeiss lens is a constant f2.8 aperture over the zoom range and is fast in focusing. The viewfinder is the largest and brightest we have tried. Recording media may be either Compact Flash or Sony’s Memory Stick Duo. There is 5 exposure auto bracketing and up to 5 fps continuous shooting. Ergonomics are excellent.
Like: The resolving power of this camera/lens combination is simply breathtaking. What it means in every day use is that images can be cropped down to small sections and still retain sharp detail. Dynamic range is very good and exposures are generally spot on. The camera is so responsive that grabbing instant informal shots in a crowd is a breeze.
Dislike: The camera/lens combination is heavy. Do cameras really need to have such mass in order to be indestructible? High ISO images are not as clean as from the Nikon and Canon equivalent cameras.
Verdict: Sony tell us that this is not their professional camera. It is intended for the well-heeled amateur who is either a fan of the brand or has some legacy Minolta lenses in the bag. So it sells against the Nikon D700 and the Canon 5DII – formidable opposition. The Sony compares well with the other two, but the Zeiss lens, while sensationally good, is expensive.
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Posted by terry at 09:55 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
[TEACHING GRANNY TO SUCK DIGITAL EGGS]
Here is dpexpert’s weekly problem – how to offer useful advice and tips without insulting Granny by teaching her to suck eggs. In other words is basic information about the workings of a camera helpful or insulting?
An email came the other day: “I suspect that many users of digital cameras have not come to photography via the traditional film camera route so that statements such as ‘equivalent to 38 to 380 mm on a 35 mm camera’ might not mean too much. Could you perhaps look at some of the photographic basics, especially the comparison between film and digital and how they differ.”
In particular the reader was confused by a professional who told him that an f8 aperture on his Olympus compact is equivalent to f22 on a 35mm film camera. How can that be?
Cameras have two ways of controlling the amount of light that falls on the film or the sensor – the variable speed shutter and the variable diameter aperture. The dictionary defines f numbers as “the ratio of the focal length of a lens to the effective diameter of its aperture”. The smaller the aperture the bigger the number – f2.8 lets in more light than f11.
When we all used 35mm film these numbers meant the same thing to everyone, but digital sensors come in many sizes. The Sony a900 has a s ensor the same size as a 35mm frame, but dpexpert’s Nikon D300 has a sensor with a diagonal dimension two thirds that of a 35mm frame. Mrs dpexpert’s little Panasonic’s diagonal measurement is one sixth that of film.
Sensor size affects two other factors – the angle of view of a lens of a certain focal length and the physical size of the lens. The standard 50mm lens on a 35mm camera gives an angle of view that looks natural -- anything shorter is considered wide angle and anything longer is telephoto.
On a compact camera a 50mm lens has an angle of view much the same as a 300mm telephoto on a film camera. Even fitted to a standard DSLR like the Nikon D300 the angle of view is comparable with a 75mm lens on film. So when the specifications say: “this 5.8-17.4mm zoom lens is equivalent to 35-105mm on a film camera” we are being told that its angle of view is not what 5.8 and 17.4mm mean to a person accustomed to shooting with film.
The f stop number is relative, but the aperture size, as it affects depth of field, is absolute. The smaller the aperture the greater the depth of field. And f8 in a tiny compact lens is very small indeed – in terms of the depth of field (that is the distance between the in-focus spot closest to the camera and that furthest from it) it could well be comparable with f22 on a full frame camera.
Next week we will consider how focal length and aperture diameter work in close-up photography.
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[There is a collection of native flower macros in the Gallery]
Posted by terry at 09:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 19, 2008
[REVIEW–CANON Ixus 870is compact camera]
Price: $480
Gorgeous
The low-down: This is a 10 megapixel camera with a 28–112mm (film equivalent) zoom lens, which is image stabilised. There is a 75mm LCD screen but no optical viewfinder. Construction quality is superb. Face area is slightly larger than a credit card and it is 20mm thick, so it will fit a pocket. But the weight is a surprise – 210 grams with the rechargeable battery inserted. So this feels like a well-built, rugged little camera. Controls are well laid out and there is good user control for essential settings, mainly through Canon’s Function key. There is the usual face detection and movie mode, plus a panorama assist mode for taking multiple images for merging into one using the supplied software. i-Contrast is an in-camera exposure correction for backlit faces.
Like: The most striking thing about this camera is its appearance. If there were a beauty contest for cameras the Ixus 870is would be a shoo-in. Focus is generally quick and accurate with good sharpness and resolution. Exposure and white balance are just OK. A 28mm focal length is always a boon.
Dislike: There is some noise visible at ISO200, but generally it is well controlled without too much obvious noise reduction. Images straight from the camera are a little soft but we found that they responded to sharpening in Photoshop. However any sharpening also tends to emphasise the noise effects. Dynamic range is not great, with highlights blowing out in contrasty subjects.
Verdict: We like this camera because of its superb design and construction, and we found that by sticking with an ISO setting of 80–100 we could get excellent results. Even at ISO400 the pictures are acceptable for standard size prints.
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Posted by terry at 10:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
[PHOTOGRAPHING THE WIDE BROWN LAND]
dpexpert is as patriotic as the next chap when it comes to love of a wide brown land girt by sea and so on. But there’s no getting away from the fact that when it comes to majestic snow capped mountains, towering over vast, placid lakes, the sunburnt country is sadly deficient.
For landscape photographers it is the mountains of Switzerland, Nepal and New Zealand that offer the best postcard opportunities. However, dpexpert has been seeking therapy for mountain envy by taking off for the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. They are not exactly the Andes or the Rockies, but they do have a rugged, colourful appeal.
We have some advice for the photographer travelling in the north of South Australia. Think seriously before setting off with a compact digital camera that has no optical viewfinder. Mrs dpexpert gave up in frustration when trying to take pictures in the bright desert sunlight. She couldn’t see a thing on the LCD of her Panasonic compact.
Of course dpexpert should have had the foresight to pack the LCD pop-out shade. We were not popular when she had to put her camera away in disgust.
For owners of cameras with filter threads, a polarising filter is de rigueur. The vivid skies and fluffy white clouds are best captured with the use of a polariser, and it also helps with the landscape features. A polariser cuts the reflected glare from stones and leaves and other flat, reflective surfaces and helps to preserve more detail in the rugged, rocky hills.
A decent telephoto lens of up to 200mm focal length is also surprisingly useful for getting a different perspective on the hills and valleys. We found that we were using our 70-200mm Sigma zoom more often than we had anticipated. And it goes without saying that such a lens is ideal for photographing the kangaroos and emus that are everywhere through the Flinders Ranges national park.
Our greatest pleasure has been in taking sets of exposures and merging them to panoramas in Photoshop, The topography of the ranges is ideal for creating long panoramas, the only caveat being that when you merge seven images into one widescreen marvel it’s hard to display on monitor or print. You’ll have to work that out for yourself.
The wide brown land is deficient in ancient ruins of castles and abbeys, but there are dozens – perhaps hundreds – of derelict farm houses around the Flinders, silent testimony to the unwarranted optimism of the pioneer settlers. Most are photogenic.
Owners of DSLRs should remember that changing lenses in dusty conditions is hazardous. When we remove a lens we make sure that the camera body is facing downwards and we swap the rear lens caps from one lens to the other as quickly as we can. We also carry a Giottos Rocket to blow out the dust bunnies that get past our protective lens changing technique.
Two words of warning: the roads are atrocious and the flies are appalling!
[There is a collection of photos from the Flinders Ranges and other parts of northern South Australia in the Gallery.]
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Posted by terry at 10:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 12, 2008
[REVIEW-OLYMPUS SP-565UZ camera]
Price: $600
Huge zoom range with compromises
The low-down: This is a 10 megapixel camera with what is claimed to be the world’s longest zoom – 26–520mm (film equivalent). Image stabilisation is by CCD shift. The electronic viewfinder is typical for superzooms. There is the usual face and smile detection. There are two macro settings with Super allowing focusing to 10cm. Images can be captured in RAW format. Burst mode will take up to 13.5 frames per second, but in a reduced image size. Memory is on xD cards or Micro SD – an adapter is provided. Power is from four AA batteries, either alkaline or NiMH.
Like: The camera is responsive with reasonably fast focusing even at the longest extension. User controls are comparable with a DSLR. Noise is well handled. It is apparent at ISO200 but it is not made worse with intrusive noise reduction. RAW images are good and it is worth the trouble of conversion. The supplied software is not great but it gets you started in trying RAW mode. The image stabilisation is effective.
Dislike: The electronic viewfinder is dire. You would only use it in bright daylight when the LCD can’t be seen. There is very pronounced barrel distortion at the wide end of the zoom range which needs correction in software post-camera. Images at the extreme long end of the range are not sharp.
Verdict: Frankly we think the 20x zoom range is expecting too much. It involves too many optical compromises. In the middle of the zoom range resolution is reasonable but the extremes are plagued with distortion or diminished sharpness. There is an optional tele-converter that extends the range to 1200mm – Olympus say it is specially for bird photography!
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Posted by terry at 10:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
[ SETTING NEW STANDARDS ]
We’ve said it before and no doubt we will say it again, when it comes to lenses there is nothing as sweet as a well-developed prime (fixed focal length) lens.
There is a zap and punchiness of picture taken with prime lenses that ordinary zooms, affordable by mortals, cannot match. Without the compromises in image quality that zoom mechanics and complex optics demand the mechanically simple primes generally have better resolution and contrast that results in sharper images.
We have been having a happy time in the company of two exceptional prime lenses – the Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM and the Tokina F2.8 35mm AT-X Pro DX macro. The Sigma is for use on either full frame DSLRs or with the reduced size APS sensor used on most consumer DLRs, and the Tokina is for APS-C sensor cameras.
The Sigma is a beautifully made, massive lens with a very fast ring-type ultrasonic focusing motor. It can be used on the entry level Nikons that do not have in-body focus drives. It has a RRP of $750, so it is more expensive than the competing lenses from Nikon and Canon.
[Portrait taken with Sigma lens on a Nikon D300]
The Nikon/Canon equivalent lenses are of fairly old design, made originally for use on film cameras. The Sigma is a totally new design, using complex glass mouldings that practically eliminate distortion and various aberrations that lesser lenses suffer from.
The angle of view is that of a 50mm lens on the full frame cameras and approximately equivalent to 75mm on APS sensors. We found it an ideal lens for portraiture even if it is a little shorter than we would normally use.
Sigma have paid attention to some fine details in the design of this lens. For instance the diaphragm is as close to a perfect circle as it can be made and this results in very smooth, attractive out-of-focus backgrounds (known as “bokeh”).
The Tokina (RRP $800) takes a different approach. It has an angle of view approximately the same as 52mm on full frame – in other words on an APS sensor camera this is what we would once have called a “standard” lens with what we also called a “normal” angle of view.
[Portrait taken with the Tokina lens on Nikon D300]
Tokina doesn’t have a focus motor so it would be strictly manual focus on an entry Nikon. However, on other DSLRs it is fully automatic. And it uses Tokina’s push-pull clutch ring to change quickly from auto to manual focus.
This lens is a macro, focusing to 1:1. Manual focus, which we used often while taking pictures of the native flowers which are everywhere in abundance right now, is smooth and well damped.
These lenses are magnificent. Mount one of them on your camera and zoom with your feet and you will enter a new (or old, actually) world of sensationally sharp and brilliant images.
Posted by terry at 10:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
[REVIEW- EPSON EMP-TW2000 HD projector]
Price: $5000
Spectacular
The low-down: This is a high definition projector with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, and an aspect ratio of 16:9. The inputs provided are two HDMI (high definition multimedia interface), component, S-video, VGA and composite. All functions of the projector can be controlled from the remote control. Maximum contrast is 50000:1 and there are presets for different ambient light conditions. The lens zooms to fit large or small screens but there is no keystone correction which means the projector does need to be straight on to the screen. The cooling fan is reasonably quiet.
Like: The resolution and colour fidelity are amazing. Some projectors are plagued by colour bleeding in areas of high saturation, particularly reds. The Epson preserves all outlines and produces a natural colour palette. There is no visible pixel grid as there is with lower resolution projectors.
Dislike: The owner’s manual is on a disc and must be read from a PC screen. We could not find any way to easily print it out. For a gadget costing $5000 this is inexcusable. There are also no connecting leads included, which seems cheap when modest cameras come with various connectors. And replacement lamps cost $500.
Verdict: Our interest in this projector is as a medium for viewing digital photographs. However, not many people will buy it to use only as a slide projector, even though the results are brilliant. So we tried DVDs, both high definition (in the Microsoft WMV/HD format) and standard resolution. We played the discs through the Windows Media Player and the results were spectacular. Even the low definition commercial disc projected perfectly with good resolution and colour. If you have the money and the space for a home theatre then this projector is a ripper.
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Posted by terry at 10:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack