New on IR
Shooting with the Leica M9-P and 50mm f/1.4 Summilux-M lens taught us a lot about why people love Leica cameras. But we also learned why most people don't shoot Leica rangefinders, and it isn't just about the very high price tag. Shooting with any manual focus, aperture-priority camera is a little more challenging than most people are used to. Once we got back into the swing of shooting with manual focus and exposure, shooting with the 18-megapixel M9-P was quite fun, and many of our images were stunning. Looking at our lab shots, we found a few nit-picky flaws, too, but...
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Tuesday, February 2012
Nikon got into the mirrorless camera game near the end of 2011, and released three lenses to start off the system: one of them, the Nikon 1 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 PD-Zoom VR, is heavier than the V1 and J1 cameras it can serve, but offers an image-stabilized 27-270mm equivalent platform, and is the subject of today's lens review on SLRgear.com. Click here to read our full review of the Nikon 1 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 PD-Zoom VR.
While the new Lensbaby Edge 80 resembles the recently released Sweet 35, it's a completely different optical experience. And we're not just talking about the focal length, which happens to be ideal for portraiture. First, the Edge 80 is a flat field optic. Second, it includes macro focusing as close as 17 inches.
Like the Sweet 35, it features a 12-blade internal aperture, making it a breeze to change the slice of focus on the fly.
While compatible with the Lensbaby Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout and Control Freak, on the non-tiltable Scout it functions as an 80mm...
When Olympus first launched its Micro Four Thirds camera lineup back in 2009, it drew a parallel with its earlier PEN-series cameras. Today, with the debut of the Olympus E-M5, it draws on another icon from the past: its legendary OM-series.
This time around, the connection is even stronger, thanks to retro OM-like styling. Front and center is what looks at first glance like the housing for a viewfinder pentaprism, and beneath is one of the big stories of the OM-D E-M5. The design includes a built-in electronic viewfinder, a first for an Olympus Micro Four Thirds model.
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Fans of really big prints and generous cropping, prepare to rejoice: Nikon Inc. has today announced the Nikon D800 and Nikon D800E 35mm full frame SLRs, two very-closely related models that bring an impressive boost in resolution to the FX format without sacrificing on sensitivity.
In reality, the Nikon D800 and D800E are one and the same camera, the latter being a limited-edition variant which negates the effects of the optical low-pass filter for improved resolution, and instead relies on software techniques to combat moire. Both models are based around a new FX-format...
Canon updated its standard kit lens in March 2011, releasing the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II with the T3 and T3i cameras. There's not much new under the hood, but Canon claims some improvements to the image stabilization system. We've put the new kit lens through its paces in our test lab, as well as running it through an IS test, something we didn't have a chance to do with the previous model. Click here to read our full review of the Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II.
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Thursday, February 2012
For more than a year now, rumors have swirled, suggesting that Pentax was planning to launch not one, but two mirrorless camera products with differing lens mounts. Some pooh-poohed the idea, perhaps understandably, but today the believers are vindicated, with the launch of the Pentax K-01.
It's a bold move from Pentax, to be sure. Last summer, they showed a willingness to go it their own way, with the launch of the Pentax Q--a camera whose ethos is clear: make a real interchangeable-lens camera, really small. The Pentax K-01 takes a completely different tack, combining...
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Wednesday, February 2012
We've just posted our "Still Life" ISO/NR series test shots from a production-level Canon G1 X, straight from the lab!
The Canon PowerShot G1 X is the company's first large-sensor PowerShot model, and looks to be Canon's rebuttal to the burgeoning compact system camera market. It's based around a brand-new, Canon-developed 14.3-megapixel CMOS sensor that's almost as tall as those in Canon's APS-C based SLR cameras, but with a 4:3 aspect ratio instead of the more typical 3:2 aspect. The PowerShot G1 X looks to offer a clear advantage over most existing system cameras in...
We've just posted test shots from a Leica M9 (an M9-P, actually), taken with a Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 lens!
The Leica M9 is based around a Kodak 18-megapixel CCD image sensor with approximately the same dimensions as a frame of 35mm film, making it the smallest full-frame digital camera. The M9 accepts most Leica M lenses built to date, and thanks to the full-frame sensor, all of these lenses offer the same field of view as they would with a 35mm film camera body. The Leica M9 uses a metal blade shutter design capable of offering shutter speeds ranging from 1/4000 to 32...
There are quite a few things we liked about the $249.99 Envy 110. It's not just the most beautiful all-in-one device we've seen but it has brains, too. The menu system, accessed via a large touch screen, is well thought out and the Envy can communicate with some intelligence as well, accessing the Web for content, printing from an iPad and even printing documents emailed to it.
But there are enough misses that we'd hold out for the Envy 410. And while we used the Envy exclusively as our all-in-one device for a while, we discovered one fatal flaw. Read our review for the...
Although it looks very similar to its previous PEN-series flagships externally, the Olympus E-P3 includes several significant changes.
Key among these is a new brand-new autofocus system, branded 'Frequency Acceleration Sensor Technology', or FAST for short. Olympus showed supreme confidence in choosing the name, and it wasn't misplaced: the E-P3's AF performance actually rivals that of many SLRs. The P3 also includes a new touchscreen interface, and a built-in popup flash that addresses one of the main concerns with its predecessor.
Tweaks in its imaging pipeline are...
Despite its good image quality, the Nikon P7100's predecessor was a little too cumbersome to use for some. Thankfully Nikon fixes most of those issues with the P7100, making a digital camera that's not just pleasant to shoot, but whose images are worth talking about. Click here for our Nikon P7100 review and get the whole story!
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Thursday, January 2012
Making quite a leap for compact system cameras both in terms of image quality and camera control, the Sony NEX-7 really impressed us. We used words like "astonishing" and "amazing" when describing image quality, both printed and onscreen, because the NEX-7's images are even sharper than the A77's. And for an APS-C sensor to approach the quality of the Nikon D3X, well, that is saying something. Its Tri-Navi interface takes the NEX-7's camera control beyond the extra dials we find on other enthusiast digital cameras: Just a single button allows the dials to jump from...
In 2011, Sony released the 30mm f/3.5 Macro as the fourth in its series of NEX E-mount lenses. The lens offers full 1:1 (100%) macro reproduction, with a very short working distance of under four inches; when you consider the length of the lens and the distance of the sensor, this equates to about an inch from the front of the lens itself. Just under five ounces in weight, Sony suggests it is the smallest and lightest macro lens to offer 1:1 reproduction. Click here to read our full review of the Sony E 30mm f/3.5 Macro.
Among photo enthusiasts--and if you're reading this news item, there's a fair chance you're in that number--the Canon G1 X is one of the big talking points of the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. With that in mind, we conducted a public Q&A right before the show kicked off with Chuck Westfall, Technical Advisor with the Professional Engineering & Solutions Division at Canon U.S.A., Inc., to discuss the G1 X at length. The session took place the day before the show, but fear not: you can still find all the answers, archived for your leisurely perusal in our Canon G1 X...
Nikon made a big splash right before the combined Consumer Electronics Show / Photo Marketing Association tradeshow kicked off, with the debut of their latest professional SLR, the Nikon D4. It's generated a huge amount of excitement and discussion in the last week, and so we sat down with Steve Heiner, Senior Technical Manager at Nikon Inc., for a lengthy public Q&A session right before the show kicked off, in an effort to get all your questions answered. The session took place the day before the show, but fear not: you can still find all the answers, archived for your...
Canon USA Inc. has today announced three new PowerShot series digital cameras for the Consumer Electronics Show: the large-sensor Canon G1 X, long-zoom Canon 520 HS, and fashion-friendly Canon 110 HS.
Among photo enthusiasts--and if you're reading this news item, there's a fair chance you're in that number--the Canon G1 X is sure to be a big talking point. With that in mind, we've just posted our Canon G1 X preview, and we'll also be conducting a public Q&A with Canon's Chuck Westfall to discuss the G1 X later tonight. The session takes place at 6:15PM Pacific time...
Nikon Inc. has today announced the Nikon D4 professional SLR, which follows in the footsteps of the venerable--but now rather long-in the tooth--Nikon D3S and its predecessor, the Nikon D3, and we've just published our Nikon D4 hands-on preview.
The Nikon D4 has a redesigned body and features a raft of updates throughout, bringing improvements both for photographers and videographers alike. Key among these for still shooters are a new 16.2 megapixel FX-format image sensor, EXPEED 3 image processor, Advanced Multi-Cam 3500 autofocus module, 3D Color Matrix Metering III...
The big story with Datacolor's Spyder4 is its significantly improved accuracy. But Datacolor has also made an effort to extend its software's reach to devices other than you computer monitor. And these days, you look at your images on all sorts of screens: desktop monitor, laptop, netbook, HDTV, projector, tablet, smartphone. The Spyder4 can handle them all.
We've been using it for about a week to calibrate a laptop LCD screen and an iPad. And a week just isn't enough to mine all the new tools in the software for evaluating a monitor. On the other hand, the iPad...
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Wednesday, January 2012
Our lens review today on SLRgear is the Panasonic 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ASPH POWER OIS LUMIX G X VARIO PZ. Panasonic has introduced a new style of interchangeable lens, replacing traditional manual focus and zoom rings with power-assisted options that work much like you would find on a standard point-and-shoot digital camera. The resulting weight and size savings is substantial: the new lens is nearly half the size and weight of the current Panasonic 14-42mm kit lens. The big question is: has the image quality been affected in the process? Click here to read our full review of...
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