Buy The Best Camera:

I was amused by the email response to Reichmann’s Canon XSi review from the man who now (finally) finds low end DSLRs good enough for most work. I made that decision years ago with the Rebel XT. Yeah I know the image quality was just good enough too, and sure its usability left a lot to be desired, but it was good enough then for my clients and my personal work. So the Rebel XSi and perhaps even the new XS are sure to be good enough now as Reichmann notes in his review.

However, there is one factor that is generally not considered when comparing these DSLR bodies: the lenses. The APS-C sized sensor has resulted in new made-for-digital lenses, and these have generally been low-cost, consumer-grade zooms (to my thinking anyway). So yes, the XSi is a small compact body, but if you want the best glass as Reichman (and I) suggest, you wind up buying the big made-for-35mm-film lenses and dealing with that annoying lens crop factor. For example, the Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS that he suggests is not exactly a small nor lightweight chunk of glass.

Before everyone rushes to say this or that lens works fine (because they do; they’re good enough), all I’m saying is that Canon and Nikon are making good cash from their DSLRs. It would be nice to see some good dedicated glass for these smaller camera bodies… Some fast zooms (like a 24-105mm f/4 EF-S) and some fast primes (like Pentax’s pancake lenses) would be great. We have these lenses for full-frame 35mm, why not yet for APS-C?

This story about the loss of Ivey Imaging is sad, but it was only a matter of time… Still, interesting anonymous quote about the profitability of film processing. Thanks everyone at Ivey…you guys were reliable and professional.

Great. Now I’m waiting for the 17″ wide version. I kind of hope HP does it first as I’ve heard good things about their machines and as importantly, their software. This is a little like cameras. A lot of fuss and bother about which one to buy… Epson is the leader for a reason but HP is arguably playing catch-up “just fine, thanks.”
Anyway, it will be interesting to see if this new Epson R2880 is more evolutionary than revolutionary, and how much so.

I suppose if you’re in the market for a DSLR, and specifically a Canon 40D vs. a Canon XSi, you might ask what’s the big difference? In my opinion, there are a couple things to be aware of when making this choice. For many people these things may not matter, but for others these things may be important.

Canon 40D: larger body, better for bigger hands, slightly more ergonomic/faster to operate due to thumb wheel on rear (vs. the XSi’s hold a button while turning the command dial technique). External flash x-sync of 1/250th (vs. XSi’s x-sync of 1/200th). And 6.5 fps motor-drive. CF card only (vs. XSi’s SD card only).

XSi: 12 MP (vs. the 40D’s 10 MP) and smaller size/lighter weight. Latest and greatest everything (autofocus, dust-reduction, live view). And other usability improvements over previous generation such as larger viewfinder, ISO displayed in viewfinder.

A tough call - if you need speed and usability the 40D may be more appealing, otherwise the XSi delivers a lot of bang for the buck. The flash x-sync may be an issue for some, but at least with Canon’s dedicated speedlites you can use the high-speed sync to compensate.

The Canon XSi (body only) is going for $800. The Canon 40D is only $140 more at $940 with the instant $200 rebate happening now. Not sure how long it will last so if the link breaks you can always try just going to B&H Photo’s main site and searching for the 40D.

I had a chat with a friend about relationships recently which reminded me that a) they can be a lot like your relationship to a camera and b) I’m glad that I’m happily married!

The Nikon P5100 has long since been returned to the friendly folks back East. How have I adjusted to life without it? As it happens my main machine (compact), the Panasonic LX-1, is on loan to my mom, so right now it’s just the DSLRs and me. (I’m not counting my wife’s compact.)

What do I miss about the Nikon? The usability, the ergonomics, the fun. What don’t I miss? In retrospect, I think the files were all a bit “grey” - you know, that digital grey patina that overlies almost all digital files until you run ‘em through Photoshop or Lightroom’s clarity tool. I don’t miss the relatively slow AF and shot-to-shot speed. But I do miss the little guy’s fun-factor…

The image quality is a good thing too, considering you can do a lot with 12 MP of data (despite the lack of RAW format flexibility). They just needed a bit of work in post, and compared to some other camera makers, the files did not need that much post-production, really.

As I said in my review at Photographyreview.com, it’s a fun camera and worthy of considerationfor those not in need of speed.

Photo-John of PhotographyReview.com and I were talking about point-n-shoots recently and we agreed that perhaps the most interesting things in the camera world right now are happening with that high-end segment formerly known as “prosumer.” You don’t hear that term anymore (at least I don’t) and I think the manufacturer’s marketing departments have let it drift off the radar because they’d rather sell you a DSLR and all the extra lenses and flash accessories your bank account is able to handle. Well hey, don’t they know everyone already wants a DSLR *and* a do-it-all point-n-shoot? And we’d even pay a lot extra for the latter (at least I would)?!?

So, here’s hoping (going on about seven years now) we’ll get a real photographically usable tool *and* a camera that has a quality sensor+image processing firmware. Are you getting tired of reading this from me? Thought so. I’m tired of writing it too, but hope springs eternal.

If I’m lucky I may get my hands on a Sigma DP-1. However good ol’ Michael Reichmann has his
comparison/review online now so now I guess I don’t need to bother! Basically Michael sez “great image quality, terrible camera.” (Sigh…still waiting.) Control design, write speeds, etc. All those basic things you need to capture the moment, y’know?

Dear God: Please help somebody get this right. You know it’s not rocket science–compact camera design has been around, what, 50 some years now? Please help them see the light. Them being Leica/Panasonic or Ricoh or Sigma, or maybe even Pentax or Samsung, or one of them two gorillas…

But hey, enough complaining. I’m encouraged to see Sigma forging ahead with APS-C in a compact body and here’s to version 2.0, may it be a classic. And if you don’t need sports shooting AF and frame rates and usability, then the DP-1 may be just the ticket.

With Nikon getting “back” in the game with their D3 and D300, I was excited to play with their latest compact camera offering, the P5100.

So I’m in the middle of writing my review of the Nikon P5100 compact digital camera. It’s a handsome 12 MP unit that kind of aspires to compete with the likes of Canon’s G9
and other high-end compacts. I say “kind of” because in my opinion, any camera in that league needs to offer RAW format files. The Nikon P5100 does not.

As you’ll see in my upcoming review, there are a lot of things I like about the P5100. But the two strikes are lack of RAW format, and the auto-focus’ less than snappy performance. And strike three might be the price given what you’re missing (RAW format and better AF).

On the other hand, if you don’t want/need RAW and can live with a little shutter lag and inconsistent AF in low light, the P5100 is a pleasure to use. It travels great in your pocket, produces well-exposed image files, has a great LCD, and has great controls and control layout. It even has manual exposure, an optical viewfinder, and a hotshoe. (Why include all these pro-camera-like features and leave out RAW? I guess they’re really afraid of cannibalizing their DSLR and lens sales…)

It’s really a shame they left RAW out and didn’t deliver on the AF since the P5100 is so nice in just about every other area; it could’ve been a contender. But it’s still a solid point-n-shoot for people wanting a “premium” point-n-shoot. For the money, you have to ask if you can’t get better features (like really small pocketable size, better AF) in another make and model. Then again, if you want the usability of dedicated buttons and control dials, the P5100 might indeed be the best fit.

Full review should be online at PhotographyReview.com in a few weeks.

Adobe has been planning this move for a while now and here it is, Photoshop Express. Launched today as a beta, with paid subscriptions/features to come… Free for now, with a  2 GB limit. You’ll hit that limit pretty fast but you can keep your photos on other online services and just use the image editing features.

It should be interesting to see how other services like Picasa respond. But for now, the main limitation is uploading speed/bandwidth.

“Well duh,” you say.

Sigma’s long-anticipated DP1, the first compact camera with an APS-C sized sensor (the same size that is in most sub-$2,000 DSLRs), is slated to enter the US market at $1,000. As it happens, the innovative new 60 fps Casio EX-F1 is the same price (although it’s not a small compact camera).

Small and portable almost always costs more, but I would’ve liked to see these units priced in the $750 to $850 range. That’s the price one pays for being on the edge–bleeding edge, that is. Still, I and many others hope the DP1 lives up to its hope: a compact camera with manual DSLR-like control that produces quality files (pictures).

I’m cautiously optimistic, but for a grand, it has to really earn my cash.