Manfrotto 055 Mag Photo-Movie Head Review

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DSLRs with HD video capabilities have changed the way many of us shoot and many photographers are being asked to return from assignments with videos, or simply making that choice themselves to make their business stand out from the crowd.  The problem is that DSLR video is incredibly susceptible to camera shake because in-body image stabilization has yet to be implemented in these larger cameras.  Combine that with the tendency to create rolling shutter artifacts when panning too fast and you quickly realize that a good video head (fluid head) is necessary to get even a reasonable job done unless …

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Fuji x100 Full Review Including Firmware Update Impressions

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Boy has this been a long time coming!  We first learned about the Fuji x100 way back in September 2010 where it was shown in prototype form at Photokina.  The internet was instantly ablaze with hands on impressions (as much as you can get from a prototype) and forums were full of excited people in love with Fuji’s classic design.  An astute move by Fuji’s marketing department capitalized on peoples desire and the official x100 page gradually leaked a series of in-depth preview articles discussing every aspect of the camera over the next 8 months.  By the time they actually …

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New Pentax Q-System World’s Smallest

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Announced today is Pentax’s first foray into the interchangeable lens , mirrorless camera market but this one comes with a twist.  Up until now companies like Panasonic, Olympus and Sony have been producing these types of cameras with sensors in them of either micro 4/3 sizing of in Sony’s case even larger.  In order to make the world’s smallest such system Pentax have decided to use a smaller sensor in their new Q-System.  This is effectively a point and shoot camera with interchangeable lenses.  The biggest surprise for me is the price , coming in at a steep $799 for the body and a prime lens.  All 5 new lenses and the cameras are available to pre-order from Adorama so you can get an ideas for all the various pricing HERE.  The camera is HERE.  All the features you would expect these days including 1080p 30fps and manual controls and DNG RAW photos etc

I have a suspicion that Pentax are trying to capitalize on peoples apparent love for the retro look as seen with the high demand for the Fuji x100.  But let’s be honest here, the Fuji is a beauty and the Pentax…. hmmmm not so much.  The dial on the front of the camera is just ridiculous.  That said, good on them for coming out with a range of lenses right off the bat.

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Leica Unveils new 21mm f3.4 Super-Elmar

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NEW: THE LEICA SUPER-ELMAR-M 21MM F/3.4 ASPH.

Compact M lens with improved imaging performance sets new standards in wide-angle photography

Solms, Germany (June 21, 2011) – Leica Camera AG adds a new, high-performance wide-angle lens to its portfolio of short focal length lenses for Leica M cameras. The Leica Super-Elmar-M 21 mm f/3.4 ASPH. sets new standards in imaging performance. It is characterized by its particularly compact size and suitability for a wide range of photographic situations. Whether used for photojournalism, architecture or landscape photography, the Leica Super-Elmar-M 21 mm f/3.4 ASPH. provides photographers with an extremely small, light and versatile wide-angle lens, particularly suitable for travelling.

The performance of the Leica Super-Elmar-M 21 mm f/3.4 ASPH. is reminiscent of one of the all-time favorite classic M lenses, the Leica Super-Angulon-M 21 mm f/3.4. This highly praised lens was an integral part of the Leica M lens portfolio from 1963 to 1980 and made its name and reputation as an ideal tool for available light photography and photojournalism. Even today, the Super-Angulon-M 21 mm f/3.4 remains extremely popular and one of the most sought-after M lenses amongst connoisseurs of fine optics.

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Leica Launches New M9-P Digital Rangefinder

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THE NEW LEICA M9-P: THE ESSENCE OF DISCRETION Designed particularly for professional photographers, new ultra-discreet version of the Leica M9 added to Leica rangefinder portfolio Solms, Germany (June 21, 2011) – Leica Camera AG is proud to present a new version of the world’s smallest, full-frame digital system camera: the Leica M9-P.  This new model will sit alongside the Leica M9 in the company’s rangefinder portfolio. Providing an alternative, even more discreet and resilient design that further reinforces the classic nature of the M9, the M9-P specifically meets the needs of professional photographers.  The new model is now available in …

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Zoom H1 Audio Recorder Review

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The Zoom H1 has been around for a year or so now and I’ve mentioned it before on this site but only now had a good reason to pick one up for myself.  At the time of writing this I’m packing my gear to head to France to shoot the 24 Heures Du Mans, arguably the worlds greatest motor race.  I decided that the sound of the cars on the track would be interesting to capture for some multimedia content after the event and the H1 looks to be a reasonable solution.  Ever since DSLRs began to record video, photographers …

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Rumor Silly Season Is Nearly Upon Us

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Around this time of year he rumor mills really start to turn the greasy wheels.  July, August and September are often months that see the key players in the industry announce new products either for immediate delivery, or increasingly in recent years , for deliver before Christmas.  In the last few years a wealth of websites have cropped up to deal with rumors for specific camera brands.  A few of these sites have good track records in tracking down new information long before anything official is released by the manufacturers.  Some of the other sites……. well they don’t have the best of luck.  Often there are snippets of correct information but it’s muddled in amongst bogus specs and rarely are things correct many months out.  Once things get close to an official announcement the rumors start to get a closer to the real deal.

I’m sure we are going to see weekly updates on these sites with supposed specs on new gear, one thing for certain though is that Sony, Nikon and Canon can be expected to make some major announcement in this time frame.

Sony looks set to bring an A77 to the market in July featuring their pellicule mirror technology to an APS-C camera with some decent specs to sit above their A55.

Nikon will be replacing the D3 and the D700 at some point.  It seems likely that at least one of these will be in August.  Before the Pixiq tradeshow was cancelled, Nikon and Canon were probably planning on releasing things at that show.

You guys know that for me it’s the Canon gear that I’m most interested in.  The website Canon Rumors has had so many conflicting reports over the months it’s hard to make sense of it.  We will certainly see an official release of the 200-400 f4 L IS which was announced as in development some months ago.  We have also been waiting for an eternity for a 24-70 f2.8 replacement.  Its been reported that there are several patents and test versions out there, some with IS and some without.  I’d say this one will finally come alongside some sort of 1dsMKIII replacement.  There has also been some reports that the 1d and 1ds line will be merged.  Not sure about that one!  And of course it’s about time for a 5dMKIII too.  On top of that there has been rumors of a 35mm f1.4 II and the much needed 50mm f1.4 II.  My bet would be on the 35mm to come first.

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Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS Review

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You might be wandering why I’m going to talk about this lens when Canon has already announced it’s replacement, due to hit store shelves in December 2011.  Whilst it’s true that the new EF 500mm f4 L IS II is 17% lighter than this version, the optical improvements will be fairly minor.  It’s tough to improve on the quality of any of Canon’s super telephotos.  The list price of the upcoming MKII 500mm is $10,000 but the current version is selling for “only” $6900.  When version 2 hits the second hand market there is sure to be an explosion of …

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Canon Updates Release Date Info For New Lenses

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Canon has released information today on when they now expect the previously announced EF lenses to be released.

Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens is scheduled to be available in late July 2011
Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens is scheduled to be available in late August 2011
Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens is scheduled to be available in late August 2011
Canon EF 500mm F4L IS II USM lens is scheduled to be available in December 2011
Canon EF 600mm F4L IS II USM lens is also scheduled to be available in December 2011

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Introducing the F-Stop Satori EXP Backpack

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Last week we took a look at the newly released Guru 28 liter backpack.  This week I’m giving you guys a first in-depth look at the soon to be released F-Stop Satori EXP which is due to be on sale this coming July.  This pack sits at the opposite end of the Mountain Series to the Guru, with a Capacity of 62 liters and as the EXP designation implies this one will hold everything you need on your next expedition.  The pack might be larger than the F-Stop Tilopa backpack, but by forgoing the waterproof TPU base seen on the …

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Sigma Announces Price and Date For 46mp SD1 Camera

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A 46MP Foveon sensor negates the need for a bayer matrix or anti-aliasing filter. Sigma’s new SD1 is the largest Foveon sensor on the market and it’s coming in June.

46-megapixel DSLR creates new market for medium-format photographers
Ronkonkoma, NY, May 20, 2011 – Sigma Corporation of America, a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world’s most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, is pleased to announce that its flagship DSLR, the Sigma SD1, will be available for purchase for the MSRP of $9,700 in early June.

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Canon 8-15 f4 L Fisheye Image Samples

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If you aren’t familiar with this upcoming lens from Canon then check out my previous post with all the details.  We still don’t know when this lens is going to become available and Canon is currently tight lipped about how badly production schedules are being affected by the situation in Japan.  Last week though, the Canadian camera store Henry’s hosted a show in Toronto and the 8-15 f4 L was on show for all to see.  What made it a little different this time is that people were allowed to use them and shoot photos of them to their own memory card.  Friend of the site Chris Tanouye contacted me and showed me some sample images that he shot at the show.  Obviously lighting conditions on tradeshow floors are terribly low so it’s a difficult test but he posted some full resolution images up on his Flickr account.  You can view the whole set HERE yourself.  The images were shot on both a 50d and a 5dMKII at varying focal lengths.  They were all shot wide open (f4) and some of them at pretty slow shutter speeds so bear this in mind.

Now we have no real way of knowing what stage the sample lens was in.  i.e. how close to the production model it will be. Things may change and probably will so this is just a bit of fun to look at these really as we haven’t heard or seen anything new about this lens since September and I for one am getting impatient 🙂

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