March 2007 news

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3/31/07

I added a couple of telephoto shot comparisons between the SP-550 and Sony A 100 with the 75-300mm lens, they're at the bottom of the page: here. New content, 4/7/07
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3/25/07

If you click here, you'll get to see some pre-review thoughts and a few sample shots from the Olympus SP-550UZ super-zoom. It's been a rather cloudy, rainy week so I haven't been out and about much. So far I have a couple of pleasant surprises concerning the camera so check it out now! More content added on 3/26/07
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3/17/07

New toy alert! My Olympus SP-550UZ arrived yesterday, and I've been playing with it for quite a while. Below is the box and contents, at least for the US. So far it's proving to be much better performing than the last small super zoom from Olympus, the Camedia 750UZ, which was considered to be one of the best in it's time-2003-2004. I'll probably add a few items of interest in the coming days like lens performance, light falloff, flare and ISO etc, so check back often.

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3/11/07

Looks like I might finally get a Sony 16-80mm Carl Zeiss lens this month. They are taking orders on the SonyStyle websight with shipping "on or about" 3/23/07. I placed my order today so let's cross our fingers and hope they don't screw it up again.

I'm also going to do a full review of the mighty Olympus SP-550 UZ which will probably be ready sometime next month. I'll most likely do some quick comparison shots with my Sony and Nikon zooms sometime in the next couple of weeks or so to see how the 504mm top end holds up.

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{I added this camera a couple of days ago and forgot to update the site} Sony has introduced a $600 photo viewer cleverly marketed as a high-tech digital camera capable of wireless image transfer. The camera uses DLNA or Digital living network alliance, if you don't know what this is you're not alone. It isn't very common or useful right now, unless you have another devise that has it. Also, the Sony DSC-G1 6mp camera has a nice 3.5" LCD, featuring 921,000 pixels which the Sony sales rep reports "that's four times higher than the average compact digital camera and all previous Sony Cyber-Shot models". Do not confuse the sneaky "four times higher" with four times the resolution. If I use my grade school math I come out with somewhere around 50% more resolution compared to a 2.5" 230,000 LCD, (2.5" LCD equal to approx. 460,000 pixels). That's still a nice, sharp screen. It'll be perfect for people who like to snap a whole bunch of pictures and send 'em to their friends just for kicks-assuming they also have DLNA. With a whopping 2GB of storage, yes 2GB-and a MS duo slot for even more, it'll hold 7,500 VGA pics! Imagine the quality time spent viewing thousands of someone Else's snapshots! It seems to me $600 is an awful lot, I bought my laptop for less than that and I could still buy a decent digital camera with the money left over. OK, it's a lot more handy than a laptop. Check out the specifications here.

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3/10/07

The Nikon lens review is done and ready for your perusal. This lens performed very well, especially at 12mm and F/4, but stay away from the mid-zoom region-very soft. I've also provided some comparison shots showing the difference between 11mm and 12mm, there's probably more difference than you think, So check out the full review of Nikon's 12-24mm F/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor lens now!

Also today I've added specification sheets for the Olympus E-510 and E-410, which were announced earlier in the week.

This little Kodak below slipped under the Radar a few days ago, it's dubbed the easyshare Z712 IS. It's a handsome SLR like super zoom (36mm-432mm), with a pretty low price of $299. Check out the specs here.

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3/6/07

Nikon upgrades the D40 and it becomes the D40x. The big change is the new 10mp sensor and ISO down to 100 instead of 200, owners of the D40 will know this is no big deal. As one of those owners, I know the difference between 6mp and 10mp and it is noticeable, but not by very much; check it out yourself here. Scroll down to the studio shots near the bottom of the review and view the boring pictures. Feel free to print them out from the full resolution files. At 8"x10" you won't be able to tell, at 13"x19" some people won't be able to tell. I've been using my D40 for over 3 months and the more I use it the more I like it. It takes the best pictures right out of the camera by far and has excellent high ISO noise reduction, something you probably won't be getting with the extra D40x megapixels. Having bought the Konica Minolta 5D and then upgrading to the Sony A100, I can say for the extra money (for most people) it probably isn't worth it. The D40x will ship in April for $799 with kit lens. Specifications here.

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3/5/07

Olympus announces upgrades to their DSLR lineup. First off, we have the E-510, now with a slightly larger body and sporting a 10mp sensor and CCD shift image stabilization----finally! Next up the little E-410, now being offered in the US, as the E-400 wasn't---obviously in response to the Nikon D40 success. The E-410 also offers 10mps, plus the live view (also on the E-510) coming from the ugly E-330 disaster. This is supposedly the smallest DSLR on the market right now. Hopefully, Olympus has made some advances in their high ISO noise reduction to complement the new sensor, why do I somehow think it will be even worse than the Sony a100? Pricing for the E-410 is $699 body only and in stores by May. The E-510 will retail for $799 body only starting in June. I'll work up a specification sheet for both in the next day or two.

Evolt E-510

Evolt E-410

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3/4/07

Coming up; a review of the Nikon 12-24mm F/4G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor lens! If you're looking for a super-wide angle zoom for your Nikon digital DX, this is it-at least with a Nikon nameplate. Although not quite as wide as other company super-wides, it performs very well. It's 35mm equivalent is 18-36mm, and I've compared it to my Sony/Minolta 11-18mm, equal to 16.5-27mm. This fancy Nikon lens will set you back a Grover Cleveland (that's street parlance for a US one thousand dollar bill). The review should be ready to face some massive scrutiny sometime this week, so check back each and every day! Update: full review now ready, enter here.