The new full frame cameras (Canon, Nikon and Sony) November 1, 2008
Posted by tcbp in : Rants & Raves , 2 comments
Having finally had the opportunity to play with the new batch of “affordable” full frame cameras I wanted to write down my thoughts on all of them. They’re all impressive cameras in their own respects, each with particular strengths that make them stand out among the rest and I enjoyed using and handling all of them at the recent photo expo.
I’m basically just going to go through the pros and cons of each camera separately, and then wrap up with my “gut” feeling at the end.
The camera of the future August 30, 2008
Posted by tcbp in : Rants & Raves , 2 commentsA lot of us mouthy photo bloggers have our opinions about what the camera of the future should be, or what features we’d like to see in our dream cameras. Since I haven’t posted anything like that yet, I figured it was time to waste everyone’s time and make my own insignificant addition to this already saturated topic.
I think I said something about this before July 7, 2008
Posted by tcbp in : News & Rumors, Rants & Raves , add a commentOh… wait, yes I did: add more pixels please
Please just stop! I appreciate the effort put in to these cameras like including GPS location tagging but 13.5 megapixels in a 1/1.7 inch sensor? Unless this camera is carrying a new sensor exhibiting some breakthroughs in sensor design, it’s going to be pretty much terrible at anything above base ISO.
Fortunately Nikon saw fit to offer ISOs up to 6400! That obviously improves things.
My fingers are crossed that this is fake.
Come on Canon! February 15, 2008
Posted by tcbp in : Rants & Raves , add a comment
Nikon has a shiny new 105mm 2.8 VR macro, so where is the image stabilized version of my 100mm 2.8 USM macro? I would like nothing more than to have that available to me and I’d trade up in a heartbeat.
I know normally the words macro and handheld make people cringe. But I find that with the newer technologies hitting macro lenses this is easier and more viable than ever before. USM itself means I can put the camera on AI servo and let focus tracking maintain focus on what I want which is great because the closer you focus the less depth of field you have and the more your inability to stay still becomes an issue. So AI servo and USM take care of some movement in the axis parallel to the optical axis. Image stabilizer would help in all other directions and means I can more effectively do hand-held, impromptu macro photography with the guarantee of more consistent and better results.
Usually I’m not one to care about new doodads and snazzy features, but I really hope Canon picks up on what Nikon has done and copies it.
Add more pixels, please. August 20, 2007
Posted by tcbp in : Rants & Raves , 2 commentsMore pixels make the camera better, right?
I’m getting dismayed by the fact that marketing has seem to overrun good common sense at the camera companies these days. Perfectly good cameras like the G9 are coming out with 12 megapixels now and that’s just stupid. That camera, in particular that sensor, shouldn’t need more than 6mp, in fact it would make the camera better.
It’s even worse because for if a moment it seems like the megapixel race might be over, they start doing the ISO thing. But now it seems they’re going to do both as the same time, a guaranteed recipe for disaster. 12.1 megapixel and 1600 ISO in a 1/1.7 sensor; now unless I’m mistaken (and I may be, I had to wake up way too early today) that’s a pixel pitch of at best 1.9 microns. That’s pushing it too far. Sensitivity, efficiency and dynamic range for a sensor like this are all going to suffer. The noise is going to be high! Noise reduction might make it look better but it smooths out the details and what are you left with? A camera that is probably equivalent to 6 megapixels of useful image data on a good day. One could do the calculations by making some assumptions and figure it out, but it doesn’t matter.
I’d like to see manufacturers start focusing on better lenses and larger sensors. Move to lower resolution, there’s no practical need for sensors like this in these cameras. More resolution can be better, but it isn’t always.