Category: Equipment

The Sony A900 is a very serious undertaking for that company, and is a camera to be reckoned with. Sony plays to win, and it becomes a dominant force in virtually every segment of the consumer and professional electronics industry that it chooses to participate in. (One of their only failures was with Betamax, but they then transformed that format into a professional product and went on to dominate the broadcast industry with it for the past 20 years.) So, as we look at the A900, think of it not just as a new high-end DSLR, but also as Sony’s stake in the ground – claiming their intention to become a major player in the DSLR marketplace.

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The D3X is a total no-big-deal.

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So, what exactly is a D3x, you ask?

It’s a D3 whose primary digital board and sensor have been updated and replaced (respectively). That appears to be the only change (there may be some minor tweaks and menu choices that we can’t see short of disassembling the two side-by-side and doing a full scroll of the menu system, but I expect those things to be beyond minor in practice). Swap out the D3’s sensor for a new stuffed-with-pixels one, swap in a slightly redesigned digital logic board. Voila, D3x.

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After countless leaks, the Nikon D3X is finally official! All you need to know is that it’s a slightly slower D3 with a 24.6 megapixel sensor — higher resolution but not as good in low-light. This is exactly the camera that I, and pretty much everyone else, predicted more than six months ago, so in a strange way it feels like old news. Of course, as a D3 and D700 user, I’m totally in the tank for Nikon, right? Wrong. Please watch as I ruin any chance at sponsorship.

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From the latest Nikon Pro magazine (Europe)

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In product release by slow torture the RED Camera company has started to disclose information about its revised Scarlet video / stills hybrid camera.

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historically, I’ve tended to do my predictions in November, but I’m pushing things forward a bit more than usual so that Nikon can introduce away later in the month ;~). Just kidding. While Nikon has a late November announcement planned, whatever that product is has been pushed around quite a bit in its launch. It may get pushed around some more.

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The Canon 5D Mark II is a remarkable instrument. Not only is it a 21-megapixel camera that takes amazing photographs, but it is also one of the first of the “hybrid” cameras. It takes full 1080p High Definition video. As more and more photojournalists find themselves confronted with “multi-tasking” in their jobs, providing both stills and video, this is a major step that points the way to the future of the industry.

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The LX3 is an example of a species so endangered that the we were beginning to worry it had become extinct – a compact camera that photographers can get excited about. Panasonic has included a large degree of direct control, classy styling and, more importantly, a specification that goes beyond the unthinking ‘larger screen and more megapixels’ trend.

It’s hard to tell what we’re more impressed by – the ambitious lens or the decision to sit back and spectate during this round of the megapixel race. If pixels aren’t just to become clutter on your hard drive, they must contain useful information and we’ve seen too many compact cameras that produce images that need to be down-sized to bring them up to standard. The LX3 may not have the eye-popping resolution of some of its peers but instead it’s one of the best high-ISO compact cameras we’ve seen.

Nikon and Canon are traditional rivals, like the Hatfields and the McCoys. They compete in just about ever segment of the market. But, in recent years Canon has, with its G series, had one small niche to itself, that of the pocketable digicam that shoots raw and has an optical viewfinder (pathetic though the latter may be).

Now, with the introduction by Nikon of the Coolpix P6000, and Canon’s upgrade to the G10, we have what appear at first blush to be competitive products in this category. Let’s see how they initially stack up.

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I had become very impressed with the Canon G10 after just a few days of earlier light-duty testing. Each evening that week I would sit with my 15″ Macbook Pro reviewing the day’s files. At one point I found myself looking at raw files on-screen and not being sure if I was looking at Hasselblad P45+ files or Canon G10 files. That includes at 100% onscreen enlargements.

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The D90 and it’s peer cameras have helped bring the general public to light on what cutting edge professional image makers have known for a good while: still cameras and video cameras are converging. Make no mistake. Video cams like the RED camera are able to extract 10mp still images – a respectable size image for printing. And my Nikon D3 still camera shoots 12mp images at 8-10 frames per second – approaching the speed of video. Catch my drift? This is pro quality stuff that’s converging…

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The Mamiya DL28 Digital Camera System offers professional features and benefits found in much more expensive cameras. For example, even though the DL28’s resolution is an impressive 28 Megapixels, its large sensor allows a pixel size of 7.2 microns, producing images with unmatched richness and color accuracy, low noise, and striking highlight and shadow detail. Its 3.5-inch (diagonal) screen is the largest in the industry and offers a bright, high-contrast touch screen that is ideal for outdoor or indoor work.

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I received some info today that Canon is planning their next announcements on February 10, 2009.
SLR’s being announced:
1D Mark IV

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You heard the rumors, now get the details. Apple has just released a major update to the MacBook line, leaving the original white plastic model in the mix but lowering the price to $999; the two new models are priced at $1299 and $1599.

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The rumors have been swirling around for a few weeks now about the launch of a new line Apple notebook computers around the 15th of October

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