Hi everyone. I havent posted much recently because i got sick last week. Eventually I had to be admitted to the hospital (first time ever). Anyway I'm still at the hospital but i'll be posting again when I recover, hopefully by the end of the week. See you all so...
Monday, 29 April 2013
Saturday, 27 April 2013
A seller on ebay (bestpriceoptics) is now selling the Samyang 24 f/3.5 tilt shift lens, in Canon and Nikon mounts, for $999 shipped. This one is branded Rokinon.CanonNikonNote: I'm not affiliated with the seller or with Samyang.BTW, sorry I haven't posted much recently due to illness. I will post again when I recov...
Friday, 26 April 2013
DPReview has posted its in-depth Nikon D7100 Review.http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d7100Notably, DPR shows that the D7100 has greater shadow and highlight dynamic range compared to the D7000. In the ADL Extra High mode, the D7100's shadow range is off the charts, and its highlight range is almost at the edge of the chart.Also of note is the shape of the D7100's tone curve. With ADL off, the D7100's tone curve has a softer shoulder (more gentle highlight roll-off) compared to the D7000 or D600.The review doesn't mention banding...
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
B&H is offering the Sigma USB dock for preorder for $59 + s/h, due for shipping on May 18. The dock allows you to update your firmware and customize your lens: AF fine tuning on steroids: You can adjust front and back focus at different focal lengths and different focusing distances. For Sports lenses, in addition to firmware updates and AF fine tuning, you can also adjust: the AF speed, the focus limiter (to narrow the focusing to the relevant range for your photography), and the Optical Stabilization. The dock is compatible with...
According to DXO, the sharpest standard zoom for Nikon full frame cameras is the Tamron 24-70 2.8 VC, edging out the Nikon 24-70 2.8G. See DXO's report here: http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Publications/DxOMark-Reviews/Tamron-SP-24-70mm-f-2.8-Di-VC-USD-Nikon-review-An-affordable-fast-standard-zoom-that-comes-out-on-top . The Tamron 24-70 VC is also less expensive and has stabilization. I haven't tried the 24-70 VC myself but find this very intriguing. Of course, sharpness is not the only factor for choosing a lens. Other factors include...
Monday, 22 April 2013
Lately there has been an increased concern over dust spots in sensors, at least with some cameras such as the Nikon D600 and Nikon D7000. There are several products that can be used for cleaning a sensor. One such product is the Firefly DSC-2000 Digital Sensor Cleaner.The Firefly is a modified blower that ionizes the air blown to the sensor, creating both negative as well as positive ions. The idea is that if there are dust spots...
Thursday, 18 April 2013
OM-D & Leica 25mm f/1.4 (taken with the Sony RX100, check the end of the post for a BTS)This Leica lens is one of the great lenses available for MFT (Micro Four Thirds), it gives you a fast f/1.4 aperture, a favorite 50mm equivalent focal length, good sharpness, small size, fast focusing, and special image rendering.In this post I will attempt to write down my impressions after using this combo for a few months now.A few stats before I start,...
Just when I thought I had almost every focal length covered, here comes the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 (for APS-C cameras). Right now I have the Sigma 35 1.4. I like the focal length on FX. On DX, it is a normal lens, which is ok, though I prefer wider angles. The Sigma 18-35 1.8 fits that need exactly. It has a prime-like wide aperture for the shallow DOF that I like, and it covers focal lengths that I find very useful: ~28mm, 35mm and 50mm equivalents.Of...
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
One of Lightroom 5's new features is Smart Preview, which is a 2540-pixel raw format that you can generate. They can be edited and exported just like the full resolution photo. I was very interested in this feature because it would allow me to edit my shots faster when I don't need the full resolution photo. However I found out that it's not exactly what I imagined it to be.I found that Smart Previews aren't designed as alternative files for editing. Rather they are only designed to allow you to work on your photos when...
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
Lightroom 5 beta is here! I think this is a very significant upgrade - in my opinion, bigger than the upgrade from LR3 to LR4.Features:Advanced Healing Brush: instead of correcting just a spot, you can now paint a correction. This is so convenient! I used to be forced to go to Photoshop just for that. Hopefully it works well. Update: tried it and just got reminded it's not a substitute for content-aware spot healing because it has to take the brushed area from another area, just like the old spot healing.Smart Previews:...
Saturday, 13 April 2013
Happy April 15th! Hopefully you are receiving a tax refund! :)This post is a follow-up to my previous post where I discussed alternatives to the Nikon D7100. Here, I'll talk about which one I chose, and why.All of the alternatives I presented were genuinely attractive to me, so I had to use a process of elimination. Please note much of my reasoning is particular to my situation, and everyone has unique circumstances so the best...
Friday, 12 April 2013
Nikon D7100 + Nikkor 28-105 3.5-4.5D.Are you tired of reading all these posts about the Nikon D7100? Well don't worry, I'm taking a break from the D7100 posts. Last week, when I was doing tests on banding, I could not find a satisfactory solution to the banding issue. In my frustration, I actually returned the D7100. Ironically, right after I did, I found out from the Flickr D7100 Group about RawTherapee, which pretty...
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Here are some helpful links for information related to the Nikon D7100. Most of the information here is posted on the Flicrk D7100 Group. Reviews of the D7100Hands-on real-world user review: http://betterfamilyphotos.blogspot.com/2013/03/nikon-d7100-hands-on-real-world-review.htmlMore reviews: www.flickr.com/groups/nikond7100/discuss/72157632998778705/Comparison between D7100 and D7000First Impressions: www.flickr.com/groups/nikond7100/discuss/72157633048733669/ISO 6400: www.flickr.com/groups/nikond7100/discuss/72157633049390320/User perspective...
I haven't posted in a while but only because I've been doing a lot of testing about the Nikon D7100 banding issue. In this post, I will discuss ways to reduce the chance of banding, and what to do if it does show up.THE NIKON D5200 AND D7100 BANDING ISSUEFirst of all, the banding is real. It affects the Nikon D5200 and Nikon D7100, both of which share the same Toshiba sensor. Although the D5200 / D7100 sensor outperforms the Nikon D7000,...
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