SLR

I found a very good and very detailed field test of the Canon EOS 7D. Since it is not often that you will find such an in-depth analysis by a pro-photographer (Nature Photographer Ole Jørgen Liodden from Norway) ready to disclose so much information, I wanted to share it with you.

• Weather sealing
• In the Cold of Winter
• Autofocus
• Image Quality

Long, but recommended reading for anybody willing to check the Canon EOS 7D.

Columbia is one of the greatest exporters of coffee. And an imaginative product has been created (probably with Canon authorization, since it has been seen given to the press in Vancouver) to bring Canon support to coffee (and Columbia). A giant coffee mug in the shape of EF 70-200mm f/4L USM lens.

From crunchgear and many others.

According to a PentaxForums user, Pentax would be preparing a “light” version of the Pentax K-7 to be presented later this year. Its name? Pentax K-5.

The user appears to have either a good aptitude to forecast or reliable information sources. So, KR tends to give him some good confidence level.

Today, Canon announced that they will add 24 and 25 fps HD Movie recording to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II photo camera with firmware v2.0.3. It will be available as a free download from the middle of March.

photo credit: Javier Paredes

You have to admit that you would like to know if the first Sony SLR camera supposed to be a pro photo camera, the Sony Alpha 900, is really up to the real-life constraints of a pro camera. Some people would really test it: Michael Reichmann from Luminous Landscape, simply took a Sony Alpha 900, a Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G tele-zoom and 5 other lenses, for two weeks of photo travel in the Southernmost countries of this world. Result: A rather positive opinion, no real issue after submitting the photo camera to low temperatures and high humidity that were out of its normal operating range.

He also noted the incidents other cameras suffered around him (no less than 77 other photographers!). For example, the Canon EOS 5D MkII which did not survive in cold rain.

The Sony A900 test in Antartica.

We heard already about the successor to the Sigma SD14, under the name of Sigma SD15, in 2008. Then, nothing or near to nothing. But here comes Sigma again with a new announcement about this camera. We will have to see if this will bring Sigma back in the light (the company was already considered as having left the SLR market).

Sigma SD15

Main features:

• Foveon X3 sensor with 14 Mega-pixels
• True II processor already known on DPx models
• Sensitivity: ISO 100-1600 (ext. ISO 50-3200)
• Continuous shooting: 21-RAW-image buffer at 3 frames/s
• Exposure computed from a 77-segment sensor
• 5-point autofocus
• Bracketing: 3 or 5 images
• Reliable and durable shutter with life cycle of over 100,000 exposures
• Dust-protection of the sensor
• Viewfinder: Pentaprism with 98% coverage, 0.8x magnification, 18mm eye point; With diopter settings
• Image stabilization: sensor displacement
• Flash: GN 11 at ISO 100 (covering the angle of a 17 mm lens)
• 3″ LCD screen with 460,000 dots
• Top control LCD
• Memory cards compatible with SD & SDHC
• Weight: 680g

SD15 special site: www.SIGMA-SD.com/sd15
SD15 product page: www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/camera/sd15/index.htm

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As expected, 2010 will be a great year for lenses to strengthen the range delivered to the Samsung NX-10: Samsung announces no less than 10 glasses for this year.

To be released during the first half of 2010:
18-55mm F3.5-5.6, Non OIS

To be released during the second half of 2010:
20-50mm F3.5-5.6
20mm F2.8
18-200mm F3.5-6.3 OIS
60mm F2.8

Finally, Sony told us some about the future of the Alpha line of D-SLR cameras. Unfortunately, it does not mean that we will see new cameras soon. The discontinued Alpha 700 will receive a replacement (who is surprised, really?) and it will come with a wide-angle lens Zeiss Distagon T* 24 mm f/2 ZA SSM and a big 500 mm f/4 G. And notice the prominent HD marking on the top of the mock-ups: HD video is coming now.

There also will be a new ultra-compact camera with interchangeable lenses. The presented mock-ups are quite small indeed:

The video has just been updated (it was removed by the user for some short time).

We are waiting impatiently for the launch of new SLR photo cameras from Sony, but here is the weirdest rumour seen in China about this.

Improbable : Sony Alpha 707 & Sony Alpha 900SH

A Sony Alpha 707 with HD video capture and ISO 12.800 sensitivity and a Sony Alpha 900SH with HD video.

Seriously! I can’t believe it for a moment… It’s so strange that I will not even create the Sony Alpha 7007 and Sony Alpha 900SH categories for the YLovePhoto menus.

Thanks to Mash for the link to PR. These guys are ready for any kind of rumour…

Canon just announced its new SLR EOS camera, the Canon EOS 550D (aka Canon T2i, in the US).

18MP with Full HD movies, this is the camera for most people.

Canon EOS 550D

Main features:

• 18 Mega-pixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• DIGIC 4 processor
• Sensitivity: ISO 100-6400 (Ext. to ISO 12800)
• Select maximum value for Auto ISO
• Continuous shooting at 3.7 fps
• iFCL metering System with 63-zone Dual-layer Metering Sensor
• Quick Control screen to change shooting settings
• Full HD movie recording with manual control and selectable frame rates
• Movie crop function
• Exposure compensation +/-5 IL
• LCD: 7.7 cm (3.0â€�) 3:2 ClearView (with 1,040k dots)
• External Microphone socket
• Eye-Fi connected functions compatibility

Canon EOS 550D

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According to NR, the announcements of new Nikon for the PMA will be very limited: “several large aperture prime lenses and light compact zoom lens this year”.

The official PMA press conferences will happen in the coming hours, but this probably means “no SLR“.

Updated on 9-Feb: As a matter of fact, the Nikon press conference only presents the new AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED & AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR (source: DPReview).

The PMA in Las Vegas is now arriving fast. After a long time of little rumors, here comes the moment for big rumors, but not the actual revelations yet.

• Nikon has been telling the world that they intended to have a great year 2010. It seems that they will bring a new DSLR (it could be the Nikon D700x, Nikon D700s, or Nikon D800 according to the rumor mill). It would be confirmed according to the banner visible on LetsGoDigital. But this is apparently a fake built from press material from the older Nikon D3 (via NR).
• Yesterday’s press conference did not bring a single SLR though (Coolpix S8000, Coolpix S6000, Coolpix S4000, Coolpix S3000, Coolpix P100, Coolpix L110, Coolpix L22, Coolpix L21, nothing less!)
• Plenty of people expect to see the Canon EOS 60D arriving now, but it’s still uncertain. NL/DPR predicts a set of features: CMOS 18MPs, 6.3fps, HD 24 and 36fps, Digic IV.
• According to CR, Canon is preparing a new Rebel/EOS camera whose name should be Rebel T2i (the European name could be 550D or EOS 600D), with video, fixed LCD of improved resolution.
• At last, Canon would present the very pro Canon EOS 1Ds Mk IV
• Samsung should extend its new NX line, possibly with some lenses (waiting a little more for a new NX camera body).
• Olympus and Fuji should bring only P&S cameras.
• The Sony rumour line is totally silent, which could be indicator that either they are efficient at keeping a lid on the new Alpha 750 or there is nothing in preparation.

So, let’s wait a little more.

During years we have been worried because people seemed only interested in getting more Mega-Pixels (MP) out of the new photo cameras (or camera feature sheets). It has been repeated often enough that this single quantity is not a good measure of camera performance. It was, when cameras had so few pixels (less than 3-5 MP) that picture quality was linked first to number of pixels, then to other parameters.

Since 2009, we can consider that the race for more pixels is over. All camera manufacturers decided more or less to go easy on resolution: Over 12-15 MP, you can easily print an A4 or Letter-size print in top quality. Most photographers will never need more. So, why go over 20 MP?

Most manufacturers followed the lead of Olympus and Nikon trying to enlarge the pixels in order to ensure they collect more light and this leads to a higher level of sensitivity as measured by the ISO standard. This is good, because this means that our pictures are going to be better and better, not only uselessly finer and finer. Moreover, maximum ISO sensitivity becomes a relatively good proxy for image quality.

However, there is a slippery slope here. It has already been observed in some Point-and-Shoot compact photo cameras: A manufacturer may be tempted to push a maximum ISO level to ridiculously stratospheric altitudes. It’s not only because you P&S camera can do ISO 1600, that its pictures are still usable (noise cancellation algorithms may be so energetic that most of the details are blurred in the process).

Usually, in the D-SLR market we do not see this happening too often, but there is a risk. With Canon and Nikon leading the race with (pro) cameras over ISO 100,000, we already see figures that are amazingly high and images that are already quite bad (for a pro).

Don’t get me wrong! I’m quite happy to see that technology will soon be allowing us to shoot pictures in darkness without using a flash. But those two very serious camera manufacturers have obviously been racing to reach an ISO landmark. Some others, maybe less able, will reach it not only with barely usable photos, but with really unacceptable pictures. Then, it would become a fruitless race again, with figures creeping into the fact sheets and a real-life comparison will be ever more critical.

For me, the Canon EOS 1D Mk IV and Nikon D3s are useful because they produce absolutely great photos at ISO 32,800, not just because they can collect a barely informational document at ISO 102,400. Let’s be attentive with the present products from Canon and Nikon and the future cameras from all the photo camera manufacturers.

We should still be photographers and not just number-seeking blind consumers. I hope we are.

Assuredly, Samsung decided to shake the market of mirror-less SLR (how can we name these cameras?) since the official launch of the Samsung NX-10.

Samsung new web site

They open a new Korean web site at http://www.samsungimaging.co.kr/ which is -for now- dedicated to the NX-10 but which will certainly be the spearhead of the 2010-2011 marketing efforts around the new NX series. It should support Samsung’s strike to become a major actor of the mid-range SLR cameras (what could not be achieved even in the partnership with Pentax).

But they also announce us relatively bad news: The NX10 will not be available on camera shop shelves before March 2010 (in the US and in Europe). We will all have to be patient waiting to the opportunity to get access to this camera which intend to shake up too-well-established categories of the SLR market.

I just updated the tests/reviews in the database of the SLR photo cameras, mostly for the Pentax and Samsung cameras (and some Nikon, Sony, Canon, too).

AlphaMountWorld just produced a very interesting comparative review of three of the most attractive digital SLR photo cameras now on the market:

• Sony Alpha A500
• Nikon D5000
• Canon EOS 500D ou Rebel T1i

Of course, this test is listed in the list of comparisons/reviews attached to the feature page of each of these cameras (follow the links above).

Source: AlphaMountWorld.com Sony Alpha A500, Nikon D5000, and Canon EOS Rebel T1i- Compared