Roberts Imaging

Hoya HD Filters

Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 by Derek Martin

We're working on getting the full line of Hoya's new HD filters up. But, Derek, you ask, what are HD filters? Well, Hoya's High Definition filters are made from the best quality optical glass and then specially coated, ending in a product that promises to be 4 times harder than regular ol' optical glass and have a super-fine finish for easy cleaning. Popular Photography claims the coating is so good they wrote on one with markers and wiped it right off.

We've got a Raw Footage from Mike who briefly discusses the line below:

And, if you're curious about that durability claim, I dug up these videos originally from Hoya's site. The first one shows what happens when you throw a steel ball bearing at a regular filter. The second shows the same test with an HD filter.

Now, personally, I'm a fan of any product that's been rigorously tested by throwing balls of metal at it, I have to confess. Find one for yourself over here.

Roberts Raw Footage: Canon Days

Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 by Derek Martin

It's a Canon Days special post on Raw Footage. This time I've gone down to the sales floor and picked up one of my top point-and-shoot picks for the season, the Canon PowerShot A2000 IS. Now, the A series of PowerShot digital cameras is the more practical end of Canon's line-up, and the "A" of course designates the use of standard AAs for power, a feature which is still pretty popular among a lot of shooters. This particular model lets you use a nice combination of 6x optical zoom and 10 megapixels to record shots of whatever strikes you to the ubiquotous SD memory card.

Oh yeah, and the face-detection is pretty slick, too, but I'll leave that for the video (also available on our Podcasts page).

Roberts Raw Footage: Tokina 12-24

Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 by Derek Martin

Another chill, grey day here in Indianapolis, another Raw Footage video for me to post. This is the next in the series with our THK rep, and this time we're showing the Tokina 12-24mm lens. Like the 11-16 this lens can sit amongst your Nikon lenses or Canon lenses, since it's available for either system. It's got a durable, rugged metal build, as well. For the rest, I'll turn you over to the video. Embedded below, available as always on our Podcasts page as well.

Sony HDR-FX1000 prosumer knockout

Posted Thursday, November 20, 2008 by Phil Gibson

Sony has finally released the replacement to the ever popular HDR-FX1. The new Sony HDR-FX1000 has a lot of features that were previously only available on the best of professional camcorders. The big enhancement on the new model is the ability to record both 24p and 30p progressive. The low light ability has also been improved down to a 1.5 lux rating. The new 3.2" LCD monitor has a 921K pixel screen so the recordings look more accurate to the amazing HD capabilities of the camera.

Previous models of the Sony HD camcorders were not nearly as well balanced as this new machine. It also feels very solid. Other than the lack of XLR inputs, the new HDR-FX1000 is at the top of the heap in prosumer camcorders. We have one on display at our Roberts Imaging downtown location. Come down and check it out. We also have the full line of both Canon and Sony consumer HD camcorders in stock and ready for a good home!

Flash Lighting DVD

Posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by Derek Martin

OK, so, this is a shill, but it's a shill for something aiming to make you all better photographers, so I'm OK with it. Nikon's got a new DVD to help you understand how light works, with Bob Krist (respected by a local photog I know here in Indy) and Joe McNally, whose runaway hit book "The Moment it Clicks" is sitting at home on one of my bookshelves waiting for me to get a quiet weekend to finally go through it.

Being by Nikon, it'll focus heavily on the CLS and Nikon lenses, but I've found the techniques used by these guys work no matter the system, usings Sony flashes, Canon flashes, or some used Vivitar flashes. You might have to do a few more thing manually, but what you'll learn about ratios and placement and modifiers is going to be a real advantage for everyone (like me) looking to push their work farther with small strobes.

Check out the trailer:

http://www.nikonusa.com/dvd/Hands_On/index.html

Sony T700 Cybershot

Posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by Phil Gibson

The new Sony Cybershot camera T700 camera has arrived at Roberts Imaging and it is a sharp little camera. It sports a 3.5 inch LCD screen that is the brightest and best resolution in its class. The camera has 4GB of internal memory and a memory stick slot for added memory storage. It is available in red, pink, silver, and gray.

The T700 is controlled by a touch screen menu system that is very simple and straight forward to operate. The speed of the camera is very responsive. Hit the shutter and away it goes! Check it out.

Mirror Lenses, Apparently Not Dead

Posted Wednesday, November 19, 2008 by Derek Martin

Sigma 200-500mm f2.8

It's been a series of odd coincidences around here lately. First off, Nick was taking an order for one of the more exotic of Canon lenses, the 800mm f5.6, so we were talking about exotic lenses in general and the big giants, like the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 (a piddling 34.6 lbs for over 2 feet of lens. It needs its own battery. No, really) and my favorite big honking lens of all time, the Canon 5200mm f14 (pictures and a copy of the brochure page here, here, and here). Supposedly it had a working range of 18-32 miles and came with spotting scopes. Nice. This sucker reports to have been a very pocketable 220 lbs and 75.6" long. Now, a lens taller than most adult men might sound massive, but if you stop to do some quick math and figure out that a 5200mm lens should be around 17 feet long, you might not find 75.6" so bad.

It was a mirror lens, using mirrors in addition to glass elements to 'fold' light inside the lens, by first sending it to the back of the lens, then back up to a small mirror in the middle of the front element, and then finally sending it back to the sensor.

Then, the day after that, Jody was surprised to hear new announcements for mirror lenses (which have no aperture controls, you get one fixed aperture and need ND filters past that).

500mm f8 Reflex

Then, today, I was reviewing the current Sony instant rebates, and saw the 500mm f8 Reflex sitting down in our Sony lenses. Apparently, if you buy Sony Alpha cameras you'll find yourself in the unique position of having an available autofocus mirror lens, giving a fieldof view equivalent to a lens three times longer than it actually is.

Will it rival that $11,000 Canon for quality? No, but hey, for under $700 bucks and for it's tiny size (well, compared to optically formulated 500's), it's going to be hard to beat. Don't forget on any Alpha other than the A900 you'll have a 1.5x crop making it a 750mm lens which is only about 5" long.

Roberts Raw Footage: Tokina

Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Derek Martin

This week we have a few special Raw Footage videos for you, we were fortunate enough to have one of our reps visiting us and he agreed to talk about a few products on our video blog, so we'll be posting them throughout the next week.

To start off with we have the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8, which'll be right at home alongside your Canon lenses (lest we forget that it's Canon Days this week), or itll also sit amongst your Nikon lenses if you happen to be of that camp. It's made for APS-C sensors, so it'll be closer to a 17-24 (depending on if you use Canon or Nikon it'll be a bit different), which is still really rather wide, and 2.8 is fast for a lens of this class.

I'll leave the rest for the video, embedded below or viewable on our Podcasts page.

New Lensbabies Are In

Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Derek Martin

Jody Grober: Taking Care of Business

I was downstairs playing with some new equipment while waiting for the next batch of Raw Footage clips to render, and I caught this shot of our own Jody Grober. It was shot with our display D90, newest of the Nikon digital SLR cameras in the prosumer tier. But, it wasn't shot with any of our usual selection of Nikon lenses, instead I used our new Lensbaby Composer to catch this.

I talked about these waaaay back when they were announced, excited about the interchangeable optics and the simplified functionallity over my own Lensbaby 3G. The Composer uses a simplified ball-joint system with a traditional focus ring. It was pretty easy to use on the D90, with the usual Lensbaby caveat that if you point it too far off axis you can never achieve true focus. Within range, however, the Lensbaby doesn't exhibit bad focus wide open (and I mean f2 wide open here). You can see a crop below taken handheld at 1/100 at f2, focused using live view magnification to assure the best focus I could get. I've pulled out a detail of the shot to show the focal point.

Sharpness and Focus

As you can see, the Lensbaby won't win any awards for tack sharp focus wide open, but it's certainly not bad and a little post sharpening helps it a lot. But, that creamy out of focus background is hard to imitate, look at the phone (maybe 8" away) dissolve as it extends out of the frame. And, as you'd expect, stopping the lens down a bit will help improve sharpness across the board, and you can stop down to f22 using the provided aperture discs.

So, make sure to check out the Lensbaby, one of my favorite digital camera accessories and one of the most fun and challenging lenses to use. It'll make you see differently. Check out all our Lensbabies here. If you shoot Olympus digital cameras, or are looking to buy Sony Alpha cameras instead of Canon or Nikon call us up, we can get you a 'baby in the mount you need.

More About Guide Numbers

Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2008 by Derek Martin

So, I've been talking a lot about flashes recently, and I figure its time for me to finish the topic I started here.

Quick Review: Guide Numbers tell you how far (usually in meters) your flash will work for at a base ISO and F1. You divide it by your aperture to get the current working value. Example, pick up a 430EX II out of your bag of Canon flashes and you'll find a GN (guide Number) of 43 @ ISO 100. So, at f4 it's good for 10.75 meters (43 / 4 = 10.75). At f5.6 it's good for 7.68 meters. Good? Good.

Now, what if you aren't shooting at the base ISO? What if you want to shoot at ISO 400? How far will the flash go?

The rule of thumb for all flashes (Nikon flashes, Canon flashes, Sony flashes, Olympus and Pentax flashes, whatever) is for each ISO up form the base you multiply your guide number by 1.4.

Example. The 430EX II has a GN of 43 @ ISO 100. We move up to ISO 200 and it gets multiplied by 1.4, or in other words it becomes 60. If we go up to ISO 400 we multiply that by 1.4 again, and get GN 84. Are these exact? Likely not, but they'll be close enough for most uses.

Don't Hate the Popup Flash

Posted Monday, November 17, 2008 by Derek Martin

Pop-Up Flash on the E-3

I feel sorry for the pop-up flash. This appears to easily be the most hated of all camera features, and I just don't know why.

For those not in the know, the pop-up flash is generally not considered a 'pro' feature, and therefore finds its inclusion on high-end cameras such as the D700 Nikon digital SLR camera highly criticized. I've also seen countless forum threads begging manufacturer X not to "mess the camera up" by including a pop-up flash.

But, no matter how you approach this, it just seems irrational to hate the pop-up flash.

Let's start with the most common critcism: it's not "pro." IE, the highest end Canon digital SLR cameras and Nikon digital SLR cameras (like the EOS 1Ds Mk III and the D3) don't have pop-up flashes. But, who's to say that the no pop-up flash, integrated grip design is what makes the camera pro? Shutter life and body construction seem like better markers, and companies like Sony and Olympus and now Nikon (with the D700) are releasing pro models without integrated grips. So, it seems kind of picky to not like them just because they're not pro.

Cost: Given that a $400 E-410 Olympus digital camera has a pop-up flash and the $5,000 D3 does not, I think we can safely say including a pop-up flash isn't increasing cost.

Durability: Another popuar complaint is that they're a weak point for durability, but I've ad a 17" CRT monitor call over onto my E-3's pop-up flash without it taking any damage (and, the E-3 also manahes to be water-sealed with the flash up, ruining the argument that it affects weather-sealing.)

So, where's the harm in the pop-up flash? If you prefer a more powerful, less harsh light, using something like the SB-900 (in Nikon flashes) or 580EX II (for Canon flashes) is always an option and will over-ride the pop-up, but for users who don't want the weight of a flashgun for some quick fill light or snapshots, the pop-up is useful to have around.

There's so much in photography we could be focusing on, how about we stop complaining about the pop-up flash and see it for the value-added feature it is?

One Down, More coming

Posted Monday, November 17, 2008 by Chuck Pace

So the Nikon Demo weekend is one for the history books. Which will probably be pretty boring reading for most people who don't subscribe to Retail Camera Sales Weekly. That aside, I have to say we had good traffic, and since our Nikon Sales rep and our Technical Service rep were both here I think we gave out a lot of valuable "free" information about Nikon Digital SLR cameras and the Nikon Coolpix Camera offerings too.

This next weekend it is Canon's turn. What we did for Nikon we now turn over to teh Canon's. There will be Canon Digital Rebel camera deals, higher end Canon Digital SLR camera deals, and the Powershot too. Canon Camcorder deals will be available too. So it looks like another hopping weekend coming up, but unless you specifically want to talk to the Canon representatives you don't have to wait, you can come in right now and take advantage of the sale prices and package deals. See you soon.

Post-Processing Tip #1

Posted Monday, November 17, 2008 by Derek Martin

Post-Processing Techniques are the things which most limit your average shooter these days. All the SLRs we carry right now, Canon EOS Rebels through Nikon digital SLR cameras like the D700 and on to Olympus digital cameras like my trusty E-3, they'll all capture great shots.

So, the rest is up to you and what you do with them, and with the dizzying array of software to choose from these days, it can be hard to know where to start.

Today, let's talk about panoramas. We'll be using a technique often called "pano-stitching" in which we take multiple shots of a scene and then put them together to make a much bigger one.

What to do:

1. Take a series of multiple shots. Make sure there's some overlap. If you have a tripod, this'll be easier, but in adequate light you can easily do it handheld. A couple tips:
    A. Put your camera in manual so the exposure is constant through all the shots.
    B. Use manual focus, focus on what you intend to be the focal point and then leave it alone for all shots.
    C. If you want to avoid having multiple focal areas in the final shot, use a small aperture, like F8 or higher.

For example, here are five shots I took this weekend:

5 Shots with ym E-3

2. Use Photoshop's automate menu to combine them. Going back to at least CS2 Under File -> Automate is an option for "Photomerge." CS2's Photomerge is a little iffy and you'll have to help it out a little, but in CS3 it's top notch and will even let you specify if it's just doing simple stitching, or perspective, or you can even let it just try and figure out which to use.

It'll ask for files, just feed it all the shots you took, hit "OK" and sit back. Once it finishes calculating it'll spit back a file (which'll probably need some slight cropping if you shot handheld). You'll end up with this:

According to Photoshop I should be able to print that picture at 40" wide (and that'sat 300 ppi, too), since it's really 5 full 10 MP shots combined.

Need Photoshop? Give us a call at 1-800-726-5544 and we can get a copy to you just in time for you to make a few holiday panoramas of your own.

Roberts Raw Footage

Posted Friday, November 14, 2008 by Derek Martin

Installment 6 of Raw Footage is up now, this time we stole the Olympus digital camera called the "Stylus 1050SW" out of the case and showed off its unique tap control system. Using what I understand to be accelerometers--much like in the Wii--this rugged beast ofa camera can be controlled to a degree without ever touch a button. And, among the available digital camera accessories is an xD to microSD adapter, for those not wanting to be tied down to the xD format and who would like to make use of cheap microSD cards (or who already own them for their cellphones).

And, enough talk, the usual routine follows. The video is embedded below, or you can always check out our Podcasts page. I'm out for the weekend, I'll see you all Monday!

More Artisan

Posted Friday, November 14, 2008 by Derek Martin

Just to follow up on Phil's post I just got the Artisan printers (700 and 800) up on our site. While not the big, mostrous Epson wide format ink jet printers, they're very nice looking, robust printers and use a 6 color Claria ink system. Oh, and did we remember to mention the boxes downstairs mention a free Extreme III 4 GB SD memory card? Now, I have to imagine that's going to be limited to quantity on hand, but you fast acting cats can get a printer that'll do 8x10 borderless prints, wirelessly, and an SD memory card, for 150 bucks.

And for those of you that do, you'll have my envy. After adding the product pages I've added one of the 700s to my personal wish list.

Designed for Digital

Posted Friday, November 14, 2008 by Derek Martin

Lenses work differently with digital than they did with film. Not on the functional level, mind you (although the mechanical aperture ring does seem to have become a niche and not a given), but optically. Digital is apparently more demanding of lenses, for a few reasons.

1. Sensors are flat. Film was, well, mostly flat, but all of you have handled negs know it wasn't entirely flat.The completely flat digital sensors reportedly have a way of pointing out optical flaws film never would have revealed. At this point, however, these problems seem to have largely been remedied by all the major lens players.

Digital Design vs Film

2. Sensors don't like oblique light.Thanks to the way pixel wells work, the more light that hits the bottom of the well the better things go. This has lead to a new range of designed for digital or digitally integrated lenses (Tamron, for example, makes these in a selection of Canon lenses and Nikon lenses, and Olympus digital cameras had their lenses designed ground up for this). Basically, they've got reworked optics that try to project the light as perpendicular as possible onto the sensor. My diagram there gets the idea across, but please don't consider it a technically accurate diagram.

There's one more point, and that's resolution, but that's a big topic that I'm not willing to tackle inthis post. It has to do with pixel concentrations and lens resolving, but the general walk-away idea is that the higher your pixel count per area the better the lens you'll need.

Nikon Demo Weekend

Posted Friday, November 14, 2008 by Chuck Pace

We are upon the threshold of another big demo weekend. Friday and Saturday we should be hopping downtown. Saturday there will be extra Nikon experts in the store to help those with questions, suggestions and technical assistance. If you don't get the Indianapolis Star newspaper you have probably not seen all the specials and deals we are running. Click the Visit Our Homepage now if you want to see some of our offerings. Roberts Imaging has specials on Nikon Binoculars, Nikon Lenses, Nikon Coolpix Cameras, and every current Nikon Digital SLR camera. We have a great supply of Nikon Flashes including the new SB-900. We are giving away a 2 year Nikon extended warranty and a Nikon case with every Nikon Coolpix Camera. For you Interchangable lense shooters, Roberts Imaging has a package deal with an extra battery, 4GB memory card, a 3 year Mack Warranty extension and a Nikon camera bag for $99.00 with any Nikon Digital SLR Camera purchase. There is also a $ 40.00 savings on Capture NX2 editing software when bought with that new Nikon Digital SLR Camera.
Need a Flash memory card? Sure you do. We have 2 GB Kingston SD cards for $4.97.
We have Extreme III Sandisk Cards with rebates in the form of Visa prepaid cards, in both SD Memory cards and CF memory cards. Stock up and save is the new mantra here at Roberts Imaging because the rebates grow as you buy two and even more for three.
Worried about inventory? Dont be I ran dowstairs and took a "snap" earlier today and here is just some of the Nikon's on our shelves instead of in your hands.

Nikon Warehouse

Hey, I think I see your new Nikon Coolpix Camera there in the back behind your next Nikon Digital SLR!
See you this weekend.

Epson Artisan 800 All-in-one printer

Posted Friday, November 14, 2008 by Phil Gibson

Epson has gone full boat with the all-in-one printer segment. The big deal about this one (Epson Artisan 800) is the ease of use and the lab quality photo capability that most of these style printers don't offer. Here are the specs from the Epson site:

Smart, 7.8" touch panel — large display lights up the buttons you need; includes a 3.5" LCD to preview and print images
Fax, even in color — send and receive faxes right at home
Remarkable productivity — Auto Document Feeder to quickly copy, scan or fax stacks of originals
Wi-Fi® support — built-in wired and wireless networking; print from any room
Ultra Hi-Definition prints — Claria® 6-color ink for images with richness, depth and clarity — it’s the ultimate in image quality
Bring old, faded photos back to life — easily restore the color to faded photos
Professional looking CDs/DVDs — print right onto ink jet printable CDs/DVDs
One-of-a-kind projects — easily create note paper, cards and coloring books using your own photos
Perfect photos made easy — Auto Photo Correction and red-eye removal
Quality color or black and white copies — copy documents, receipts, recipes and more
Multitasking made easy — two paper trays for plain and photo paper; always ready for any task
Results ready to share — better than lab quality photos are smudge, scratch, water and fade resistant
Useful software included — OCR and creativity software to create cards, calendars, photo books and more
Individual ink cartridges — replace only the color that you need
Creativity at your fingertips — built-in memory card slots and PictBridgeTM support to print photos PC-free
Ultra fast print speeds — up to 38 ppm (black/color); photos in as fast as 10 sec*
Epson PreferredSM program — two-year limited warranty and toll-free telephone support, with registration, for product protection you can count on, plus more exclusive benefits **
Save paper — built-in two-sided printing***
Long-lasting prints — fade-resistant photos that last up to 4x longer than lab prints****

* Pages per minute (ppm) speed measured after first page, based on black and color text patterns in Draft Mode on plain paper. Color photo in Draft Mode on Premium Photo Paper Glossy measured from start of paper feed. Additional print time will vary based on system configuration, software application and page complexity. See www.epson.com/printspeed for more information about print speed.
** One-year limited warranty to all purchasers; toll-free support and second-year warranty require registration within 60 days of purchase. With registration, Epson provides phone support without charge for the life of the product. Telephone toll charges may apply.
***Double-sided printing available on the Macintosh® only with the optional duplexer.
**** Based on accelerated testing of prints displayed under glass in indoor display conditions. Actual print stability will vary according to media, printed image, display conditions, light intensity, temperature, humidity and atmospheric conditions. Epson does not guarantee the longevity of prints.
For maximum print life, display all prints under glass or UV filter or properly store them. See www.wilhelm-research.com for the latest information.

Artisan 800 Epson

If you don't really need a high end scanner but you want to keep the other high end features of the Artisan 800, check out the Artisan 700. It is the same printer with a lower resolution scanner built into it. The other specs are the same.

We have an 800 on display at Roberts Imaging downtown. If you want to see one in action, come downtown and check it out for yourself!

Quick Release Camera Straps

Posted Thursday, November 13, 2008 by Derek Martin

So, I just finished working on a web ad for the D700 Nikon digital SLR camera, and I was taking a breather and fiddling over my much loved E-3 Olympus digital camera. using live view to explore under my desk, and I noticed the little quick release connects for my strap and thought to myself "Aha! Story time!"

Quick Release Connectors

So, I rooted through my bag and realized I'd forgotten the strap itself at home. Sooo, I journeyed down to our sales floor and grabbed a new Tamrac Boomerang strap off a shelf. Now, I'm not a fan of camera straps, using them only in a transport capacity more than a carry around one, but I did feel it worth upgrading my stock camera strap to one of these. Why? Quick releases.

Also among the things I hate, as a few of you early readers might remember, are tripods. So, whenI have to use a tripod (like the Bogen Manfrotto tripods I use for some of my blog shots) and have my camera strap dangling in the way, getting caught on crank levers and under the ball head, well, you can just imagine my frustrations. So, quick releases. Right near the camera, this strap has two heavy plastic snap buckles. A good pinch and there we go! No more annoying camera strap. This is far superior to the more traditional approach. You know the one:

Quick Release, Wide Shot

"OK, so, I think this threads through here, and then I, wait, yeah, I put it through that bit there, and then up and... wait, down? Aaaaargh!"

No more of that for me. Click. Snap. Happy.

people take photos

Posted Thursday, November 13, 2008 by Jody Grober

The battle is always being raged: are the Canon flashes better than the Nikon flashes, is Ilford wide format paper better than Epson wide format paper, is one digital SLR superior to another. So much time is spent on the tools that I think sometimes we forget that people take pictures not cameras.

I am fortunate enough to be acquainted with a group of photographers that understand the it is the image and how it moves the soul that really matters. Some of them shoot Canon, some Nikon, some use an Olympus digital camera, but what they all have in common is the image, an awesome image.

check out some of their work, enjoy...

http://auroraphotos.com/storytelling/jump/

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