Roberts Raw!

› archive for November, 2011

Nikon Announces SB-910 Flagship Speedlight

Nikon has announced a new upgrade to its flagship speedlight, in the form of the SB-910. For those of us keeping track, the SB-910 is officially ten more than its predecessor (unless we’re talking base cost, in which case it’ll be $50 more at launch.) The SB-910 isn’t exactly leaps and bounds over the SB-900, but that’s pretty alright since there wasn’t much about the SB-900 to gripe about.

And, in fact, it’s the few things you could gripe about that have seen changes. For example, Nikon’s claiming the LCD menu system has been reworked and is now easier and more intuitive to use. Which, well, it needed to be, frankly. Also, they’ve replaced the film gels of the SB-900 with hard gels this time, for more durability and ease-of-use. Both good ideas.

But the thing that’s going to perk up most of your ears, I suspect, is that they’ve made changes to the thermal cut-off feature. Whereas previous implementations just turned your flash off to prevent you from slagging the thing as you stood there firing flashes like they were bullets in a Bruce Willis flick, the new version will merely cut back on the power until things cool down enough. So, while not quite 100%, your flash will stilll be usable at all without taking the rather unadvised (and possible warranty-affecting) route of turning the cut-off off entirely.

Otherwise, you’re looking at a power output of 34GN (meters at ISO 100, 35mm zoom, FX, standard pattern), three flash patterns, a zoom range of 17-200mm, and auto-detection for FX or DX format, plus the two included gels and the foot. There’ll be an optional gel pack with more hard gels, and covers for “select camera models” to make a moisture resistant seal between the foot and the hotshoe for those drizzly days. MSRP will e sitting at $549.99 and availability is expected to start around the middle of next month, although as always we recommend you place one of our no-commitment preorders if you want to be among the very first to get one.



Canon Day 2011

It’s time once again for Canon Days here at Roberts. If you haven’t checked, we have a bunch of highlighted products in the promos section over on our site (including a special starter accessory kit for just $99.97 with any Canon DSLR purchase).

But, if that’s not enough for you, and you can make it out to Indy or Carmel this Saturday, Nov 19th, you’ll find we have even more in store (get it? in store? oh, I slay me…) In both our brick-and-mortar stores this Saturday you’ll be able to meet the Canon reps, try all the cool toys, ask questions, get answers, and enter a few special promotional giveaways for prizes like a free PowerShot ELPH 300 HS (both stores), or a photo contest to win a Galaxy Tab Android tablet (made possible thanks to Canon’s new PIXMA Pro 1 inkjet printer, Carmel store only).

So, make sure to schedule some time this weekend to come out and see us, if you can. The festivities will happen from 10am-3pm at both stores here in Indiana. How about it? You going to come out and see us?

Are you coming out for Canon Day 2011?

  • You betcha! (73%, 8 Votes)
  • But... I don't shoot Canon! (27%, 3 Votes)
  • Sadly, I can't make it. (0%, 0 Votes)
  • I don't live close enough and wish the website had more specials instead. (0%, 0 Votes)
total voters: 11
Loading ... Loading ...


LensProToGo Video Does Admirable Job Explaining Sensor Sizes and Consequences

Crop factor and what it means and how it affects your photos is a topic we’ve tackled many times, and which is tackled (often badly) in many other places around the internet. It’s often a matter of confusion among newcomers to digital photography and consumer DSLRs, and there are a lot of myths and poor explanations about what things like “crop factor” and “full frame” mean, and how they affect your final image. This video, though, does a really good job of quickly and non-technically explaining to you the truth of what all of it means, and also explains which popular cameras use what sensor sizes while it’s at it. Not too shabby.

If you’re new to photo and still hazy on what crop factor is, we recommend you give this a watch.



Roberts Now On Google +

As many of you are aware, Roberts prides itself on keeping our reputation for human, personable service even into our digital world. And, a large part of that is our presence on social media sites. Basically, however it is that’s easiest for you to reach out to us, we want to be there. We spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter answering questions and giving you all the newest news, and now we’re going to be doing that on Google+ as well.

So, if you prefer Google’s more privacy-conscious, white-space enhanced, stylish social effort to the others, go ahead and hit the external link below to check out our new G+ page. If you add us to your circles, we can add you back. Though, weirdly enough, it seems like you have to initiate things. If you don’t add us, we can’t follow you and see what you’re up to.

So, go, circle us. Give us a +1 too, if you like. And, we’ll see you there.



Panasonic’s GX1 Is The Pro Update To The GF1 We’ve Been Wanting

It was a very exciting day back in September 2009 when panasonic announced the DMC-GF1, the first entry in the new Micro Four Thirds product range that seemed geared at pro photographers. Unlike Olympus’ consumer-geared Pen series, and Panasonic’s own DSLR-shaped G series, the GF1 was sleek, compact, and full of knobs and buttons, invoking a very rangefinder-esque aesthetic (and as such becoming very popular with shooters who’d been looking for a good body to mount all their old Leica M glass on).

Then, the GF2 came out, and it was a bit less exciting as Panasonic made it clear the line was moving closer to the Pen series. And with the GF3, almost all the controls had disappeared, leaving a lot of shooters feeling a bit unhappy, and longing for a proper replacement to that GF1.

And, today, we finally have it, in the form of a new, third line from Panasonic: the GX1.

For those of you remembering the GFX1 kit, where that X stood for the inclusion of a power zoom lens, you’ll be rewarded to know the X continues to indicate that this body has been optimized for those power zoom, HD video-oriented lenses. And, to support that, the video recording is finally up to a full 1080 AVHCD, being drawn from a new, higher resolution 16 megapixel sensor.

So, what exactly is new in this long-awaited body otherwise? Well, the ISO cap has scooted all the way over to 12,800, it has dual-axis level gauges (as well as an orientations sensors, we hear. The GF1 relied on information from OIS lenses for this, and non-OIS lenses left you rotating your portrait shots yourself), and there’s a new (and improved, we’re guessing) external viewfinder in the form of the DMW-LVF2. The LCD is disappointingly the same size and same resolution (that 460,000 dot resolution has been a bit long in the tooth for a while now), but you do get to add touchscreen now, for what you think that’s worth. Updates to the AF cycle rate also promise AF speeds up to 10% faster than their last generation, and who knows how much faster than the two-gen old GF1.

As for the rest, how about an easy-to-read comparison table of key specs? You got it.

Spec GF1 GX1
Megapixels 12.1 16
Frames per Second 3 4.2
ISO 100 – 3200 100 – 12,800
HD Video 720 1080
LCD 3″ 460,00 dot 3″ 460,000 dot
Touschscreen No Yes
Focus 23 Area 23 Area
Advanced Hotshoe Yes Yes
Raw Yes Yes

The GX1 will be available in three kits: body only, with regular 14-42mm, and with the new power-zoom 14-42mm, starting maybe sometime next month. More pictures and press release after the jump.

read more



Canon announces big video plans!

So the wait is almost over.  Last night, Canon announced their new Canon Cinema EOS system.

What started out as a magnificent accident with the amazing Canon 5D Mark II is developing into two types of movie cameras.  The first is the EOS C300 series.  One will have a Canon EF mount and the other will have a PL mount.  This will give the RED cameras a run for the money.  This 4K capable camera will be completely modular in design, so you can customize it to whatever your needs require.  It will boast a Super 35 equivalent 8.3 MP CMOS sensor with an active image size of 24.6 x 13.8mm.  It uses the XF codec that Canon pro camcorders have been using for the last few years, with 50MB/sec files, so editing won’t be a hassle.  Pretty cool!

 

C300 side view

 

The other big announcement was a little vague right now, but more suited to our customers here at Roberts.  It is a Canon 4K DSLR.  Basically it’s a 5DMK II on a massive dose of steroids!  It will have the familiar DSLR feel with the new Cinema engine.  Here is what Canon says about it exactly:

Equipped with a 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor and supporting the recording of 4K video* (at a frame rate of 24P, with Motion-JPEG compression), the next-generation digital SLR camera currently under development will enable exceptional image quality for the creation of innovative and expressive images. Additional details, including the product name, specifications and scheduled launch date, have yet to be decided.  Here is a picture of it:

Canon 4K DSLR

So now, the waiting game begins.  At least we know something is coming.  I guess like the announcement of the 1D X, they let you know what’s coming with enough time to save those pennies!

Of course, these new cameras wouldn’t be complete without some new glass to go along with all of it.  Here is a listing of what is coming in PL and EF mount:

EF Cinema Lenses CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L S EF mount
CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L SP PL mount
CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L S EF mount
CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L SP PL mount
CN-E24mm T1.5 L F EF mount
CN-E50mm T1.3 L F EF mount
CN-E85mm T1.3 L F EF mount


Roberts Gearing Up To Go Mobile

We live in the mobile age, no doubt about it. According to some Pew research numbers from this summer, about 40% of American adults have what should be called a smartphone. And that number keeps going up. More and more people are browsing the web from their phones as a result. And, while we love our current web site, and think we’ve got the best looking one in our business, we got that by tailoring the experience for modern desktop browsers. If you’ve tried using our site on a mobile device, you might notice that things work less well on a 3-4″ screen that needs you to click things with your fingers.

So, we’ve been working hard for a little while in the background now to fix this by designing mobile versions of our sites specifically to how people use smartphones. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to make sure every reasonable feature you’d want from the desktop site is still there, but we’ve reorganized everything for a vertical flow, and optimized all the interactions to use big, easy to hit buttons, and not teeny-tiny little links. We’re working to make a mobile experience that goes beyond the sterile, drab, clunky one most sites offer, with confusing layouts and loads of missing features, and to make you a mobile site that feels just as powerful as our actual one, and just as intuitive as a well-made app.

And, we think we’re getting close. We’ve got some beta testers going over things right now, and you can expect to see these go live in the coming weeks. But, until then, how about some screenshots from an actual mobile device to show you what’s coming up?



New Photo Contest: White Space

It’s a new month, and that means a new photo contest! While our judge gets to work reviewing last month’s delicious pie photos, we’re going to go ahead and get you going on our new theme: white space. You know, that space around your subject. Sometimes called “negative space.” It’s empty, “unused” space around your subject matter used to help isolate the subject and give it visual weight and impact. It’s an important compositional concept, not just in photography but in all arts, and we want to see what you can do with it. Sort of like a back to basics course.

So, you know what to do. Get out there, shoot, pay attention to your background and foreground. Are they too busy? What can you do to reduce the visual clutter? Maybe find a cleaner wall? Change your angle on that field? And, either way, show more of the space, don’t close your subject in with the crop. Give them room to exist, give them space. And then upload the picture to our contest page before midnight November 30th.

And, because we love you all dearly, he’s an example photo we like to get you started on the right path:

Enter this month’s contest here: http://blog.robertscamera.com/monthly-photo-contests/white-space/#axzz1cTtM976T




Switch To Mobile Site