Posts Tagged ‘roberts’
March 9th, 2010 by Derek
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Lensbaby Soft-Focus Optic
So, Charlie Sorrel, Gadget Lab’s resident camera nut, has finished his casual hands-on review of Lensbaby’s two newest optics, the soft-focus and fisheye swappable optics for all of the current generation Lensbaby lenses. And, he tries them on a D700 and a Panasonic GF1, so you get both ends of the sensor-size spectrum.
Now, maybe it’s just my love of everything Dave McKean has ever done, but I do think the soft-focus lens is more useful and desirable than Charlie does, but I agree whole-heartedly with his assessment of the fisheye optic as a cheap route for those who want that and already have a Lensbaby.
Also, I never found the optics to be all so finicky to swap around, but your mileage may vary, of course.
Anyway, not much to say otherwise, if you want to know his thoughts you should really just hit the external link below.
Tags: body, camera, d700, gf1, lens, lensbaby, Nikon, Panasonic, roberts
Posted in Lens Reviews
March 3rd, 2010 by Derek
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Olympus has issued a firmware update for it’s E-P1 M43 shooter. According to their site:
E-P1 Firmware Ver1.3 has incorporated the following upgrade.
[Modification]
- Resolved issue in firmware version 1.2 where LEVEL GAUGE display did not move when using MF (manual focus).
If you’ve never updated an Olympus before, you’ll need to dig up the USB cable that shipped with your camera, plug it into your computer, then fire up either Olympus Studio or Master. The firmware updates will be in the menus of either of those programs, be sure to follow all the on-screen instructions and leave your camera turned on and plugged in until clearly told it’s OK to do otherwise.
Tags: camera, e-p1, firmware, Olympus, roberts
Posted in Firnware Updates, Interchangable Lens Compacts, Manufacturers, Olympus, Photography
March 3rd, 2010 by Derek
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Seriously Canon? How do you pre-announce something? It was weird enough when Olympus did this for the E-3. Teases.
Anyway, Canon yesterday mentioned it’s going to grace your 5D Mark II’s with even better controls for video, such as adding 24fps (well, 23.976 fps) and 25fps options, changing the 30fps to the NTSC-standard 29.97fps, adding levels on the screen, sound sampling is being bumped from 44.1KHz to 48KHz, new histograms, and more.
So, “mid-March” seems to be the drop-date, nice and specific. I don’t own a 5D Mark II, nor do I shoot video, but I still think this is a very solid set of promises, and well worth spending the next couple weeks eagerly awaiting.
More as it comes…
Tags: 5d mk II, Canon, Canon 5d Mark II, e-3, firmware, Olympus, roberts
Posted in Announcements, Firnware Updates
March 3rd, 2010 by Derek
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Olympus, maker of tough, waterproof point-and-shoots and DSLR’s that I’ve been famously known to run under a sink and stand-on at parties, only to then photograph the onlookers, and co-pioneers of the mirror-less compact interchangeable lens camera frontier, sent us an email today telling us about their new YouTube video spots about their E-PL1.
These 11 short videos are aimed to help you all through the various highlights of the E-PL1, and to help explain what it offers over regular compacts (‘point and shoots”), or the full-blown DSLR boat anchors like I carry. So, if you’ve got a few minutes and an interest in one of the hottest new camera types in decades, why not hop over and watch a few?
Tags: camera, dslr, e-pl1, eos, lens, mirrorless, Olympus, point and shoot, Point-and-Shoots, roberts
Posted in Educational, Interchangable Lens Compacts, Manufacturers, Olympus, Photography
February 25th, 2010 by Derek
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AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II
So, Nikon’s new top-pro standard telephoto zoom, the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8G ED VR II, has been reviewed by the venerable review staff over at DPReview. The conclusions are so unsurprisingly positive as to be pedestrian, but they’ve got their really useful sliding charts for sharpness at all focal lengths and apertures, so that’s worth checking it out alone.
If ya wanna read it yourself, your hyperlink chariot awaits: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/nikon_70-200_2p8_vrii_n15/
Tags: 70-200, aperture, camera, lens, Nikon, roberts, Zoom
Posted in Lens Reviews
February 23rd, 2010 by Nick
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From Nikon’s Firmware update page:
The following improvements have been made in A and B firmware Ver. 1.01
- Movie recording specifications have been modified as follows and an issue that, in some rare cases, caused movie playback to appear to have stopped has been resolved.
- When exposure preview is enabled in live view tripod mode, information + histogram display is possible, but the histogram is no longer displayed while movies are recorded.
- When the live view button is pressed with the Audio Video Cable EG-D2 connected, the image is displayed in both the television and camera monitor, but the camera monitor now turns off during movie recording. The camera monitor turns on again when the Audio Video Cable EG-D2 is disconnected from the camera.
- Some simplified Chinese menus and help displays have been revised.
- When some memory cards were inserted in the camera, “CHA” was displayed in the top control panel and images could not be captured. This issue has been resolved.
Woo hoo. As always, check your current firmware version prior to downloading and installing the update because if it ain’t broke…
Tags: camera, d3, d3s, dslr, expo, f1rmw4r3z, firmware, Nikon, roberts
Posted in Firnware Updates
February 23rd, 2010 by Derek
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So, before we get into the news that everyone else is going on about from Sony, let’s start off with this mock-up pictured to the left here. I want to start with this because I think it’s getting a bit buried under that other stuff, but it’s an announcement I’ve been waiting to hear from Sony for a couple years: that’s the mock-up for their next intermediate DSLR, presumably to replace the now-defunct A700. And, you can see on the LCD shoulder there that it purports to do HD video, so, what’s not to love there?
OK, now we’ll talk about their interchangeable lens compact/EVIL concepts. Or, we would, except that’s really all there is to say. Sony joins the Panasonic-Olympus tag-team and Samsung in the fray for compact digital rangefinders. And, Sony’s mouthpiece at PMA mentioned an Exmor-R sensor being the highlight here. So, there you go, in case you missed it everywhere else, you now know to expect more and more competition in the so-called “Micro Four Thirds” arena.
Tags: a700, alpha, camera, dslr, dx, lcd, lens, micro four thirds, news, Olympus, Panasonic, roberts, Samsung, Sony
Posted in Announcements, DSLRs, Interchangable Lens Compacts, Manufacturers, Photography, Sony
February 23rd, 2010 by Derek
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So, in what has to be the most… unexpected… corporate alliance I’ve heard lately, Olympus America announced earlier today it’s partnership with motorcycle legend Harley Davidson.
Yes. Harley Davidson.
From the press release:
“Olympus consumers live active lifestyles and demand quality products,” said Nadine Clark, product manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “Whether you’re a two-wheeled novice, a seasoned road warrior or just enjoy the look, the new Harley-Davidson accessory cases are for you.”
Well, can’t argue that, can you? Me, I still hold out hope for the leather-chain-stud treatment on an actual camera.
Tags: camera, e-pl1, Olympus, roberts
Posted in Announcements, Manufacturers, Olympus
February 18th, 2010 by Derek
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So, just in time for me to be done with a bunch of new revisions to the site, Sony announces two more models to it’s line-up this season. And, I gotta admit, they’re attractive additions. Maybe not as attractive as everyone’s favorite Roberts webmaster, of course, but what can you do?
Up to bat first we’ll tackle the DSC-H55, seen in both available colors above. This particular model sports a 14 megapixel sensor, though it’s just of the typical CCD and not the new backlit CMOS variety. It apologizes for that by bolting in a 10x G-series lens covering an effective focal range of 25mm – 250mm, which ain’t anything to scoff at. It shoots 720p video at 30 frames per second, and otherwise deviates little from Sony’s stock features, which, again, is nothing to scoff at.
Outstaging the H55 is it’s new stablemate, the DSC-TX5. Another entry into the now burgeoning “tough” market (anyone remember when Olympus was the only game in town for that?), the TX5 maintains its “TX” series lineage by being all slim with a slide down power button/lens cover and a backside containing nothing more than a touchscreen LCD. Then it slams back a few protein shakes, does a few extra reps, and shows up to the party being waterproof to 10 feet, shockproof to 5 feet, freezepreoof to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s dust resistant to boot. Also in keeping with Sony’s “if it can come in a color it can come in many colors” philosophy, the TX5 will be available in silver, black, pink, green, and red.
Word is the H55 will be 250ish, and the TX5 around 350ish when they hit, which will be… sometime.
Tags: 266x, 50mm, DSC, dsc-h55, dsc-tx5, lcd, lens, Olympus, roberts, Sony
Posted in Announcements, Manufacturers, Photography, Point-and-Shoots, Sony
February 9th, 2010 by Derek
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Nikon has today announced two new lenses, the AF-S NIKKOR 24mm f/1.4G ED and the AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR. Now, those of you used to Nikon’s nomenclature will already know all this, but for those unsure, the AF-S designation in both of those means they’ll auto-focus on any body, and the lack of “DX” anywhere means these are designed for use on FX (and will still work, albeit with crop factor, on DX). They’re both G series lenses and both use ED and aspherical elements and Nikon’s new nano crystal coating to handle optical phenomenons like diffraction, ghosting, etc…
As those of you with a grasp of modern optics and physics might expect, the 24mm f1.4 is rather chunky, basically a 3.5″ cube and weighing in closer to 1.5 lbs. It’s also not a budget prime, and it’ll enter the market at just under $2,200. The 16-35mm f/4, being a slower aperture zoom, slots in as Nikon’s affordable alternative to the 14-24mm f/2.8 (well, sorta, it’s obviously not apples-to-apples), weighing in at $1,260, or approaching 600 bucks cheaper than it’s bigger bro.
They’re both up on our preorder waitlists, so you should go here and add your name: https://www.robertsimaging.com/preorder.jsp
Tags: 14-24, 16-35mm f/4 VR, 24mm f1.4, aperture, Apple, body, camera, crop, crop factor, dx, fx, lens, Nikon, roberts, Zoom
Posted in Lenses, Manufacturers, Nikon, Photography
