Cameras

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The 10-20mm has justified its existence on its first outing. Normally, I have to go some way back in the circle to get a decent view of the proscenium arch, and I end up with a load of seats in the foreground. With the new lens, I can be at the front of the circle and get this:

Meanwhile, this would have had to be a stitched-together panorama job.

So yeah, thrilled with it.

Out of interest, how is it for getting shallow depth of field and shooting close-ups? All the 10-20mm lenses I've looked at don't seem to have the biggest apertures, which as far as I understand, makes it harder to get those classy DoF effects. I also notice that there seems to be some distortion going on in the corners. I know it's probably foolish to look for one ideal universal lens, but I'd mostly be shooting big landscapes and small rooms, so I don't envision many times when I wouldn't want a wide angle one.

Another lens question: are there any that have the aperture control on the lens itself? All the ones I've seen (that aren't insanely priced anyway) only seem to have zoom and focus rings. We're looking at getting an SLR for my dad, and I worry that having to delve into menus and such to change the exposure would blow his old luddite mind.

[Steve Lampkins]

If those were shot at 10mm, then Louis has already done a lot of distortion correction on them. Yes, you get a lot of distortion, and they're not really lenses for getting good bokeh.

I've never seen a modern lens with that, but changing the settings is usually very simple. Set the camera to shutter or aperture mode, and turn the thumbwheel to adjust.

If going with Nikon, you need to make sure that there is a screwdrive in the body (a D90 or D7000), then you can use lots of older, classic lenses.
If he wants to be doing manual work, also make sure you have a camera with two thumb wheels (a front and rear), so you can easily set both the shutter speed and aperture at the same time.

[mobias]

My new toy. It was an ex demo model so the offer was too good to refuse. Didn't come with a flash though so I'm having to source one second hand via eBay, Sony really aren't cheap when it comes to accessories. Its such a ridiculously powerful camera considering its so small. Looking forward to having some fun with this. I'll post the results once I've gotten to grips with it.

[Lfbarfe]

Nice. That 16mm looks good and slim. Pancake lens?

[mobias]

Yeah the 16mm is a pancake, great lens from initial impressions. The real joy of these little cameras is the ability to fit old Carl Zeiss Jena lenses from the 1960's and 70's onto them without an additional optical adapter. You can have the world of very very high end glass without paying anywhere near as much the modern equivalent.

[Lfbarfe]

Carl Zeiss Jena or Carl Zeiss? Former were East German, latter were West German.

[marginal and troublesome]

Carl Zeiss Jena or Carl Zeiss? Former were East German, latter were West German.

The latter, I think. 

[Lfbarfe]

I thought it must be. The West German Zeiss lenses were the ones fitted to Contax SLRs.

[mobias]

Lovely Autumn day here in Edinburgh so I went out and grabbed a few shots with my  new NEX 5N. Seriously impressed by this little camera. The quality is superb, its an amazingly fun little thing. Takes a bit of betting used to after using a DSLR. All the features are the same but it just uses a completely different method of utilising them all in UI. I would definitely recommend getting one of these over consumer or even pro-sumer level DSLR. The only few drawbacks are firstly because there's no mirror the sensor is open at all times to getting dust on there. I've already noticed a tell tale spot on my photos, luckily though Sony include an in built dust removing function., not sure how well it works though. Secondly it can seem a bit fiddly at times. The scroll wheel can operate multiple functions and its easy to accidentally knock yourself into the wrong sub menu. Thirdly since its such powerful camera crammed into a small space the battery really doesn't last long at all. Luckily you can get new batteries fairly cheap on ebay so I've ordered a couple up.

All these photos were taken with the 16mm pancake lens. Really impressed with the quality, there's a bit of fall off towards the edges of the frame but generally it seems pretty good. These were all shot as JPEG's and I played about with some of the cameras in built effects. I'm not usually into these gimmicky aftereffects you get with cameras these days but some of these seem quite good. The vignetting works quite well and there's an insane amount of HDR functionality in built with the camera including one that works across the colour range rather than the exposure. Like I said you get a lot of functionality in an insanely small camera.

[Neomod]

The Canon 1100d shoots 720hd, that's currently £313 on Amazon. £287.49 at Argos

The restrictions are mono sound and no jack to put an external mic.

Ooh Ta.

[wasp_f15ting]

Nice pictures there Mobias

[MojoJojo]

Camera boffs! Is this new Nokia phone actually any good http://www.reghardware.com/2012/10/05/review_nokia_pureview_808_phone_camera_tech/

It has a stupid pixel count, which puts me off, but apparently they use them well.

Obviously, its not going to compete with a proper camera, but I'm interested ... I have a good compact, but it's a bit old and I could use something with a decent zoom).

(My own POV - it shows Nokia shouldn't have done their Windows deal. I would be looking to buy it if there was an Android version)

[mobias]

Personally I wouldn't bother but if all you want from your phone is to make phone calls, send texts and take ok-ish pictures then I guess its worth looking into. I know Sony also make a camera with a built in phone and Nikon have their android based camera, you can't make phone calls on it but you can skype and play games on it. Its just a matter of time before they make a camera you can use as a phone too. I'd wait for that. Both Sony and Nikon have a far better pedigree with photography than Nokia ever will.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/Nikon-Coolpix-S800c-is-now-official--16MP-Android-camera-you-can-play-Angry-Birds-on_id33555

[Ignatius_S]

Camera boffs! Is this new Nokia phone actually any good http://www.reghardware.com/2012/10/05/review_nokia_pureview_808_phone_camera_tech/....

If you're primarily interested in the camera element, have a look at the dpreview review – very detailed and they highly rated it. The feedback I've read has been highly positive in that regard. Other manufacturers will be upping their photography game, no doubt.

As a phone it's meant to be okay but temper your expectations – so it really depends on what your priorities are.

Personally, if pictures are a key thing I would go for a dedicated camera and go for a smartphone with better overall functionality; photos might not be as good as the 808 but they will be satisfactory.

.... Thirdly since its such powerful camera crammed into a small space the battery really doesn't last long at all. Luckily you can get new batteries fairly cheap on ebay so I've ordered a couple up....

How long do the batteries last? (I know I can look it up, but I'm making conversation.)

Also, big chunky are the lens adaptors? One review ages ago (it might have been for the Nex-7, but I assume it's the same system?) griped a little about the added bulk – but I thought that would in evitable.

One complaint that I heard quite a bit  bout the Nex-7 when it launched is the limited range of lens initially and if you were starting from scratch, it was problematical building a lens collection...  but as large rproblems go that didn't seem so bad!

Interesting to see the price falls in the Nex range.

[mobias]

How long do the batteries last? (I know I can look it up, but I'm making conversation.)

Also, big chunky are the lens adaptors? One review ages ago (it might have been for the Nex-7, but I assume it's the same system?) griped a little about the added bulk – but I thought that would in evitable.

One complaint that I heard quite a bit  bout the Nex-7 when it launched is the limited range of lens initially and if you were starting from scratch, it was problematical building a lens collection...  but as large rproblems go that didn't seem so bad!

Interesting to see the price falls in the Nex range.

I went out to shoot yesterday with about a 50% full battery and drained it completely within an hour. Admittedly I was experimenting with the effects and shot a bit of video with it, both of which obviously use a bit more processing power. Batteries are only a tenner each on ebay though so it seems wise to grab a few.

Sony's own lens adapter is indeed chunky and very expensive but its a different beast to the lens adapters you need to fit on 'legacy' lenses which are tiny and dirt cheap. Sony's own adapters are for use with its own (and Minolta's) A mount lenses and they effectively turn the NEX into an SLR. They also beef up up the NEX's autofocusing ability somewhat by including a phase detection system. So with the adapter fitted to the camera you have both phase detection and the cameras in built contrast detection autofocus system working together with any A mount lens. Bulky and expensive but powerful. I will consider getting one, especially if they come down in price a bit.

The range of  Sony's own E mount lenses for the NEX cameras is fast improving from what I've seen. Carl Zeiss have just brought out two E mount lenses but being Carl Zeiss they're monstrously expensive. Any criticism of the lack of E mount lenses kind of misses the point of these little cameras though. The real joy and fun of them is that you can pretty much seamlessly fit any old legacy lens on them without any drop in quality. That's what sets them apart from DSLR's where you quite often need an optical adapter that may or may not hugely reduce the clarity of your old lens depending on the adapters quality. You have no such worries with the NEX.

Having read around over the net on various photographic blogs its interesting reading professional photographers opinions on the NEX system. Everyone including Sony has been hugely surprised by how enthusiastically the system has been adopted by the enthusiast and professional market. Sony initially aimed it squarely at the amateur photographer who wanted a point and shoot camera with the added flexibility of interchangeable lenses. The fact that you could so easily fit legacy lenses on there without any drop in quality made the system appealing to more experienced and professional photographers alike. The fact that Sony brought out the high end NEX 7 and the recent NEX 6 in quick succession shows how encouraged they are to give the higher end users a NEX camera more suitable for their needs. There's already a lot of professional photographers out there doing shoots with the NEX 7. If I continue to get on well with my 5N then I'll almost certainly sell it and my big A-700 and buy a NEX 7 (or probably its successor, especially if its full frame) There will just be no need to own a big DSLR.

Here's Sony's own lens adapter. Expensive but it does bring with it a lot of capability. Its tempting to get one because the lower end NEX's only have contrast detection autofocus and its not the fastest or most accurate out there  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sony-LA-EA2-Alpha-Lens-Adapter-for-NEX-C3-NEX-5N-NEX-7-/400279797431?pt=UK_Photography_Adapter_Rings&hash=item5d3288feb7#ht_3189wt_1180

Here's a typical lens adapter for fitting old Lecia lenses. Considerably cheaper http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lecia-M-LM-Lens-Mount-Adapter-Ring-to-Sony-NEX-5-NEX-7-NEX-5N-NEX-C3-NEX-3-DC80-/170743809359?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item27c11fc54f#ht_4692wt_1413

[falafel]

The new Olympus PEN got a pretty awesome writeup on DPReview by the way. And they started this whole shebang, so there.

Just fighting my corner, there.

[RayB]

Seeing as others have posted pictures, I'll have a go!


Channel 4 by RayB Photography, on Flickr

[RayB]

One from Sunday, in Limehouse.


Limehouse Basin by RayB Photography, on Flickr

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Has anybody bought anything from http://www.digitalrev.com/? The site looks legitimate and has pretty good rating on Google Shopping results, but prices seem too good to be true - usually around £100 less than Amazon and free shipping - which makes me suspicious. If I order a camera from them, will I get stung on import tax or something?

God, that sounded spammy.

[Steve Lampkins]

I'd suspect that they sell 'grey imports', so you won't get an official warranty from Canon/Nikon. You can Google around to check that out. This thread didn't seem so positive... http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photography-equipment-products/239686-digital-rev-not-digital-rev.html

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Hmm...

I've never used a warranty or customer support in my life, but it's nice to know they're there. How reliable are the Canon 600d/650d?

[mcbpete]

I bought a £500 lens from them (digitalrev) a few weeks back - Arrived insanely quick (like about 3 or 4 days) especially as it was being sent from Hong Kong, and in perfect condition. A definite recommendation from me based on that purchase anyway.

FYI - I've had my 500d for a few years now (about 15000 photos taken to date) and I'm still to notice a singe problem so you should be good with the 600/650. I'm only gonna change cameras when I start to do a bit more video work and I'll upgrade to the 60d (or 70 if it's out by then)

[Ignatius_S]

Hmm...

I've never used a warranty or customer support in my life, but it's nice to know they're there. How reliable are the Canon 600d/650d?

When the product doesn't include a worldwide/international warranty, IIRC, DigitalRev offers its own 12-month warranty instead.

IIRC, the company is quite active on a few photo forums - also, the same question you asked does get raised a lot of forums so I would have a look there... I think feedback is generally pretty good though.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Yes, I pulled my finger out and did some checking around. I still don't entirely get what the deal with the import duty is, but I'm pretty sure I'll be going with them. Thanks for the help.

[RayB]

Oh, why not?


P2i42 by RayB Photography, on Flickr

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

So I decided to throw caution to the wind and ordered a 650D off DigitalRev. Now, a scant four days later, it has arrived and without any customs/delivery charges tacked on, so I'd recommend them on the basis of my experience so far.

Bad points about the camera itself: While it feels perfectly well built, the rough textured plastic feels oddly cheap; I've not used the video mode much yet, but the continuous autofocus, one of the main selling points, seems a bit crap - dropping in and out of focus seemingly at random, while the kit lens buzzes and whirs away; Speaking of the lens, the auto/manual focus switch is rather awkwardly placed, so that I keep pressing the image stabiliser one by accident. Also the zoom and focus rings seem backwards. I'll get used to both of these though.

So far I've no complaints about the pictures, though. I've never really used an SLR before, and it's really nice to have so many options to mess around with. Annoyingly, the weather - which had been fine for the last week - has decided to turn all grim and drizzly, so I haven't had a chance to shoot outside yet, but here are a couple I did earlier.



The 18-55mm lens isn't as claustrophobia inducing as I'd been expecting, although, while I don't expect I'll be amassing a vast collection of lenses, I still fancy getting a wide angle one at some point. I've had my eye on the Tokina 11-16mm one, because of its relatively wide 2.8 aperture.

[Emma Raducanu]

Can anyone recommend a video tutorial guide to photography I can either buy on dvd or view on youtube?

[mobias]

Can anyone recommend a video tutorial guide to photography I can either buy on dvd or view on youtube?

I'd get a decent book. Not sure what the best ones out at the moment are but a good guide book in conjunction with cross referencing techniques off of YouTube is probably the way to go. There's an awful lot more to learn with digital photography but I guess the flip side of  that is digital cameras have made it easier, and perhaps crucially cheaper, to get good results faster. It's definitely and fun and rewarding hobby though.

[3-d lobster]

I have spent weeks researching a camera. My requirements are (about ) £200 and a compact.

Well, I figure that all the cameras for under £200 are much of a muchness and it's just down to personal preference with no real advantages over the other.

The reviews tend to suggest that 12MP is the maximum and anything over is just vanity and may affect quality. But who really knows without trying the cameras for yourself.

Then I found out about the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) which gives cheap and midrange Canon cameras, high end functions. Importantly RAW capture. Also ultra fast shutter speeds (with flash sync) that potentially give Edgerton style photos. Long shutter speeds, Time lapse scripts and tonnes of other features to mess about with.

So it appears to me to be a no brainer, I'll opt for the Canon SX240 HS. This doesn't have HDR but with the RAW capture I should be able to tweak most photos if I need to.

Has anybody used the CHDK, before I take the plunge? Is having RAW that great?

[CHDK is a software hack and fully reversable]

[mobias]

I have spent weeks researching a camera. My requirements are (about ) £200 and a compact.

Well, I figure that all the cameras for under £200 are much of a muchness and it's just down to personal preference with no real advantages over the other.

The reviews tend to suggest that 12MP is the maximum and anything over is just vanity and may affect quality. But who really knows without trying the cameras for yourself.

Then I found out about the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) which gives cheap and midrange Canon cameras, high end functions. Importantly RAW capture. Also ultra fast shutter speeds (with flash sync) that potentially give Edgerton style photos. Long shutter speeds, Time lapse scripts and tonnes of other features to mess about with.

So it appears to me to be a no brainer, I'll opt for the Canon SX240 HS. This doesn't have HDR but with the RAW capture I should be able to tweak most photos if I need to.

Has anybody used the CHDK, before I take the plunge? Is having RAW that great?

[CHDK is a software hack and fully reversable]

The whole point behind getting a hassle free compact camera is that you just want something you can point and shoot and get semi decent results with without faffing about having to edit RAW files. I don't really see the point in doing what you're trying to do to be honest. For £200 you could get on eBay and buy a decent second hand camera that already has a full range of capabilities built into it with out the need to hack the thing. Camera hacking has always struck me as one of those things thats done simply for the sake of it by people that get off on the challenge of it all. Occasionally you see people implement custom functions that seem genuinely fun and useful (like shooting in infra red) but quite a few I've seen can easily be mocked up in post production using something like photoshop way easier than going to the trouble of hacking the camera)

Being able to shoot RAW files is great but only if you really need them and if you're shooting with a small point and shoot you probably don't. I mean I bought my NEX 5N because I wanted a small high quality compact camera that I didn't have to shoot RAW files with. The JPEG's I get off it are outstanding in quality and do everything I want them to do. There's no need for RAW.