LATEST TRENDS FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS (part 2)

Mirrorless Without the Pentaprism And Almost 1/2 the Size of a DSLR

Now we’re talkin! We all know how backbreaking a heavy DSLR can be with huge lenses and accessories. Folks, things are getting simpler and smaller. Enter this years entry into the new subcompact DSLR, the mirrorless digital camera. Get the lightweight advantage of a small point and shoot with full DSLR capability at a low price with good glass, and we have a new class of digital camera.

Sony NEX5AB Nex NEX-5A/B 14.2MP DSLR Digital Camera With 16/2.8 Black

Olympus PEN E-P2 12.3 MP Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens

Panasonic, Olympus, Sony have all claimed stakes in this new class of camera. Olympus and Panasonic always known for excellent point n’ shoots adopted the new Micro Four Thirds standard and have come out with some great offerings. Sony has entered the fray with their Nex-3 and Nex-5 offerings, based on a standard APS-C size sensor, the same that we see in our Nikon, Canon, Sony, Panasonic and Pentax DSLRs. Think about this for a moment. You’re in the market (like I am) for a prime, fixed focal length wide angle lens for your landscapes. You’re kit lens or everyday zoom just isn’t cutting it for quality, so you’re in the market for some pro quality wide angle glass. For the same price as that prime, why not add a second DSLR with a fixed wide angle prime, pro quality for the same price? You get a second body for nothing! Hence, my personal interest in this new class of camera. Here are some of the advantages:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 12.1MP Micro Four-Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera

• Small and lightweight. Great for travel or long hikes. With the popular “pancake” lenses they offer, you can carry a few of these in your photo-vest, get a real lightweight carbon fiber tripod, and you’re off to the races. All you need is a few SD cards, circular polarizer and an extra battery and you’re all set. Leave you 30lb backpack at home, you don’t need all that.
• Interchangeable lenses among manufacturers. Panasonic and Olympus have adopted the Micro Four Thirds standard, and that means their lenses are compatible with eachother, giving the photographer more choices.
• Professional Quality HD Video. Quickly becoming a “must have”, all three manufactures mentioned here, Panasonic, Olympus and Sony all offer pro-quality HD video in each of their models. Given that I record video along with my shooting, its a must-have for me.
• Carry wherever you are 24/7. I often teach my students to carry a camera wherever you are, all day and night as to get images you’d normally never get. Now you can get DSLR quality in your pocket without having to deal with the smallish compact camera sensors that can’t give us good quality over ISO 200, and you get great video of you choose.
• Team up a few of these with some great glass along with that new-fangled iPad I just mentioned in #1, and you’re a portable pro photographer waiting to happen!

LATEST FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS (part 1)

Greatest Artist and Photographers Tool Since Photoshop?

When was the last time you stepped into a Starbucks and didn’t see someone doodline on an iPad? Lets face it, they’re all over the place. Yuppies, professionals and regular folks likes us playing with their iPads. How does cool new tool help the photographer? Think of the future, cloud computing. Its coming, and its the next-step of the web. The iPad is more than a glorified iPhone with a few apps.

Its gaining steam. For photographers, look for more and more image editing and display options in the future. At the size of a magazine, there isn’t an excuse for not having one.  Let me put it this way, as a photographer, I’ll be hooked on this thing first day I get mine home.  No, its not going to replace what I can do with Lightroom, Photoshop and Elements, but I can do just about anything I want to most photo’s on the fly, and its great to display my work to others, video included. Its a web app notebook, eReader and photo display/editor all built in for me in a small package. Put this on your holiday list, you’ll want one

Advantages for photographers include:

• A lightweight image processing platform you can carry everywhere, especially while traveling
• Hundreds of apps developed for the iPhone and iPad, continuously growing
• Manage your online photo libraries without the use of a laptop or computer
• Light enough to take in your camera backpack
• 9.7″ Backlit display is world-class. You’re photos are going to look great
• Import SD cards with adapter or plug in your digital camera directly and download your images (shoot JPEG+Raw, and just import your JPEGs..)
• Other accessories are available and growing – The iPad Keyboard Dock combines a dock with a full-size keyboard. You can import photos from a digital camera or SD card with the iPad Camera Connection Kit. The iPad Case not only protects your iPad, it lets you use it in various positions. And different adapters let you connect iPad to TVs, projectors, and displays.

latest

We normally don't publish news reports, leaving that to those sites who feed us all a daily stream of new product announcements. But, there were so many interesting developments in the past few days that we thought it worth bringing them to your attention.

– Adobe has released updates to both Lightroom and Camera Raw. These include bug fixes and support for several new cameras.

– Sigma has announced a new service that will allow owners of their latest series of lenses to change the lens' camera mount when one changes systems. A cool and innovative service.

– The Swiss company Ilford Imaging has stated to it has been unsuccessful in finding new owners or investors, and has laid off 220 employees in prepartion for bankrupcy filing.

– Panasonic has announced the anticipated (leaked) GX7, which looks like their most innovative and competitive camera yet. I had an opportunity to try out the camera at a recent Panasonic press event and was quite impressed. I expect to have a review in the weeks ahead. In the meantime DPReview has aFirst Impressions report.

– Camera sales suck. The Japanese camera makers association reports that for the first half of 2013 sales are down a stunning 43%. All the usual suspects could be named, including the growing use of smartphone cameras. But, I would suggest that the old paradigm of doling out modest annual feature improvements has had its day. Camera makers need to start thinking outside the box and get some cojones when it comes to creating new market opportunities. I'll have more to say on this in some upcoming articles.

– There are reports that the highly anticipated Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera has started shipping, and could be in user's hands within the week. We have two units on order for use in our productions, and Chris and I will have a rolling-review here as soon as we start working with them.