Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

Imaging Resources has a very detailed coverage of the Nikon D3/D300 press conference. You can read about Nikon’s market share, the sensor technology in D3, Live View, active D-Lighting, some hands-on impressions of the high ISO performance, viewfinder, and the stunning LCD display, as well as the new lenses that Nikon will release. At the end, Nikon showed a impressive 4.5 stop improvement of shack reduction from the in-lens image stabilization technology compared to ~2.5 stop improvement of competitors’ in-camera image stabilization technology.

Model mayhem by pkripper503

Flickr user pkripper503 shared with us this wonderful tip on how to take a great huddle shot without the photographer lying on the ground:

… put the camera on timer and have everyone huddle around the camera on the ground, though lying on the ground would achieve the same results, but you never know what’s on the floor…

Wow…amazing. I cannot believe the heat in the DPReview Nikon forum. Hundreds of posts in a few hours. Finally the press releases have been posted on Nikon website. Please read the press releases for now. More update will follow.

• D3 press release: Eight years after changing professional photography forever, Nikon does it again … Also check out the press photos.
• D300 press release: Nikon introduces the new D300 professional digital SLR camera. Also check out the press photos.

DPReview has also posted the news and previews of the new cameras. Read them here:

• DPReview D3 news and preview
• DPReview D300 news and preview

I simply cannot believe what I have read.

• ISO:The D3 has ISO from 200 to 6400, and extendable to ISO 100 and 25600!
• Autofocus: Both cameras now have a 51 point MUlti-CAM3500 AF module! I thought the 45-pt AF on Canon 1DS Mark III was excessive.
• Live View: Both also have Live View modes, with autofocus! If you haven’t heard, Canon’s LiveView is MF only.
• Image processor: It is a 14bit processor called EXPEED.
• Sensor cleaning: D300 got a self-cleaning sensor that removes dusts by high frequency vibration. So far Nikon has not lagged behind Canon in any major categories!
• Display: 3.0″ 922,000 pixel LCD monitor. That will be beautiful. The only concern is how it may affect the battery life.
• Image format: D3 is full frame with a name “FX”. I think this is really brilliant marketing move by Nikon.
• Pixel count: Some may be disappointed by Nikon’s decision to put only 12MP in the full frame sensor. However people needs to realize that not everyone needs 21MP. The Nikon press release has stated that the D3 is targeted for sports photographers and photojournalists. Delivering news worth images fast is what they need. 21MP is only making unnecessarily large files that are difficult to manage and process. On the low end, the D300 has 12MP, more than the 10MP in Canon EOS 40D. I guess some Canon fans will be falling from sky on hearing this news.
• Price: D3 is $5000 while D300 is $1800. Apparently D3 is much cheaper than Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III while D300 is quite more expensive than Canon EOS 40D ($1300 for body only). However Nikon labels the D300 as professional camera rather than prosumer or amature camera like the 40D.
• More: they are so many nice features. I will stop listing them now. Please read the links above for more information.

Overall, the new releases by Nikon are truly remarkable. They will solidify the lead position by Nikon and expend its market share further. The wishful thinking by Canon may be declared a “bust” for now.

With strong sales performance from D40x/D80, Nikon has obtained the DSLR market leader position in Japan (Read the previous post titled Nikon is on top, in Japan) with market share of 47.5 percent vs. Canon’s 36.5 percent. With the recently announced two new DSLR products, the EOS-1Ds Mark III and EOS 40D, Canon expects (or just hoping?) to regain the lead in Japan for digital SLR camera shipments. Is Nikon quivering, or just busy preparing its new releases? Let’s just wait and see.

World Photography Day by babasteve

This is the first time I heard of World Photography Day. Apparently every August 19 is the World Photography Day. Here is an article talking about how technology has transformed photography from the “exclusive domain to an everyday celebration”: Photography: A long journey thru lens.

Although the reactions are mixed (some people are just very unappeasable), but majority of Canon fans on DPReview seem to be happy with the 40D feature sets. One fan rejoiced “Canon pulls ahead of Nikon“, and another one yahoo-ed “40D - weathersealed!!! yes!!!“. It is indeed a fine machine. However by comparing to the Nikon D200, which is in the same class as Canon 40D and almost two years older, Canon just did a lot of catch-up. Even CNet agrees (see Canon fights back with two SLRs).

Here is the comparison of the major features side-by-side on DPReview of Canon EOS 40D and Nikon D200. It basically showed a close match of feature sets when the photo-taking aspects are concerned.

Canon’s catch-up done since 30D against Nikon D200

• Dust and weather resistant construction (weather seal)
• More pixels (8.2MP to 10.1MP)
• Increased viewfinder optical magnification from 0.90x to 0.95x
• Custom settings with the mode dial
• High ISO noise reduction
• Infamous CF door that causes loss of data if opened during image writing
• ISO information in viewfinder
• AF-on button
• Blinking highlight alert and AF point display in playback

Canon EOS 40D interesting new features

• Improved sensor pixel design with larger micro-lenses over the image sensor pixels that improves signal-to-noise ratio and improves sensitivity; 14bit analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. We can expect better image quality.
• 9-point cross type AF sensors, which should improve speed, precision and functionality, minimizing focus hunting in low light/contrast situations.
• Integrated cleaning system. Similar to other manufacturers’ DSLRs, the sensor uses a ultrasonic vibration during start-up and shutdown to shake the dusts off. However the effectiveness of this feature is questionable. Canon now appears to offer a similar “dust ref” software feature as in Nikon to map out the dusts from the photos.
• Live view. It does not auto-focus in this mode. However it is possible to achieve auto-focus by temporarily lower the mirror. This could be limiting the usefulness of the live view feature to mostly studio and macro photography.

What Canon still lags behind

• GPS connectivity. Geo-tagging is quite a hot trend.
• Spot metering coverage. Still a little wider.
• FLASH capability; wireless FLASH (not with RF transmitter)
• Exposure compensation/bracketing range

Overall Nikon still wins in ergonomics and the attention to details, which is difficult to go into details in words. However I have to admire the fine machine Canon just introduced. I believe the competition is always good for consumers like you and me. It leads to cameras with better performance/price ratio.

Updates

10/26/2007: Canon EOS 40D review by DPReview.

Do your portrait photos look dull? They probably never look like the shots in the fashion magazines. Well, now you can get the same look after learning some Photoshop tricks. Freakitude has a collection of 15 best virtual makeover tutorials for Adobe Photoshop. Have some fun with those tricks. If you could make your wife happy, the approval for your next gadget purchase might become easier.

Canon has announced two new DSLRS in the EOS lineup. The new EOS-1DS Mark III features a 5616 x 3744 (21.1MP) full frame CMOS imaging sensor, 5fp continuous shooting speed. The EOS-1Ds Mark III is said to be identical to the EOS-1D Mark III in terms of function and usability except the full frame (36 x 24 mm) sensor. The new EOS 40D features a 10.1MP APS-C sized sensor (1.6x crop factor), 6.5 fps burst shooting speed, a 9 point cross-type AF system and 3.0” LCD with Live View mode. Read More…