Digital Photography Tips and Techniques

Luminous Landscape field tested the newly announced Sony A900 24.6MP full-frame DSLR camera and comapared it with Canon’s flagship model EOS-1Ds MarkIII. What’s the verdict? Well, for a camera that costs less than half of the Canon, the reviewer had to give this camera a big thumbs up.

Nikon announced the introduction of the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR, a new DX-NIKKOR zoom lens with built-in Silent Wave Motor (SWM) and Vibration Reduction (VR). This is the update to the original non-VR version. This lens is for people just getting started with Nikon digital SLR camera. It may get bundled as a “kit lens” with Nikon digital SLR cameras in the future.

Certainly this is a welcome update to the consumer grade lens. For people not familiar with vibration reduction (VR) or image stabilization (IS) in Canon’s term, the VR function helps to minimizes the chance of getting blurry images caused by camera shake, providing the ability to shoot at shutter speeds much slower (up to three stops, or 8 times, with this lens) than would otherwise be possible. This is especially helpful for handhold shooting in low light situations such as dusk or at night, or poorly lit interiors. It is also helpful when shooting from a vibrating platform such as a moving boat or vehicle. Unlike in-camera VR available in many other DSLRs, in-lens VR like this also produces a stable viewfinder image. This makes framing and composition much more comfortable and accurate. Read More…

Perhaps you have heard about the well known photographers who have been using the professional Nikon D3. Evidently that is part of the Nikon’s grassroots marketing strategy. Rob Galbraith has a collection of full resolution D3 photos at various ISO settings from 200 to 25600 (insane!) taken by professional photographers and shows you how capable the Nikon D3 is. His overall impression on the high ISO performance comparison between the D3 and Canon 1D Mark III:

… while there are differences in the appearance of image graininess - Canon’s grain pattern is tighter - there’s no doubt that the D3 produces a less noisy, higher quality file at ISO 3200 and beyond. This is an incredible achievement on Nikon’s part.

However, it appears the Canon EOS 1D Mark III still shines, perhaps due to its resolution advantage:

On the other hand, EOS-1D Mark III files at any ISO - especially CR2s processed through Canon’s Digital Photo Professional - are generally slightly crisper and more detailed …

I am happy to see a Canon vs. Nikon duel like this. This is market force at its best. Consumers will benefit.

According to a news posted on DPReview, Canon has stopped the shipments of its EOS-1D Mark III. No specific reason was give in the DPReview post, but it is most like the auto focus issue that has been discussed extensively since the summer. This news has actually been out quite a few days ago on a SportsShooter forum post. Another UK report is here. A letter sent to dealers from Canon is available here (PDF). Gizmodo has also posted this letter.

Well, it is really a bad timing for Canon as Nikon’s D3 is about to be available soon. Nikon D3 targets the same professional photographers such as photojournalists and sports shooters.

Update on November 1, 2007: Canon has issued an official statement on the issue.

Japanese website ASCII has published an interesting interview (Babelfish translation, Google translation) with Nikon development personal on the development of the Nikon D300, due to be released in November 2007. Here are some interesting points:

• Targeted customers: Users of both D2X and D200. Personally I think the D300 will appeal to many current D2X users. It costs less with the body and the grip combined than the D2X, with better performances in most aspects. No doubt, many professionals will purchase the full frame D3. However many will find the DX format sufficient.
• As a flagship DX format DSLR, the three most significant features: 100% viewfinder (need very precise alignment of viewfinder, AF system, and the sensor), durability (150K shutter life), and high shooting speed.

• High ISO noise performance to be more than 1 stop better than D200, but this is scene dependent. It mentioned that mid tone is brightened a bit, so the images overall has a brighter look.

• The sensor is supplied by Sony according to Nikon specification and standard. The D300 sensor performs A/D conversion within the sensor to suppress circuit noise that may be generated when the analog signals are transferred to external A/D converter in previous designs. This also allows parallel conversion to improve shooting speed.
• The active D-lighting function achieves what post-processing does in camera. It is not just a simple tone curve manipulation, but also some localized adjustments, similar to the dodge and burn technique in Photoshop.
• The sensor has the ability of shooting 8fps but the mechanical parts cannot keep up without the attached battery grip. Without the battery grip, the maximum frame rate drops to 6fps.
• The mechanical parts like the AF motor are mostly the same as in D200, but the parameters are optimized to increase the shooting speed on D300.
• The speed improvement over D200: 45ms v. 50ms shutter lag, 90ms vs. 105ms viewfinder blackout time.
• Apparently the shutter release sounds are also improved by “the mirror balancer”, which reduces mirror bouncing. I guess we can assume less vibration caused blurring when shooting at slow shutter speed.
• The Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was involved in the F3/F4/F5/F6 design, is responsible for the D3 design. While the D300 was designed by in-house designers.
• Nikon apparently listened to the complains about the durability of the D200 vertical battery grip. It is now constructed in part from magnesium alloy to increase rigidity. The grip is no longer L-shaped. Instead, it becomes flat. One battery remains in the camera and one in the grip. With D200 grip, both batteries go into the grip. It also takes several different types of battery, including AAs.
• “3D-tracking mode”: When used in auto focus it photometrically utilizes scene recognition technique with the 1005 pixel RGB sensor and a diffraction grating to improve AF accuracy. The sensor maintains the focus by tracking the subject’s color and size. This application does not only scene recognition AF but is also is applied to auto white balance, and to background recognition in flash photography.
• On Liveview mode: Focus using the actual picture taken by the sensor is the most accurate. In the “tripod shooting mode” of liveview, contrast AF is used to achieve focus. The interviewer asked an interesting question about why contrast AF, popular in compact digital cameras, were not used in DSLRs. The answer is that DSLR sensors cannot capture images with sufficient frame rate. Contrast AF works by doing frame by frame focus finding (maximum contrast). In DSLRs, due to the higher quality requirements, the frame rate with DSLR sensors are too slow. That makes sense that it is only available in tripod shooting mode and, most likely, for still subjects only.
• On the dust removal: It is the first on Nikon DSLR. It has the vibration dust removal, an anti-static low pass filter with a special coating.

The simultaneous release of two flagship DSLR models D300 and D3, in DX and FX formats, are a significant achievement by Nikon. They reaffirmed the commitments to the DX format. Both formats will be continuous expanded and updated.

[Well, it took me a while to get throw the translations. If I missed anything, please let me know.]

According to the report on news.com, more FX (Nikon’s marketing term for full frame) products are definitely coming but no details on the specifications or when. In the report, Steve Heiner, senior technical manager of Nikon SLR marketing, said Nikon is committed to bringing out more FX cameras, and more technologies at the highest end (Nikon D3) will trickle down to the lower end, which appears to mean Nikon will offer a lower-end full-frame model. Some rumors put that in second half of 2008. It is highly likely that it will compete against Canon’s successor to the 5D.

It will also be interesting to know who will make the sensor for Nikon. As Sony gets deeper into the red hot DSLR market, it may no longer be willing to supply sensors to Nikon.

For users of digital cameras with interchangeable lens, dust can be a real problem. This is especially true for photographers who shoot at smaller apertures (large f/stop numbers). Why? Because the dusts are not sitting directly on the micro lens of the sensor but on the anti-aliasing (AA) filter. The typical distance between the AA filter and sensor surface is much greater than the size of typical dusts. At large apertures, the light rays that pass through different part of the lens surface can go around the dust and focus on to the pixel. The dust may not be visible at all or appears to be a fuzzy dot in your photos. When shooting at small aperture, the light is restricted and therefore more directional (coming through a smaller hole). It causes the dusts shadow to show up clearly and sharply in the photo.

It is not a good surprise when you come back from shooting then found out there are dark spots on the exact locations of your otherwise great photos. You cannot completely avoid getting dusts on the sensor even if you seal your camera in a air-tight bag. The moving parts on your camera and lens can also generate some particles. So, what are the options? Read More…

No surprises here. Electronic giant Sony is now said to be number three after Canon and Nikon in global DSLR shipments. The aforementioned report quoted last year’s IDC analysis data saying Canon had 47%, Nikon 33%, and Sony 6% (once as much as 10%) of global DSLR shipments. With a strong offering in the new Sony Alpha DSLR-A700, we will see some more competition in the DSLR market, which is absolutely good news for consumers.