Want to learn more about your Canon DSLR without leaving the comfort of its LCD screen? Canon has a series of “on-camera tutorials” that you can load and watch on most of its latest DSLR models. The video tutorials, which cover everything from AF modes to multiple exposure shooting, are meant to be loaded onto memory cards and viewed on-the-go using your camera itself. To find your camera’s tutorials, find and click its model on this products page, and then select “On-Camera Tutorials” at the top. Be warned though: the downloads weigh in at over 150MB each.
An interesting headline spotted over at Yahoo News: “More Americans Becoming Serious Photographers“. In the article, analyst Chris Chute of research firm IDC says that more people in the US are identifying themselves as “enthusiasts”:
Chute said that about half of SLR owners consider themselves to be enthusiasts “who really enjoy photography and know how to use manual settings on a camera.” According to his research, only about a fifth of SLR owners consider themselves to be novices, “who just want to take pictures,” as he described it. Chute finds that surprising, since typically about half the owners of a technology would be in the novice group.
“There is a shift overall in the industry from casual to enthusiast,” said Hilton. She also found a big jump in people going from enthusiasts to semi-professionals who earn money as part-time photographers.
Chute also finds that more and more people are starting to buy a “once-obscure” type of lens: the “prime”.
German photographer Falk Lumo has an interesting post on his blog regarding full frame and crop sensors. His theory is that camera manufacturers have created an artificial barrier between the two sensor sizes for business reasons, and that we’ll soon be seeing big changes in the camera world as this barrier disappears:
[...] there is an artificial separation between the APS-C and full frame markets. Artificial because less people still believe that full frame must be expensive. And artificial because image qualities beyond an effective resolution of 20 MP may simply require full frame. The new offers from Nikon (D800 and D600) therefore directly address this and may accelerate the disappearance of the artificial market separation. This is known as “supercriticality”: the market ought to offer uncrippled, full frame enthusiast cameras in the $1,500 segment but offers APS-C cameras instead. Supercritical systems “fall” into their preferred state after only small perturbations occur. Once this happens, a D800 type camera will be in the $1,500 segment.
He predicts that full frame cameras will soon be much more affordable and compact as mirrorless cameras eat into the APS-C market, leaving “cameras with a full frame mount but a half frame sensor” to be “a curiosity of the past.”
If you’re creating a short film that requires a “through the viewfinder” clip, there’s an easier way to create it than pointing your camera through an actual viewfinder (does anyone actually do that?). In the short tutorial above, Luke Neumann of Neumann Films shows how you can simulate the look of a viewfinder by overlaying your footage with some focusing screen images. All the necessary image and audio files are available as a free download. Read more…
Pentax has officially announced its new K-30 DSLR, a mid-level weather-sealed camera that’s geared towards active outdoor photographers. In addition to its durable build, the camera features a 16MP APS-C sensor, 6fps burst mode, speed autofocus with 9/11 cross-type points, in-camera stabilization (4 stops), 60fps Live View, an optical viewfinder with 100% coverage, a 3-inch LCD screen, dual electronic diables, 1080p HD video recording, ISO 100-12800 (expandable to 25600), and three body colors (white, blue, and black). Read more…
Well, lets just say I’ve gotten better at this over the last couple of years. The left image was one of the first I’ve “scanned” with my DSLR, and the one on the right I’ve just rescanned using the techniques described below (higher resolution available here). Right now I can get higher resolution and better image quality that what street labs give you on CD. Read more…
Here’s a leaked photo of an upcoming DSLR by Pentax, the K-30. It’s the replacement of the K-r, and features a 16MP sensor, ISO that goes up to 25,600, HD video, weather sealing, a 3-inch LCD screen, 4fps (or possibly 6fps) continuous shooting, and a price tag of around $800-$1000.
RGBDToolkit is a project that layers HD video recording with a DSLR over Microsoft Kinect’s depth maps, creating trippy 3D footage that may be an indication of what we’ll be documenting life with in the future. Read more…
Concept products aren’t a rarity. In the world of cars and computers concepts usually make us ooh and ahh at their beautiful styling and implied functionality, but in the world of cameras things can get a bit, strange. Such is the case with a new SLR concept by industrial designer Arti Patel called the All.Round SLR. Read more…
With Nikon rumored to be working on the D600 as an entry-level full-frame for later this year, it’s only right that Canon jump into the fray as well, and jump they have (maybe). Rumors that Canon has had a new entry-level full-frame in the works began circulating at the end of March, and now we’re hearing that an announcement may be planned for the 2012 Holiday Season. Read more…
