Nikon D7000, links, sample shots and videos

As Nikon has just announced their latest Avtaar  D7000, its quite interesting in some ways, lets see.


First of all its 16.2 Megapixels (CMOS sensor), second largest in its lineup after D3X(24mp). Then it has ISO pushable upto 25,600. Expecting a great low light performance, should be a bit improved from D90. Another new thing is true HD video at 1080p, unlike other models D90, D300s or D3s which all supports only 720p, this new beast has 1080p full HD, wow!!!.
It is a bit fast too, 6fps even without hand grip, thats cool. Its viewfinder covers full 100% of the scene same as D300s (D90 shows only (94%).


One more admirable feature they have added is a pro quality that is Twin SD card slots. Now you can backup your valuable pics/video in another card, so wonderful. Its available in Nikons Pro models only.


For video enthusiasts another stunning addition is Autofocus during video recording, what ? yes !!!. Its first time that we see Auto focus in videos.
Bravo Nikon !!!


To highlight main specifications :

• 16.2 Megapixels. (CMOS sensor, DX format, 6fps)
• 1080p full HD video. (24fps)
• ISO up to 6400 (pushable to 25,600)
• Magnesium alloy construction (“pro quality”)
• 39-point AF system with 3D tracking
• 2016 pixel metering sensor
• 3.0 inch 921k dot LCD screen
• New Live View/movie shooting switch
• Full-time AF in Live View/movie modes
• Up to 6fps continuous shooting
• Lockable shooting mode dial
• Built-in intervalometer
• Electronic virtual horizon
• Shutter tested to 150K actuations
• 20 minute movie clip recording time

For more information you can visit :
First shooter of Nikon D7000 Video : http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2010/09/nikon-d7000/
Photogallery : http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blogpics/Nikon-D7000-Photo-Gallery/

Preview available at various sites like :Nikon : http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d7000/index.htm
Engadget : http://www.engadget.com/2010/09/15/nikon-d7000-brings-39-point-af-1080p-video-and-magnesium-alloy/
Kenrockwell : http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d7000.htm

Sony NEX-3 / NEX-5 Review is up

Just visited the dpreview and found full review of these two compacts, you can visit the following link to read full review http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/SonyNex5Nex3/

I read some parts of review and found that its fairly good camera with excellent image quality. Hand grip of NEX-5 is fine. supplied 18-55 OS lens is quite sharp and if stopped down to 5.6 to 8 performs wonderfully. 16mm.2.8 is sharp in center and if stopped down is excellent at corners too. Flash is external and pocketable can be used anytime at accessory socket. Screen is flipout and tiltable. 

NEX-5 and NEX-3 are exactly same in all respects but movie mode and body construction.

NEX-5 gets a slightly smaller magnesium alloy body, an infrared remote receiver and 1080i AVCHD movie recording, but in every other respect they're the same.

For Sample Galleries : click here

Sony NEX 5 /NEX 3 Mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras

Sony has announced their version of Compact Digital SLR, specifications are amazing. 
HD video is also looking too good. Whats different from Panasonic GF1 of Olympus Pen is that Sony has larger Image Sensor that the 4/3.

So hopefully this Model of Sony will be a game changer? never know ;-) but we photographers are getting more and more luring options.

• New α digital cameras with DSLR picture quality and responsive shooting
• World’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens digital camera (NEX-5)
• 14.2 effective megapixels Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor
• 1080i HD movie recording (NEX-5) with stereo sound, fast and silent autofocus
• Intuitive new interface with Help Guide and Shooting Tips
• E-mount lens system compatible with α DSLR lenses (with optional Mount Adaptor)
• Sweep Panorama with 3D capability

 
NEX-5 features a tough yet light-weight magnesium body, making it the world’s smallest and lightest interchangeable lens digital camera.

At the heart of both cameras is a newly-developed Exmor™ APS HD CMOS sensor with a resolution of 14.2 effective megapixels.

Also released E 16mm F/2.8 ‘pancake’ lens (SEL16F28) 

Both cameras can also capture fast-moving action with a high-speed burst of full-resolution images at up to 

7fps (AF/AE fixed from first frame). 

Visit DPReview for sample HD Movie and still images here

(Image Courtesy Sony)

Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Specifications & Samples

Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Features & Specifications

Panasonic unveiled a new pancake interchangeable lens called the LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH. (35mm camera equivalent: 40mm) as a new member of the LUMIX G Micro System. The new LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH. Features a dramatic compactness and light weight despite its F1.7 brightness allowing a beautiful soft focus for photos to be even more impressive.

Comprising of seven lenses in 5 groups, the new lens system uses two aspherical lenses most effectively to minimize both distortion and chromatic aberrations, achieving super high resolution corner to corner. The versatile 20mm of focal distance (Equivalent to 40mm on a 35mm film camera) is suitable for wide variety of occasions from daily snapshots including sceneries like sunsets and dimly lit indoor shots to the deliberately creative shots taking advantage of its beautiful soft focus. When mounted on the LUMIX G Micro System Cameras, the LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH. allows use of the advanced contrast AF system, which includes a Face Recognition function, for more convenient, more enjoyable shooting.

Seven blades give the aperture a rounded shape that produces an attractively smooth effect in out-of-focus areas when shooting at larger aperture settings. The new LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH. lens also features a highly reliable metal mount, and uses multi-coated lens elements that minimize ghosts and flare to further enhance its optical performance.

Specifications

- LUMIX G 20mm / F1.7 ASPH. (35mm camera equivalent: 40mm)
- Lens Construction 7 elements in 5 groups (2 Aspherical lenses)
- Mount Micro Four Thirds mount
- Aperture F1.7
- Minimum Aperture F16
- Closest Focusing Distance 0.2m / 0.66ft

- Optical Image Stabilizer No
- Focal Length f=20mm (35mm camera equivalent 40mm)
- Aperture Type 7 diaphragm blades / Circular aperture diaphragm
- Maximum magnification Approx. 0.13x / 0.25x (35mm camera equivalent)
- Diagonal Angle of View 57°
- Filter Size φ46mm / 1.81 in
- Max. Diameter φ63mm / 2.48 in
- Overall Length Approx. 25.5mm / 1.00 in (from the tip of the lens to the base side of the lens mount)
- Weight Approx. 100g / 3.53oz
- Standard Accessories Lens Cap, Lens Rear Cap, Lens Storage Bag 

Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos

- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos with Panasonic GF1 @ Dpreview
- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos @ Photozone.de
- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos with Olympus E-P1 @ Dpreview
- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos with Panasonic GF1 @ Craigmod
- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos @ Flickr.com
- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos @ Lensbuyersguide.com

- Panasonic Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH Sample Photos @ Amazon.com

What is a Fast Lens or Fast Glass?

 
Difference between a regular zoom lens and a fast zoom lens.

Nikon AFS 16-35mm f/4 G ED VR Lens Video Review

Courtesy: Simplyelectronics.net

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Reviews

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Reviews

Please buy it here to support this site : Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

This is amazing little champ, you will see it in every pro/enthusiast bag. Fantastic sharpness and DOF and a low light performer. And pricing cool ;-) just check out reviews if you dont believe.

Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars  

Kenrockwell reviews the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF and writes;

“AF is very fast on every camera. One full turn of the AF screw focuses the lens from infinity to 6 feet (1.8m)… If you need super sharpness and a fast aperture than choose this over a zoom at the same price.”

Rating: N/A

Photozone reviews the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF and writes;

” At wide-open aperture it is a little soft at the image borders and the contrast level is a little on the low side. However, at medium aperture settings the resolution figures are exceptionally high and surely a benchmark to beat. Distortions are negligible and vignetting is very well controlled. The build quality of the lens is very decent and the AF performance leaves nothing to be desired.”

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 Mike reviews the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF and writes;

“Despite its shortcomings wide open, the 50mm f/1.4D is still a very versatile lens. It provides photographers the privilege of having decent shutter speeds in low light at a very practical focal length which is neither too short nor too long. “

Rating: N/A

Joe Masucci reviews the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF and writes;

“If you are considering getting into digital SLR photography then buy a Nikon D80 and this lens! The f/1.8 aperture allows for some low light shooting and the bokeh is great. I don’t own this lens, but, I have borrowed it to take some shots [ with my D300] and it is excellent. A great lens to learn dSLR photography.”

Rating: N/A

Momentcorp reviews the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF and writes;

“One of the “cheap” Nikkor’s you`d want to own. It might be cheap, but the performance of it, is far from cheap. Sharp and crisp, would describe the lens better. Overall the performance of this lens says buy one, you won`t be disappointed.”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Nikondslrs reviews the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF and writes;

“Putting the sharpness quality into the equation, this is one of the best lenses at this price point. The build quality is also decent and any travel photographer should have fun using the lens without being bogged down with quality issues.”

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Canon PowerShot SX210 IS is Fantastic

The Canon PowerShot SX210 IS ($349) is a compact camera with some brilliant features :

·         14X optical zoom lens,

·         Optical image stabilization,

·         A widescreen LCD display,

·         Manual controls, and

·         HD movie recording.

·         Resolution 14.1 Megapixel

·         Focal range 28 - 392 mm

·         Max. aperture F3.1 - F5.9

·         LCD aspect ratio 16:9

·         Continuous shooting rate 0.7 fps

·         Memory cards supported SD/SDHC/SDXC

·         Dimensions (W x H x D) 4.2 x 2.3 x 1.3 in.

·         Weight (empty) 188 g

·         Available colors Black, purple, gold

·         Use of stereo sound recording, Yes

·         Use of the optical zoom during Movie recording Yes

All these features are excellent and makes it an all-round camera

A few concerns though:

·         A plastic tripod mount

·         Battery life only 260 shots as per CIPA standards

·         Slow max Aperture

Leica M9 - Pictures do speak

Like the title says, Lieca M9 images do speak, I promise that I saw them speak ;-)

In my photographic experience I researched a lot for many cameras in last 4-5 years. I saw image output of many SLR or digicams, compared their features, specifications, body design, looks,price and lots more.

Many people say that "Ease of Use" is most important thing, lots say handling should be great, some say it should be heavy and some like light weight. People complain about Noise in images. People complain about low battery life etc etc.

All these people are right in saying so as they might not seen the Leica output. Leica is very awkward for general people who are used to SLR or other EVF, zoom cams.

• Its different.
• Its slow.
• Manual Focus.
• And major draw back to me is its price; lol.

But I lust for M9 ;-) and one day will get it for sure. Why?

Bcos, you know Photography is to present your creativity, your feelings and what you want the world to see through your eyes. Image quality matters most as per my opinion whatever pain you took to get any image, that hardship disappear as soon as you see the final output.

Same feeling I got from Sony R1 a great camera, which I could not get.

If your images do speak and create a sense of attachment then you are special photographer whatever camera gear you use. My images don't btw.

I found these links to be useful to explain a bit what I mean.
Enjoy

http://www.nikonweb.com/m9/
http://dfarkas.blogspot.com/2009/09/leica-m9-review-shooting-in-wetzlar.html
http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/m9/examples.htm

Canon PowerShot S90 Review

Canon S90 Features we liked

* Its sensor is big 1/1.7" Type CCD
* 10 million pixels sensor
* RAW shooting (wow !!! cool)
* ISO 80-3200 (for low light performance)
* Fast f/2.0-4.9 maximum aperture range
* Lens amazing 28-105mm range
* Shutter speed 15-1/1600 sec
* Dual Anti-Noise System (high sensitivity sensor and Digic 4 noise reduction)
* It has Lens Control Ring
* 3.0 inch PureColor II LCD
* Optical Image Stabilization
* Smarter Scene Detection
* Low Light mode
* DIGIC 4 image processor
* HD output

The new feature of Control Ring is highly customizable, and in addition to the default (which varies by mode; in Av mode, for example, it controls aperture) it can be set to control the Zoom (a 'step zoom' function), White Balance Adjust, manual Focus, AE compensation and ISO. If you do choose to override the default option then the S90 will pass control of that function over to the rear control dial.

Nice points :
* Excellent image quality, particularly at lower ISO settings
* Extensive photographic feature set
* New Function Ring transforms use of manual controls on a small camera
* Usable, fast raw mode with excellent DPP software supplied
* Highly customizable
* Fast, sharp zoom with useful 28-105mm range and F2.0 aperture (only at the wide end)
* Reliable metering, focus and white balance
* Very compact, well built
* Decent battery life
* Usable results up to ISO 800 (though shooting raw is advised at higher settings)

Few reservations:
* Highlight clipping and channel clipping in bright, contrasty conditions
* Video limited to VGA resolution
* Lack of grip and smooth, featureless body don't help handling one bit
* Flash underpowered, flash performance overall not that impressive
* Relatively small maximum aperture at long end of zoom

Overall its good competitor and will gain a nice market share.

PANASONIC INTRODUCES AG-AF100, 4/3” PROFESSIONAL HIGH-DEFINITION CAMCORDER

Panasonic today announced a beautiful gift to movie making enthusiast its a game-changing AVCCAM HD camcorder, the AG-AF100 is the first professional micro 4/3-inch video camcorder which can take different lens and optimized for high-definition video recording.
Scheduled to ship by the end of 2010.


The camera on the picture has the Panasonic 14-140mm Lens

Camera is targeted at the video and film production communities, the AF100 delivers the shallow depth of field and wider field of view of a large imager, with the flexibility and cost advantages of use with a growing line of professional quality, industry standard micro 4/3-inch lenses, filters, and adapters. The full 1080 and 720 production camera offers superior video handling, native 1080/24p recording, variable frame rates(60i to 24i), professional audio capabilities, and compatibility with SDHC and SDXC media(upto 2TB).

Equipped with an interchangeable lens mount, the AF100 can utilize an array of low-cost, widely-available still camera lenses as well as film-style lenses with fixed focal lengths and primes.
The AF100 incorporates a 4/3-inch, 16:9 MOS imager. The camcorder records 1080/60i, 50i, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) and 720/60p, 50p, 30p, 25p and 24p (native) in AVCHD’s highest-quality PH mode (maximum 24Mbps). Ready for global production standards, the camcorder is 60Hz and 50Hz switchable.

Vaishno Devi Yatra 1

Street photography at Uttar Pradesh (UP), India (Set 1)

As I visited Haridwar, On my way back home I took some street shots. Hope you like them. Mostly are from Saharanpur and around, here I go:

2 Sisters

Auto man looking back

Train Tracks

Staring

Tractor

Riot control vehicle

A Truck

White caps

In a bit Hurry

Shaving the customer

Few more images in next set, your comments will be highly appreciated.

Maha Kumbh 2010, Haridwar, India

Kumbha (Kumbha means pot) Mela (means fair) is a sacred Hindu pilgrimage that takes place at the following four locations of India at every 12 years:

• Prayag, Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh) at the confluence of three holy rivers - Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati

• Haridwar (Uttarakhand) where the river Ganga enters the plains from Himalayas

• Ujjain (Madhya Pradesh), on the banks of shipra river, and

• Nasik (Maharashtra) on the banks of Godavari river.
  

The pilgrimage occurs four times every twelve years, once at each of the four locations. Each twelve-year cycle includes the Maha (great) Kumbha Mela at Prayag, attended by millions of people, making it the largest pilgrimage gathering around the world.
I just returned from Haridwar Maha Kumbh. Nice amazing experience to see lots of Sadhus at one place. Various Akharas have setup their Ashrams at Haridwar Mela site. It looks like a whole new city where you will see only sadhus everywhere.

One Akhara in itself is a small city there comprising lots and lots of Ashramas under one Akhara. It is spread in many kilometers here at Haridwar across Ganga.

All Ashramas are well decorated, each Ashram is having some kind of religious function organised and have arranged "Langar" (Lunch) for sadhus or daily basis. We hear different sounds of religious chanting coming from each Ashram.

Akhara (also akhada, literally "wrestling arena" is amorganization of the different sects of Sadhus or Hindu ascetics, history dates back to the 8th century AD when Adi Shankaracharya established seven Akharas, Mahanirvani, Niranjani, Juna, Atal, Avahan, Agni and Anand Akhara.
Kumbh Mela is the largest gathering of gurus, sadhus and holy men. They come from their ashrams, monasteries, caves and veritable palaces of marble, gold and glass. They come from India’s vast rural backyard, cities, clearings in dense forests and remote ice- bound heights of the Himalayas.
Some come humbly with the meagre belongings of a holy man - the water pot, the fire tongs, a shoulder bag and a blanket. Some come with their retinue of disciples following the guru like a medieval army, armed with tridents, chains, spears and muskets.

Then, there are the heads of large monastic orders that arrive to the fanfare of brass bands, and some, well-heeled international gurus come in limousines.

There are hundreds of sects and sub sects of Sadhus in the Hindu world. They can broadly be divided in two groups, the Vaishnavas, who are followers of Vishnu and the Shaiva, who are followers of Shiva.

The most ferocious and exotic of the sadhus who come to the Mahakumbh Mela are the Nagas (the Naked Ones), the militant wing of the sect, the defenders of the faith. Seated by their ritual fires, covered in ash, matted hair flowing to the ground they accept obeisance and charity of the millions of pilgrims that flock to the festival.

We took holy dip at "Har ki Podi" in early morning and straight away went to Kumbh Mela sites just a few km from "Har ki Podi". It was a wonderful experience, and recommend everyone who can visit there to try and make it for even one day.
But one day is too short to explore whole Mela. :-) (will try to re-visit shortly)