Said to be the smallest, lightest digital SLR body yet, the oddly named Pentax *ist D (pronounced ist-dee) is a 6-megapixel camera with an 11-point AF sensor, a 16-segment multi-pattern metering system, and what the company calls a "Hyper" operating system with 22 user-adjustable...
Macro photography takes all shapes and forms, and covers a wide range of subject matter from nature to abstract to collectibles' cataloging. While you can get into the macro realm using supplemental lenses (essentially magnifying glass that you screw...
The digital camera market has seen a lot of new introductions lately, many of which are in the 3.3Mp family. There have also been many introductions of cameras with less pixel power, all priced accordingly. Along with this range of prices and pixel packing has come an understanding of when and...
The trend toward lighter and durable materials for photo gear was, some say, started by the introduction of carbon-fiber materials for a usually cumbersome piece of equipment--a tripod. Make the tripod as strong and lighter and those who really know what a tripod is for, and why it's...
Once you use a pen and tablet for your digital darkroom work you rarely go back to mousing around. Aside from avoiding repetitive stress problems, working with a pen and tablet makes the work faster, smoother, and in all ways cooler. Wacom Technology Corporation, whose pens and tablets have been with us for years, seems to be on a constant...
There's something about a wide angle view that attracts the eye. Wide screen TVs, the continued popularity of panorama images (and their attempted resuscitation every few years...
Last year we reported that Fujifilm had promised to be the "last man standing" when it came to maintaining and introducing new films, and we are happy to report that their promise has been kept. With a recently introduced Fujichrome Provia 400 and a return of Fujichrome Velvia 50, the company continues to upgrade its chrome film line with new emulsions that improve...
The Fujifilm Finepix 200 EXR (list: $599; street, under $500) sports a 12 megapixel sensor and a 14.3X optical zoom lens that is equivalent to 30.5-436mm (!) It takes stills and high-quality video and has a built in mic that delivers quality sound without much if any whirring from the camera. Having that much zoom capability means that you never will want on the tele side with this integral lens camera, and even 30mm is not bad on the wide side.
Looking like a small D-SLR with a moderate zoom lens, the S200EXR actually sports a 30.5-436mm optical zoom, an incredible range in a lens this small, though smaller sensor size is part of the reason they could attain the smaller size.
The Fujifilm Finepix X100 is designed like a classic viewfinder camera yet it offers state-of-the-art digital technology and some brand new and innovative systems. The Hybrid viewfinder, for example, is an example of a sophisticated enhancement of a classic concept. First of all, there’s a very bright and large optical viewfinder onto which the camera will overlay exposure information (aperture, shutter speed) and a parallax marker. Instead of using an optical system to create these overlay elements, as done in classic viewfinders of analog cameras, it uses a high resolution LCD. This results in detailed information and a very crisp look.
While it might seem unusual that a camera can be both mirrorless and have a medium format size sensor, that’s exactly what Fujifilm has created with their new GFX 50S. The 51.4MP CMOS sensor size is 43.8x32.9mm, 1.7x the size of the sensor in a full-frame DSLR; the body is decidedly mirrorless, lacking a pentaprism finder and replacing it with an EVF and a tiltable rear LCD.