As a photographer, I often get asked by friends and other non-professionals which compact camera they should buy. Apart from the top-end compacts, I don’t really keep track of what the latest models are – there are so many and they get replaced so quickly.
So if you get asked to explain the basics, here is a rather useful primer to send to amateurs on what features to look out for and some basic explanations as to photo terminology and technology.
Adobe has posted a new release candidate version of its raw-conversion Photoshop plugin Camera Raw.
Version 5.6 adds support for a bunch of new cameras including the very nice Canon Powershot S90 (see Luminous Landscape review) that I’ve recently acquired and have been quite impressed with. It’s the first point-and-shoot I’ve had that I feel comfortable using at 800 ASA, the noise is very low.
Other cameras of note that it adds support for are the Canon EOS 7D, Canon PowerShot G11, Nikon D3s, and Olympus E-P2.
Go get it here for Mac or Windows.
Canon today announced its latest high-end compact, the 10 megapixel Powershot G11, successor to the G10 which has been fairly popular with photojournalists as a carry-everywhere camera due to its rugged body and full manual controls.
10 megapixel… huh? Wasn’t the older G10 model 14.7 megapixels?
Yep, that’s right, and by all accounts it is good news. Seeing as the sensor size remains the same at 1/1.7-inch, this hopefully means Canon have taken a break from the neverending and rather ridiculous megapixel race for compact cameras, which brings us high-megapixel but high-noise images that are often unuseable over ISO400… and instead has decided to bring out a camera with fewer but larger pixels. This should result in much better overrall image quality, particularly at high ISOs… and DPReview is claiming 2-stop improvement in noise compared wth the G10.
I do find the omission of 720P video rather odd…. 640×480 doesn’t really cut the mustard these days.
Also of possible interest to PJs is the new Powershot S90 – which seems to share the same sensor as the G11 and have full manual control. I’ve had a few of the S-Series Powershots in the past and liked them a lot, being some of the few genuinely compact cameras that still have manual control.
That said, they now face some stiff competition via the likes of the Panasonic DMC-LX3 etc. DPReview has posted a hands-on article about the S90 including photos comparing the S90 against the LX3.
We’ll have to wait and see for the reviews to come in… but any break from the megapixel madness in order to improve on actual image quality seem like a good thing. Engadget has posted some hands-on pictures of the G11 here.
This high-speed video shows what actually happens when you take a picture with a digital SLR camera, in this case a Canon 5D. See the full video on SmugMug, along with a couple of other cameras.
The video was shot at 2000 frames-per-second using a specialised Phantom HD camera, as seen below.
[Via Planet5D blog]
Two new audio recorders have been announced. The Sony PCM-M10 (seen at right) aims to be a smaller more portable version of its bigger brother the PCM-D50.
The Samson Q3 on the other hand is a hybrid audio and video recorder – sort of a cross between a Samson H2 and a Flip video camera.
The convergence train never stops.
[Via Brad Linder's blog]
Magic Lantern firmware introduction from Trammell Hudson on Vimeo.
Firmware guru Tramm Hudson has publicly released the first version of his alternative firmware for the Canon 5D Mark II camera (Note this is the same firmware as the “5D Mark Free” one I wrote about previously, it’s just been renamed). Additional features added to the base Canon firmware include:
- Onscreen stereo audio meters
- Full-time cropmarks
- Zebra stripes for overexposed regions
- Fixed audio gain (+10 dB analog, +12 dB digital) with -NO AGC-
- Live headphone monitoring on A/V jack (without disabling LCD)
- printf() to the bitmap display
- GUI event viewer (press Picture Style button)
Note that the firmware doesn’t operate quite as you might expect. You store the firmware on a compact-flash card, and to run it you have to do a “firmware upgrade” on the camera each time you want to use it, but the alternative firmware does not persist between camera reboots – therefore the base Canon firmware remains untouched.
More info at the links below, the video introduction gives a good idea of the capabilities….
Magic Lantern video introduction on Vimeo
Magic Lantern firmware wiki
Magic Lantern firmware FAQ
One day someone’s hacking the firmware to give manual audio control… the next Canon itself is announcing full manual exposure control in an official firmware update due out on June 2nd.
Coincidence? Well, who knows… but if they could just combine manual exposure control with manual audio control, and add in a 24P shooting mode, they’ll have some pretty happy video-shooting customers.
For more info check out Canon 5D Tips, who are writing a series of posts about what all this means, and already have an interesting post up about the effects of different shutter speeds when shooting video.
Canon 5D MkII firmware updates [The firmware update mentioned above will be downloadable here from June 2nd they say]
[Via Canon Rumors]
5D Mark Free audio meters from Trammell Hudson on Vimeo.
The ever-enterprising crowd over at the Cinema5D forums have managed to overcome the most sought-after complaint by those who use the Canon 5D MarkII camera for shooting video – the lack of any manual control over audio levels.
In particular, the user “Hudson” has developed an alternative firmware named 5D Mark Free which not only disables the automatic audio gain control (AGC) leaving it set to the default +36 dB, but now also adds onscreen audio meters (see video above).
Bear in mind this firmware remains heavily in “alpha” territory… it’s a proof-of-concept so far, not a working version for everyone to flash today, in fact it’s not available for download yet.
But what is very significant indeed is that it proves once and for all that it is actually possible. There is not an unknown hardware limitation, it’s merely a question of developing the right firmware.
Canon? The ball would appear to be in your court….
5D Mark Free alternative firmware
[Via Photo This & That - thanks Edmond]
Photographer Doug Plummer’s blog posts a news release from XLR audio adapter company BeachTek announcing their new model specifically designed for the Canon 5D Mark II. Back in January of this year photographer Edmond Terakopian posted a preview of the device.
This isn’t just a simple XLR adapter like the rest of the company’s product line, but includes one special feature to overcome a specific problem that photographers and videographers using the camera have been complaining about since the camera was launched – namely that it applies audio Auto-Gain Control (AGC) all the time, with no way for the user to switch it off and exercise manual audio gain control.
The new device is said to get around the problem by “sending a high frequency inaudible tone to the left channel of the camera” – in effect tricking the AGC circuit into thinking volume is at a high, fixed level all the time and so applying a fixed level of gain, which in turn allows the user to control overrall gain via a dial on the device (if my reading of the technology is correct). The device also allows the photographer to monitor the audio in real-time with headphones, another feature missing from the camera itself.
According to the press release posted the device will be shipping at the end of May for $379. Of course it would all be a lot simpler if Canon just allowed the user to switch AGC off completely, which presumably could be done via a firmware update… although there’s no clear sign of that coming.
For lots of discussion on the subject of the camera’s audio and other features as regards shooting video, take a look at these sites:
Cinema5D forum
DV Info’s 5DmkII forum
Planet5D wiki, blog & forums
[via Doug Plummer's Dispatches, via The Click]
If you have an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch and a Canon EOS 5DmkII… you might be interested in Handi 5Dmk2 – a new quick reference guide application for those devices that contains the custom functions, menu settings, and other options of the camera, for easily checking in the field.
Once installed it can be used without a network connection. They also offer a Canon EOS 50D version. Both are priced at $1.99 from the iTunes App Store.
[via Planet5D blog]
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