Tag: Camera Posts

Panasonic Lumix Vario 12-35mm f/2.8 Review

Product Reviews

Last year I sold my Nikon DSLR and replaced it with an Olympus OM-D M5 micro four-thirds camera. While I’ve had a few of the micro four-thirds cameras, the Olympus OM-D camera was the first one where the image quality seemed on par with my DSLR, not just for outdoor photos with tons of light, but also for low-light photography as well. As a former wedding and concert photographer, it was a bit challenging to go from my Nikon and Canon gear (where most of my lenses were f/2.8 or faster) to my micro four-thirds lenses, where most zooms are f/3.5 or slower. The lack of a built-in flash on the OM-D complicates this further, since the camera doesn’t have the ability to increase the ambient light without purchasing a flash unit. For the most part I had been using my Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 lens on all my micro […]

New Camera, Olympus E-PL2

Photography

I’m in the process of checking myself out of my apartment in Buenos Aires, and will be shortly heading to New York City for a few days of feasting and sight-seeing. One of the first items on the agenda though is to head to B&H camera to pick up my first micro four-thirds system camera. I’ve decided on the Olympus E-PL2 camera, which is one of the newest, highly reviewed micro four-thirds bodies available. John Biehler just did a great write-up on the same camera, so definitely check it out. While John used the 17mm lens, I’ll probably be buying the 20mm f/1.7 lens, simply because it’s a bit faster and the reviews say a bit sharper. I may also pick up the 17mm shortly afterwards (since I think it’s a very usable field of view), but I’ll start with the 20mm. If I can, I’m going to sell the […]

Micro Four-Thirds Camera Kit

Photography

I’ve been blogging about buying a new camera for quite some time now, and I’m pretty sure I have it narrowed down. Unfortunately, buying a camera at this point is a compromise for me, and I have a hard time making compromises in the technology sphere. SLR cameras and lenses are heavy. They are hard to carry, hard to pack, and a pain to take from place to place. But if you want high-end image quality, than a SLR offers you the best of the best. I love my SLR, but my Canon 40D SLR is in need of replacement at this point. I sold most of my lenses last year, so I don’t really have any professional grade equipment any more. To buy a full frame Canon camera would run me about $2,400, and a decent L-series zoom lens another $1,400. So, unless I’m willing to drop $3,800 in […]

37 Days To Go

 Journal

I started an Iguazu Falls posting last night, but it’s undoubtedly going to be a large post and will take me a while longer to put together. Look for it tomorrow or Wednesday night sometime. According to my little iPhone widget, I only have 37 days left in Buenos Aires. Obviously that’s not much time, and it means that I’ve already been here almost 50 days or so. I’m heading to Ushuaia for St. Patrick’s Day, which means I only have four other weekends to do some more exploring within Buenos Aires. My current landlord has $1,100 USD of damage deposit, and I’ll be looking forward to getting that back when I move out. In case there were any issues regarding getting that back, I scheduled my move out date to be one day before I have to fly out of Buenos Aires. As a result, I’m homeless for that […]

Fujifilm Finepix X100

Photography

Matt Trentacoste was talking about this bad boy on Twitter the other day, and I’ve been passively thinking about it ever since. In short Fujifilm is releasing a compact camera that has some high-end image specifications. I suspect you’re going to see more and more of this going forward. While SLRs are great, they are a big and bulky and hard to carry around. If you could get comparable image quality out of a smaller camera, it would be a game changer for the professional camera market. So before you read too much more, check out the official site for the Finepix X100. What I like About This Camera Here’s a quick list of what turns me on about this camera: It has a fast f/2.0 aperture which is great for most shooting scenarios The retro look of the case is pretty hot It looks like you adjust the aperture […]

Speedlite Fall Down, Go Boom

Photography

About a month ago I was in my room moving some stuff around when I heard a big thump. Looking down, my SLR had taken a small dive off of my bed and landed directly on my Flash unit. Unfortunately, being that the mount is this flimsy plastic thing, it immediately snapped, rendering the 430EX Flash pretty much useless. I spent a little time investigating whether or not it may be fixable. Not only is it fixable, but it can be done at home for relatively cheap. The first step is to order the part online. I actually found a store in San Diego that carries all the Canon parts. Here’s a whole section dedicated to replacement parts for Canon flashes. I ordered the replacement hot shoe for the Canon 430EX, which comes to around $15 USD, including shipping. I also found this video regarding a repair of the 530EX, […]

The 2010 Winter Olympics: And Here We Go

 Journal

Well, here we are, two days away from the start of the Winter Olympics. As everyone knows, the event is massively over budget. The last time I checked, the total cost (thus far) of the Winter Olympics was at 6 billion dollars, the majority of which was paid for by the people of British Columbia. I’ve been on the fence for a while now about whether or not I want to be in town for the Olympics. I didn’t vote for them, but at the same time, here they are, and there’s no going back now. So to that end, I finally decided that I’m going to try to be in Vancouver for at least a week during the games to ultimately see what they are all about, and see if I can help bring exposure to what it’s like to be a tourist in your own city for a […]

Canon S90

Photography

Well, I’m pretty sure this is my next camera. Looks pretty amazing. It’s a small point and shoot Canon camera that has a 28-105mm lens and also goes down to f/2.0. Pretty awesome. Read more about it here.

New Camera And Video Purchases Soon

Photography

I’ve been saving some money for that last little while, fully expecting to make two purchases in the not too distant future. One of the first items will be a full frame camera body. I was forced to make a purchase of the 40D last year simply because I didn’t trust my current camera enough to shoot a friend’s wedding, but truthfully really wanted to get a full-frame instead. Canon’s only affordable (at least to me) full frame is the Canon EOS 5D, but unfortunately it’s about 3 years old now and doesn’t have a lot of the new bells and whistles in it. Canon has been basically silent on the replacement for it for the last year or so, and I’m wondering if they no longer wish to provide a low-priced full frame going forward. Given that the 5D is around $2000 and that the next full frame is […]

Canon 40D Hitting Stores in Vancouver

Photography

So, I called around this morning, and the first trickle of the Canon 40Ds are hitting stores. Unfortunately, Canon is behind on manufacturing them, and there are tons of pre-orders, so the average Joe won’t be able to buy one for some time. I have my name on a wait list, and I’m pretty sure I’ll get mine on Tuesday, should I still want it. But since today was payday, and I have money sitting aside for it, I think I’ll probably get it.