Tea Leaves

Someone finally did it, and I should have known it would be Olympus. Back in 1972, Olympus shook up the 35mm SLR world by introducing the OM-1. Here was an SLR camera that was not as big as a brick. It was small and cute, and came with small and cute lenses. Of course, Olympus has always tried to make small and cute things. The Pen cameras from the 60s, the OM cameras in the 70s and the Stylus point and shoots in the last glory days of 35mm film.

In the digital world they had yet to recapture this magic, until now. Now Olympus stands alone as the first major camera line to finally realize that there are people out there who want a small camera with a decent sensor. They have given us the EP-1, a digital reincarnation of the Pen half frame cameras of yore. And of course, all the camera people can do is whine.
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Today over at The Online Photographer Mike Johnston wrote a post suggesting that spending a year using nothing but a Leica and shooting nothing but black and white film could teach you a lot. I think he’s right about one thing. It would teach you a lot, but about what? I think Johnston’s claim was that the exercise would teach you a lot about photography. I think it would teach you a lot about shooting black and white film with a Leica. Which is all well and good, but a different thing than learning about photography.
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In the bad old days, I used to use three programs to import, process and catalog my growing collection of digital pictures. I didn’t really want to use all three, but I did for two reasons. First, each program in the set did its job better than the other two. Second, each program was barely adequate at doing its job at a reasonable level of usability.

Photo Mechanic was good at importing and really nothing else. Photoshop was good at processing and editing and really nothing else. And iView was OK at cataloging. I only used it because it was better than nothing.
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If there is something that photographers like to do more than shop for cameras it is this: photographers love to tell you why a given machine is not good enough for that they do. Cameras are too small, or too big, or too slow or too loud, or too “plasticky”. The flash system might be no good. Or the lens system might be missing that one critical lens, usually an expensive fast prime. Another popular reason not to buy a camera is that it’s not a Leica.
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As regular readers know, this past summer I undertook an in-depth review of the Nikon D300 camera. My initial plan was to shoot the sorts of photos that I know I’m good at. But shortly after taking my first set, I resolved to push past my comfort zone and shoot subjects that I normally wouldn’t think of as “mine.” Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been about a year, so it was time to look around at the current round of compact digital cameras, since I grow tired of lugging my D200 around so much. Conclusion: they still all suck. So, dear photo industry, please get with it and make something good. Thanks!

I don’t usually republish press releases, but this is so fresh that I’m taking liberties:

Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, today introduced the EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera, the long-awaited successor to Canon’s highly popular EOS 5D, introduced in 2005. Building upon the qualities that made the EOS 5D camera so successful, Canon has coupled the creative power of a full-frame CMOS sensor in a relatively compact and affordable camera body, together with groundbreaking HD video capture that opens the door to a much wider range of imaging possibilities for photographers. Along with the ability to capture full HD video clips at 1920 x 1080 resolution, Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR camera features a 21.1-megapixel full frame 24 x 36mm CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 imaging processor and significantly lower noise, with an expanded sensitivity range from ISO 50 to ISO 25,600.

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Camera dorks, like most dorks, are obsessed with “systems.” You only ever hear dorks talk in hushed tones about how the most important thing to consider is not the individual purchase, but how all of your purchases should meld together into a cohesive whole that is a larger synergy. You hear this a lot when you ask camera dorks for buying advice. “It’s not the single item that matters, it’s how the whole system fits together” they will say. They make sure that before you go out and buy that Nikon D40, you have duly considered whether or not the Nikon system has the lenses and accessories you will need to handle all of your photographic requirements from now until the end of time. You get similar sorts of lectures when asking for buying advice about computers, stereos, maybe cars, bicycles, etc. These are all dork system hobbies. You should smile and knod, and ignore them.
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(Part 1 of this article explains my rationale for answering the question “How hard is it for a Canon shooter to go Nikon?)

Conclusion

I set out to answer the question “can a Canon shooter go Nikon?” The best answer I have for this question is a personal one: in writing this article, I’ve been packing up the D300 to send back to Nikon, and I’m mentally tallying up my bank account to see if I can come up with the cash to buy one — and the 17-55 f/2.8, and an SB-800 — for myself.

This is not to say that one can’t get good results out of a Canon. Rather, having decided to address the “what should I upgrade to?” question squarely, I can’t unring the bell. The D300, with the accompanying lens, is a combination that, out of the box, made composing and exposing compelling images practically effortless. When I last used a Nikon — a D70 — I felt like I was quite literally fighting the camera tooth and nail in order to get an image of acceptable quality, an image not overwhelmed by unpleasant ISO noise. Those days are gone.
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(Part 1 of this article explains my rationale for answering the question “How hard is it for a Canon shooter to go Nikon?” After a month with a D300, I’m ready to answer that question. If you buy equipment from Amazon via links on this page, or click on the ads, we get a little cash, which helps us maintain this site.)

Noise and High ISO performance

Nikon DSLRs have traditionally lagged a bit behind Canons in terms of digital noise at high equivalent ISO settings. The D300 levels the playing field to the point where this is, effectively, no longer a useful distinction between the two systems.

ISO 640

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