Nikon D3000 to be replaced by D3100

Other features -

• 10 MP CMOS sensor
• HD video: 1080p/24 and 720p 30/24
• AVCHD video codec
• In camera video editing capabilities
• 3fps (same as D3000)
• will be sold with the 18-55mm lens

For those of you thinking that your current P&S has more Mega Pixels than this model please remember that the sensors in DSLRs are much larger providing higher quality images especially at low light.  The D3000 does a decent job in low light now and I expect this model will improve at least slightly on that.

I still usually lean toward the Canon entry level cameras simply because of the infocus body motor issue.  The D3000, D5000 will not auto focus with some nikon lenses – there are plenty of lenses still to choose from that will AF on those cameras but the one that is great for learning – the nifty-fifty (50mm)  does not.

How interested in this camera are you?

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Sony's NEX-VG10 | Photo courtesy of Sony

Sony’s first consumer camcorder with interchangeable lenses.

Details -

• Interchangeable lenses – E series lenses, such as the E16mm ($250) & the E18-55mm ($300), also Zeiss and Sony lenses
• 14-megapixel still shots at 7 fps
• Electronic viewfinder, and a swiveling 3-inch LCD.
• Large, quad-capsule spatial array stereo microphone with high directivity.
• Stores video on either Sony’s Memory Stick Pro Duo or SD, SDHC or SDXC memory cards.
• Price – $2,000

The APS size sensor gives the NEX-VG10 a 1.5x magnification factor for stills (slightly more for video), meaning a 200mm lens will function much like a 300mm lens for stills.

Lots of video folks have been jumping on the 7D and 5D Mark II – so lets take a second and compare.  The sensor size is comparable to the 7D so we can expect similar low light performance, doubtful that it will be better than the 5D Mark II which is very impressive.   But for two grand you get a video system that is ready to go with the nice LCD swivel and a quad mic.  The 7D is about $400 less but you need to buy a decent mic ($150) and if you will really be doing dedicated video  you would want to add the Zacuto Finder ($265) and you come out the same minus a nice LCD swivel.   So far on paper the VG10 looks like it is a great option for shooting video, Still shots at 14MP should be decent too.   We will have to wait till September when the hands-on reviews and tests start rolling in.  Feel free to leave your thoughts and predictions below.

Previews
Engadget had a brief hands on – generally quite positive review/preview.

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Canon T2i – $899, Body only $799 | 18MP | 1080p @ 30fps | 29min 59 sec or 4GB movie clip limits |  9 point focus | 3.7 fps| 95% Pentamirror | 3″  1,040,000 pixels LCD | 18.7 ounces

My thoughts: offers all the video capabilities of the 7D at ~$800 less, SD Card memory(cheaper than the compact flash used by 7D), smaller/lighter body (some may not like the feel).  You lose the faster FPS of the 7D, the more precise AF abilities of 7D, and D90, the wireless flash control and a highly customizable control scheme.  Bottom line – this is more than enough camera for most folks. If you are primarily looking for a video camera I see little to no reason to buy the 7D over the T2i.  Put the dollars you save buying the T2i toward a nice lens. Note: as of May 04 the T2i is out of stock on Amazon and most reputable resellers so there is a bit of price gouging happening.

DPReview says: Quite simply, taken as a whole, it is the best camera of its class that we’ve ever seen, and one of those rare cameras that won’t look out of date in a couple of years’ time. (April, 2010)

Canon 7D – Body only $1599 | 18MP | 1080p @30fps | 29min 59 sec or 4GB movie clip limits |  19 point focus | 8.0 fps | 100% Pentaprism | 3″  920,000 pixels LCD | 28.9 ounces

Offers excellent ergonomics in weatherized body and control scheme that is highly customizable, external mic port for high quality sound, wireless flash control (allows remote triggering of 430ex and 580ex flashes), bright viewfinder(absolute pleasure to look through) with 100% coverage, battery life is approx 1000 shots

My thoughts: if you are making money from photography gigs, especially ones where you plan to use off camera flashes or are shooting sports and need the faster FPS you should consider  this camera, it is a stellar camera but it is hefty and solid and most folks reading this would be better off buying T2i and putting the savings toward lenses.

DPReview says: It offers excellent image quality in all shooting situations and an impressive speed of operation, combined with very good build quality and ergonomics. Both its specification and the results of our testing make it a very easy recommendation. (November, 2009)

Nikon D90 – w/ 18-105 lens $1021, Body only $749 | 12.3MP | 720 @ 24fps | 5min clip limits | 11 point focus | 4.5FPS | 96% pentaprism | 3″  920,000 pixels LCD | 21.8 ounces

My Thoughts: The D90 is an excellent photographic camera and the body only price is an amazing value. If you already have Nikon lenses it is a no brainer of an upgrade.  The build quality and ergonomics sits between the T21 and the 7D.  Where the D90 falters is video, Video is max 720 resolution, no external mic port, clips are limited to 5 minutes (which isn’t as bad as you might think) and video suffers from the jelly effect (straight lines look wavy when the camera is in motion) more than the T2i or 7D

DPReview says: After using and testing the D90 extensively, it’s hard to think of a better enthusiast-level camera. (October, 2008)

Which one should you get?

T2i unless you have specific and justifiable reasons for the 7D. D90 if you have Nikon lenses or have friends/family with nikon lenses you can borrow.

Want cheaper options? Read my Short/Sweet DSLR Guide

Need some lens recomendations? Read My Canon Lens Guide | Nikon Lens Guide [coming soon]

Feel free to leave comments or your thoughts.

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60D Specs

• Articulating screen
• Metal body, similar To 50D
• Upgraded 15.1mp APS-C Sensor
• 720p/1080p Video at 30fps
• Electronic Level
• New battery & battery grip
• Price about $1190

550D/600D Specs

• Articulating screen
• Body smaller than 500D
• Upgraded 15.1mp APS-C Sensor
• 720p Video at 30fps
• Price about $799

What do you all think of Articulating screens?  Love em, hate em?   Are these cameras worth waiting for?  Rumored release date in late spring/early summer

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DSLR Advantages:

• Fast- from cold start to picture taking DSLRs are king and time is measured in milliseconds.  And fast from shot to shot, many DSLRS can take several high quality images in less than a second.
• Battery life is exceptional in most DSLRs with numbers between 500-1000 depending on flash use. A good P&S approaches 300ish
• A control scheme that lets you change common settings without wading through menus. I am comfortable enough to change most of my commons settings by touch alone because the buttons are smartly placed and work well.
• Interchangeable lenses allows your camera to specialize in any type of photography- going from exceptional wide angle to incredible macro if you have the lenses.
• High ISO performance, this means that in low light you can take clear crisp pictures without a ton of grain(noise).
• External Flash – The ability to add an external flash to your setup can do more for your pictures than any other accessory including lenses.
• Complete manual control including hour long shutter length if desired.

DSLR disadvantages:

• Bulky/heavy, DSLRs are large, often heavy and will not fit in a pocket or even a small purse
• They are hard to hide, related to the above, and scream “look at my camera, steal my camera”
• Lenses can be as, or even more, expensive than the original camera
• You can get dust on the sensor, or in the lenses, this has been better addressed in recent bodies though

I have a DSLR recommendation guide and a P&S recommendation list

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The megapixel race has slowed and dare I say plateaued (this is a good thing) with camera manufacturers focusing on new features and better low light performance. Sure a good number of the models announced feature 14MP but we have been there for over a year now and some models announced are still at 10MP. Don’t get starry eyed about these 14MP cameras. Personally I would take a quality 10MP sensor, or even 8MP sensor over 14MP any day.

Features that we can look forward to:

• Face tagging in camera, iPhoto and Picasa has been able to do this on your computer for sometime now but this is the first I have seen the technology actually in the camera. These cameras will recognize faces, allow in camera tagging and easy uploading to Flickr, Facebook etc.
• Related to the above – one touch sharing to popular photo sites like Facebook, Flickr, etc.
• Sony added a model that does GPS tagging, automatically geo-locating your pictures for display on a map.  Including a Compass function that shows which direction you were pointing when the picture was taken.
• Not a feature but certainly worth noting, Sony and Olympus finally bowed to pressure and their newly announced cameras all support SD cards or provide adapters for SD cards.  Previously they used their more expensive and proprietary memory Stick and xD cards respectively.
• Related to the above, a few manufactures are now actually including enough in camera memory to use.   Kodak’s Slice has 2gb of internal memory and accepts MicroSD cards (just like your phone)
• More cameras with HDvideo including 1080i and more cameras adopting either H.264 or AVCHD video formats, both are far more efficient than the typical Motion JPEG
• More cameras with built in Wifi or the newer Jet Transfer technology which allows fast wireless transfers at very short distances.

Refinements to existing technology:

• Bigger/Faster SD Cards, the new format is SDXC for your SD cards and is currently very expensive with huge capacities – 32 & 64gbs
• Better low light performance, especially at the lower MP range.  Canon started this with their excellent S90 and G11 cameras, now a few other manufactures have opted to stay at the lower MP mark of 10MP and introduce technologies that increase low light performance- backlit sensors, increased stabilization/anti-shake, smarter noise reduction algorithms.
• Face recognition for focusing and exposure- this continues to improve, reducing the chance that you will get flashed out faces with your people shots
• Intelligent Sweep Panorama- Sony here againg and they released this feature in a few models last year, now refined you hold the shutter button down and spin left/right or move the camera up.  The camera takes up to 120 pics and stiches it all together into a panorama.
• More zoom in your pocket- Over a 1/3 of the models announced have 7x zoom or higher.  And a  large majority have 5x or higher.
• Touch screen and screen resolution- More cameras with the bright and more efficient AMOLED screens and several cameras with touch screen controls

Interesting Products:

• Kodak PlaySport HD Waterproof Pocket Video Camera due out on Apr 5, 2010 – Kodak’s Zi8 has gotten excellent reviews, better quality than Flip and the Zx3 looks to continue that with a rugged, waterproof and smaller version that actually costs less!

What  have I missed? there was certainly loads of information coming out of CES- share your thoughts below or find me on twitter @camerarec

Happy Shooting!

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If you don’t have one these can do more for the quality of your indoor, and outdoor, shots than any other upgrade/accessory.  Both Nikon and Canon offer fairly inexpensive but excellent flashes that allow you to bounce the light of the ceiling.  The result is bright, evenly lit photos without your subjects looking washed out or getting red-eye.

Canon
Canon Speedlite 270EX Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras $130

Canon Speedlite 430EX II Flash for Canon Digital SLR Cameras $250

Nikon

Nikon SB-400 AF Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras $115

Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras $218

In both cases the more advanced/expensive flash gets you faster recycling times, greater range/power and more detailed control.  If you are not likely to be using the flahs in professional settings the cheaper of the two will be fine.

Tripod-

I already have a post about a wonderful, feature laden tripod for only $45

Accessories-
Transcend 8 GB SDHC Class 6 $23 Easy stocking stuffer,stop worrying about running out of room, especially if you have a newer camera that shoots HD video.

Eye-Fi Share Video 4 GB Wi-Fi SDHC $64 This is one of those accessories that makes me feel like I am living in the future. Not only do you get 4GB of space on a standard sized SD card you also get Wi-Fi that lets you wirelessly upload pics as you take them to your computer and/or a handful of photo sharing sites online. One of the best uses of these cards is to hook your computer to your TV, run a slide show of the upload folder and as you are taking pictures of the party/fun they will appear on the TV slideshow – blowing your guests minds!

Waterproof your P&S DicaPac WP110 145X95mm Small Alfa Waterproof Digital Camera Case with Optical Lens (Clear)

Filters-

Another cross post – Filter information and links

Books-

For years I have been recommending Bryan Peterson’s Excellent “Understanding Exposure” He now has a second book Bryan Peterson’s “Understanding Photography Field Guide: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera” that looks to be very helpful

Another book getting rave reviews The Best Camera Is The One That’s With You: iPhone Photography by Chase Jarvis (Voices That Matter)

More Ideas-

Waterproof housing, Pro-membership on Flickr, Smugmug, a photobook of their best images, Gift Cards, something fun from Photojojo.com

I will add more ideas in the coming days!

Leave your thoughts in the comments.

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Lens Hoods: protect the front element of your lens, eliminates flare and stray light and can upon dropping absorb a good bit of the impact(hopefully). Lens Hoods.

Circular Polarizer: The only filter I feel one truly needs is a circular polarizer.  In my Circular polarizer post I make that statement that it is the only filter whose effects cannot be recreated in Photoshop / post-processing.  This isn’t entirely true.  The next two filters will keep help keep sections from “blow-out” when the area is so bright that there is no recoverable data.  No amount of post-process will recover data from areas completely blown-out.

Graduated Neutral Density Filters: Imagine a piece of glass, heavily tinted at the top and gradually getting clearer towards the bottom.  If you are going to be doing lots of sunsets/sunrises you may want to look at a Graduated Neutral Density Filters.  Wikipedia has a great write-up but basically they allow you to even out the difference between a bright sky and a dark landscape.

Neutral Density Filters: If you love flowing water photos, like I do, you may want to invest in a Neutral Density filter or two which evenly and cleanly cuts down the amount of light reaching your sensor. It is a little ironic that we spend so much money on cameras with increasingly higher ISO sensitivity and software to remove noise from high ISO images and there are times where you can actually have to much light.  When you want 8-15 second exposures at times other than dawn and dusk or you want a wider aperture under full sun a ND filter can be handy.  You may read this and be thinking that your lens offers f/32 or some other ridiculously small aperture.  At very small apertures your images are going to suffer from diffraction which decreases the image quality.

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Canon's 7D

Canon’s newest DSLR, the 7D, is very nice. For $1699 (Body only) $1899 (with 28-135 lens) you get a DSLR with the following specs

• 18MP APS-C (not full frame)
• 19 point cross-type AF sensors
• 100% viewfinder coverage
• 3″ 920k dot resolution LCD display
• External mic stereo mini jack input
• Dual Digic 4 processors
• 8 Frames a Second
• Full HD video

• Gizmodo: Canon EOS 7D Full Review
• DP Review: Canon Eos 7D Preview
• Gizmodo: Canon 7D First Hands On
• SoftSailor: Canon Eos 7D Short Review
• Gadget Venue: Canon Eos 7D Review
• DPhoto Journal: Canon Eos 7D
• Info Week Overview: Canon Eos 7D Overview
• Phillip Bloom: Using the 7D from a cinematographers point of view
• Twitter Search for 7D
• Engadget: Video of the AF in action and 8FPS [wow!]
• CameraDojo Podcast #65: Review/Discussion 7D and D300s
• 7D Manual: Canon EOS 7D Owner’s Manual (6.7MB PDF)
• Photography Review Samples: Sample Photos
• CanonRumors.com: Minireview of 7D

Available now!  Order from Amazon

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