One Step Closer to a Modular Digital Camera: The Ricoh GXR

by Miserere

  

I’ve been advocating for modular DLSRs for a while now (some of you are probably bored of hearing me), but I had never thought of what Ricoh have come up with: marrying lenses to sensors. The logic? have a single camera body that can take a number of different sensor+lens blocks. Do you want to use a superzoom with 28-300mm reach today, but don’t want to haul around a large lens? No problem! Use a small zoom lens attached to a small sensor. What if you want low light capability or want to shoot portraits? Use a wide-aperture prime lens with a larger sensor.

There has been no official announcement, just leaks, but this seems to be the real deal. Ricoh has produced a mirrorless body with pop-up flash and accessory EVF (Electronic View Finder), the Ricoh GXR, and will initially release two lenses+sensor blocks: a 24-75mm f/2.5-4.4 lens with a 10MP CCD sensor and a 50mm f/2.5 macro lens with a 12MP CMOS sensor. In neither case do we know the size of the sensor, but I suspect the focal lengths are 35mm-equiv. If I had to guess sensor sizes, given the focal lengths, apertures and apparent physical size in the photos, the 24-75mm lens is attached to a 1/1.7″ sensor like that on the Canon S90, while the 50mm is attached to either a 4/3-sized sensor, or an APS-C—I bet on the latter. Interestingly enough, Sony produce both a 1/1.7″ 10MP CCD and an APS-C 12MP CMOS, and it would make sense for Ricoh to source all its sensors from a single manufacturer to obtain bulk discounts, hence my bet on the sensor sizes.

Another possibility is the appearance of several different bodies. For now we are only seeing a μ4/3-style body (like the Olympus E-P1 or the Panasonic GF1) but Ricoh could develop a larger body with an integrated EVF (such as the Panasonic GH1) or even a DSLR-style body if they release larger lenses (but always with an EVF, as I don’t see how they’d stick a mirror and prism on top of the sensor and make it affordable).

My opinion: I think the idea is novel, and I applaud innovation and newthink. However, I don’t see this system being economical. The two most expensive components of a camera (if we are to believe camera makers) are the lens and the sensor. The Ricoh puts both of these together, and forces you to buy both every time you want to take a different kind of photo. While they might be able to keep prices down with blocks containing a 1/1.7″ CCD, those with APS-C sensors will be much more expensive. It’s true Ricoh can probably buy the sensors at a lower price because they’ll be buying more of them, but I don’t see those costs being significant enough. If they manage to price APS-C blocks only slightly above the APS-C lenses of their competitors, then one has to wonder what corners they cut in the lens in order to make it cheaper.

There is no official information on prices yet, but I can assure you the success or failure of this Ricoh system will depend on its prices. While this is far from the modular DSLR I envisage for the future, I hope Ricoh do well in the suddenly-competitive niche of mirrorless, large sensor cameras.

First-look video courtesy of Which magazine (a still of which is the photo at the beginning of this article):

  

UPDATE: It’s official now, read about it on DPReview. I was correct about the sensor sizes—do I get a prize for that? Sample images from the two lens-sensor combos are available here. Samples look pretty good, but then I don’t expect any company to put out a camera in this day and age that produces really bad images. By the way, big kudos go to Ricoh for having the cameras shoot RAW in Adobe’s open DNG format.

As far as prices are concerned, Amazon.com is now accepting preorders in the U.S. and is asking:

• GXR body: $550
• 12mp APS-C 50mm-equiv. f2.5 macro unit: $830
• 10mp 1/1.7″ 24-75mm-equiv zoom unit: $440
• GF1 external flash: $280
• VF2 viewfinder: $257
• DB-90 Li-Ion battery: $47

The (unconfirmed) British prices I’ve seen are £420 for the body, £600 for the 50mm-equiv. and £300 for the 24-75mm-equiv.

Given these numbers, which appear to be street prices, I predict this camera system will be a flop. I just paid $427 for my Canon S90, which has the same sensor, and possibly better lens, as the 24-75mm-equiv. zoom unit, which Ricoh is asking $990 for (body+sensor+lens). The S90 is smaller too.

You can see a size comparison of the GXR vs the Panasonic GF1 here. Spoiler: The GXR wins by a small margin.

Amateur Photographer has a piece about it here.

Review – Canon S90, Part 1: First Impressions

by Miserere

  

The Invisible Camera, that is my ultimate goal in Photography equipment: A camera that goes unnoticed by both the subject and the photographer. I’m not talking about a spy camera, simply one that is unobtrusive, that doesn’t stand out, and is easy to operate and carry around. And it goes without saying that it should deliver great image quality. I know this camera does not yet exist; the choice right now is: high IQ, low price, small size—pick any two. Because I wanted a camera to carry around always, it had to be small to fit in my trouser pocket; I also didn’t want to spend much money, so it’s clear which two qualities I picked from the trio above.

I quickly ruled out the μ4/3 and Sigma DP1/2 contenders due to price and size (while they’re smaller than a DSLR, they’re not quite trouser-pocketable). As I wanted a zoom lenses for extra flexibility, I was left with few options: Panasonic LX3, Canon G11 and Canon S90. The Panasonic was introduced in mid 2008, and while it has great reviews, it is difficult to get a hold of one. This had been my initial pick, until Canon recently announced the G11 and S90, both of which sport a new 10MP sensor and image processor. When I was ready to buy last month, the LX3 was on backorder, so I was left with the G11 and S90. Given the title of this review, you know which one I picked. The reasons were smaller size and faster lens; that simple.

I’ve been shooting the S90 for over two weeks now (almost 500 shots taken) and I’m ready to start this multi-part review. In future instalments I will get into IQ specifics, high ISO performance and other nuances, but for now I will simply give you my first impressions.

  

Canon S90 Main Specifications

• Sensor: 10MP 1/1.7″ CCD (4.67x crop factor)
• CCD dimensions: 7.6mm x 5.7mm (3:4 aspect ratio)
• Lens: 28-105mm-equiv. f/2.0-4.9 (min. aperture: f/8)
• Shutter speeds: 1/1600s — 15s (1/500s max. flash sync. speed)
• Shutter lag: 160ms (in manual focus, as tested by me)
• Fastest shooting speed: 1fps JPEG in manual focus and ISO < 800 (as tested by me)
• Minimum focus distance (at 28mm-equiv.): 5cm (~2″)
• RAW shooting (Canon’s propriety CR2)
• 461k pixel 3 inch LCD
• Lens control ring
• Optical Image Stabilization
• Built-in flash
• SD/SDHC card
• Rechargeable Li-ion battery
• Weight: 195gr/6.9oz (incl. battery)
• No optical viewfinder
• No hotshoe

  

What’s in the Box

• NB-6L Lithium-Ion Battery (3.7v, 1000mAh)
• CB-2LY Battery Charger for Canon NB-6L Lithium-Ion Battery
• IFC-400PCU USB Interface Cable
• AVC-DC400 Video Interface Cable
• Wrist Strap
• Software CD-ROM (including Canon’s Digital Photo Professional RAW conversion program)

  

Handling

My first thought when I took the S90 out of the box was wow, this thing is small! It’s roughly the size of a cigarette pack, smaller than an iPhone except in thickness, and most definitely pocketable. It’s light, too, despite which, it still feels solid in my hand. I have slightly large hands, yet the camera feels comfortable to shoot, although the rear buttons do sometimes feel a bit small. Maybe I have fat thumbs?

Whenever I use an unfamiliar camera, I make it a point not to read the manual. I believe anybody who’s familiar with digital photography should be able to shoot any camera, and if they can’t, it’s the engineers’ fault. I’m happy to say I was able to figure out the camera very quickly and was up and running, shooting RAW, in a matter of minutes. Of course, I’ve been playing around with settings, trying out different configurations since then, and this has also been easy. This is one of the first things I noticed: Making changes to secondary shooting parameters (AF zone size, drive mode, metering mode, etc) is quick, not requiring to go through endless menus. There is a user-assignable button on the rear, and the control ring around the lens can also be set to control a number of different parameters. What the lens control ring controls will affect what the rear control wheel is assigned to. It would have been nice to also make the rear wheel customisable.

My first huh? moment came when I went to take the first photograph and my index finger instinctively pressed the mode dial. I don’t know why, by I wasn’t expecting the shutter release to be so far into the camera (I’ve read others complaining about this too). Even after all this time I’m still not quite used to it. Given the limited space on this tiny camera, I fully understand why the shutter release is where it is, and I doubt it could have been placed on the corner. But speaking of the mode dial, this is the most secure dial I’ve ever encountered; it turns with big heavy clicks at each setting, inspiring confidence that it won’t accidentally turn (which is more than I can say for my DSLR’s mode dial).

The ON/OFF and ‘lens ring function’ buttons take up the place where you’d expect a hotshoe to be. Many are complaining for the lack of a hotshoe, and I do think Canon could have squeezed one in if they had really wanted to, albeit with an increase in camera size. Some would have given up the flash to get a hotshoe, thus leaving the camera the same size. I imagine Canon decided early on that it was going to make the smallest camera possible, and if you really want a hotshoe, you can buy the G11. I admit that I was initially a bit annoyed by the lack of a hotshoe, but I’ve since come to appreciate the onboard flash, and after playing with it in dark rooms, I think Canon did the right thing. To be honest, was I really going to carry around an external flash with me? The whole point of this camera is that it be small and portable. I’ll talk a bit more about the flash in the upcoming instalments, but for now I’ll leave you with this photo to the right, made possible thanks to the onboard flash. I manually set a long exposure and had the flash fire in front curtain sync; to realise how dark it was in this pub, note how only the candle and dim overhead bulb create a light trail due to camera movement. Shot in RAW and converted with Canon’s DPP automatic settings.

  

Customising the Settings

Here’s what I’ve settled on most of the time. When shooting Manual, the lens ring controls ISO and the rear wheel shutter speed. When I press the UP arrow on the touchpad, the rear wheel then changes to control the aperture. This works for me because I tend to leave aperture and shutter speed set, and just vary ISO to get the appropriate exposure. As you might guess, this is the mode I use for low light shooting. Canon failed big time with the ISO in Manual mode, as it’s the only mode where you cannot set it to AUTO; maybe they’ll fix that with a firmware upgrade, and they really should, as it would make Manual shooting so much more flexible.

In Av, I still have the lens ring controlling ISO, then the rear wheel controls aperture. Both for Manual and Av I’ve set the customisable button to Lock-AE.

Pressing the DISP button takes you to a menu allowing you to set ISO, WB, metering mode and many other secondary shooting options. The camera doesn’t remember which item you used last after turning the camera off and defaults to ISO, which is a shame, as this could make for another quick-access button. I am currently trying it out as an ISO control, leaving the lens ring to control something else. This is fine in good/decent light, but in low light I find I need immediate and frequent access to ISO settings.

One thing I liked a lot was the delay timer. You can set the delay from 1s to 15s in 1s increments, or 15s, 20s, 25s or 30s. Then you choose how many shots you want taken, from 1 to 10. You can also set a mode where the camera will only take a shot when it detects a face in the frame. Again, you can choose 1-10 shots to be taken.

The bottom line is this: Canon have made this camera heavily customisable, which should allow you to set it up just the way you like it, or extremely close.

  

Shooting Experience

Technicalities over, let’s not forget this is a camera, and I bought it to take pictures with. How does it perform? So far, so good. The #1 benefit is that it is always with me, either in my jean or jacket pocket, and I can have it out and ready to take a picture in under 2 seconds. Case in point is this photo taken on the Boston T (subway). I was in my seat, looking out of the single open door, when the girl stepped into view talking with someone on the phone trying to decide whether to get on the train or not. I whipped the camera out of my pocket, set it to P mode, auto focused, and took the shot, all before the door closed. I’m not so sure I could have taken this photo had I only had my DSLR in its bag with me. Note that this photo is a straight JPEG out of camera (resized for web) shot wide open at the lens’s widest angle without geometrical distortions being corrected (check the EXIF for other info).

The #2 benefit is that it looks like a P&S (well, it is a P&S), so people don’t take it seriously and are not intimidated by it—this helps when shooting in public. As an example, here is a photo I took on a bus; I discretely metered off her leg with the camera in M mode, then set the camera in my lap and took 3 blind shots to increase my chances of a correct framing. Nobody paid any attention to me, and I got the shot. I’ve been in similar situations with my DSLR before, and people have turned their heads to look at me, inadvertently alerting my subject—sometimes they were the subjects and the whole scene was ruined by them noticing me and my huge camera.

A few words about the lens control ring. In principle, it’s a great idea, especially if you come from the era when aperture was controlled on the lens, but it’s difficult to implement on a tiny P&S. On a DSLR your left hand is underneath the camera, supporting it, and your fingers can easily turn a right around the lens, but that’s not how you hold a P&S. Furthermore, the ring turns in steps, very secure, tight steps, which means the camera must be held firmly with the right hand to provide counter torque. I have yet to get used to doing this in a natural manner. That said, having an extra, customisable selector is a welcome addition, and Canon should be congratulated for coming up with this feature.

Other points to mention about shooting:

• Shutter lag: Small to non-existent, depending on whether you’re using auto or manual focus, respectively.
• Auto focus speed: Not lightning fast, but it seems fast enough for most subjects. If I were to photograph sports (but why would I with a P&S), I would use the continuous focus mode, which Canon calls “Servo Focus”.
• Image stabilisation: I haven’t done any tests, but I know it works having taken shots at 1/20s with focal lengths of 70mm-equiv. and longer. I also managed to take a sharp shot at 28mm with a 1s shutter speed (it did take me two attempts, but it’s still impressive).
• Mechanical noise: There is a very low noise when taking a shot (once you disable the annoying fake shutter sound) which is barely audible. If shooting the camera at arm’s length on the street, you probably won’t hear it yourself.
• Start-up speed: Very fast, less than a second.
• Battery life: My first battery charge allowed me to take 193 shots, of which 59 were with flash. I had automatic review turned on, and auto powerdown also on. Image stabilisation was set to continuous. I might have chimped and deleted a few times (old habits die hard), so maybe the number of shots is more like 200-210. I also did a lot of menu exploration and button pressing. Given all this, and my extensive use of flash, I think battery life is very good. The CIPA standard number of shots according to Canon is 220 on a full charge, so I think Canon surpassed this mark.
• Shutter speed, aperture, ISO and +/-EV change in steps of 1/3 stop. You might be able to change this somewhere (to 1/2 or full stops), but it’s not in any prominent menu. Not that I’ve looked for it, because I’m happy with 1/3 stops.
• The LCD displays a live exposure value with a +/- 2EV range. You can also display a luminance histogram and rule-of-thirds grid lines.

Now some complaints:

• Big annoyance #1: Cannot set Auto ISO in Manual mode. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. This is a huge handicap.
• Big annoyance #2: After you take a shot and the review image pops up, the camera does not allow you to zoom in to check focus; you need to hit the ‘play’ review button in order to zoom in to the image. I’ve read that Canon DSLRs also have this issue. It drives me nuts and I cannot comprehend why Canon doesn’t change this (it’s a simple firmware tweak!).
• Big annoyance #3: If you set the camera to AUTO shooting mode, it will record you image in JPEG, even if you have the camera set to RAW. I don’t know if this is a bug, or if Canon thinks that anyone shooting in fully Auto mode couldn’t possible want a RAW file, but I’m here to tell Canon that I would like to reserve the right to shoot in Auto mode and RAW, thank-you-very-much.
• Big annoyance #4: No hyperfocal focus mode! My 5 year old Pentax P&S has a hyperfocal setting, why doesn’t the S90 have it? This is another simple firmware fix that would enhance the camera’s usability tremendously.
• Big annoyance #5: Manual focusing. I’ll reserve my detailed comments for now, as I want to test out manual focus a bit more and read about it in case I’m missing something.
• Big annoyance #6: The flash has a little servomotor that propels it up and down. Because it lives in the corner of the camera, you will likely have your left index finger on it when it decides to come up. I would have preferred a mechanical spring-loaded flash without a motor.
• Big annoyance #7: The lens is f/4.9 at the long end. With f/2 at the wide end, I would have expected f/4 at the long end, or f/3.5 if Canon really wanted to make a statement with this camera—f/4.9 is paltry.
• Minor annoyance #1: I know P&S cameras aren’t weather-sealed (unless they’re underwater cameras), but a bit of sealing on the battery/card door wouldn’t hurt. Every time I take the battery or card out, I blow away a lot of lint. See photo below for 1 day’s worth of lint. I cringe at the thought of all this crap getting inside the camera and making its way onto the CCD or into a lens gearing.

That’s it for the moment. If you have any questions, go ahead and post them in the comments section and will address them. I might add to this section over the coming days if I find I’ve forgotten to mention something, but any further opinions should appear in the next instalments of this multi-part review.

Part 2: Using the Camera ⇒

  

Yashica EZ F521: First Look

by Miserere

  

Photo by Japan Exposures

Earlier this week I received an e-mail from Japan Exposures owner, Dirk Rösler, informing me that he received a single unit of the Yashica EZ F521. He has posted his first impressions and some sample pictures here.

He’s also posted a video: A first look at the Yashica EZ F521 at Japan Exposures.

One thing that’s been confirmed is that the menus are available in a number of languages. Apart from Japanese, they also come in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch.

Dirk will start shipping preordered cameras next week. Stay tuned!

Lenses Fogging up in Humid Florida

by Miserere

 

The Problem

I’m spending the week vacationing in Miami (located on the East coast of the USA, in Southern Florida, for those of you unfamiliar with American geography). I’m not taking many photos, rather concentrating more on actually vacationing and doing…nothing! But I still take the camera out of the bag every once in a while, and it was the first time that I did this while walking along the beach that I ran into a problem I’d never experienced: Fogging lenses.

Miami’s climate is tropical, with a hot, rainy, humid season extending from May through to October. I was hoping to avoid the humidity, but the cooler, dry season is late in coming this year. So how did this affect my lenses? To begin with, they spent most of the time in the hotel room, whose air conditioning rendered it cool and dry. When I first took a lens out of the camera bag while at the beach, the cold lens reacted with the humidity in the air to form a film of condensation on the front element/filter. You know how your breath condenses on window on a cold winter’s day? Well I had the whole city of Miami breathing on the front of my lens.

 

The Evidence

I tried taking a video of my lens fogging up yesterday and today, but due to reduced humidity (not as high as Monday or Tuesday) the fogging was not as intense and I didn’t manage to capture the process on video. I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.

 

How to Avoid It

The obvious way to avoid this is to store your photography equipment on the balcony, so it’s always at ambient temperature. The downside is it will also be at ambient humidity—humidity and camera equipment do not go well together. The better option is to take your camera equipment out of the bag a short time before you intend to use it, or maybe just leave your camera bag open on the balcony while you get ready. How long does your equipment need to be out before it reaches ambient temperature? I don’t know! You’ll just have to test it yourself. Bear in mind there is a lot of cold air inside a lens, not counting the glass elements. Modern lenses, which are made out of polycarbonate, will take longer to warm up because polycarbonate conducts heat less efficiently than metal.

If you find yourself with a fogged up front element, use an appropriate cloth to wipe off the condensation. It might form again, but I found that I never needed to wipe more than 2 times in the 5 minutes following the lens coming out of the bag.

 

A Word of Warning

I have been talking about lenses, but a bigger problem might be your camera. If your camera is cold and you take out (without a lens attached) in a hot, humid environment, you are likely to get condensation on the mirror, which is bad news any way you look at it. Mirrors are very delicate and you don’t want to be swiping condensation off them. You might also get condensation forming on other non-polycarbonate surfaces inside the camera, which again, is not good.

For all these reasons, I would suggest not changing lenses outside until you are absolutely sure your camera is at ambient temperature.

Random Pic of the Day

by Miserere

 

Miami Beach, USA, October 25, 2009.

My Photography Lens System

by Miserere

  

Since I started this blog I occasionally receive an e-mail asking me what equipment I use. The questions come from beginning photographers who are trying to figure out what lenses to purchase now that they’ve used their kit lens for a while and found it lacking in some respects.

Peter Zack already wrote a comprehensive article about which lenses to buy, so I’m not going to rewrite that. I will simply list some of my equipment and explain why I chose it.

I’m going to list the lenses in groups, which is how I carry them, and how they make sense to me within a larger lens system. Obviously, some lenses are going to be Pentax, because that’s the camera I shoot, but every other brand will have a lens of similar focal length and aperture. You’ll also find I shoot a lot of third party lenses, which are available for most all camera mounts. Some are auto-focus, others manual, and the reason I picked one or the other was due to either availability or price. One last note, these focal lengths make sense to me on an APS-C sensor; for a full frame sensor I would make different choices.

I’ve included a photo of each group of lenses, all taken at the same scale so you can compare sizes.

  

General Purpose Prime Kit

A prime kit should be built around a standard focal length; what this focal length is depends on each photographer’s tastes. Some prefer wider, some longer, and there’s nothing wrong either. Once you’ve identified your favourite focal length, you would generally then choose two more lenses, one on either side of this focal length—one to be your wide angle, the other your telephoto. More lenses can be added, but 3 is a basic system.

When building my general purpose kit I centered on 28mm, which is my standard. It also happens to be the standard lens length for an APS-C sensor because 28mm is its approximate diagonal. Older 28mm f/2.8 lenses are ubiquitous on the used market, they also tend to be small, which is good because I wanted a small, light kit.

Pentax-FA 20mm f/2.8	A nice wide angle that’s also relatively fast. If I don’t sound super excited…that’s because I’m not a wide guy, but for many shooters 20mm could be their standard lens.
Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8	If I go out with just one prime, it’s likely to be this one. I like the focal length so much that I have four of them, one with a maximum aperture of f/2. If you can find one with close-focusing 1:4 capabilities, it makes the lens even more versatile. But the important point here is this: 28mm gives me a FoV that is just right for my, umm, view. This focal length is the center of my photographic system.
Pentax-FA 50mm f/1.4	A great half-body portrait lens, and the fact it was cheap didn’t hurt. Most brands sell cheap fast 50mm lenses and I find it strange whenever I meet someone who doesn’t own one.
Sigma 105mm f/2.8 DG EX macro	For tight headshots I prefer a longer focal length such as 105mm, or even 135mm sometimes. This 105mm is also a macro lens, so it serves dual purpose; it’s also AF and gets used more than my manual focus 135mm f/2.8.

  

Low Light Prime Kit

While the same kit-building principles apply to a low light as they do to a general purpose kit, these primes need to be faster (i.e., have larger maximum apertures), and because fast lenses are less common, and more expensive, than slow ones, compromises need to be made as far as focal length are concerned. On the other hand, low light lenses are probably going to be used for a different type of photography than daylight lenses, so you may not want the same focal lengths.

Sigma 24mm f/1.8 DG EX	Very useful wide angle low light lens. I try to use it stopped down to f/2 as it’s not very sharp wide open, but if light is low, I’ll use it at f/1.8. My main quibble with it is that it’s a huge lens for a prime; that it uses 77mm filters should tell you something.
Pentax-FA 31mm f/1.8	This is my standard lens for low light. True, f/1.8 isn’t that fast (f/1.4 would be nicer) but this lens is sharp wide open and deals well with high ISO softness. If I didn’t have this lens, I’d probably go for a Sigma 35mm f/1.4.
Pentax-A 50mm f/1.2 or FA 50mm f/1.4	For some people the extra 1/2 stop is no big deal, but when light is low, every extra bit of light you can get to your sensor helps. That said, manually focusing an f/1.2 lens in low light is a challenge, so if I’m not in a manual focusing mood, I’ll take the auto focus f/1.4.
Pentax-FA 77mm f/1.8 Ltd	My low light telephoto. Like the 31mm f/1.8, it’s sharp from wide open. Obviously, I also use it in normal light for beautiful portraits.

  

All Purpose Zoom Kit

While I love shooting primes for their higher IQ at wide apertures, better performance in low light and smaller size, there is no denying that zooms offer a set of advantages that must be taken into account. My all purpose zoom kit consists of just 3 lenses, yet they allow me to cover from 17mm all the way to 300mm; that’s a huge range! Like primes, there will be a standard zoom that will probably get used for most of the time, but it’s useful to have a couple more zooms—one the goes wider, and one longer. I chose faster zooms for my wide and standard, so I could shoot in lower light, but a slow zoom for my telephoto because I’m most likely to use it during the day when there’s enough light. Your needs may be different, and if shooting mostly in bright light, or if you use a tripod in low light, then you could even get away with having just two zooms to cover the same range as my three, as my standard and wide zooms could be replaced by one of the popular 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 or 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 (f/4 for some brands) lenses.

Tamron 17-35mm f/2.8-4	When I’m in a wide mood, this is my favourite lens. It’s an exceptional zoom that is not very well known; sharp wide open throughout the range, with great contrast. It’s a full-frame lens too, so it works as a super wide zoom on 35mm film/sensors. Most APS-C photographers use a 16/17-50mm f/2.8 lens (available from every lens manufacturer AFAIK) as a standard zoom, but for me those focal lengths are too wide for standard, so buying this Tamron saved me money.
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8	Now this is my standard zoom. It goes from my favourite focal length of 28mm into telephoto territory, and if I’m looking to carry just one multi purpose lens, this one is it. This is the lens that spends the most time on my camera and I could wax lyrical about how much I love it and how great it is, but I’ll spare you the pain. Just take my word for it: It’s a fantastic lens. Plus, it’s much smaller than equivalent lenses from other manufacturers, even though it’s a full frame lens.
Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6	A cheap lens that performs quite well; I tend to use it stopped down to f/8, but I’m not afraid to shoot wide open if I need to. I would like to replace it with the Pentax version, but can’t really justify the expense given how well it performs.

  

Long Telephoto Kit

Sometimes I feel longish. Maybe I want tight portraits of guests at a party or in a crowd, or maybe I feel like photographing wildlife. Maybe both! And so I came to acquire a long telephoto kit that, despite its sparseness, is quite flexible and fun (albeit challenging) to use.

Vivitar Series 1 200mm f/3	An old lens from the 80s, built like a tank; manual focus, of course. With a max aperture just 1/6 stop slower than f/2.8, it’s a fast 200mm that I use mainly for isolating faces in crowds, although it also works well for curious squirrels and other large animals.
Tokina AT-X 400mm f/5.6	I use this lens mainly for birds. It’s rather compact and light given it’s focal length so I use it hand-held most of the time. It’s not at its strongest wide open, so I try to shoot it at f/8-9.
Tamron MC4 1.4x Teleconverter	This is a very good general purpose TC that doesn’t visibly degrade image quality. Used on the above lenses it gives me a 280mm f/4.2 and a 560mm f/8, so I get an extra 2 lenses by carrying a small TC. Sweet.

Will Optical Viewfinders Become a Thing of the Past?

by Miserere

  

One thing that most dedicated photographers love on their cameras is the viewfinder (VF). There are endless discussion threads dedicated to mourning the small, dark VFs present in many of today’s cropped sensor DLSRs. Even full frame DSLRs don’t seem to reach the level of VF quality attained by classic film cameras such as the Olympus OM-1 or the Pentax MX.

It is not a surprise then, when some companies have decided to build cameras forgoing the optical VF (OVF) altogether by removing the mirror and prism from the camera body, thus allowing the lens to move closer to the sensor, giving us a thinner, lower camera. Examples of this are the Panasonic G1, GH1 and GF1, the Sigma DP1 and DP2, and the Olympus E-P1. Apart from the G1 and GH1, all these cameras lack a VF, although an electronic VF (EVF) can be added to the GF1 and Olympus sells an OVF for the E-P1. None of these solutions are elegant, and while the EVF of the G1 and GH1 are the best in the business (as of today), they are still nowhere near an OVFs.

But why remove the mirror assembly? It appears camera makers are incapable or unwilling to provide us with DSLRs the size of the aforementioned Olympus OM-1 and Pentax MX (except Leica, who have done so with their M8, M8.2 and M9 digital rangefinders), so they are resorting to mirror-less designs in order to bring size down. While many appreciate the small size, they are not happy with the loss of the VF.

Enter Epson, who yesterday announced they’ve started volume producton of their HTPS TFT colour liquid crystal panel for EVFs. HTPS stands for high-temperature polysilicon. This panel features an SVGA 800 x RGB x 600 pixel matrix for a total of 1.44MP and is targeted at middle and high level cameras. Its physical dimensions are 12mm diagonal, but I have not been able to find out how thin it is.

The good news is, this is just the first in a series of HTPS panels, to be called Ultimicron, and Epson promises larger and higher resolution versions will be forthcoming in the near future. They say these OVFs will offer good enough image quality that they will be useful for manual focusing and will approach the viewing and handling of OVFs.

We’ll have to wait and see how accurate these promises are, but I am optimistic the future of EVF cameras will be bright; and high resolution too.