November 2012 news and reviews

It's all too easy to take for granted the wide dynamic range, variety of focal lengths and control over depth of field we have at our disposal. And ironically, one way to practice a a more traditional, disciplined approach to photography that introduces, rather than eliminates limitations, is to spend some time shooting with the latest smartphone. Read about how some photographers are embracing the challenges of creating compelling landscape images with their wide angle fixed-aperture smartphones.

Connect: Photographers who use the photo sharing platform 500px can now access their images via an iPhone app released today. Previously, only iPad and Android versions of the app were available. The iOS version is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and requires iOS 5.0 or later. The app features a minimalist interface to avoid distraction and focus on photography, it says.

Just Posted: an extensive update to our Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1 preview. We've been working away towards a review of the RX1 that we received recently. With its full frame sensor and 35mm F2 lens, it's a camera that's generated a lot of excitement amongst photographers, so we wanted to publish more detail of its performance and behavior. We've added eight pages to the preview, including more detail about its handling and interface as well as our studio test shots, a sample gallery from the production camera and our first impressions of shooting with it.

Mobile photography has often made a virtue out of the comparative technological restrictions of phones' relatively primitive cameras, but that doesn't mean its practitioners are immune from the lure (and benefits) of upgrading. Over on Connect mobile photographer Star Rush talks about how her photography changed, and how it didn't, when she upgraded her handset and found herself with an upgraded shooting experience.

Triggertrap Mobile, the camera triggering app, is available for free between now and the New Year. The idea is to make it easier to give the mobile dongle (that costs $24.99) as a gift, without the recipient then having to buy the associated app. The app is available for both iOS and Android and allows a smartphone to perform as series of sophisticated camera triggering actions, when connected to the camera using the mobile dongle.

Nikon has announced two digiscoping accessories for its 1 System cameras, allowing them to be used to take pictures through telescopes. The DSA-N1 can be used to connect a Nikon 1 system camera directly to a telescope eyepiece. Meanwhile the DSB-N1 is a bracket that holds the camera behind the telescope, and includes a mechanical cable release adapter. Both will be available in December, with RRPs of £219.99 and £169.99 for the DSA-N1 and DSB-N1 respectively.

'What camera should I buy?' That's a question we get asked a lot here at dpreview, and it's a tough one to answer. We use a lot of cameras, from simple point-and-shoot models to professional workhorses, and everything in between. To help you make a buying decision this holiday season, we've put together a short article which covers five of what we think are the best zoom compact cameras on the market right now, and summarized their strengths and weaknesses. Click through to see what we think. 

Lensrentals' Roger Cicala hasn't always been a fan of Sigma's lenses but the company's latest 35mm F1.4 seems to have got him pretty excited. He's written a very positive first impressions blog post, considering the build and test data from the first sample he's received. As usual, he's very careful to stress the limitations of what he's reporting - specifically that these are early impressions, based on a single lens that he's had little chance to actually take photos with. However, he's also someone with immense experience with lenses, and is in the unusual position of having had the opportunity to strip the lens down, so we found his insight interesting. (From Lensrentals)

Canadian photographer Kyle Clemens has created a timelapse video which shows the slow accumulation of debris on the sensor of his brand new Nikon D600. When we reviewed the D600 we expressed concern about the propensity of its sensor to gather specks of debris, and Clements raises the troubling possibility that whatever it is that's ending up on the D600's sensor could be coming from inside the camera. Click through for the full video and a link to Kyle Clements' blog where he investigates the issue. 

Imaging Resource has published an obituary of Bryce Bayer, who passed away recently. Often called the 'father of digital imaging', former Kodak scientist Bryce Bayer invented and gave his name to the so-called 'Bayer Filter' - a mosaic pattern of red, green and blue filters which allows silicon sensors that are only sensitive to luminance to capture information about the color in a scene. Patented in 1976, the RGBG Bayer Filter has since become essentially ubiquitous, being used in virtually all digital imaging systems from medium-format backs to smartphones. Click through for a link to the obituary at www.imaging-resource.com.

Just Posted: Our review of the Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. The latest version of Sigma's stabilized superzoom is smaller and lighter than the existing non-macro version, yet is able to add improved close-focus performance, helping it compete with the similarly-sized Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 VC PZD. These long-range all-rounders are a popular choice, so we've had a look at how Sigma's latest performs. We've also added DxOMark's test data for a selection of its competitors, to give a sense of context.

Over at Connect we're assembling a list of Holiday deals - with the first smartphone and accessory deals listed today. We'll be highlighting more interesting offers as they come to our attention. The period around the Thanksgiving holiday is particularly prominent for shopping in the USA, with the Friday afterwards (known as Black Friday) and the subsequent Monday (dubbed 'Cyber Monday') being a focus of in-store and internet deals respectively. A recent survey suggests that smartphone usage could see Thanksgiving itself become 'Mobile Thursday' as people shop from their 'phones.

Skyfall, the latest James Bond film, is topping the box office charts around the world and wowing audiences with its cinematography. It includes a sequence set on a deserted island - modeled on Hashima, an abandoned former coal-mining island off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. Dpreview member Michael Gakuran has written a blog post about his experiences on the island - filming for a Discovery Channel documentary and, earlier, being smuggled onto the island under cover of darkness to perform a little urban exploration (Urbex).

Smartphone photography is taking increasingly seriously as a medium, but this isn't because the devices have reached a certain standard. In an interview from 2009, actor and photography Joel Grey discusses the work he's done using a 1.3MP phone camera. He discusses the snobbery surrounding cameraphones (including his own), and points our that 'pictures are pictures...the subject, light and framing is everything.'

Lytro has announced two extra features for users of its Light Field Cameras - perspective shift and living filters. Perspective shift allows the viewer to re-render the light field as if captured from a slightly different position - moving this viewing position around shows off the depth information captured by the camera. Meanwhile the 'living filters' are depth-aware versions of the processing filter modes that have become near-ubiquitous in cameras in recent years. And, because the Light Field Cameras download all the light field data to your computer, these effects will be available with all existing captures.

Wired.com has published an interview with Stephen Mayes, director of the VII photo agency, about the importance of mobile photography in the digital age. According to Mayes, smartphone photography represents a 'pivotal moment' in photography, and calls cell phones 'a pretty pure implementation of the digital phenomenon'. Click through for more excepts from the interview and a link to the full article at wired.com

Demotix, the photo agency created to distribute and sell newsworthy images from members of the public, has been bought by image giant Corbis. London-based Demotix, which has smartphone apps to make it easier to submit images, has a community of around 6,500 freelancers and semi-pro photographers and videographers submitting work. By contrast, Seattle-based Corbis' collection of 100 million images tends to come from professionals and it more tightly curated.

Olympus USA has announced its M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/1.8 for Micro Four Thirds will be available in December for around $500. The lens features the same premium build quality and snap-focus manual focus mode as the company's 12mm f/2.0. The snap-focus mode is engaged by pulling the focus ring on the lens back, which reveals a distance scale and engages end-stops on the focus travel, applies firmer damping and switches the camera to manual focus mode. Olympus UK, meanwhile, has announced a price of £449.99.

Samsung has publicly released the kernel code for its Android-based Galaxy Camera, as it regularly does for its smartphones.The kernel is the core of the operating system including software that controls the hardware. In the short term, independent developers are discussing using the code to enable phone calls from the device but, beyond this, a publicly available kernel gives developers and hackers a greater insight into the Galaxy Camera's workings than we've ever seen for a camera.

We've just published our 23-page, in-depth review of the Nikon D600. Aimed at enthusiasts, the Nikon D600 offers a 24MP full-frame CMOS sensor and a 39-point AF system adapted from the D7000. In many other respects, it owes a lot to its considerably more expensive cousin, the 36MP D800. When we previewed the D600 we were impressed by its image quality and how many features it offers for the money. So how does it fare when put through our rigorous studio and real-world testing? Click through to find out.

Metabones has updated its EF to NEX Smart Adapter II, allowing recent Canon lenses to autofocus on Sony E-mount cameras. As with most systems that attempt to use DSLR lenses on contrast-detection-based AF cameras, the focus speed is considerably lower than when used on their native cameras. However, despite not being able to use the hybrid-AF system from the NEX-5R or 6, Metabones claims performance is often better than Sony DSLR lenses being used with the original LA-EA1 adapter. The adapter costs $399, with existing Smart Adapter II owners able to upgrade for $50.

Triggertrap Mobile, the app-based camera trigger can now be used remotely if the user has two smart devices. The latest version of the app, that allows a wide range of cameras to be triggered in response to a range of events or with sophisticated time-lapse functions, features a Wi-Fi mode. In Wi-Fi mode, a 'master' iOS device can be used to remotely configure and trigger a camera that is connected to a Triggertrap mobile dongle and a second smart device (either an iOS or Android phone or tablet).

US cellphone network AT&T will sell Samsung's Galaxy Camera from November 16th at a price of $499. The Android 4.1 connected camera, which essentially adds a 21x zoom compact camera to a Galaxy SIII smartphone (with the omission of phone function), will cost the same amount with or without a data contract - rather than being subsidized by the carrier, as smartphones usually are. Anyone buying a Samsung smartphone at the same time can receive up to a $100 discount. The AT&T version of the camera will offer a HSPA+ connection, not the faster LTE system.

Transcend has announced its own Wi-Fi-capable SD card. Like the existing Eye-Fi and FlashAir cards, it can connect directly to a smartphone or to a local Wi-Fi network and, in common with the latest cards from Eye-Fi, is based around a Class 10 card. A free app compatible with both iOS and Android devices lets you upload images wirelessly from your digital camera to the Internet.

Just Posted: Nikon D5200 in-hand preview. We've been able to spend some time with Nikon's latest mass-market DSLR - the 24MP D5200. At first glance it's nearly indistinguishable from its predecessor, the D5100, but beyond the sensor, it also gains the 39-point AF system and 2,016 pixel metering sensor from the D7000. This represents a significant step up for this class of DSLR. It also has the option to join the 'connected camera' set, with the option of a clip-on Wi-Fi unit. Is this enough to keep the D5200 relevant amongst its smaller mirrorless rivals?

Long before the rise of Instagram, square format film cameras from Rolleiflex and Hasselblad were held in high esteem by photo enthusiasts. Indeed the square image is part of a long image-making tradition in visual arts. And one that every photographer - new or experienced - should explore. In this article, we share some tips and tricks for square shooting with your most mobile camera: your smartphone.

Adobe has issued a 'release candidate' version of Lightroom 4.3 and Adobe Camera Raw 7.3, including support for 13 additional cameras. The Mac version of Lightroom features a Develop module that supports Apple's HiDPI mode that makes the interface easier to read on the 'Retina' panels used on recent Macs. The latest versions are available for download from the Adobe Labs website and, as the 'release candidate' tag denotes, are well tested but could benefit from some user feedback before finalized.

The tiny GoPro camera can make some spectacular videos. From Red Bull’s record breaking skydive to a cat's perspective on chasing a laser pointer, there is serious potential for the $200-$400 video camera. The GoPro is built to survive extreme photographic situations, but it can also work well for more conventional video needs. When San Diego-based photographer Ben Horne got married earlier this year, he put a GoPro HD Hero2 in his bride’s bouquet to create a unique camera angle. Click through for more details, and to see the video on connect.dpreview.com

iFixit.com has performed a complete tear-down of the Nikon D600, reducing it to its component parts to see how easy it is to repair. Nikon's latest full-frame DSLR scored a low 'repairability' score, of 2 out of 10 since 'most components almost require a certification in soldering in order to properly remove'. On the plus side, the tripod mount is easy to remove, if you ever cross-thread it accidentally. iFixit has also worked with semiconductor experts Chipworks to take a very close look at the D600's 24MP CMOS sensor. Click through for more details, images, and a link to both iFixit and Chipworks' tear-downs. 

DxO Labs has updated its DxO Optics Pro software to version 8.0.1 with the addition of support for the Nikon 1 J2 and Sony NEX-5R mirrorless cameras. The latest update also includes over 200 additional camera/lens correction modules. The update is free for Optics Pro 8 users and is available immediately.

Sigma USA has announced the price and availability details of the 35mm F1.4 DG HSM it unveiled at Photokina 2012. The 35mm F1.4, which will be available for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax and Sigma DSLRs, is compatible with both full-frame and APS-C cameras. It will have an estimated street price of $899, making it significantly less expensive than the big-brand competition. Sigma UK, meanwhile, has announced an SRP of £799.99. The lens is the first of Sigma's 'Global Vision' lineup, representing the 'Art' category of enthusiast-grade lenses.

Just Posted: Our Canon EOS M preview samples gallery. We've had a chance to shoot with the Canon EOS M, the company's first mirrorless camera, over a weekend on Santa Fe, New Mexico. Shooting exclusively with the 22mm F2 prime lens, we prepared a gallery of real-world images shot in a variety of situations and under a range of lighting conditions. In addition to camera JPEGs, we've processed a series of images at different ISO settings through the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw.

We've had our hands on Canon's latest zoom, the EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM, for a couple of hours and prepared a quick preview. It's clearly designed primarily as a 'kit' lens for the EOS 6D, but of course will work just as well on Canon's other full frame bodies such as the EOS 5D Mark III, as well as APS-C cameras on which it will offer a 38-112mm-equivalent range. In our preview you can read more about the lens and its features, including its unusual macro function, and see how it compares in size to Canon's other L series standard zooms. 

Canon has announced two lenses for its EOS system. The EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM is designed as a relatively compact image-stabilized standard zoom for full frame SLRs, and will be offered as a kit with the EOS 6D. It  includes a Macro setting offering an impressive 0.7x magnification, backed up by Canon's Hybrid IS that promises increased effectiveness at close distances. It's also weather-sealed, and will be available from mid-December at an RRP of $1499 / £1499.99 / €1459. Meanwhile the EF 35mm f/2 IS USM features an all-new optical design, and includes image stabilization and an ultrasonic focus motor. It will be in on sale early December for $849.99  / £799.99 / €849. Both lenses will work on full frame and APS-C cameras.

Poynter.org has published an interesting article examining how photographer Iwan Baan took his striking post-Sandy picture of Manhattan, which is currently gracing the cover of New York Magazine. According to the article, Baan took his photograph of Manhattan - which is half blacked-out due to the destructive effects of Hurricane Sandy - from the open door of a helicopter hovering at 5000 feet above New York. He went up on the night of Wednesday 31st October, when limited air traffic made it possible to hover for longer - and higher - than would normally be allowed over a major city. Click through to see the resulting image, and for more details of how Baan got the shot. 

HDR software maker Unified Color Technologies has announced version 2 of its HDR Express high dynamic range merge and editing software for Windows and Mac. New features include Image Stacking that automatically groups bracketed exposures and a browser with thumbnail previews. Along with improved de-ghosting algorithms, the software also includes single-click presets and a new slideshow feature. Its native .BEF format can be opened in Adobe Photoshop and Apple Aperture via a plug-in for further editing. HDR Express 2 is available for an introductory price of $84.00 or $59 for current Unified Color users.

While we're stuck down here on earth, NASA's Curiosity rover is currently trundling around on the surface of Mars, mapping the terrain and analyzing rocks. This week, Curiosity took time out from its busy schedule to snap an arms-length self-portrait, showing the rover in situ, in Gale Crater - 140 million miles from home. The composite image is made up of 55 high-resolution images, taken using its MAHLI camera, which is mounted on the end of a robotic arm. Click through for more details and a link to the full-resolution image.

Carbon fiber is recognizable by its distinctive 'woven' appearance and useful because of its impressive strength-to-weight ratio. This makes it a great choice for structures and products that need to be light and portable, but capable of supporting a lot of weight. For this reason, carbon fiber is all the rage in the high-performance world of motorcycles, cars, boats and also photography. Manfrotto's 290 Series is aimed at photographers on a budget. Should the Manfrotto 294 CF be on your shopping list? Find out in our review.

Hurricane Sandy has left a swath of destruction across the Caribbean and eastern United States. Thousands of images have been circulating around the web, showing flooded streets, destroyed homes and submerged Subway stations. Some of the images that have popped up around the Internet are truly unbelievable  but how do you know which ones are fake and which ones are real? The Atlantic has posted an exhaustive article, sorting out the genuine images from the fake. Click through for a link to the story.   

No-one takes gadgets apart quite like the guys at iFixit.com and they've just got their hands on Apple's latest tablet, the pint-sized iPad Mini. Basically an iPad 2 in a smaller form factor, the Mini goes on sale tomorrow in the US. Thanks to a whole lot of glue holding the thing together and expensive battery replacement cost, the iPad Mini earns a low repairability score of 2 out of 10 on the iFixit scale. Click through for some sample images from the teardown and a link to the full, gory experience over at ifixit.com.