Years 2009-2012 Breningstall.com

Hand-holding a digital camera at slow shutter speed

I like a lot of what Thom Hogan writes but I don't agree with his column today. Today's column is addressing complaints from users about the focus on the Nikon D800, Nikon D7000 and other high pixel density cameras. In Hogan's opinion, the reason for focus trouble on hand-held shots is two-fold:

1. Users of the D7000 are not taking into account the crop multiplier of the D7000, which turns a 200mm lens into a 300mm equivalent, requiring faster shutter speeds.
2. Users are older and their hands are less steady than back in the 1980's. He writes, "They've lost muscle mass and sometimes fine coordination, but that happened so slowly that they are probably wrong when they think they can still do what they did 30 years ago."

My hands weren't big enough to hold an SLR in the 1980's. I will say that I have noticed a dramatic difference in the quality of shots between photos taken with a film SLR and a digital camera at 1/30, to 1/125 second shutter speed, particularly with any shots containing subtle motion. Quite frankly, the blur on digital camera photos is ugly- and with the super high pixel density cameras such as the Canon 7D or the Nikon D800, it only gets uglier. Image stabilization may help, but I'm not sure how much- in my experience, it's often light motion blur that is causing the problem and image stabilization won't assist in that case.

The adjustment I've made in my own shooting is to be more cautious about shutter speeds. Whereas with film I wouldn't hesitate to shoot at 1/60 second (sports aside), on digital I find I have to make a concerted effort to try to keep the shutter speed up around 1/200 second if there's any possibility of movement in the picture whatsover.

That's what I do as a general principle anyway- occasionally, I will deliberately shoot action at around 1/15 second for a more artistic effect.

[Hogan hasn't introduced permalink to his blog yet but if you're looking for this article at a later date it will be with March 22, 2012 in the archives.]

Battle of the Cameras: Thom Hogan calls the Olympus E-M5 over the Fuji X-Pro1

On his new mirrorless camera blog sansmirror.com, Thom Hogan posted an extended series of camera faceoffs this week between close competitors in the mirrorless realm. Many of the conclusions are obvious but one that might take a few people by surprise is Hogan's preliminary preference for the Olympus E-M5 over the Fuji X-Pro1. Hogan writes:

"Still a little early to call, but initial impressions say E-M5 hands down. The X-Pro1 is a big camera, as big as a Leica M9. It has a limited (and expensive) lens set. It has poor autofocus performance. It has a large, eccentric sensor (APS, non-Bayer). It has a retro design with a hybrid optical/EVF viewfinder. The E-M5 is a smaller camera than it looks in photos. It has an extensive lens set. It has faster focus performance. It has the best of the m4/3 sensors so far. It has a very usable EVF. The problem I have with the Fujifilm is that it is really only great for one (slow) style of shooting, and it's doesn't take advantage of the size benefit that removing the mirror gives you. The hybrid viewfinder is fine, but it's a bit of a gimmick. A good EVF is enough, which is exactly what the E-M5 has."

Back from the past: Steve Huff reviews the new Pentax K-01 that looks like it came straight out of the 80's

Steve Huff has gamely posted a review of the new Pentax K-01 mirrorless camera on his blog. I say gamely because the specs indicate that this camera doesn't have much to offer and Huff's review confirms that.

Beyond the fact that the Pentax K-01 is just fugly, it doesn't bring anything new to the table. I really don't understand what Pentax was thinking. All kinds of advantages can be imagined with mirrorless cameras. The most obvious one, size, is largely neglected by this fat monster- I'd be curious to see if it's any smaller than a Sony a35 translucent mirror camera. I also like mirrorless cameras for their electronic viewfinders- it's a lot easier to manually focus on an electronic viewfinder, especially one with a zoom option, than it is using any APS-C optical viewfinder camera on the market. But this camera is no Panasonic GH2 or Olympus OM-D E-M5 and it doesn't have an electronic viewfinder.

Thom Hogan argues that frames per second are overrated

"Do I need 1 or 2 more fps? Absolutely not! In fact, I'd argue that there's evidence that these gains tend to come at the expense of autofocus performance more often than not. For what? At 1/500 second, which is usually the minimum of where I'm at when I'm shooting any kind of burst, the difference between "getting the shot" at 4 fps versus 12 fps boils down to not a lot of advantage: 1 in 125 of a chance of getting "the shot" versus 1 in 42. Meanwhile, if I actually use my senses to carefully time a single shot, I find my odds go up significantly, to something like 1 in 3 or 1 in 4. Which do you think I prefer?." -Thom Hogan

Wedding photography all-star Jeff Ascough reviews the Canon 5D Mark III

Jeff Ascough, one of my favorite wedding photographers, has reviewed the 5D Mark III camera and found it incredible.

He writes:

"As good as it is, there have always been certain areas of the 5D Mark II’s performance that could do with some improvement and I’m pleased to say that the camera that I have had for the past two weeks is not only a worthy successor to the 5D Mark II, it is in my opinion just about as perfect a camera as you will ever handle. The new Canon 5D Mark III may look similar to a 5D Mark II but in all honesty this camera is so different in virtually every aspect that it could be called a different model number and nobody would have even noticed. "

"The body is much more solid than the 5D Mark II. It is slightly more chunky in the hand and has a new ‘grippier’ material covering it."

"Chimpers will love the new LCD (as will the video guys). It is bigger, more defined and matches the ratio of the sensor. It is staggeringly good to look at - almost like an iPhone retina display."

Of the autofocus, he writes, "I couldn’t make it miss."

"So are there any negatives to owning this camera? Maybe just one. You will lose the ability to blame the camera for any shortcomings in your own photographic ability."

Read full review here.

5D Mark III pre-order information

Amazon: Canon EOS 5D Mark III 22.3 MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body)

Adorama: Canon 5D Mark III 

Fake Chuck Westfall offers his take on the Canon 5D Mark III

Fake Chuck Westfall has chipped in with his rapid contributions on the release of the Canon 5D Mark III. For those of you who aren't familiar with the moniker, Fake Chuck Westfall is Real Chuck Westfall's more blunt alter ego and he has been posting insightful (if profanity-laced) comments for awhile now. In particular, he circulated a petition earlier asking Canon to address many of the issues on the Canon 5D Mark II, including its deliberately stunted autofocus.

Fake Chuck Westfall writes, "The time has come for Nikon, Sony, RED and pretty much the entire industry to shit their pants. Yes people, the 5D Mark III is finally out. And boy does it fucking rock!!!! If Jesus Christ were to make his second coming today, this is the camera he’d have around his neck to document his journey.

In previous posts I referred to this camera as the 5DX, because really, I think it deserves that name. Giving it the name “5D Mark III” doesn’t do it justice. That makes it sound like some kind of crappy update to the 5D Mark II, which we all know was shit. This camera is such a big departure from the 5D Mark II on so many levels, that only a 5DX name (X for eXtreme, eXtraordinary) can really do it justice."

Pre-order at Adorama.

Control freak: Nikon's new retail policies

We can see one reason Nikon is mandating uniform prices for its dealers. Knocking consumers and  retailers around by instituting uniform prices and refusing to sell Nikon parts to independent repair shops does not sound like a good business strategy to me, but we'll see how it works out for them.

This- and the 4fps D800- is making me feel more comfortable at my decision last year to stay with Canon (if the D700 does drop to $1,999, though, I can't say I won't be tempted- keep an eye on this website, as we anticipate that a huge price drop is around the corner).

On those tricky manufacturer rebates

Manufacturer rebates are offered for several reasons, including 1) It allows companies to offer a short-term discount without effecting the long-term price of the product, 2) It allows companies to hold onto the discount dollars (and invest or collect interest on them) for a month or two until the rebate is issued, and 3) It leaves open the possibility that consumers will fail to send in the rebate forms and never collect the discount (though of course it still factors in their purchase decision).

As the recent beneficiary of a large rebate, I've observed it's even more tricky than that.