Photo Club

Samsung NV24HD digital camera review : At the beginning of last year, Samsung made itself heard by introducing a whole new series of digital compact cameras. However, the second half of last year proved to be the opposite. Everybody expected to hear from Samsung at the Photokina show where the brand was attending alright, but no camera introductions were actually made. This was quite remarkable indeed, since an event like the 2-yearly Photokina show, the world’s biggest event in the field of imaging, is simply the place to show your abilities as a camera manufacturer. br brSamsung digital camera division brThis year, Samsung started off with the introduction of several new compact cameras. Perhaps in February 2009, if the division and transfer of the camera department to an entirely independent department are realized along with a different strategy, the Korean company will again show its power. For this test, we selected the Samsung NV24HD. Although introduced last year, still a very current camera. br br10 Megapixel Samsung NV24 HD brThe Samsung NV24HD features a 10 Megapixel image sensor and a Schneider-Kreuznach Varioplan 3.6x optical zoom. The camera also boosts a 2.5 inch monitor and is able to capture videos in a higher resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This is where the name, NV24HD, stems from. As for its features; the Samsung NV24HD is quite a standard compact camera, at which design and an innovative way of operation should make the difference. br brSamsung NV24HD review including a DIWA Labs test brThe Samsung NV24HD belongs to the NV series, ranked somewhat higher in the compact camera segment where design plays a slightly bigger role. Samsung reaches its market share in the entry-level segment with ease, and is able to obtain excellent sales numbers. The higher and somewhat more expensive segment seems to cause the Korean electronics giant some problems. Of course, it is a crowded segment and Samsung battles many renowned camera brands with lots of experience. Whether the Samsung NV24HD is able to make the difference can be read in the following brimg src=http://photoclub.cc/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/52564.jpg /br br br

Stop procrastinating! You know you should turn those sleeves, slide mounts, and shoeboxes full of negatives, transparencies, and prints into digital image files. And if you want complete control, it’s a buy-a-scanner/DIY project. But how much do you have to spend to get high quality? And should you go with a dedicated 35mm film scanner, such as the $550 (street) Nikon Coolscan V ED or a flatbed with transparent media adapters, such as Epson’s $720 (street) Perfection V750-M Pro? Microtek offers another way — the ArtixScan M1 flatbed and film scanner combo (www.artixscanm1.com). Well priced ($550, street), it boasts glassless direct scanning of film (much like a dedicated film scanner) in sizes up to 4×5 inches at 4800×9600-dpi (actually, samples per inch) optical resolution. With a 48-bit pixel depth, Microtek claims a dynamic range of 4.4 Dmax. (Dmax is the darkest area of an image that can be captured and still show detail.) This rating is quite high. Microtek’s glassless Emulsion Direct Imaging Technology (E.D.I.T.) reads directly from the film’s emulsion side, with the original held flat, under tension, and applies an autofocus system that analyzes several scans at different focal positions, and makes the final scan at optimal focus. Autofocus can zero in on the center of the film, a point you select in the frame, or be switched off. If you’re willing to flatten your originals against glass, the Microtek captures film (negatives and transparencies) as large as 8.5×10 inches and prints up to 8.5×14 inches. The M1’s approach sidesteps the limitations of traditional flatbeds, such as the Epson, which requires a secondary light source in the lid and must scan through a sheet of glass that’s a dirt magnet and may not flatten the film completely. And, unlike the Coolscan V ED, the M1 isn’t limited to 35mm slides and film. Unlike the Epson flatbed and the Nikon film scanner, the Microtek doesn’t include hardware-based Digital ICE scratch-reduction technology. Instead, there’s SRD dust and scratch removal built into the SilverFast SE Plus software that complements the Microtek ScanWizard Pro application bundled with the unit. Like the Epson, the M1 supports wet-mounting of problematic film originals to temporarily “fill in” scratches. The most difficult part of getting up and running with the ArtixScan M1 is finding a place to put it. Weighing more than 26 pounds, it occupies 15.2×6.1×22.3 inches of tabletop real estate. Install the included software onto your Windows 2000/XP/Vista or Macintosh OS X computer, plug in the power cord and USB 2.0 cable, reboot, and you’re ready to begin calibrating (both print and film IT8 calibration targets are included) and scanning. The $110-extra “Pro” package adds the top-of-the-line SilverFast Ai Studio scanning software and an extra set of film holders. Both ScanWizard Pro and SilverFast Ai Studio offer efficient batch scanning (a must when you have scads of originals to digitize and want to gang them together). The upgraded SilverFast software includes multi-exposure capabilities that streamline creating high-dynamic-range (HDR) images, pulling extra detail out of the darkest areas of your film originals. There also are 120 preset negative film profiles, as well as sophisticated grain, noise, dust, and scratch elimination. If you’re in the market for a flatbed scanner that can also handle film in a variety of formats, the Microtek ArtixScan M1’s glassless dual-media system is attractive — especially if you frequently switch between prints and film originals. Just make plenty of desk space. David D. Busch has written nine books on scanners, and is the author of the camera-specific David Busch’s Guides to Digital SLR Photography for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony DSLRs. MASTER COPIES Scanning isn’t tough. In fact, it’s easy and fun. But most of us don’t do it frequently enough to master (or remember) the subtleties. Here are three Very Confusing topics clarified: 1 The right resolution. To capture all the detail in a 24×36mm slide, use the highest optical resolution you can. Dedicated film scanners generally provide 4000-spi (samples per inch) resolution, while flatbeds typically offer 4800 spi. Scanning a print? Any resolution above 600 spi will just give you a better picture of the grain, and huge files that eat up hard-drive space and slow down your image editor. (Why is “spi” more accurate than “dpi”? Because scanners don’t have dots. Nor do monitors, which are described in ppi, or pixels per inch.) 2 Removing halftones. If your work has been published in books or magazines, you’ll discover that moirГ© patterns appear when scanning halftone images. All scanners have a Descreen or moirГ© filter that essentially blurs the halftone dots enough to make them less noticeable. (After the filter has been applied, you might want to restore a little sharpness with a small amount of Unsharp Mask or Smart Sharpen in Adobe Photoshop.) You can also subdue halftone effects by scanning at a higher resolution and resampling to a smaller size or rotating black-and-white halftones on the scanner bed slightly when scanning. (This technique is less successful with color halftones, which typically have four different halftone screens, each at a different angle.) 3 From scan to print. The drivers for today’s inkjet printers can produce good prints from scans at virtually any resolution. But if you insist on optimizing your scans for your printer (or for output on commercial presses), there’s an excellent calculator that takes all sorts of variables into consideration at www.scantips.com/calc.html. BOTTOM LINE: Serious resolution, dynamic range, and image-fixing software without a serious financial commitment.

Olympus continues to push digital’s optical envelope with the industry’s widest non-fisheye lens for sub-full-frame DSLRs. A 14-28mm equivalent ($1,595, street), even by 35mm standards, this lens is extremely wide. Its unusually large and double-sided aspheric elements, plus multiple elements of extra-low- and super-extra-low-dispersion glass (a total of three) help deliver performance unequalled in the ultrawide digital-only zoom category. HANDS ON: At 1 pound, 12 ounces, the lens is quite hefty by digital ultrawide and fixed-aperture standards. In comparison, fixed f/4 models from Nikon, Pentax, and Tokina, all 12-24mm, weigh only a pound (roughly). The Olympus is also more than an inch longer than these other lenses. However, it is internal-zooming — the length doesn’t grow as you zoom it out. Other physical distinctions: a fixed lenshood, extremely smooth manual focusing, fast but slightly noisy AF, and protective gaskets and O-rings to repel dust and moisture. It does not accept threaded filters — common with front elements as convex as this one. IN THE LAB: At the three tested focal lengths, SQF tests found sharpness and contrast well into the Excellent range, very slightly ahead of most of the comparable lenses we’ve tested, especially at larger output sizes.

To say the 6MP Casio EXILIM Pro EX-F1 ($999, street) is a breakthrough is an understatement. As we’ve said before (April 2008), and the Pop Photo Lab confirms, the F1 is a far-reaching achievement on several fronts: • It’s an impressive 12X zoom (36-432mm f/2.7-4.6 equivalent) electronic-viewfinder (EVF) still camera with optical stabilization and Excellent image quality. • It’s the camera equivalent of a machine gun, packing a breathtaking 60 frames-per-second burst rate (7 fps with flash) and 1/4 0,000 sec top shutter speed. • It’s a full-HD (1920×1080 pixels at 60 fps) video camera with stereo audio, zoom while recording, and HDMI output. • It’s a high-speed/low-resolution video camera, shooting up to a blistering 1200 frames per second. That last quality — high-speed video — means 1 sec of real time equals up to 40 sec of ultra-slow-motion video. Scientists and sports trainers will find practical uses for this, but the “Wow!” factor is universal. Check out our high-speed videos at www.PopPhoto.com/EX-F1. In HD mode, the F1 serves up crisp, sharp, full-HD videos on an HDTV (connect it using your own HDMI cable).

Olympus SP-570 UZ digital camera review : In August 2005, Olympus introduced the very first camera from the new SP-5 series; the SP-500 UZ camera. At the time it was a Megazoom camera that certainly featured high specifications; six Megapixels, a maximum ISO of 400 and an optical zoom with a 38-380mm range. Three years later, the fifth model of the SP-5 series lays before me; the Olympus SP-570 UZ, the most recent Megazoom model by Olympus. Evolution of the Olympus SP-570 UZ Looking at the specifications, we clearly see the evolution this model underwent. Instead of six, there’s now room for ten Megapixels on the small image sensor, and the sensitivity of 6400, albeit with a limited resolution, surpasses the ‘high’ 400 ISO setting of that of its predecessor. The optical zoom lens also went through a real change; now offering a 20x optical zoom, resulting in a huge focal range (26-520mm) which is a powerful magnification factor even for the enhanced photographer. Digital camera developments In only a few years time the digital camera has undergone considerable changes and is, in fact, still going through this process. It looks like this trend will continue for a while. We are not always happy with the changes, but all in all it is a logical evolution. As long as the quality is ensured and improvements are visible, there is no reason to moan. Though it is a good motivation to keep a finger on the pulse, since a manufacturer’s marketing department sometimes tends to overdo it. One example that goes for nearly every brand is the race for the highest ISO setting possible. The latter is hardly ever useful in practice and only looks good on paper. Although Megazoom cameras tend to lean towards the features of digital SLRs, they are in fact compact cameras with the smaller sensors that come with these. Olympus SP-570UZ Megazoom digital camera The Megazoom digital camera market remains interesting to the manufacturer. While a number of manufacturers have left this concept alone in order to focus fully on their DSLR cameras, a considerable group of consumers really seemed to appreciate this Megazoom camera. The features; compact, lightweight and super zoom, form a powerful combination to give cameras like the Olympus SP-570UZ the right to exist. Olympus SP-570 UZ camera review The Olympus SP-570 was introduced in January of this year, just before the PMA 2008 in Las Vegas kicked off, and only recently became available to the consumer. Thanks to all its setting possibilities and all-round capacities, the Olympus SP-570 UZ camera seems to be the perfect alternative to a D-SLR camera. It’s a camera that is easy to take with you at all times. Read the following

The 24-70mm f/2.8 full-frame zoom is becoming the general-purpose standard for news, wedding, portrait, landscape, and event pros. (Everyone, in other words, except sports and close-up photographers.) Canon, Nikon, and Sigma all offer superb examples. Sony’s outstanding new entry ($1,750, street) isn’t based on any earlier Sony, Zeiss, or Konica Minolta designs, but — as the blue logo indicates — was codeveloped with Zeiss, and it paves the way for Sony’s soon-to-be-unveiled 24MP pro flagship DSLR. This lens was introduced along with an equally beefy 70-200mm f/2.8, now the fastest zooms in the Sony catalog. Both have the near-silent Super Sonic wave focusing Motor (SSM), and aspheric and ED glass elements for better control of linear distortion and chromatic aberration, respectively. A 36-105mm equivalent on Sony’s APS-C sensor cameras — such as the Alpha 350 tested in the May 2008 issue — the 24-70mm benefits, as does the 70-200mm, from Zeiss’ T* coating for suppressing reflections and flare from internal and external sources. HANDS ON Mostly metal construction (except for the felt-flocked, polycarb lenshood and outer barrel) and that bright f/2.8 maximum aperture make for a large, heavy lens that weighs almost 10 ounces more than the comparable Sigma. Its handsome, matte-black finish and finely ribbed focus and zoom rings are signature Zeiss.

Few will argue that Nikon’s DSLRs are among the most esteemed digital cameras available; however, the prevailing sentiment among photo enthusiasts is that the compact Nikon digicams often pale in comparison to their bigger siblings. All that’s about to change with the introduction of the shirt-pocket sized Nikon Coolpix P50 ($160, street), an 8.1-megapixel image-making dynamo. The Coolpix P50 is nearly the size of Nikon’s flagship point-and-shoot, the Coolpix P5100, yet has none of the gizmos, fluff, and confounding extras that get in the way of everyday shooting. There are no WiFi features, complex button schemes to learn or even a hot shoe. What you’ve got instead with the P50 is a stripped-down hotrod of a camera for the casual snapshooter or budget-minded enthusiast. Sure, you give up some high-end control for the cost, such as RAW capture and full manual exposure, but we’re OK with that at this price. Nikon is more than generous with shutter speeds though, having a full range from 8 seconds to 1/1000th of a second available and an ISO range of 64 to 2000. It is clear though that Nikon’s intent is to make the P50 a utilitarian image-producing machine.

Epson and Fuji Xerox Australia partner to deliver advanced large format printing solutions for architects, engineers & print service bureaux   Epson has signed an agreement to partner with Fuji Xerox Australia to deliver market leading plan-printing solutions to both the CAD and print-for-pay market segments, including Xerox Business Centres and Xerox Shops.   Epson’s Business Solutions Manager, Craig Heckenberg, said this partnership is based on a global agreement between Epson and Xerox which allows Xerox to provide its customers with the opportunity to purchase Epson’s colour imaging technologies.   "This partnership builds on Epson’s global relationship with Xerox and will provide advanced large format colour printing solutions for architects, engineers and print service bureaux," Mr Heckenberg said.   The agreement with Xerox is based on its non-metro dealer network which includes The Xerox Shops (TXS).   "The introduction of the Epson range into our non-metro TXS dealer network will add another dimension to the very successful B&W wide format range of products The Xerox Shop dealers have to offer from the Fuji Xerox range," said Allan Livings, Fuji Xerox Business Development Manager for wide format systems in Australia.   "In the past five years Fuji Xerox wide format business has grown 10 fold because of state of the art and leading edge B&W technologies offered to the market, and the addition of the Epson range will further strengthen The Xerox Shops’ offering to their wide format customers," Mr Livings said.   Fuji Xerox will purchase direct from Epson large format printers which include Epson’s Stylus Pro 4450, Stylus Pro 4880, Stylus Pro 7450, Stylus Pro 7880, Stylus Pro 9450, Stylus Pro 9880, the Stylus Pro 11880 and Epson’s UltraChrome pigment based inks and compatible Epson media.   Fuji Xerox’s sales team is fully backed by Epson so its clients can expect the same level of support as Epson’s customers.

Pentax DA * 16-50mm f/2.8 SDM AF This pro-caliber, standard-range, bright digital zoom ($900, street) is the second Pentax to use sonic-wave autofocusing for very smooth and quiet AF. It works with newer Pentax bodies that accept the KAF2 mount. On older bodies such as the K100, it defers to the noisier, body-housed AF motor. A 24-76mm equivalent, it has three aspheric and two optically pure, low-dispersion glass elements. Special lens coatings resist dust and smudges, and suppress ghosting off the sensor. Hands On: Its gold accents signal that this is a Pentax DA * lens, with superior construction and extra-tight weather and dust resistance. Like most fast lenses, it’s large, casting a shadow at all focal lengths when used with built-in flash. Its manual-focus ring is more than twice the size of its zoom collar, great for manual-focus fans. Both rings are rubber-clad and attractively ribbed, and their turning actions are extremely smooth. IN THE LAB: Excellent SQF numbers promise satisfyingly sharp, contrasty images. Likewise, well-controlled distortion bodes well for photographers tackling subjects that have parallel or perpendicular lines — especially along the image edges and at or near infinity. Our DxO Analyzer 2.0 tests found Visible barrel distortion at 16mm (0.60%), average performance for the class. Distortion improved at 35mm and 50mm, though, with Imperceptible (0.10%) pincushioning at 35mm and Slight pincushioning at 50mm (0.12%).