Reviews
February 16th, 2010 by D-Photo
Harley Ogier trials the latest DX format Nikon
The D300s is Nikon’s latest digital SLR, replacing the D300 at the top of the company’s DX format range. Packing a comprehensive feature set behind its 12.3 megapixel crop sensor, the D300s is likely to appeal to serious amateurs and upstart professionals who can’t quite afford to go full-frame.
Image Quality
The D300s produces images of near-professional quality. The level of detail captured by the sensor is excellent, but I did find slightly 
more image noise than I would have expected. The noise is present across the ISO range when shooting with either automatic or manual settings in a variety of lighting conditions.
Image quality is otherwise very high. Dynamic range is good, assisted by Nikon’s ‘D-Lighting’ feature. It helps even out tones in highly contrasted images and can be applied automatically as shots are taken. This does tend to amplify any noise already present in the image, relative to the level of D-Lighting applied. I had some issues with dynamic range when shooting in extremely bright sunlight, but all digital cameras on the market suffer this problem to some degree.
Low-light performance is excellent, especially with a good wide-aperture lens. The low level of noise found in daytime shots is still present, but this doesn’t appear to increase as the light level goes down. Black remains black, without a hint of visible noise in darkened skies.
Performance
Start-up time is great; there’s no discernable delay between powering on the camera and taking the first shot. Shooting speed is high at up to seven frames per second using the camera’s battery, or up to 8fps with the optional MB-D10 battery grip. The image buffer is a reasonable size, allowing sustained shooting for several seconds depending on image quality and format.
Battery life is rated at approximately 950 shots on a full charge. This is completely believable — I managed to take more than 700 images while keeping the battery just over 50 per cent full. Liberal use of the built-in flash would bring the numbers down, but battery life is definitely impressive.
Useability
The D300s provides dedicated buttons and dials to control most of the critical functions without having to dredge through the menu system. This is great when you’re rushing to set up a crucial shot and don’t want to take your eye off the viewfinder.
The menu system itself is customisable, as are many of the camera’s controls. Four sets of custom settings can be saved, letting you define the best settings for the studio, landscapes, nightscapes or whatever else you care to shoot.
Some may find minor annoyance in the camera’s grip design. The thumb space on the D300s is noticeably reduced from that of the D300: with a weighty lens attached, I found it difficult to get a comfortable grip on the camera body. With smaller and lighter lenses, this isn’t so much of an issue.
Live View
Live View is well implemented on the D300s, making use of the camera’s 920,000-dot (VGA) monitor. Two modes are provided: Handheld and Tripod.
In Handheld mode the camera’s fast phase-detect autofocus is used. The mirror comes down to allow focusing when the shutter is half depressed, temporarily interrupting Live View. While this isn’t ideal, it beats the extremely slow autofocus found in many Live View implementations.
In Tripod mode, slower contrast-detect autofocus is used. This maintains Live View during focusing but doesn’t work across such a wide range of scenes as normal phase-detect autofocus. Manual focus can be used in either mode, but in Tripod mode you can zoom in considerably tighter on-screen to check the focus before shooting.
HD Video
The D300s records high-definition video up to 720p. The results are good, in line with the video performance of other HD-capable 
digital still cameras.
In Tripod mode, contrast-detect autofocus can be used. However, the process is slow and the sound is clearly captured by the camera’s on-board microphone. An optional stereo microphone may be used, and capturing audio away from the camera body would help avoid the noise of autofocus, though it wouldn’t make the process appear any smoother on-screen.
You can always pull focus manually when moving around or zooming, though this does take a fair amount of practice. Really, the D300s’s video mode is best suited to fixed-focus recording from a tripod. For truly mobile recording, a dedicated video camera is going to give far better performance in terms of autofocus if nothing else.
Some basic on-camera editing of videos is supported — namely, cutting off the start or end. While it may seem trivial, this can remove those awkward “is it on yet?” moments without the need for video editing software. If you’re going to have any video editing options at all, these are certainly the most useful.
Storage
Like Nikon’s professional D3 and D3X models, the D300s features dual card slots. The primary slot accepts Compact Flash (CF) cards, while the secondary slot accepts SD and SDHC cards. When shooting with two cards, various storage options are available: all shots can be backed up across both, the secondary card can take any overflow once the first card is full, or the primary (CF) card can store RAW files while the secondary (SD) card stores JPEGs. The latter option is great if you want to combine the convenience of immediately useable JPEG images with the post-processing potential of RAW files without compromising on storage space or speed.
The camera’s top LCD shows the images remaining and the status of both card slots, even while the camera is switched off. This is great when you want to check the capacity of several cards in the field: just pop each one into the camera and see the space remaining, without even touching the power switch.
Conclusion
As Nikon’s most powerful crop-sensor digital SLR, the D300s is a fine upgrade for anyone with a stock of Nikon DX format lenses. It’s also an excellent starting point for serious amateurs entering the dSLR market and looking for high-end features but not ready to shell out for a full-frame sensor.
Nikon D300S – Specifications
Manufacturer: Nikon
Model: D300s
RRP: $3659 Inc. Lexar 4GB SD card
Effective Pixels: 12.3 million
Image Sensor: 23.6 x 15.8mm CMOS (Nikon DX format)
Viewfinder: ~100% frame coverage
LCD Monitor: 3-inch, 920,000 dot (VGA) TFT LCD, 100% frame coverage
Shutter: 1/8000 to 30 seconds, bulb ISO: 200-3200 in steps of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV (also supports ISO100 and ISO6400 equivalent)
Exposure Metering: 3D Colour Matrix Metering II (type G and D lenses), Colour Matrix Metering II (other CPU lenses), centre-weighted, spot
Media: Compact Flash (Type I), SD/SDHC
File Format: NEF (RAW) 12- or 14-bit, TIFF (RGB), JPEG, AVI
Interface: USB 2.0, composite video out, HDMI video out
Batteries: Rechargeable lithium-ion, approx 950 images
Dimensions: 147 x 114 x 74mm
Weight: 840g (without battery or memory card)
Reviewed with Lenses:
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED VR (21-36mm equivalent on the DX format D300s)
Nikon DX AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G
Contact
www.nikon.co.nz
PROS
- Great image quality
- Powerful feature set
- HD video recording
CONS
- Not the most comfortable grip
- Slight image noise
Design 18
Performance 18
Features 19
Image Quality 17
Value for money 18
TOTAL 90/100
This article is from D-Photo 33.
February 10th, 2010 by D-Photo
Claimed to be the world’s smallest digital compact camera with a 10x zoom lens, Fujifilm’s FinePix F70EXR brings a range of powerful new features to the ultra-compact market, says Harley Ogier
Design
Sleek and subtly rounded, the F70EXR is an excellent about-town camera; it feels solid enough to be pocketed without a case, and has few sharp corners to ruin the line of your jacket or trousers. The cost of that sleekness is a very plastic look and feel, all shiny surfaces that attract fingerprints faster than you could possibly hope to remove them.
The controls are pretty standard for a compact camera and easy to figure out without having to delve into the manual. Everything can be operated one-handed, and although the plastic body can be a little slippery, it fits nicely in the hand and isn’t too easy to drop.
Image Quality
Image quality is better than average, though like all compacts the F70EXR displays some image noise under all but the most brilliant lighting. The ‘EXR’ automatic shooting mode produces good results in a wide range of environments, both indoors and out. Dynamic range is particularly good, though in extreme sunlight you can still end up with a white-out sky.
Although you get good results for free, the F70EXR is capable of much more. Only when you switch over to the scene modes or manual controls do you really make the most of the camera’s capabilities. Noise can be virtually eliminated and dynamic range can be improved to a level that rivals many amateur dSLRs.
Shooting Modes
The F70EXR includes several highly innovative shooting modes aimed at working around some of the limitations of the compact camera format.
A ‘Pro Focus’ mode allows you to take shots with your subject in focus and the background blurred. Creating a shallow depth of field like this is notoriously difficult on the average digital compact, if not outright impossible — it’s a capability dependent on the lens, not something that can be easily emulated in software.
Fujifilm takes the clever approach of shooting multiple frames: one of your subject in focus, and the rest of the background out of focus. These are then superimposed into a single image, with impressive results. There can be a fair amount of image noise generated, especially where the subject and background meet. Still, it’s a small price to pay for a feature that other digital compact owners just can’t have.
Using a similar multiple-image approach, a ‘Pro Low-Light’ mode provides impressive low-light performance without using the flash. The results in very dim light are noisy but passable, where other high-end compacts fail to produce a usable image at all. Under reasonable indoor lighting, results are virtually noise-free and far exceed the quality of images shot by similar cameras in the same environment.
Conclusion
Those only interested in pressing the shutter button won’t be disappointed by the F70EXR but they’ll never make the most of their new camera. Truly, this is one for the digital compact buyer who wants to put some effort into researching and tweaking settings for the perfect image.
FUJIFILM
FINEPIX F70EXR – SPECS
Manufacturer: Fujifilm
Model: FinePix F70EXR
Effective Pixels: 10.0 million
Lens: 5-50mm (35mm equivalent 27-270mm)
Viewfinder: None
Monitor: 2.7-inch TFT LCD,
230,000 dots
Shutter: 1/2000 to 1/4 seconds,
up to 8 seconds in manual modes
Aperture: Wide – f3.3-f6.4,
Telephoto – f5.6-f11.0
ISO: 100-12,800
Shooting Modes: Auto, EXR, natural light & with flash, scene, program, manual, movie
Exposure Metering: Multi-
segment (256 zones)
Focus Modes: Auto focus (multi, centre), continuous AF
Internal Memory: ~47MB
Media: SD, SDHC
File Format: JPEG, AVI, WAV
Flash: Built-in
Interface: USB 2.0, Composite
video out
Batteries: Rechargeable lithium-ion
Dimensions: 99.3 x 58.9 x 22.7mm
Weight: 180g without battery or card
CONTACT
www.fujifilm.co.nz
PROS
- High image quality
- Good dynamic range
CONS
- Manual settings necessary for
best performance
Design 17
Performance 18
Features 18
Image Quality 17
Value for money 16
TOTAL 86/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
February 10th, 2010 by D-Photo
Nikon’s D3000 offers a great stepping stone to the world of dSLRs, says Harley Ogier
Nikon’s new entry-level dSLR, the D3000 aims to make dSLR photography accessible to the beginner in terms of both useability and price.
The D3000 is a Nikon DX format (crop-sensor) camera, compatible with a huge range of existing Nikkor lenses. The camera is available bundled with a nice 18-55mm zoom lens (equivalent to 27-82.5mm in 35mm film terms). This is a pretty good all-rounder that beginners 
will find sufficient for a wide range of photography.
If you’re looking for an entry-level dSLR as a stepping stone to a more serious model, any Nikon DX format lens you purchase will be compatible with the full range of Nikon’s DX format cameras.
You can go wider, longer, whatever you need without tying yourself to an entry-level camera forever.
Though entry level, the D3000 performs brilliantly alongside Nikon’s existing DX format range. The image sensor is a 10.2 megapixel CCD, as opposed to the 12-plus megapixel CMOS sensors used in higher end models. CCD sensors tend to produce less image noise than their CMOS equivalents but operate more slowly. The D3000 does in fact produce beautifully low-noise images, though the maximum ISO speed is lower than its higher end siblings.
Read the rest of this entry »
February 4th, 2010 by D-Photo
Professional sports photographer Michael Bradley tries out Sony’s new zoom lens
This new Sony zoom might suit photographers in search of a 400mm lens to add to their kits, but who don’t have the budget to shell out the big-bucks for an f2.8 prime lens. There are, however, a few catches.
On the plus side, this long zoom has the added benefit of built-in image stabilisation, which really is a great feature. It allowed me to easily take hand-held shots at 1/60 of a second at 400mm with impressive results.
During field testing I used the 70-400mm on a family trip to the zoo. I decided to only pack one lens, and the Sony’s versatility was impressive. I was very happy with some images, especially at 400mm, without having to lug around a cumbersome f2.8 prime lens.
On first impression the 70-400mm’s silver finish might look a little on the cheap side. Personally, I’m not a fan, but there’s no doubt it sets the lens apart from the more common black or white chassis.
It doesn’t seem to feel as sturdy or water tight as competing lenses from the other leading brands, either. Nor does it easily zoom from wide to full zoom in one easy motion, and there is a need to readjust your grip to finish the zooming from 70mm right through to 400mm.
The aperture of the lens is only f4-5.6, which means it is a bit slow to shoot night or indoor sports. This keeps both the price and size of the lens down, but will limit its use to keen amateurs and not the professional sports photographer.
The lens was also a little slow to lock on to its focus, while tracking fast-moving subjects was not the best. In fairness, this can be the case for a lot of zoom lenses, even some high-end, professional-level models.
I was very impressed with the sharpness of the lens when shooting wide open, with images captured at 400mm of a very high standard. The bokeh (out-of-focus blur) was less pleasing when compared to prime lenses, but then the price difference between the zoom and prime lenses is also unpleasant.
Although I’m not a big fan of zoom lenses, I was fairly impressed with this model, particularly keeping in mind its market: the serious amateur. Undoubtedly it’d be a great lens to have in a two-lens kit along with a 24-80mm. It would also be ideal for the likes of wildlife or travel photographers who need to keep the bulk of their kit to a minimum but still want a long lens at their disposal.
Personally, I’d be happy to take it on an overseas trip where space was at a premium, knowing that in the end, the results would be of a very high quality. n
Sony SAL70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Zoom Lens – Specs
Manufacturer: Sony
Model: SAL70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Zoom Lens
Lens Construction: 18 elements in 12 groups (2 ED glass elements)
Focal Length: 105-600mm (35mm equivalent)
Zoom Ratio: 5.7x
Maximum Aperture: f22
Minimum Aperture: f32
Minimum Focus Distance: 1.5m
Magnification: x0.27
Filter Diameter: 77mm
Supplied Accessories: Front and rear lens cap, lens hood, carrying case
Dimensions: 94.5 x 196mm
Weight: 1500g
CONTACT
www.sony.co.nz
PROS
- Versatile
- Built-in image stabilisation
CONS
- Slow to lock on to a subject
- Build quality could be improved
Design 16
Performance 14
Features 18
Image Quality 15
Value for money 15
TOTAL 78/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
February 4th, 2010 by D-Photo
Epson’s slender TX550W all-in-one inkjet manages to pack considerable functionality into its sleek black chassis. Along with USB and Ethernet connectivity, the TX550W is also able to be used wirelessly — ideal for remote locations in the home/office that do not have access to cabled USB or Ethernet connections.
Epson’s entry-level CMYK Durabrite inks are used; these pigment-based inks have a fairly wide colour gamut, but for photo printing I’d have liked a dedicated photo black on board as well. The only printer in this roundup to use a piezoelectric print head (the other two are bubble jets), Epson’s variable dot technology offers droplet sizes as miniscule as two picolitres. That suggested no visible dot structure, and so it was — I was unable to detect any form of dot using my keen eyesight, while viewing under a glass produced almost the same result. A decent scanner and good paper handling make up the feature set.
During my time with the TX550W I was unable to get the printer up and running wirelessly; luckily, my trusty old USB cable came to the rescue and I was soon cluttering up my office with print after print. Once I’d installed the bundled software onto my Mac (Easy Photo Print/Event Manager/Photo Enhance and so on) it was time to get stuck in.
Draft black text and colour printing was rapid at my timed 28ppm (limited by my poor old G4 Mac, I think — Epson quotes 36ppm), fed by the 120-sheet feeder (120 sheets of plain 60gsm).
Photo printing times were pretty good all round. A bordered A4 print (using Epson Premium Photo Paper Glossy) on the highest quality setting took around three minutes from the moment the TX550W whirred into action. Print quality was good here, although I felt the lack of a dedicated photo black made dark scenes a touch lacking in depth. However, it isn’t a dedicated photographic printer, but a home office device with photo printing ability. Otherwise the Epson produced a good blend of highly resolved and natural colours with excellent detail.
The scanner is also worth mentioning, providing good resolution at the maximum claimed 2400 x 2400dpi. I used it to scan some old silver-halide photos (remember those?), and the printed result was certainly close to the original, with only a subtle generational loss and slightly muted colour reproduction to separate the original and copy in terms of quality. So while the TX550W may not be the printer of choice for diehard photographic enthusiasts, it is certainly capable of some pretty good results for the majority of us snap-happy chappies.
EPSON STYLUS TX550W – Specs
Print Speed: Up to 36ppm (black and colour text, draft)
Print Resolution: Up to 5760 x 1440dpi
Cartridges: Black, cyan, magenta, yellow
Scanner: 48-bit, 2400 x 2400dpi
Copier: Approx 36cpm (draft)
Memory Card Compatibility: CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD/MMC, xD
Dimensions: 450 x 342 x 182mm (W/D/H)
Weight: 6.1kg
CONTACT
www.epson.co.nz
PROS
- Great bang for the buck
- Nice detailed prints
CONS
- Difficult wireless setup
- Slightly one-dimensional blacks
Design 18
Performance 17
Features 17
Image Quality 17
Value for money 18
TOTAL 87/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
January 22nd, 2010 by D-Photo
Canons stylish new MP550 doesn’t have the same level of features as other printers we’ve tested. For starters, there’s no wireless connectivity (for that you’ll need the dearer MP560), and it also lacks the fax function of the HP. Not that many people have use for a fax these days, but I guess some of us still cling on to the technology.
What the MP550 does have is excellent photographic print quality — in fact remarkable quality, considering it is basically just a CMYK machine.
Part of the secret behind the print quality can be found in Canon’s Chromalife100+ ink set, which uses a dye-based extended gamut CMYK set and dedicated black pigment ink for laser-quality text printing. The other part of the equation is the FINE bubble-jet print head, which is capable of droplets as small as two picolitres for grain-free, continuous-tone photographic prints.
I also have a lot of time for Canon’s print drivers and bundled ICC profiles, as the MP550 happily printed exceptional prints using other manufacturers’ premium media, with results unmatched by the other two machines on test.
A decent scanner is included, while the hidden main paper tray has a generous 300-sheet capacity (probably 60gsm plain bond).
Once I’d inserted the print head and loaded inks, I was good to go with loading the Canon software, which includes Easy-PhotoPrint EX and a nifty little Solution menu taskbar allowing easy access to all the MP550’s functions. The software setup took around 15 minutes in total, and using the supplied USB cable I was printing in no time at all.
Armed with a pack of A4 300gsm Canon Photo Paper Platinum, the MP550 offered excellent print quality; skin tones on my family photographs were realistic (keep out of the sun, Jeff!), while micro-details were easily discernable. As with the other two printers here, there was no visible dot structure, and even close checking with a magnifying glass failed to reveal much in the way of dot patterns. Black reproduction was just shaded by the HP, but not by much.
The MP550 also didn’t hang around in terms of print speed; my borderless A4 prints took a whisker over three minutes at the highest quality setting. Great stuff indeed. In fact the only nitpick I could aim at the MP550 is its build quality, which is lightweight in terms of construction compared to the other two.
Even considering this, it was a super result, and bearing in mind the all-rounder abilities of the MP550 — it is a home office device, after all — the printer certainly made an impression (no pun intended).
Canon Pixma MP550 – Specs
Print Speed: Up to 36ppm (text, draft)
Print Resolution: 9600 x 2400dpi
Cartridges: Black, cyan, magenta, yellow
Scanner: 48-bit, 2400 x 4800dpi
Copier: Up to 8cpm (black text), 3.8cpm (colour text and graphics)
Memory Card Compatibility: CompactFlash, Memory Stick, SD/MMC, xD
Dimensions: 450 x 368 x 160mm
Weight: 8.1kg
CONTACT
www.epson.co.nz
PROS
- Inexpensive,
- Excellent print quality and detail
CONS
- No inbuilt wireless
- Flimsy build
Design 18
Performance 19
Features 16
Image Quality 19
Value for money 18
TOTAL 90/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
January 22nd, 2010 by D-Photo
Printing professional GARY PEARCE runs the ruler over three printers
Designed primarily for the home office, HP’s new A4 format Photosmart Premium Fax C309 is a feature-packed device with excellent performance as a photo printer.
Its wireless connectivity meant one less cable cluttering the spaghetti nightmare located behind my computer desk, and the decent scanner made a good fist of the documents and photographs I trialled during the test. The C309 is also able print automatically on both sides of a sheet of paper (or duplex print, in tech parlance), and those wishing to save on paper costs would be wise to take note of this feature.
Setup was easy, and after about 10 minutes of loading the excellent bundled software, I was up and running and had the C309 connected wirelessly. Printing, scanning and copying then began in earnest.
I was able to print labels directly to CDs and DVDs with a minimum of fuss using the nifty caddy system incorporated underneath the easy-to-read LCD screen/control panel.
The C309 has six dye-based Vivera ink cartridges on board (photo black/black/cyan/magenta/yellow) so there is no need to change black cartridges when swapping from text to photo printing.
Paper handling capacity is reasonable, but since the C309 can hurtle through black and white printing at 33 pages per minute, the 50-sheet output tray is going to need a lot of attention from the user.
It’s quite a bulky unit but the fashionable cream and grey aesthetics blended well with my Mac-based office.
Armed with a fresh pack of HP Premium Plus 280gsm photo paper, I set about reproducing some of my favourite photos — a variety of high-resolution and not so hi-res TIFF and JPEG files.
Printing a bordered A4 took around five minutes — a touch on the slow side but the printed result was very good. The C309 acquitted itself very well; my naked eye couldn’t perceive any sort of dot structure, while colours were well rendered and natural. Because it is basically a CMYK device (no RGB or orange/green — what did you expect?) vivid fluoro-like colours from flowers and insects were slightly muted. But ultimately the Photosmart Premium Fax C309 is a potent, feature-packed home office printer with a good level of photo printing performance.
HP Photosmart Premium Fax C309 – Specs
Print Speed: Up to 33ppm (black, draft); 32ppm (colour, draft); 12ppm (black, normal); 9.5ppm (colour, normal)
Print Resolution: Up to 600 x 600dpi (black, best); 9600 x 2400dpi (colour, best)
Cartridges: 5 – black, photo black, cyan, magenta, yellow, plus option XL
Scanner: 48-bit; up to 4800dpi
Copier: Up to 33cpm; up to 1200dpi (black text); up to 4800 x 1200dpi (colour text and graphics)
Fax: 3 sec/page; up to 300 x 300dpi
Memory Card Compatibility: CompactFlash, Memory Stick/Duo, SD/MMC, SDHC, xD
Dimensions: 468 x 473 x 283mm (W/D/H)
Weight: 10.4kg
CONTACT
www.hp.co.nz
PROS
- Amazing all in-one-solution with excellent wireless connectivity
CONS
- The price, but it’s hard to complain considering the amount of firepower on board
Design 18
Performance 18
Features 20
Image Quality 17
Value for money 17
TOTAL 90/100
This article is from D-Photo 32.
