Digital Photography Blog

Focusing on Digital Photography

Given the vast resource that flickr must have behind it, you’d think they’d fix whatever keeps breaking…

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  • Filed under: Miscellaneous
  • Canon EOS 50D Announced

    The rumours and reports of accidentally published official web pages have finally been ratified with the announcement of the latest Canon digital SLR; the EOS 50D.  Just a year younger than its sibling, the 40D, the new mid-range camera once again brings Canon up to speed with the latest Nikon releases with features such including:

    • 15.1 MP (APS-C) CMOS sensor
    • DIGIC 4 processor
    • ISO range up to 12800
    • 3.0″ 920,000 dot VGA LCD with Live View
    • Face detection technology [on a semi-pro model?!]
    • AF adjustment

    I’ll leave the feature debate for others and simply say that I won’t be replacing my 40D with the new 50D.  Why?  The feature set isn’t so different from that of the 40D and the next major feature step for me would be to a full frame sensor body.  Even then, I don’t see such a purchase anywhere on my horizon.  For the time being, my 40D serves me well.  Besides, £1,200 would be better spent on a nice, shiny new 70-200 f/2.8 L IS USM lens instead.

    Read a preview of the 50D at DPReview and place your pre-order at Warehouse Express.

    Also in the news is the release of the Canon EF-S 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens; a lens that’s sure to be popular as a walkabout lens.

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  • Filed under: Canon, Equipment
  • A question that I often see being asked in photography forums is

    What’s a good walkabout lens for my xxxD?

    Rather than it being a reference to lenses with legs, a walkabout lens is one with which you might take out on a day of walking whether it be to a park, to the shops or to your friends barbeque. The requirement being that because you don’t know what type of subject you’re going to come across you take a lens that can cover most general situations rather than lugging about a heavy bag filled with lenses.

    Prime lenses don’t fall into this category very well unless you’re deliberately wanting to restrict yourself to a single focal length. As such, zoom lenses - particularly those around the ’standard’ lengths - are favoured for this role. In particular, zoom lenses that start at a wider (<= 35mm) focal length and reach up to short telephoto (=> 50mm). These ranges often provide a good balance between focal length range, image quality, cost and weight.

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  • Filed under: Canon, Equipment, Travel
  • Over the past few months, I’ve spent a not too small an amount of money on parking and entrance fees to various National Trust properties.  Seeing as though I plan to visit many more, it makes sense to take advantage of the benefits offered to NT members such as:

    • Free entry and parking at over 300 historic sites
    • Free parking at countryside and coastline locations
    • A members guide book to all NT sites
    • Newsletters about special events
    • 3 editions of the NT magazine
    • Free access to National Trust for Scotland sites as well as others around the world.

    If you’re not yet a member of the National Trust and considering signing up then you might like to know that you can currently get a free pair of binoculars by using one of the many promotional links scattered around the web. To find one of these links just Read the rest of this entry »

    In-Camera Neutral Density Filter

    As a photographer, there are certain times when you might want to use a relatively slow shutter speed in order to increase exposure time. An example of such an occasion is when photographing a scene containing moving water and you want the movement of the water to be captured as a milky mist for dramatic effect.

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