NEW! Nikon D750 Digital SLR

Now to be honest, my first reaction to reading the D750 specifications and seeing photos of the body was... slight disappointment. Consumer looking body, no AF-on button, no pro-camera 10-pin remote connector, some important settings buttons, like ISO, along the back rather than to the top-left of the VF where all the pro bodies have had them (and where I've gotten used to finding them!), consumer-grade slide-in VF eyecup, WiFi instead of GPS darn-it (okay fine... most will actually prefer having WiFi) and what the heck… it is even lighter than a D610?! How can this be a pro body, worthy of being the "true" successor to the D700?

Then the good points starting sinking in, some to me quite unexpected, such as the fact that it potentially has even better autofocus than the D810 or D4S, with not only the excellent 51-point pro-series AF sporting the new Group-Area-AF mode, but the fact that it's rated to be more sensitive in low light allowing for focusing down to -3 EV, a whole stop lower light than the others. The D750 also has the same video mode enhancements found on the D810, including zebra-stripes to show overexposure clipping, faster frame-rates in full-HD, Auto-ISO in manual mode and more.

NEW! Fujifilm X30 - Pre-order Special!

Fujifilm has announced a successor to the X20 called, unsurprisingly, the X30. While the lens (stabilized 28-112mm f/2-2.8) and sensor (12MP X-Trans CMOS II) remain unchanged (at least on paper), it might be that once I get a chance to test a production camera, they could show some improvements? In any case, there are indeed many other very substantial enhancements in Fujifilm's latest flagship point & shoot. Let's start with the viewfinder…

Nikon D810 - Available tomorrow - July 17th!

Unlike the initial constrained availability of the popular D800 and D800E, the new Nikon D810 has actually shipped in relatively generous quantities. As you can see, we've had to hire a guard to fend off customers wanting to pick one up a day early!

We are actually able to fulfill our pre-orders and even have a small number left  to sell. If you want a D810 quickly, then do not hesitate to call and reserve one today since you'll be able to pick it up tomorrow! They will be selling for $3,499…

I had a quick look at the D810 that will be going into our rental dept. and my initial feedback is positive. The new, quieter and smoother shutter and mirror mechanism are truly a huge step up, making the camera sound and feel much more refined. Also, quiet mode is now actually much quieter too, so if you are trying to be unobtrusive, the new D810 might just be the quietest pro DSLR on the market today. The camera not only shoots faster, it also has substantially larger raw and/or jpeg buffers and its UI is more responsive in many ways.

Despite some reports to the contrary, I did find low-light live-view to be significantly improved compared to the D800, especially since you can now just push the Pv button (depth-of-field preview) while in live-view and force the camera to open its lens up wide from whatever your set working aperture. Press Pv a second time and the aperture closes down again, or just take a shot. On the D800, you'd be doing a lot of scroll wheel spinning to open and close the aperture while doing low-light live-view work. Also, the zoomed in resolution of the D810 seems a fair bit higher, making it easier to accurately focus manually in all light levels.

Those are just a few quick first impressions: look for a more detailed review in the coming weeks where I plan on comparing its image quality to a D800, checking out the small-RAW to see how effective it really is and more...

FUSION 2014 Tickets on Sale - Early Bird Discount Ends July 31

Do not wait too long to book yours!
Speaker tickets include FREE tradeshow with booths from: Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Tiffen, Sennheiser, Profoto and more...

This year we have 15 speakers from the industry speaking on a whole range of topics. Check out the website for detailed info but in the meantime, here`s a schedule for the day to get you going.

http://www.photographiefestival.ca/event-schedule/fusion-2014/speakers/

Used Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8 ED VR

Used Nikon AF-S 400mm f/2.8 ED VR  Very clean condition. Comes with hard case, manual and front and back lens caps.

                  TAG # 5373                                         $7500.00      $6500.00   SOLD

NEW! Nikon D810 36.3MP Digital SLR

NEW! Nikon D810 36.3MP Digital SLR

($3,499 CDN - Available starting July 17)

[For a detailed list of changes see: D810/D800/D800E Comparison Sheet - 515KB PDF]

Nikon has announced the D810, a successor to both the D800 and D800E digital SLRs. While there is nothing dramatically ground-breaking (the D810 name might have been enough of a clue to tell you that already), there are indeed numerous enhancements that might make a fairly big difference depending on your shooting style or subject matter. Firstly, let’s discuss the sensor…

The D800 had an anti-aliasing (AA) filter in front of the sensor and its function was to ever so slightly blur the finest details across more than one pixel. This is generally useful to help prevent stair-stepping on hard edges, false-colour in fine details as well as colour and luminance moiré. Without going into all the technical details, the D800E had “half” an AA filter, and then a “refocusing” filter to cancel this half AA filter, the intention being to ensure that maximum detail is retained. The reason that Nikon didn’t simply leave out the AA filter entirely (a much easier solution) was that they needed the same thickness of “filter-pack” in front of the sensor on both the D800 and D800E. Whether or not this is the only reason, I cannot be sure but in any case, the D810 has now completely done away with this somewhat complicated and now unnecessary solution since there is only one camera and no separate ‘E’ version. This is, in my view, a major improvement and may indeed prove to have slight benefits in detail rendition, even over the old D800E. As far as concerns about moiré and aliasing (will it be worse than the D800E?), one won’t really know until detailed side by side tests are done. However given that the D800E wasn’t all that much more prone to these image artifacts than the regular D800, hopefully they will remain minimal on the D810 as well.

EX Rentals Dynalite XP1100

We are selling off the XP1000 from rentals. It comes with 3 batteries, one of which is only a few months old. The XP1100 AC Power Inverter provides 110 Volt AC power for lighting gear on location. It will provide power to any other manufacturer’s 1000 w/s — or lower — 110 volt power pack or monolight. It eliminates the need to rent noisy gas-powered generators. Its charger functions with almost any AC voltage: 100-240VAC, and will shut down upon completion of charge and will not harm the battery. This inverter requires only 2 hours for an 80% charge (5 hours for full charge). The XP1100 can provide over 200 full-power flashes with a 1000 w/s strobe and an average recycle time of 1.5 seconds.

Used Dynalite XP1000 and 3 batteries $750.00    $650.00

New Gitzo Mountaineer tripods

The rumors have proved to be true, Gitzo has now announced that they have totally redesigned the Mountaineer series of tripods.

The research and development team at Gitzo have started at the very core of the tripod and improved on the material the tripod is made of. The new Mountaineer tripods use HM (High Modulus) carbon fibre for increased stiffness and strength, producing a stronger, more reliable tripod. This improvement also allows for wider tube diameters in the lower leg sections which can often be a tripods weakest point. Also a big improvement is the new “ground level set”. This innovative design allows you to quickly remove the lower portion of centre column and then lock down only the upper most section. Next they have improved on the leg lock system with the new “G-lock Ultra”, and added internal “O” rings to keep dirt and grit out.

One of the major differences between Gitzo and other professional CF tripods is how smooth and fast it is to set up a Gitzo tripod. I have seen many CF tripods at trade shows and brought in to Beau Photo by sales reps, and they never come close to the smoothness and ease of use of a Gitzo tripod. Yes they do cost more, but when you invest in a quality made product, you have a tripod you want to take out and use, and you are not left feeling frustrated as you struggle to extend the legs of a tripod that feels like just had rigor mortis set in.

The new Gitzo Mountaineer tripods will be arriving soon. Call us for pricing.

FUSION 2014 - September 28th

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE & RECONNECTING TO THE PAST

IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 1^ST ANNUAL PHOTOGRAPHIE FESTIVAL

(Register now for Early Bird pricing - to July 31st. Space is limited)

Fusion is back for the 4^th year and this year we are moving the date to the Fall – Sunday, September 28^th, and partnering with some pretty great people.

This year Fusion 2014 will be a part of PHOTOgraphie - PPOC-BC's professional photography festival. The festival’s purpose is to inspire and share the value of photography through education, gallery exhibitions and salon competition. We are also partnering with Vancouver Photo Workshops who have a great pool of local instructors along with a long list of international photographers that they bring in for Master Classes. With these new partnerships we are able to expand the scope of Fusion 2014 to not only focus on the latest in DSLR video but also include the ever popular still photography.

Fusion 2014 will be held at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Vancouver on Sunday, September 28th. This location offers the opportunity to present four 90 minute speaker sessions running concurrently, with four blocks throughout the day for a total of 16 presentations. The trade show will run in the great hall from 8:30am to 4:00pm, and attendees will be able to buy trade show only tickets or individual speaker tickets which will include a free trade show pass.

Fusion 2013 featured booths from:  Nikon, Canon, Profoto, Tiffen, Vancouver Photo Workshops, Panasonic, Red Raven Markerting, Hasselblad, NEC, Van Arts, Amplis and more. Fusion 2014 will include some new vendors in order to show the Vancouver photographic community what can happen when the photo industry collaborates to put on a fantastic event.

Hasselblad H5D-50C versus Nikon D800...

This is a continuation of the previous blog entry: Hasselblad H5D-50C - CMOS sensor magic!

The second instalment of my Hasselblad H5D-50C tests will compare its sensor performance to the Nikon D800. This could be interesting for several reasons: Sony makes the CMOS sensor used in both cameras, the D800 is known to have excellent usable dynamic range with very clean shadows that are free from colour noise or banding and cross-hatching artifacts and lastly, in the past most digital backs were not known for their high ISO performance. So the question is, how does the new H5D-50C with its 50 megapixel sensor stack up to the the Nikon D800 when it comes to dynamic range and high ISO image quality? As a matter of fact, the new Hasselblad equals or outperforms the D800 in these tests at pretty much every ISO, right up to ISO 6400... remarkable!