When Canon strikes back at Nikon

When Nikon took the place of the top camera with the D300, D700 and D3, I was pretty sure it will be short-lived because Canon, knowing them, must have the best, the top. I’m sure they’ve been doing a lot of R&D since then (especially on high ISO performance). Now, The EOS 50D is out. And I freaking want one. I just knew about it a few minutes ago, after school. I’m surprised it’s announced before Photokina, which is scheduled for next week and is where fellow photographers are hoping hard for Canon to announce a 5D Mark II. I know I shouldn’t be so boastful that Canon is striking back and all, but I think this is only the first move from Canon. Just like those Nikon users said when the D3/D300 came out. Take that. Btw, Nikon users are keeping nicely quiet on some forums. I’ll see what they have to say, especially about the high ISO boost, because that was the only major thing they could say that was better than Canon.

Changes look substantial but trust me, there are physical changes. Somehow, it looks more pleasing to my eyes than the 40D.

Here’s a run through the specifications of the 50D.

1.6X crop CMOS

15.1 megapixels

DiG!C IV processor

6.3fps max burst with limit of 90 JPEGs with UDMA card

ISO 100-3200 with expansion option to ISO 12800 (I can’t wait to see how it fares here)

HDMI compatibility

3″ ‘clear view’ VGA LCD (ala-Nikon D300/D3/D700, their LCD panels are all the same) display with Live-View and face detection live AF

So, what do I have to say about it? I want it! Especially for its DiG!C IV and ISO 12800. But I might instead get a 40D sometime later, maybe after PMR (with the 400D becoming a back-up) because its price is going on a free-fall now. Heh. It was just in school today I was thinking about it.

They’ve also announced a new lens, a much anticipated one. One that I was just saying the other day that they should have it in their lineup.

More on the 50D here. Dpreview is expecting to have a hands-on preview up later today.

It’s the EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS. Thought so it was going to be like that.

How nice. Just throw it into the bag and you can shoot planes to architecture without switching lenses and carrying the extra weight.

Wow, I have to say I like that 50D.

note: Photos from Canon Press Library

Update: According to some sources, Canon has 2 cameras (probably with a couple of new lenses) in the pipeline to launch at this year’s Photokina. My guess is the 5D Mark II and 1D Mark IIIN. One will probably be announced tomorrow, 28 August. I read there will be an EF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM too. And yeah, Nikon announced the D90 today to replace the D80. It’s got a video shooting function, which IMHO makes it like a PnS but is useful.

+ Speedlite

+ the Speedlite yestarday. That 580EX II is huge. From photos, I never would have thought it’s that big. But that’s what matters, because the bigger the flash head, the more light. And I discovered strobing can really be tough. Because we photographers do not use direct flash like reporters and have to find a proper bouncing surface. You have to estimate what shutter speed you need, the power of the flash and factor in your bouncing and diffuser. Doing full manual without a flash already isn’t easy… This, this is difficult. But the results are stunning (sometimes). Right now, I feel only about 3 out of 10 shots I take with the flash come out exposed properly.

Portraits, with the flash bounced at 75°, doesn’t look like they’re taken with the flash. That’s a real advantage. I also don’t get a really dark shadow around the subject, which I do with direct flash. The bounce from the ceiling gives such a evenly lit environment and the flash is warm-toned, which is nice (: I’ll do a simple review once I’ve learned a lot that I’ve got to. Might buy the Digital Field Guide from Wiley’s too, cause I’m really blur about strobing and have never done it before. Overall, I’m VERY happy with the flash. This one is a used, but in a condition it’ll sell as a new one, with an unfilled Canon Malaysia warranty. I got it at a price so good it’ll probably make Canon 430EX owners sob. The 580EX II comes with a polyester case and a mini stand (for stroboscopic purposes and sometimes, for display purposes).

I mentioned it’s big, no?

+ a Stofen Omni-Bounce for that great bare-light natural effect to the flash. That piece of plastic isn’t cheap though I still haven’t installed it yet, because it’s not easy to put on the flash head.

+ Uniross Hybrio AA batteries and a charger in a package called Pro Pack or something, which has a battery tester to see the power status. It’s rated at 2100mAh and seems to be as good as the legendary Sanyo Eneloops which I wanted but was out of stock. Maha Powerex, capable of super-fast recharge time, was also out of stock.

+ a FD lens – EOS body adaptor to use those manual focus FD lenses on the EOS Digital bodies. After testing, I discovered that standard FD lenses can actually be on par with today’s EF L-Series lenses The saturation and colour just as good and the bokeh is so good I’ll describe it as creamy. And I found out that the FD 50mm f/3.5 Macro plus extension tube can produce amazing macro photographs. Surprisingly, manual focusing it isn’t that hard.

Okay, last one, I SWEAR.

A Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM

It’s a super-sharp, ‘true’ macro lens with a 1:1 magnification ratio. The best part, it can also be used as a portraiture lens, because a 100mm f/2.8 is similar to a 50mm f/1.4. Great, a multi-purpose lens that’s a prime. I likey. But haven’t got the time and subjects to try it out yet.

400D + 100mm + 580EX II and torn golf ball I was supposed to shoot months ago but my lights spoiled.

Okay, that’s what i got.

During the holidays, I’ve been studying, even when it’s after the trials AND it’s the holidays. Something like 2 hours a day, mostly on Math and History, where I normally suck. The determination is there, people (:

Cooliris

This is so cool I just had to share it. For you photographers out there that don’t have your own physical gallery on a wall at home, this is for you. It’s a Firefox-based, web-based addon for browsing images on enabled sites (Google, Yahoo, Deviantart, flickr). And it’s free. Of course, this is no match for Adobe Lightroom, which accesses your hard disk and not the web and processes RAW files, but it’s a nice add-on so just give it a try if you’re using Firefox 3. It’s like a virtual gallery for your flickr/Deviantart and other people’s photos.

Here are some screenshots to get you drooling. Photos are of my flickr photostream (:

Overview of the gallery. It will load every image you have in your photostream.

Closer look. Hover your mouse over any image in it and it shows the title.

Scroll through images.

And click on them for a larger view. You can click the web button next to the title to access the image through Firefox.

Tempted enough? Download the Beta here.

Something off topic:

I’ve been watching the Olympics ever since it started, mostly swimming, diving, gymnastics, athletics, cycling and volleyball (and of course badminton).

Michael Phelps himself could grab 8 gold medals in this Olympic Games alone, blowing every other swimmer away and smashing 7 world records out of the 8 events he participated in. The other one was an Olympic record. That, while our Malaysian athletes that have been competing since whoever knows when has been struggling and we only got a single silver this Olympics from Lee Chong Wei while we hoped for a gold. See the stark contrast?

Usain Bolt cruised to a world record in both the 100m and 200m sprint and it seemed effortless for him.

Yelena Isinbayeva got a world record of 5.05m in the pole vault, after some failures, while most men can’t even breach 5m. Proof that determination and persistence can get you there.

I have to admit, it was pretty unfair for Nastia Liukin, who had to go in a tie breaker for the gold in artistic gymnastics against China’s He Kexin and ended up getting a silver. Why couldn’t they just give both a gold like they do if two people get a dead heat in running/sprinting?

Well, I sure enjoyed this Summer Olympics and am still enjoying it. Gotta be looking forward to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the next 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The expectations are high for the English to host an even better one.

KLIA Plane Spotting

I’ve become an avid fan of plane spotting since April this year. Unfortunately, I don’t get to travel by air much so most of the time I just go by KLIA’s weather station to spot airliners in action. These photos were taken on Friday, 08/08/08. They were using Runway 14R for take-offs this time. Great. I love take-offs. Landings are a little quite because the engines are normally idle. I used the 400D and 70-200mm f/4L IS USM and dad had the 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS USM but 105mm is a little short so no photos from the 5D here. That 70-200mm can get really sharp I can see the pilot in some photos

In the beginning, it was just the popular AirAsia Airbus A320 and Malaysia Airlines Boeing 737-400 you can see anywhere. Things get more exciting, don’t worry. 14 planes took-off today when I was there. There was my favourite combination of aircraft/airline too, Singapore Airline’s Boeing 777-200ER. It’s takeoff and engine noise was smooottthhh unlike those smaller fellas. It’s also pretty big. With only 70mm on my 400D I can already fill the frame up with it as it passes by whereas with the A320, I can’t even with about 150mm. Well, here are the photographs.

The famed “Now Everyone Can Fly” planes kick things off.

Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777 (left) and Airbus A330 (right) not taking off. Probably under maintenance or in storage. I love these twinjets.

Click away for more great planes!

08/08/08

Hahahah once in a hundred years. Olympics opening was awesome. I went for plane spotting after the arts exam in school today and caught a few rare planes in action

A post with photos will be up tomorrow.

So…

Just stay tuned! (:

Friday’s the start…

…of the trial exams. And the end of carefree schooling life. Because after 9 subjects in the trials, schooling days will be packed with crash courses and exercises and previous papers for the real thing. I have no idea why they included moral and arts into this trials. Thank goodness it’s not in the real one. Well, I wish my friends luck. I’m not that self-centred kind of basket who just wants everything for himself and tries to ‘eliminate’ friends in studies

Time flies. Soon it’ll be a year since I started photography. That would be just before my PMR exams. Hah, what can I say? If I get that coveted 7 As, I would be getting the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM or the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM. Perfect lenses to shoot events. My kit would be complete now that it’s always dad using the 24-105mm and 17-40mm. I would have the 17-55mm/24-70mm, 10-22mm, 70-200mm, 580EX II and a 50mm in my bag. Nice. Of course, I need that straight As before I can even think about dreaming. I still don’t know and can’t understand why academics are so important in finding the right job and all nowadays. It sure wasn’t that way. Besides, the world doesn’t consist of just those 7 subjects. Include something better than that typical drawing exam using colour pencils called arts that’s creative, bloody hell. Or something more practical. I don’t see how are we going to use History in our lives. Archeologists? Maybe, but try naming me ONE Malaysian archeologist.

After that, there will be plenty of places I’m going for photographic purposes. Beijing, maybe, which would be awesome. Jakarta, maybe. Medan, maybe, for Lake Toba. Hmm… in fact, I’m going plane spotting for the 3rd time on Friday after those arts papers, yes the Friday, the start of the trials. Then on Monday, those important subjects kick in. Also, I’ll be documenting the school, it’s people and my friends during the time when there will be zero lessons after PMR, before the term holidays. And I can’t wait for the last day of those grueling PMR papers. Bring on the water balloons!

Photo added for supressing the plain-looking-no-photo post.