Thursday, July 19, 2007

Canon 40D speculations

OK, this one will not actually be a low cost article, but good news anyway. Rumors have started spreading that Canon is soon to be releasing upgrade to irs great 30D model, namely 40D. So what does this upgrade include, except for lowering 30D price tag?
  • Trusted sources say - 10.1 Mpix sensor (same as 400D). No big deal. Lens is what makes the difference.
  • Next one - sensor cleaning. Nice addition, since 400D already has it. But it is not that good as it is advertised, so it is not a dealbraker. Should be improved over that one.
  • What else? Improved continuous frame rate. Should be.
  • Live picture view? It was in new Mark 1D III.
  • ISO 6400, usable.
  • Digic III processor? Not taken for granted.
  • 3" LCD display. It has to be bigger than 400D's. Or not.
  • Is 100% viewfinder visibility coming?
Most likely sensor size will not change, EF-S will stay as standard.

Engadget has it all. They claim they have data from CIPA page. Will it be a huge improvement over 30D? Time will show.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

My selected photoblogs

What is the best place for inspiration of your new great photos? Of course - other people's photoblogs. Bad artists copy. Great artists steal (Pablo Picaso). Here are some of my faves which are inspirations for lots of great photos:

Brooks Ayola's photoblog - lots of great portraits and creative use of light.
[daily dose of imaginery] - daily updates with great photos from Canada
David Kleinert photography - awesome nature photos from Africa
Express train - daily photos from NY subway
IstoicaEveryday - fantastic portrait work
Remo Savisaar's photoblog - photos of Northern European nature

Actually I am reading/viewing several dozens of great photoblogs, but these six are in high priority in my RSS reader. I hope you will get some inspiration from these, too.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Hello world!

Hello my dear readers, this is the first post in my new blog about photography and how to get awesome shots without selling your kidney. Photography is my hobby which can be real drain for you money, but there are lots of tricks and DIYs that can help you save some serious bucks and improve your creativity.

Basically I am a Canon man and own amateur DSLR camera - Digital Rebel XTI/EOS 400D. My lens collection includes universal EF-S 17-85 IS lens and cheapo EF 50mm 1.8 II, I also own a Speedlite 430EX flash unit and some other useful accessories which might be covered in later articles in this blog. Most probably they will.

Before starting this blog I have set a goal for myself to improve my photo skills by sharing my accumulated knowledge and practicing lots of creative workshops. I am not a native English speaking person and this blog is a way to improve my writing skills and I hope that I will succeed in this goal as well.

Being a SLR user does not sound that low cost, but just try using (borrow or ask a shop assistant) a SLR camera and you will never want to return to your old slow compact camera. But that does not mean that you can not be creative and make great photos with your much cheaper compact. The mind behind camera is that which makes difference.

Good luck and come and visit this blog again.