02/03/2010

International Forum Design Awards (iF) honours Sony with product design awards including two prestigious ‘gold’ awards

Sony’s design prowess has been acknowledged by one of the most highly regarded international design competitions, winning nine iF product design awards, including two gold awards.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-TX1

Winning products embraced all areas within Sony’s expertise including the HDR-CX520V Handycam camcorder, X Series VAIO notebook PC and PCM-M10 Linear PCM Recorder. Moreover, out of nearly 2,500 entries only 50 are given the coveted gold award for outstanding design. Highlighting the innovation and unique core of Sony’s design, the ZX1 Series BRAVIA television and DSC-TX1 Cyber-shot digital still camera were both awarded this year’s gold awards at today’s iF Design ceremony held at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover, Germany.

Read the whole Press Release »

Ricoh GXR

“The GXR/A12 50mm F2.5 Macro is a camera that is fun to use and capable of producing great quality images.”

We’ve added a new review of the Ricoh GXR [QuickPrice Check] to our Reviews Matrix.

DPReview has posted their review of the Ricoh GXR, an “interchangeable unit camera system” that swaps both the lens and associated image sensor as an integrated unit. There are a number of units available and each unit is, for all practical purposes, a different camera. DPReview reviews the A12 which has a 50mm F2.5 Macro lens with a 12.3M (23.6 x 15.7mm) CMOS sensor. The camera has a 3.0-in. high resolution (920,000 dots) LCD.

You can read the full Ricoh GXR A12 Review at: DPReview.

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Samsung HZ25W / WB5000

“For a first attempt at a superzoom camera the WB5000 is a very good camera.”

We’ve added a new Samsung HZ25W / WB5000 review to our Reviews Matrix.

TrustedReviews has published their review of the Samsung HZ25W / WB5000, an ultra zoom with its 12.5MP resolution (on a 1/2.33-in. CCD image sensor), 24x wide-angle optical zoom (26-624mm equiv.), Optical Image Stabilization, 3.0-in. LCD (230K dots), Smart Auto, Smart Face Recognition, Perfect Portrait System, PASM, Beauty Shot, Scene modes, RAW file format, and HD Movie 1280×720 @ 30fps with stereo sound.

You can read the full Samsung HZ25W / WB5000 Review at: TrustedReviews.

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Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 with optional battery grip

“The A850 [...] is currently the most affordable option for photographers who want a high resolution, full-frame camera.”

We have added another Sony Alpha DSLR-A850 [QuickPrice Check] Review to our Reviews Matrix.

DigitalCameraReview has posted their review of the Sony Alpha DSLR-A850, a full-frame DSLR with 24.6MP resolution, in-body Sensor-shift Image Stabilization, Dust Shake Technology, 3.0-in. LCD (921K dots), Continuous Shooting 3fps. There’s no Live View and no video capability.

You can read the full Sony A850 Review at: DigitalCameraReview.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 / TZ8

“A solid addition to Panasonic’s travel-zoom camera lineup.”

We have added another Panasonic ZS5 / TZ8 [Specs] Review to our Reviews Matrix.

PhotographyBLOG has posted their review of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS5 / TZ8, a compact ultra zoom digital camera with 12.1MP resolution (on a 1/2.33-in. CCD), 12x wide-angle optical zoom (25-300mm equiv.), optical Image Stabilization, 2.7-in. (230K dots) LCD, Intelligent AUTO (iA) mode, PASM, Scene modes, Face Recognition, and HD movie 1280 x 720 @ 30fps with monaural sound. Unlike the Panasonic ZS7 / TZ10, the Panasonic ZS5 / TZ8 is not GPS-enabled.

You can read the full Panasonic ZS5 / TZ8 Review at: PhotographyBLOG.

In his article, Wayne Ford focuses on what is really important when learning photography. I agree that there is now too much emphasis on learning Photoshop and techniques to “jazz” up an otherwise banal photograph. But it is not just learning photographers who do that; some pros admit to digitally manipulating a picture, even adding colors (as opposed to enhancing the colors captured) and removing (or moving) objects so as to have the effect they are after (and were not able to capture). In fact, I don’t mind a digitally manipulated photo… as long as the photographer fesses up to it.

You can read the article at: Black Star Rising.

Focus Numérique has a very interesting article where they interview three pro sports photographers who use the Nikon D3s (Bernard Papon) and the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV (Michel Birot and Julien Poupart) and learn how they use their cameras and what they like about them. The article is in French but you can get a translation here.

I find it very interesting that Bernard Papon simply sets his Nikon D3s to 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 and ISO AUTO. He lets the camera selects the appropriate ISO because of the incredible low noise the Nikon gives even up to ISO 12800.

Michel Birot and Julien Poupart both regret the Canon’s Continuous Shooting limitiation when using RAW and dislike the smoothed out background at high ISOs (max ISO 6400).

As expected, none is willing to exchange cameras due to the investment in lenses and other equipments, as well as being comfortable with one particular workflow that works for them.

Read the article at: Focus Numérique.