Whilst the market already has Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM priced at $2,009 and Nikon 14mm f/2.8D ED AF priced at $1,699, the recently introduced Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/15 at an initial price of $2,950 seems not to really in a head to head competition with its predecessor as the price difference is just too significant.

However presence of competent contenders in the marketplace priced at significantly lower price seems not to be a serious problem for Carl Zeiss. Known for its superior quality, Carl Zeiss Distagon T* 2,8/15 is a long awaited item by both high-end professionals and rich amateurs.  …click here to read more

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If I had unlimited financial backup I would have sent my Canon 5D for conversion and buy myself a new Canon 5D Mark II for color photography. Whilst I was very much interested with infrared, I did not think that I would completely forget shooting in visible color. Unfortunately it was not sound like my life at all. As always, I struggled to get what I wanted in the most economically affordable way. …click here to read more

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I have been interested with infrared photography for quite a while. A long while. A few years. I started it about two years ago with an experiment using Tian Ya, cheap Chinese brand believed to be compatible with Cokin 007. It did not take long until I decided that it did not work for me. Placed in front of the lens brought two significant consequences:

1. Extremely long exposure was needed. Shoots took at least 20 seconds in the middle of bright sunny day. Tripod is inevitable, handheld is simply impossible.
2. Very dark, it was difficult to ensure desired composition whilst visual control of correct focus and metering were practically impossible. Metering had to be manual anyway whilst auto focusing worked fine.

I decided that the only practically workable way is to have an ir-modified camera. By replacing the original hot mirror with certain optical recipe – or simply a piece of infrared filter glass – the camera can take infrared shots in normal way, no more dark view finder, no more slow exposure. The catch was that conversion is not as easy as replacing a filter. It needs professional with certain skill to do it. It means I had to have two cameras if I still wanted to shoot normal photos, which I did. …click here to read more

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It was quite a while since the last time I researched for new lens. Today I have just found out that Canon has recently – back in September 1st 2009 to be precise – released a newcomer into its highly acclaimed premium L series, and surprisingly it is the upgraded version of its very popular 1:1 Macro lens, Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM. …click here to read more

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Landscape is one of my favorite, and anyone plays landscape will sometime got into a will to shoot in slow shutter speed. Probably one of the most common case is shutting water, such as wave, river stream, or waterfall into cotton-like soft image by shooting it in an extremely low shutter speed. …click here to read more

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Canon has just announced the new EOS 7d into its DSLR lineup. Where does it fits in the marketplace is quite clear, it is going to fight Nikon D300 in a head to head competition. The two brands now have compatriots in every equal segment, D3x versus 1Ds Mark III, D700 versus 5D Mark II, and now D700 versus EOS 7d.

Being a Canon addict, using old Canon QL as my first camera some 20-30 years ago, then came back to Canon after a while with Nikon in my early digital day, I do believe in its quality. However,  I personally do not think that Canon EOS 7d will yield significant success like the old Canon 5D or even its Nikon rival, D300. …click here to read more

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Learning from my experience, I have made a firm conclusion that for zoom lenses,  f/4 is the most suitable choice for my preference being an amateur enthusiast. The main reason was that their weight fits comfortably for outdoor sessions which I mostly do such as street, travel, and photojournalism. On the other hand, for those type of photography, the one stop advantages – both in lighting and beautiful bokeh – are not making significant difference.

I do agree with the general thumb advising that every lens performs at its best starting from two stops darker than its maximum aperture, which means f/2.8 lenses get their best at f/5.6 whilst f/4 lenses have to go down to f/8 to reach their top. But with the latest lens technology the difference is hardly visible especially with top quality lenses like Canon’s L series. Therefore to fill up the mostly needed range spanning between ultra-wide to telephoto I chose f/4 zooms of Canon L series. …click here to read more

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At the present time the Bali holiday goers don’t just stay at a Bali villa because they need them, they choose it because they love it. Charmingly nestled almost in each area on the island, these rental luxury villas are built without compromising and sacrificing comfort. …click here to read more

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The latest edition of Digital Photographer Magazine, sphotographer.co.uk, has just arrived. It is my ergular buy now as I learnt that this one is among a few featuring knowhow, technical insights, and unbiased reviews. I just got this Issue, no. 76, December 2008, delivered today. As ussual, I had a locar source from which I can get these magazine at an even cheaper price than local ones.

In the focus are story from Photokina 2008 in Cologne, the largest annual photography exhibition which has been attracted 168,000 visitors so far for this year alone. The new releases column features Panasonic G1, Pentax K-m, and a few others. Reader’s portflio features Matt Harris with his fabulous landscape in the wilderness of Hampshire. …click here to read more

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When we do macro photography on small products like jewelry, light tent or light box may remain the best option. But when we get into a situation where dragging the subject on to the table is not at all possible we have to use either ambient or portable lighting.

The easiest setup is using the flash. But there are many issues in using flash for macro photography. When the object is too close and falls into the shadow of the lens, on-camera flash may not be able to illuminate it. Taking the flash off the camera – either wired or wireless – can somehow overcome this problem. The second issue is that for macro, even the smallest flash power can be too harsh and burns out details in overcast. …click here to read more

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