Tag Archives: product

Deals and Sales, Site News

Quick Note About Product Posts

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From time to time I highlight certain products in posts here at the blog – often as part of my own review or report on the product or because of some special pricing or other offer. Since it is “that time of year” you are likely to see a few more than usual, so I thought I’d say a few things about this.

  • The blog has an “affiliate” relationship with several manufacturers/vendors. When you make a purchase by clicking a link on my blog a small percentage of the purchase price is returned to me, and this helps support the blog. If you like the blog, and especially if my reviews or reports have helped you with your purchase decision, I would be grateful if you would purchase through these links.
  • Purchasing though these links does not change your cost – you pay the same whether you purchase through my links or go directly to the vendor site. (A few offers come only through affiliate links and your price may be higher if you purchase directly.)
  • I currently only share links to vendors I do business with myself and/or whose products I have purchased and used.
  • In addition to occasional posts on specific offers from affiliate vendors, there are links to them in the sidebar of this web site. You can use those links to purchase any item from these vendors.
  • Not all links to professional photography services that I share are part of an affiliate relationship. For example, from time to time I mention things like photography workshops – most often by photographers I know and whom I recommend simply because I think the workshops are valuable.
  • There are more special offers at certain times of the year – like right now as the holidays approach!
  • The Deals Page archives recent offers.

Thanks for your support of the blog!

Dan

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Commentary, Equipment, News

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Announced

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This evening I’m seeing quite a few links to the announcement of the updated EOS Canon EOS 5D Mark II. (Here is a link to a Canon press release.) Unlike some previous Canon updates that seemed rather trivial – e.g. 20D to 30D – this one includes quite a few compelling new and improved features, and I’m sure this will be a very popular camera.

Some highlights include:

  1. 21MP full-frame sensor
  2. HD video capture
  3. The expected sensor dust reduction/cleaning features
  4. Live view shooting
  5. Some interesting software additions – a “new creative mode,” “peripheral illumination correction” in jpg modes (sounds like compensation for vignetting), and “auto lighting optimizer” (seems to try to deal with recording details in high dynamic range scenes)
  6. Continuous shooting at 3.9 fps
  7. Larger and higher resolution LCD
  8. 150,000 shutter cycles
  9. Expanded ISO range
  10. Price: $2699

For many of us who are attracted to the 5D image quality, the 21MP sensor is a good thing – this camera should compete with the 1DsMKIII on an image quality basis as long as one has good enough lenses and uses careful technique. (I doubt if there will be much IQ advantage if one hand holds the camera in most cases.) It is interesting to note that the increased shutter life is competitive with 1-series cameras as well.

Video capture is quickly going to be a standard feature on DSLRs – though the usefulness of the feature is something that will perhaps only become apparent once these cameras find their way into the hands of those who know how to use the feature effectively and creatively.

The relatively leisurely 3.9 fps burst mode is no surprise. The 5D is not a camera optimized for fast action sports photography that relies on high speed burst mode shooting. But still, at nearly 4 fps it won’t exactly be unusable in this regard either.

The pricing is interesting as well. Whether due to the recent announcement of a $3000 25MP full frame Sony camera and the anticipated competition from a 20+MP Nikon camera or something else, it seems that the prices of full frame cameras – and very capable ones, at that! – are starting to drop.

Will I buy one? I had pretty much decided that I would not buy a 5D upgrade that only provided a 16MP sensor. However, at 21MP this body provides close to double the number of photosites – and such a doubling has been more or less my trigger for an upgrade. Of course, I’m not one to rush to be the first to buy. I’ll let those who are willing to pay any price to be “first on the block” get theirs right away, and I like to see what initial problems are discovered as the first units are released. All of that being said, I think there is a fair chance that I’ll do this upgrade within the next 6 months or so.

Also: Canon announced one new lens, an upgraded EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM. The previous version was thought by some to be less impressive than its 35mm f/1.4 big brother, so it isn’t too surprising that Canon updated this lens. There is also some thought the Canon will update some lenses in order to take better advantage of the higher MP count sensors – they can exceed the resolving ability of some good lenses. It will be interesting to see whether the new 24mm L is a significant improvement over the previous version… and whether it is worth the somewhat shocking (for a prime!) $1699 list price.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Equipment

Lowepro Slingshot 350 AW Introduced

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I’ve written before that I’m a big fan of the Lowepro Slingshot AW line of camera packs, especially the Slingshot 200 AW camera pack. I’ve used mine extensively and it provides a good mix of capacity (enough for a body and a few lenses), convenience (carries over the shoulder with one strap), accessibility (swings forward for easy access to gear), low price, and weather protection (built-in weather cover). I especially like it for urban photography where I can keep all of the necessary gear close and accessible while traveling on foot.

Now I see that Lowepro has introduced a new larger model, the Slingshot 350 AW that is designed to hold not only more photographic gear, but also to carry a laptop. I have not yet had a chance to see the bag in person or try it out, but if it works the way I would expect based on experience with the Slingshot 200 AW it sounds like it could be a dynamite bag for travel and especially for air travel.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Site News

In the Queue

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Having returned from my nine-day Sierra Nevada pack trip last week, I’m up to my eyeballs in photographs to review and work on. I’ve now picked off all the low hanging fruit (the photographs that seem to have immediate, obvious potential) and I’m now engaged in the more laborious task of going back through all of the images again and looking more closely at photographs that seem to have potential but which will take more thought and work.

I’ve posted a few of the backpack photographs already, and more should begin showing up here near the end of August.

A bit later I will post another product review. I’ve had the chance to use the Lowepro Nova 200 AW bag a few times this summer, and I’m anxious to use it a few more times so that I can post my report here. (This bag is designed more along the lines of a traditional camera bag, so it wasn’t part of my arsenal on the recent pack trip.)