Author: David Kilpatrick

Professional photographer and journalist, founder and editor of magazines PHOTOpro, Photon, Freelance Photographer, f2 and Cameracraft. For 25 years director of the Minolta Club. Fellow of the BIPP and Hon. Fellow of the MPA.

Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

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Tamron’s 18-250mm lens – later adopted by Sony – was so good that it really takes some effort to beat it. Sigma has put that effort in, but the cost is a very much larger and heavier lens. If all you got was some better performance, it might not be all that exciting. But you get potentially superior anti-shake through its built-in OS, and faster focusing with HSM, the Sigma equivalent of SSM. And you can buy it for under $430, and it works fine on the NEX A-mount adaptor for stabilised videos too – with some degree of autofocus tracking during filming.
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Accessories - 3rd party, Equipment Reviews, Lenses - Alpha Mount

Master Photography awards deadline extended

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The deadline for entries to the 2009 Master Photography Awards has been extended to August 12th, 2009.

All entries must be received at MPA – Jubilee House, 1 Chancery Lane, Darlington DL1 5QP – by close of business on Wednesday August 12th. Each entry should consist of an unmounted print (10 x 8 or A4) which either shows the image area only of a final print, to be mounted and sized appropriately on a 20 x 16 mount; or shows a 1/4 size reproduction of the finished 20 x 16 exhibition print. This must be made from the same image file to be used for the final print, on the same materials, with the same finish (but not mounted).

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News, Uncategorized

British Journal Awards entry open now

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British Journal of Photography is calling for entries to its International Photography Award – a juried competition with a total prize fund worth more than £13,000. There are two categories, providing two opportunities to exhibit at a leading London gallery and have your work printed by one of Europe’s leading fine art printers. The winners will also win professional camera kit worth £5000 and a feature in BJP.

Single image prize: Last year Walter Astrada, an Argentinian World Press Photo award-winner picked up the single image prize for his stark shot of murder in Guatemala.

Copyright Beso Uznadze-web

Portfolio prize: Beso Uznadze (©photo above) won the portfolio prize for his stunning series of portraits of Georgians, shot after the conflict with Russia in 2008.

The International Photography Award is judged by a panel of internationally-recognised photographers, picture editors and curators. Photographers may submit multiple entries into either category and the contest is open to all.

Entry is £5 (or $8 or €6) for the single image category and £25 (or $40 or €30) for the portfolio category. The deadline is 11 September. For more information and to enter, visit bjp-online.com/ipa.

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News, Press Releases, Uncategorized

Exmor R hits the High Street – new Cyber-shots

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SONY puts two 10.2 megapixel consumer digicams on the market in September 2009 using the back-illuminated Exmor R sensor. This CMOS sensor architecture takes the ‘sandwich’ which forms the light-sensitive pixel wells, and reverses it so that the side previously used for connections now faces the image-forming light. This change allows more light to be captured, resulting in improved high ISO performance. So far, the Exmor R technology has only been used in video cameras and this is the first appearance of it in still cameras. The cameras can shoot at 10 frames per second.
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Uncategorized

Crop or cram? Pixel density versus the big view…

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The Alpha 900 offers an unrivalled view through its 100% prism finder. The extra brightness, as well as the size and clarity, make most subjects far easier to photograph well. For some users, however, the full frame camera brings a disadvantage in terms of reach and resolution. You need lenses 50% longer (and thus twice the size, and four times the cost!) to fill the frame with the same distant sports and wildlife subjects. I don’t need to remind anyone how popular these two subjects are with amateurs, and sometimes, how important to professionals.
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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, Equipment Reviews, Lenses - Alpha Mount, Photo Techniques

The Sony Alpha 380 – review

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My Sony Alpha 380 was supposed to arrive before July 13th according to SimplyElectronics.net – via Amazon – claiming UK despatch of 2-10 days delivery after debiting my card on July 6th from a July 3rd order. Well, it didn’t arrive by July 21st, and after some email exchanges I have apparently obtained a refund for the charge they made for an item they did not have (though this was still showing as ‘processing’ in August). Warehouseexpress.com had got the A380 plus 18-55mm kits  by that time, for £10 less, and delivered in 24 hours. Update August 9th: under a month later, the warehouseexpress kit price has fallen by 10% (£50) to £548 inc VAT.
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Cameras (DSLR), Equipment Reviews, Lenses - Alpha Mount

Alpha 850 – 24 megapixel 3fps in 900 body

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Sony’s new Alpha 850 will be identical to the Alpha 900 in size, handling and external design – including the omission of onboard flash. The camera, expected to be launched before September, uses the same 24.6 megapixel CMOS sensor as the Alpha 900 but has – it is rumoured – only a single BIONZ processor, and a very slightly modified viewfinder. It is shipped without the Remote Commander (this becomes an optional extra) indicating that minimum retail price is Sony’s aim.
fotobrenner2
This is a screen grab from Fotobrenner.de in Germany who have the body only offered for €1999.00 and the kit with SAM 28-75mm f/2.8 new lens for €2699.00. As listed that makes the body about 10% more expensive than the current street price of the Alpha 900 – indicating either that the A850 prices are RRP and will rapidly fall, or that the A900 is about to get a price hike. They offer the A900 for €2499.00 and that would – pro rata – make the UK street price for the A850 about £1599. Please note: though the 28-75mm picture is authentic, the body shown has the AF switch set to C – just like the Sony shots of the A900 issued to dealers. Maybe they would do this for all packshots for some reason, maybe it was chance – more likely. It would be unlikely to happen again for the 850 shot so I reckon this is shopped.
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Cameras (DSLR), DK's ramblings, News
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