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.

Pentax K200D updates to 10 megapixel

The entry-level series of PENTAX digital SLR cameras continues with the introduction of the new K200D, featuring the acclaimed Pentax Shake Reduction (SR) system. Blurred hand-held photographs, particularly with telephotos or longer exposure times, are a thing of the past. Two sensors are used by the SR system to detect any vibrations and compensate for any movement by the 10.2 Megapixel CCD. This blurring protection system occurs directly at the CCD saving the user from having to acquire expensive special lenses. Thanks to the Pentax K-mount bayonet virtually any Pentax lens can be used with the new K200D digital SLR. The exciting news is that the new series of PENTAX SDM lenses with ultrasonic autofocus are completely compatible with a new entry-level class camera. Continue reading »

Pentax K20D – the first 14 megapixel APS-C DSLR

Pentax has thrown out a challenge to all rivals with a new 14.6 effective Megapixel CMOS Sensor and integrated Shake Reduction in the K20D, based on the earlier K10D but taken to a level of pixel-count specification which now exceeds anything from Nikon, Canon, Sony or the FourThirds consortium. Samsung developed the new sensor and it will no doubt appear in a similar Samsung body. They describe the K20D as ‘semi-professional’. Continue reading »

Edinburgh Photoworld Club day

We have a Photoworld day in Edinburgh on February 10th 2008, to which all Photoclubalpha registered members are welcome (it is strictly by prior arrangement, so please do not turn up on the day). It starts at 10.30am and ends around 4.30pm, and will be held at Edinburgh Photographic Society. There is a small fee for refreshments. Details follow.

Continue reading »

A700 and A100 rear LCD screen resolution

Sony say that the Alpha 100 has a 230,000 pixel rear screen and the Alpha 700 has 920,000 pixels. What they don’t make entirely clear is how many individual R, G or B pixels are used to create each ‘pixel’ of the image (complete RGB). In fact the 920,000 pixel screen is VGA – 640 x 480 – in display resolution, which is 307,000 pixels not 920,000. What is going on? We took some macro images to show you. Continue reading »

A vintage Minolta 16mm kit

A mention of 16mm Minoltas reminded me that a few years ago I found a perfect kit – without outer box or instructions, sadly – at an antique fair. A daylight developing tank for the film turned up in the closing-down stock from Konica Minolta’s warehouse. I decided they should really find a new home together via the normal eBay route, but before they went, a studio shoot was needed to record them for our virtual museum. Continue reading »

Alpha 700 shoots the Cirque du Soleil

On January 5th, Photoworld was lucky enough to be able to attend the dress rehearsal and official photo-call for the new Cirque du Soleil production at the Royal Albert Hall in London, and to put the Alpha 700 through its paces for high ISO fast action stage show capture. This article with large reproductions of the images appears in our Photoworld issue due out later in January. Continue reading »

The Sony Alpha 200 launched

AT THE Consumer Electronics Show, Las Vegas, Sony has announced introduction of the new Alpha DSLR-A200 camera which has been the subject of some strange speculation but was known beforehand to be a replacement for the Alpha 100. This is the first time a DSLR has been launched to the world at this show, and Sony’s decision to do so sends a major signal out as to where they see themselves and the Alpha system in the marketplace. It is highly competitive in price and we have just ordered our body for £369 including VAT (£314 + VAT) plus £13 express shipping from www.sonystyle.co.uk. This is exactly the same price as we paid for our last Alpha 100 in summer 2006.
Alpha 200 front

Continue reading »

Sony Alpha 700 Review Part 1: the Interface

SINCE September 2007 I have had for test the Canon EOS 40D, Sony Alpha 700, Nikon D300, Olympus E-3 and Nikon D3 in that order. The reports have been published in the British Journal of Photography, and later on in Master Photo Digital and f2 magazines (some are yet to appear, in February, in these titles). My own system is Sony Alpha but I have to be as objective as possible when field testing all makes. I also have to seek out the unique selling points, the reasons for owning any given model, rather than just compare them on a tick-chart feature basis.

With the Alpha 200 about to appear, I guess it’s time to sum up what I think about the Sony Alpha 700 and how it compares to the competition. Continue reading »

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

SEASON’S BEST wishes from David and Shirley here at photoclubalpha! You know how the pursuit of photography can take over your plans? Well, we were offered a short break in Portugal (inspection visit terms, 2 hours wasted time and iron constitution to resist sales pitch) and took it up for the week before the holiday. A chance of some sunshine and different subjects for the Alpha 100 and 700! Of course, it rained so hard the entire Algarve coast was flooded, and the only sun we saw was the sunset as we landed. However, back at home, the world was in wonderland mode even as we drove back through the Lake District with the moon rising over frosty hills lit by the last pink light of the sun. The next day, Kelso was in full sunshine but -7°C and freezing fog had coated everything for three nights in pure white. So here are our Christmas cards from Kelso, courtesy of the A700, 16-80mm, and Minolta polarizer. Continue reading »

1 49 50 51 52 53 61