What's New - August 2009

 

 

August 29

Accessory Review: Verbatim Store 'n' Go USB Drive!
Pack a thumb drive with 8GB, toss in some software to configure it into a public and private partition and you've got a surprisingly useful photographic peripheral. Now that Verbatim has a version of its Store 'n' Go thumb drive for both Windows and Mac OS X, we thought we'd take a look. To our surprise, the ability to set any part of the 8GB of storage aside in a private (undetectable) partition turned out to be very useful. Not only was setup easy, but using the drive was easy, too. It isn't cheap but if you need the security feature (and who doesn't these days) to protect proprietary data (like your images), it's a bargain compared with other options (which we cover). Read our Verbatim Store 'n' Go review for the whole story.

 

August 28

Accessory Review: i-gotU GPS Device!
Tiny and affordable, the i-gotU can record your location every few seconds. When you get back to the keyboard, its @tripPC software can insert GPS data into your JPEG files and map them and your route on a Google Map. The i-gotU GPS device is tiny and affordable but the software only runs under Windows (and, yes, you need the software). We took a couple of hikes with it, using the tracking log to add GPS data to images from several capture devices. That's the beauty of a detached device. You can share the data. The verdict? Read the i-gotU GPS review to find out.

 

August 27

Full Review posted for Sony A850!
Sony's Alpha A900 rocked the full-frame SLR world when it was announced, delivering the highest resolution in the DSLR market for an unprecedented price. Since then, the competition caught up a little, but now the Sony A850 lowers the boom on prices again, with a list price of under $2,000 for a full-frame camera with the same 24.6 megapixel resolution. The Sony A850 is a near-clone of the earlier Sony A900, giving up some shooting speed (3 frames/second vs 5) and a little viewfinder coverage (98% vs 100%) in exchange for a $700 drop in price. The Sony A850 retains the unique SteadyShot body-based image stabilization, so all your lenses effectively become image stabilized when attached to it. While it produces very usable images up to about ISO 1,600, this camera (again, like the A900) is really about maximum resolution at low ISOs. As such, it's a superb choice for landscape, studio, and portrait photographers, but wouldn't be the tool of choice for those shooting a lot of available-light work. At only 3 frames/second, it also wouldn't be a first pick for the sports photographer, either. All that said, though, the Sony A850 will open up the world of full-frame digital photography to a whole new host of users, thanks to its market-leading $2,000 price point. Read our Sony A850 review for all the details on this amazing beast, including full image analysis and 4.4 gigabytes of sample images!

 

August 20

Full Review posted for Pentax K-7!
There are so many improved and unique features to cover that defining what's great about the Pentax K7 takes an entire review. We also run out of superlatives less than halfway through the Pentax K-7 review, what with excellent build quality, a great user experience, and impressive image quality to report. Some of the more interesting features of the Pentax K7 digital SLR include an auto-leveling feature that actually rotates the sensor by up to one degree to straighten horizon lines in your images, or the Composition Adjustment feature that allows you to move the sensor around behind the lens to fine-tune your image before capture. One of our favorite features is the 100% viewfinder coverage, available only on considerably more expensive digital cameras. Of course, the Pentax K7 includes a new video mode, in addition to Live View, which we cover extensively. An absolute pleasure to use, the Pentax K7 impressed us from every angle. Click here to read our full Pentax K7 review.

 

August 14

Accessory Review: Unibind PhotoBook Creator !
Wondering what to do with all your vacation pictures? Bind them, that's what. We found a great little machine to make your own books at home. The idea is simple (like all the great ones). The hardback cover has a strip of resin on the inside of the spine. Pop your pages into the cover, put the book into the PhotoBook Creator and it melts the resin so your pages sink into the resin, binding them much like a paperback. In just a couple of minutes. The thing even turns itself off when it's done. And the finished product looks like a real book, too. A variety of covers are available, all of them attractive (and, dare we say, classy). But why take our word for it. Read the Unibind PhotoBook Creator review and see how amazed our friends were.

 

August 12

Express Review posted for Casio EXILIM EX-H10!
As 10x zoom digital cameras go, the Casio H10 is pretty slim. It's also feature-rich, as it turns out, with a remarkably unique mode that captures and overlays an animated image on top of a still shot, taking place right inside the Casio H10. With a 3-inch LCD, a 24mm lens, and a good quality 12-megapixel sensor, the Casio H10 competes favorably against other digital cameras in this class, and its image quality at lower ISOs really impresses. A 1,000-shot battery life makes the Casio H10 an even more intriguing digital camera that would be less trouble on long trips. Click here for more on the Casio EX-H10!

 

August 2

First Shots posted for Nikon D3000!
Over the weekend, we've published our first shots with the just-announced Nikon D3000 digital SLR. Nikon's ten megapixel DX-format D3000 is a replacement for the two year old Nikon D40, and takes over as the company's entry-level digital SLR. As well as the higher-res imager, the Nikon D3000 features a burst rate of three frames per second, eleven point Multi-CAM 10000 autofocus module, newly designed body, a larger 3.0-inch LCD panel, and features previously seen in some of the DSLRs higher up Nikon's line, such as the company's Dust Reduction and Picture Control Systems. Available in the USA from late August 2009, the Nikon D3000 ships with an AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens that includes optical image stabilization for $600 all-in. For a lot more information on this brand-new entry-point to the Nikon digital SLR lineup, and to see our many sample images, read our Nikon D3000 preview.

 

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