1001 Noisy Cameras

Making it easier to get to all our brand-specific updates (eg Canon, Nikon, Sony, etc)

To make it easier for you to find all our brand-specific updates, we have cross-linked the brand-specific pages of the various dedicated mini-blogs to the main blog's brand-specific index pages. A visual mini-tutorial below explains it much better and faster than words can... Also, check the shortcut urls section below the large screenshot crop - they became more useful (or less useless) with this new feature.

Below you will find a screenshot example with highlighter marks pointing to the new features. The example below is for the Canon page, but we have created similar things for Nikon, Sony, Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Ricoh, Samsung, with more coming up. You can easily get to them from any page at the main blog, simply click on the brand name link at the header of any main blog page (see the yellow UFO with green circles below).

Shortcut Urls
In conjunction with the above changes, you may find our shortcut urls helpful, especially if you are away from your bookmarks and auto-completes. The shortcut urls will get you to the index pages of all the major categories. Here are examples of shortcut urls:

+ 1001nc.com/canon will take you to the Canon index page
+ 1001nc.com/nikon will take you to the Nikon index page
+ 1001nc.com/fuji will take you to the Fuji index page
+ rinse and repeat with the other manufacturers and major categories (eg 1001nc.com/mirrorless, 1001nc.com/reference, etc
+ if typing 1001nc.com on mobile devices is too much of a hassle (letters + digits), please let me know so I can create an additional shortcut that is letters only
+ 1001nc.com takes you to the front page of the blog

Flickr implements Pinterest code to block pins of protected pictures

According to Venture Beat, Flickr has implemented the new Pinterest security feature that does not allow Pinterest users to "pin" copyrighted or otherwise not-to-be-shared pictures on the Pinterest service. (via Techmeme)

If you have a website or blog and want to block or encourage "pins" for your pictures (depending on your disposition to this new thing), here is the Pinterest FAQ page with details on how to do that.

Just like most new disruptive things that come out of left field on the internets, there are almost always pros and cons, and a savvy photographer is one that maximizes the pros and minimizes the cons. For example, depending on a photographer's particular strategic and marketing circumstances, Pinterest could be a good source for viral promotion.

Cameraholic Digest: Canon interview, Reviews (E-M5, G1x, S100, X10, etc), Geekery

Time to recap some of the latest gear-related happenings of the last few hours, starting with a Canon interview (text, English) at Megapixel.co.il, conducted at CES 2012 and asking Canon dude some tough questions on the specs of the new lenses. Other topics covered: G1X, Magic Lantern, focus limiter, GPS, lens road maps, and more! [MUST-READ!]

Reviews and Previews
+ Fuji X10 review/reality-check at Photographic Central [MUST-READ!]
+ Canon S100 at Imaging Resource
+ Canon G1x reviews at Trusted Reviews and Fotopolis.pl
+ Olympus E-M5 hands-on preview at Trusted Reviews
+ Nikon V1 travelogue in Vietnam by Colin Steel at Steve Huff Photo (part #1 and part #2)
+ Panasonic TZ30/ZS20 review at DCR
+ Panasonic ZS1 review at ephotozine
+ latest lens reviews at the dedicated lens reviews mini-site

Samples & Comparisons
+ Nikon D800 vs D700 burst mode videos at Mobile01 (via Foto Actualidad)
+ Fuji HS30exr samples by Fuji (via Photonumeric.fr)

Camera Geekery
+ Sony NEX-7 flying over Bermuda on Vimeo (via Sony Alpha NEX)
+ Hacked Panasonic GF2 - the $300 digital cinema camera at EOS-HD
+ Nikon 1 system improvement wish list at Luminescent Photo

Reference Material
+ list of new cameras in 2012
+ 2012 Trade Show Calendar
+ completed lens reviews
+ completed camera reviews (serious/advanced/interesting cameras only)
+ dedicated mini-site for Pre-Orders and Stock-Status

Deals (Adobe Student & Teacher) and In-stock (A77, A65, D7000) alerts

Time to recap some of the latest deals and in-stock alerts of hard to find cameras. We break them down in two sections...

Deals and Discounts
+ Additional discount on select Adobe Student & Teacher Software at the Adobe Store (North America customers) with coupon code SAVEONEDU (details, expires March-2-2012) [NEW!]
+ refurbished Olympus 40-150mm (M43rds) factory-demo with 1-year Cameta warranty for $160 with free S&H at Cameta Camera [NEW!]
+ refurbished Nikon 50mm f1.8D factory-demo with 1-year Cameta warranty for $100 with free S&H at Cameta Camera
+ sold-out: refurbished Nikon D3100 with 18-55mm and Slinger bag and extra Nikon battery and 4GB SD and strap and Red Giant Magic Bullet 1.5 software for $435 with free shipping at Adorama
+ price went up: used Fuji X100 in "Very Good" condition for $866~ at Amazon Warehouse Deals
+ expired: Camera & Photo Lightning Deals at the Amazon Camera & Photo store for Friday, including products from Tenba, Kata, Targus, Tiffen, ePhoto, Vanguard, Lowepro and the Sony TX100v and Nikon S5100 P&S cameras [Friday only!]
+ on-going discounts and specials at the Camera Deals blog

In-stock Alerts
+ Nikon D7000 body only for $1200 at Best Buy
+ Sony Alpha A77 body only for $1400 at Amazon and Abt Electronics
+ Sony Alpha A77 w/16-50 for $2000 at B&H Photo and Amazon
+ Sony A65: both kits in-stock at various retailers
+ for more details check the Pre-Orders and Stock Status mini-site

Cameraholic Digest: E-M5, D4/D800s, GRD4, GX1, NEX-7, etc

With a staggering 700+ new cameras from the major manufacturers since CES 2009, and the rate of new camera announcements accelerating this year (120+ in 2012 so far), we are trying to find ways to cover things that do not lead down to the path of insanity :) One thing is certain, we can't chase after 700+ cameras and we can't chase after every review of those 700+ cameras. And even if we could, how many photographers would be willing to sift through all that on a daily basis? The number of hours per day remains at 24, both for photographers and for this blog :)

So we will be experimenting with different ways of covering things that focus on the more serious or advanced or professional or interesting or unusual or intriguing digital cameras. Perhaps something along the lines of a more narrow-focused version of our "Photography Soup" round-ups from the pre-announcement-flood days at the old Blogspot blog in 2008. Back then, we actually had the luxury of time to cover non-gear subjects. Back then, a new serious camera announcement was an event. Now, announcements are like the rain in Portlandia :)

For a steady stream of completed reviews, with very easy access to previous/older reviews [click on the camera name in the Category/Tags/Labels of any blog-post there], the place to go are the dedicated review stream mini-sites for digital camera reviews (only serious, advanced, interesting cameras are covered) and lens reviews.

With that as a necessary preface, here is some of the latest action:

Interchangeables
+ hands-on with the Olympus E-M5 at ePhotoZine
+ dpreview interviewed four professional photographers on their thoughts on the Nikon D4 and D800/D800E
+ video interview with Nikon France at Focus Numerique (there is no computer-translation for streaming audio/video as far as I can tell)
+ real-world RAW (.DNG) and JPEG samples from the Pentax 645D at Photography Blog
+ Panasonic GX1 reviews at Quesabesde (computer translation) and Kamera & Bild (computer-translation)
+ Sony NEX-7 review in five parts by Bjorn Uptott (see links in right sidebar of his blog)

Fixed Lens
+ not forgotten: new Ricoh GRD IV reviews at ePhotozine and Pocket Lint
+ Ricoh GRD IV getting new firmware with four new features says Imaging Resource
+ Canon G1x review at Pop Photo
+ Panasonic TZ30/ZS20 samples at DC Resource

Pinterest, sharing other people's images and copyright issues

If you follow the various tech-business and start-up blogs or the headlines at Techmeme, you probably heard of Pinterest, one of the trendy start-ups du jour. This is obviously not a start-up blog, so why are we mentioning it? Answer: because it decidedly intersects with the world of photographers.

As the name hints, Pinterest lets you "pin" pictures of "interest" you find while surfing around the internets. The pinned pictures are republished on the Pinterest website. Here is an example, someone liked this popcorn cupcake picture (buttery vs buttery bokeh) and "pinned" it to Pinterest.

This can obviously lead to unauthorized republication of copyrighted and non-public-domain works. The on-going controversy and situation so far is summarized in a detailed article at The Verge, with a robust discussion in the The Verge comments.

Rumors: next Canon 5D, lenses (pancake!), flashes & new D-Rebel

A new set of rumors at Canon Rumors point to a series of new SLR gear from Canon, including the next 5D DSLR (22 megapixels) on February 27-28, along with new lenses (including a 40mm f2.8 pancake!!!) and flashes, and the next Digital Rebel (T4i/650D) around March 2nd, 2012. Northlight Images notes that a lot of NDAs are expiring March 2nd, which suggests that the announcements will be done by that time. Meanwhile Bob Atkins points out that March 1st will be Canon's 75th anniversary.

These dates are very favorable with two big trade shows in Europe, Focus On Imaging in Birmingham and CeBiT in Hannover [see trade show calendar].

As you can see at the Canon DSLRs Age Chart below, it has been over a year since Canon announced a new APS-C DSLR, with the 7D being the oldest in the current line-up, and the D-Rebel T3i/T3 the youngest (a year and two weeks old).

Blog Updates, Bug Fixes and Infrastructure updates

Things are finally slowing down, so we can now start working on the never-ending To-Do List. There will be a variety of updates, bug-fixes, and infrastructure work on the various blogs. We will post updates on the blog for updates that are of reader interest. You may also receive replies to emails/questions you have sent a few centuries ago, but with 6000+ Gmail emails marked for action/reply, we are not going to catch up with everything today :)

This is also a good opportunity for your ideas/suggestions on blog features, what issues or problems are annoying that you want fixed and things like that. You can use the online contact form or leave a comment below.

Changes/Updates of interest to Readers
+ new experimental feature: to make it easier for you to find various posts covering a specific brand across our various mini-blogs, we are adding a paragraph of relevant links to the brand-specific index pages. Here is the first one, Canon index pages. Please let us know what you think, especially if you don't like it. If there are no objections, we will do this for all the major brands and categories! [NEW!]

+ updated: Age of DSLRs/iLCs by Manufacturer series of Charts

+ updated: Twenty Most Recent DSLR/iLCs Chart: unlike the 35mm full frame chart below, this is more of a staircase pattern

+ updated: Chart showing 35mm full frame DSLRs since 2002 - 2012 brought us the Nikon D4 and D800/D800E. Interestingly, they came on the 6th of each month, so does March 6 mean new Nikon dSLRs? :)... There was a two year period without a new 35mmFF DSLR between the Nikon D3s and the Canon 1D X, but we got three new ones since mid-October 2011...

Interview: ex-Olympus-CEO Woodward at Amateur Photographer UK

Amateur Photographer UK has an exclusive interview with the former Olympus CEO Michael Woodward who found himself in the middle of the scandal. This is a 60 paragraph article, so fire up the coffee machine!

On the power struggle front, Reuters reports that Olympus's main banker denied they want to take over but likes the idea of having a banker as a chairman.

On the opinion front, Photography Review has a long article on the impact of the scandal on photographers.

Olympus E-M5 hands-on with dpreview

Dpreview has published an Olympus E-M5 hands-on article after attending the European press event. Their article includes a 10-image sequence showcasing the camera's 9fps burst mode. There is an "official thread" discussing this in the dpreview M43rds forum.

The E-M5 has generated a lot of interest, and with that comes the everything-is-scrutinized and everything-is-analyzed among the interest-o-sphere. So let me preempt one conspiracy theory: Olympus chose the matching shirt and hat for that skater dude so it would yield favorable results ;-) They probably spent two weeks testing various shirt and hat combinations to see which one performed better ;-)

If you can't get enough E-M5 action, be sure to check the various forums, such as the dpreview M43rds Talk and Olympus SLR forums, GetDPI forums, Mu-43 forums, Serious Compacts, et al.

Interview with Flickr: makeover this year, starting February 28

In an interview with Beta Beat, the new Flickr chief has discussed future plans for flickr and he also teased the new look for some of its pages. The first wave of changes will come out February 28, 2012. Via and discussion at Thomas Hawk Digital Connection.

Flickr is what we use for the Flickr Readers Pool, where photographers of all experience levels and camera types can submit up to five pictures per day. This is a general-interest pool, so please no adult photos. Recent additions to the pool are featured on the front page and index pages of the blog using standard flickr widgets provided by flickr. We do not store the pictures anywhere - they are displayed using the Flickr Badge, which is one of the standard Flickr Tools (bottom of right sidebar). You can add/remove your pictures at any time by adding/removing them from the flickr pool or withdrawing from the associated flickr group.

New Nissin MG8000 flash promises 1000+ without overheating

Nissin has announced a brand new flash, the MG8000, with a testable claim of over 1000 firings without overheating! Some details at Amateur Photographer UK, DC Watch (computer-translated) and Foto Actualidad.

Nokia teases Image Quality ahead of February 27 announcement

Nokia has published a 22-second video teaser on YouTube touting the image quality of their upcoming February 27 announcements at the Mobile World Congress. This is a photography-priority promo, using (presumably) sample pictures from the unrevealed smartphone with a theme of "Pure Detail", "Pure Depth", "Pure Definition", "Pure View", etc...

Teasers are fun, but they can also hype up expectations to unrealistic levels, with photographers expecting Nikon D3s high ISO levels :) The most overhyped teaser of all time was perhaps the Nikon Coolpix SQ that Nikon (not to be confused with Nokia) hyped up and it turned out to be a below average P&S digital camera (see DC Resource, Imaging Resource, et al).

OlympusGate: Sony rumorette, Fear of Japanese banks control, Executive in India suicide

A Japanese Olympus India managing director has apparently committed suicide outside his apartment says Reuters and Amateur Photographer UK. Olympus HQ has issued a statement according to Amateur Photographer UK.

On the business front, Reuters has a number of updates that indicate that foreign investors are afraid the Japanese banks will takeover the new Olympus board with their own people.

Meanwhile, a rumor at Reuters (search for "Yahagi" if you don't want to read the whole article) coming from the Facta magzine suggests that if a certain Sony board member takes a high profile role at Olympus, this may suggest of a Sony tie-up.

Hot Cameras Sleepless Nights: Canon G1x, Olympus E-M5, K-01, M9p, P7100, etc

Time to round-up the action with some of the latest "hot cameras" that are giving some photographers "sleepless nights".

Canon G1x
+ new reviews at What Digital Camera and Pocket Lint and Digital Camera Info and CNet Reviews
+ reference: list of reviews and pre-orders page

Olympus E-M5
+ hands-on at Amateur Photographer UK and Photography Blog (two pages!) and Kamera & Bild (computer-translated)
+ lots of real-world JPEG samples (1600x1200) at Photography Blog (Olympus Samples Police won't let anything larger than 1600x1200)
+ short video showing one 9fps burst via Foto Actualidad [moved to correct section!]
+ reference: pre-orders page

Fuji X-System
+ interview with Fuji at DSLR Magazine (computer-translated)
+ samples from the beach by Brandom Remler (blog-size resolution, not full-size)
+ reference: pre-orders page

Pentax K-01
+ autofocus video demos via RiceHigh
+ brief hands-on at CNet Asia
+ Yvon Bourque is planning a K-01 e-book in PDF and iBooks
+ comedy central: pancake lens with actual ...pancakes at Focus Numerique
+ reference: pre-orders page

Digital Rangefinders
+ Leica M9p review at Imaging Resource

Compacts with RAW
+ completed Nikon Coolpix P7100 review at dpreview
+ more Coolpix P7100 reviews

Lukewarm Cameras, Snoring Nights [EXPERIMENTAL SEGMENT]
+ Polaroid Z340 hipster-bait camera review at Quesabesde (computer-translated)
+ Panasonic TZ30/ZS20 preview at Trusted Reviews and studio test samples at Imaging Resource
+ Panasonic ZS7 review at CNet UK
+ Panasonic ZS1 slim-zoom full-size samples (including ISO color charts) at ePhotozine
+ Olympus SZ21 review at CNet Review

Review Reference Pages
+ completed lens reviews
+ completed camera reviews (serious, advanced or unusual/intriguing mid-range cameras only)