Dan Chung´s Blog

Hands on with the Nikon D2X

Well, along with several other shooters I've been using a late pre production D2x at London fashion week.  I've posted a small gallery of low res images here.  As a long term Canon user I can say I'm quite impressed with the D2x image quality especially at low ISO.  The overall handling of the camera is the same as the D2h except that the screen is better and the menus are even more complex.  The camera is fast in operation and the AF seemed no worse on the walking runway models than my Canon 1DmkII.  I got the best results with Nikon's marvellous 200mm f2 AF lens which I love.

Ok, the bad news, with the pre-production sample I was using, in Jpeg fine at 800 asa with noise reduction off there seemed to be faint but visable diagonal stripe noise across the whole image.  With noise reduction on there was some bad detail loss and what I can only descirbe as a pastel like effect.  I'm not sure how much of this can be avoided by shooting NEF as Nikon did not have the latest Nikon capture software at the event.  I'm also not sure whether the noise would actually be apparent in newsprint as it is only obviously visable at 100% magnification, so for majority of news photographers it is unlikely to be a big issue.  I did not get a chance to try over 800 asa though.

Would I change from my trusty 1Ds and 1DmkII cameras back to Nikon, I don't think so as I've got used to the full frame and faster shooting rates that those cameras offer.  If you are on the Nikon system there is real food for thought now, if you don't need corrected ultrawides and seldom go over 800 asa then you now have a real choice.

800 asa crop of image centre at 100%, D2x, 28-70 f2.8 (Click to enlarge)

The same image full frame downsized to fit on screen

800 asa crop of image centre with Noise reduction on, 17-55 f2.8

Rumours abound of a G5 powerbook

This story on The Register website points out that a bit of code on the Apple own website seems to suggest a Powerbook G5 is not far away.  It may just be wishful thinking though.

Potential 'Evil Twin' threat to wi-fi users revealed

According to EWeek Dr. Phil Nobles, an expert on cybercrime, will today give details of how a scammer could potentially set up a fake hotspot and use it to retrieve data from your laptop.  The scammer would set up near a legitimate base station and then send out a stronger signal with the same ID, thus becoming an 'Evil twin'.  Instead of connecting to the hotspot you intended to, you would in fact be connecting to a malicious server.  Nobles will give more details at the Science Museum in London today.  You can read the full articles here and here

If true this could be a serious problem for many photographers who regularly use hotspots, the solutions seem to be based around WPA and other security standards not usually implemented on roving snappers computers.

Tsunami picture gallery added

I’ve just posted a series of photos from my recent trip to the Tsunami disaster zone in Aceh province, Indonesia.  Despite arriving nearly two weeks after the Tsunami, the coastline was still a scene of total devastation, with bodies still being pulled from the rubble.  I have never felt so humbled by the power of nature, pictures can only begin to show the true horror.

Nikon UK announce pricing for D2x

According to their latest press release Nikon have announced pricing and availability for the eagerly awaited D2x and 300mm f2.8 VR lens. The suggested retail price for the camera will be £3499.99 and lens £3999.99. The lens is available now and the camera on February 25th.

Apple launch Mac mini and iPhoto RAW support

In case anbody actually missed this one Apple have launched a new mini desktop Mac called the iMac mini. It is basically a monitorless G4 iMac with either 1.25Ghz or 1.46Ghz processor, 256 MB RAM, 40 or 80 GB hard drive, DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive, and an ATI Radeon 9200 graphics processor. They will be priced at £339 and £399 repectively. It seems every photographer can now afford to have a desktop and a powerbook!

The latest version of iPhoto, called iPhoto5 claims to have support for various RAW formats, this will be available as an upgrade for existing users, or can be bought as part of the iLife package.

3 Gb SD memory cards on the way!

According to the Engadget website 3 gigabyte SD memory cards are on the way from a company called Microdia.  No definate pricing as yet but don't expect them to be cheap.  I'm sure it won't be too long before you see comparable products from Lexar and Sandisk.

Dpnow reviews Epson P-2000 multimedia storage album

Dpnow has a review of the new Epson P-2000 multimedia storage viewer.  Like a Ipod on steroids this 40gb hard disk storage device has a 3.8 inch hi res display.  It also sports CF and SD card slots and can copy Jpegs along with a variety of RAW formats direct to its hard drive.  It can also connect to your PC using USB2.0, display images on your TV, or print directly when connected to certain Epson printers.  Oh yeah, it plays MP3 and MPEG4 movies too! 

The only competition the Epson has is the lower specified Nikon Coolwalker which I am currently testing.  Expect a comparison when I get my hands on an Epson.  In theory a travelling photographer could work for days without a laptop using the combination of the P2000 and an Ipaq running Pocket Phojo.

Price is expected to be around £350.

Tom's hardware reviews the OQO

Toms Hardware have an excellent review of the new OQO pocket sized PC.  Essentially a fully fledged Windows PC in your pocket the OQO has a 1Ghz Transmeta Processor, 20Gb Hard drive, 256mb of RAM and a 800x480 colour display.  It also features Bluetooth, 802.11b wireless, USB and Firewire connections. 

The current favourite of many travelling photojournalists is a Pocket PC like a HP Ipaq , running Windows Pocket PC 2003 and Idruna's Pocket Phojo software.  The OQO makes an interesting alternative allowing the use of Photoshop and browsers like Fotostation or Photo Mechanic, while still being pocketable.

I know that various news organisations have already been testing these so expect to see an OQO on the belt of a photographer near you soon! 

You can order an OQO in the UK from Expansys.

Canon post EOS1DMkII firmware version 1.1.0

Canon have promised improvements to the AI Servo focus of the 1DmkII and 1DSmkII with the latest version of their firmware.  It also features reduced startup time and support for the new WFT-E1 wireless transmitter.  You can download it here