Archive for April, 2008

Olympus Stylus 1030SW Full-Review Posted

Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Olympus Stylus 1030SWThe world’s toughest digital camera was just reviewed at Neocamera. That would be the Olympus Stylus 1030SW, which is waterproof, shockproof, crushproof and scratchproof. Having such a tough camera with you opens up many possibilities.

Unlike most ultra-compact cameras, the Stylus 1030SW features a wide-angle lens, equivalent to 28-102mm on a 35mm camera. A 10 megapixels sensor and a 2.7″ LCD round-off the main photographic specifications of this unique digital camera. Feature-wise, the Olympus Stylus 1030SW is rather limited with no manual controls at all, not even for white-balance. Remember though that the tough metal exterior of the 1030SW is its most important feature.

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FlashBlock – Speed Up Web Browsing

Monday, April 7th, 2008

FlashBlock is a browser extension that prevents Flash objects from starting automatically. FlashBlock works with Mozilla-based browsers such as Firefox and SeaMonkey. The difference between using FlashBlock and not installing the Flash Plug-In is that Flash objects can be activated on-demand buy clicking on the FlashBlock place-holder. This way, Flash objects such as embedded video-players simply require an extra click, while unwanted Flash objects can simply be left unactivated.

Using FlashBlock provides several advantages:

  • Reduced CPU usage and improved browsing speed. There are many sites which use so many Flash objects on a single page that they can keep more than one CPU running at 100% and cause the browser to become otherwise unresponsive.
  • Reduced visual clutter and distractions. Flash is well-known for being, well, flashy. Sometimes so much so that it distracts from a sites contents. By the way, Neocamera has a no-Flash policy for ads.If a Flash ad appears, let us know and we will warn the publisher or distribution network.
  • Open YouTube videos in multiple tabs. Because YouTube uses a Flash video player, each time a tab is opened with the URL of a video-clip, it starts playing. A great example is the Related Videos column which appears on pages of YouTube videos. If you want to see multiple videos from one such column, clicking on one brings you to a page with a new list, so you have to open each video one at a time. The best way is to open each one in a new tab and then activate the video-player using FlashBlock as you view each tab.
  • Save the planet. Yes, FlashBlock helps reduce energy consumption because it lets you control which Flash player gets activated. This way, you can speed up your web-experience and do your part to conserve energy.

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AnandTech Confirms Fears About Sony Alpha A350

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

Thanks to AnandTech for confirming my fears about the Sony Alpha A350 and most likely about the A300 too. No doubt that Sony should be commended for taking a new approach to live-view in order to address on of its most serious limitations, slow focusing speeds. Unfortunately, their work-around introduced a far more serious problem. AnandTech confirms that the A350’s live-view has coverage of 90%! This is far worst than any DSLR’s optical viewfinder and any fixed-lens camera’s live-preview. At least with slow focusing, you can wait for the image to be in focus or do it yourself with manual-focusing. With the A350, no amount of waiting will bring the coverage to 100%. This clearly negates on of live-view’s most important advantages.

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Posted in Digital Cameras | 1 Comment »

Digital Camera Ratings – Season 2 Episode 2

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

Q: Why are there no DSLR cameras rated Poor?

A: Because there are no poor DSLR cameras.

That was the short and most truthful answer. DSLR cameras are great. They all produce high-quality images and operate rapidly. That is the essence of good cameras. Obviously, there are differences in image quality and speed, DSLRs are not cloned from each other, although sometimes you could think so! As such, I’ve never seen a digital SLR which could not produce stunning images that can be printed big. That is why, no DSLR has been rated Poor yet.

 Nikon D3

The reason we get this question a lot is that this makes it hard to choose a DSLR without reading the reviews. After all, there are currently 20 Excellent DSLR ratings on Neocamera. Elsewhere seems no different, with most DSLRs always getting scores in the top 20% or less. To help users choose, we have feature icons next to each camera on the DSLR list. Those who visited us over 2 years ago may remember that the DSLR Models page used to consist of row-after-row of identical icons. For this reason, we introduced advanced icons that are more relevant to choosing a DSLR.

Remember that icons represent features which do not influence the score we give to a camera. Logically, this is because the importance of a feature lies in the eye of the beholder. Ergonomics are also quite subjective, as is image quality when you consider that cameras balance details and noise-reduction differently.

As a consolation for those who want to buy a DSLR without reading much, you should know that there is nothing wrong with buying the cheapest DSLR (or the most expensive one). They are all good, but the cheapest one has the advantage of saving you money which can be invested in better lenses. If you do the research though, you’ll find that DSLR cameras are filled with subtle differences which are greatly appreciated by their users.

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Sony Alpha A200 Full-Review Posted

Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Not that much behind other reviews, the full-review of the Sony Alpha A200 was posted on Neocamera yesterday. This is Sony’s new entry-level DSLR which features improvements over the A100 on image quality and performance while providing a simpler and more restrictive interface.

What is interesting here is that Sony has superseded one model with a less capable one in terms of features. Since Sony still has a more advanced model, in the form of the Alpha A700, they are increasing the feature-gap between the low-end and high-end Alpha DSLR cameras. At the same time Sony has produced an entry-level model which performs very well in terms of image quality and speed of operation.

This emphasizes that the distinction between low-end and high-end models comes more from capabilities than from performance. Even between Canon’s Digital Rebel XTi and their EOS 40D, the major difference comes from features and ergonomics, rather than image quality. Olympus has 3 cameras with the same or nearly-identical sensors: the E-410, E-510 and the E-3. These three cameras are sold at different price-points based on their feature-set, even though image quality is not that different between them.

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