Pentax K2000 Digital SLR Camera Review
K2000 is the 10.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera released by Pentax. The Pentax K2000 is targeted towards entry level DSLR users and was released in November of 2008. Following are some of the technical specifications of the Pentax K2000:
Model: K2000 w/ AF200FG Flash & 18-55mm Lens
Optical Sensor Resolution: 10.2 MP
Optical_sensor_technology: CCD
Optical zoom: 3 x
Optical_sensor_size: 23.5 x 15.7 mm
Included Flash Type: Built-in flash
Display Size: 2.7 inches
Light_sensitivity: SO 100-3200, ISO auto (100-3200)
Shooting Modes: Auto Picture, Portrait, Night Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Action, Picture Portrait, Night Scene Portrait, Standard Flash Off
Exposure Control Type: Bulb, automatic, manual, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, ISO priority, shutter+aperture priority
Viewfinder Type: Optical - Eye-level mirror pentaprism
Width: 4.8 inches
Depth: 2.7 inches
Height: 3.6 inches
Weight: 18.5 Ounces
Following are some the reviews from other websites:
“The Pentax K-m (more logically called the Pentax K2000 in some parts of the world) is Pentax’s brand new entry-level DSLR camera, slotting into the range underneath the K-m model. Designed to be small, lightweight and simple to use, the uncluttered layout and aggressive price make the Pentax Km particularly well-suited to compact camera owners looking to make the step-up to a DSLR.
Despite its budget leanings, the 10 megapixel K-m still offers some significant features, including a 2.7 inch LCD monitor, built-in Shake Reduction system to help avoid blurry photos, Dust Removal system to prevent dust from appearing, 3.5 frames per second continuous shooting, and an Auto Picture mode which promises to do most of the hard work for you.”
Click here to read their complete review.
“The Pentax K2000 is a new 10.2 megapixel DSLR. The K2000 is geared toward entry-level shooters. The new 18-55mm and 55-200mm kit lenses both feature plastic lens mounts. The K2000 became available in November 2008 with an smc Pentax DA-L 18-55mm lens and an AF200FG flash included in the kit for a retail price of $699.95, although many retailers offer it at a significant discount. A second kit option including the smc Pentax DA-L 50-200mm lens will be available in early 2009.”
Click here to read their complete review.
Source: The Photography Bay
Whats your experience with this camera?
What is Autobracketing or Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB)?
Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB) or Autobracketing is feature on most DSLRs where the camera will take 3 or more successive shots using slightly different settings. This is done mainly for 2 reasons. First, you would use Autobracketing if you want to shoot using different settings and the choose the best of the lot or Second, you would use Autobracketing for HDR photopgraphy. Click here to learn more about HDR Photography.
The most common type of autobracketing used is exposure autobracketing or Automatic Exposure Bracketing (AEB). Using AEB, the camera is set to capture the same image several times with slightly different exposures, both over-exposed and under-exposed (lighter and darker) compared to your current exposure setting on the camera. Depending on make and model of your camera, the difference between each of the autobracketed shots could be anywhere up to two stops in each direction, in half-stop or one-third stop increments.
Each DSLR has a different way of selecting AEB, Nikon’s D70 has an accessible button on the back marked BKT while other DSLRs like Canon have an AEB setting in their menus.
Another common form of autobracketing is white balance autobracketing. This technique applies only to DSLRs, not to film cameras. This setting causes the DSLR to capture the same image several times and slightly changing the white balance settings, with both higher and lower color temperatures compared to the current setting on the camera.
Photo Credit: Breeze Systems
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens Review - I want.
This is probably going to be my next purchase in the photography department! These lens has been voted as one of the best upgrades from the kit lens and the reviews are very favorable.
“With the introduction of the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens, Canon has replaced one of its most popular lenses and its first image stabilized lens - the Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS. The 75-300mm IS lens was popular because of its useful focal length range, small size, light weight, midrange price and Image Stabilization. The Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM Lens improves this overall package (sacrificing only price somewhat).”
Read the complete review at Digital Picture here.
The Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6 IS USM is the replacement for the EF75-300/4-5.6 IS USM, but the difference is much more than just 5mm at the short end of the range. According to Canon, the new lens uses a low dispersion optical element for better image quality, digitally optimized coatings to lower flare, an improved IS system giving an extra stop of “handholdability” and a panning mode, faster autofocus and a zoom lock at 70mm to prevent “creep”. This comes at a price however, which for the Canon EF 70-300/4-5.6 IS USM is around $570, about $125 more then the old EF75-300/4-5.6IS USM sold for new.”
Read Bob Atkins’ complete Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM Lens review here.
.Olympus E-30 Review!
The Olympus E-30 is close to launch. Check out the reviews from these folks on the E-30 before you head out to buy it!
DPReview - Olympus has today announced the E-30 digital SLR. The mid-range DSLR features a 12MP Live MOS sensor and 2.7″ tilt and swivel LCD. It also incorporates Live View with Contrast AF, Image Stabilization, 5fps continuous shooting and shutter speeds of up to 1/8000th sec. The E-30 also introduces a set of six ‘Art Filters’, a Multiple Exposure mode and offers a choice of 9 aspect ratios. Click here to read the full review.
PhotographyReview - The Olympus E-30 is a 12.3-megapixel digital SLR positioned between the Olympus E-520 and the top-of-the-line Olympus E-3, both of which are 10-megapixel cameras. The E-30 actually shares a lot of features and technology with the E-3. The most important of the shared features, in my opinion, are the tilt/swivel LCD and the 11-point auto focus system. Click here to read the full review.
PCWorld - The E-30 is equipped with an internal Digital Level Sensor that detects the camera’s pitch and roll and indicates it in the optical viewfinder, on the control panel and during Live View operation. Olympus says that his Digital Leveler is a tremendous benefit for architectural photographers who must ensure that images they take of buildings are as centered and true as the walls of the buildings themselves. Click here to read the full review.
Nikon 24.5MP D3X - Review
Nikon has announced the launch of the new D3X . Check out the review of this 24.5MP monster on the following sites:
DPReview - “Nikon has announced the D3X, its latest high-resultion professional DSLR. Sporting an imaging sensor with double the number of photosites of the popular D3, the 24.5 megapixel D3x includes similar features such as a 3.0″, 920,000 dot LCD monitor with Live View, 51-point autofocus, EXPEED image processing and HDMI output.” Click here to read the complete review.
Electronista - “Nikon has inadvertently filled out details of the D3X ahead of its official launch, courtesy of an early look at the company’s own Nikon Pro magazine. True to expectations, the pro DSLR is mostly a resolution upgrade over the stock D3 and jumps from 12 megapixels to 24.5. It also gains a new 16-bit EXPEED image processor that should improve color performance over the 14-bit standard version.” Click here to read their complete review.
Digital Camera Flash Diffusers
There are times, when you are shooting in low light, that you will ‘HAVE’ to use the flash and most times, the light emitted from the flash will too much and it floods the picture.
In these cases, you can either reduce the intensity of your flash by changing the intensity value in the settings of your DSLR or if your DSLR does not have that option, you could use Camera Flash Diffusers to soften the flash.
You can either buy Camera Flash Diffusers from the store or you can make one at home that will be just as effective. Objects used to act as Flash Diffusers include old film cannisters (as shown in the image), paper cups, pieces of plain white paper or even a plastic food tub!
Click here
(Image Courtesy: Natuurplaat)
Nikon’s GP-1 GPS Unit - Review
Using the Nikon GP-1 GPS unit, Geotags (Geodetic System WGS84) can be added to your images so you can record latitude, longitude, altitude and time information. This data should help you remember where you took that great shot!
Correlation between pictures and maps is supported by GPS function in conjunction with ViewNX version 1.2 software which is a free download and my Picturetown.
On a cold start, the Nikon GPS device takes 45 seconds to start communicating with the satellites. Otherwise, it takes about 5 seconds. Just know that the power for the Nikon GPS devices is sucked out from the camera so you can expect your battery to die out on you much earlier as I suspect that the GPS unit requires a lot of power to function (If you have had a different experience, please let us know and we will edit that sentence 
)
Once connected to the camera, the GP-1 GPS Unit has three modes of indication to give you an idea of how accurate the GPS information is going to be:
* Red blinking (GPS data not recorded)
* Green blinking (GPS data recorded utilizing three satellites)
* Green solid(Four or more satellites detected, GPS data are more accurate)
The Nikon camera models compatible with the device are: D90 (via accessory terminal cable GP1-CA90), D3, D300, D700, D2Xs and D200 (via 10-pin remote terminal cable GP1-CA10). Some models may require an update to the latest version of firmware.
Click here
Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Lens - Reviews
Looking to buy the new Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro Lens? Check out these reviews before you do. The reviews seem pretty positive.
“The latest design to emerge from the stable of superzoom experts Tamron, the AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical (IF) MACRO was announced in July 2008. The length of the zoom range is almost as remarkable as that of the lens’s name itself, with the 15x ratio covering everything from a 28mm equivalent wideangle to a 420mm equivalent telephoto.” Click here to read complete review at DPReview.com
“Camera shake can ruin your photos, particularly when taking telephoto shots or shooting in low light conditions. The Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 macr0 zoom lens, however, fights camera shake with its state-of-the-art vibration compensation (VC) mechanism, which delivers blur-free handheld images for incredible results. The proprietary VC mechanism employs a three-coil system that moves the VC lens electromagnetically based on signals originating from the movement of three steel balls”. Click here
If you have purchased the lens and tried it, please leave a comment on what you think about the lens
Use Poladriod to create Polaroids!
You can use a service called Poladriod to create polaroids from your digital pictures! Its quite easy as 1-2-3 they say.
1. Download the free POLADROID application and launch it
2. Drag & Drop your photos
3. Wait… wait…. wait again… or shake the picture. Then look at or print your POLADROID picture
The software is in the Beta stage right now and only has the MAC version for download. The windows version is being developed as you are reading this.
Check out their service here.
Better Baby Photos
I found this great article on PopPhoto on how to take shoot good pictures of babies and infants and wanted to share it with the readers:
“1. Turn off your flash and use a fast shutter speed (1/250 sec or higher) to capture the action and produce sharper images. Newborns can move unexpectedly, and older infants and toddlers are always on the move. If the light is too low and you cannot use a fast shutter speed, try increasing your ISO.
2. Focus on the eyes, the eyes are the first place people look when viewing a portrait, so make sure the baby’s eyes are in focus in your image. To ensure sharpness, use the autofocus lock.
3.Use continuous shooting mode. Babies are often in constant movement. This is where you action photography skills come in handy. By using continuous drive mode you won’t miss any moments-between-the moments. Keep taking pictures even after you think the moment has passed.
4. Remember the details. A baby’s fingers and toes are tiny for only a short time, so don’t miss the opportunity to photograph these details. Set your camera to macro mode and get in close to fill the frame.”
Original can be found here.
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