Well, the iPhone 4S will definitely merit a seat at the table when I’m weighing my next phone. The download speeds look great. Hopefully, their new antenna system will solve their antenna-gate issues. I like the longer battery life. I don’t like glass on both sides and the thickness of the phone both of which are carried over from the iPhone 4. I had been hoping the form factor would move more in the direction of the beautiful iPod touch. A big factor will be when I see the results of the first tests of the new 8MP camera. The old camera was awesome. I hope that the added pixels won’t up the noise in iPhone pictures. I already have voice commands on my Android. I’m not sure that Apple’s Siri will be a funcitonal improvement over that. I do expect to be in the Apple store next week for some hands on time. Are you buying what they’re selling?
I love technology (shocker, right?). But I can’t remember the last time I could just feel 100% good about using a tech product or service. For example, I love Apple products. I have purchased many of them for myself and for my family. But they diluted my allegiance by adding ridiculous DRM to the music I bought through iTunes. Now, they’ve moved on to trying to defeat other phone makers in the courts instead of in the marketplace.
AT&T offered me the best customer service for which I could have asked. Too bad my iPhone could never get coverage. So, I switched to Verizon. I have coverage, but they are actively opposing an open and neutral internet. Like Apple they are pursuing market share via coercion rather than by competition.
Facebook has long been an attractive place for folks to share. We just didn’t know how broadly we were sharing and with whom! If you figure out how to bring that under control, don’t worry. Facebook will change its settings and re-expose you until you learn their newest system.
Twitter pretended to be a platform and let developers work out what people wanted (like inline photos). Once someone else did the hard work, Twitter copied their services and put the developers who put Twitter on the map on the sidelines. Not cool.
Android handset makers insist on putting their own skins over Android. The worst part of which is that they then impede updating their phones to the latest version of Android.
So, who is left? Amazon and Google. I’ve heard that Google provides advertising to some pretty shady services in developing countries. For a time, they even censored their search results in China.
Amazon is coming out with a tablet. They’re not allowing other tablet makers and operating systems to have access to their movies on demand. There is always a conflict when content distributors have a device in the distribution chain. Even more clear when you realize that you can’t read Kindle books on anything other than a Kindle or Kindle app.
Is there really such a thing as a corporate good guy? Do corporations ever act responsibly when there is no profit in it? I mean profit via improved PR, tax deductions, or avoidance of litigation. Guess I’m feeling a bit like a grumpy old man this morning. Am I wrong? Is there a brand that you feel 100% great about giving your business?
The Kindle Fire looks like it will give the Nook Color a run for its low-end tablet money. Hard to argue with <$200. I am really fascinated by the new Kindle Touch offered for the same price as the Kindle 3 (less if you don't mind ads). However, I like that I can use my left hand (which holds my Kindle) to turn the page forward. I'm anxious to see if I could do that with the touch (buttonless) version. The new X-ray feature that pulls info off the web and from within the book related to whatever word or phrase you touch sounds absolutely addictive. I've really enjoyed just being able to get a definition on my Kindle 3. I suspect Santa will be happy the new Kindles are lighter. I suspect he will be hauling a load of these babies this year.
Well, Eric has testified before the US Congress. I just wonder if anyone else finds it ironic that Congress, who has run up a debt so large that it not only threatens our national security but to bring down the world’s economy with it. I just wonder if anyone else finds it odd that this Congress, apparently consisting of extremists fighting like two-year-olds. That Congress is taking Google to school. Google, who overcame great odds to rise to prominence (but not dominance) in internet search, being schooled by congress is funny. Are they trying to teach Google how to manage their fiduciary responsibilities or ethics? Either way, you have to admit it is quite funny in a sad clown kind of way.
After months of study, I thought I would pass on kind of a summary of my camera buying thoughts.
Bridge cameras run about $450. The bridge/superzoom camera category is just below a DSLR, but offers many of the same features. They are lighter, smaller, and have a wide range of focal lengths. It would require more money in one lens of a DSLR to get the zoom that these cameras offer. Most point and shoots compress images into JPEG files. This allows a camera card to store many times the number of pictures on a camera card. DSLRs let you store the image data in a RAW file and control the compression on your computer. The differences are seldom noticeable unless you would really crop the picture in closely and then you might see the difference. Most bridge cameras don’t offer RAW images so they don’t offer the opportunity to learn these post-processing tricks. The main disadvantages of bridge cameras is that their sensors are quite a bit smaller than DSLRs. This seems to have the greatest impact on low light shots. Sony tries to overcome this with 6 image overlays in a couple of their shooting modes. The six images are taken virtually at the same time. They use the overlays to form one image cancelling out the noise that would be there in any one image. It works fairly well relative to not having it but it still doesn’t perform as well as a DSLR. (I’ve shot the same shot with and without in low light, but got up in the early morning to do the tests and the “model”, me, wasn’t presentable so I’m not sharing.) You have virtually all of the manual controls of a DSLR and can learn how to apply all the principles of photography with this camera. If you become comfortable with this, sell the camera and move up or just master it and park here.
The next link is to the conclusion of a very technical review of the Sony bridge camera. Many pros throw the Canon camera, to which it is compared, in their bags along with their professional equipment. Camera Labs
Next up from the bridge cameras are the mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (ILCs). The guts (particularly the sensors) are quite similar to a DSLR but there is no optical view finder. They either have only an LCD display or an LCD display and an electronic viewfinder (EVF). Even their bodies are more expensive than a bridge camera. Then there is the expense of the lenses. The bodies range from about $500 to $1200. An 18-200mm lens runs from $580 to $800 for “kit” level lens and well over a $1000 for a quality lens. A 35-50mm portrait lens runs from $150 to $300 for a “kit” level lens. The sensor size/processor combo is half the story of picture quality. The lens is the other half. Most ILCs have the option of purchase with a kit lens in the 18-55mm range for a nominal cost of $100-$200 over the cost of the body. They don’t use the same lens (without an adapter anyway) as full size DSLRs and they generally have proprietary accessories. So, later, if you want to move up, none of your “extras” will work. For still images only, I would recommend the Sony NEX-C3 as a value leader. It can be had with the kit lens for $650. At the other end of the spectrum is the Sony NEX-7 which comes with a kit lens for $1350. You could shoot a movie with this puppy since it offers complete manual control while shooting video as well as stills. In my opinion Sony is the only way to go in this class if you want to do any low light shooting. The Sony ILCs have the same size sensor as DSLRs. I might consider the Olympus E-P3 for outdoor shooting. It has a much smaller sensor (~2/3) but the lenses are quite nice.
Here is a decidedly nontechnical review of the C3: Pogue
And another one, Wired
And a C3 video review from DigitalRev
Here is a Sony video promo of the 5N
The cropped sensor DSLRs are the next step up. Their bodies range from $450 to $2100. Lens costs are comparable to the ILCs. They are bigger and heavier than ILCs. However, they may outperform the ILCs particularly in focus speed and easy access to picture setting controls. My choice would be the new Sony A65, coming out October 19, as an entrly level DSLR. For portrait or long-exposure night photography I would also consider the Nikon D5100. It has very good low light performance but the images are usually a little “soft” for my taste.
Full frame (same size as 35mm film) sensor DSLRs run from about $2100 and up with the Canon 5D MkII being my fave. With a sensor 1.5x to 2x the size of an ILC or cropped sensor DSLR, these offer the highest picture quality (PQ) out there and these are the choice of pros. The bigger the sensor the bigger the lens required to get a tighter (more zoomed in shot). A 200mm lens on a Sony ILC is equivalent to a 300mm lens on the 5D. It’s isn’t just the money. These lenses get large and heavy. (Of course, if you’re only doing portrait photography who cares.) Pros usually have assistants and one of their primary functions is to carry stuff.
A bridge camera makes a great learning tool and would be more camera than any casual shooter would probably want since you can’t stick it in your pocket. Step up to an ILC and you will get much better PQ, especially for low light shooting, but getting any kind of “zoom” becomes pricey fast. An entry-level DSLR gives you all of the advantages of an ILC in a bulkier body but you’ll get more performance for your money and if you go Sony or Canon you have lenses and accessories you can keep if you want to go full frame later. (Nikon uses different lenses for their crop frame DSLRs than for the full frame cameras.)
I don’t ever expect to go to the pro level cameras so I don’t need upwardly mobile accessories and lenses. I think I’ve learned most of what I could learn from a bridge camera from my HX5V already. I like the variety of accessories that work with a DSLR, but I think I’m going to go with a more compact ILC. I’m trying to decide between the Sony NEX-5N and NEX-7 because video is important as well as indoor shooting.
Without further fanfare, here are the purchasing recommendations of myself, someone with no photographic credentials whatsoever:
Well, Eric has testified before the US Congress. I just wonder if anyone else finds it ironic that Congress, who has run up a debt so large that it not only threatens our national security but to bring down the world’s economy with it. I just wonder if anyone else finds it odd that this Congress, apparently consisting of extremists fighting like two-year-olds. That Congress is taking Google to school. Google, who overcame great odds to rise to prominence (but not dominance) in internet search, being schooled by congress is funny. Are they trying to teach Google how to manage their fiduciary responsibilities or ethics? Either way, you have to admit it is quite funny in a sad clown kind of way.
