DVPhoto

Well, I’ve finally decided to put together a photoblog, as opposed to this which is a blog about photography in general, in which I will attempt to post a new photo every day. Like many who have started photoblogs, I am doing this in an attempt to force myself to get out there and take photo’s more often.

Of course forcing oneself to take photos when the opportunity isn’t necessarily presenting itself means one has to be a bit more thoughtful about your shots and their composition. When a beautiful sunset, or some otherwise notable shot, presents itself, you really just have to take it and people will enjoy it. However when shooting the mundane, a badly composed shot will produce yawns at best.

So anyway, I present to you all, The Daily Vision; may it will be enjoyed, or at least not activily hated. Hopefully I can learn from it and raise my photography to the next level.

Just in case you didn’t already know about it, go read What the Duck. Created by Aaron Johnson the site has this to say:

Aaron Johnson is to blame for What the Duck. WTD originated as a ‘blog filler’ for the vacationing Carol Kroll and has since continued at the demand of tens of people.
So if you want a bit of photography humor everyday (or at least a few days a week), put WTD on your daily reading list.

DP Review have just announced a bunch of new Canon Powershots. The G7, the SD900, the SD800 IS, and the SD40. I get a bit bored of reading point and shoot releases this time of the year, since there are just so many of them. These however, caught my eye because they all had one thing in common, Digic III. From reading the review briefly it seems, not only does Digic III improve the noise reduction (all have ISO 1600 now instead of 800), but also adds face recognition. Photography forums around the internet have dismissed face recognition as a pointless feature that no one needs. I however think it is a very good addition to a P&S camera, especially for when you are at a party (and possibly a bit drunk) and don’t want to think too hard about where the camera wants to focus (one need just look at flickr to see the number of party shots where the face is blurred and the wall behind the person perfectly sharp).

This does however bring to mind one interesting question. Can we expect a new SLR from Canon with Digic III? I think we can, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it gives the lower end medium format digital cameras a run for their money.

As Photokina approaches, more and more camera manufacturers are announcing their upcoming models; none of which so far have been particular eye openers. That is not to say there were not some great improvements, with all the major manufacturers improving their bottom range cameras. Earlier last month Nikon released their D80, it gaining a lot of features from the D200; shortly followed by Canon releasing their 400D, it too gaining some features from the 30D, though perhaps more interestingly getting a 10mp sensor before midrange crop sensor camera did. The new Canon provided, what looks to be the most comprehensive anti sensor dust system of all the current camera’s; though only time will tell how effective it is. Olympus just released the E400, their new entry into the 10mp SLR fight; though, apart from its size, it didn’t impress me much.

And then there is the Pentax K10D.

The first thing that struck me was the weather sealing in what turns out to be such a cheap body ($900 without lens). This is combined with their anti dust feature, the built in anti shake (which I’m still not 100% sold on), and of course a nice pentaprism which should provide a decent viewfinder (unlike the canon).

While Pentax still lack a decent high end model, this offering from them is definitely going to stir up the waters in the low end of the market. Combine this with their selection of ultra-thin pancake primes, and access to almost any Pentax lens made in the last 50 years (some with adapters), and I think they have a very good offering for the amateur and serious hobbyist.

Finally, Leica have officially announced the M8 digital rangefinder. Typical Leica pricing will make this camera have limited appeal, though I haven’t seen any pricing for it so far, so they may surprise. With access to all those lovely Leica M lenses, and of course the lack of a mirror to cause vibration on shooting, this camera will no doubt push it’s 10MP, 1.3x crop sensor to the limits.