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Well, it's time again to work on Mac Design's
annual digital camera shootout. We've already tested the four of
the eight and my editor, Barbara Thompson, has contacted Canon,
Minolta, Nikon, Fuji, Sony, Olympus, and Toshiba about supplying
their top-end prosumer 4 megapixel to 5 megapixel cameras.
For last year's shootout, our cameras were in
the 3 megapixel high range and that tells us how fast the
industry has moved. Nikon introduced its new CP995 in March with
no increase in memory, then followed up with the CP5000
announcement for November.
The 5000 will be a 5 megapixel camera with a
drastically altered design from the previous CoolPix models.
Comparing the images from seven different
cameras, especially made at slightly different resolutions, is a
daunting task. First of all, each image must be resized from its
raw JPG format to 300ppi in Photoshop. Of course, this will give
a slightly larger image for the higher resolution pictures.
So I'm seeking help from Planet Photoshop
readers. Is this a fair method to compare images? Or, should we
resize images to a specific width (say 8 inches) and then
compare resolution?
As all our test images are then separated for
publication, it's up to me to make a judgment on image quality
based upon print output from the same inkjet printer.
Other factors I'll be looking for this year
include speed of operation. Canon has already demonstrated an
increase in speed of its G2 signal processor and it's incumbent
upon other companies to do so as well, if they want their
cameras to compete.
Of course I've whinged (a British term) about
ease of use in my past two columns and it's a very important
factor. For instance, how easy will it be to focus through the
CP5000's LCD in bright sunlight… a big knock on former CoolPix
models from fans and critics alike.
Does a camera have noise reduction for long
exposures? This is an important feature for the cameras I've
tested and the competition should match up. How about noise
reduction for higher sensitivity settings? The manufacturer who
gives us a grain- and noise-free ISO 800 setting will be coining
income.
And how about the general appearance of a
camera? My experience is that digital photographers want their
cameras to strongly resemble traditional cameras. Still,
over-design of digital cameras with SLR-like prism bumps is
something I find pretty offensive.
So send in your thoughts on the testing
procedure right now. I can be contacted by email at
jsaurian@tampabay.rr.com.
I've just finished cataloging and converting
from JPGs to TIFFS nearly 300 images from our two week trip to
Tuscany. Some of these illustrate this column.
I probably made about 500 exposures but dutifully edited out the
losers (bad focus, moving camera or subject, etc.) and duplicate
near winners. It's great fun to relive the experiences of a
foreign journey but it's something that needs to be done quickly
before I forget where and why I made the shot.
One day in the Piazza Duomo in Florence, I stood
close to a man who seemed to be having a conversation with his
camera. Sure enough, he was recording his caption information
into the Memo mode of his Sony still camera.
At the time, I thought this was pretty neat. Now
I'm glad I didn't have to sit and listen to myself talk as well
as try to recall what my images are. |