Digital Camera News and Reviews

Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3

Photozone has reviewed the ultrazoom lens Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro. The lens got an impressive 15x zoom and optical image stabilization, but it remains to be seen if it is able to produce good pictures. Photozone tested the Tamron lens on a Canon EOS (APS-C) camera (Canon EOS 50D to precise).

Photozone ends up giving the Tamron lens a rather avergae rating as the lens is not able to produce the best pictures on this planet, but what can you expect when you have such a long zoom range. The build quality is ok, you get some chromatic aberrations and there is not that much vignetting, but on a high resolution camera such as the Canon EOS 50D DSLR (15 megapixels) you get some problems with the image quality.
Overall the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro lens seems like a very convenient lens, but it does not produce pictures of highest quality.
Read the full review of the Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical IF Macro lens here.

According to CNN Canon has decided to make a new policy for their workers. They are encouraging their workers to head home earlier so they can spend time with their family and maybe produce some babies.
This is due to the fact that the birthrate in Japan is very low at just 1.34 child per family. Since workers in Japan spend so much time at work (12 hours per day is not uncommon) they get little time to take care of their family and thus little time for making love. Canon hope this can change the negative birth rate trend. Another reason for this policy is that economic recession make it hard for Canon to spend money on overtime.
Lets hope this policy spreads throughout the world including my own country 😉

Fujifilm FinePix F60fd

Cameralabs has reviewed the 12 megapixel FinePix F60fd digital camera produced by Fujifilm.

Some key features for the Fujifilm FinePix F60fd:
-12 megapixel sensor
-3x optical zoom lens (35-105mm, f/2.8-5.1)
-3″ LCD screen
-Dual image stabilization
-ISO 100-1600 sensitivity at full resolution, ISO 3200 and 6400 at 6MP and 3MP resolution respectively

Cameralabs ends up giving the Fujifilm FinePix F60fd a “Recommended” verdict. This is due to the fact that the camera is able to take good pictures, and that it let us have full manual control over aperture and shutter speed. The downsides that this camera is not a big upgrade from the previous model, FinePix F50fd, and that the image stabilization could be better when you compare it with rival cameras.
Overall the Fujifilm FinePix F60fd seems like a nice family camera.
Read the full review of the Fujifilm FinePix F60fd camera here.

Leica has announced that they are accepting submissions for the 2009 “Leica Oskar Barnack Award”. This year is the 30th edition of the Leica photography competition.
The winner receives 5,000 euros or, alternatively, Leica camera equipment to the same value. The winner of the “Newcomer Award” will be awarded 2,500 euros.
The winner photos will also be displayed in a special online gallery for one year.

Visit the official “Leica Oskar Barnack Award” website for more information.

Press release:
“Leica Oskar Barnack Award” 2009 competition just launched

Application form and contest rules for participation now available online

January 23, 2009 – Submissions for the “Leica Oskar Barnack Award” 2009 are now being accepted. All photographers can enter the competition and view contest rules online at www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com.

A renowned photographic competition, the “Leica Oskar Barnack Award” is celebrating its 30th year. To commemorate this landmark, Leica Camera AG has revised the entry conditions and has made numerous changes to the award process.

Entries for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2009 will be accepted exclusively as online submissions between January 15 and March 1, 2009. All photo series submitted will be displayed in a special online gallery section of the Leica website for a period of one year, ending with the request for entries for the new competition. Additionally, a “Newcomer Award” will be incorporated into the competition for the first time, open to all (prospective) photographers age 25 years and under.

An international jury awards the “Leica Oskar Barnack Award” / “Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award” to photographers whose unerring powers of observation capture and express the relationship between man and the environment in the most graphic form. Entry submissions must be a self-contained series of twelve images in which the photographer perceives and documents the interaction between man and the environment with acute vision and contemporary visual style – creative, groundbreaking and unobtrusive.

The winner of the “Leica Oskar Barnack Award” will receive 5,000 euros or, alternatively, Leica camera equipment to the same value. The winner of the “Newcomer Award” will be awarded 2,500 euros. The prizes will be presented in the course of the Rencontres Internationales de la Photographie photographic festival held in Arles, France.