Absurd Singularity

Since last year, Nikon has been doing a pretty good job of smackin' Canon around during DSLR product announcements. Last year Canon announced the 40D, Nikon counters pretty much immediately with the D300. Canon announces the 1DsIII, Nikon brings forth the D3. And then earlier this year, the D700. Just because. This latest round hasn't diverged from the script much as Canon announced (surprisingly) their new 50D and Nikon jumps in with their D90 which has (gasp!) video recording capability. While I'm not interested in either of these two bodies (once you go full frame... ah... ferget it), I do find the 50D interesting for what it portends for Canon's 5D successor.

First, the fact that they left the AF the same as the 40D was depressing. Previously I had written that I would have accepted it if all they did for the 5D successor was update the AF to what was on the 40D. After having to actually deal with photographing a toddler for the past few months, I'm not sure I can still say that. But current rumors (yeah yeah, take with grain of salt and all that jazz) has some sort of odd, never-before-seen 19-point AF for the 5D successor. I can only hope but I find the 19-point AF rumor to be a little suspect because the same rumor lists HD movie mode as a feature. I think any sort of movie mode makes more sense first in a more consumer-level DSLR like Nikon has with the D90. That's not to say that DSLRs at all levels won't have a movie mode eventually but it doesn't make much sense for Canon to unveil their's on a body like the 5D successor. Another interesting thing is this promotional blurb by a famous wildlife photographer who has tested the 50D stating that its AF is the fastest he's ever handled which is a little odd since it's supposed to be the same AF as what is on the 40D. Maybe there's been some tweaking of the AF algorithm behind the points.

However, there may be hope for Canon in the high ISO IQ department with the new DIGIC 4. While I'm not expecting them to surpass Nikon's D3/700 in that department this generation, they should at least match. With the critical test being from ISO 1600 to 6400. As I mentioned before, any ISO past that is purely marketing and simply won't be used much except for shrunken down web viewing. With that in mind, the first ISO 1600 shot from the 50D that I've seen looks pretty darn good. Not sure how much post-processing was done to it if any but the black areas seem to be devoid of any noise whatsoever. However, what grain there is seems to be a bit splotchier than what I've been seeing from the D700 which tend to be pleasingly uniform. But if this Canon sample was shot straight in JPEG that may explain the blotching. There's also this other ISO 1600 sample which seems to be pretty acceptable. There's also an ISO 3200 sample in that set but apparently it's not a true ISO 3200. But if Canon's new cropped sensor plus DIGIC 4 can contain noise so well, it bodes well for the images that their next full frame sensor + DIGIC 4 can produce. So because of that, I'm excited.

So Canon currently has half of the two major upgrades that I believe they need to do to effectively compete with Nikon's current offerings. Whether or not their AF will be good enough won't be known until the successor is announced and user tested. With the fiasco that their new AF turned out to be on the 1DIII, whatever they come up with will have to withstand much more intense scrutiny.

'k, so I'm a POM fan and I was pretty shocked to see these start showing up in my local bodega and over at Mitsuwa. From pomegranate juice to coffee??? And coffee laced with an "ultra-potent, 100%-pure polyphenol antioxidant extract" nonetheless. Seems to me to be a rather peculiar expansion of one's product line. Now while I'm not a coffee drinker, I have been known to be a sucker for a good and sweet iced coffee . This new POMx stuff? Not a fan. Probably because of the reduced fat milk. I like my milk full of all its fatty glory.

As I had mentioned in this previous entry, Nikon's 50mm f/1.4D lens was surprisingly small. Smaller than Canon's 50mm f/1.4 which is pretty small to begin with. Plopping this on the D700 after the hefty 24-70mm f/2.8 makes it almost feel like a small entry-level DSLR like the D60 or Canon XSi.

Performance-wise it's no slouch though. Definitely sharp enough. No USM/Silent Wave Motor but the noise while autofocusing isn't loud at all. Pretty quick AF too although it does seem to have a bit more difficulty in achieving focus lock in low light conditions. Plus it doesn't adjust as quickly under continuous focus tracking when compared to a G lens like the 24-70.

But when it comes to current Nikon primes, this is about as good as it gets. Besides the 85mm f/1.4 and insanely pricey 28mm f/1.4. Damn they really need to update their prime lineup tout de suite.

We were originally scheduled to visit Sesame Place this Saturday but the remnants of Tropical Storm Hanna squelched that plan by making Saturday incredibly humid from morning til about mid-afternoon and then dumping like half a foot of rain from mid-afternoon til well into the evening. Fortunately, Hanna was in a hurry to clear out of the area and in its wake came an absolutely gorgeous day: sunny and high in the mid 80s. So we headed on out.

As per his usual modus operandi, Devon was initially shell-shocked upon arrival. Was afraid of pretty much everything but there were a few play areas that he was fine with. After lunch and an hour-long nap though, he was in a much better mood. Still afraid of some things but was much more easily coaxed into not being afraid than in the beginning. But I think overall he had a lot of fun. The areas he enjoyed he really enjoyed and it's always fun to watch your own kid having a blast.

Sesame Place is actually a pretty ideal amusement park for little kids. It's small and everything there is geared towards the little ones so you can spend a pretty nice day there. Most of the rides were still too scary for Devon though so I'm hoping he'll have more fun next year when he's older. Half of the park is water-oriented so go in your bathing suits. Today wasn't as crowded which was great as we had heard it could get insanely busy at times. Plus it's a relatively shorter drive than going out to Dutch Wonderland. A little over an hour since it's right across the NJ/PA border.

So it was a tiring day for lil' Dev. Saw and experienced lots of new things and got a new lil' stuffed Elmo and Elmo ball. It's really a shame that when you grow up, you forget most of what you've experienced as a kid. Oh well, guess that's why I'm taking all these pictures. ;-p

Caught a showing of the limited release movie, Ping Pong Playa:

Jive-talking Chinese
Matures as a man with help
By paddling a Brit

It was an entertaining flick with many relate-able moments. Like the hybrid Mandarin/English conversations the brothers have with their parents. I give it a solid 7/10.

So the big news of the day in the photography world is that the moon is finally full and Canon's 5D Mark II has officially been revealed. And they weren't kidding when their tag line was "Destined Evolution." The 5DII is, for its intended market (landscape, studio & product photographers), not a shabby update. For everyone else, namely those who want a more well-rounded full-frame sensor body in a smaller form factor, it has one possibly major flaw. Namely it appears that the autofocus system has been retained from the original 5D, with a few minor improvements. Yes, the 3-year-old 9-point (only center point cross-type for f/2.8) AF system is still there. My initial reaction was, "Are you f*ckin' kidding me???" And that's pretty much still my reaction now. I don't know if I'm placing too much faith in Canon by thinking that maybe it won't be exactly the same as the old 5D, that they probably tweaked it a bit on the software side so that it works better in low-light than the original (I think I read that somewhere). Chuck Westfall, Canon's director of media and consumer relations, stated that the reason they kept the original AF was because tracking in AI servo mode on the 5D gave better results than the newer (and seemingly better spec'ed) system that are currently on the 40D/50D (9 point as well but all cross-type). Mainly because of the six additional invisible focus assist points surrounding the center point on the 5D that kick in during AI servo. What that means is that if you want to shoot in AI Focus or Servo mode to keep track of something, you have to always use the center point. What kind of crap is that??? I tried to use AI Servo using a non-center point a few days ago and it suuuccckeeddd. It sucked bad.

Most likely Canon's train of thought was that since the 5DII has 21MP, on the odd occasion that a 5DII owner will want to shoot something in motion, forget about composing in the viewfinder. Just use a wider lens, shoot with the center 1+6 points, and compose during post by cropping. You've got plenty of pixels to throw away so why not? Argghh!!!! And word is the reason they did this is because they want the folks who want a better AF system to upgrade to their pro 1D line instead. Not exactly a choice for me because the 1DIII isn't full frame and the 1DsIII that's full frame is $7-8k. Plus I want to keep the smaller body size, not lug around even more mass.

*sigh* So for me, the AF on the Nikon D700 wins for the type and style of shooting I like to do. The new AF microadjustment feature on the 5DII is nice though. Can store adjustments for up to 20 lenses or just set one overall adjustment for the body. As for the IQ of the 5DII, I'm pretty positive that even with the jump in megapixels, its IQ at high ISOs will be pretty impressive. I'm not talking about the ridiculous 12800+ ISOs but anything between 1600 and 6400. If it's as good as the D3/D700 and with 9 more MP, there's nothing to complain about there. The multiple Live View modes and new HD movie mode earns a "meh" from me. May be useful but not sure how much I'd actually use it until I have a hands on. It's nice that they crammed an infrared sensor in the 5DII though. That means the cheapo infrared RC-1 remote that until now only worked with the entry-level Rebel line will work with the 5DII. Cheap wireless shutter tripping, yay!

After shooting with the D700 for the past couple of weeks, it's really, really hard to go back. As a purely photo-taking machine, the D700 is pretty much flawless. Action shots taken in C mode (equivalent to Canon's AI Focus mode) worked very well regardless of which AF point used. 51 selectable AF points can be a pain in the butt to cycle through though so I have it configured down to only 11 selectable. And the Auto ISO functionality, lord how I love thee. Granted, Canon in the 5DII also has auto ISO but it's not as configurable or extensive. With Canon's auto ISO, you can set the ISO only up to 3200 and the camera will keep the shutter speed at 1 over whatever your lens length is at the moment. However, 1 over the lens length is often not enough to cleanly stop motion. With Nikon's auto ISO, not only can you select from the entire possible ISO range, you can also set the minimum shutter speed. So for chasing Devon around, I usually set the max ISO at 6400 and the shutter speed at 1/125s and then just shoot. No more time and moments lost checking on shutter speed and ISO settings, it just works. And when you're chasing around a toddler, every moment counts. =) It's like the D700 just became a large and heavy automatic point and shoot camera but I haven't seen a pocket P&S that will give me such quality results in ISO 800 much less 6400.

The only holdup with Nikon is still their lens lineup. Their 70-200mm f/2.8 VR needs a revamp to stop the vignetting when used on a full frame sensor. While their prime lenses are ancient, my recent experiences with their 50mm f/1.4 leads me to believe that it (and by extension the 85mm f/1.4) is perfectly acceptable for my uses while I wait around for new ones to come out. So I have basically two usable lens (although they are sufficient for the majority of my shots currently), the 50mm and the 24-70mm f/2.8. And that zoom is heavy. Maneuvering around with a 5D + 135L felt so light after a few sessions with the D700 + 24-70. It'd be pretty super if they came out with a 70-200mm f/4 VR that was comparable in IQ, size and weight to Canon's version.

So, even after Canon's 5DII was revealed, I'm still in the same predicament as I was before. Nikon should just hurry up and reveal their new lenses (if any) for Photokina. Not having a lens range > than 70mm is going to be problematic for me. Hear that, Nikon? One lens, one lens is all you need to bring out to win another convert. ;-p Ah, who am I kidding? My mind changes on photography stuff every other day. =p

Devon, many years in the future, when we're sharing photos of your youth with your bride-to-be, just know that your Dad had absolutely nothing to do with this. You have your Mom to thank 100%. ;-)