Josh Root at Photo.net has posted his first impressions of the Panasonic DMC-LX3:

So far, I really enjoy using the Panasonic LX3 and am excited about it’s low noise and impressive image quality. The wide and fast lens is a joy to use. The controls are well designed and quick to operate. Heck, I haven’t even mentioned the HD video the LX3 is able to record. Overall, I find myself reaching for this camera whenever I get a chance.

-Josh Root

I post this only in that my reasoning for liking the Panasonic LX3 (the lens, the “philosophy”, oh the lens again) are nicely highlighted by Root. I think it will suit my shooting style, but the G10 does weigh on the back of my mind. Oddly the challenge of using the Sigma DP-1 does too.

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I don’t know why he doesn’t crop on the bunny but Masterchong has posted ISO Samples from 100-3200 of the Olympus E-30. To my eye detail starts to go at ISO 800, but noise management is excellent all the way to 1600. Still, I’m surprised that ISO 3200 is even plausible.

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With an 18x zoom (27-486) the Nikon Coolpix P80 gives you all the range you  could ask for. It also features a 10 megapixel sensor, a 2.7 inch LCD screen, and even a full manual exposure mode. In a review at Imaging Resource the Nikon P80 gets high marks for build, interface, and usability. The chinks in the armor don’t come till we get to the IQ:

Overall, the Nikon Coolpix P80 does not perform up to the standard of the average $400 long-zoom digital camera. Exposure and color are generally good, but with low detail and sharpening artifacts mixed in with overaggressive noise suppression, even at the lowest ISOs. Color was punchy, and the 18x optical zoom does get you in nice and close, but at the cost of significant chromatic aberration across the frame that blurs detail and surrounds your subjects with a blue and red halo. Barrel distortion at wide-angle was high, but the camera’s Distortion Control setting controls it well, overcorrecting just slightly.

-Imaging Resource

Print results fared poorly as well. Typically these superzooms will have their compromises, but the P80 might stretch those a bit too far. So, fun to use, but IQ leaves something to be desired.

Get the full review here.

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The results are in and it looks like the winner is more tips or tutorials. I do want to give a hearty thanks to the folks who picked “Perfectly Fine/ Don’t Change (thanks mom and dad!). Seriously though, I’m liking these polls and I’ll try to do more of them.

Also, thanks to the new subscribers, apparently the asking/begging method yields results, and on that note; PLEASE SUBSCRIBE:

Finally, I still want to do a giveaway. For some reason I’m stuck on giving a 50mm prime lens, on the condition the winner writes a review of said lens. But hey, I’m open to suggestions.

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Juza Nature Photography reviews the Sigma 200-500mm F/2.8 EX DG lens. The cost? $24,000. That’s right 24 grand.

The Sigma 200-500 is undoubtedly a fascinating lens…it is the only 500mm f/2.8 of the world, and its price is not completely out of reach if you are a professional. What is more difficult to justify are its size and weight: carrying around a 16 kg lens (with at least 5 kg of tripod and head) is far from easy; moreover, it lacks of image stabilization (it may be a real problem at the longest focal, even on a sturdy tripod).

-Juza Nature Photography

Get the review here.

Not something you’ll want homeland security seeing you carry around anywhere near an airport.

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Another option for the entry level photographer is the Pentax K2000 (K-m). It features a 10.2 megapixel sensor, image stabilization, 2.7 inch LCD, 5 point AF, and shoots at a pace of 3.5 fps. It gets reviewed at ePhotozine who like the K2000’s impressive build quality, noise management and image quality:

Looking at the landscape image and again I’m amazed at the amount of colour being recorded. It’s saturated but not excessively and I think that Pentax have got it right on the nose. I used the 50mm f/1.4 lens and there’s no fringing which means the microlenses aren’t throwing any distortion up. Detail is good in the grass and trees to the right.

-ePhotozine

Get the rest of the review here.

Buy your Pentax K2000 here at Amazon or here at B&H Photo Video.

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Panasonic has posted a firmware update for the micro 4/3 camera, the DMC-G1:

1. Makes it possible to check the exposure with Live View during the AE lock.
2. Makes it possible to continuously display the enlarged screen of the MF assist.
3. Added “color adjustment function” for the LCD monitor/View finder.
4. Added “Red-eye reduction forced flash on” to the flash setting for the [PARTY].
5. Improved the performance of AE(Auto Exposure) and AWB(Auto White Balance).
6. Improved the accuracy of flash control.
7. Improved the noise reduction during high sensitivity photo shooting.

Get the update from Panasonic here.

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We never doubted that the Canon EOS Rebel XS (1000D) was a fine entry level DSLR camera, but in the recent past the price of the XS was so close to the XSi that it made a lot more sense to move up to the XSi. But now the prices of the 10.1 megapixel camera have come down quite a bit, in fact you can get one for about $460 with an EFS 18-55mm IS Lens! A review at Imaging Resource is a reminder that this a sound entry level camera:

Canon will likely sell a lot of Rebel XS kits. It’s a pretty good SLR at a pretty astonishingly low price, and that’s what it was designed to be. Most consumers will be very happy with the Canon Rebel XS, thanks to the high quality, image-stabilized lens, the well-rounded feature-set, and impressive print quality.

-Imaging Resource

For the first time shooter this is a great camera, and now it’s becoming a great value too.

Get the rest of the review here.

Get your Canon EOS Rebel XS here at Amazon or here at B&H Photo Video.

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Adobe has released version 2.2 of Lightroom:

The Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® 2.2 update includes these enhancements:

• Additional camera support for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-LX3 and more**
• Includes several corrections for issues introduced by the Lightroom 2.0 release

Get it from Adobe’s site here: Mac | Win

And there was much rejoicment from the LX3, 5D2, G10 owners….

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