Field Review: Nikon D3100 (Day 4)

Camera Nikon D3100 Exposure 20 Aperture f/16.0 Focal Length 50 mm ISO Speed 100

It was a cold, quiet, crisp morning in my hometown: the type of day I would usually shoot with my 50mm lens on my D90. After a little thought and a cup of tea I put my Nikon 50mm F/1.8 D lens on the D3100. We love 50mm Prime lenses here on The Phoblographer. They are low cost and great to shoot with. We have written a few posts on this subject. I thought it would be interesting to use my 50mm F/1.8 to shoot some Bokeh and have some fun.

Field Review Nikon D3100 (Day 3)

Camera Nikon D3100 Exposure 0.02 sec (1/50) Aperture f/2.0 Focal Length 35 mm ISO Speed 800

Next in this review: an ISO test. The Nikon D3100 has a higher ISO capability than its predecessor the D3000. Its maximum is IS0 3200 and can go up to ISO 128000 when set to HI 2. I started shooting high ISO’s from day one with this camera. The quality of the images at ISO 800 is very nice with little to no noise. Before reading, you can take a look at Day 2 in this series.

Field Review: Olympus E-5 (Day 4)

So far in the review we’ve found out that the Olympus E-5 is a tough cookie from Day 3, that the raw image files are very versatile, and we’re beyond the first impressions. But the E-5 has a much sexier side to it. There are art filters built into the camera. The chart above can be clicked on (and shared) to show off the effects on one image. This will literally be nothing else but a huge image dump with other samples from each filter.

Field Review: Olympus E-5 (Day 3)

What happens when you take a DSLR marketed to be weatherproof and bury it under snow for a couple of minutes? While doing this, you are recording video on said DSLR. I tested that with the Olympus E-5 as part of the Field Review along with how well it performed during a snowfall.

To catch up you can read my impressions during Day 1 and my thoughts on the raw file versatility during Day 2.

Field Review: Nikon D3100 (Day 2)

Camera Nikon D3100 Exposure 0.002 sec (1/500) Aperture f/4.0 Focal Length 35 mm ISO Speed 100

New Jersey was recently hit with very light snowfall and a good day to take pictures. I took the Nikon D3100with me to my day job. Having a good understanding of how the focusing works from Day 1, I turned off the auto area selection feature to really give it a go. Nothing was planned I just had a little fun with my commute.

Field Review: Olympus E-5 (Day 1)

It’s been a long time since I’ve spent this long with an Olympus product: around two years! My first DSLR was the Olympus E-510 and I loved it to death, but had to move to Canon for the features they provided me. With that said, the Olympus E-5 is a camera that I had hands-on time with and knew that I just had to test it out. Enough about me though: let’s get this thing started!

Field Review: The Pentax K-5 (Day 4)

This week, I took our Pentax K-5 along on an engagement portrait shoot in the scenic Oakland hills, and – for the third field test in a row with the robust little Pentax – it was raining. I will say, without hesitation, that we have tested and proved the weather sealing of both camera and 55mm f/1.4 DA* lens. In our previous entry (here) I discussed both the camera’s discreet and capable handling while photographing a wedding (a rainy wedding) and a critical issue of purple fringing in certain images.

Before reading this posting, you may want to read about it used at a wedding, in tough weather, and my initial feelings.