camera

Camera Memory Card Failure Lessons

Photography, Tech, Thought Provoking

Lessons From Losing a Week of Photos to Memory Card Failure

This was interesting to read about losing a week’s worth of photos from a memory card failure. I have had my own woes with memory cards and USB drives failing without backups being done. The costs are quite prohibitive for restoring hardware failures as indicated in the piece. The main lessons are getting many cards (reading negative reviews to judge failure rate), backup often and use a camera with dual card slots.

Some negative customer reviews are frivolous because they are rooted in user error, or because they concern themselves with delivery rather than the product’s quality or performance. However, negative reviews are generally more significant than positive reviews.

If you think that one shouldn’t focus on the negative while the vast majority of reviews are positive, consider that on Amazon, the average rating for a product is 4.4 (out of 5) as found here by analyzing 7 million reviews. Even a product with an average 4.0 rating (4-star) is below average. The large majority of products are rated above 4.0, so the difference between a great product and a subpar product is less than 1 (star) on average. On the other hand, we’ve just seen that the number of 1-star reviews for different cards varies by a factor of four.

Read the whole article.

It’s time for another pocket camera

Photography, Tech

I’ve had quite a bit of bad luck with my pocket cameras over the last year between a couple of bike crashes that busted two of them and losing another. Last year, I was excited about the new batch of cameras that were about to be unveiled including the Panasonic LX7, the Samsung EX2-F and the Canon S110. The Sony RX100 was the special option but the cost relative to the chance of it getting smashed was too big a risk for me to take. Looking with new eyes over the compact supercamera landscape, one new option has appeared and looks very interesting indeed. The Nikon Coolpix P330 has just been released in March and the initial impressions look very encouraging. It’s cheaper than most of the camera’s in its class and it has increased the size of the sensor from the previous P310 version.

DXOMark summarises that the P330 performs above its paygrade.

I think I may be tempted to give it a try.

Samsung EX2F First Impressions Review – DigitalCamerainfo.com

Photography, Tech

The more I hear about the EX2F, the more I like it. Low-light performance is a major factor in what I look for in a compact camera. Here is one of the first reviews that I have seen.

The Samsung EX2F is a premium compact camera from Samsung, with one big feature stamped right on the front: 1.4. Remember that number, because it sets the EX2F apart from just about every other compact camera on the market (as of this writing). 1.4, or more specifically, f/1.4, is the size of the camera’s aperture, the opening in the lens that allows light through when you take a photo. The smaller the number, the bigger the aperture; the bigger the aperture, the better your photos are in low light and the more blurred the scene behind your subject looks.

 

Samsung EX2F First Impressions Review – DigitalCamerainfo.com

LX5

Photography

I see the successor to the Panasonic LX3 has been announced, the LX5. More details of which can be found on the main photo review sites (dpreview.com for example). The new features don’t seem to justify an upgrade for someone who already owns an LX3. What was particularly disappointing was the fact that the lens cap is still detached from the camera. I will be very interested in the successor to the Canon S90 if it arrives in the near future.

Canon S90 – Surpassing the LX3?

Photography

It seems the success of the LX3 by Panasonic has produced a reaction from Canon with the introduction of the S90. After years on auto-pilot, it seems that the market is waking up to the demand for better photo quality, especially at low light.

Where the S90 seems to have surpassed the LX3 from looking at the specs is that it seems to be much smaller and there is no need for a lens cap. When I had to get a new lens cap for the LX3, it cost €25. In addition, when an opportunity for a shot arises, taking the lens cap adds another step to the process. It will be interesting to see if Panasonic responds to those advances in the near future.

Party Shot

Photography, Tech

DP Review reports on a cool new product from Sony. The Party-Shot is a device where a (Sony) camera is attached and automatically takes photos in the surrounding area. The idea is that the party-shot is placed somewhere central and then using face-detection and motion sensors, takes appropriate photos. I would love to see this released for other cameras like my current compact, the LX3.