Camera Labs

Just like to say good luck with the new site, and glad to see that you'll be identifying the cameras using their UK names first, unlike some other 'UK' photography websites out there

Look forward to seeing it develop.

congratulations on the site gordon.
Loving the reviews. Keep em coming!

Hi Guido, Simon, Ian, Sam and Mike, welcome to Camera Labs and thanks for your comments!

If there's anything you'd like to see more of, or any specific products you'd like to see tested, please let us know - as I've mentioned elsewhere on the forum, I can't make any promises, but if lots of people ask for similar things, then I'll make them a priority.

Thanks and hope to see you on the Forums again soon!

Gordon

Can we have a topic for general camera discussion? There might be things like flashes, techniques and so on which are not feedback on CameraLabs but which are not camera specific either.

Simon

As a new site, you are less guilty than most, but I see one glaring fault in DSLR reviews in general. I have seen no comparisons between cameras regarding "lazy eye", even though it is mentioned in many user forums. I have only used the KM 5D. How do other cameras compare in this regard?

Hello, and welcome to the Forum.

I'm not sure what you mean by lazy eye. Are you referring to pre-flash red-eye reduction systems? The effectiveness of these systems of course varies with the subject and surroundings, so it would be difficult to have a test which could be consistently repeated. That said, we are looking at flash tests for future reviews, so if there's anything anyone would like to see, please let us know.

Gordon

By lazy eye I mean the half closed eyes caused by preflash for metering purposes on DSLR's. On the KM I know of no way to deactivate the preflash- it seems to be there even on manual exposures. I believe most cameras have the same problem to some extent, but may have diferent timing. I find that younger people are harder to photograph, due to faster reaction time they blink with the preflash. I am not talking about red eye reduction.

Just discovered this site and like what I've seen so far. I am returning to photography after a number of years absence and am looking to buy my first dSLR (having played around with a digital P&S camera for the last year). Current preference is for the Olympus E-500 which I have already read numerous reviews on so am looking forward to your upcoming review.

One thing I have noticed is that a number of on-line retailers offer the E-500 for £500 or less which is a pretty good buy however I suspect they may be "grey" imports. One retailer I contacted said their stock was "from Europe". I'm not sure what this means, would I be covered by the Olympus guarantee if the retailer went bust I wonder?

Still see nothing about flash in the Alpha review. I love my KM5D but working around it's flash limitations is a hassle, and in my case meant investing in a third party flash. This problem is well known to those of us using the system, but a lot of newcomers are going to be upset that the reviews don't mention it.
Please see the second paragraph at this link
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/colum ... 3-05.shtml
or search lazyeye at dpreview KM DSLR forum.

Hello Clayton, thanks for your message.

During my test period with the Alpha I concentrated on the headline features like Super SteadyShot, Anti dust and D-Range optimiser, along with of course general handling and image quality issues of resolution and noise.

I didn't get a chance to test for the lazyeye this time, but the next time I get hold of an Alpha, I will try it out. I may be wrong, but suspect the flash system on the A100 will be very similar, or perhaps even identical to the 5D. Certainly in all the accompanying materials I've read and interviews I've conducted, no-one's mentioned any flash improvements.

I hope you enjoyed the rest of the review though.

Gordon

Thanks very much for the work you've done. Your perspectives are interesting and valuable to those of us in the market.

After reading your reviews of the bridge cameras [the Panasonic DMC-FZ30, the Sony DSC-R1, and the Fujifilm S9500], and seeing how closely they compared (and scored) I thought it would be helpful to see how you would evaluate the Canon Powershot S3 IS. It has some competitive features within that group [articulating display, 12X lens, competitive movie mode, image stabilization, AA battery power] and some interesting weaknesses [f8 limitation, relatively noisy upper ISO range, smaller than average display, and possibly worse than normal purple fringing].

You've likely entertained this idea already; but, I'd like to encourage you to pursue it.

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Prov 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (ESV)

Hello II_V_I, and welcome to Cameralabs! I'm glad you're finding the reviews useful.

I am planning some more super-zoom reviews in the near future, and the S3 IS is certainly an ideal candidate. I also have some other comparisons lined-up which I hope you'll find interesting...

If there's anything else you'd like to see on the site, please let me know,

Gordon

1st post just to say "Hello". Found Camera Labs.Com back in February this year so as to get an unbiased opinion on DSLR's and Lenses, as I had already had a Digital Camera (Minolta Dimage Z5) wanted to move up to a DSLR and fancied either the Canon 400D or the Nikon D80, so having read your reviews on both models went for the Canon mainly for it's IS built into some of the lenses (rapidly approaching 60 the hands are not as steady as they used to be LOL). The bog standard lens supplied with the camera was not that good so have bought a EF-S 17-85mm IS USM having read your reviews on lenses first. Would have liked to have been able to afford the EF-S 17-55mm IS USM but at between £642 - £870 in the UK was just a tad too expensive. Finaly would like to thank Gordon and the rest of the team on an excellent Web Site and excellent reviews will be making regular visits in the future to the main site and here on the forum.

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Roy
EOS 350D, 40D + BG-E2N, EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM, 430 EX Speedlite




My Fotopic

Hi Roy, welcome to the Cameralabs forums and thanks for your kind words!

I hope you're enjoying your 400D and 17-85mm - they're a great combo and the IS works really well on that lens.

Just shout if there's anything you'd like to see more of at Cameralabs and we'll see what we can do!

Gordon