Camera Labs

Today marks the fifth birthday of Camera Labs, and it’s been a great year!

We published more reviews than ever before and broadened our coverage to include everything from entry-level to pro cameras along with lenses, accessories and even a travel guide to photographing bears in Alaska and an interview with pro photographer Chase Jarvis!

We also launched our first piece of official merchandise, the Camera Labs' OpTech strap. This sold out of its first production run, so we've made another 50! Order yours here!

As always we couldn’t do it without you, so we’d like to thank our regular readers, forum members and especially our moderators for keeping the forum one of the friendliest around. And finally an extra-special thanks to those sites which have linked to our articles and anyone who’s shopped through our partner stores or donated at PayPal – without you, Camera Labs wouldn’t exist!

We've got big plans for next year including a redesign, updated forum software and a new approach to reviews. You'll see the first example of this in our upcoming Nikon D7000 review.

We'd love to hear what you think of the site, so in this thread please let us know what you like, what you'd like to see more of, and of course anything you're not so keen on.

Thanks again,

Gordon Laing, Editor

Congratulations Gordon!!

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--Zoeff
Panasonic GH2 user
My photos can be found on flickr.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMERALABS!

I love the site Gordon and would not know very much about photography without it. You have built a very good site with great members. I am looking forward to the site updates and new reviews.

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Camera: Canon 550D with battery grip
Lenses: Canon 24-105mm f/4L, Canon 50mm f1.4, Canon 18-55mm, Tamron 70-300mm,
Accessories: Manfrotto 055XPROB with 808RC4 head, Canon 430ex II speedlite, Lowepro Nova 180AW and Lowepro Pro Runner 450AW

Oh that is so lame, every hot girl who can aim a camera thinks she’s a photographer -Stewie Griffin

Happy Birthday CL & congratulations Gordon.

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Nikon D800E & D700 bodies + Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f4.5-5.6G ED VR, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Site is great, superb and only superlatives can be used to describe it

Personally, I like the video reviews best. They should be added to the cameras' user manuals as a supplement, because they satisfy both the enthusiasts and pro's, as well as newbies in digital photography. I learned a few things about my Nikon D5000 watching your video review, already being somewhat to it and digital photography as well

I know how much work it requires to keep the site up in such fashion and keep the professionalism to it, so be aware of the fact that people appreciate it :]

I hope your wife (woman in orange jacket) does not get fed up with posing for the comparison pictures

All in all - very good job, keep it up like this and it will be great. And don't forget about dslrtips.com, maybe a quick introduction to HDR photography could be posted over there, as there seem to be many people interested in this subject on the forum. Your tutorials are very easy to follow and can be very helpful.

All the best for the future and let's hope the site gets even better!

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Karol Mozdzierz
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Nikon D5000, 18-55 DX 3.5-5.6, 70-300 4.5-5.6

Happy birthday CL! And congratulations Gordon!

Time to party!!!

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

Happy Birthday Camera Labs.

For what I would like to see more of are lens reviews. While I would really enjoy your in depth approach to all lenses, I do understand that it would probably not be feasible.

So, how about mini-reviews and/or group reviews. Maybe a disclaimer on how this is not a full review, but it would at least give a potential buyer some insight. I really enjoyed the 400D lens upgrade review. The comparison helped more than the individual lens reviews; though I did watch all of them several times.

New camera reviews are great. And I will most likely be watching your review of it when I do eventually upgrade. However, I buy more lenses than I do camera bodies.

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Canon 5DIII, Rebel XTi/400D
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, 24-105mm f/4L, 50mm f/1.4, 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DO, 85mm f/1.8
Sigma 150mm F2.8 EX Macro
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II
Canon 430EX II
Opteka 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm extension tubes
Vivitar 50mm f/1.8 for OM System

Congrats!
Here's a random picture of some dogs with party hats:

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Well done, Gordon. I always enjoy reading your reviews and analyses -- they're always friendly, informative and written in sensible prose, without the endless technobabble that plagues other sites.

Hi Gordon,

Here's your celebration cake:

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Of course there's no way the NZ authorities would allow it to be imported so I just had to eat it on your behalf. Mmmm, tasty.

Seriously, congratulations Gordon. It's only when one settles down to read every word of one of your DSLR reviews that one realises just how much work it takes to create one. Awesome!

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Happy birthday, Cameralabs! Congrats, Gordon!

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Canon DSLRs: 5D Mark III, 7D
Canon lenses: 17-40/4L, 24-105/4L, 24/1.4L II, 50/1.4, 85/1.8, 100/2.8L Macro, 70-200/2.8L IS, 100-400L
Other stuff: Canon Extender 1.4x II, Canon 580 EX II, Canon 430EX II, Velbon Sherpa 600R
Apple: MacBook Pro 15", iMac 27", iPad III, iPhone 4S, Apple TV

My deviantART

Congrats Gordon!

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Flickr

Congratulations Gordon. I find this site invaluable.

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Frank

Happy birthday Camera labs !

top notch site

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Bryan

Great year indeed! Happy birthday Camera Labs!
Congratulations on having such a successful year, Gordon!
Have another great year ahead!