We test the Canon 40D for image noise, both during short, daytime exposures and long, night exposures. The Canon 40D is an excellent camera. It handles well, has an excellent control layout, has an excellent feature set and takes great shots. Image quality is the topic of this test and specifically how noise changes by [...]

We test the 40D with a Hoya R72 filter for infrared capability. The Canon 40D (available from B&H Photo) is an impressive camera. But how does it handle infrared photography? For these tests we used a Hoya R72 filter on the camera and mounted it on a solid tripod and used a cable release. The [...]

We test the new D3 from Nikon for image noise. The new Nikon D3 is a pretty stunning camera. A 12.1Mpixel camera that is the first full frame digital from Nikon, it handles like a dream. Well built with excellent controls, we were curious to see how the images would hold up. Firstly, image quality [...]

Wayne puts the Nikon D3 through its paces with a Hoya R72 filter and a tripod for IR photography. The Nikon D3 is a stunning camera. With a full frame 12.1mega pixel CMOS sensor capable of capturing up to nine frames per second at full resolution, it is Nikon’s first full frame dSLR. It handles [...]

This is a personal monochrome laser printer that is definitely worth having. With so much attention on inkjet printers it is easy to forget that laser printers have a great role to play. Probably 90% of the printing that I do, things like web pages for reference, articles, etc, could be printed as well on [...]

We test the Nikon D40x with a Hoya R72 filter for its capability for infrared photography For this test we took a Nikon D40x out with a Hoya R72 filter and a tripod into the field and tested its IR sensitivity. This image as it comes from the camera was shot at 30 seconds, f3.5 [...]

We test the Nikon D40x digital SLR camera at night Night tests of the Nikon D40x dSLR reveal its capacity for long exposure photography. The images below are 100% crops from the center of the image. The complete NEF (RAW) files are available from the camera test page. In camera noise reduction was turned off [...]

We test the Nikon D40x for image noise as we vary the ISO The Nikon D40x is a nice little camera. Very functional, it fits the hand well and takes great shots. For this test we shot in daylight as we varied the ISO. The images below are 100% crops from the center of the [...]

We test the speed of a sampling of memory cards to see what difference the higher speed cards make in reality with current digital cameras. With the frequent releases of new memory cards for digital cameras a common question on the discussion groups is whether you need these faster cards or whether they will make [...]

Sitting at the top of Epson’s middle range of scanners, the V500 is a very capable scanner for both reflective and film scanning. The V500 is a scanner with excellent specifications for the price range it sits in, selling at about half the price of Epson’s most expensive A4 or Letter sized scanner, the V700. [...]

We conclude our tests of the Nikon D80 digital SLR camera for noise with daytime shots. We finish up our tests of the Nikon D80 digital SLR camera with daytime tests. Two series of tests were made. The RAW (NEF) files for these are available on the DIMi Camera Test page. Below are minimal compression [...]

We test the Nikon D80 digital SLR camera for noise during completely dark frame shots to expose the basic noise of the camera. A dark frame image is one taken with the lenscap on. The purpose of a dark frame image is to show the noise that the sensor and camera combination will produce during [...]

We test the Nikon D80 digital SLR camera for noise during longish exposures at night. We have been living with the Nikon D80 dSLR now for some weeks and as part of our tests have taken a series of exposures at night to examine the image noise with this camera. The test images below are [...]

We review a couple of Epson’s latest data projectors, the EMP-83 and the EMP-S5. Data projectors are an indispensable tool, and not only for education and presentations. They are used by wedding and portrait photographers to sell their clients on big images, by artists and by web designers, in fact by everyone who is an [...]

Michael Levin is landscape photographer who creates the most stunning monochrome images. In our second award of the month, we look at his website. A Vancouver based landscape photographer, Michael Levin creates striking monochrome landscape photographs. Michael’s website is a stunning reflection of his work, calm, cool and oh so elegant. He is a master [...]

The Lensbaby 3G seems to be a love or hate phenomenon. I’ve been living with the latest version for a month or so and this review examines the results of my experimentation with it attached to my digital SLR cameras. The Lensbaby is a tilt/swing lens for your 35mm SLR and digital SLR (it is [...]

A well-engineered ball head is a joy to behold and use. Wayne’s been testing the Freedom FB-12QR for some months. There are two schools of thought, with regard to tripod head choice: two-way (or three-way) tilt, pan heads and ball heads. There are pros and cons with both head types: simply put the bal head [...]

A clever rethink of the camera backpack that makes access to your common gear much easier than the competition. Camera backpacks are an essential part of many of our kits, especially if we have a lot of gear and we often walk a fair bit in search of the perfect shot. The problem with most [...]

As part of our testing of a Lensbaby 3G, we could not resist putting a Lensbaby on our infrared converted Canon 350D digital SLR camera. The Lensbaby is an interesting tilt lens that many photographers are really enjoying and that solves some real photographic problems in a very inexpensive way. We have been testing a [...]

We test the K10D at night and for dark field image noise. To look at longer exposure image noise we setup te Pentax K10D on a solid tripod and sot our normal city view with 8 second exposures and aperture varying from f5.6 to f22 as we varied the ISO. PEF raw files for all [...]

We test the Pentax K10D for image noise during daylight hours with short exposures. The Pentax K10D digital SLR camera is an impressive camera and takes great images.The Modern Henge – The MCG We were curious to see how it would handle from a noise perspective. Test 1 (base exposure 1/250 second at f7.1 and [...]

We test the Pentax K100D digital camera for its suitability for infrared photography. 1/8 second at f3.5 and 200ISO 2 seconds at f16 and 200ISO What we found when we put a Hoya R72 filter on the camera was that the new Pentax K100D has a fairly weak infrared blocking filter. So exposure times are [...]

We examine the Seagate 750GB external drive. He (or she) who dies with the most storage wins! This seems to be the motto of the modern digital image-maker, and with good reason. Digital camera files are getting bigger as the resolution goes up, more people are shooting RAW rather than JPEG (I never capture in [...]

Snapfire is new software from Corel that helps you in organising your photos and getting more value out of them. It has good image enhancement options and ways to use your photos in fun ways. Snapfire is a piece of software aimed at the amateur photographer, home user and hobbyist. When you start it up [...]

Since I had the 3800 here for testing when my Z3100 arrived, I could not resist doing a comparison between the two, though they are very different printers. This is not an even comparison, as the Epson 3800 and the HP Z3100 are very different printers. But I could not resist it, stupid me. I’ll [...]

The Epson 3800 printer has been a much-anticipated printer for many people, fitting a perfect size niche for many photographers, artists and designers. Occupying an ideal size for many people, the 3800 has been much awaited by many people. We put it through its paces and offer our first impressions. Setup is straight forward, as [...]

HP’s new Z3100 is a 12 ink large format printer with some great features. In this article I look at setup and initial use of the printer and my impressions of ease of use and print quality. My Z3100 is the 24 inch wide model. Even so, this is a large printer when it is [...]

In this review we look at the Power Retouche range of plug-ins for Photoshop and compatible applications Power Retouche publish a larger number (24 at last count) of Photoshop and compatible application plug-ins for photographers and those editing images. They can be bought individually or in one of two complete sets: in the cheaper they [...]

In our ongoing coverage of the CS3 Beta we now get to the main show, Photoshop. In this part, we examine Vanishing Point, Printing, PDF and Zoomify. Vanishing PointVanishing Point is now on the way to supporting multiple, connected planes with angle adjustments so that planes do not need to joint at 90 degrees. In [...]

In our ongoing coverage of the CS3 Beta we now get to the main show, Photoshop. In this part, we examine Cloning, Healing, Performance, Blending Modes and Brightness/Contrast. Cloning and Healing The new Clone Source Palette is a great help and extends the functionality of cloning and healing in an efficient way. It puts nice [...]