Price: $2000

Simply superb!

The low-down: This 85mm f1.4 lens (128mm equivalent on an APS sensor DSLR) consists of 6 elements in 5 groups and is suited to either full frame or APS cameras. Although bearing the famous German brand name it is made in Japan. Optical and mechanical construction is superb. Apart from the lens cap there doesn’t seem to be any plastic in the assembly. Focussing (manual only) is silky smooth. There is no distortion or colour cast. Contrast is excellent. It is available in different mounts, including Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Leica screw thread. It is very heavy – 600 grams, and balances nicely with a quality DSLR.

Like: Image resolution and sharpness is in a class of its own. We cropped a small area of a picture with a bird in it and the detail, even in patches of all-black feathers, is clear. As a portrait lens it is peerless, although female subjects might not like its ruthless fidelity.

Dislike: Zeiss say that this lens does not work at all well with the standard DSLR focusing screen. They recommend changing the flat glass viewfinder screen for a split image/microprism unit, which was standard in the days of manual focus lenses. With the lens fitted to a Canon 7D we had to use the magnified live view to get accurate focus – obviously not tolerable in day to day shooting.

Verdict: We have said it many times, a good prime lens is the best optics that money can buy. And this Zeiss is as good as it gets. If you can afford it and if you are not deterred by manual focus then this is the way to photographic Nirvana. (For Sony DSLRs there is an auto-focus version. RRP $2600)

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Sometimes a blink is just what you want!

Gadget designers, including camera makers, set themselves the lofty goal of making their doodads foolproof. But nature will not be denied, and by the inexorable processes of evolution will always come up with a better fool. But even knowing this the engineers keep trying.

They fit their cameras with auto everything, including such dubious features as blink detection which prevent shutter activation if a subject blinks. First advice for the day: turn it off! What if you want a picture of your subject blinking?

Face detection is moderately useful, provided there is only one obvious face in the frame. The newest cameras boast that they can detect several faces at once, but if they are all on different planes and in different light and shade how do they decide which will be in focus and correctly exposed? Use face detection with care and discrimination. When following one moving child it can be a help.

When the new camera comes from the box some features are enabled by default and some need to be adjusted immediately. Last week we advised the new camera owner to turn off the grid auto focusing because it will always pick a spot nearest the camera to make sharp, whether that is the subject of interest or not. Much the same advice applies to auto exposure metering.

By default the camera will meter the entire scene displayed in the viewfinder. It will then calculate an average exposure which may or may not be right for the main subject. In the case of back-lit subjects it will almost always be wrong.

When the camera is in fully auto, point and shoot mode it will probably (depending on the make and model) set auto exposure to full frame average and there is nothing you can do about it. However all DSLRs and some compacts have a semi-automatic setting. On DSLR mode knobs it is the P setting. That stands for Programmed and it is a sweet compromise between automated and manual mode. If this is an option on the camera it should be selected.

In P mode (or its equivalent in a compact) you can select a metering system from a selection of full frame average, centre weighted and spot. The names say it all. Spot is best, if you know what you are doing.

In Spot the camera meters a small circular area of the image in the centre of the frame. In some cameras the spot can be moved around the frame and in others, like the Samsung ST550, the spot can be selected with a touch of the finger on the LCD. For general semi-automatic function it helps if the metering and focus spot are coincident, then you can focus and meter on the important feature – say, the eyes – simultaneously. Half depress the shutter release, hold it, reframe the picture and press the button all the way.

That’s the really foolproof way of doing the job.

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Price: $1350 [body only] $2150 with 18–135mm lens

Good camera, good value

The low-down: This 18 megapixel camera uses a CMOS sensor “almost” the same as the much more expensive Canon 7D. The body bulk and mass are less than the 7D and there is one Digic processor rather than two. The viewfinder is penta mirror not prism. However, for most people all the desirable features of a DSLR are found in the 550D. The high resolution LCD doubles as the function display and turns off when the eye approaches the viewfinder. Quick Control function access, as on the 7D, works well. Push the Q button and most settings can be accessed directly. HD movie mode (1080p) is provided, with a socket for an external microphone. ISO sensitivity goes to a usable 6400. There is live view with face detection. And the camera has auto correction of lens vignetting (darkening at the edges of the frame). Construction is OK, but still a tad plasticky.

Like: High ISO image quality is very good. We shot in an almost dark room at ISO 6400 without any high hopes and found the image perfectly acceptable. Noise reduction is not too aggressive and the high pixel density doesn’t seem to have increased image noise too severely.

Dislike: We found a noticeable difference in image quality between jpeg and RAW files. This is not something to dislike, but it is a warning that it is worth the trouble of shooting RAW. The included RAW converter is excellent.

Verdict: The EOS 550D is an excellent way into the Canon system. It doesn’t have the luxurious feel of the 7D, but then it costs $1300 less for the body. Our test unit came with the Canon 18–135mm lens which is not good enough for the camera. We would recommend buying the body with a better – and, sadly, more expensive – lens.

Now then, assuming that you have bought your camera, what next?

Camera manufacturers make assumptions about their customers. The basic assumption being that their customers are idiots. They invest a lot of R and D in making their cameras foolproof, but why should we be lumbered with devices configured for drongos?

Of course the manufacturers may be right, which is why so many of them don’t include a printed instruction manual for the customer to throw away or lose.

However, Imaging’s readers are no fools, but may nevertheless be sometimes perplexed. And almost always the unhappy bewilderment is a result of trying to work with the manufacturer’s default settings for the camera.

Autofocus: When the camera comes from the box auto focus is set to a sort of matrix arrangement which, at a glance, looks like it is reading the entire scene and setting the focus for nine, fifteen or even 54 different spots. Common sense tells us that this can’t be so. A lens can only be adjusted to focus sharply on a single plane, not on several spots at different distances from the camera. So what happens is that the camera will almost always focus on some object closest to it, even if that is not what you want. This is the cause of the largest number of complaints from camera users – “Why are my pictures so often out of focus”?

The solution is to change the default to centre spot focus. Using just a single point in the centre of the viewfinder/LCD makes it easy to always focus on the point in the picture that must be sharp, usually the eyes of the subject. You focus by half depressing the shutter button, then, if necessary holding it at that point and reframing the image by moving the camera.

Auto ISO: When a camera is set to full auto mode that usually includes setting the ISO sensitivity automatically. Most cameras will set the ISO too high in order to get a faster shutter speed to reduce blur. That increases image noise, so don’t leave it to the camera. Dive into the menu or look for the ISO button and for a compact set it at 200. For a DSLR a setting of 400-600 is good for general use.

Auto Flash: In full auto mode out of the box the flash will always fire, whether you need it or not. When the flash goes off at the back of the stand at the tennis it has no effect, either good or bad. But when it goes off in your subject’s face, in a situation where there is quite enough light already, the results are disastrous. Aunty Edna looks like a red-eyed werewolf, startled by a small nuclear explosion. By default flash should be off and only ever turned on in those rare situations where it is really needed.

Next week: Exposing yourself nicely and the good and the ugly of face detection.

Price: $500

Clever thinking

The low-down: This 10 megapixel camera comes with a “back illuminated” CMOS sensor which is said to offer better low light performance. In effect the order of layers in the sensor sandwich are rearranged to increase light capture, improving the signal to noise ratio. The lens is 28–300mm film-equivalent and image stabilisation is by sensor shift. As with other Ricohs the high resolution LCD screen is outstanding, but still not very useful in bright light. Controls are well thought out with important functions easily accessible. The company’s two-exposure dynamic range extender is included. There are various high burst speed settings. The auto bracketing of exposure, white balance, colour/black and white and focus is useful. Converging verticals, seen when a skyscraper is shot from ground level, can be corrected in the camera.

Like: At modest lens focal length settings and at ISO speeds of 200 or less the image quality is outstanding. Exposure and white balance are impressive. Lens sharpness and image resolution are generally good. We like the consistency of results, particularly with judicial use of the manual over-rides.

Dislike: We took the CX3 out to a street festival on a cloudy-bright afternoon and could see little or nothing on the LCD. The time must come when camera makers admit that an optical viewfinder is essential.

Verdict: The camera comes with a comprehensive, well written user manual and we strongly recommend that it be read carefully. There are a lot of useful features here that you are not going to stumble across by accident or find intuitively. It can be used as a point and shoot box camera, but to do so is to miss out on its clever features. The CX3 appears to differ from the CX2 mainly in its “back illuminated” sensor.

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A digital camera is a digital camera, right? And the chaps with the big black digital single lens reflex things are poseurs with more money than sense? And everyone knows that a DSLR is way too complicated for the average person to use. Hmmm…

Do all camera types produce the same results? No. The very best compact cameras cannot match the picture qualities of the cheapest entry-level DSLRs. We outlined the reasons last week – fewer pixels on a larger sensor area will beat more pixels on a smaller sensor for image noise and dynamic range (the ability to preserve detail in both shadows and highlights). Makers of compact cameras fight the noise issue with aggressive noise reduction in their image processing “engines”. This works well enough for small prints or for PC monitor display but is unsatisfactory for larger prints. If your intention is strictly 10 X 15cm prints or to share pictures over the interweb then compact quality is acceptable. If you fancy cropping images and printing to A4 or larger you might not be content with compact quality.

Aren’t DSLRs more complicated than compacts? No, most DSLRs are less complicated than compacts. They can be set to full auto mode, just like a small camera, or they can be used in manual mode. All the entry level DSLRs have “scene” modes, just like compacts. The big difference between the camera types is the viewfinder – a true optical, eye-level viewfinder beats holding an LCD at arm’s length – and speed of auto focus. Compacts use a system called contrast detect which is slower than the phase detect system of a DSLR. It is easier to get a properly exposed and focused image in a DSLR than in a compact, even for a beginner.

Do compacts have any advantages? Yes, they are smaller, generally cheaper and less ostentatious. You can take them to the footy, where, we are told, SLRs are verboten.

Isn’t a tiny all-in-one 28 to 300mm lens fixed to the camera better than a bag full of interchangeable lenses? No, not if you want decent image quality. A 300mm equivalent lens on a compact camera is a gimmick. It might look like the ideal setup for bird photography but it won’t resolve the fine detail in feathers in the same way as a good long lens on an SLR.

Is there are third way? Yes. The Micro Four Thirds cameras get close to SLR quality in a compact body, but they are not cheap. The Olympus E-P2, E-P1 and E-PL1 and the Panasonic GF1, G1 and GH1 fall between a compact and a DSLR in bulk and mass. They lack the eye level optical viewfinder, but in some models have an electronic viewfinder. They have interchangeable lenses. The sensors are larger than in a compact and the image quality is excellent. Auto-focus is by the slower contrast detect system, so they are not as responsive as a DSLR. When the prices will fall they will become a serious alternative to the two established camera forms.

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Price: $135 new $109 upgrade from www.corel.com.au [Free trial]

The affordable alternative

The low-down: This is the latest iteration of the only serious alternative to the industry-standard photo editing program, Photoshop. PaintShop Photo Pro X3 is priced against the cut-down Photoshop Elements, but is more akin to big Photoshop in features. In fact there are some valuable functions in PaintShop that are only in Photoshop as plug-ins and add-ons. For instance, most RAW file formats open directly. The Skin-smoothing tool does a lovely job. Picture frames and Picture Tubes have always been a strong point of PaintShop. Lens distortion correction tools are excellent. The Makeover tool will turn any female subject into Andie MacDowell in a nonce, removing blemishes and wrinkles, whitening teeth, adding a tan and, would you believe, Thinifying! They sound like gimmicks, but they are valuable tools for getting the best from portraits.

Like: This program has the best background eraser we have used. It really does do a deep etch around a subject outline, including whispy hair, in the easiest, cleanest way. Corel are realists and have included all Photoshop formats in the Open File menu. The High Dynamic Range blend function works well in creating images from sets of photos.

Dislike: The interface is a bit cluttered, but it benefits from changing some of the default settings. RAW files from the newish Canon 7D don’t open properly.

Verdict: PaintShop Pro is an excellent program at a reasonable price. It is certainly better featured than Photoshop Elements. However, the problem is that Photoshop is so well established that it is now a verb. As with MS Word or PowerPoint or the ubiquitous iPod the product name is now generic. You have to be brave to go against the flow, but if you have more sense than money then PaintShop Pro X3 is an intelligent alternative.

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