DPS 10-05: Photo Walk with B&H, Superzoom Faceoff, Sigma 50-500, Scene Modes, Memorial Day plus designing Bird Blinds

DPS 10-05: Photo Walk with B&H, Superzoom Faceoff, Sigma 50-500, Scene Modes, Memorial Day plus designing Bird Blinds

Submitted by David Cardinal on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 00:00

Welcome to DPS 10-05 -- June, 2012: B&H Photo Walk at the Bronx Zoo, Superzoom faceoff and Sigma 50-500mm lens review, plus Celebrating Memorial Day, Scene Modes, and designing Bird Blinds.
 

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Texas is definitely not all about deserts! This private, pristine stretch of the Guadalupe River that we photographed was also where we photographed Summer Tanager on our .

Subscriber -- Welcome to DPS 10-05 -- June, 2012: B&H Photo Walk at the Bronx Zoo, Superzoom faceoff and Sigma 50-500mm lens review, plus Celebrating Memorial Day, Scene Modes, and designing Bird Blinds.

Event Updates: (or)

I'm looking forward to our B&H Photo Walk at the Bronx Zoo later this week. It's already "sold out" so I'm sure we'll do something like this again the next time our travels bring us to the New York area. 

There is no better trip of a lifetime than our , which we're offering in Nov/Dec, 2012: We're accepting deposits for the Botswana trip and it is already half full. It features three of the very best safari camps in all of Africa, so if you've been waiting for the perfect time to go on that safari of a lifetime, this is it! If you have any quesionts, please let us know by emailing safaris [at] cardinalphoto.com.

Our  is almost full (two openings), so if you'd like to join us don't dawdle. Myanmar is going through some of the most positive and exciting changes of any country in the world. Texas Photo Safaris trip report & 2013 Announcements!

Texas 2013: We're all set for a return trip to the Hill Country during the peak of migration season. You can put down an .


Summer Tanager from our Hill Country Safari
Nikon D700, 200-400mm f/4 lens w. TC-14E

From now we'll head down to the birdy Rio Grande Valley, for five days of shooting on private, "group-only" ranches. Participants are likely to photograph 40 different woodland species or possibly even more during the 5 days. Featured species include Painted Bunting, possibly Indigo, Varied and Lark Buntings, as well as Scissor-tail Flycatchers, Orioles, Green Jays, Harris Hawks, and Crested Caracara -- along with usual residents like Bobwhite, Scaled Quail, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia and plenty of doves.

This is a popular trip, so consider  to make sure and get a good room.

Painted Bunting from the Texas Hill Country Photo Safari -- Photo by participant Michael Yessik
Our apologies to Michael -- we inadvertently credited the image to Bill in the first posting 

   


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Other News:

I was featured in PC Magazine's Connected Traveler section. You  for my photographic projects

In a bit of a return to my high-tech journalism days, I've begun writing a bit for extremetech.com. Only a few of the articles are directly photo related, but if you enjoy keeping up with technology that may impact all of us eventually, you can . I covered both PMA (the photo trade show) and CES (the consumer electronics trade show) in mid-January in Las Vegas. 

 

Remember: If you have a group and want a custom safari to any of the destinations we frequent, drop us a line at safaris [at] cardinalphoto.com!
 

Featured Articles from nikondigital.org

Superzoom faceoff: Canon PowerShot SX260 HS versus Nikon Coolpix S9300

As impressive as improvements have been across the board in point and shoot cameras over the last few years, none have made greater strides than the superzooms. Formerly more of a novelty and avoided by anyone serious about performance or image quality, new models are finally worth serious consideration for anyone needing to isolate subjects with a small, light camera. For this project I borrowed a and a and carried both around for a few weeks as my point and shoot camera. I knew that neither would live up to the speed or image quality of my personal favorite point and shoot, the , but of course that isn’t the point. These models have amazing zoom ranges, and actually cost less. I was pleasantly surprised by what I found…

 

Sigma 50-500mm Lens: Is it the Ultimate Superzoom? Field test on B&H Photo Walk at the Zoo

Canon EOS Rebel T4i Digital Camera with EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM LensIn the continuing game of leapfrog between Canon and Nikon at all levels, Canon has fired the latest salvo in entry level DSLRs with the Rebel T4i. In addition to the now expected upgrades to the camera’s image-capture ability – 18MP sensor, DIGIC 5 processor, ISOs to 12800 and full 1080p HD Canon is trumpeting two new features optimized for video…

 

Canon Powershot SX260 HS: Superzoom day at the Zoo

Lorrie and I spent yesterday scouting out the current exhibits at the Bronx Zoo for the B&H photo walk we are leading in the morning. It was fun, but since we wanted to cover the entire zoo we were moving quickly and didn’t have time to shoot as much as we would have liked. Since I’m in the middle of doing a face off of the new “super-zoom” point and shoots from Canon and Nikon I figured I’d spend the day shooting with the . After getting back to our friends’ apartment, I reviewed the images and found a lot to like, and a little disappointment…

 

Remembering America on Memorial Day

When we first climbed the hill to the cemetery it was to get a good view of a famous nearby bridge – the Nicholson Viaduct – built nearly a century ago and representing a breakthrough in reinforced concrete construction.

 

Join us for a B&H Photo Walk through the Bronx Zoo in June

I’m really happy to say that I’ll be leading a photo walk for B&H through the Bronx Zoo in New York on Thursday, June 7th. The event is free, but you do need to pay for your Zoo admission. For those of you in or around the New York area its about the easiest way to get some practice in on your wildlife photography. Open to photographers of all ages and all amounts of gear! You can . Lorrie and I hope to see you there!

 

Does your camera really need Scene modes–like the Food mode on the Nikon Coolpix S9300?

Okay, as a professional photographer I’m supposed to be addicted to Raw files, massive workflow, and eschew the many scene modes on my cameras. However, sometimes, when I’m shooting JPEGs on a points and shoot those modes can be a really handy shortcut and allow effects that can’t be equaled by post-processing JPEGs after the fact. And when I review cameras, the modes are definitely fair game, as they get used a lot. Well, I’m also a foodie, so I was intrigued by the new “Food” mode on the . Given the millions of pictures of restaurant and home-cooked meals posted to Facebook daily, the Food mode would seem to have a natural market. So I had to dig in and see what it actually does. At the same time I figured I should review the Scene Modes on the that I’m also reviewing. The process made me rethink my natural aversion to the proliferation of Scene modes – at least for point and shoots…

 

How much telephoto do you need? Get ready for a Super-zoom Smack Down!

The idea of a point and shoot that can take great telephoto images is really appealing. But over the years I’ve been underwhelmed by their performance. I’m a much bigger fan of no compromise models like the , which offer excellent images over a limited zoom range than of the super-zooms I’ve reviews, like the Canon SX240. But kind words about the new by my friend and former editor to take another look. The competes directly with the new , so I decided to do a real hands-on field test of both of them. Of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so we’ve decided to go all the way, pitting the SX260 and S9300 (unfairly) against a paired with the Sigma DSLR super-zoom lens the , and against the full-frame Nikon D700 with Nikon’s flagship 200-400mm f/4 VR pro lens. So for the next month here at Cardinal Photo we’ll be shooting with all four cameras and taking careful notes…

 


Harris Hawks are hard to find and harder to photograph, but we always get great
shots during our

 

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