The next revision would be the Lensbaby 3G (now the Control Freak). Basic operation worked exactly like the two predecessors but featured a locking collar, fine tune adjustment knobs for moving the sweet spot, and a fine tune focusing ring. This gives users more control and is better suited for tripod or studio photography since the lens stays locked into position.

The Composer

The Composer works on the same principal of all the previous Lensbaby products but does away with the bellows. The lens now has a traditional focus ring and moving the Sweet Spot is now achieved by rotating a ball socket to the desired part of the frame. The Composer locks into position like the 3G/Control Freak, giving the photographer the ability to reproduce the same shot.

The Composer and Lensbaby 3G Compared

Build Quality

The Composer is lightweight but feels very solid. The mount and upper part of the barrel are metal. This is a first because most of the previous Lensbabies had a plastic mount. The focus ring and ball tension knob have a nice rubber grip feel to them, making them easier to grab on to. The ball socket itself is plastic, but it by no means feels cheap. With the tension turned all the way down, the ball moves very smoothly and fluidly. This makes moving the sweet spot around a breeze.

Size wise, the Composer is roughly the same as the 3G/Control Freak. The ball-socket design makes the barrel a little fatter but it obviously lacks the control knobs from the 3G/Control Freak. This makes it a little easier to fit into camera bags.

Operation

The Composer takes a huge step forward over its predecessors in terms of operation. Some users had a bit of a learning curve with the squeeze/pull focus design of the previous models. It also required a different approach to a normal shooting technique, and focus manipulation required you to grip both sides of the camera with both hands at once. The 3G definitely improved this with the ability to lock in focus, but I’ve personally always preferred using my Lensbaby on a tripod over handholding. Until the Composer.

The Composer essentially operates just like a regular lens. In a nutshell, you move the ball where you want the sweet spot, adjust focus with the focus ring, and click. By simplifying the whole selective focus process, you spend less time manipulating the lens for a particular effect and have more freedom to compose and capture the moment as it unfolds through the viewfinder. I found this to be a huge advantage and it made handholding the Composer quite simple.

The disc aperture system carries over from the previous Lensbabies. For those unfamiliar: the Lensbaby optic is equivalent to an f/2 lens, with discs for apertures up to f/22 in full stop increments. There is a Magnetic Aperture Removal Tool that you use to drop in or replace the apertures with a storage case at the end of it. I was happy to see all of the apertures now have labels on them, making it a little easier to pick the one you want.

The Composer with Disc Apertures and Removal Tool

The only drawback to this disc aperture system is you are essentially looking through the lens stopped down. This makes the viewfinder dark when using an aperture of f/8 or higher, which can make focusing difficult in all but bright, sunny days. However, if your camera has live view, this makes shooting with small apertures much easier. It’s also great for fine tune focusing.

The Optic Swap System

Along with the Composer came the introduction of the Optic Swap system. Users can now easily switch the main lens in their Lensbaby instead of having to buy another unit. Each Swap Optic comes in a small plastic case that looks very similar to that of an enlarging lens. The base of the case also serves as a tool to remove the optic from the Lensbaby.

The Optic Swap System. Left to Right: Double Glass Optic, Single Glass Optic, Pinhole/Zone Plate, Plastic Optic

Double Glass Optic (Green)

The Double Glass Optic is the default optic for all of the Lensbabies (however, there is an option to purchase the Muse with a plastic optic) and is the same optic from the Lensbaby 2.0 and 3G. The multi-coated doublet makes the sweet spot very sharp, even at the widest aperture. It’s perfect for shots where detail is important in the sweet spot. This is by far my favorite of the Swap Optics.

Single Glass Optic (Orange)

The Single Glass Optic is very similar to the Original Lensbaby. The optic does not have any coatings so you get a slightly softer look that works very well for portraits. You can definitely achieve sharp focus in the Sweet Spot by using smaller apertures while retaining the dreamy qualities in the out of focus areas.

Plastic Optic (Blue)

The Plastic Optic is completely new and provides extremely soft images. Since we are talking about plastic with no coatings, it is also the most subject to aberrations and flare compared to the other Swap Optics. The results are very similar to that of a Holga or other similar cameras (minus the light leaks and frame overlaps, of course). I’ll admit that the Plastic optic is not exactly my cup of tea, but it’s ideally suited for fine art photography.

Pinhole/Zone Plate Optic (Purple)

This is the only one of the Lensbaby optics that does not use the traditional magnetic apertures. Instead there is a switch inside the lens that allows you to use either a zone plate or pinhole for the aperture. Both lenses have an extremely small aperture (approx. f/19 on the Zone Plate and f/177 on the Pinhole) so you’re going to need a lot of light. Both modes are a bit of a departure from the other optics because they provide an overall soft and dreamy look to the image instead of having a Sweet Spot. The Pinhole/Zone Plate was actually a lot of fun to play with. With some time and experimentation, you can produce some very unique images with this optic.

For an excellent in-depth comparison of all of the Swap Optics at different apertures, check out the Optic Comparison page on the Lensbaby website.

Sample Images

The Composer, Double Glass Optic @ f/5.6

The Composer, Double Glass Optic @ f/4

The Composer, Single Glass Optic @ f/4

The Composer, Plastic Optic @ f/4

The Composer, Zone Plate Optic

The Composer, Pinhole Optic

Conclusion

The Composer definitely lives up to the expectations set by its predecessors. It’s just as fun to shoot as the previous models and still provides the same results. I know many existing Lensbaby users love the “squeeze” focus of the previous models, but after using both, I personally prefer the new ball joint design of the Composer.

I think the new design, coupled with the addition of the Optic Swap System, makes the Composer fresh enough for existing users to upgrade without feeling like they are getting the same product. At the same time, it also makes the Composer much more accessible to users who would not have considered a Lensbaby in the past. I would say if you fall into the latter category, the Composer is definitely worth taking a look at.

The Optic Swap System is also a very welcome addition. It opens up new creative possibilities at an affordable price. There’s a lot of potential, and it will be interesting to see where Lensbaby Inc. takes this aspect of their system. It would be nice to see some new optics on a somewhat regular basis to keep things fresh.

The Composer retails for $270 while the Swap Optics (sans the Double Glass Optic, which is included with the Composer) sell for $34.95 each or can be purchased in a three pack for $94.95. You can order both directly from Lensbaby.com or find a retailer near you.

Olympus PEN System

Controls and Menus

Most of the camera’s main controls are positioned so you can easily access them with your right hand while you steady the camera, adjust zoom, or focus with your left. The controls you’ll probably be using the most are the command dial and wheel. The command dial is very conveniently located just to the right of where you would naturally rest your thumb, making it very easy to get to. The command wheel surrounds the selector pad and takes a little bit of getting used to. I can’t help but say it feels very awkward at first. Although I did eventually get used to it, I would have rather seen another command dial in the front of the camera for things like aperture control, exposure compensation, etc.

One of my biggest gripes with the camera is its menu and interface. For a camera that looks so simple, the E-P1 can get very complicated when it comes to changing certain functions.

One prime example I faced is moving the selected AF point. By default you have to access the Live Control menu, scroll down, select the AF targets function, then select the point you want. Now you can customize the controls to make the selector pad move the focus point when you press it, but then it won’t work to adjust the ISO, AF, WB, or advance mode. It would have been nice to be able to map the INFO or Fn button as a focus point selector mode so you could retain the quick functions on the selector point (although you can program the Fn button to re-center the focus point).

E-P1 Rear Controls

Fortunately there is a pretty extensive “Super Control Panel” that you can access a lot of the most common functions (it looks similar to the shooting settings on the back of an E-VOLT camera). You could call this the Super Secret Control Panel because I stumbled upon it accidentally and there is no indication of how to access it in the menu or the Live Control. To access this “Super” menu, first press the OK button, then the INFO button, and voila! Oddly enough, when you are in the Super Control Panel, there is a reference to get back to the Live Control panel (press INFO) but there is no reference in Live Control to get to the Super Control Panel. It is, however, referenced in the manual, pages 6-7.

The menu itself is pretty extensive, which is not the problem. The main problem is some of the options are not exactly easy to recognize off the bat without referencing the manual (ie: AF Loop, AF Spiral). Some of the functions that you would think would be in the same part of the menu are split into different tabs (ie: picture mode, quality, and gradation are in a completely different part of the menu from noise reduction, white balance, and color space).

These gripes might seem a little nit-picky but should be addressed. The last thing a photographer wants is to miss a shot because he/she is digging through the menu to change or find a particular function. These issues may not be “deal-breakers” for most but will take some getting accustomed to.

Lenses

Olympus launched the camera with two lenses: a 17mm f/2.8 and a 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6. With the 2x multiplication factor of the 4/3 sensor, these equate to a 34mm and 28-84mm respectively in 35mm terms.

The 14-42mm is unique because of its size. Fully expanded, it’s just shy of 3.5 inches, but you can contract the lens down to just under 2 inches for storage. This makes it much easier to pack in a small case rather than a full-sized camera bag.

14-42mm Contracted and Expanded (mouse over to compare).

The lens itself covers the standard “kit lens” range you would expect – decent wide angle to medium telephoto. Olympus is very well known for making top quality optics, and this one is no exception. The build of the lens is not quite like the body, but it does have a metal mount and feels very solid. Kit lenses are notorious for getting a bad rep, but this one is excellent.

Next up is my personal favorite: the 17mm f/2.8. Mounted to the camera, the lens is less than an inch long, making it a great compact and lightweight walk-around kit. Obviously, being a fixed lens, it will require a little more work to frame up your subject compared to a zoom lens, but the work can result in a much different type of picture. There’s also a pretty nice external viewfinder available to cover the field-of-view of the lens. The viewfinder is included in the E-P1 17mm f/2.8 kit but can also be purchased separately.

If these two mounts don’t fit your needs, there are other lenses available for the Micro 4/3 mount from Panasonic. You can also use existing 4/3 lenses with an adapter, but depending on the lens, you might lose some functionality. There is also a slew of 3rd party adapters on the market for common mounts such as Leica M and R, Nikon F, Olympus OM, and many more. Usually these adapters are limited manual focus and stop-down metering but can be very useful if you have an extensive collection of old lenses.

E-P1 Lens Mount and Exposed Sensor

One thing that might make some nervous is how exposed the sensor is when you remove the lens. Because of the nature of the camera, the sensor is completely exposed most of the time, even when you remove the lens. I didn’t encounter any dust problems, but you definitely need to be careful when changing lenses with the E-P1. The camera does have a shutter so many have asked why it doesn’t cover the sensor when the camera is off. I suspect it is because a sensor cleaning is much cheaper than a shutter repair.

Flash

The camera does not have any kind of built-in flash, but there is an optional FL-14 flash available. The flash itself works well, but you will need to make some menu adjustments if you plan to use it extensively. In the Custom Settings Menu, you will most likely want to re-assign the command dial or wheel to adjust flash compensation for each shooting mode (except manual, which already utilizes both of those dials). The other alternative would be to access flash compensation through the Super Control Panel.

The FL-14 flash in action

The flash does a pretty decent job considering its size. It’s not exactly the most powerful little unit, but it certainly gets the job done. My only complaint is the fact that it utilizes AAA batteries instead of AAs. I would rather have a slightly larger flash that takes AA batteries instead of a small unit with AAA batteries.

Performance

The E-P1 produces excellent images. I found that the image quality was better than even the best point and shoots out there, and definitely on par with most of the consumer to midrange DSLRs. Of course, the Zuiko lenses in combination with the sensor produce a lot of detail and very sharp images. High ISO performance was good even up to 1600. Anything higher really starts to show the noise, but 3200 could certainly be used in a pinch.

One thing I was a little disappointed with was the LCD screen performance in bright light. It can be very difficult to see in full sunlight, which is tough for a camera that relies on the screen so much. Shooting with the optional viewfinder for the 17mm lens definitely helps, but doesn’t allow critical focusing or menu adjustments. Perhaps we will see some sort of external electronic viewfinder for future PEN cameras, similar to what Panasonic is doing on their upcoming GF1.

Autofocus

[Editor's Note: I decided to delay my initial publication of this article because Olympus released a firmware update the day I was going to post it. This update specifically addresses the AF performance. I've left some of my initial findings and those after the 1.1 Firmware Update.]

The autofocus system is somewhat hit or miss on the E-P1. The good news is it performs pretty well in bright shooting conditions in S-AF. It’s able to lock on and capture subjects pretty quickly. In C-AF or for fast moving subjects, it can have some problems. This is definitely not a huge issue since the E-P1 is not exactly designed to be a “fast” camera for sports or action.

In low or dimly-lit situations, the autofocus can be very sluggish and prone to hunting – even against static subjects. The camera does not have any kind of built-in AF-illuminator, which seems like a pretty big oversight. In these darker situations, even some point and shoot cameras can potentially outperform the E-P1. It’s a shame because Olympus really pioneered Live View in a lot of their early EVOLT cameras and is still one of the leaders of the technology in the full-size DSLRs.

[AF Performance After 1.1 Firmware Update]

A word about the firmware update process on the E-P1: Unlike most other manufacturers, you cannot simply load an empty memory card with the firmware update to load it into the camera. You will need to install the Master/Studio software provided with the camera to access the firmware. To load the firmware to the camera, you have to connect it via the provided USB cable (not a standard USB cable). As with any firmware update, you’ll want to have a full battery. This is a little tedious compared to other manufacturers, but the process itself runs pretty quickly. Keep in mind, you will want to run an update for both the camera and the lenses.

Once the update was completed, there wasn’t a night and day difference in the focus speed but definitely a marked improvement. The S-AF seemed to snap in a little quicker with both lenses, in both bright and dim lighting. C-AF was less prone to hunting for the subject and tracked focus slightly better but is still slow overall.

I would still stick with my initial comments on the camera after the firmware: it’s great for static or slow subjects but is definitely not suited for fast moving subjects or action. I personally don’t find that to be an issue at all because in reality, I don’t think the E-P1 was really designed with that type of shooting in mind.

Images

Here are a few images from the E-P1.

Olyumpus E-P1, 17mm f/2.8, 1/10 sec @ f/3.5, ISO 800

Olyumpus E-P1, 17mm f/2.8, 1/25 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 3200, Grainy B&W Art Filter

Olyumpus E-P1, 17mm f/2.8, 1/30 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 800

Olyumpus E-P1, 17mm f/2.8, 1/25 sec @ f/5, ISO 800, FL-14 Flash

Olyumpus E-P1, 17mm f/2.8, 1/250 sec @ f/2.8, ISO 400

Olyumpus E-P1, 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6, 1/500 sec @ f/8, ISO 100

Olyumpus E-P1, 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6, 1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 100

Conclusion

Despite some of its quirks, I really enjoyed the E-P1. The menu and interface take some getting used to, but that can be overcome with time. This is definitely a “read the manual” type of camera, even for seasoned vets. Some of this is somewhat expected from a first generation camera in a particular system – just look at any early DSLR or point and shoot camera compared to a camera from today.

When it comes right down to it, the camera produces great images and is on par with a lot of the low to middle range DSLRs that it competes with in terms of price. It can be a great alternative for users wanting to carry something other than their big DSLR system but still having something comparable in terms of image quality.

Right off the bat, there are some minor changes that would be very welcome for the next generation PEN camera:

External Electronic Viewfinder. For a camera that relies so heavily on Live View, this would be extremely helpful. The viewfinder for the 17mm f/2.8 definitely makes things easier, but what about the rest of the lenses? If it was implemented similar to the Ricoh GX-200 or recently announced Panasonic GF1, it could increase the flexibility of the camera in brightly lit situations.

AF-Assist Lamp. This is something that even the most basic cameras have, and I was very surprised to see it missing from the E-P1. Unless the contrast-detect AF system in low light dramatically improves in the next camera, this is a necessity.

Simplified Controls. As I mentioned earlier, for such a simple looking camera, the E-P1 has a lot of complex controls. I think making the menu selections and interface a little more intuitive, or taking a “less is more” approach, might be the right way to go on the E-P1.

I would say the Olympus PEN E-P1 is a great camera, but it may not be the camera for everyone. The bottom line is it’s able to produce wonderful images, but it will take a little bit of getting used to for some users. If nothing else, it shows a massive amount of potential for the future of Micro Four Thirds cameras.

Fresh off the success of his last book, “The Moment It Clicks,” Joe McNally has returned with “The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light From Small Flashes.” His last book mainly focused on the images and the stories and obstacles behind them, along with some technical details. “The Hot Shoe Diaries,” as the name implies, is completely about shooting and making the most out of hot shoe Speedlights.

The book starts off with the basics. A lot is covered in this section including camera and flash functionality, technique and lighting principals. Joe also talks a little bit about some of his tools of the trade and the rationale behind why he uses them. He does a great job of taking some of the more complex subjects and explaining them in a very simple manner. He also interjects his very funny humor here and throughout the book to keep things interesting.

Once you’ve got the basics down, the book works in a very logical manner: one light at a time. Joe shows what you can do with a single speedlight and stresses the importance of getting the light off the camera in most situations. As the book moves on, more and more speedlights are added into the equation, with the number topping out at a whopping 47 in one scene.

There are a variety of different scenes and each one is broken down in technical (but not overly complex) detail. You’ll see behind-the-scenes shots, before/after comparisons, camera settings, flash settings and diagrams. On top of that, Joe is an excellent storyteller and does a great job explaining why he uses a particular modifier or positioning in each situation.

“The Hot Shoe Diaries” is an absolute must-read for anyone who uses or is interested in using Nikon’s Creative Lighting System. There’s even a very useful appendix that breaks down how to set up all of the CLS-compatible lights for wireless use. While most of the information is Nikon-centric, a lot of it can be applied or translated to any hot shoe flash, making it an important read for anyone who uses multiple flashes on-location.

The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light From Small Flashes is available at Amazon.com. If you liked this book, check out our review of A Hands-On Guide to Creative Lighting by Nikon School, a DVD that features behind the scenes video of several of the chapters of this book.

Rick Sammon is a renowned wildlife photographer, instructor and author of many books. His latest, Rick Sammon’s Field Guide to Digital Photography, is designed to be a handbook that fits easily into your camera bag. Despite its small size, the book is jam packed with a lot of useful information and tips for taking great photographs.

Field Guide to Digital Photography contains a lot of the information and techniques found in Sammon’s other books but is more straightforward and to the point. For example: Exploring the Light contained exposure, camera, and lens information for the majority of the photographs in the book.

In contrast, Field Guide to Digital Photography contains technical information only when it is necessary and focuses much more on technique, composition, the quality and type of light, and color. Like his other books, Sammon illustrates all of the material with his excellent portfolio of images.

One of the best parts of the book are the amount of tips for getting shots for various types of subjects and situations. There are sections for everything from people to wildlife, flash to available light, and cityscapes to landscapes. Sammon also has sections on travel tips and etiquette. He gives great advice on approaching people in other countries and making those subjects more comfortable.

Rick Sammon’s Field Guide to Digital Photography is an excellent resource for those who enjoy travel photography and want to get better pictures. The book is broken down into very clear and concise sections, making it easy to pick up and read or reference. Also, its small form factor makes it easy to take along no matter where you are going.

You can almost think of this field guide as a “best of” Sammon’s other books, providing the essential things you need to know. If you’re looking for an easy-to-read book without a lot of technical jargon, then this is definitely the book for you.

Rick Sammon’s Field Guide to Digital Photography: Quick Lessons on Making Great Pictures is available at Amazon.com.

Editors Note: This is by no means an exhaustive review but merely my observations on the new camera.

Body

Unlike the last jump in this lineup from the D40 to the D60, the D5000 has had some revisions to the body design. The most obvious is the 2.7″ swiveling LCD screen. The screen flips out and can be positioned below the body or on back of the camera. The swiveling gives some versatility with the live view, and you can almost think of it as a digital waist-level finder.

D5000 Back

I did, however, encounter a problem with the LCD when using a tripod. I used two different tripod heads and both of them restricted the movement of the LCD screen while mounted. Both of these heads used the fairly common Manfrotto RC2 quick release plate. The lack of swiveling seems to differ on a head by head basis, because I didn’t have the problem when trying it on a ball head. It’s still something to be aware of, and I’m sure it will be addressed in the next revision of the series.

The design of the body itself feels just a little bulkier than its predecessor, the D60. The camera also seems to have inherited the slightly higher prism/flash housing similar to the D90 and D700. Even though the body is small, it feels very comfortable in your hand. There’s no question that it feels like a Nikon.

The D5000 uses roughly the same size pentamirror (not pentaprism) viewfinder as its predecessors. The good news is the basic 3-point AF system has been upgraded to the 11-point Multi-CAM 100 AF system from the D90. In my opinion, this makes the D5000 a much more viable candidate against its closest competition, Canon’s Digital Rebel series of cameras.

Controls

D5000 Controls vs D60 Controls

Nikon has taken the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to the D5000′s controls. For the most part, everything is in about the same place as it was on the D40/60 line of cameras. The biggest changes are the addition of a Live View button and the rear INFO button is now dedicated rather than shared with the magnify button. If you’re used to any of the current Nikons, the latter change is a little confusing at first when playing back your images because you’ll have a tendency to hit the INFO instead of the magnify button.

Menus

The Information display is something D5000 users will become very familiar with. It’s still very easy to navigate, and can be accessed by pressing the INFO button twice. Most of what you’ll want to change on the fly is found in this menu, like the White Balance, ISO, release modes, AF-type and picture controls.

The menu system in the D5000 has been slightly tweaked to resemble that of the D90. The menu hierarchy is broken down into categories (autofocus, exposure, timers, etc.), making it a little easier to find exactly what you’re looking for.

Performance

If the D90 was the little brother to the D300, then the D5000 is definitely the younger sibling of the two. The image quality of the D5000 seemed to be almost identical to the D90, which should come as no surprise since they both use the same low-noise CMOS image sensor. You also get the same Picture Control functionality that is present in all of the recent Nikons.

The pentamirror Autofocus system performs very well, and I didn’t encounter any problems while I was testing the camera. AF in Live View seems to be slightly improved over the D90 but is still a little sluggish in comparison to some of the competition.

Perhaps one of my favorite additions is a minor one, the quiet release mode. I’m sure anyone who has used an SLR knows that the mirror slap can be very loud and obtrusive in some situations. In the quiet mode, the camera reduces the sound of both the shutter and mirror. You can also hold down the shutter after the exposure to delay the release of the mirror. This was a pretty common feature on many film cameras, and I hope it will find its way into the next wave of Nikon DSLRs.

Another first for a Nikon DSLR is the addition of scene modes, reminiscent of most point and shoot cameras. This may seem kind of foolish to experienced users, but I think these modes will help make the D5000 more accessible to beginners. I toyed around with a few of them and while they don’t do a perfect job, they make things a little easier for beginners.

Images

Here are a series of JPEG images directly from the D5000.

Nikon D5000, 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5, 1/400 sec @ f/8, ISO 200

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/500 sec @ f/8, ISO 200

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/6 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 3200

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/15 sec @ f/4.2, ISO 1600

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/15 sec @ f/4, ISO 1600

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/25 sec @ f/5.6, ISO 1600

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/25 sec @ f/8, ISO 200

Nikon D5000, 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 1/125 sec @ f/10, ISO 200

Conclusion

Consumers may have a tough choice when picking a Nikon since there are now three entry-level DSLRs. In addition, the D5000 competes heavily with the D90 since the core feature sets are nearly identical. Here are my personal recommendations on who should pick which camera.

First-Time DSLR Users: Unless you’re on a limited budget, I’d definitely pick the D5000. New features like the Live View, Scene modes and Movie mode are all features that will make those moving up from a compact camera feel somewhat at home. At the same time, advanced functions like a better autofocus system, better high ISO performance, and the new picture control system give a little more room for expansion than other “entry-level” Nikon offerings.

D40/D60 Users Looking to Upgrade: Users in this group are probably the most interested in what the D5000 has to offer over their current model. While the camera does offer some nice new features over its predecessors, I would say users looking to grow would be better off taking the next step and moving to a D90 (or even a D300). However, users who still want something small, lightweight and easy to use would most likely be fine with a D5000.

SLR Users Looking for a Lightweight Backup/Fun Camera: Paired with something like an AF-S 50mm f/1.4G or 35mm f/1.8G DX, the D5000 makes an awesome walk-around camera with a lot of versatility. If you own some of the bigger DSLRs and want a smaller rig you can take around, the D5000 is a very viable option. Even if you don’t have auto-focus lenses, the focus confirmation makes manual focusing a little easier.

The D5000 is without a doubt a great addition to the Nikon line-up. It builds on the success of the easy-to-use D40/D60 series camera, while finally adding some features to put it more in-line with the competition.

General Corrections

These are mainly designed as a starting-off point. The A-Game settings provide some adjustments in contrast and color, as well as some other minor adjustments. There are some extremely handy one-click white balance adjustments that bring you to Lightroom’s default preset WB settings.

B&W Conversions

Wonderland 3.0 has a lot of very nice presets for B&W. There are light conversions, extremely contrasty conversions and everything in between. A few of them have some subtle split toning to them, which can really add to the photo. There are about 28 total B&W conversions, so there are a lot of choices.

Color Punches

These settings provide very vibrant and saturated colors. The default white balance settings are not ideal for everything, so you’ll definitely want to do some tweaking in that department. You may also want to be careful with people getting orange skin tones, but with some playing you can get vivid results.

Color Isolate

Color Isolation can be a little difficult in Lightroom, but Wonderland does a fairly good job at it. There are nine different colors to isolate, each with an additional setting to also isolate the skin tone. In complex lighting situations where the skin is not evenly lit, it has some difficulty but is still fairly accurate. You might need to do some playing around in Photoshop for the finishing touches, but this does a lot of the groundwork for you.

Color Modification

These are cooling/warming presets, which are pretty self explanatory. The warming one uses toning while the cooling uses the WB adjustment sliders. Since there is only one option for warming and one for cooling, I didn’t find these to be useful. I still prefer using the WB sliders to make warming/cooling adjustments since those decisions generally depend on your lighting situation.

Creative Catalyst

The Creative Catalyst presets are the “heart and soul” of the Wonderland Presets. With a total of about 60 presets, the Creative Catalysts offer a wide range of effects to choose from. There are some absolutely killer split tone B&W conversions, as well as many different color effects. You may have to make some minor tweaks depending on your image, but there are a lot of awesome effects to choose from here.

Cross Process

As the name implies, these presets provide a cross-processed look to your images. You get the effect both ways (C-41 to E-6 and vice versa) as well as a lomography preset. This is a very popular look, and Wonderland does a great job of executing it.

Lighten/Darken Vignettes and Contrast

The lighten/darken portions of the Wonderland Presets give you a one-click solution to adding vignetting to the image. There are three lightening and four darkening presets, and between them, you can get extremely close to the effect you want. The contrast controls are nice, but I found them to be more useful in combination with other presets rather than on their own.

Portrait Specific

The Portrait presets have a couple of options for softening skin tones, and they work very well. Some of them give a soft and dreamy quality to the pictures. There are also a series of presets called portrait spotlight, which mutes the color except for a small amount of saturation (mostly in the skin). I wasn’t as keen on these presets as they made the subject look a little sickly.

Sepia

Just like the B&W and other monotone presets, the sepia settings from Wonderland 3.0 are excellent. There are only about 8 compared to the 28 B&W presets, but you get a nice range of subtle to full-blown sepia toning.

Sharpening

Rounding out the presets are sharpening presets for portraits and landscapes. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of Lightroom’s sharpening and have always preferred sharpening in Photoshop based on where the image is going to be output. If you do plan to use the Sharpening presets, you might want to modify it; by applying it, all the sliders are reset to their default settings. This might have just been a slight oversight since sharpening is typically the last stage in post-processing.

Conclusion

Wonderland Presets 3.0 offers a lot of worthwhile post-processing options. There is a solid collection to choose from for a decent range of applications. As with any preset, you might have to make some slight modifications to make them work for your image, but for the most part they get you where you need to be. The Wonderland Presets allow you to make very creative modifications to your pictures with just a few clicks.

Wonderland Presets 3.0 is available directly from the Wonderland website for $39.99. At the website, you can also download 14 free samples, or look at more examples.

HP Photosmart B8550 Photo Printer

The Photosmart B8550 is ideal for photo enthusiasts and hobbyists who want to make 13″ x 19″ prints with ease. The B8550 produces vibrant prints and offers a very straightforward, easy to operate interface.

Professionals and advanced users might want to consider other options because the printer does lack some of the more advanced features of higher-end printers such as advanced ICC profiles (there are some basic ones), and a wider range of color and black cartridges.

Out of the Box

The Photosmart B8550 is a reasonable sized printer and has a footprint of about 26.5″ x 16.9″ x 9.5.” Setting the printer up took about 20-30 minutes, with most of that time being the initialization process of the ink cartridges.

Between the instructions on the 2.4″ LCD and the provided step-by-step startup guide, the setup is very easy. Once the ink is installed, the printer even does its own alignment without you having to input anything.

My only personal complaint with the install is when you install the printer, you have to install all of the Photosmart software along with it. Some of these, like the Device Manger and Dashboard ink status widget, are useful, while others are very redundant and basic if you already have photo managing or editing software. This software might be useful if you don’t have anything for photos, but a custom software installation option would have been nice.

Printing

Prints from the Photosmart B8550 were outstanding. The printer does an excellent job of handling tonal gradations and providing excellent clarity in the images. Additionally, HP’s Vivera inks provided very vivid colors on everything from 4″ x 6″ prints up to 13″ x 19.” Prints dry almost immediately to the touch after coming out of the printer, but they look best after sitting a few minutes and letting the ink settle into the paper.

Printing time is very reasonable even at the best quality. On average, it took the printer about 1:30 for a 4″ x 6″ print, 2:30 for an 8″ x 10″ print, and 5:50 for a 13″ x 19″ print. These are with the printer at the highest quality, and times were definitely better at the normal setting.

Advanced users have the option to let their preferred application manage the colors using the provided ICC profiles from HP. Beginning users can let the printer manage the colors and tweak the output as they desire.

One thing I noticed when letting the printer manage the colors: the images tended to be a little darker than what I personally preferred. The other thing to note is areas of prints with a lot of very dark shadows tended to have a slight green cast to them, whereas the rest of the picture looked normal.

2.4″ LCD and Direct Printing

The printer also offers the ability to print directly from a memory card, camera or USB storage device. A nice little side note is you can use the printer’s memory card slot as a card reader for your computer if you don’t already have one.

Printing directly from a memory card was very easy and offered fifteen print layouts for various different paper size/print combinations (for example: 2 5″ x 7″ prints on an 8.5″ x 11″ page). There are also options for things like album pages, cropping, adding frames and special effects. I personally preferred working directly from the computer, but I can see direct printing being very useful for quick prints.

An inherent trait in a lot of entry-level printers is they tend to consume a massive amount of ink. From my experience, this was definitely the case when using the Best quality setting. After about a dozen prints on the best quality setting (a mix of mostly 8″ x 10″ and 13″ x 19″), the yellow and photo black cartridge were giving a low ink warning. Interestingly enough, both magenta and cyan had at least 75% of their capacity left.

Ink consumption improves quite a bit when printing on the normal setting, and I honestly could not see a drastic difference between a best and normal print at a reasonable viewing distance.

The one caveat here is I could only select normal when letting the printer manage the colors. When letting Photoshop manage the colors, only the best and max DPI settings were available. I’m not sure if this is only limited to Photoshop but should be noted.

Conclusion

Print sizes up to 13″ x 19″

As I had mentioned earlier in my review, the HP Photosmart B8550 is an excellent printer for photo hobbyists and enthusiasts. It’s a great choice if you enjoy photo projects like calendars, scrapbooks, etc. HP has a whole set of free photo printing projects at the HP Creative Studio.

Like most entry to mid-range printers, it does tend to eat ink at the highest quality setting.

My advice for potential buyers would be to look into the larger capacity inks that HP offers, which tend to only be about $5 more than the regular cartridges ($15 vs $10). The quality of the prints and potential print sizes make it a great value for the money.

The HP Photosmart B8550 Inkjet Photo Printer is available from Amazon.com for about $220.

Images courtesy of HP.

Before the DVD goes into flash photography, host and National Geographic photographer Bob Krist starts with the basics of light: direction, color, and quality. This may seem rudimentary for some, but these concepts are applicable to any type of photography and very important in understanding flash photography. Krist then explains some of the benefits of using flash and how it differs from using available light. He does an excellent job of explaining some of the more technical aspects of flash photography, such as sync-speed, with animations to illustrate the point.

Once you have down some of the basic concepts, the DVD starts getting hands-on with some basic portrait setups using speedlights. The demos work one light at a time with Krist explaining the rationale behind light positions, additional lights, and how to overcome problems as they arise. You’ll see a three light setup and understand how to balance flash and ambient light using slow-sync and gels. There is even a brief demo of the R1 and R1-C1 close-up set. The best part of these demos is being able to see each shot as changes are made and the excellent diagrams to see the overall setup.

The first half of the DVD features helpful diagrams as lights are added or moved to help understand the setup.

Once you’ve seen how easy it is to work with the CLS, you get an overview of how to set up the various components of the system in master and remote modes. Every aspect is covered from the speedlights to using certain cameras’ built-in flashes as a commander. You even get to see Bob Krist’s personal location kit, all of which fits nicely in a carry-on size Storm Case.

With the basics behind you, the second half of the DVD follows lighting expert Joe McNally in the field on three different on-location shoots: the Boston Ballet School, a bride preparing for a wedding, and a dock. McNally applies all of the concepts from the first half of the DVD and, as he puts it, “improvises endlessly.”

Just like Bob Krist did in the studio, McNally works in pieces when setting up for his shots. You get a clear explanation of why additional lights or diffusers are being added and get to see the results instantly. He also identifies problems as they arise and shows how to overcome them. Watching McNally connect and communicate with his subjects is a treat, and you can clearly see that connection translate into his pictures.

Joe McNally utilizes the Nikon CLS in inventive ways. In what ends up being the DVD cover, McNally uses an SB-900 outside of a window with a CTO gel to simulate a warm sunset despite it being a rainy, overcast day.

Joe McNally and Bob Krist make it a point of getting the light off the camera throughout the three on-location shoots. You see a lot of inventive uses of umbrellas, diffusers, reflectors, and gels. There’s a lot of great advice on filling in shadows and maintaining a balance between flash and natural light to make it look as if no flash was used at all. There are great examples of both slow and high-speed sync, indoor and outdoor shooting, and still and moving subjects. McNally goes by all the rules but also shows that some of them are meant to be bent or broken. This is evident in many shots, especially the finale at the dock that starts with nine Nikon speedlights and ends with a total of twelve.

The DVD is much more informative compared with Nikon’s last lighting DVD The Speed of Light, which showed what the system was capable of but gave little in the way of how to use it. It does still have its moments where you feel like you are watching an infomercial, but these are very tasteful and should be expected considering the DVD is put out by Nikon. Some people may balk at the price tag ($39.99), but it’s reasonable considering the length of the feature (over two hours) and amount of information presented.

Overall, A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting is an excellent guide to the Nikon CLS, as well as lighting in general. The DVD should appeal to just about all levels of photographers because it moves at a pace easy to follow for beginners, but also provides lots of useful tips and tricks for intermediate to advanced users. It even includes a handy cheat sheet with instructions for setting up all of the various CLS products, as well as some lighting terms mentioned throughout the DVD. Whether you’re new to Nikon’s speedlight system or have experience, A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting is definitely worth checking out.

Images Courtesy of Nikon USA.

Understanding exposure is an extremely vital part of photography but can often be very confusing for beginners. If you or someone you know is looking for a book to provide a little insight into understanding exposure, Rick Sammon’s Exploring the Light is an excellent resource.

Exploring the Light starts off with the basics: composition, shutter speed and aperture. There are also quite a few sections on camera settings, modes, metering and operation for digital SLRs. Once you have the basics down, the rest of the book relies on these principals in order to get a better understanding of light and exposure.

Rick Sammon provides a lot of excellent tips and insight into many common lighting situations. There’s a section about seeing the different types of light and making the most out of it, as well as one on overcoming difficult lighting conditions. There’s even an entire chapter dedicated to flash photography, which can be very intimidating for a lot of people.

Sammon does drive the point that “the more we know about getting the best possible exposure, the less time we have to spend in the digital darkroom rescuing our pictures, and therefore the more time we have to take pictures.”

At the same time, he does also realize how powerful programs like Photoshop can be and closes the book with some simple yet very effective Photoshop techniques for enhancing your photos, not completely transforming them.

Perhaps the best part of Exploring the Light is the fact that Rick Sammon provides examples of the photos that lead to the “keeper” shots – providing advice on seeing creatively.

He also supplies technical information on the majority of the shots in order for readers to better understand the camera settings.

Exploring the Light is an excellent guide to composition, exposure, and understanding the basics of light and lighting. Rick Sammon does a great job explaining the basics and uses his work to help illustrate the point.

I would definitely recommend this book to someone just getting into photography or intermediate users. The lessons in this book are fundamentals that every photographer should learn.

Rick Sammon’s Exploring the Light: Making the Very Best In-Camera Exposures is available at Amazon.com.

I’ve had the chance to shoot with the D-Lux 4 for a couple of days, so continue reading to see if it is truly worthy of the Leica name.

Editor’s Note: Initial impressions are not meant of be an exhaustive review but rather my opinions and observations of a camera.

Body

The D-Lux 4 has the same sleek matte black finish of its predecessor, the D-Lux 3. In terms of size, the camera is slightly larger than most compact cameras on the market but definitely smaller than most other cameras in its class, like the Canon Powershot G10. I personally found the size to be absolutely perfect, but I can see it being a little awkward for someone with big hands. There’s also the welcome addition of a hot-shoe.

Front of the D-Lux 4

The back of the D-Lux 4 is dominated by the 3-inch LCD display. I know the lack of an optical viewfinder will be a turnoff for some; however, I didn’t have a problem seeing the LCD in bright sunlight or dark conditions.

Controls

The top of the camera has a traditional mode dial, which gives you access to the Automatic and Scene modes, PASM, movie mode, and the two custom user settings. The top also has a “focus” button next to the shutter release that allows you to select focus points on the fly.

The lens has two mode switches: one for the different focus modes (AF, AF Macro, and Manual) and another to select between the aspect ratios (4:3, 2:3, 16:9).

The back of the camera is where the bulk of your controls are, with a lot of them based around the joystick “quick selector.” At first I thought the quick selector would be a little awkward, but it becomes extremely intuitive after a little use. Moving the stick left or right toggles between your aperture and shutter (or exposure compensation), while moving the stick up and down adjusts those values. Pressing the stick in gives you access to the “Quick Menu,” where you can quickly change options such as film mode, metering, focus, white balance, ISO, Intelligent ISO, Intelligent Exposure, and image size.

Back of the D-Lux 4 with Controls

The traditional cross selector offers most of your other controls, including a function button that can be programmed to quick review (I recommend this function), Film Mode, ISO, white balance, metering, and Intelligent Exposure. There are a couple of quirks with the exposure compensation and flash buttons. Even though you have to manually pop up the flash to use it, it defaults to the auto mode.

Although it fired most of the time, there were situations where I wanted fill light but the camera felt there already was enough light. In order to make the flash fire when you pop it up, you have to make sure “Always Fire” is selected in the flash sub-menu.

The other quirk is that the exposure compensation button also gives you access to flash compensation, not the flash button. Since I was primarily using the quick selector to adjust exposure, it was very easy to overlook this. I personally found the flash a little overpowering by default so the flash compensation is a must.

Performance

To put it simply, the D-Lux 4 is unlike any other point and shoot camera I’ve ever used. The camera offers nine different color modes, plus two different user-defined color modes. There’s also a mode called Multi Film, which is essentially a color bracketing mode that allows you to take a burst of images in up to three different film modes. The colors straight out of the camera are absolutely wonderful – extremely vibrant without being overly saturated.

The lens range may seem short compared to most compact cameras on the market, but I found it to be versatile. Having a 24mm on a compact was a real treat and lends itself to some very interesting shots. Couple that with an extremely fast f/2.0-2.8 lens and Image Stabilization, and you’ve got an awesome little camera for low light photography.

I was completely blown away by just how sharp the lens is. Below are a few shots that demonstrate how much detail the lens captures. One is a studio shot (Editor’s Note: We had no problem using this camera with strobes via Pocketwizards, as silly as that may seem), and another is a very low shutter speed shot handheld demonstrating the Image Stabilization. Last, we have a shot of a swan (roll over for 100% crops).

1/250 sec @ f/8, ISO 100 (Photo by LeRoy Rosario)

1/5 sec @ f/2, ISO 400

1/1000 sec @ f/4, ISO 80 (Photo by LeRoy Rosario)

The camera does an excellent job up to ISO 400, and even produced useable results at 800 and 1600. The D-Lux does marginally better in this regard compared to most compact cameras due to its slightly larger sensor size, but still doesn’t yield results comparable to an APS-C DSLR. I will say even though there is a lot chroma noise, camera’s noise reduction seemed to do a excellent job of retaining detail.

I was a little disappointed to see Leica abandon the DNG RAW format for this camera. RAW files are a RWL that open with the provided Capture One 4 software. I did not play with the RAW files since I primarily use Lightroom and Adobe Camera RAW, but I’d imagine there will be Adobe support in the future.

Images

The biggest problem I had with the images for this review is narrowing down which ones to include. These are all JPEGs directly from the camera and resized for web. A few of them are courtesy of my fellow photographer LeRoy Rosario, who also had a chance to shoot with the camera. Editors Note: You can also find more images from the D-Lux 4 in the Images of the Week for 11/02/08.

1/8 sec @ f/2, ISO 400

1/80 sec @ f/8, ISO 125

1/30 sec @ f/8, ISO 200

1/10 sec @ f/4, ISO 80 (Photo by LeRoy Rosario)

1/400 sec @ f/4, ISO 400, 16:9 Ratio (Photo by LeRoy Rosario)

1/1000 sec @ f/4.5, ISO 80 (Photo by LeRoy Rosario)

Conclusion

Whenever Leica comes out with a camera, there are always comparisons with its Panasonic counterpart (in this case, the Lumix LX-3). Both cameras are in fact manufactured by Panasonic, and many people feel you are simply paying a “red-dot tax” to have the Leica version.

I have not used the Panasonic version of this camera, but Leica does in fact have their own color curves and profiles that are different from the Panasonic counterpart. Also, the three year warranty is a much better value over the 1 year parts, 90 days labor warranty from Panasonic.

Couple that with the provided Phase One Capture One 4 software, and you can justify the price. I’m not saying $849.99 isn’t steep for a point and shoot camera (because it is), but when comparing the two cameras, you have to look at the total value to make a fair comparison.

As I said earlier in my initial impressions, the Leica D-Lux 4 is unlike any other point and shoot camera I’ve ever used. If you can get past the price tag, it is an absolutely wonderful camera. I couldn’t believe that this little camera was able to capture the shots it did. The controls were intuitive, the colors were incredible, and it’s just about the perfect size to carry around. While it’s pricier than most of the cameras in its category, I think the D-Lux 4 is truly in a class of its own.

Special Thanks to LeRoy Rosario for providing select images from the D-Lux 4 in this review.