November 2011

Nikon Coolpix P7100–Taking Nikon’s new flagship point and shoot for a spin

Submitted by David Cardinal on Wed, 11/23/2011 - 10:37

 

After playing second fiddle to Canon’s now legendary “G-series” of top of the line point and shooters, Nikon aimed to level the playing field with last year’s introduction of the Nikon P7000. Featuring a full range of SLR-like controls, an “all-in-one” zoom lens, and relatively large pixels for a P&S, the P7000 made converts out of many. But it still had some glaring issues in video capability and raw shooting speed in particular. So I was excited to take the new out in the field to see how it compared…

Nikon 1 V1 and J1: Sexy, but are they too small for their own good?

Submitted by David Cardinal on Tue, 11/22/2011 - 16:02

I really want to like the Nikon 1 cameras. They are small, cute, and fun to use. I dream of the day that I can get a fully functional D-SLR equivalent in such a light and small package. Unfortunately the doesn’t quite fit the bill. To accommodate the small form factor, it features a small (1/2.7, “CX” format) sensor – smaller than either its competitors’ micro-4/3 cameras or Sony’s NEX. And being mirrorless, the photographer needs to live with the LCD for composing images on the Nikon 1 J1, or an electronic viewfinder on the V1. Neither is a great substitute, unfortunately, for a real, through-the-lens, look at the scene. But the does have a lot to recommend it, and will be perfect as a weekend or vacation camera for many Nikon shooters, so I’ll layout the pros and cons to help you decide if it is the right camera for you…

Captured by Moose Peterson

Submitted by David Cardinal on Sat, 11/19/2011 - 11:36

Lorrie and I spent a great day yesterday with our good friends Sharon & Moose Peterson. Moose was in town to give a talk at Google, where he kept a good-sized crowd glued to their seats with tales of his adventures as a conservation-minded wildlife photographer. As always, his images of critters – and many from his new passion of aviation photography – were the highlights of the talk.

Mother Brown Bear & Cub: NWF Photo Contest Winner

Submitted by David Cardinal on Thu, 11/17/2011 - 13:04

As the old saying goes, “f/8 and be there.” That can be just as true of wildlife photography. Even after 12 years of photographing Alaskan Coastal Brown bears every summer, I am surprised with new opportunities each time. This photo of a sow (mother bear) playing “hide and seek” with her cub just won 1st place in the Professional Mammals (I think that means that the photographer is a professional – not the animalsSmile) category of the . I’m frankly really honored, as the other winning images are all amazing. A special shout out to fellow bear watchers and dedicated biologists Laura Romin and Larry Dalton, who took first place in the Amateur Baby Animals contest. The images are all showcased on the NWF website and in the November issue of their magazine.