DPS 10-06: nikondigital.org July Photo News

DPS 10-06: nikondigital.org July Photo News

nikondigital.org July Photo News: Nikon D4 & Google Glass hands-on, Botswana & Burma trip updates, Texas trips announced

Face to face with a giraffe on one of our Botswana photo safaris. We hope you can join us in December!


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We will see lions, leopards, giraffes, hippo, elephants, and dozens of other animals on our .

Subscriber -- Welcome to DPS 10-06 -- Nikon D4 hands-on, Google Glass hands-on, Botswana & Burma trip openings, Texas trips announced...

We hope our friends on the east coast are surviving the rough heat wave. I'm going the other direction, to Alaska for our annual bear photo safaris, where it has been in the 50s or 60s most days. I'll be sending , but if you want to get a head start on next year, you can now.

Event Updates: (or)

We have only 2 openings for Botswana in Nov/Dec and Cambodia/Burma in January!

There is no better trip of a lifetime than our , which we're offering in Nov/Dec, 2012: We'll be visiting 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] .

We've had tremendous good fortune photographing leopards on our photo safaris to Botswana and southern Africa. Many times we've been eye-to-eye with these magnificent cats, like in this shot.

Leopard approaching our truck in Botswana.Nikon D300, Nikon 200-400mm lens. 

Our unique is also 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 .

From there 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.

I got to speak with Sergey Brin about his amazing Google Glass project and try on the prototype.

You can .

David Cardinal trying on Sergey Brin's Google Glass prototype at Google I/O 2012


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Product Updates:

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Cirque du Soleil introduced an amazing new online experience at Google I/O 2012

Other News:

The only wildlife at Google I/O 2012 was the human kind -- unless you count the lifesize mechanical dragon, but it was a great proving ground for the amazing versatility of the Nikon D4 I'm reviewing. I used it to assemble a , many of them shot at high ISO settings in very low light.

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 . 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.

No DSLR is better than the Nikon D4 in low light:

Only with the Nikon D4 is it possible to take such clean shots in very low light. Even at ISO 6400 the D4 delivers, allowing me to shoot this image of Google announcing their new Compute Engine service at 1/750s

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] !!

Featured Articles from

Nikon D800e: Awesome tool for environmental portraits

The super-high resolution of the isn’t useful just for studio photographers, or even pure landscape shooters. Every nature and travel photographer also has a need for environmental portraits – those iconic images that combine portraits of animals or people with their surroundings to create a sense of place….

 

 

Nikon D4: First impressions–Hands-on

I knew when I first shot with an early at CES in January that it would be an amazing camera. After spending some time shooting with a production model over the weekend, I’m definitely a believer. The Nikon D4 is a no-compromise beast of a DSLR, capable of shooting 10fps at ISOs up into the six-digit range. It tips the scales at a hefty 3 lbs., and will empty your wallet of $6K. It’s not the resolution champion, as we all know the Nikon D800 is, but for many of us who shoot action or wildlife, it’s 16MP of clean, sharp images is plenty.

 

 

Superzoom faceoff: Canon PowerShot SX260 HS versus Nikon Coolpix S9300

[NOTE: If you're looking for the Sigma 50-500mm lens review, . Sorry about that]

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

Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus LensSuperzooms have been the poor stepchildren of lenses nearly forever. Typically under-performing models sold to people uninterested in worrying about multiple lenses or great quality, using one was a great way to mark yourself as an amateur. So it took quite a bit of convincing – in the form of happy success stories and awesome images taken by my clients on various safaris with the – for me to decide to shoot with this latest entry in the “all-in-one” superzoom category. I’m glad I did….

 

 

Canon EOS Rebel T4i DSLR ups the entry-level ante–Optimized for silent video operation

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!