Can piccure+ Turn Your Kit Lens into "L" Lens?

Some of you might have read my posting about piccure a while back, in my conclusion of that story, I said...

PICCURE  ROCKS!!

From my test I can see PICCURE did an incredible job of removing camera shake induced artifacts and blurriness!

I think those guys at the Intelligent Imaging Solutions might give Photoshop a run for their money in this area.

Like any beta release, there are a few issues to iron out; like it crashed sometimes when the image is a TIFF and more than 70MB.

Instead of just being a PLUG-IN, I personally feel that PICCURE also should include a stand alone application; not everyone have Photoshop!

It has been an interesting test, I look forward to testing the official release!

Well, the "+" version is officially launched today!

According to them, "piccure+ is a new software program capable of correcting optical aberrations that cause a lack of sharpness in your images. With piccure+, it is possible to recover much sharper images."

During my beta testing, I was told that piccure+ can virtually make your $300 lens performing like a $3,000 lens!

Is Lumix TZ60 a Good Travel Camera?

My colleague Martyn love pixels, the more the merrier!  He also adores large sensor in his DSLR, full-frame; no less! Oh, did I say he also uses only "L" lenses for his 5D Mk3?

Imagine my surprise when Martyn came back from his long Australia holiday and told me how impress he was with the LUMIX TZ60 he took with him!

LUMIX TZ60?

You kidding me?

That is an 18-megapixel small 1/2.3-inch sensor point n shoot!

Look at the lens, a 30X Leica DC Vario-Elmar 4.3-129mm f/3.5-6.4 zoom (24-720mm in 35mm equivalent).  A whopping 24-720mm?

Serious?

The really compact TZ60 with the 30X Leica zoom lens

Martyn's enthusiasm got my attention alright, so when he offer to let me play with his TZ60 for the week end; would I refuse?  Duh!

Adiós DSLR!

I have friends who go on extended travel lugging their big bag of photo gear, usually a DSLR and two or three zoom lenses. Don't laugh, I use to be like them because 5 years ago DSLR give you the best performance; that was before, how about now?

During our last gathering, my DSLR die hard friends were shocked when I told them I only took my little Lumix GM1 when we went to Malaysia and Taiwan this year!

They all sneered at the small wonder, to them, nothing but their HEAVY DSLR can give them the travel pictures they are proud of!

Mind you, as you can see from the picture above, I still have my DSLR; a Nikon D300 that I bought 5 years ago. The zoom lens attaches to this once the Camera Of The Year, a Nikon 12-24mm f/4 AF-S DX , this Nikon has an equivalent field of view of an 18-36mm lens.

When you are on a shoot-n-run travel, to me, this is the best lens to have on your DSLR!

On the left of the heavy weight D300 is my feather weight Lumix GM1 with the
Panasonic 7-14mm f/4 ASPH LUMIX G VARIO ultra wide zoom.  This incredible optics behave like a 14-28 mm equivalent!

Do All 24mm (equivalent) Kit Lens Vignette?

For those that don't know, what is vignette or vignetting?

"In photography and optics, vignetting (/vɪnˈjɛtɪŋ/; French: "vignette") is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center.

Vignetting is often an unintended and undesired effect caused by camera settings or lens limitations. However, it is sometimes deliberately introduced for creative effect, such as to draw attention to the center of the frame."  - Wikipedia

In general, a good lens should not vignette or at least show minimum darkening of the image corners.

Sony RX100 lll or Lumix GM1?

After I post my user experience on the little Sony RX100 lll, I know the inevitable question will come..

Sure enough, friends wanted to know was the Sony BETTER than my favorite Lumix GM1 and which one do I prefer, the Sony or Lumix?

The Sony RX100 lll, left and Lumix GM1 with the 12-32 kit zoom. Both cameras are "off" and with their lens retracted.

Before I give you my answer, let me just get the following out of the way...

Sony RX100 lll, Ultimate Compact?

When Sony launched its first RX100 back in 2012, the photo communities were in awe. This year's iteration is by far the most impressive yet, it came with a superior lens and a unique pop-up EVF!

There are compact cameras that look "cute" but only able to produce so so pictures, and there are compacts that not only look cute, well built and take quality photos; the little Sony belongs to this.

Thanks to our local Photo Warehouse, I have the opportunity to try out this much talk about Sony compact for four days!

Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS Lens

Last week, thanks to Wellington Photo Warehouse; I had the pleasure of testing the Sony A6000 15-50/55-210 Twin kit for the weekend. The delightful Sony A6000 mirrorless compact which I like a lot, also came with a rather long but light tele zoom.

The all black, all plastic Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS Lens might look intimating on the compact A6000, but weighing at a mere 12.2oz  (345g); it balance quite well on the camera.

The twin lens set cost NZ$1,675.00, in a way, this long zoom  is a bargain.

Considering the camera with the 15-50 lens, alone; cost $1,348.00, you are actually getting this very long, telephoto zoom (82-315mm eqv) for only $327.00!

I was please that the mounting bayonet is metal instead of plastic :)

As far as I know, this lens is not sold separately in New Zealand.

According to Sony, this 13 element zoom consists of 2 aspherical and 2 ED elements; the lens provides image stabilization, super quiet focusing, and a useful zoom range of 82-315mm eqv.

DXO Mark gave this lens a peak sharpness of 7-Mpix and 12 points overall which is about average for a lens with this range.

Numbers to me are just a guide, I prefer some real world shooting, comparing the Sony to what I have; which is an LUMIX G VARIO PZ 45-175/F4.0-5.6.