Canon 5D Mark II: It's Here

The wait is over! Canon announced its update to the wildly popular full frame EOS 5D

The EOS 5D Mark II has a 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor, a vast ISO Range of 100-6400 (expandable to ISO L: 50, H1: 12800 and H2: 25600), plus EOS technologies like Auto Lighting Optimizer and Peripheral Illumination Correction. It supports Live View shooting, Live View HD videos, and more. It can shoot up to 3.9 fps, has 9 AF points plus 6 AF assist points, a new 98% coverage viewfinder, a 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) and a rugged build.

Just eyeballing the specs, I'm disappointed at the low fps rate. I had hoped that it would have at least a 5 fps rate. I would've been happy to give up some of the megapixel count for a higher fps. The new Nikon D700 has a much lower resolution, but can deliver 5 fps or even 8 fps with a grip.

According to MarketWatch (Wall Street Journal), the estimated street price is $2700 and will be available in November. This price point is phenomenal, and is lower than its competitors. A hands-on review is at DPReview.

Since many of my readers are from the United Kingdom, here's a fact I'm sure will irk them no end. UK websites report that the new Canon body will retail for £2,300. At current exchange rates, this is the equivalent of $4140, a hefty (and unjustifiable) premium of $1440 over US prices. Even considering that the UK price includes VAT, this is eye-watering, non?

The Mark II will record a movie clip for a maximum of 12 minutes at 1920 x 1080 and up to 24 minutes at VGA. Here's a clip demonstrating the Canon 5D Mark II's video (link)

As Canon's press release says: "Full-frame shooters rejoice!". And here's what its Evolution ad looks like now.

I'll follow this news throughout the day and update my post.

Thanks Eric! (you're the first to email me with this...don't you sleep?).

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Stanley Greene: Interview in Perpignan

Here's an impromptu (and very personal) interview with photojournalist Stanley Greene of NOOR agency in the streets of Perpignan. Stanley recently traveled to Afghanistan and shot a powerful photo story about the crisis of drug abuse and infectious disease.

I met Stanley while we were teaching courses at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico last June, and I must say that this interview is exactly what Stanley is all about...at times tough and opinionated, but also immensely compassionate and considerate. I recall telling Stanley that it had been a privilege meeting him...I normally don't say stuff like that unless I seriously mean it. What I didn't say was that meeting him was -for me- one of the highlights of the workshop...but I hope he guessed that.

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PhotoBurst

Photoburst is a travel photography daily contest, where the best photograph submitted by its contributors is uploaded, and showcased for that day. At the end of each month, the photographer of the best photo of the day is awarded with a B&H US$100 gift card.

Gastão Bettencourt, Pedro de Sousa and Pedro Patrício are the three photographers behind this project, which has attracted hundreds of travel photographers and their submissions. I've seen remarkable quality amongst the submissions, from well-established photographers with professionally-built websites, and from emerging photographers with Flickr galleries. The submissions range from landscapes to environmental portraiture, from candids to posed photographs.

The terms and conditions are simple and straightforward however, as in all contests make sure you carefully read them. Whether one takes part in the contest or not, Photoburst is a good location to get a daily travel photography fix.

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Project Kashmir

"Project Kashmir" is a feature documentary co-directed by two American women, Senain Kheshgi and Geeta V. Patel, who also appear in the film. Both friends, Geeta's family is Hindu from India; Senain's is Muslim from Pakistan, displaced from India at the time of the partition. The two travel to cover the war in Kashmir: for over 50 years, an area divided by deep-seated tensions between Hindu and Muslim, Pakistan and India.

The Digital Journalist (link) carries an interesting article about the making of Project Kashmir...which is well worth a read to know what it took for these two women to make this documentary. "Project Kashmir" will air on PBS in 2009.


Project Kashmir from Digital Journalist on Vimeo.

I'm not sure whether the trailer manages to explain the background on the conflict over Kashmir, but for more information, the documentary's website is here

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Chico Sanchez: Lucha Libre

Photograph Chico Sanchez-All Rights Reserved
It's been a while since I posted a SoundSlides project, so here's Mexican Lucha Libre from Chico Sanchez, a freelance photographer based in Mexico City. Chico worked in Venezuela, collaborating with Reuters, European Pressphoto Agency, Agencia EFE, and freelances for various newspapers and magazines.

The slideshow is sub-titled as the fight between good and evil; a concept which is at the very heart of the Lucha Libre. The luchadores are traditionally divided into two categories, rudos ("bad guys")), who bend or break the rules, and técnicos (the "good guys"), who play by the rules, and whose moves are much more complex and spectacular.

It brings to mind Claudia Wiens' Las Luchadoras project at the Foundry Photojournalism Workshop in Mexico last June.

Previous TTP posts of Chico Sanchez's slideshows are here and here

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Sanjit Das: Dongria Kondh

Photograph Sanjit Das-All Rights Reserved
Sanjit Das is a documentary photographer, specializing in social issues as seen through the backdrop of India’s changing social, economic and political landscape, and he's focused on documenting the lives and conditions of those who are being overlooked by modernization.

His work is published in books, book covers, newspapers and journals in India and overseas, including The Financial Times, The Independent, New York Times and the Washington Post. He also works for a range of UN agencies and NGOs.

From his wide array of photo galleries, I've chosen the one on the Dongria Kondh community of Orissa.

The indigenous Kondh tribes people have lived for generations in the forests of Niyamgiri hills, in Kalahandi and Raygoda districts of Orissa, surviving by foraging in the forests, raising livestocks and through agriculture. However, the arrival of a mining and refinery project on their ancestral domain is endangering their survival, and their tribal/religious identity.

Sanjit has also photographed the survivors of Cyclone Nargis in Burma in a remarkable slideshow photo-essay titled All They Could Carry. The photo essay is on the pages of the wonderful Foto8, the website of 8 Magazine, a photojournalism magazine.

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Canon 5D II: 9.17.2008?

A well-established, reputable and very popular French magazine, Chasseur d'Images, has posted an article on its website predicting that the much-awaited successor to the full-frame Canon 5D will be announced on September 17 at 8:00 am.

It is expected to have a full frame, like its predecessor, but with 21 megapixel Digic IV processor, a magnesium alloy body, Live View and video mode, with a price of around $3,600.

Why was September 17 chosen? Well, if you check the Canon Evolution ad you'll notice that the silhouette of the new camera is emerging out of the shadows following the progressive phases of the moon, and full moon is due on September 17.

Via Slash Gear (link)

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