I’ve added a new Brussels gallery to the Travel section of my other personal website, www.markgoldstein.co.uk. At the moment it contains the best images from the first two days of my recent 5-day trip to the Belgian capital, including some that haven’t been previously published. I will be adding more photos during the course of the next week.

Website: Travel Gallery

This week Mike Johnston continues to investigate how to avoid photographic clich?s by sharing and responding to some of the reader’s email that he received after last week’s article.

“Good morning! Today I’d like to do something I do every once in a while, when it’s merited ? share some reader mail. Every week I get responses to the columns I write here on The Luminous Landscape. The responses to last week’s column, Eschew Clich?s, were so interesting that it would be a pity not to let you read a few of them.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Sunday Morning Photographer

Petteri’s Pontifications has an interesting report on the various 50mm lenses in Canon’s lens line-up, which is of particular interest to Canon 10D owners, who tend to buy a cheap 50mm as one of their first lenses. Find out which particular 50mm lens you should buy by reading Petteri’s new report.

“Fifties are cult lenses. There’s probably more variety in Fifties than any other prime. This is a shoot-out between two of Canon’s best: the long-discontinued 50/1.8 Mk I and the top-of-the-line (now that the 1.0L’s discontinued too) 50/1.4 USM.”

Website: Petteri’s Pontifications - Fifty vs Fifty

Steve’s Digicams are the first to take a look at the Canon G5 digital camera that was announced earlier this week. This isn’t a full review, but if you’re at all interested in the camera then Steve’s First looks are always an excellent way to find out more about the general specification.

Website: Steve’s DigiCams - Canon G5 First Look

They may be late in delivering the Pentax D*ist to market, but Pentax have released some compact digital cameras recently that are gaining some excellent reviews. CNET are the latest to lavish praise, this time on the Pentax Optio 550.

“We’re still not sure how, but Pentax has managed to shoehorn a 5-megapixel CCD, a 5X zoom lens, and gobs of advanced features into the very compact dimensions of the Optio 550. And its images stand out from the crowd, too. If you are a serious photographer and want to cut some weight and bulk, take a close look at this Pentax.”

Website: CNET - Pentax Optio 550 Review

One of the travel guides that we took to Brussels (the Rough Guide, I think) contains a route around various street murals in the heart of the city, which we followed on Day 2 of our visit. The weather hadn’t improved - it was still overcast, cold and wet - but the murals were a good way to see some of the less-touristy areas of the city.

Street Mural #1	Street Mural #2	Street Mural #3
Street Mural #4	Street Mural #5	Street Mural #6
Street Mural #7	Street Mural #8	Street Mural #9

Steve’s Digicams have the scoop on 2 new digital cameras from Kyocera, the Finecam L3v and L4v (3 and 4 megapixels respectively). Normally this wouldn’t be the most exciting news in the world due to the large number of similar cameras in the market, but the 2 new Finecam’s both have huge 2.5inch LCD displays on the back. As Steve says “the 2.5? LCD is more like having a Home Theatre in your digital camera!”. Take a look at the product images on Steve’s site to see what he means…

Website: Steve’s Digicams - Kyocera Finecam L3v and L4v

Rob Galbraith has reported that the Contax N Digital SLR has been discontinued and is no longer being manufactured by parent company Kyocera. The 6-megapixel Contax N Digital SLR is one of the few DSLRs with a sensor that is the same size as a 35mm film frame, but with an RRP of $7000 that hasn’t dropped since launch a year ago, it now competes with the 11-megapixel Canon EOS 1Ds and the cheaper 14-megapixel Kodak DSC-14N. It’s no surprise then that Kyocera are halting production.

Website: Rob Galbraith - Contax N Digital SLR Discontinued

Luminous Landscape have posted the World’s first review of Fuji’s new ISO 100 slide film, Fuji Velvia 100F, due to be released in the UK in August. Nick Rains, an Australian professional landscape photographer, takes a look at the new, faster version of the classic Velvia 50, and directly compares it to Provia 100 and Velvia 50.

“Before I get to the details I must stress that this is not a scientific test with densitometer readings etc., but a simple test comparing 3 images of precisely the same subject shot at the same time, with the same lens and processed at the same time with the same chemistry. All I am looking at is the relationship between the 3 images and to what degree they differ.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - Fuji Velvia 100F Review

For anyone who’s currently considering buying a 5-megapixel camera, DCRP’s unique shootout between 2 new kids on the block, the Canon PowerShot G5 and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-V1, is essential viewing. In the shootout, Jeff Keller takes indentical shots with each camera using default camera settings; there are 8 different photos in total for you to compare and contrast the 2 cameras.

Website: DCRP: 5 Megapixel Shootout

I must admit to completely forgetting about the new monthly issue of 28mm.org, which just so happens to be the 1st anniversary issue…There are new galleries from 10 photographers, including some names from the photo-blogging world that you may recognise. So pour yourself a coffee, sit back and see what other photographers have been up to recently.

Website: 28mm.org

Imaging Resource have posted a Quick Review of the Kyocera Finecam S5, a 5-megapixel digital camera with an RRP of $599.95.

“Although only slightly larger than the S4, the S5 is still quite tiny and pocket-friendly with a low-profile front panel that slips in and out of pockets without snagging. The camera fits easily into one hand, and comes with a wrist strap to keep it securely in-hand. The matte-finish, silver body is metal with black, plastic accents, and is fairly lightweight. Exposure control is mainly automatic, although a handful of manual settings are available, with a fair amount of external controls as well. The S5’s five-megapixel CCD delivers high resolution images, which yield 8x10 and 11x14 prints with good detail.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Kyocera Finecam S5 Review

Rob Galbraith has published a group test of 8 different compact-flash readers, which are a much faster and more convenient way of transferring your photos to a PC than connecting the camera directly to the computer. Find out which readers Rob recommends (!) by visiting this URL:

Website: Rob Galbraith - CompactFlash Reader Round-up

ePhotoZine are reporting that the UK magazine “Black and White Photography” are giving away a free roll of Ilford SFX 200 infrared film with the July issue, available for sale on June 19th. At only ?3.25 for the magazine, this may be one of the cheapest ways of trying out a completely new area of photography, although I think you need to buy a changing bag to load the film in complete darkness (to anyone who uses infra-red film, please join in now…!).

Website: ePhotoZine - Free Infrared Film

The Minolta Dimage Xt has received another enthusiastic review, this time being awarded 8/10 by CNET Electronics.

“The Dimage Xt, the third generation of Minolta’s X-series ultracompacts, is a modest upgrade of the Dimage Xi it replaces. Like its predecessor, the Xt boasts a 3-megapixel CCD, a 3X zoom lens, and unique styling. Improvements include a marginally smaller size, a spot meter, and a redesigned control layout. Though these changes aren’t dramatic, the Dimage Xt, like its forerunners, is a top choice for a chic, ultraportable snapshot camera.”

Website: CNET Electronics - Minolta Xt Review

This is the set of 10 photographs that I am submitting for Unit 5: Exploring Colour Photography, Theme 1: Colour and Pattern of my City and Guilds Photography course. They were taken in the City area of London, around the Lloyds building, Leadenhall Market, St Pauls and Cannon Street.




All 10 were taken with my Canon EOS 300 on Jessops ISO 200 print film and scanned with a Nikon Coolscan IV. The 10th image is missing as the negative is really, really scratched, which unfortunately I didn’t notice earlier - the film scanner really shows up the scratches. Consequently one of my final prints is not great and will probably lose me a couple of marks, although the scratches aren’t too noticeable…

Colour & Pattern #1	Colour & Pattern #2	Colour & Pattern #3
Colour & Pattern #4	Colour & Pattern #5	Colour & Pattern #6
Colour & Pattern #7	Colour & Pattern #8	Colour & Pattern #9

Thanks to Gary Busey, I’ve found out that PhotographyBLOG has made it into the UK national press! This site was nominated as the “Best for News” website by Web User magazine (Issue 58), in an article looking at digital photography websites. Appearing in print still has a certain something that the Internet can’t quite match, which probably explains why I buy so many photography magazines each month (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it…). Site traffic does seem to have risen, so welcome to all the new visitors who read Web User magazine :-)

Website: Web User magazine

Continuing my journey around the Belgian capital of Brussels, the interior of Saint Michael’s Cathedral is just as impressive as the exterior, with some amazing stained glass windows that span the height of the cathedral’s walls. Here are a few photographs, all taken hand-held with the Canon EOS 10D and Canon 20-35mm lens at ISO speeds of 800 or 1600, with the pop-up flash used on the third one to brighten-up the foreground.

Stained Glass Window #1	Stained Glass Window #2	Stained Glass Window #3

Digital Outback Photo have started a new series called “Digital Photography Essentials” which aims to look at the more technical, scientific side of digital photography. The first article in the series, “Image Sensor Size and Field of View”, is by Dick Merrill from Foveon (the company behind the sensor used in the Sigma SD-9 digital SLR).

Website: Digital Outback Photo - “Image Sensor Size and Field of View” Article

Digital Camera Resource Page have reviewed the Minolta Dimage Xt, an ultra-compact, ultra-thin 3 mega-pixel digital camera that can easily be slipped into a shirt pocket.

“The Minolta DiMAGE Xt is a small update to their DiMAGE Xi, adding just a few features here and there, along with an even more unique design. In terms of photo quality, the Xt isn’t going to win any awards, with above average barrel distortion, vignetting, some fuzziness in corners, and a “video capture” look—but then again, most cameras don’t have the Xt’s one-of-a-kind lens design. Everyday shooters and those people who do smaller prints won’t mind, but as I said earlier, enthusiasts may want to find a more traditional camera if photo quality is your number one priority.”

Website: DCRP - Minolta Xt Review

Coincidentally Imaging Resource have also reviewed the Dimage Xt; they seem a lot more enthusiastic about it (the site editor actually owns the previous model, the Dimage Xi):

“Based on my tests, I’d say that they’ve also once again further improved the camera’s color handling. The net result is an even more appealing version of one of my favorite subcompact camera models. Read on for all the details, but if you’re looking for a super-portable, stylishly different camera, the DiMAGE Xt deserves a close look.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Minolta Xt Review