Nokia N97 Specifications & Price

 

Discover The New Nokia N 97

 

Nokia N97, the world’s most advanced mobile computer, which will transform the way people connect to the Internet and to each other. Designed for the needs of Internet-savvy consumers, the Nokia N97 combines a large 3.5” touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard, providing an ‘always open’ window to favourite social networking sites and Internet destinations. Nokia’s flagship N series device introduces leading technology - including multiple sensors, memory, processing power and connection speeds - for people to create a personal Internet and share their ‘social location.’

Sensing your ‘So-Lo’
The Nokia N97 introduces the concept of ‘social location’. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 mobile computer intuitively understands where it is. The Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their ‘status’ and share their ‘social location’ as well as related pictures or videos.

Widescreen - Internet and entertainment
The home screen of the Nokia N97 mobile computer features the people, content and media that matter the most. Friends, social networks and news are available by simply touching the home screen. The 16:9 widescreen display can be fully personalized with frequently updated widgets of favourite web services and social networking sites. The Nokia N97 is also perfectly suited for browsing the web, streaming Flash videos or playing games. Both the physical QWERTY and virtual touch input ensure efficiency in blogging, chatting, posting, sending texts or emailing.

The Nokia N97 supports up to 48 GB of storage, including 32 GB of on-board memory, expandable with a 16 GB microSD card for music, media and more. This is complemented by excellent music capabilities, full support for the Nokia Music Store and continuous playback time of up to 1.5 days. The Nokia N97 also has a 5-Megapixel camera with high-quality Carl Zeiss optics, 16:9 and DVD quality video capture, and support for services like Share on Ovi for immediate sharing over HSDPA and WLAN.

Reference Price :

RM 2040 - 2120
RM 1760 - 1840 (AP)

I Phone

Apple has trained iPhone owners to enjoy paying for digital content more than the general online population, a survey suggests.

Media law firm Olswang on Wednesday published its 2009 Convergence Survey, which analyzed e-shopping trends among iPhone owners and general online consumers. Apple enthusiast blog 9to5Mac summarizes the findings regarding the iPhone demographic:

73 percent would pay to access online a film just released in cinemas;
67 percent would pay for access to a film that will not be on DVD for at least two months;
54 percent would pay to access a film which is already on DVD or pay-TV;
41 percent of iPhone users would already be willing to take out subscriptions to access their favorite TV shows;
42 percent would pay for an online book.
Those numbers are quite high when stacked against the figures from the general online population surveyed:

58 percent of people would pay to access online a film just released in cinemas;
52 percent would pay for access to a film that will not be on DVD for at least two months;
40 percent would pay to access a film which is already on DVD or pay-TV;
30 percent would already be willing to take out subscriptions to access their favorite TV shows;
30 percent would pay for an online book.
Olswang found these numbers about the iPhone demographic to be “striking,” but they are what you’d expect. The App Store made purchasing apps incredibly easy, and many of the high quality apps are dirt cheap.

Above all, my view is that the App Store, which serves over 100,000 apps, has conditioned us to demand more and more from a single device. In turn we’re evolving into a demographic that craves more from the digital as opposed to the physical.

These numbers are quite striking indeed. And it suggests the rumored Apple touchscreen tablet, which several independent reports have said will focus on e-reader functionality, does have potential to resuscitate the dying publishing industry — because there would most likely be a large amount of overlap between the iPhone and “iTablet” demographics.

Meanwhile, a recent report from The New York Times cites sources who say a consortium of magazine publishers are jointly planning to build an “online newsstand” — a “new iTunes for magazines.” It would involve publications repurposing their print content into multiple digital formats to be sold through a new company, sources told NY Times. If that’s the case, today’s survey suggests they’ll find a friendlier reception among iPhone users than among the general population.

Olympus E-P1 Micro Four-Thirds camera

 

Review of Olympus E-P1

The Olympus PEN E-P1 Micro Four-Thirds camera is a beautiful piece of hardware and something photo geeks can’t help but want. After all, it has lots of history behind it, it’s one of the best looking digital cameras on on the market, and it packs much of the power of a DSLR into a size close that of to a point-and-shoot. But it’s not a DSLR and it’s too big to fit into a pocket, so as a result the E-P1 falls into a middle ground where might not be just right for anyone.

 

The PEN series has a long and storied history, so its return in 2009 was big news in the photo community. The use the Micro Four-Thirds standard meant that the camera would have a small body and could use lenses from Four-Thirds cameras but it also meant that the sensor size would be limited when compared to a standard DSLR. It also means that the camera can’t have a through-the-lens optical viewfinder, something that would no doubt be an issue with the photography fans who were most interested in this unique breed. But it does have a generously-sized LCD with live-view and with the E-P1 you get an interchangeable lens system on a camera that is under a pound.

Specifications:

• Megapixels: 12.3
• Mount: Micro Four-Thirds Mount
• Sensor: High speed Live MOS
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33 (4:3)
• Memory: SD/SDHC
• LCD: 3.0-inches
• ISO sensitivity: AUTO: ISO 200 – 6400 (customizable, Default 200-1600) / Manual ISO 100 – 6400, 1/3 or 1 EV steps, Movie ISO 160-1600
• File Formats: RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG, RAW+JPEG
• Image size: RAW: 4032 x 3024, JPEG: 4032 x 3024 pixels – 640 x 480 pixels
• File Size: Raw: Approx. 13.9MB, JPEG (4032 x 3024 Fine): Approx. 5.7MB
• Sequential shooting speed: Approx. 3 frames/sec. in sequential shooting
• Video Format: AVI Motion JPEG(30fps)
• Video Modes: HD: 1280(H)x720(V) Aspect 16:9, SD: 640(H)x480(V) Aspect 4:3(VGA)
• Max. Recording Times: HD: 7min, SD: 14min
• Shoe: Hot shoe
• Dimensions: 120.6 mm (W) x 69.9mm (H) x 36.4 mm (D) (excluding protrusions)
• Weight: 335g (body only)
• Battery: About 300 shots

Olympus E - 620 Review

Facts you have to know about Olympus E-620

The Olympus E-620 is a 12.3 Megapixel DSLR with built-in anti-shake facilities and Live View enhanced by a fully-articulated 2.7in screen. Announced in February 2009, it’s positioned between the entry-level E-4xx series and the higher-end E-30, and while Olympus continues to sell the E-520 at the time of writing, we expect the E-620 to replace it over time.

As such, the E-620 represents a step-up from budget entry-level models for those who want a more sophisticated camera without having to invest in an upper mid-range or semi-pro body.

The E-620 inherits a number of key aspects from the higher-end E-30 including the same 12.3 Megapixel Live MOS sensor, six creative ‘art-filters’ and the articulated 2.7in / 230k monitor, allowing you to easily compose at any angle in Live View – although the screen panel itself is a newer version.

These are also the headline improvements over the earlier 10 Megapixel E-520, although the new E-620 additionally addresses several complaints of its ‘predecessor’ by featuring a more sophisticated phase-change AF system (7-point vs 3-point) and a slightly larger viewfinder (0.96x vs 0.92x); continuous shooting is also a little quicker (4fps vs 3.5fps). The E-620 is also a little smaller than the E-520 without sacrificing too much of a grip, making it the smallest DSLR with built-in Image Stabilisation. It's even more impressive when you consider there's also a fully articulated screen in there.

At price RM 2,399.00, it’s become another compelling DSLR specification although one that approaches the price of two key rivals: Canon's EOS 500D / Rebel T1i and the Nikon D5000. In this Olympus E-620 review we’ll compare all three models closely, starting with their physical differences and ending with how their respective image quality measures-up. So if you’re considering one of these three DSLRs or are simply after a step-up from a budget, entry-level model, you’ve come to the right place!

How to Capture Good Looking Photographs

Simple photography tips can make your pictures look good and interesting

1. Hold the camera still. If you can, rest it on a table or chair. When you hold it, press it firmly against your forehead. Brace your body by leaning against any solid object. Take a breath and hold it gently just before you take the photo.


2. Remember the rule of thirds. Try and have the main focus of the picture be at one of the intersecting lines.

3. Think about your background.

4. Change your line of sight. Try kneeling, putting the camera on the ground or climbing a flight of stairs so you?re higher than you subject.

5. Look for things that lead the eyes through the photo. A winding path, a line of telephone poles, or even a line of chairs at the beach.

6. Keep your eyes open for patterns.

7. Try getting in close. Pay attention to details.

8. Learn to crop. (Using Adobe PDF)

Buying a DSLR Camera

Factors to Consider When Buying a DSLR Camera

If you've been waiting until the 'right' model came along to buy your first digital SLR camera, now could be a good time.

The combination of price, performance and sensor size/resolution offered by most models is already 'good enough' to satisfy demanding photographers. Only marginal improvements are likely in the foreseeable future.

However, when you're forking out a thousand dollars (or more) of your hard-earned cash, you need to know that you're getting a worthwhile bit of gear.

Here are some of the key factors you should consider.

1. Sensor Size

As far as picture quality and exposure flexibility are concerned - and these are the main reasons people buy SLR cameras - the most important criteria are the size of the sensor and the size of each photosite on it.
The larger the photosite's surface area, the more light it can capture and the more information it can record.
The more information that goes to the camera's image processor, the greater the dynamic (tonal) range in the resulting image - and the better the picture quality.

The differences are most obvious in shots taken in bright, contrasty conditions and in dim lighting. In bright lighting, the small sensors of compact digicams cannot record details in the brightest and darkest areas.

The resulting pictures have blocked-up shadows and blown-out highlights and, when no detail is recorded, there is no way to tweak the image to improve the situation.

2. Megapixel Resolution

Although most advertising material and much of the media hype focuses on the number of megapixels the camera supports, megapixel count is relatively unimportant when buying a digital SLR. In theory, the number of megapixels in an image file should dictate the size to which it can be printed at 'photo' quality.
However, you can produce excellent A3-sized prints from a 5- or 6-megapixel DSLR camera - provided the original shot was correctly exposed and edited.

Furthermore, an 8-megapixel sensor has only 30% more photosites than a 6-megapixel sensor. At the correct viewing distance for A3 prints, this difference will be negligible. Few photo enthusiasts are likely to want prints bigger than A3+ size, which is well within the capabilities of all current models.

2. Brand Loyalty

Photographers who already own a film SLR plus a suite of interchangeable lenses will be lured towards digital cameras from the same manufacturer.
It makes both logical and financial sense to buy a body that will accept the lenses you have.
However, it's not necessarily the best option for the following reasons:

Most DSLR bodies change the effective focal length of a 35mm lens by a lens multiplier factor (LMF) of 1.5x to 2x. This means the 24mm lens that gave you a great wide-angle view will have the same angle of view as a 36mm lens on a 35mm camera. You gain a bit at the tele end; a 200mm lens becomes equivalent to a 300mm lens on a 1.5x LMF DSLR.

The 35mm lens is designed for imaging onto film, which has a different structure from an image sensor. It may not produce such good image quality on the DSLR body.
35mm lenses are often heavier and bulkier than digital lenses.

Olympus DSLR bodies cannot accept the lenses designed for Olympus film SLR cameras.
Lenses

Most entry-level DSLRs are sold with at least one medium-range zoom lens but an increasing number are being offered with two lenses. The additional lens is usually a tele zoom with a focal length range equivalent to about 70-200mm in 35mm format.

Twin lens kits represent great value so don't be put off by comments about "cheap optics". While the optics are usually housed in plastic (to minimise weight), the main compromise is lens speed (maximum aperture) rather than actual performance.

The plastic bodies may not be quite as tough as metal bodies, but they're rugged enough for normal handling and a lot lighter to carry around and use.

Digital SLR Beginner – Facts About Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO

 

 

Digital SLRs are dirt cheap these days. We see more and more people purchasing Digital SLR on a daily basis but quite often these newbies are also pretty much disappointed at how they were promised beautiful pictures yet fail to achieve.

The most common problem would be the lack of understanding of Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO – the 3 fundamentals of capturing image, and capturing it properly.

In fact many I’ve got to know many who are new when it comes to photography, and it’s been the same question time and again and I’ve been spending quite a fair bit of time explaining this and that. So now here it is – my (simplified, as usual) version of explaining how Shutter Speed, Aperture and ISO works.

While far from being the best when it comes to explaining the fundamentals, I do hope you still gain some knowledge after reading this article.

Always keep it in mind that what a camera does is capturing light.

What you see through the viewfinder is what the camera sees. The light enters through the lens, hit on the on the mirror and reflected as to what is shown on the viewfinder.

When the shutter button is pressed, the camera takes the shot based on the shutter speed, aperture and ISO set on the camera – these 3 factor holds greatest influence on the exposure of your shots. The aperture blades close in, the shutter lifts and thelight lands on the sensor, the camera captures it.

Don’t worry if you don’t know what those terms mean, continue reading the article and you’ll understand it better as I elaborate.

Remember, no matter how good your composition is, ultimately it’s the exposure that determines whether your shot is a success. And to get the correct exposure, you’ll need to know how to balance these elements to get the right amount of light to make the shot look right.

While this article talks about the Digital SLR, the same concept actually works for SLRs (referring to the non-Digital types). The difference would be that light would be captured on film instead of light sensors.

Shutter Speed?

So what is shutter speed? Shutter speed is the setting on your camera that decides how long the shutter should open. The longer the shutter opens, the more the amount of light is captured on the sensor. This is a mirror though, behind it is the shutter, which is right in front of the sensor.

Think of it as your eye lids. The shutter is basically a closed eye lid, once the shutter button is clicked, the eye lid opens and closes. By setting the shutter speed, you’re telling the camera to duration to keep the eye lid open.

For our human eye, the longer the eye lid is open also means more light has entered the eye. Stare at some bright lightbulb for half a second and your eyes barely hurt. Stare at the bright lightbulb for 5 seconds and you’re stuck with the ghost of the lightbulb. The same concept applies to shutter. Assuming all factors (like aperture and ISO) remain the same, the longer the shutter is opened, the more exposure you get – which is why another common term for Shutter Speed is EXPOSURE TIME.

I prefer to use the term EXPOSURE TIME as I find it to express the purpose of having the shutter movement better, but for the sake of this article I’ll use Shutter Speed as I think it’s the more commonly used term.

Aperture?

Aperture refers to the diaphragm opening inside a lens. How wide the aperture is open is indicated by the F-number. The lower the number, the wider it is. The wider it is, more light goes through it.

Think of it at your eye lids again, but instead of being the duration of the eye lid being kept open, aperture is like how wide your eye lid is to open.

or here’s how one of our readers thought of it….

“Think of it at your pupil size, in a dark room your pupils get wider and lets more light in to your eyes. On a sunny beach your pupils retracts and get smaller.”

When you set the aperture value to the lowest value available (meaning widest aperture) then it would open the aperture blades as wide as it can. The aperture will close to the width as indicated by the setting in the camera. Increase the value and the aperture will reduce in opening size accordingly.

The aperture available depends on the lens you’re using. The F-number will also be displayed on your camera’s indicator, in the image below we see that the aperture is indicated – at f/2.5

ISO?

ISO is all about sensitivity, in the case of the Digital SLR – it’s about the sensitivity of the sensors. By setting the ISO, you’re telling the camera how sensitive it should be when it comes to absorbing light. The higher the ISO setting, the more sensitive the sensor is towards light.

Think of the camera sensor as your retina. The ISO setting basically tells your retina how sensitive it should be  Too bad it’s not possible to tell your retina how to behave.

Do remember that higher sensitivity also means higher NOISE level, it’s not that it’s bad. Some people are picky on noise. Others just couldn’t be bothered. Noise is more noticeable on the darker areas of a picture, you’ll see those tiny little dots that resemble little grains.

Notice the noise on the darker parts of the picture?

Hope this will be useful to the DSLR beginners.

Nikon D5000 Review

 

Nikon D5000 is suitable for beginners

The recent boom in DSLR sales has seen all the major manufacturers adding bulked-up or stripped-down entry level models, repositioning their offerings to make sure that anyone willing to put up with the size and weight of a DSLR will look at one of their models. The whole thing has often left existing DSLR owners a little lost - 'why isn't there a direct replacement for my camera?' - but has undoubtedly meant there are many more attractive, accessible cameras on the market just waiting to entice first-time DSLR owners.

And its into this maelstrom of DSLR proliferation that Nikon launches its latest baby DSLR, the D5000. Nikon's recent strategy of inexpensive, simplified models caused a lot of confusion. The D40, D40X and D60 removed the autofocus motor, making them smaller and less expensive but limiting the choice of lenses that could be autofocused. Despite this oft-criticised move, the cameras sold very well, prompting the major third-party lens makers to create versions of their popular budget lenses that would focus on these baby Nikons. However, it appears Nikon has again decided that simply replacing models isn't the best way to address the market. So here we have a camera that genuinely seems to sit above the D60 (rather than continuing in parallel until the stock runs out), and below the D90. Like the baby Nikons, the D5000 doesn't have an autofocus motor built into the body but does gain a tilt-and-swivel LCD.

The idea of an upper-entry-level DSLR (for want of a better term), that sits below the 'enthusiast' grade D90 (with its twin control dials, big battery and pentaprism viewfinder), is hardly a radical one - the Canon EOS 500D and Olympus E-620 seem to cater to a similar market. So what does this new Nikon have to offer either the tech-savvy first-time DSLR buyer, or the owner of an older entry-level model wanting newer features but unwilling to slavishly follow the manufacturer's 'upgrade path'?

  

Nikon D5000 Key Features

• 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
• 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
• Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
• Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
• Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
• 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
• IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
• 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
• Expeed image processing engine
• Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
• Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
• New battery with increased capacity
• 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback

DSLR For Beginners

Digital SLR Camera Guides For Non-Professionals



1. I'm Non-Technical

Every one of my digital SLR camera guides is presented in a non-technical manner. No charts, no graphs, no deep musings about the color reproducing capacity of the silicon chip.
Instead, I tell you a story. It's a story about my experience using the camera and taking photos with it. Call it a real-world test or practical advice.
You'll find out what it's like to use the camera for every-day photography, not for a professional photo shoot with supermodels, bright lights and a swarm of photo interns.

2. I'm Not Biased
This site is neither created nor supported by any camera manufacturer or distributor.
What does this mean?
It means that the digital SLR reviews that I write are unbiased. I don't have any preferences for camera makes and models - I just want to find cameras that really work.
I don't have to tell you that every camera is great, and that every digital SLR works like a charm. I will not give every camera a 5 star rating.
I am trying to help you make up your mind, and if I just tell you that they are all perfect, that doesn't help you in any way.
Think of me like the inspector for your new home: I am here to get in the crawlspace, inspect the foundation and tell you about every crack, flaw and minor imperfection.
With luck, you won't get an expensive digital SLR that is a fixer-upper.

3. I Love Taking Photos
It's Q and A time here at the Digital SLR Guide:

How do you evaluate a home? Visit it.
How do you evaluate a car? Drive it.
How do you evaluate a digital SLR camera? Take photos with it.

The best way for you to choose a digital SLR is to use it yourself: hold it, carry it around, take lots of photos. The second best way is to see lots of photos taken by the camera and decide if you like the way they look.