The Pipeline: Budget DSLRs, iTMS turns 2, cheat sheets for Luddites
posted April 24th 2005 11:18AM
Welcome to The Pipeline, where we brave the wild waters of the mainstream media to see whether we can stay afloat. This week, we look at a group of cheat sheets for novices (great for getting those cocktail party bores off your back), David Pogue checks out entry-level DSLRs and the Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro celebrates the second birthday of the iTunes store.
With Nikon's recent announcement of its D50 digital SLR camera, this is a good week to take stock of the market for entry-level DSLR cameras. David Pogue takes the lay of the land, with hands-on reviews of the Nikon D70s (pictured) and Canon's Digital Rebel XT. Both boast impressive battery life, with the D70s holding up for as many as 2,500 pics on a charge, and the XT handling a none-too-shabby 600. Pogue finds a lot to like about the XT, from its size (15% smaller and 10% lighter than the original Rebel), speed and autofocus system. In fact, he sees the $1,000 XT as a good choice for people who might have been considering the $1,300 EOS20D: "[T]he list of 20D advantages is now very short. Its primary items include a five-shots-a-second burst mode, slightly better autofocus and low-light sensitivity, and a metal body." Pogue also likes the D70S - particularly its battery life and improved burst mode. Of course, many customers will pick based not on reviews but on their previous investments; if you've got a cache of lenses from one maker or the other, your choice is likely already made.
David Pogue - Professional Cameras, Made for the Amateur. Go Ahead, Say Cheese.
Over at BusinessWeek,
Stephen Wildstrom takes a look at the Samsung P207 cellphone and finds that its voice recognition software actually works — within limits, that is: "Most dictation software aims for two goals: speaker-independence, meaning it will work without being trained to an individual's speech quirks; and continuity, meaning it understands normal speech, where words often run together. [Samsung] took a different tack. The phone requires that the user spend about five minutes training the software, which involves reading a series words off the display. The speech recognition is then bound to that individual — but given the personal nature of phones, that's a minor issue. Also, the software only tries to understand one word at a time. ... This means you must speak very deliberately, with a brief but distinct pause between words. It takes a little getting used to, but the payoff is accurate recognition." If you use your phone to send a lot of email or text messages but are can't stand punching it out on the keypad, this could come in handy. Otherwise, you may be happy with the way your current phone handles your voice — it lets you use it to talk to people.
Stephen Wildstrom - At Last, A Phone That Takes Dictation
Rob Pegoraro toasts the second birthday of the iTunes Music
Store (which comes this Thursday), and uses the milestone as an opportunity to assess the current state of the legal
music-downloading biz. His gripes are familiar ones to anyone who has resisted the lure of sites like AllofMP3.com and
tried to stay on the straight-and-narrow: missing artists (Beatles, Led Zep), better pricing (like lower per-song
prices for back-catalog music), and that old chestnut, inflexible DRM schemes. As Pegoraro puts it:
"Non-copy-controlled downloads: This will sound like heresy to folks at the major music labels, who have insisted that
stores selling downloadable copies of their works take measures to control buyers' use of these songs. But is that
really necessary?
One answer comes from stores stocking music by independent and minor record labels. The minor-label outlet eMusic.com,
the world-music store Calabash Music, alt-rock retailer DownloadPunk.com and the Smithsonian Institution's upcoming
Folkways Global Sound all sell or will sell songs as MP3 files with no copying restrictions. If the smaller labels
supplying these stores — all of which lack the majors' entrenched distribution channels, vast marketing budgets and
ready access to radio and TV — can survive this way, why not the major labels too?" Will DRM eventually go the way of
software copy-protection dongles (are we showing our age here)? Right now, it sure doesn't look like it. But, then
again, two years ago most pundits thought consumers would never choose to pay to download music if they could get it
for free. A lot has changed, and a lot more will change in the future. In the meantime, Happy Birthday, iTunes — just
don't expect us to shell out 99 cents to sing "Happy Birthday to You."
Rob Pegoraro - 5 Ways to Unleash the Music
This was a good week for cheat sheets. As usual, these handy guides are more valuable as ways to placate those relatives and friends who are always asking you for gadget advice than as resources you might use for yourself. A few we like:
Continuing his Spring series of buyers' guides, Walt Mossberg this week takes a look at digicams. Not a lot of specific brand or product recommendations this time, though he does have a lot of useful info that can help novice buyers pick a camera that meets their needs.
Walt Mossberg - Our Annual Guide to Buying A Digital Camera
PC World this week published a guide to DVD burners, which gives the pros and cons of recorders you hook up to a TV and those you run on a computer. The guide even includes some good info on recording double-layer discs and using PC video-capture gear - though we suspect that the intended reader of the article will probably opt for a set-top solution and be done with it.
DVD Recorders - A Simple Shopping Guide
USA Today's Edward Baig gives the rundown on wireless protocols — something that can be a little confusing for anyone who doesn't love acronyms and geeky branding attempts as much as we do. If your friends' eyes glaze over when you talk about 802.11g, ZigBee, EV-DO, MIMO and WiMax, hand over Baig's article and give them a multiple-choice test when they're finished reading it.
Edward C. Baig - Making sense of life without wires
Also:
Levy - Tiger's Out This Week. No Bull.
Cringely - WiMaxian Revolution
Dvorak - The Dumbing Down of America
Hesseldahl - Privacy Nuts,
Chill Out
I don't know whether to go for the D70s, 350D (XT), or the D50.
I have a Nikon D70 and I cannot begin to describe how happy I am with my purchase. No problems whatsoever, amazing quality and detail in pictures, impressive autofocus, one of the best kit lens in the market, and best of all its not that expensive. The D70s is supposed to be better but I am actually happy I didnt wait for it because the D70 is getting a firmware upgrade in May anyways. I like the D70 better than the D70s.
In terms of Canon, I went to the store to buy a Rebel XT, but when I got there it barely worked, caused a lot of errors, it was very small and the lens was lackluster. I decided against buying it and I am happy with my decision. I thought I'd be happy with a Canon but looks like Nikon gets my choice once again (previously a Nikon Coolpix 5400).
The 20D has one big advantage over the XT that most reviewers miss: the wheel. The wheel on the back makes it very fast to set autofocus points, adjust ISO, F stop and exposure compensation, all without removing your eye from the viewfinder (once you get the hang of it). Try that with your XT. May seem like a small advantage, but if it helps you get the shot, then it may be worth the extra spend.
I'm not sure it looks smart to talk about the "short" list of advantages of the 20D over the Rebel XT, and then list some of the MOST IMPORTANT DISTINCTIONS between the two.
For an extra few hundred bucks, the 20D will allow it's owner to operate in a number of new conditions, due to the durability of the camera's metal body, and increase in the low-light and focus performance. These differences will also allow the owner to use a wider range of lenses.
I just can't imagine a Rebel XT owner using a Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens comfortably, or any L-glass at that. Canon's L-glass line of lenses, while offering highly superior optical quality, are HEAVY, and being attached to such a small, light base would be quite worrisome to me.
It's great seeing Nikon come up with some good competing cameras. I shoot Canon, but competition is good for the industry. I was getting worried for awhile there that Canon was going to become the leader in this market, thus dictating its prices. The new Nikons seem to show otherwise. Now, if only Nikon can get some of the high-end pro gear to match Canon's offerings, then maybe I can afford a 1dsII...
If you don't already have lenses, you might find that Canon's lenses are somewhat less expensive, with lots of different focal length options. However, Nikon has a few more "made for digital" lenses that make them attractive as well.
Interesting postings about the Nikon D70. I like the Canon Rebel XT. However am thinking about getting the Nikon after reading the posts. Anyone know if it will download pics fast to the new Canon Selphy CP600 Photo Printer like the one listed at http://www.newgadgets.blogspot.com/2005/04/canon-photo-printer.html
"I just can't imagine a Rebel XT owner using a Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens comfortably, or any L-glass at that. "
Actually, people have been describing that since the XT is so small, people are able to hold the actual lens properly instead of worrying about grasping the camera. The fact that the XT is made of the same sort of plastic motorcycle helmets are made out of also make the camera more durable than the 20D, especially if it is dropped accidentally. The plastic will flex with the drop and absorb the shock. The metal frame of the 20D does nothing for it other than make it feel more solid. However, the XT does have a metal frame under the shell, more than the original 70D even.
As for the wheel for changing focus points, you do that with the XT as well. The only thing you need to use outside of the wheel is for ISO changes.
In anycase, i'm perfectly happy with the XT. Haven't had any issues, and the pictures are amazing.
Just remember that your photo's will be locked into Nikon's proprietary format.
http://www.photographyblog.com/index.php/weblog/comments/6118/
Not something that I'm to wild about myself.
Two things that are important to me are flash sync speed and ease-of-use. I know the D70 allows you to set the shutter at 1/500s while the XT is much slower, like 1/200s. This is important for me when I'm trying to freeze objects in motion (such as water) while using the flash. The D70 is also famous for being quick to use, while the XT has some built-in omissions in its design. Smallness would be nice, but when I thought long about the issue I realized I wouldn't care how small the camera was until it was small enough to fit in my pocket, which the XT certainly isn't.
canon 350 I bought instead of the 20d so I could afford an L class lens, which I decided to make my priority. After all the images are exactly the same between the two bodies thanks to the sensors. So far I am happy, I think of the body as a holder for my 17-40L. The body is like a toy compared to the higher cost (and better) bodies, but so is the 20d compared to the fully pro bodies. I compared them all at B and H, recommend same for any in this situation. Great features but the body is so plastic compared to film cameras at this price (like my 2ae) that the repair contract seems like a must-investment.