Thanks for stopping by.
~John C

Camera advertisements always mention digital zoom along with the regular optical zoom, but it’s best not to use it. All it does is zoom in and crop to a part of the picture without increasing the quality. You can do this using a photo editor and then you can get the framing of the picture absolutely perfect. When buying a camera, ignore the total zoom number and just look at how much optical zoom the camera has.

Bought a great new digital camera? Don’t know why you’re keeping the old film camera? Don’t put the garage sale price tag sticker on that old camera just yet. Film still does have some advantages, such as:

• Increased resolution (for those ever so popular “will you marry me?” billboards)
• Don’t need batteries (more recent point and shoots do, I’m talking the old SLRs)
• Easily accessible media (my local gas station doesn’t sell memory cards quite yet, does yours?)
• Burst mode and no shutter lag. Burst modes on digitals don’t usually take a lot of pictures except on the highest end digital SLRs (which cost over $4,000 and that doesn’t include the lens!)

Today I’d like to talk just a little bit about one of my favorite features on a digital camera – the articulating LCD screen – in fact I will not buy one without this feature.

If you were to ask me what my favorite advance in photography in the past few years was, I wouldn’t say photo editing, increased megapixels, or even DSLR’s. I would tell you about my articulating lcd screen (also called a “flip out and twist” screen), and I’d probably go on about it for another 10 minutes.

Not only is my lcd screen protected when I’m not using it (it’s folded into the body of the camera), but I can take pictures from almost any angle with out having to leave the framing to blind faith. This way, even if you don’t have an external flash, you can still bounce it and see what you’re shooting at the same time.

My dad’s favorite part is the great candid shots you can get. Who would suspect you’re taking a picture when your camera is sitting in your lap or on the table. You can get great realistic shots without posing or camera shyness. If you get really good, you can even take pictures of someone standing behind you!

While it’s a piece of cake to find a video camera with an articulating LCD screen (it comes on virtually all consumer models), for some reason an articulating screen is harder to find on digital cameras, and just because the previous model of a camera had one doesn’t necessarily mean it’s next version will.

Case In Point. The Canon Powershot G7. While it’s predecessors (dating back to the Powershot G1) all had articulating LCD screens, Canon didn’t include on in its most recent release with the G7.

So here’s a list of digital cameras with articulating LCD screens. You’ll notice a lot of Canon cameras in the list, and they do certainly make more flip out and twist LCD screens than any other manufacturer, but they’re not the only one. I tried to cover all the current models in this release, but its likely I missed some. If that’s the case, then please post any corrections or omissions in the comments below.

Canon Powershot G1, G2, G3, G4, G5, G6.
Nikon Coolpix 5000, 5400, 8400, 5700, 8700, 8800.
Canon Powershot S1 IS, S2 IS, S3 IS, S4 IS, S5 IS,
Konica Minolta DiMAGE A200
Canon Powershot A80
Pentax Optio 750Z
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50K (one of the best higher end cameras with this feature)
Canon Powershot A640, A650 IS
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 (flip out only, no twist)

Here’s what their press release has to say about the new camera:

Elmsford NY – Mamiya Digital announced an exciting new product – the Mamiya ZD 645AFD II Digital System. The System consists of the Mamiya 645AFD II Medium Format Camera with 80mm f/2.8 AF lens and the newly introduced Mamiya ZD 22 Megapixel Digital Back. At a retail price of $9,999, the digital system marks a new era in the high-end digital market.

“Mamiya has always been a manufacturer of high quality, professional products at reasonable prices,” states Jeff Karp, Mamiya Product Marketing Manager, “By offering this incredible system for under $10,000, we expect to see a broad range of photographers who have been waiting for the right combination of quality and price, to finally step into the medium format digital world.”

The platform for the system is the highly acclaimed Mamiya 645AFD II autofocus medium format camera with 80mm f/2.8 AF lens. With an excellent range of high quality lenses, precise auto-focusing and fast handling, the 645AFD II has become the choice of professional photographers.

The Mamiya ZD Digital Back offers all the features serious photographers demand. “Mamiya’s communication protocol MSCE (Mamiya Serial Communication for External) has optimized two-way communication between the 645AFD II and the ZD Digital Back,” says Karp, “producing an operating experience identical to using a one-piece digital camera.”

To further enhance the results of the ZD Digital Back, Mamiya is including Adobe® Photoshop® LightroomTM software with all ZD Backs. Mamiya is the first camera manufacturer to include Lightroom software with every Mamiya ZD Digital Back sold. Lightroom is an all-new digital imaging solution for serious and professional photographers. Its ease of operation and ability to read Mamiya RAW digital files makes it the perfect choice for photographers looking for a modular, task-based and streamlined program that delivers a complete photographic workflow solution.

Also introduced were two new digital lenses – the Mamiya Sekor AF 75-150mm f/4.5 D and a full-frame 28mm f/4.5 D Aspherical – that are designed to work on the 645AFD II with both film and digital backs.