Reviews index

January 13, 2009 ·

Michael Reichmann

Topics:

Equipment— An overview of the cameras and other equipment that I use

Panoramic Photography— An introduction to wide-format photography

Scanning Panoramics‚ Hints on how to handle panoramic film with your scanner

Simulating a Central ND Filter Digitally‚ Forgot to your your center ND filter? Here’s a digital fix.

Fuji 617‚ A unique panoramic camera. Half of a 5X7" frame and hand-holdable

Hasselblad XPan‚ The most exciting new camera in years. Goodbye Leica

XPan 30mm Lens‚ A hand-on review of this unique ultra-wide angle lens for the Hasselblad XPan

XPan Stitching‚ Turning the XPan into a 6X7cm camera through software

Noblex 135u‚ A unique rotating lens ultra-wide angle wide angle 35mm camera

Noblex 150UX‚ A 120 roll-film panoramic camera which offers 135 degree coverage

Horseman SW612 Pro‚ A reader-provided review of this fascinating wide-format camera system

Silvestri SLV‚ A contributor’s review of a unique high-quality camera system from Italy

Seitz Roundshot‚ A contributor’s review of this unique ultra-panoramic camera system

PowerStitch‚ A review of the most powerful program available for stitching and compositing panoramic photographs

Mamiya 7II‚ An excellent medium-format rangefinder system

Mamiya 7 II‚ A personal hands-on field report

Bronica RF645‚ A review by Mike Johnson

Petzl Zipca‚ The world’s finest headlamp for photographers

Canon S9000wide carriage photo printer ‚ at last, some real competition for Epson

35mm Camera Systems

Solid Cat‚ A not so favourable review of the 20 year old Vivitar Series 1 800mm mirror lens

Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS Lens‚ An expensive but excellent fast and long lens for wildlife applications

Wimberley Sidekick‚ A must-have gimbal mount specifically for fast long lenses

Custom Function 19‚ A description of how to add this if you have an EOS3 or later camera

Two Pocket 35mm Cameras‚ you can take it with you, and get great results

Canon EOS-1V‚ A hands-on review of Canon’s new flagship camera

Canon Macro Photography‚ The 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM and MR-14 EX ring-lite

ES-E1 Software‚ Provides digital camera type record keeping and function control to the EOS-1V

EOS-1n‚ A review of the venerable EOS-1n by nature photographers.net ‘s Jim Erhardt

Canon Lenses ‚ A Personal Selection‚ what lenses I use, and why

Canon 16~35mm f/2.8L‚ a review by Fred Miranda and a comparison with its predecessor

Canon 400mm DO ISsuper-telephoto lens using Diffractive Optic technology

Canon 70~200mm f/2.8L IS‚ making one of the best Canon zooms even better

400 Vs. 400‚ comparing the Canon 100~400mm IS zoom and the new 70~200mm IS lens with 2X extender

Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Controller‚ a very handy device for anyone doing time lapse or astro-photography

Better Beamer‚ A simple, inexpensive solution for telephoto fill-flash when shooting wildlife

Leica M6 TTL‚ Leica Lenses and accessories ‚ a review and a personal reminisce about Leicas past

Leica WA Viewfinder  ‚ A review of the latest viewfinder for M series Leicas

Leica Noctilux f/1.0‚ One the fastest lenses ever made

Leica M7‚ a review of the latest generation of one of the world’s great and classic cameras

Voigtländer 12mm f/5.6 Heliar‚ The widest rectilinear lens ever made for 35mm cameras

Pinhole Cameras‚ How to make them and use them. By David Stein

Battle of The Ultrawides‚ A field review of three ultrawide angle lenses

Nikon Super Coolscan 8000ED‚ a reallycoolmedium format scanner

Acratech Ultimate Ballhead‚ a new versatile head reviewed by Steve Kossack

Daylight Fill-Flash‚ some thoughts by Steve Kossack

Wimberley Gimbal Head‚ a must solution for very long and heavy lenses

Manfrotto #359 Long-lens Support‚ supporting long lenses without a second tripod

Manfrotto Carbon One‚ a carbon fiber tripod that appears to offer a lot for the money, by Jeff Simpson

Lens Sharpness ‚ The Never-Ending Quest‚ the truth about lens sharpness

Acratech Modified Velbon 630carbon fiber tripod ‚ a review by Steve Kossack

Medium Format Systems‚ The Rollei 6008. My most-used camera system

The Hasselblad ArcBody‚ A pocket-sized view camera

ArcBody Inverter Mount‚ A falling-front accessory for the ArcBody 

Pentax 67II‚ A review 

Pentax 400mm f/4 ED(IF)‚ a review of Pentax’s longest practical super-telephoto for the Pentax 67 system

Pentax 600mm f/4‚ a medium format super-telephoto reviewed

Pentax 645NII‚ a review of Pentax’s latest autofocus medium format SLR

Pentax 645NII Mirror Lock Up‚ a test to see who’s been right for the past 18 years

Pentax AF500FTZ‚ and Daylight Balanced Fill Flash for the Pentax 67 and 645

Pentax 2X vs. Pentax 1.4X Extender‚ A review, and a lesson in the perils of long-lens testing
Fuji GX680iii‚ can an overlooked studio camera find happiness in the field, by Danny Burke

Large Format Systems‚ The Toyo VX125

Large Format Images— Photographs taken with a Toyo VX125 4X5 camera

Ebony RSW45‚ a lightweight flatbed 4X5" camera suitable for landscape work

Film & Formats  — Understand formats and film

ISO 400 Transparency Films‚ a test of a number of poor choices

Velvia Vs. Provia‚ Contributor Jonathan Sachs tests which film is best for digital scanning

Understanding Sharpness‚ The roles of resolution and acutance and how sharpness is measured

Understanding Medium Format‚ a primer on the jargon, and the equipment available

Stopping Down‚ Theory Vs. reality

Digital Processing  — A look at my current and evolving digital darkroom system

MicrotekArtixScan AS4000t scanner. A sneak preview

Epson Perfection 1200U Photo— A medium format scanner for those on a budget

Drum Scanners— Can a fine-art large-format photographer find happiness with a $50,000 scanner?

Polaroid 4000 scanner— The web’s first hands-on review

Imacon FlexTight Scanners— A drum scanner that fits on your desktop, though maybe not in your wallet

APS Adapter Review— APS scans with higher resolution than 35mm had last year? 

Pixels Vs Film— An essay by Brad Templeton

System Colour Calibration— How to make your printer and monitor talk the same language 

Archival Digital Processing— A look at the new archival inks and papers that are revolutionizing desktop printing

Archival Print Test— An on-going fade resistance test of archival ink-jet papers and inks with surprising results

LightJet Vs. Inkjet— A comparison of the best commercial continuous-tone printer and Epson’s finest

Epson 1270 Printer Review‚ Finally, an inkjet printer to replace the darkroom

Epson 7000‚ Early information on wide-format archival printers

Epson 2000P‚ The first truly archival desktop inkjet printer reviewed

Premium Luster Photo Paper‚ A panoramic paper for Epson 1270 and 2000P printers

Epson ‚ The Next Generation‚ News of the latest archival photo printers

Epson 9500‚ A hand-on report on Epson’s wide-carriage archival printer

Epson 7500‚ A hand-on report on the 9500’s smaller brother

Epson 1280 Printer Review‚ The 2001 model is only a modest upgrade

Epson 5500 Printer Review‚ Industrial strength archival printing, by Cris Daniels

Epson C80 printer‚ and alsoColorLifepaper, by Alain Briot

Epson Stylus Pro 9600‚ Epson newest large-format archival printer, and UltraChrome inks, review by Alain Briot
Epson 2200‚ The desktop photographic printer comes of age.
Matte Black Ink‚ an 8th ink for the Epson 2200 / 2100 that dramtically improves prints on matte paper
Velvet Fine Art Paper‚ A first look at Epson’s latest paper for Ultrachome pigment inks
Epson Gray Balancer‚ The software thatEpson Americathinks you’re too stupid to use
Epson 2200 Printing Techniques, in Both B&W and Colour
‚ Alternatives, and how to get it right
B&W Printing Using Photorealistic Mode‚ using the Epson 2200 for B&W, byCarl Schofield
Making Beer‚ Downloading the Epson Gray Balancer, and, using Kodak’s equivalent to the Epson Reference Card

Pen & Ink‚ A PhotoShop technique for creating a watercoloured pen & ink look, by Gregory George

Storage & Archiving‚ How to manage a large collection of scanned images

Understanding Resolution‚ The basics of Input and Output resolution in digital imaging

Soft Proofing‚ Understanding one of Photoshop 6.0’s invaluable new features

Ott-Lite‚ An inexpensive solution to daylight print evaluation for the desktop colour printer

Digital Split Neutral Density‚ Using Photoshop when a split ND wasn’t available in the field

Duotones‚ Creating the look of sepia, selenium and gold toned images within Photoshop

Monitor Profiling‚ The How’s and Why’s of properly setting up your monitor and computer

Monitor Calibrationusing ColorBlind ProveIt, and the Sequel Chroma 4 spider by Alain Briot

iCorrect Professional‚ A review of a very worthwhile Photoshop plug-in

iCorrect EditLab‚ the world’s first review of an exciting new image editing plug-in for Photoshop

Digital Contact Sheets‚ a tutorial on how to easily make contact prints from your negatives

A Smart Sharpening Tutorial‚ a complex yet rewarding sharpening technique by John Brownlow

ImagePrint RIPfrom Colorbyte is reviewed by contributor Chris Daniels. This is a RIP for large format inkjet printers 

ICE‚ A tutorial by Cris Daniels on how best to use ICE with Minolta and Nikon scanners

Piezography‚ A review of a revolutionary B&W printing technology

Color Mechanic‚ A review of a must-have Photoshop plug-in

Perspective control‚ how to correct building tilt when shooting from street level

Chromatic Aberration Controlled‚ a software solution to an optical problem found in some long lenses

Minolta Dimage Scan Multi Pro‚ a review of a new medium format scanner, by Peter Wolff

HS-P1multi-format film holder for the Minolta Dimage Multi scanner, by David Mantripp

The Imaging Factory‚ a review of three Photoshop plug-ins

Ilford Galerie‚ a review of 4 new premium inkjet papers 

Red-Eye Reductionusing Photoshop, by Neil Duffin

Legion Professional Digital Art Papers‚ a new line of inkjet papers is reviewed

The Fuji Pepper-Grain Mystery‚ investigated and solved, by Nick Rains

Continuous Inking Systems‚ a review of a convenient and money-saving volume inkjet system

Archiving Images ‚ Approaches to Storage & Retrieval‚ strategies for managing digital image files

Panoramic Stitching Using Photoshop‚ creating stitched composites without specialized software

Colorbyte ImagePrint 4.0 RIP‚ a review of a software-only RIP that may be just what you need, by Chris Daniel

Digital Cameras— Reports, reviews and commentary on the evolving world of high-end digital cameras and backs

Canon D30 Review‚ A reprint of my formal D30 review from the Mar/Apr 2001 issue ofPhoto Techniquesmagazine
Nikon 5700‚ The disappointment of the digicam
Nikon D1 — Historical ‚ The harbinger of things to come in 2000

Canon Digital EOS-D30‚ An early hands-on review of Canon’s first digital SLR

Lead Up‚ Reference to D30 announcements and early review

ISO Comparison‚ You hardly lose any quality at ISO 400

RAW Vs. JPG‚ Comparing quality difference with RAW mode Vs. JPG

D30 Vs. Film‚ A controversial report on the 1st digital camera to better film

Managing Megabytes‚ How to handle large quantities of files from digital cameras

Video Review‚ Using the Belkin USB VideoBus to review D30 output on a notebook computer

BG-ED3‚ The battery grip for the D30. A must-have accessory

Custom Function 12‚ The most useful Custom Function on the D30

Flash & Skin Tones‚ Testing the built-in flash with indoor portraits

Digital is Not Film‚ The raw files is a score to be played

Aurora‚ On my sixth day of testing, an Aurora.

Gripes & Grumbles‚ What I don’t like about the D30

A D30 Portfolio‚ Photographs taken with the D30 along with technical discussions

The Digital Wallet‚ A flawed but useful product for D30 owners

A D30 Zoo Day‚ A rainy day with the D30 and a 300mm f/2.8L IS at the zoo

Sigma 14mm‚ A review of a v e r y wide lens that mates well with the D30

ST-E2Fixing the D30’s autofocus problems with a remote infra-red trigger.

CRW Bridge‚ A shareware utility for viewing RAW files instantly full-screen

BreezeBrowser‚ the best program yet for viewing and converting D30 RAW files

isoR‚ A review of two PhotoshopActionsthat reduce noise in high ISO images taken with the D30

High-Pass Sharpening‚ A unique approach to image sharpening in Photoshop   

Canon EOS D60‚ a field report on Canon’s latest 6MP digital SLR

Canon D60 Vs. Medium Format‚ can a 35mm sized DSLR equal Medium Format image quality?

D60 First Impressions‚ an exclusive commentary by famous scientist and author, Harold Merklinger

Butterfly Macro Photography‚ a Canon D60 portfolio using the Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro and MR14EX Ringlight

An Open Letter to Kodak‚ Thoughts on Kodak’s high-end digital strategy

Canon EOS 1Ddigital SLR ‚ a first review of a full production camera
Living With The Canon 1D‚ 6 months of experience with Canon’s Pro-level DSLR, byBill Caulfeild-Browne

Canon EOS 1D‚ a reprint of my formal review which recently in the March/April issue of Photo Techniques magazine

A Month in New Zealand  With the Canon EOS 1D‚ by Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Best 5 Digital Cameras of 2001‚ a reprint of my article from Photo Techniques magazine 

Counting Megapixels‚ all megapixels are not created equal
A Hands-on Field Report on the Canon EOS 1Ds‚ 7 days with the newest DSLRPart 2Part 3Part 4Part 5

Canon S30 as Meter‚ using a digital point-&-shoot as a portable histogram and meter when shooting large format

Genuine Fractals—  A mixed review of this image compression and expansion program

Web Building— How this web site was created and maintained

Filters & Other Tools— Using and understanding polarizers, colour enhancing filters and graduated filters in the age of PhotoShop

A Comparison of Colour Enhancing Filters— Lee, Sing-Ray and Tiffen filters compared

The Cokin Blue/Yellow Polarizer‚ An on-location evaluation of this useful and unique filter

PalmPilot Software for Photographers‚ Invaluable on-location software tools

Pocket PC Programs for Photographers‚ Invaluable on-location software tools

Polarizing Filters‚ A beginner’s introduction

Tripods & Heads‚ The most critical equipment needed for ultra-sharp images

Meters‚ A review of the Sekonic L508 II multifunction light meter

An Incident Light-metering Tutorial‚ A tutorial for beginners on how and why to use an incident lightmeter

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Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.

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