Photokina, the largest photo-trade show in the world, kicks off in Cologne, Germany on Sept.23. Predictably, manufacturers announce their top models just prior to the show, and this year it’s no different. Both Canon and Nikon just made back-to-back announcements of their top advance-amateur DSLRs (we’re still hopeful for pro announcements prior to the show!) In this radio segment, Scott and Mike take sides in a verbal shootout of the features to see if Canon’s 50D ($1,400) is a better deal than Nikon’s D90 ($1,000).

Which of these cameras is the best value? Listen to the spirited debate on the Inside Digital Photography radio show (slide forward to the 11 min mark for this segment).

Or do your own comparison with some help from the lists below:

Nikon D90 Key Features:

1. 12.3 MEGAPIXEL CMOS sensor with LIve View
2. Records HD movie clips (720p at 24fps, 1280×720)) up to 5 minutes on fast SD cards
3. 920,000 dot 3-inch screen
4. 4.5 fps burst mode, stores to SDHC card
5. Built-in commander mode for external flash
6. 11 point AF with scene recognition and face detection. Up to 5 faces. Auto zoom to faces in playback.
7. Live view with contrast detection AF.
8. New Expeed processor for fast start up and low noise
9. ISO 100 (normal 200) up to 3200 (expanded to 6400).
10. HD video with VR lenses activates VR during capture.
11. Advantage in movie depth of field control vs most camcorders
12. Built in audio mic (no external input)
13. Kit lens adds 3-stop VR. AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR.
14. New in camera editing and image processing includes distortion control, lens abberation, straighten, and fisheye effect.
15. Shutter tested to 100,000 cycles
16. Up to 850 shots CIPA rating on battery.
17. New Pictmotion slideshow playback feature
18. New optional GP-1 GPS unit.
19. $999.95 MSRP body
20. $1299.95 with 18-105 lens
21. Nikon Capture NX 2 optional ($180), Camera Control Pro 2.0 Software ($149)

Canon EOS 50D Key Features:

1. 15.1 MP CMOS sensor with live view function
2. Built like the 40D, with magnesium alloy frame, weather seals, and 100,000 cycle shutter.
3. Digic 4 processor, 14-bit A/D conversion
4. ISOs from 100 to 3200, enhanced to 6400 and 12800.
5. 6.3fps burst mode, with up to 90 JPEGs in one burst or 16 RAW
6. Takes UDMA Compact flash cards (higher capacities available than SDHC)
7. Automatic Peripheral illumination adjustment: smart term for vignetting control based on library of lenses.
8. Comes with Digital photo pro software RAW converter and other neat programs.
9. Auto Lighting Optimizer control—smart auto levels control.
10. 3-inch, 920,000 dot LCD screen.
11. HDMI video out
12. 9-zone AF system with 9 cross sensors and super sensitive central sensor (works as cross even with f/5.6 lenses.
13. Microadjustment feature for fine-tuning lenses.
14. Creative full auto setting has adjustable controls.
15. Live view mode includes QUICK MODE AF (phase detection)< LIVE MODE AF (contrast detection)< and Face detection live mode AF (contrast detection ).
16. Detects up to 35 faces!
17. Two small RAW formats: 7.1MP and 3.8MP
18. Ultrasonic CMOS sensor cleaning system
19. $1399 body, $1599 with 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.
20. Canon also announced a new 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS usm lens for $699.

Photokina, the largest photo-trade show in the world, kicks off in Cologne, Germany on Sept.23. Predictably, manufacturers announce their top models just prior to the show, and this year it’s no different. Both Canon and Nikon just made back-to-back announcements of their top advance-amateur DSLRs (we’re still hopeful for pro announcements prior to the show!) In this radio segment, Scott and Mike take sides in a verbal shootout of the features to see if Canon’s 50D ($1,400) is a better deal than Nikon’s D90 ($1,000).

Which of these cameras is the best value? Listen to the spirited debate on the Inside Digital Photography radio show (slide forward to the 11 min mark for this segment).

Or do your own comparison with some help from the lists below:

Nikon D90 Key Features:

1. 12.3 MEGAPIXEL CMOS sensor with LIve View
2. Records HD movie clips (720p at 24fps, 1280×720)) up to 5 minutes on fast SD cards
3. 920,000 dot 3-inch screen
4. 4.5 fps burst mode, stores to SDHC card
5. Built-in commander mode for external flash
6. 11 point AF with scene recognition and face detection. Up to 5 faces. Auto zoom to faces in playback.
7. Live view with contrast detection AF.
8. New Expeed processor for fast start up and low noise
9. ISO 100 (normal 200) up to 3200 (expanded to 6400).
10. HD video with VR lenses activates VR during capture.
11. Advantage in movie depth of field control vs most camcorders
12. Built in audio mic (no external input)
13. Kit lens adds 3-stop VR. AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR.
14. New in camera editing and image processing includes distortion control, lens abberation, straighten, and fisheye effect.
15. Shutter tested to 100,000 cycles
16. Up to 850 shots CIPA rating on battery.
17. New Pictmotion slideshow playback feature
18. New optional GP-1 GPS unit.
19. $999.95 MSRP body
20. $1299.95 with 18-105 lens
21. Nikon Capture NX 2 optional ($180), Camera Control Pro 2.0 Software ($149)

Canon EOS 50D Key Features:

1. 15.1 MP CMOS sensor with live view function
2. Built like the 40D, with magnesium alloy frame, weather seals, and 100,000 cycle shutter.
3. Digic 4 processor, 14-bit A/D conversion
4. ISOs from 100 to 3200, enhanced to 6400 and 12800.
5. 6.3fps burst mode, with up to 90 JPEGs in one burst or 16 RAW
6. Takes UDMA Compact flash cards (higher capacities available than SDHC)
7. Automatic Peripheral illumination adjustment: smart term for vignetting control based on library of lenses.
8. Comes with Digital photo pro software RAW converter and other neat programs.
9. Auto Lighting Optimizer control—smart auto levels control.
10. 3-inch, 920,000 dot LCD screen.
11. HDMI video out
12. 9-zone AF system with 9 cross sensors and super sensitive central sensor (works as cross even with f/5.6 lenses.
13. Microadjustment feature for fine-tuning lenses.
14. Creative full auto setting has adjustable controls.
15. Live view mode includes QUICK MODE AF (phase detection)< LIVE MODE AF (contrast detection)< and Face detection live mode AF (contrast detection ).
16. Detects up to 35 faces!
17. Two small RAW formats: 7.1MP and 3.8MP
18. Ultrasonic CMOS sensor cleaning system
19. $1399 body, $1599 with 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.
20. Canon also announced a new 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS usm lens for $699.

To listen to this topic discussed on the Inside Digital Photo show, Aug. 9, 2008, click the play button:

High-end color calibration and profiling tools used to cost a pretty penny and required a learning curve that few photographers had time to deal with. But new calibration and profiling tools such as the X-Rite Colormunki Photo ($449 street) and DataColor’s Spyder3Studio ($600 street) are available for less than a quality 13×19-inch printer or 24-inch monitor. These tools can create profiles for monitors, printers, and digital projectors, they’re portable, easier to use than ever, and will pay for themselves in ink and paper savings in no time–especially if you make a lot of prints. But which is the best choice for your work flow and color demands?

I would recommend the X-Rite Colormunki Photo if you plan to make lots of printer and paper profiles, grab spot colors, and only have a few computers to calibrate. It’s faster at profiling prints (you can slide it across several patches in a single move-see photo below), slightly more accurate on monitor profiles, and portable enough for making quick spot color readings. Otherwise, its limited license (which allows for loading on only 3 computers) is a pain, especially for any pro photographer who has a home computer, laptop, and more than one computer in his or her studio. 

On the other hand, I gotta hand it to Datacolor: The metal case for the Spyder3Studio is Sweet! Plus this system includes two color measurement devices, one for monitor and projector calibration and profiling, and one for creating printer profiles. Both of the Spyder devices are colorimeters, even though the print device is called a spectro-colorimeter in the literature. It includes easy-to-use setup instructions and calibration programs that work on an unlimited number of Mac and PCs. Print profiling takes longer to achieve with the Spyder3Suite than the Colormunki, and results were nearly as accurate. However, it’s not as easy to use the print measuring device on spot colors (or fabrics) as it is with the Colormunki.

To listen to this topic discussed on the Inside Digital Photo show, July 26, 2008, click the play button and slide forward to the 11min mark to only hear this segment:

Almost overnight decent digital projectors dropped in price from thousands of dollars to under $500. Now the best projectors offer image quality that is compelling enough for photographers to consider as showcase for their favorite photos and portfolios (or use on the side.) They’re also more portable than a wide screen TV, and cheaper than making prints to show off. But just as until recently the digital camera industry focused too heavily on megapixels to determine image quality, there are misleading specs and several smoke and mirror acts that can mislead you into buying the wrong projector for showing photos. In fact there’s a war going on between the projector manufacturers, split nearly 50-50, and it all came to a head at the Projection Summit and Infocomm 2008 U.S. Marshals movie download trade show in Las Vegas in June, 2008.

The above image shows a display at the DLP booth during the first two days of Infocomm 2008. (DLP is a rival technology of 3LCD projection technology, by the way.) It supposedly shows LCD color fade on the left screen, and LCD burnout on the middle and right screens. However, by the third day of the show the color fade display was removed. Why? I’m told that lawyers from the 3LCD group threatened legal action against DLP for its tactics and unsupported conclusions–just part of the fun happenings at this show.