The new Nikon D60 we mentioned earlier this week has been getting a lukewarm reception by the online community who feel it’s not a big enough step from the D40x - but I think they’ve missed the point of the camera a little bit. Regardless of that, there’s another “feature” that will exist in the camera which hasn’t been publicized much. The D60 will apparently be “enhanced for Eye-Fi”. » MORE

The pre-PMA announcements are flying fast and furious now, as Sony announces two more digital SLR’s for their line up.

The new A300 and A350 cameras will fall between the existing A700 and the A200, and offer some new features. » MORE

There’s a great show in Canada called “How It’s Made”, which airs on the Discovery Channel. They get invited onto the factory floor for all sorts of manufactured items. This video follows the process of putting together a lens on the JML Optical assembly line. As you would likely guess, the process will vary between manufacturers, but this might give you a little insight as to why those camera lenses are so expensive. » MORE

Stuck In Customs is a blog run by photographer and writer Trey Ratcliff. Ratcliff is a photographer who has drawn a huge fan base strictly from online attention, and his blog as well as his photography have won numerous awards. He’s regularly featured on sites like Digg and Reddit, and his Flickr page has attracted a huge number of views.

Trey specializes in HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, and as you would expect, he’s quite good at it. His photographic exploits span the world, from Chernobyl to Dresden, from Mumbai to Amish country.

In his “other” life Trey works as the CEO for John Galt Games, but on the web, he’s become the poster child for HDR… so much so that he’s created a popular tutorial regarding HDR (which he wanted me to share).

Despite his busy schedule, we were fortunate enough to have a quick conversation with Trey Ratcliff about his photography. Here’s that interview. » MORE

Pentax, who is steadfastly holding up against the larger camera manufacturers, has three new lenses being showcased at PMA and the Photo Imaging Expo.

The first is a 55mm f/1.4, the second is a 60-250mm f/4, and the third lens is a 17-70mm f/4. All three lenses feature the SDM ultrasonic focusing. The 55mm sounds particularly nice, since it’s a very fast lens and will give you a great amount of control over your depth-of-field.

For more information on Pentax lenses, see the Pentax site.

This morning, Nikon unveiled the D60… and just shortly after, they also announced three new lenses. Two of them are specialty lenses, and the third is an all-purpose lens. These come on the tail end of the D60 announcement, and should be shown off at the PMA trade show in Las Vegas - though you can see them here. » MORE

As speculated on a whole bunch of websites a few weeks ago, Nikon is in fact unveiling a new digital SLR today just in time for PMA `08. Welcome to the D60. This camera is obviously set to replace the D40/D40x as the new entry-level SLR, and has similar specs overall. The D40 and D40x were so tremendously successful for Nikon that this one could have been seen coming a mile away.

The D60 will contain a 10.2 megapixel DX format sensor, with a 3fps framerate, a 2.5″ LCD screen, and in-camera editing. The only major difference is, apparently, the addition of a self-cleaning sensor with something called “airflow” to help reduce dust. We’re not yet sure exactly what this is, and whether the self-cleaning sensor differs from the D300 because of it, but we’ll let you know.

This means that in the last two months, the D300, D3 and D60 have revamped almost the entire lineup of Nikon DSLR’s. The only one left now is the D80 - so my guess is that we should expect to see an update to that camera before the fall.

Depth of Field (DOF) refers to the distance between the farthest and nearest points which are in focus. It can also be identified as the zone of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind the subject. In the picture of Nemo, above, you’ll notice that in the left hand shot he’s totally in focus, from gills to tail fin. In the right hand shot, his tail fin is blurry.

When you take a picture, there are several factors which can control or impact your depth of field. Less depth of field is called “small” or “narrow” or “shallow”. Having great depth of field is called a “wide” or “large” depth of field.

There are lots of reasons why you may want to control the depth of field, and make it narrower or wider. Most of these are because of artistic decisions, when you want to force attention to one part of the picture, or when you want to obscure another. » MORE