Canon EOS 7D Review: 2023

Canon EOS 7D Review: 2023

December 2023, Carl Garrard

Every once in a while a camera will come along that transcends the normally inevitable barrier of aging. Those cameras, being either film or digital, are relatively far and few between. Yet most of these immortal-like cameras are easily identifiable. One only needs to seek out the loyal and dedicated following they have amongst photographers. One such camera I believe deserves this honor (as you've probably guessed), is the Canon EOS 7D. Of which personally I've owned several copies of over time, and I admire its design just as much as the rest of the loyal dedicated lot out there. Though reading back on my article I wrote in 2018 about this lovely camera was a painful experience. I just didn't hit the mark. Sometimes writing is just like that I guess. Needless to say then I suppose that I don't think that I did the EOS 7D any justice.

Gear Spotlight: Ricoh GR IIIX

Ricoh's GR IIIX is one of the most unique compacts you can buy. It's truly pocketable which makes it excellent for street work, vacation shooting, and even for outdoor enthusiasts needing a fully featured pro level camera in a supremely diminutive all metal case that doesn't weigh you down. It's 40mm equivalent focal length caters to many pro-photographers desire for a field of view that is slightly wider than 50mm but just narrower than 35mm for that goldilocks sweet spot shot. Built in image stabilization seals the deal. Pricing and variations here: RICOH GR IIIX 

Gear Spotlight: Canon EOS SL3 DSLR

Canon's EOS SL3 DSLR is a fantastic entry point into photography which gives you many modern features along with an optical viewfinder for classic style photography- blend that you can't get with a mirrorless system. Another selling point is the much lower price of the body and lenses (used prices are even much lower: Used SL3 Link) and if wifi, small size, and touchscreen are important to you, then you are covered! Browse for many more options/combinations here: CANON EOS REBEL SL3 SALE 

Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome Edition Announced!

Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome Edition

April 2023, Carl Garrard

Today is a great day for photographers. The worlds first production run Monochrome only DSLR has been announced by Ricoh, the Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome. As many here should already know, I have two versions of the K3 Mark III already; the original and the Jet Black edition. When I heard this one was finally going from concept to production, I immediately put myself on the notification/mailer availability list . As my review has already stated, the K3 Mark III is the best APS-C DSLR from any manufacturer to date, and I know this version carries over all of the same traits as I have with the other two. Only this version is an even more unique and special one that will help us all laser focus on tonality, subject, and composition using only grey tones. In addition to that, the high ISO performance, detail, tonality, and dynamic range will all be improved over the original model K-3 III. 

News: Photographylife.com

Just a quick news item for readers I am proud to share with you all. Photographylife.com will soon have a new contributing writer (and moderator) to their site, me! But please don't worry, I will continue this blog as usual and nothing will change here, business as usual. However going forward, I will be also putting efforts into contributing articles/content over at the wonderful Photographylife.com website as well. The folks over there (Nasim, Spencer, etal) are a class act, the articles are top rate, and they adhere to a photography/photographer-first ethical standard that I relate too heavily. I feel this is a great matchup of like-minds and I'm proud to be a new contributing author and member of the team. I will update my blog when I publish articles on the site there as they happen. I am excited, grateful, and proud to be a part of such wonderful company. More to come soon. Stay focused. -Carl

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Pentax K1 Mark III: What Ricoh Should Do Next

Pentax K1 Mark III: What Ricoh Should Do Next

March 2023, Carl Garrard

As I put the finishing touches on my K3 Mark III part IV and V articles, I wanted to take a quick break and discuss what I think should be Ricoh's next move. Slowly over the last eight years or so Ricoh has done a decent job bringing in modern optic full frame lenses for their apex full frame cameras. From ultrawide to macro to super telephoto, they have at least one Pentax branded lens representing each category with their zooms, and they also have a few choice primes being sprinkled in there as well. While modern lens lineup isn't that robust, there are many used options from the full frame film days as well. The point being, Ricoh have enough lenses to support a K1 Mark III as is, and it wouldn't take much for them to kick out a few more choice full frame modern optics either. With that said, I'm not fortune teller but if there was a way to bet in Vegas on what Ricoh are working on currently, I'd throw my money down on a K1 II successor. 

Photographic Central's Future

Photographic Central's Future

March 2023, Carl Garrard

Just shy of nine months ago a career pivot has dominated more of my personal energy and time than I had forecast, thus making for less personal time to complete review projects here on PC than I'd ultimately like. Bread on the table is my number one priority, and something of which I'm sure readers here can relate and understand completely. With that said, I want to mention that I have multiple projects started on older and newer cameras alike and they are all simultaneously in the works. Now I'd love to have nothing but free time to complete all of these projects, especially some that are most near and dear to me, but life doesn't always work out as we plan. Saving any suspense, I have no plans of shutting down my site or to stop writing reviews and articles about camera gear and photography, quite the opposite in fact.

DPReview Shutting Down: Burning A Historic Library

DPReview Shutting Down: Burning A Historic Library

March 2023, Carl Garrard

WTF. That was the first thought I had when I read the headline DPReview was shutting down, as I'm sure many others shared a similar train of thought. I don't know the real reasons for the shut down of the internets largest community of photographic related content and users. Layoffs and cutbacks are not reasons I accept in this case, I repeat, I do not accept this and neither should you. DPReview could easily be sold through crowdfunding, to a highest bidder, the list of alternatives is staggering. And yet, Amazon is just wiping 25 years of information, contribution, wisdom, sharing, you name it... right off the grid. That takes a pretty soulless decision to do something like that, its the equivalent of burning the Vatican or another historic library right to the ground. This news shocked me in a way that hit my core being, and to the point that I couldn't find the words to describe how I was feeling or what I actually wanted to say. Well a good nights sleep is good for the brain and I woke up today pissed. 

Nikon D800 Review: A Legendary Nikon DSLR

Nikon D800 Review: A Legendary Nikon DSLR

March 2023, Carl Garrard

Back in November of 2022, I wrote a small piece about my four favorite Nikon DSLR's. Some of my opinions have changed a bit since then, and some have remained. The reason for these changes is due to spending more quality time with those cameras in that article. I have also added a few more Nikon DSLR's during that time as well. So yeah, I've been busy shooting with a lot with Nikon gear in the last couple of years. And through trial and error I have also continued to fine tune my lens lineup as well. I've ironed out what I want each camera to do for my photography. Much experimentation has resulted in setting up my Nikon's DSLR's with an ideal combination of custom configurations and settings. And during that process something wonderful has happened... an increasing understanding, respect, admiration, and appreciation of the Nikon D800. As it turns out, the D800 happened to be quite a surprise all rounder- something I didn't understand it to be when I first purchased one. NIKON D800 Used Prices