The Moon is by far the most photographed extra-planetary subject, nevertheless, it is always a fascinating view. With a photographic setup - long lens, tripod and DSLR camera - it is impossible to equal the result of high quality telescopes with equatorial mount and dedicate astrophotography cameras. Moreover, even the most advanced "terrestrial" setup will never give the results of the Hubble Space Telescope - so, why bother taking photos of the Moon?...

My answer in this article: Walking on the Moon

A lot of interesting news today. I've updated the Canon Lenses page with my impressions about Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM.
Adobe has bought Pixmantec - the manufacturer of RawShooter. The popular RAW converter will be integrated in Adobe LightRoom and into Adobe's new releases.
PCPhoto Magazine has published an interesting interview with Chuck Westfall (Canon) about future developments of Canon cameras.
The nature never ceases to amaze us. Scientists discovered a species of snake capable of changing colors, in the forests of Borneo.

The Photokina is coming (September): as usual, there will be many new product announcements. The most awaited camera is surely the new Canon 1 series - until now, I had some reliable sources who stated that the new 1D has a 22 megapixel "Foveon-like" sensor, 5FPS (not 100% sure), new AF system and some other innovations. While the specs had been confirmed various times, I get different opinions about the announcement date: some says that it will be announced at Photokina, others says PMA 2007...who is right? Only time will tell...
Other, more certain, announcements are a new wide angle for fullframe and a minor update of the 350D. I have been told that Canon is going to announce a new (lighter and smaller) version of its super-tele lenses, but this statement has not been confirmed by other sources, so consider it just as a rumor.

The European Bee-eater is one of the most colorful birds of Italy: I've added many new photos to the gallery Merops apiaster (European Bee Eater). I added one of these photos to my PORTFOLIO, too, and another one is the new cover of JuzaPhoto.

I've added also some new photos - taken with 600 f/4 + 1.4x + 2.0x - in the Astrophotography galley.

Distortion, vignetting, chromatic aberration - all these aberrations were a serious problem with film. With digital cameras and Photoshop, they are no longer an issue: you can correct almost every aberration easily and effectively. The only optical flaw that can no be corrected is softness - it is important to choose sharp lenses, because even the powerful sharpening tools of PS work well only with very slightly soft images, while the blur caused by bad optics can't be corrected...

I have re-written and updated the article: Correcting CA, Distortion and Vignetting

I've updated the Canon Lenses page with my impressions about Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM, Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5 L.

I completed the Canon 600 f/4 IS review: I added two paragraph and photos about the lens with 2x TC and with stacked 1.4x and 2.0x TCs.

To read the review, click here: Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS USM Field Review

I added some new photos - taken with the fabulous 600 f/4 - to the galleries: Platalea leucorodia (Spoonbill); Arda cinerea (Grey Heron); Fulica atra (Coot); Sterna hirundo (Common Tern); Ardeola ibis (Cattle egret); Ixobrychus minutus (Little Bittern).

I added also some new flora photos, taken with the 600: Anemone trifolia; Dactylorhiza sambucina (Elder-flowered Orchid);Ninfea sp..

Sony has jumped in the DSLR market with a new DSLR, the Sony A100, and a whole system of lenses, flashes and accessories. The A100 has a 10 megapixels CCD sensor (the same of Nikon D200) with image stabilization and anti-dust function. It costs $900 body only or $1000 body + kit lens.

The majority of the lenses are re-branded Minolta lenses, but there are also some new Sony and Zeiss lenses, as the Zeiss 135mm f/1.8 and Zeiss 16-80mm. More info and preview on Dpreview.

A good tripod is the key to take sharp photos. I use the tripod for the majority of my photos, and I think that choosing the right tripod/head combination and use them regularly can really improve your images...

The article about tripod has been updated and completely re-written: Tripods and Heads

I added a new photo to my portfolio : Tern's Courtship

I added a new photo in my portfolio: Dactylorhiza sambucina (Elder-flowered Orchid). This image has been taken with the 600 f/4 - an excellent lens for flowers!

Nikon has announced a minor update of the D2X - the new Nikon D2Xs has larger buffer, better hi-speed crop and some other improvements.

I added my impressions on the Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS USM to the Canon Lenses page.