ellipsis…

ok, this is a super techie post. one that probably only a very specific handful of people may glance at and a even smaller amount will actually read. but, it has taken me a long time to work this out and i figure there has to be at least one other person out there banging their head against the wall trying to figure this out. so if you don’t shoot film or don’t scan your own negatives or don’t use Vuescan, now is a pretty good time to stop reading before i bore you.

when i started my Love Your Face project i deliberately wanted to shoot it on film. the depth-of-field control on medium format is much greater than on 35mm. plus the i love the images coming off of my Mamiya RZ67. over the last 6 months i’ve scanned hundreds of frames on a Nikon LS-8000 scanner. though because Nikon’s scanning software is outdated (and not very good to begin with), i use a program called Vuescan. Vuescan has become one of two very popular third-party programs amongst photographers still shooting film, the other being Silver Fast. i’ve used Vuescan for years but only ever for small things or travel pictures. i learnt very quickly that the color of my scans were very inconsistent, and my search to find a way to profile my scanner began. Read more

this week on Love Your Face, close friend and beard growing extraordinaire Danny.

more at love-your-face.com

i’ve also been playing around with my Olympus PEN E-P2 and decided to see how well it’ll hold up in-studio. more after the jump. warning, it gets pretty camera geeky.

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i decided to take a walk through the embattled riot zone this afternoon after hearing that a large group of volunteers had taken to the streets to clean up the aftermath. not only did i find amazing people doing everything they can to clean up, people also turned the boarded up windows into a huge love letter to Vancouver. it was awesome to see the pouring out for a city that less than 12 hours earlier looked like a war zone.
[more pictures after the jump]

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trusty world-travelled Konica Hexar meet new sidekick Olympus Pen E-P2. i’ve had the Olympus E-P2 for just under a month now and am learning all of the ins and outs of the camera. for this quickly growing new class of digital-rangefinder, it does a really good job. compared to my Hexar, it’s nice to be able to have a full range of ISO at your finger tips, visible auto-focus, interchangeable lenses, image stabilization, and of course HD video. the E-P2 is smaller and lighter, and being able to review pictures right away is always a plus.

on the other hand, the Hexar’s auto-focus is much much faster and uses an infrared auto-focus system that allows the camera to focus in complete darkness. the Konica 35mm f/2 lens is sharper, and produces more contrast & saturation. it’s program mode allows the user to set a specific f-stop to bias to and will only change if the proper shutter speed can not be accomplished. the biggest down-side to the Hexar is it’s top shutter speed, 1/250 (which is why i keep a 2-stop ND filter in my bag).

between the two cameras, you’ve got everything one may want in a camera. i’m excited to travel with both in my bag.

i also couldn’t just leave my Pen looking like a regular camera. found a fantastic leather working company out of S. Korea called JNK Customizing Analog. they specializing in leather customizations and make an almost perfect fitting leather wrap for the Pen. black texture leather wrap and matching leather hand strap. looks pretty stellar to me.

i’m off to Gambier Island this weekend to relax, maybe shoot some personal work, and catch some crabs. i’m taking along a couple of new toys i’ve just picked up; the new X-Rite Color Checker Passport, Kodak Zi8 pocket HD camcorder, and The Pod camera stand (though it’s more of a bag… pillow… thing). should be lots of fun. i picked up the Zi8 to start doing behind-the-scenes videos on my shoots. used it earlier today at a portrait sessions and the video is pretty decent for a little guy. i was super excited to use the Color Checker Passport too, but totally forgot. have to start working it into my workflow. the Pod is something i’ve seen around for a couple of years now. never really needed something that small until i picked up the Zi8. it seems to work pretty well.

have a great weekend everyone, see you on the other side!

ok, so i’ve re-written this post about three times over the last couple of weeks. and i’ve realized that there is way too much that i can write about on megapixels. i don’t want to over run you with all the technical mumble jumble out there that mostly just confuses people. plus, this is a buying guide, not a seminar on micro electrical engineering. so here it is.

some things you should know.
- 1 megapixel = 1 million pixels (what is a pixel… well, it’s a digital dot)
- more megapixels does not mean better image quality
- sensor size matters

the reason why there is so much to be written about on megapixels is because it opens the flood gates to everything partaining to image quailty. i don’t want to get into all of that. the simple matter is that most people believe that the more megapixels you have the better the image. unfortunately that isn’t quite the case. back in the day, all of 5 to 7 years ago, megapixels did have a direct link to image quality. at 1 or 2 megapixels there wasn’t quite enough pixels to cover a standard print. but fast forward to today, where the average camera has 8 or 9 megapixels, there is no question that a standard print size is well covered. for the most part, a 5 or 6 megapixel camera is all you really need to print up to an 11×14″ print.

i guess i’m going to have to get into image quality a bit to explain some other things. image quality takes in account a number of different factors; quality of the lens, sensor type & size, image processor and of course megapixels. for the most part you will get the majority of your image quality from the lens of the camera. better lens, better image. sharpness, contrast and even color depth all come from the lens. this is why most photographers, and hopefully most camera sales staff, will tell you that when buying a digital SLR system you’re better off buying the best lens you can afford and couple that with a lesser body. the end result will be much better than if you were to buy a really expensive body and a cheap lens.

sensor type (i’m going to leave sensor size for now) will also affect image quality. i’m only going to touch lightly on this topic. it’s also goes really deep and techy. there are two main sensor types that camera manufactorures use; CCD and CMOS. the things you need to know about these two types of sensors are:

CCD
- uses mostly hardware to create the image
- images are sharper
- because it’s mostly hardware, CCD sensors produce more heat
- more heat produces more noise (or “grain” if you will) in the higher ISOs. which means in layman terms, that your pictures in low light will look grainier.
- the exception to the previous point is FujiFilm’s Super CCD which uses two sensors to produce each pixel. one sensor captures normal light, and second one captures low light or shadow detail. the pixels are also shaped like honeycombs instead of the standard rectangle or square. but that’s for another post

CMOS
- uses mostly software to produce it’s image
- usually has a softer image
- produces much less heat than a CCD
- is very efficient in capturing low light or high ISO image

if you want more specific information on each technology click the sensor types above and it’ll take you to a wikipedia page. there is one other sensor that Sigma is helping to develop, it’s called the Fovean sensor. it tries to mimic film buy layering a red, blue and green sensor ontop of eachother to make the image. they haven’t quit prefected it yet, but when they do, it’s going to be another story.

quickly, image processor also has an effect on image quality. the processor is what takes all the information from the sensor and makes it into a the picture you see. now different grades of processors will output different images. for instance, the Nikon D60, D80, and D200 all have the same sensor in it, but all three have different processors. because of that, you’ll find the the images coming out of each camera will look different, with the D200 looking the best.

now sensor size. the size of the sensor has a direct coloration to image quality. each style of camera has a different size of sensor. a point & shoot camera has a really small sensor, about 6×4.5mm to 7.5×5.5mm. a crop-frame digital SLR will have a sensor size from 18×13.5mm to 23.6×15.8mm. and a full-frame digital SLR will have a sensor size of 36x24mm, which is the same size as a 35mm negative. (i’m leaving out anything bigger than full-frame digital SLR. there is bigger but it’s a different can of werms) the reason this matters is because the higher the number of pixels on each size of sensor will affect the amount of heat generated as well as the quality of light it is capturing. 9 megapixels in a 6×4.5mm box is a really tight squeeze. the pixels are really small and will generate a lot of heat, as well as each pixel won’t capture as much light. now take those 9 megapixels and lay them out in a 36x24mm box, each pixel is physically a lot larger to fill the space. a lot less heat is generated and each pixels captures a lot more light. a couple of years ago i was at a Canon training and a technical rep explained it this way. think of a football feild as your sensor. now fill the field with 12 million buckets. when it rains each bucket will only capture a little bit of water. now fill the field with only 6 million buckets. when it rains each bucket will capture much more water. the more light each pixel captures the better the image will be.

and that is megapixels don’t matter. image quality is made up of so much more than just then amount of pixels. so if you’re looking for a point & shoot camera this Christmas, you’re most likely better off buying a camera will less megapixels then more if you want better image quality. if you are really worried about getting the best picture you can, worry more about the lens on the camera than the megapixels. it’s a bit of a quick whirl-wind of information, and to be honest it’s a bit spotty. please feel free to add any information in the comments.

i’m starting a new category on my blog, Buying Tips. the one thing that i’ve come to realize is that i know more about camera gear then anyone else i know. i’ve been working at a local camera store for 5 years now (soon to be ending, YaHoo!), and i absorb information on camera gear like sports fans absorb stats. it’s kind of an odd thing to have, really it has no use outside of a store, but i thought i’d start to share what i’ve learnt about buying cameras, lenses, flashes, studio equipment and such, with everyone so that hopefully your buying experience might be easier.

buying tip #1: don’t buy from best buy
buying a digital camera these days isn’t as easy as it use to be. back 4-5 years ago film cameras still dominated the shelves. people who wanted to buy a digital camera really only had a hand full of cameras to choose from. did you want the canon that had 3x zoom or the olympus that had 2 megapixels? but now there are too many to even try to comprehend. even companies that traditionally make dishwashers and light bulbs are starting to enter the market. the feature sets are also out of this world; super high megapixels, zoom ranges, scene modes, macro capabilities, ISO rating… shall i go on. if you are looking to invest in a camera, point & shoot or digital SLR, how do you choose? most customers that i have helped rarely know even how to begin. and that is why you shouldn’t buy from best buy, or any other big box store. most of their sales staff are juggling the entire electronic department. would you like 1080i with your iPod?… (ok that was a bit geeky) not to say that the sales staff is bad, just that they don’t know nearly as much as about cameras as they need to, to help you make an informed decision. most will just hand you what they like most, or has the best sales spiffs. search out a local camera store, more than likely the sales staff eat and breath cameras, and only cameras, so they are equipped with the information you need to buy the right camera. try to find a sales associate that has a broad amount of knowledge on an array of camera manufacturers. yes, there is the canon vs nikon war. but as much as their bias works for them, it might not work for you. their job, if they are doing it right, is to find the best camera they have to suit your needs. here are a couple of things to keep in mind if you are fresh at the buying game.

1. keep your budget in mind. the industry is vast, and no sales associate likes hearing “i don’t have a budget.” you do, and it’s better that they know; most can smell the BS and will blow you out of the water with numbers. point & shoot cameras range from $50 to $700, digital SLRs range from $500 to well over $10,000, and lenses (which seem to be the biggest misconception) range from $200 to $10,000 as well. so the number game, just like buying anything else, is very important.

2. tell them how and what you are using the camera for. this is probably the best way to narrow down the huge number of cameras on the market to a few that you can start comparing. do you like to take pictures of wild life far away? butterflies and ladybugs? is your dream to be the next Ansel Adams or how about Annie Liebowitz? is the main use of the digital SLR going to be photographing your kids playing hockey in an arena? answers to questions like those will help you along your search a lot. and be as specific as you can.

3. ask the stupid questions. really do. like, “where do i put the film in my new digital camera?” or “what does the flower symbol mean?” it might sound stupid in your head, but we’ve heard them all before. it’s ok. that’s why the sales staff is there, and asking lets them know that you’re interested in learning.

4. play with the cameras as much as possible. the worst is buying a camera that has all of the features you like, but you hate using it. you’ll never pull it out if you don’t enjoy using your camera. i’ve had customers stay for hours (no joke) playing with every single camera they can think of. but really it’s the only way you’ll know if you’ll enjoy using it. just like test driving a car.

hopefully with those four points in mind you can march right into your local camera store and have the sales staff wrapped around your finger. support your local shop. most of the staff there are photographers themselves so they know what works and what doesn’t. create relationships with them and they’ll usually also have no problem finding the best prices they can offer you.

this is just the beginning of the tips. i’ll be getting more specific as time goes on. if you have a specific question about buying, using or comparing gear please feel free to fire an email off to me.

i’m a bit late on this one, Adobe made available a release candidate version of Lightroom 2.1 five days ago. a release candidate is the version of software that has been extensively tested and is in it’s final stages before being officially released. there will probably be some minor changes to the software before it becomes widely available, but they release it to the public to test and give feedback on.

i, and everyone else who is using LR2.0, have been bitching about it’s performance. LR2.0 runs on my jacked-up Mac Pro as slow as LR1.0 did on my old school G4 PowerBook. importing pictures took upwards to an hour, doing any adjusting would always result in a spinning ball, and i would always have to wait for previews. there are some awesome features in 2.0, like spot and gradient adjustment, but none of that is valuable to me if it take forever to do. i almost reinstalled LR1.4 because 2.0 was just taking too much time to use

LR2.1 appears to have fixed all of that. and even in it’s release candidate version, things appear to be running smooth. importing is quick and snappy, no more spinning ball, and previews (even 100% previews) render almost instantly. post processing is again a happy time, not a @*#!ing throw my mouse through my monitor time.

you can find the Lightroom 2.1 release canidate here.

Photokina 2008 is in full-swing, and this fall seemed like the time to launch some new technology that might change the industry. personally, i think the biggest news was dropped by Leica who is the first to bring in a new format to photography since the crop-frame (1.5x) sensor was introduced. a sensor that is 56% bigger than a 35mm full-frame sensor, officially 0.75x lens factor. the Leica S2 body looks a lot like their R series film SLR bodies. it also looks like Leica is partnering up with PhaseOne to handle the digital side of things. the partnership alone is a big thing. Leica has always positioned themselves with industry leading companies, Panasonic & Olympus, and now with PhaseOne i can definitely see some stellar cameras being developed between the two of them. Leica, not to out do themselves, has also launched a full line of 9 lenses along with the S2; 24mm ultrawide, 30mm tilt-and-shift, 35mm wide, 70mm standard, 30-90mm standard zoom, 100mm short tele, 120mm macro, 180mm telephoto, and 350mm telephoto, pretty impressive. release date of S2 is slated for sometime late next year.

Leica S2

another format that has emerged, but with less force, is the new micro-fourthirds from Panasonic & Olympus. i guess it’s not a new format, but a new take on an existing format. micro-fourthirds is a mirrorless & prismless camera that shrinks a SLR down to a mini-SLR or a rangefinder size camera. what they have basically done is put a fourthirds sensor into a camera small enough to carry around. this looks like the beginning of the rangefinder style & size of digital cameras with fourthirds or APS-C size sensors. maybe these will be good enough to replace my trusty Konica Hexar with.

Olympus Micro-Fourthirds Prototype

HD video has also hit the digital SLR scene. i’m almost as excited about this feature as i was with live-view, as in i’m not. it’s a cool feature, and i guess it was inevitable, but i still have mixed feeling about the feature itself. the new Nikon D90 and Canon 5D mrkII have 720p and 1080p HD video recording respectfully. each company put their new camera into the hands of some big time pros. Chase Jarvis (one of my favorite photogs) for Nikon and Vincent Laforet (my 2008 Beijing Olympics source) for Canon, both produced videos using the new camera. it was interesting to hear Chase Jarvis’ comments on it since he is also a cinematographer and a film maker. Vincent Laforet decided to make a short-film to demonstrate the 5D mrkII’s capabilities. Vincent is claiming that HD video in a SLR is industry changing, i wouldn’t go as far as saying that it’s industry changing, the Leica S2 is industry changing, but the feature is interesting. the video/film camera industry is still rocking and i don’t foresee a dSLR taking over anytime soon.

Nikon D90. Click on the image to see Chase Jarvis’ video

Canon 5D mrkII. Click on the image to see Vincent Laforet’s video.

the big three medium format back/camera companies have broken the 50MP mark. Hasselblad launched their new H3DII-50 back in august, Leaf launching their Leaf Aptus-II 10 (56MP) and PhasOne with their P65+ (60MP) just before Photokina. vitual full-frame 645 sensors with massive file size for the commerial pro. i wish i could afford one of these backs, so pretty!

Hasselblad H3DII-50

the last big announcement is the much anticipated Sony A900. the Sony A900 is a full-frame 24MP SLR. to be honest i haven’t looked a lot into this camera a whole lot. i had a change to look at it this past weekend and it’s probably the biggest camera i’ve seen in a while. the grip is massive.

Sony A900

what else is worth noting… Nikon finally announced a new 50mm f/1.4 lens with AF-S. now owners of a D40, D40x or D60 have a 50mm prime that they can autofocus. i’ve been waiting for this lens for a while now, i almost bought the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 instead. Canon now has a new 24mm f/1.4L lens, and Lensbaby has revised their line that includes a new lens. Leica updated their M8 to M8.2. they also introduced the fastest prime lens in the world, Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95. with a price tag of over $8k, it better be able to cut daimonds. a company named Pretec has unveiled the largest compact flash cards so far, 64GB and 100GB. 100GB in my D3 is way too much memory, though i’m sure one of those 50+MP backs would appreciate it.

Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G

Canon 24mm f/1.4L

Lensbaby – The Composer

Leica Noctilux-M 50mm f/0.95

i think that’s it. well, at least everything that is really super interesting. there was, of course, a whole wack of point & shoot cameras that were released. and Adobe released CS4 which has some good speed upgrades, and finaly brings 64bit to Windows. on a none Photokina topic, RED ONE has said that they are bringing out a camera that will “kill the dSLR” late next year. if they release anything close to what have done with the film/cinema industry, Nikon and Canon better watch out.

shot my first wedding with my D3 last weekend. the results are pretty amazing! it’s an odd feeling shooting with a full-frame camera again. things look… well.. right. i know people are going to yap at me about DX vs FX, but really full-frame images just look proper. the DOF is what it’s suppose to look like at the actual focal length. until now i’ve been shooting DX or 6×7. yeah, a bit of an extreme. anyways, the images look great. it’s nice to shoot a camera that is sharp right off the sensor (the D200 is soft soft soft). and colors seems to be a bit better. all that really means is that there is less post! WOO HOO!!!!

tash is a friend of mine, and i have to admit that she and her man sean had the most beautiful wedding party ever! The OC here we come!!! she also kept posing for me all day too! so much fun!