Saturday, January 12, 2013

Siena passageways



As one walks through the old city one finds all sort of interesting  arched walkways. These were all shot in April, 2007 with the Nikon D-200 and the 18-70 3.5-4.5 kit lens.

Just when you thought 4K was high def.....

comes Sharp with a display that can only blow one's mind. Incredible.

Sharp flies ahead in the screen resolution race with 8K TV prototype


Friday, January 11, 2013

New York on a winter day



These photos were shot in February of 2007 with a Canon A-620 point and shoot camera. You do not need fancy expensive cameras to tale decent photos.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Summer dreams




Remembering a sunny July Saturday afternoon in 2009 with the Nikon D-700 at the superb Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Summer should be here soon.

Digital advantage


For all of the  good qualities of film and for all it's many maddening limitations, I embraced digital early because it allowed me to do things that were very difficult or actually impossible with film. These two early digital shots show how changing the light balance on the camera  can yield didderent results. The camera was the Fuji S1-Pro and the lens was the 80-300 ED Nikkor.

Very interesting...4K resolution...wow

 4K resolution is 4X the resolution of a full HD screen and with an i5 processor, this becomes a very useful tool for photographers. It's incredible how fast things  are changing.

Panasonic new super HD tablet

Unlike last year's Consumer Electronics Show that brought a large number of new tablets to light, 2013 is a much quieter year on the tablet front this week at ECS in Las Vegas.  Panasonic is showing a prototype of a 20-inch 4k (3840x2560, 230ppi) tablet that from an imaging point of view appears to be one of the most interesting products at this show. The device is aimed at creative professionals such as architects, designers and photographers.
It runs Windows 8, is powered by an Intel i5 processor and comes with 4GB RAM  which can be expanded to 16GB. Despite the large screen size, the battery life is listed as approximately 2 hours. Panasonic claims the color reproduction is very accurate and the tablet comes with a high-resolution digital pen (Anoto touch-pen) for precise control and data input. This should be competition to Apple's retina display.
Although  just a protoype, the device on display looks very well assembled and appears to be fully working.
It looks like a very interesting development and an item to watch. No pricing information or availability were announced. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Candid portraits, early digital photos / Olympus 10-E



These photos go back to June of 2002, when my super accomplished photographer daughter, Jennifer, had her first real show in Manhattan. The camera, the Olympus E-10 was my first "serious" digicam and one I used professionally while I was moving to total digital photography. By this time I was using the Fuji S-2 pro on jobs and using the E-19 just to "fool around." The image quality was great but the camera was not really useful on jobs.

Amazing news from Sigma



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The Sigma DP3 Merrill


 This is truly amazing news because one can no longer say that small cameras are just that, small in performance. With this announcement, Sigma, well known for their  high quality aftermarket lenses  and unique cameras, are bringing out a new 46-megapixel fixed lens camera named the Sigma DP3 Merrill.. [This alone makes it an unusual product] It uses a large Foveon X3 image sensor, which measures 23.5x15.7mm, and is matched to a fast 50mm f/2.8 lens. The resulting huge 45MB image files are handled by the Dual TRUE II image processing engine, and  photo framing is done via  a high resolution 3.0-inch LCD. Will there be an optical attached viewfinder? We hope so. One can always find one that matches or approximates the angle of view of the fixed lens.
BTW, the name Merrill refers to the inventor of the unique Faveon sensor.
Although the camera's features are quite impressive, its movie mode is totally passe' having a maximum resolution of just 480p (640x480). Too bad.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

I'm very proud of these shots [part 1]

Nevins Street, Brooklyn, Canon FT

Street shoe repairman China Town, Manhattan. Nikon SP-2 rangefinder

State Street, Brooklyn. Leica M-4
I keep digging for new photos to post and I do have quite a few. Nevertheless, I do tend to stop and take a look at some that are really my favorite. These are from the genre known as street photography. All shot on Tri-X with various cameras. These are always worth a second look.

Monday, January 7, 2013

ECS news from Fuji

FujiFilm Announces Seven New FinePix Digital Cameras

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Pictured above is the FinePix HS50EXR

Just in time for ECS 2013, FujiFilm has made public that they are adding seven new FinePix models   to their line up for early 2013, with the introduction of the HS50EXR, HS35EXR, SL1000, XP60, T550, S8300, and S8200

These models cover three main categories of cameras; Bridge/Mega-zoom, Lifeproof, and Compact Super-Zoom. 

The " mega-zoom" models include the HS50EXR (42x optical zoom), HS35EXR (30x optical zoom), SL1000 (50x optical zoom), S8300 (42x optical zoom), and the S8200 (40x optical zoom) We are talking about some serious zoom ranges here. The HS50 and HS35 has a manually operated zoom control, while the remaining models use powered zoom mechanisms. They all share the same resolution of 16-megapixels, with the HS50 and HS30 offering higher quality EXR CMOS type sensors. Each model offers a great deal of versatility, not only in the zoom department, but also in speed and exposure options. 

The XP60 is their new "lifeproof camera," you got to love this term, offers rugged features in a compact form factor. This camera is waterproof (down to 20ft.), shockproof, freezeproof, and dustproof. Along with these appealing features, the XP60 boasts 16-megapixels, a 5x zoom, and much more. 

Finally, we have the FinePix T550. This is an affordable, compact super-zoom that packs a punch with a 12x optical zoom lens. Small enough to drop into your pocket, the T550 has the features users demand from a camera that's easy to carrywith you at all times, and easy on the budget. 

My first medium format serious shot.

This photo was shot long ago on Ansco Super Hypan 500 and developed on Ansco Hyfonol. I  can still remember the time, the place and the development data! The camera was the Yashicamat 125. my first medium format camera that  made me fall in love with this format.

Just teasing you

Olympus E-10, 4-14-2002
A tease but don't fret, spring will be here sooner than you think.

Retro design by Pentax

DP review has just posted an in depth review of this wonderful looking retro camera design by Pentax. Click on the link on the right side for the review,
It looks like the cameras we loved and used in the sixties and seventies before black bodies became the rage.

More small cameras from Canon

Canon Announces Four New PowerShot Models

  CES is almost here so three of these models will be quite familiar, adding to established camera lines, the forth model is something entirely new. 

Canon_A1400_BLACK_FRONT.jpgStarting with the familiar, Canon has updated their affordable A-series line with two new entries; the PowerShot A2600 and PowerShot A1400. Both models share similar specifications, offering 16-megapixels of resolution, 720p HD video capture, 5x optical zoom lenses, DIGIC 4 processors, and Smart Auto exposure control. The A2600 sports a common rectangular shape with a 3.0-inch LCD, while the A1400 boasts a more ergonomic design with a nice hand grip and optical viewfinder

Fall splendor