Greetings, this blog is dedicated to my life in photography. I want to make this a place to stop and relax. In the hope that this will help in these trying times
Saturday, June 1, 2013
A trip to the garden
Naturally, it's the Brooklyn Botanic Garden one of the city's true gems and the original intent of this visit was to enjoy the rose garden that opened today, June first. The roses were wonderful but what caught my eye was a patch of peonies of disparate colors. The camera was the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 with an Olympus micro four thirds zoom.
RAID style mirrowing card a reality
Just like RAID back up hard drives, we now have RAID back up CF cards. Nice.
Japanese company Amulet is releasing a CompactFlash card that allows images and video files to be backed up instantly using RAID-style 'mirroring'. In mirroring mode, the card effectively becomes two storage devices, and records images to both partitions simultaneously. As such, a 64GB card offers 32GB of actual storage space in mirroring mode.
Many professional DSLRs offer twin card slots to allow for backup storage (in case of hardware failure) but the new Wise CF Card Duo effectively manages this trick in a single CF card. This may appeal to photographers because a corrupted image means a bad screw up. But the two card system is better. If the card fails would not be rational to think that both partitions will also fail. This is after all not a mechanical device. We shall see.
In its standard mode, the card offers 60/50MB/sec read/write speed, which drops to 30/25MB/s in mirroring mode, making it suitable for recording still images and HD video in both modes. The card can be switched between standard and mirroring mode at will, although formatting is required after switching. The 'Wise CF Card Duo' will be released on June 14th in 64GB (32GB mirroring) capacity - price and availability still to be confirmed. So what else is new.
Japanese company Amulet is releasing a CompactFlash card that allows images and video files to be backed up instantly using RAID-style 'mirroring'. In mirroring mode, the card effectively becomes two storage devices, and records images to both partitions simultaneously. As such, a 64GB card offers 32GB of actual storage space in mirroring mode.
Many professional DSLRs offer twin card slots to allow for backup storage (in case of hardware failure) but the new Wise CF Card Duo effectively manages this trick in a single CF card. This may appeal to photographers because a corrupted image means a bad screw up. But the two card system is better. If the card fails would not be rational to think that both partitions will also fail. This is after all not a mechanical device. We shall see.
In its standard mode, the card offers 60/50MB/sec read/write speed, which drops to 30/25MB/s in mirroring mode, making it suitable for recording still images and HD video in both modes. The card can be switched between standard and mirroring mode at will, although formatting is required after switching. The 'Wise CF Card Duo' will be released on June 14th in 64GB (32GB mirroring) capacity - price and availability still to be confirmed. So what else is new.
Friday, May 31, 2013
With patience, you get the smile
Death be not proud....
We have stated many times in the past, professional cameras and professional photography are nearing death. In the sphere of photojournalism with all the phones and cameras always present, any event will be recorded in real time. There is no need for the pros. There's no need for the fancy show off cameras. I am surprises as how fast this is all happening. After all this is progress and it cannot be stopped. With all the money I can save on new and improves cameras I can take more trips and eat at better restaurants. The silver lining? You bet.
According to a report in the Chicago Tribune,
the Chicago Sun-Times has laid off its entire photography staff, and
plans to use freelance reporters and photographers in future to save
costs. The layoffs, which are believed to take effect immediately, were
announced to the 28-strong photo staff on Thursday morning. In a
statement issued by the paper, it suggested that the move was in
response to a demand for 'more video content' from its audience.
The Sun-Times is the oldest continuously-published newspaper in
Chicago's history, and began life in 1844 as the Chicago Evening
Journal. It has won numerous awards, including eight Pulitzer prizes,
two of which were for photography. One of those Pulitzers was won by
photographer John H. White in 1982; he is believed to be among the
full-time staff members who lost their jobs today.
We spoke to Dean Rutz - a staff photographer for the Seattle Times about today's news. Dean is from Chicago, where his father was an executive at the Tribune. Here's what he had to say:
Chicago Sun-Times lays off entire photo staff: switches to freelancers
May 30, 2013
Statement from Chicago Sun-Times
"The Sun-Times business is changing
rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content
with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and
are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and
other multimedia elements. The Chicago Sun-Times continues to evolve
with our digitally savvy customers, and as a result, we have had to
restructure the way we manage multimedia, including photography, across
the network."
The Sun-Times is Chicago's oldest continuously-published newspaper. Today, the paper laid off its entire 28 person-strong photo staff. |
We spoke to Dean Rutz - a staff photographer for the Seattle Times about today's news. Dean is from Chicago, where his father was an executive at the Tribune. Here's what he had to say:
'It's incredibly disheartening to
read news like this. And it's incredibly short-sighted. The Washington
Times and Newsday did the same thing, and it didn't work out too well
for either. It's a terrible overreach by executives who don't appear to
understand their own product. They haven't connected the dots on how
this affects their product. It's a reactionary cost-savings measure that
ends up creating other costs and problems they haven't considered. It
denigrates the product, and they'll recognize that in very short order.'
[...] Newspapers that see photo
departments as service organizations - meaning pictures are an
accompaniment to a story, versus something that stands on its own - see
that service as something that can be provided by anyone.'
[...] they don't understand the soul
these guys brought to the printed page - and that's what's about to
happen to the Sun-Times: the soul is going to be cut right out of it.
The personality of this very vibrant city is going to be lost on the
printed page. Those images that gave it character and presence and heart
and emotion will be replaced by something less [...]. There's a price
to be paid for that. It's just a question of when they feel it.'
Pure BS. The photos may actually be better, Not as contrived.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
They are now in season
The clematis are now in season. They do not last long but they put on a great show. These were shot with the Canon 5-D.
Another milestone for Canon
Back in the days, it used to be all Nikon if you were a pro. Things changed when the EOS mount was introduced and Canon began its ascendancy.
Canon just produced their 90-milionth EF-series lens
Canon has seen several milestones since they began production of their EOS film SLRs back in 1987, and on May 23rd, they achieved yet another. While producing EF 24-70mm F/2.8L II USM lenses that day, Canon surpassed the 90 million mark for their entire EF-series of lenses. If you remember, just this past August they were celebrating the creation of their 80-millionth EF lens. 10 million new lenses in just 9 months is pretty amazing, so we can see why Canon is so proud of this accomplishment. The bad news was that all the old and great canon FL and FD lenses became obsolete. Nikon never did that. I can use really old Nikkors on my latest Nikon DSLR's.Wednesday, May 29, 2013
La campagna toscana
The Tuscan countryside is full of colors that are emphasized by the bright sun. These shots have been posted before but they are worth a second look. They were shot back in April of 2007 with the Nikon D-200.
Can this be it?
Leica has been teasing us with the hint that a mini M will be released on June 11. Can this be the one? To bea true M, it must have a viewfnder. Leica M stands for 'Messsucher', which is German for "rangefinder."
Go figure. It may sport an EVF made by Panasonic but with a Leica brand name that doubles it's price.
Go figure. It may sport an EVF made by Panasonic but with a Leica brand name that doubles it's price.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Where are all the people?
These photos shot in a beautiful April afternoon in downtown Philadelphia show a wonderful civic center but for a New Yorker used to see throngs of people it left me cold. I just love the crowds, the noise, the energy that the multitudes produce. I know; it's just my personal preference.
Monday, May 27, 2013
The perils of a super wide zoom
These shots of Piazza San Marco in Venice were made with a Sigma 12-24 mm zoom on the 1.5 X factor sensor of the Nikon D-200 that resulted in an actual wide angle of 18 mm. Still pretty wide but not as problematic as a real 12mm on a FF sensor like the Nikon D 700 or on any regular 35mm SLR. I did play with some perspective control on Photo Shop but just slightly as it can get very messy real soon if this tool is not used carefully. The best thing is to be careful when shooting the original image.
One from the back yard
Shot with the Panasonic DMC-GX1 and a Nikkor 24mm F 1:2.8 at F 8. The versatility of this camera is amazing.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
A few from Lucca
I have posted images from this lovely Tuscan walled city before and I keep finding more interesting things to post.
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These shots were As I go through my old cd's to re burn them, I keep fingid many great shots with the S1. It always amazes me what that ...
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There was something right about the skin tones of the D 1-X. Only the Fuji S2-Pro did better. The Nikkor 35-135 F 3.5-4.5 was used.
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Yes indeed, old photos from Sicily. I will be posting new ones very soon. The above photos were shot with Tri-X and with the Canon Ft and...