The Lens is Soft

Roger Cicala of LensRentals.com has posted an interesting article about lens copy variation and the effects of ever-increasing resolution of digital sensors used in today’s digital SLRs. The article links to some other good outside resources as well, such as Diglloyd.com, etc.

It’s an unfortunate element of assembling a good camera kit these days, but I think that in some cases users are too quick to blame image weakness on camera gear (see almost any photography forum). Sure the gear plays a huge role in image quality, but not more than user skills during capture, post-processing and printing. Of course we don’t want our gear to be the weak link. Roger’s article highlights some good points to consider when buying gear.

Peter Turnley: A Visual Interview

The Online Photographer has posted a visual-style interview with Peter Turnley. If you’re not familiar with Turnley’s work, he is a celebrated street and photojournalistic photographer responsible for many moving and inspiring images. The post includes several wonderful images by Turnley from the 1970s through 2009. It’s worth a look.

Peter’s website can be found here. I especially like the “Parisians” portfolio set.

Charis Wilson, Edward Weston’s Model and Muse, Dies at 95

Edward Weston’s model, and later partner, Charis Wilson, has passed away at the age of 95 in Santa Cruz, California. A wonderful biography of their relationship is available in the documentary video The Eloquent Nude. The New York Times has posted a story today.

“No Hands” Bridge On the American River

My home in Auburn, California is near the American River. Within walking distance of the confluence of the north and middle forks of the river are four bridges: the Foresthill Bridge, which has been used by base-jumpers because of it’s great height, and was featured in the action movie xXx; the locally-known “U-shaped” bridge; the Highway 49 bridge; and this old railway bridge called the “No Hands” bridge pictured below. This bridge was built in 1912 and at the time was the longest of its type (a concrete arch bridge) in the world, and the first of this type built in North America. The rails were removed for the steel during World War II. Today the bridge is used only by hikers, trail runners, and horseback riders. Here’s a link to a bit of historical information on the charming and durable old bridge.

I photographed the bridge in 2005 to produce a black and white image and have wanted to revisit the spot for a color image when the light and skies were more interesting for color photography – and I wanted to shoot it with Phase One/Mamiya medium format equipment. About a week ago we had a day with potential for better light and skies for such a shot. So I headed to the river in the late afternoon, set up to shoot, and waited until the sun had nearly fully set. The view of the bridge and the interesting lines and shapes of the water-polished serpentine make it a pleasant place to hang-out while waiting for the light.

Bird

Bird is a collection of wonderful images by photographer, Andrew Zuckerman, and a production group. The minimalist-style site is well done, with fantastic images of several bird species (more than one image of most) as well as the vocal sounds of many. There are some videos to watch as well, including the worthwhile “Behind the Scenes” video. These are shots of birds in captivity rather than in the wild, but their presentation on white is rather different than I’ve seen elsewhere. Included is also information about the bird species as well. See the site here.

How Well Do We See Color?

Online Color Challenge:

FACT: 1 out of 255 women and 1 out of 12 men have some form of color vision deficiency. Take the online color challenge, based on the official FM100 Hue Test by X-Rite.”

X-Rite has a fun color vision test based on the FM100 Hue Test. Take the challenge here.

Phase One Releases Capture One Pro: Verson 5

Capture One Pro is arguably one of the best RAW image processors available, and today Phase One has released a major update: Capture One 5. Capture One supports not only Phase One’s medium format backs (for free) but also many other camera makes and models for the none-too-cheap price of US$399 (€299). Capture One is not known for its workflow or library features, though many pro users do prefer it’s workflow to others such as Adobe Lightroom or Bridge, etc., it’s generally recognized for its RAW file conversion quality and tethered shooting features. Some features in Capture One are remarkably simple and clean to use, while others can be a little confusing, but the output from this software is typically among the best for many camera models.

You may have to wait for the smoke to clear a bit, as the Phase One servers are a little choked today.

Jane Bown: The Eyes Have It

This is a good article on iconic photojournalist/portrait photographer Jane Bown: The Eyes Have It. She has photographed some of the great personalities of much of the last century and is said to be continuing to do the same in this one, at the age of 80. With a remarkably simple kit, and with a special attitude and talent, she gets her shot, typically in just a few frames. No fancy-schmancy digital gear, no entourage, just remarkable images. Watch the video for a very interesting narrative by the photographer.

From Nixon to the Beatles, Bette Davis to U2… Over the past 60 years, The Observer’s Jane Bown has photographed many of the world’s greatest personalities. On the eve of her retrospective, she talks to Robin McKie about her life’s work.”

Check out the article and video here.

Adobe Releases Lightroom 3 Beta

Adobe has released for imediate download, Lightroom 3 public beta. It is expected that the version update will ship in April of 2010, but this beta will give users a taste of what’s to come. According to reports, Adobe is reworking the RAW conversion engine, which is good news for Lightroom users. Image Quality of RAW conversions is probably the single most frequent complaint of Lightroom… well, maybe second to the lack of softproofing. Adobe has tweaked the print tools in this beta version 3, so it is hoped that Adobe will surprise users with softproofing capabilities in the shipping version next spring. Alas, the beta doesn’t have a softproofing feature. “State-of-the-art noise reduction” is listed as one of the updated features, which should help to wrangle those high ISO images if one doesn’t wish to use a third-party noise reduction tool such as NIK Dfine or Noise Ninja.

You can download the Lightroom 3 beta here. It’s a free download. There’s a “First Look” preview of the beta at The Luminous Landscape, in which Michael Reichmann sheds some light on the upcoming version features.

I’m not a Lightroom user, but I’m happy to see this version upgrade coming for those who are. Users of the beta can provide feedback to Adobe via the Lightroom forums.

It’s a Small World: Nikon Photomicroscopy Competition

Nikon has sponsored a photomicroscopy competition each year for the past 35 years. The entries are judged on both scientific and artistic qualities. This year’s winners can be viewed here.

Photomicroscopy is photography of microscopic subjects using cameras attached to microscopes or similar devices. Nikon is one of the preferred brands of microscopes for such photography because of the quality optics and the rigidity of certain models. Other quality brands include Leica Microsystems and Olympus. Isolation from vibrations is of paramount concern for this type of photography. I have two Leica MZ12 stereo microscopes and lots of fiber optic lighting equipment. I need to dust off my camera adapters (they’re not really dusty, just in storage) and try this subject again. I have never gotten the quality of the results shown by most of the samples in the Nikon competition. I’ve not been able to isolate my microscopes from vibration in their current locations. Maybe this winter I’ll give it another try.

Some of the images in the winning and finalist sets are amazing. Take a look.

Canon Unveils New Series One Camera: EOS-1D Mark IV

For some time now there have been rumors of the new model 1D Mark IV and its sibling, the 1Ds Mark IV, but today Canon have officially announced the new EOS-1D Mark IV digital camera body. With impressive specs, this APS-H sensor body (1.3x crop factor over full-frame 35mm) boasts approximately 10 frames per second; 45 auto-focus points with 39 cross-type, and any one of them can be selected manually; Digic 4 processor; full-HD movie capability; and a huge ISO range. Check out the specs on Canon’s site for the whole skinny.

The Imaging Resource has posted some details which explain some of the features as well. And the Canon press release is available here.

This adds interest to the anticipated update of the EOS-1Ds Mark IV, Canon’s flagship model. The Canon EOS-1D Mark IV goes on sale from late December, 2009.

Inventors of the CCD Image Sensor Awarded Nobel Prize

It was announced today that the co-inventors of the CCD image sensor technology were awarded a share in the 2009 Nobel Prize for Physics. Williard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, of Bell Labratories, U.S.A., are the inventors of the technology that has contributed to so many fields including medicine, research, photography and even the success of on-line social networks by giving us a way to capture images digitally. The announcement, as published on DPreview, includes a photo of the inventors with their early camera.

The South Fork of the Yuba River

Last week I needed a break from the drudgery of office work, computer coding, file sorting and the like. The weather was beautiful, but not what I would call “photography weather”, still, anything would be better than what I was doing. So, at around 3:30 p.m. or so we (my wife, Chris and I) went for a drive “up the hill” for a change of scenery and to stretch our legs, clear my head, and exercise the Mamiya camera a bit. These shots were taken on the south fork of the Yuba River, about 45 miles (72 km) from my home, so it’s a pretty easy drive. I waited for the light to soften as evening approached even though the light was rather flat, but the distraction from work back home was really enjoyable. We poked around the area until it was too dark to shoot, including a few exposures lasting around 15 seconds. Regardless of photographic outcome, I need to make more of these impromptu outings.

Normandy 1944: Then and Now

This is a wonderful series of 204 images, depicting scenes alternating between 1944 wartime conditions and present day. The contrast is fascinating, as well as humbling.

It’s surprising to me how little things had changed in the 65 years. Most streets and buildings remained more or less the same and were refurbished, rather than being removed and redeveloped multiple times over that period.

Phase One Announces New Medium Format Camera Body

Phase One has announced a new camera body, the 645DF, which accepts their medium format digital backs and Mamiya-mount lenses. The development of this camera body has been rumored, and then leaked, but timing of an official announcement and it’s ship dates have been unknown. I’m anxious to see what improvements over the predecessor, the Phase One/Mamiya AFD III, are designed into this new body.

During the same press release, Phase One has also announced a cooperative collaboration arrangement with Schneider Kreuznach (of “Schneider Optics” fame) and Mamiya Digital Imaging, Ltd. Phase One is said to be a majority stakeholder in Mamiya since late last year. This collaboration is expected to contribute to the development of more quality optics for the Phase One/Mamiya cameras.

Of special interest to pros shooting with strobes is the additional announcement of the long-awaited leaf shutter lenses for the Phase One/Mamiya system – a result of the above mentioned collaboration. These new lenses with the new body will provide a sync speed of 1/1600th of a second – the highest in the industry. Focal lengths are 55mm, 80mm and 110mm. The new lenses are expected to ship in the fourth quarter of this year and can be ordered now.