Photographic Ennui.

 It's been one of those days. Promised checks that remain elusive, phone calls unanswered, plans in a state of uncertainty. There is a weight that comes upon you gradually as you move through the business of photography. It's the inertia of the boulder that keeps rolling down the mountain.

The real contest is to generate enough optimism and energy to wake up every day and push the boulder back up the mountain.

"The struggle itself [...] is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy."  Albert Camus

From The Myth of Sisyphus  -Albert Camus.

Another blow to the survival of film...

I just saw a press release from FujiFilm that says they have decided to stop making movie film. They state that they will still make film for still photography. For now. I guess it was inevitable. Kodak and Fuji are not charities.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/fujifilm-ends-cinema-production/

But if you are anxious to jump in and shoot till the very last roll is gone you might be interested in this:

http://www.petapixel.com/2012/09/13/rolleiflex-still-happily-making-analog-tlr-cameras-fx-n-to-debut-at-photokina/

Olympus Announce a new Pen, A new Compact and several new lenses. It's official.

Let's start out with the camera that many, many frugal yet demanding Olympus fans have been waiting for since the introduction of the OMD EM-5, the PEN version.

The Olympus EPL-5

All of the information in this particular blog comes directly from a press release issued by Olympus USA.  All images and information are used with the permission of Olympus.

Let's cut right to the chase: The new Olympus Pen OMD EPL-5 uses exactly same sensor and is said to deliver exactly the same image quality as the recent, blockbuster OMD EM5 camera. That alone should drive sales of this camera like nothing else. The maximum ISO setting is an amazing 25,600. Most of us will be quite happy to shoot at 3200 ISO and get the kind of low noise performance we've seen in the flagship model. To focus at the scary edges of darkness the camera is bundled with an AF illuminator and accessory FL-LM1 flash, which will add to the low light performance.

This camera has a few other cool upgrades in addition to the sensor performance. Of course it uses a touch screen and the same instantaneous shutter triggering Touch AF Shutter function technology we've already seen. At to this a more than 2X increase in frame rate of 8fps in Single AF mode.  The screen on the back is a 460,000 dot LCD and has an Anti-Fingerprint coating. According to the press release the screen is bright enough to allow composing even in harsh, midday light. (I wonder if the light in a Texas Summer counts...).

The camera allows for shooting in 1080i, full HD and includes two cool things. 1. A movie teleconverter that magnifies the image up to 4x with NO image deterioration (make sense since the actual sensor is 8X the number of dots one ends up with in 2K video).  And, 2. There is a fade effect that allows one to transition between art filters without having to stop or pause shooting.

There's some nonsense about being able to share images on your (anti) social networks wirelessly but I ignored most of that paragraph since the concept is only of interest to died in the wool hipsters...

The estimated street price is $650 and the folks at Olympus indicated that the camera will start shipping in October.  Check over at DPReview for a complete page of specifications.

My short list of specs is:

-16 megapixel super sensor, ala OMD EM5. Very, very cool.
-Improved video functionality.
-very fast 8 fps performance in S-AF
-Fast action touch shutter on the touch screen.
-Usable with the (almost mandatory) VF-2 EVF

Available, I'm sure, in all the usual colors.

If you were mostly interested in the OMD EM-5 for the low light performance and better dynamic range of its breakthrough Sony sensor here's a way to get exactly the same performance for about half the price----and in a form factor that people seem to like very well.

click on any of these to enlarge.

BUT THERE'S MORE.  MUCH, MUCH MORE.

Olympus also upgraded their mini Pen camera. The new offering is small, cute and potent. They are calling it the Olympus PEN E-PM2.

Pen E-PM2

I'm not going to go into too much detail about this camera since I think the majority of my readers are interested in cameras that are aimed more at hobbyists and professionals but this one also has the Promethean sensor of the micro gods; the OMD EM5 sensor and, according to Olympus has the exact same image quality of its bigger and more expensive brethren. Not only that but it's also the only one available in this delightful red...  A you a real image quality purist? Not a camera snob? Maybe this one is for you....

But wait, there's more...

It wouldn't be a full on product introduction without another camera introduction. The designers in the compact camera bullpen at Olympus have repackaged and upgraded the Stylus XZ-1 and unveiled a new product called, the Stylus XZ-2 iHS which they say, "Takes the compact camera category to the E-Treme."  Right.

I could discuss this camera at length but it would be easier and more comprehensive if I just went ahead and copied the existing press release...

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., September 17, 2012 – Olympus pushes the compact digital camera to a new X-treme with the introduction of the Olympus STYLUS XZ-2, its game-changing, flagship high-performance point-and-shoot. The STYLUS XZ-2 is a hybrid that combines optical brilliance, the manual controls of a DSLR and the unbeatable convenience of a lightweight compact in a body every imaging enthusiast should love. Inheriting the 4x optical / 4x Digital zoom iZUIKO^® DIGITAL f1.8-2.5 large-diameter lens found on its predecessor, the award-winning Olympus XZ-1^®, the Olympus STYLUS XZ-2 builds on its low-light performance with new features: the world's first hybrid control ring, customizing controls so ambitious photographers easily capture the shot; a new fast, touch-sensitive tilt screen; the powerful TruePic VI image processor; Full HD movie recording and FlashAir^® compatibility to share images immediately on social networks.

The digital lens of the Olympus XZ-2 (iZUIKO f1.8-2.5 (28-112mm*), a 4x compact version of legendary ZUIKO Digital lenses, is designed for clear, high-quality photographic performance, whether set at its maximum f1.8 aperture for amazing wide-angle shots, or at f2.5 for 112mm* telephoto images. The result is expressive background defocusing and sophisticated bokeh, plus the flexibility to use short, blur-free exposure times in low light. The camera’s iHS technology and the large-aperture lens work together to deliver high-sensitivity, low noise and blazing auto-focus performance that translates to the highest image quality of any Olympus compact camera.

The newly developed 12.0 megapixel, 1/1.7" high-sensitivity back-lit CMOS sensor, working with the TruePic VI processor, the same processor used in the Olympus OM-D E-M5™ system camera, provides faster recovery time and shutter release to capture images with true-to-life colors, rich details and low noise. To complement the speed of the f1.8 lens, the camera’s low-light mode automatically adjusts the ISO sensitivity up to ISO 12,800 to take sharp, full-resolution photos in dim conditions, and an easily accessible built-in pop-up flash and AF illuminator brightens low-lit subjects, reduces red-eye and fills in dark areas.

The Olympus XZ-2 is equipped with the world's first hybrid control ring, built around the lens, which allows users to easily assign function settings to their preferences as well as switch between analog and digital operation of the ring. The digital operation provides a solid click on controls, whereas the analog operation offers a smooth, gliding feeling. When the Fn 2 lever next to the lens is placed downward, the ring around the lens switches to analog control so it can be used as a focus or a zoom ring. If the lever is placed at an angle, the ring around the lens switches to digital control to change exposure-related settings quickly and easily. This feature enables fine-tuning of the focus in macro, composition selection when shooting, and exposure adjustment all without looking away from subjects.

Basic operations and settings of the Olympus XZ-2, starting with touch controls and Live Guide, as well as a new graphic user interface will be familiar to Olympus PEN^® and OM-D shooters. Instantly activate the Touch AF Shutter function to select the subject you want to focus on and activate the shutter simply by touching the swivel 3.0 inch, 920,000 dot LCD screen. The XZ-2 design is enhanced with a removable grip that offers the option for a sleek style grip, and metal is used throughout the body for a strong and sharp look.

The Olympus STYLUS XZ-2 is packed with additional technologies including DUAL IS, which combines with high-sensitivity shooting to reduce camera shake and subject blur, providing double image stabilization. HDR backlit correction captures multiple images with a single shot at different exposures and automatically merges them into one image, and Super Resolution technology expands zoom power up to eight times with minimal image degradation. iAuto mode automatically identifies up to 30 different scenes. The XZ-2 also features 11 Art Filters and 5 Art Effects that easily bring artistic visions to life.

In addition to superior still image quality, the 1080p Full HD Movie capability with stereo sound captures movies in the best quality currently available in compact cameras. Multi-Motion Movie IS image stabilization corrects for the common gradual camera shake that occurs when shooting on the move, delivering more stable, higher-quality movies. Beautiful movies can be shot even longer with a 1920 x 1080 High-Definition size and MOV/H.264 movie compression that has an excellent compatibility with computers.

The Olympus XZ-2 is also designed to make sharing your amazing images even easier. Using the smartphone connection function, simply set up a compatible Toshiba FlashAir SDHC card with an internal wireless LAN to make a Wi-Fi connection. With the Olympus Image Share smartphone application (to be released in September), easy image upload onto a smartphone via a thumbnail index, adding Art Filters to images on a smartphone, and sharing images on various social networking services is possible.

A wide range of creative and practical accessories is available to adapt the Olympus XZ-2 for specific needs, including three alternative grips in a variety of colors (red, beige and purple), a body jacket and underwater housing. There’s also a sleek, matching black LC-63A lens cap that opens and closes automatically whenever you activate the camera. To expand the camera’s versatility, the XZ-2 includes an accessory port for compatibility with a growing range of Micro Four Thirds^® accessories.

*35mm equivalent.

I am so happy they added a grip to this camera as it the thin body is different enough to me to confuse my fingers when I first started using the XZ-1...

I'm sure you're exhausted by this point but we haven't even touched on the new lenses.  Yes, new lenses!

Going through by increasing focal length, there are some interesting new lenses for the Olympus Pen (and all other m4:3 standard) cameras. First off is just a cosmetic change. You can now get the very well respected 12mm f2.0 wide angle lens in......black. You'll pay more money for the privilege. The estimated street price is $1100. And while it's a very good lens that puts it into the same pricing territory as Panasonic's very, very good 7-14mm zoom lens.  But then again, I guess a large part of the fun is in the selection process.  Moving on....

The "Body Cap."

Olympus is calling this one "the Body Cap" and I think it's fun and intriguing. It's a 15mm, three element, f8 lens (30mm eq. on 35mm FF). The actual designation is the BCL-15 f8.0 Body Cap Lens.  The lens is just 9mm thick and it's meant to be left on the body whenever you're just tooling around or when you've got the camera stuffed inside of some pocket or a boot or a sock.

It's basically a lens that's always in focus due to it's small aperture and short focal length. It actually seems like a perfect snapshot lens.  It can be manually focused and will focus down to 30cm's.  "A lens-protection barrier is provided  so the lens can be mounted permanently on the camera and even put in a pocket together with a camera."  No street price was given in the press release but it's sure to become a cult favorite among Lomo-ists who secretly crave a camera with more control and an infinitely better sensor...... See below for a camera mounted view of the lens.

Camera with "Body Cap."

Now here's a serious and covetable lens. The 17mm f 1.8.

But here's a lust prevention warning: The above lens is "in development" and will be available in the first half of 2013. Bummer. This is the lens that everyone I know wants right now.

When it hits the market it will be the 35mm 1.8 equivalent to get. This len on an EPL-5 camera body will be a wonderful street shooting combo, as long as they have the brains to also make it available in a nice, black finish.....

Personally? All lenses should be black. A VSL study shows that images from black lenses are 0.3275 more interesting than images from all other lens finishes.

And Finally.  The last of the Olympus introductions for Now....

Yes. It's a 60 mm f2.8 true macro. 

It's dust proof and splash proof. 

And knowing Olympus it's really, really sharp.

Since I haven't played with it anything I say about it would be total conjecture. I like using my older 60mm on the Pen cameras. It's a nice focal length. While not nearly as fast as the original Pen 60mm 1.5 I am sure this macro will be decades sharper.  We'll see. I'm sure I'll have one to test as soon as they come out.  In the meantime here's what Olympus says about it in their press release:

"""CENTER VALLEY, Pa., September 17, 2012 – Today, Olympus adds to the Micro Four Thirds family of  lenses with the release of the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm* f2.8 Macro lens, a single focal-length macro lens with a dust-splash-proof body that’s ideal for harsh weather conditions. Also joining the expansive list of Olympus^® lenses is a limited edition black version of the popular M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12mm f2.0 high-grade snapshot lens and an M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 17mm f1.8 high-grade lens currently under development.

The M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 lens features excellent close-up capability with 1X** magnification and a focusing distance of 19cm. Its dust-and-splash-proof construction enables the user to shoot macro images in a wide range of conditions, including in the rain or near the water, in addition to traditional landscape and portrait photography.

To ensure the best possible imaging quality, 13 lens elements are incorporated in 10 groups of lenses within the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 with extensive use of special glass materials such as ED (Extra-low Dispersion), HR (High Refractive index) and E-HR (Extra-High Refractive index) elements to completely eliminate the chromatic aberrations often noticeable with telephoto macro lenses. This optical design ensures consistently clear, sharp, high-contrast imaging performance.

Ideal for capturing brilliant still images and high-definition (HD) videos, the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 employs an Olympus developed MSC (Movie & Still Compatible) autofocusing mechanism that features an inner focus system to drive quick and quiet focusing. A shooting distance and magnification indicator window enhance macro shooting control and precision.

A focus limit switch sets the focusing range to enable faster focusing. Three modes are available, including close-up (focusing distance between 19 and 40 cm), normal (focusing distance from 19 cm to infinity) and far view (focusing distance from 40 cm to infinity). The 1:1 mode shifts focusing to 1:1 with one-touch operation. Simply setting the mode according to the application makes it easy for users to shoot quickly and comfortably with various shooting styles and at a range of distances.

The optional LH-49 Lens Hood designed exclusively for the M.ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 60mm f2.8 blocks harmful rays of light and can be safely stored without detaching it from the lens. The lens eliminates the hassle of attaching and detaching the hood before and after every shooting session, but also providing effective protection for the lens body. The FR-2 Macro Ring enables compatibility with the RF-11 Ring Flash and the STF-22 Twin Flash Set."""

kirk's final notes.

I think Olympus will have great market success with the EPL-5. What's not to like about it? Fast, amazing image quality, small and light, usable with a mountain of lenses and who can forget those amazing colors in the jpegs?

The 60 macro will end up in just about every OMD EM5 user's bag since it's most probably going to be a great optic and it is one of the few weather resistant lenses in the line.

I hope the Body Cap Lens is cheap enough to be an impulse purchase and I'm sure someone will create a style around the look. If it's priced over $125 I'll be amazed...and amused.  Even more so if people flock to buy it.

Looks like a well done introduction. Now all we have left is to sit back and wait for the ultra-professional Pen body, the EP-5 to hit the market.  The right form factor and this time with the right sensor. When they've done that Olympus will have maximized the value of the m4:3 proposition. Well done.

One of those rainy, sunday afternoon walks around downtown. Camera in hand.

It was a wonderful week for the lawns and lakes and bushes and flowers of central Texas. It rained long and hard on Thurs. and it's been raining a nice, steady, drippy rain all day today. The streams, just weeks ago dry from the drought, were roaring and filled. Shoal Creek was deep and fast as it ran toward Lady Bird Lake. 

Even though it was raining steadily I just couldn't bear to stay inside and wile away the time working on this or that. Some irrelevant errata of photography or the mind numbing business of business. I grabbed a sweatshirt because it was our first day in months and months to be under seventy degrees. I grabbed the small, collapsible umbrella I bought the last time I was in Italy, and I grabbed the most eager and anxious to please camera in my collection, covered it with a neoprene case and headed out.

My first stop was to Whole Foods for a sybaritic snack of coffee (decaf, of course) and a vegan, raspberry filled, jelly donut. I had ulterior motives as I'd seen a delivery of pumpkins there earlier in the week. At the time the sun was up and bald and the light held no mystery whatsoever. Today was a different story. The blue-ish pumpkins let the light wrap around them like they were in league with a DP on the set of some kind of Tim Burton movie.

I was shooting today with a Sony a57. I'd given my first a57 to Ben for his use in this year's ongoing cinema class and I missed the camera so I bought another one yesterday and I put a 50mm SAM DT 1.8 Sony lens on the front and I haven't taken it off since. I also bought a Hoodman ruggedized 16 Gb SD memory card. Don't know why but it looked cool on the rack and  it seemed like it wanted to come along with the camera. I don't know if it's any better than the Transcend SD cards I've been using but it seemed like a fairly harmless (though more expensive) indulgence.

I spent 15 minutes with the blue pumpkins and now I have a wonderful collection of them.  So with my pleasurable merienda and my warm up photography complete I set off toward a gray and quiet downtown. The streets were slick and shiny. The crowds were staying indoors, watching football, napping, reading novels or locked in endless multiple player online games. The light was vague and milky.  

I walked for about an hour, the rain a constant soft stoccato on my umbrella, the neoprene case dangling from its tether, my right hand wrapped around the camera body.

I walked past restaurants with their big umbrellas folded and anchored against the weather. I saw gloomy college students nestled in for the afternoon with their little computers at little tables all around my favorite coffee house, and I saw harried parents dragging their over-bundled small children toward the Children's Museum, intent on providing some sanctioned entertainment.

On the way back to my car I walked by an anonymous condominium project and I remembered seeing the white and blue glass in the beds earlier in the Summer, in lieu of mulch, and I changed my course to go by and see how they'd fared.  The little red flowers against the crispy blue background was my reward.

I came home and poured myself a cup of tea, settled into the leather chair in front of my small, laptop computer and proceeded to write this to tell you what I did today in order to relax and keep at bay the routine of my regular business.

Tonight we'll eat crostinis and green soup. Goat cheese and kalamata olives or fresh tomatoes. After dinner we'll all take the dog for a walk and we'll turn in early. Everything starts all over again tomorrow and it begins with the 6:15 am drive to Ben's cross country practice. 

I'll have a blog entry up in the morning with some Olympus announcements. I hope your Sunday afternoon was as quiet and peaceful as mine.

Croissant and Female Hand.

from the bakery series. Croissant and Female Hand.

Rolleiflex 6008i

150mm Lens.

film: Agfapan APX 25

lighting: Profoto

Why: Just for fun.

Bravo. DP Review finally reviewed one of the best values in a DSLR. Or should I say DSLT?....it's a Sony.

I know I can sound like a broken record when I get all infatuated with a camera but today I'm reprising my assessments of the Sony a57 only to commemorate the day that DP Review finally got around to recognizing what a very good camera this one is for well under $800...with a lens.

DPreviews assessment of high ISO performance, handling and image quality is so close to what I wrote many months ago that they could have just directed their readers to the series of experiential reviews I wrote and saved themselves the time and money. :-)

In case you missed the Visual Science Lab rambling reviews of this camera you can find them at these links:

http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/05/sony-a57-goes-to-school.html

http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/04/preliminary-tests-of-sony-a57-walk.html

http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/05/dividing-estate-play-by-stephen-dietz.html

http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/07/did-i-mention-that-i-really-like-50mm.html

http://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2012/04/how-many-ways-to-rationalize-camera.html

Verbose and in-depth.  That's the way we do it here.  But we also get to the really important cameras first... (tongue in cheek, implied).

So, skip Photokina and just pick up an a57....

Untitled still from a recent photo assignment.

Taken on location with a Sony a77 camera and a medium range zoom lens.

Lit with an enormous, diffused umbrella, powered by a Profoto 600B acute flash system. 

I posted this because I liked the light and wanted to remind myself to stop using too much fill.

practice might not make perfect but it sure makes for a joyous and fluid rendition.

This is pianist, Anton Nell, on the new stage at Zach Scott.

This post is the 1,200th blog post written by me on The Visual Science Lab. I've been sharing my thoughts about life and photography here since 2009. I plan to continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Some of you are new to the site and some of you have been visiting regularly since nearly the beginning. I thought I'd catch up and let you know, at this milestone, what I've learned, what I want to learn and where I think photography, in general, is going.

First of all here is a recent image of your host and writer, Kirk Tuck:

It was taken in robot mode with one of my Sony a77 cameras set to smile detection.  Honest.  You can set these cameras to recognize when your subject smiles and then shot a frame. Or a ton of frames.  Just keep smiling and then frowning and the camera will keep blasting away. All silly business all the time...

While the photo business has been challenging over the last three years 2012 is finally feeling stable and, in my market, seems to be returning to a more natural rhythm of more and more assignments with less down time in between.  In the last month or so we've had good, substantial assignments from healthcare, technology, publishing and hospitality clients. I have my fingers crossed that we'll return to the smoother and more profitable times we enjoyed before the big bust hit in late 2008.

The business has changed. More and more stuff may be going to the web and in that arena the competition is fairly brisk but contrary to the predictions of the experts there is a growing resurgence in print production and direct mail and what this means it that images that will be sloshed large on nice paper, with good ink, have to meet certain quality standards and color reference standards that have all but left the curriculum studied by many newcomers to the market. We're seeing an  uptick in requests for images that will go on trade show displays as well as in nice brochures and, for the first time in three or four years we're seeing lots of demand for images that have to be lit well. Really well.

I'm happy everyone has run off and done the off camera, battery flash thing to the exclusion of all traditional lighting because it means clients will pay for stuff that needs to be lit up with large, +1000 watt second studio flashes firing into big softboxes and then massaged by light sucking modifiers and what not.  I did a job yesterday and in the old times it would have been considered a very straightforward thing: Make a photo of a group of 25 business people in an interior location. 

Last year the photographer the group hired showed up with a shoe mount flash and a belief that ISO 3200 solves all problems. One bounced flash off grey acoustic tiles on a 24 foot ceiling isn't quite the same look as 3,000 watt seconds of state of the art flash gear banging through three Chimera Lanterns, each hanging up over carefully designed groupings to make a dynamic shot. Cutters to keep reflections off back walls and nets to tone down foregrounds in pre-post-production (actual) shooting.  The results? Ecstatic clients with big time budgets.

I'm feeling a pendular swing back to more production and away from "good enough." I think that means companies have money again and they are starting to lose the fear of investing it on their brands.

But the change also means that more and more clients are really asking for video content.  Interviews, product demos, stuff to stick on the web, stuff to play in meetings and presentations, and all the rest. I enjoy delivering the content but I enjoy even more working in collaboration with good editors who can and want to take care of the back end.  This probably explains my current attraction to the Sony cameras I've been using, the a77's. They may not be as good as a $10,000 production video camera but for a hybrid tool they are pretty darn good.  And if, going forward, half of my billings are coming from leading clients through simple but very well lit and well crafted interviews then when choosing my shooting cameras I'll be weighting more and more of the buying decisions around not only their ultimate image quality but also their ability to help me make profitable motion content for already happy clients. If I were a hobbyist I would not give a crap about the video potential of a camera but as a working stiff I can't see how it helps me to be a purist and turn down synergistic and good paying work, just because the images move and people talk.

From a hobby point of view (and yes, I still consider photography my hobby as well as my vocation...) I see the gear getting more and more interesting now that companies have figured out how to make most stuff work well.  But I am unsettled by one trend that I think plays against our enjoyment of the work as art and that's the scarcity of opportunities to come together and share work face to face.  I'll admit it, I like shows of prints.  The bigger the better. And I want a chance to meet the artist.

Sure, we can put stuff up on Flickr and Google+ and just about anywhere else but that's hardly a serious venue for serious efforts. And so many in your hoped for audience are looking at the images you sweated bullets to get on little cell phone screens and iPads and older laptops. It doesn't do justice to most people's vision. And this kind of virtual sharing is so disconnected. So ephemeral.

What I'd love to see in every city and in as many neighborhoods as possible would be venues where interested artists could stage actual, real, physical shows and invite friends, family, colleagues and competitors to experience your work just as you intended it to be seen.  A while ago I did a show of prints from my favorite black and white negatives from Rome. As you probably know if you've been reading the blog for while I shot most of the images on medium format films.  One of the benefits of doing that is you can scale up prints to really large sizes without losing the integrity of your photographs. My show was in a small venue. A restaurant owned by a dear friend. We covered the walls with thirty by thirty inch images, surrounded by ample white mats in 48 by 48 inch black frames.

The images were big and crisp. I hand painted on some of them. I made patterns around the edges of others with oil paints and other media. You could get up close. We served good wine at the opening and made appetizers like bacon wrapped scallops and prosciutto wrapped melon. We did rustic pizzas. The party/opening attracted 250+ people over the course of a four hour evening and everyone paid at least glancing homage to the large prints around them.

More of that should happen. Not just for me but for everyone with a passion to make photographic work. The commitment of doing the show pushes you as an artists and the chance to come see someone else's work, made large, helps you bust out of some self imposed boundaries and opens your perspectives about what is possible and what is fun.

I highly recommend shows and a good way to stick your toes into the water is to put together a group show where everyone has the opportunity to put in up to three cohesive pieces and to share the cost of invitations, food and other gallery goodies.

When I'm not shooting and writing I am swimming and eating.  The eating is boring to read about but fun to do. Ditto with the swimming.  I have a set of swimming goals.  I have someone in my age group that I want to beat in a 50 meter butterfly race in October.  I want to keep improving my times and my skills but in the end I really just want to stay as fit as I can so I can beat my 25 year old assistants up the stairs with a case of photographic gear in both hands.

As we live through an interesting Photokina month it's important to remember that when I write about equipment that's coming out of Cologne and onto the web I'm doing it out of fascination not out of some misguided belief that we should own all of this stuff or use it all.  No one who is shooting with a currently good Nikon or Sony camera really needs to run out and replace it with the newest toy (unless they want to).  So when you read stuff about new products here don't get all bent out of shape and think you have to defend your personal choices.  There's so much good stuff on the market already just about any choice you make will be a good one. It's okay to marvel at innovation and progress.

But the most important thing for an artist it to practice and play all the time, just like pianist, Anton Nell.  Doesn't matter what piano he practices on what matters is that he practices. And the practice makes music.  And the music makes joy.  And it's no different for photographers.

I may want a Sony a99 but there's not much I can't already to with an a77.  Either way I go I'll still need to practice.

The bottom line is that I want to be a better photographer. Not a better technician but someone who can see clearly what it is they want to say.

Laughing it up on Second Street.

Just wanted to see a person instead of a camera staring at me from the top of my blog page... KT

Sony RX1 Brings Back the Compact HiQ Camera we Loved in the 1970's. Only better?

Sony RX1

Do you remember the Canonet Rangefinder cameras from the 1970's? Gorgeous little metal machines with just enough control to make you feel like you were in charge. Small and unassuming but fitted with a great, single focal length lens that had some speed to it. I loved my Canonet III QL 17 as much as some of my friends loved their Olympus RD's. The cameras uniformly had leaf shutters which meant we could sync flash up to their highest speeds. They had real, live hot shoes and they were rugged enough to bang around in the basket of a bike or in the pockets of an old, faded, green army field jacket.

You'd whip the camera to your eye, fast focus the bright line rangefinder and fire away knowing that your Tri-X film would look good and sharp and that it would take care of you if your exposure was just a bit off.

In the same time frame we also had those little jewels from Rollei called the Rollei 35S. No rangefinder but wonderfully small (but full frame) bodies coupled with "guess focus" Zeiss designed 40mm Sonnar lenses of extremely high sharpness. Full out quality in a shirt pocket (the lenses were collapsible).

The two attributes that most of these cameras shared were these: 1. They were beautifully designed for quick and intimate shooting. 2. They had permanently attached lenses that were a great complement to the bodies. Really sharp, well designed lenses.

I wasn't paying attention when Sony announced the RX1. I was too busy waiting to see what was going to finally be introduced in the DSLT space (the a99) and the Nex space (the Nex 6 and some lenses). I finally took a deep breath and stood up and looked around.

My first glance at the RX1 made me think that Sony had dropped the ball on this camera.  I liked the look of the basic body configuration and I really liked the lens choice but I was kinda bummed because I didn't see any mention of an EVF and I refuse to part with more money than I paid for my first car to have a camera that I'd be restricted to using in the "stinky-baby-diaper-clueless-hipster" hold.  "Minus one for Sony and plus one for my aching checking account." I mused.

Today I saw three things that changed my mind and made me nostalgic for the kind of camera I started out with (the Canonet G III QL-17).  The first was an image of the RX1 made with a dedicated 35mm bright line finder in the hot shoe. I'd relegated bright line finders to yesteryear rangefinder cameras even though I'd always loved them.  Then I saw that the RX1 could be used with the EVF that was originally introduced for the Nex 5R.  And that the EVF (an outstanding EVF to boot) was available in matching black. Finally, I started researching the sensor which, according to early appraisals by people who've talked extensively with Sony, is shaping up to be one of, or perhaps even the best full frame sensor made for the consumer market to date.  And the same one that will be delivered in the Sony a99.  Now Sony has my attention.

I'm anxious to play with one.  Not sure I'll buy one since I'm committed to the a99 in the short term but it certainly captured my mindshare.

After seeing the Sony a99 introduction specs, the new full frame interchangeable lens camcorder with the same a99 full frame sensor (for around $3K=amazing), having shot extensively with the a77 and really, really enjoying the Nex 7 camera I think I'm starting to see a fun pattern. Sony has finally stopped floundering and started making products that aren't just good, they are products that photographers are starting to crave and lust after. And I haven't even starting looking at the RX100 yet.  

If I were competing in the same spaces as Sony's cameras I think I'd start getting a little nervous.  It's almost like the PC world a few years back where the market was dominated by Dell and HP.  And now......

Things change. Transformation happens. Markets evolve.  Everything is starting to get interesting.

Oh Yeah. Now this is what I'm talking about.

Here's a great video about the camera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjEwsnwbwbs

A while back I wrote a "wish list" of things I wanted to see incorporated into the new flagship camera from Sony. They did everything I wanted except for the carbon fiber construction. But I wasn't 100% serious about the carbon fiber anyway so let's let that drop.

What Sony has done with the a99 camera is to effectively and decisively leapfrog over Nikon and Canon and deliver a next generation imaging solution for photographers who are not mired in place by concepts of what constitutes a camera based on old traditions and metrics.  While the curmudgeons may not want video or an electronic viewfinder or some of the bells and whistles you'll find on this and other Sony cameras (a77?) that contingent of photographers is not necessarily the future of professional, commercial photography. They represent the past. And the past is already gone.  All around me I am keenly aware that the generation of image makers who are in ascendency are more and more comfortable slipping back and forth between video and stills. They are looking for cameras that create movies fluidly, unhampered by antiquated live view adaptations and legacy viewing solutions. 

This is why I predict that Nikon and Canon will come stumbling after Sony in a year or two with cameras that have electronic viewfinders. The movie creation aspect may seem meaningless to someone who does photography as a hobby but for someone who earns their living mixing stills and motion (and that will constitute, more and more, what successful photographers do to make a good living) the video capabilities of a camera are as important as how quickly it focuses and how nice the still image files look. I guess you just have to separate the markets when you look at new products.

So, from the press releases and the intro on DPReview we can make a list of all the things Sony got right:

-full frame sensor with the promise of great dynamic range and good high ISO noise performance.

-innovative and state of the art autofocus. With both PD on a chip and above mirror PD sensor.

-the use of a proven and easy to master body style and control interface.

-electronic first curtain shutter for fast response and lower noise.

-focus range control. Let's you set a min and max focus range for faster lock on.

-dynamite video !!!

-a headphone out jack for monitoring video sound.

-manual level controls in 32 steps for video sound levels.

-an interface that allows for the connection of XLR microphone connectors (another industry first).

-high level, unprocessed video out for highest quality.

-dual card slots that are configurable in the ways I suggested.

-true 14 bit raw files.

-the promise of performance, performance, performance from the new sensor.

-weatherproofing and long life shutter.

AND THE BIGGEST SURPRISE OF ALL.......they're using the same battery as in the a77.

When I get one in my hands I'll write a long review but for right now I want to discuss why the Sony camera is a superior video production tool.  The a99 can shoot at 1080 at 60 fps with 28mps throughput and that's very cool but not nearly as cool as the three major things that are, right now, Sony exclusives in the full frame, high end DSLR camera/video market: The electronic viewfinder, the phase detection auto focus (full time) and focus peaking.

I was outdoors shooting video footage yesterday of a very famous athlete swimming a fast workout in our pool.  It was bright, direct sun light coming from straight overhead. In the days of shooting with a Canon 5Dmk2 the ambient light would have rendered the rear screen useless for shooting video without the addition of a cumbersome finder attachment like the expensive and heavy Zacuto finders. The optical finder, in the video mode, is locked off and vacant.  The camera's slow contrast detect AF would be useless in tracking a fast moving swimmer. We'd need a focus puller holding on to the front of the lens while I followed the action in the aforementioned expensive and kludgy finder strapped to the back of the camera like a goiter.

Not so with the a77 (and soon with the a99).  I was shooting yesterday with the a77 and the Sony 70-200 2.8 G lens. Since the ambient light was too bright to use the rear screen I did all the set up stuff using the menu in the EVF finder. When I was ready to shoot the image in the EVF was perfectly isolated from the ambient light and worked well. I was able to judge both exposure and color temperature while I was shooting, both on the screen, and in the case of exposure, with an on screen histogram. Shooting at 60 fps gave me a smooth set of video clips of the fast action and the higher frame rate allowed me to work at 1/125th of a second without getting a jittery look that can come from raising the shutter speed beyond 2x of the fps.

If I switched to program or aperture priority I would lose control of the shutter speeds but I would gain full, DSLR speed AF with my video footage. Even through a variable ND filter the camera locked on to my athlete at 200mm and wouldn't let go.  It was better AF performance than I've gotten with any video camera or hybrid, ever. If I wanted exacting control over shutter and aperture I had to go to manual mode which, with the Sony, means I lose AF.  No sweat. The inclusion of focus peaking makes manually tracking focus easy as pie. And the entire time you're seeing the exact results, via the EVF, that you'll see when you head in to edit.

Since the a99 uses nearly the same video system it will crush Nikon and Canon's current DSLR video production capabilities as expressed in the D800 and 5Dmk3.

There's a lot more to the a99 but when people (fellow photographers) ask me why I switched systems to the Sony I can truthfully say it's because this is where the future of professional photography is heading. I didn't want to be left behind.  And my experiences shooting video between the Sony and the Canon 5D2 is night and day. The gap has just widened. And since Canon and Nikon did their prosumer refresh and pro camera refreshes this year it will be quite a while until they even have a chance to rebut.  

If the high ISO performance and the touted 1.5 stop increase in dynamic range over the Sony a900 is accurate then this camera will be the hottest pro tool in the market for at least the next year.  And in the current state of the commercial photography field that's almost a lifetime.

For another take on the Sony revolution check this blog: http://blog.atmtxphoto.com/2012/09/12/the-rx1-and-a99-is-sony-getting-its-mojo-back/

Another shot taken with the Sony Nex 7, an adapter, and a Sony SAM 35mm 1.8 DT lens. What's the deal?

35mm 1.8 on an adapter.

I've decided that most people who talk about the performance of cameras and lenses have never shot with cameras and lenses or, what they've shot are flat, ugly and useless two dimensional test charts.  I've been looking a PhotoZone.de's reviews of different lenses on the Nex 7 and they speak as if there is a known sharpness issue with the Sony Nex 7's sensor. According to their numerical results you should be seeing a sharp center surrounded by a sea of optical jello in the image above. But the image above was shot hand held, without the benefit of image stabilization and at a fairly wide aperture. To make matters "worse" it was used near its close focusing limit which, for a lens not blessed with floating elements, should be its worst case scenario. It was even a manually focused lens hanging off the front of an adapter ring.  And yet, to my eyes the bowls in the center seem sharp where I've focused on them and the bowls in the bottom left hand corner of the frame seem to be sharp as well.

Could it be that I'm just lucky at picking out specific cameras and fortunate lenses while all the review sites are getting rejects? I doubt it.

 It finally dawned on me.  I must be doing something wrong. I must have forgotten some esoteric technique that allows me to really see these optical combinations in the eery light of their inadequacy. Oh well, I'll keep testing.  Something will come to me.