Forty Thousand and One
Last Saturday (02/19) our Canon XT took its 40,000th photo. We purchased it in February 2006 in anticipation of Nate's birth that June. (This was our first digital SLR, but not our first digital camera.) Cliché, to be sure, but how life has changed since then!
After photographing Nate in the morning at a "Saturday Morning Science" event at his preschool, I knew I had only a few frames remaining before hitting that 40K mark. So I asked Nate to sit with Lily on his bed and shot the next few. At 40,000 Nate had his eyes closed, so here is 40,001. 
Nate and Lily in Nate's Room
As an aside, since buying our first digital camera we've taken ~91,400 digital photos. This doesn't include photos taken with others cameras nor does it include film photos that have been scanned. That's an average of 34 photos a day, every day, since Dec 1, 2003.
compromises and photography (part 2)
Back in May of 2009, I wrote this post:
http://www.bernhard.us/rob/blog/2009/05/18/compromises-and-photography/
It is about the compromises one makes when choosing different camera formats, in particular a digital point and shoot.
In that post I talked about the new Sigma DP-series of cameras and the Panasonic/Olympus Micro-4/3rds format as possible bridges between a point-and-shoot and a traditional SLR-style camera.
Well, a lot has happened in a year-and-a-half.
Both Panasonic and Olympus have jumped feet-first into this market, producing a number of cameras. Some retain SLR styling albeit with electronic viewfinders, and some have used the digital point-and-shoot design as a launching point. Both have also introduced a number of lenses to support this format and seem to be the current market leaders.
But since then, a number of other manufacturers have joined in the fray:
Samsung has released two models into this market with sensors larger than the Micro-4/3rds models: the NX10 (an SLR-styled camera body) and NX100 (a point-and-shoot styled body). Both are interchangeable lens cameras that have abandoned the traditional mirror/viewfinder mechanism in favor of a smaller and more compact design.
edit: Samsung has announced the NX5, a NX10 "lite" but I've not seen much on it.
Sony too has joined in releasing the (similarly named) NEX-5 and NEX-3 cameras (the NEX-3 being a few features shy of the NEX-5). Like Samsung, the sensors in these cameras are larger than Micro-4/3rds while the bodies are the smallest yet. Though, due to technical requirements, the lenses did not scale down quite as much which has lead to a fairly unbalanced "look" to the combos.
What has not come down substantially is price. These are not replacements for consumer point and shoot cameras. These are really alternatives to low-end DSLR cameras. They offer compactness of a point and shoot but not the low cost. These are more like stepping-stones into the world of interchangeable lens camera for those struggling with the idea of moving into a full-on DSLR experience.
Examples (with included kit lens): NX100: $600; NEX-5: $700; GF1: $680; G10: $450; E-PL1: $550;
Reviews, as always, are mixed and depend entirely on how you approach the idea of these cameras. As replacements for point and shoots they do very well, offering a lot of control, better image quality, and (for the most part) better response times. But they're not something you're going to slip into your shirt-pocket, nor are they available in blister packs on the end-caps in stores. This is a new market segment and things are still in flux.
Noticeably absent from the market are both Nikon and Canon. To that end, I finish this (long-winded) post.
I've been waiting to see what Canon will do (there are, of course, rumors of them entering the market) to see if our next "point and shoot" would be one of these new mirror-less interchangeable lens cameras. But in reality, waiting just for Canon is silly. In order to reduce the size of the camera body, Canon will likely have to re-design their lens mount. And with that assumed, any camera that Canon releases will require all new Canon lenses to work natively. Anyone wanting to use their existing EF or EF-S lenses will likely need an adapter (probably 2, one for each mount type) which would render the smaller camera design rather moot. A lens designed for a traditional (D)SLR will be big already; add an adapter and you might as well be using one of the small DSLR's like the Canon XS (which is very capable and is $500 w/ kit lens: less expensive than all but the Panasonic G10).
I don't know much about Nikon mounts, but I suspect a similar conundrum will present itself there too.
And so, in reality, you're free to choose from any of the manufacturers in this market segment. But you're "free" to spend a lot more money in order to utilize the functionality provided by an interchangeable lens mount in the first place.
(Yes, I'm lucky to have the chance to even contemplate such "problems," I realize this.)
So, I'm really glad to see that the market for these types of cameras appears to be growing and more companies are entering with compelling offerings. But I'm going to continue to wait until the costs start dropping (or until the used-market is sufficiently saturated!).
In the mean time, (and as a somewhat unrelated aside) I still will lust after the Canon 85mm f/1.8. I have become completely fixated on this lens. I rented one a couple weeks ago thinking I would rid myself of this irrationality. Unfortunately, it simply reinforced my desire to own one. I had so much fun shooting with it and was pleased with a number of my images...
Ah, the joys of photography.
change
Film making is changing. This is no secret. But the acceleration of this change is rather profound.
Footage shot with 3 cameras: Red One, Canon 5D Mark II, and the Panasonic GH1. The latter is ~$1500 US with kit lens.
Amazing. Certainly worth watching large and in HD on Vimeo.com (click the link below the embedded file)
the bluebird of happiness
I believe I saw my first Eastern Bluebird in the wild only a couple of years ago. It was an Easter walk with family in Sterns Woods in Crystal Lake. There were a number of man-made nesting sites in the area, so I guess it was inevitable, but I was still surprised. Such a brilliant blue!
Today, while eating lunch, I noticed a bluebird hanging out on our red Maple tree. As quickly yet stealthily as possible, I grabbed my camera and telephoto lens. I knew the shots were not going to be very good, as I'm using a rather cheap telephoto and was shooting /through/ the glass of our sliding door to the patio, but still, he stayed on the branch for so long, I had to try for a few frames.
Also, male robins have been sparring over territory all around us. It feels so much like spring is just a step away.
Kid-proof digital cameras
For a long time if you wanted a digital point and shoot that could, at the very least, survive getting wet (rain, amusement park, spit-takes, etc), your choices were: Olympus & Pentax. Both had a line of waterproof cameras (up to 3m and 4m respectively).
Since then, though, Olympus has gone further to make this line more rugged. Their most robust camera (the Tough 8000) is waterproof up to 10m (~32ft), drop-proof from a height of 2m (~7ft), crush-proof, up to 100kg (~220lbs), and can operate in temperatures down to -10 deg C (14 deg F). (It should be noted that these are official numbers. I take my non-rugged point and shoot out into much colder temps and am not concerned).
In the rather tight digital point and shoot market, trends have shown up in clumps as manufacturers scramble to "me too" each other. (Witness trends like the megapixel race, or the megazoom race, or the rash of new "detection" modes: face detection, blink detection, smile detection, etc. There is also an HD Movie trend now that HDTV is so popular.) So it's rather strange that Olympus (and to some extent, Pentax) have been able to operate in this "rugged-ized" market for so long uncontested.
With this years PMA, however, things have changed.
Both Canon, Panasonic, and Fuji have joined in the fray and released "stronger" cameras. (Though it should be noted that Fuji has had a rugged camera in the European market for some time but it was not a consumer camera.)
Canon has released the D10
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09021805canond10.asp
The specs seem respectable (waterproof to 10m, shock-proof to 1.2m, freeze-proof to -10 deg C, supposed super-bright LCD) but quite frankly, the design leaves a lot to be desired. A flash right over the top of the lens? If you think red-eye is bad with your current digital camera, just wait until you start using this model. Even with the camera running a "Red Eye Correction" function automatically after the image is captured, I have a feeling this camera is better used outside without the flash.
Fuji has released the Z33.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0902/09021705fujifilmz33.asp
It's a pretty standard point and shoot with the added benefit of being waterproof. But there's no mention of it being able to withstand being dropped or sat upon.
Panasonic has released the TS1
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0901/09012705panasonicft1.asp
Panasonic has made great strides with their point and shoots in the past two years and this entry seems in line with that goal. Waterproof and shock-proof it also features HD video in HVCHD format.
All in all it's nice to seem some more development (har?) in this market. Maybe it'll push older Olympus models into the used market at decent prices.
winter is for digging through the archives
Winter, for me, often means that, instead of being out with a camera capturing and creating new photos, I'm in my existing archives digging for forgotten images.
A little reflection on the past year or two isn't a bad thing though. It's nice to look back.
Case in point: this image is from one of my lunch-hour visits to the Garfield Park Conservatory.
I need to get back there a couple times this winter. It's a great way to enjoy some hot and humid temps without getting on a plane.
Canon A80 vs Canon A650 IS
With the slow and painful death of our Canon A80, 
helloheather and I had been looking at replacement cameras for some time. We finally concluded that the rotating LCD of the A80 was a feature we couldn't compromise on, and thus the decision was made for us: The Canon A650 IS. (The only current-production point and shoot available today with a rotating LCD.)
You can see a side-by-side comparison at dpreview.com of the two cameras here:
http://lnk.nu/dpreview.com/jzd.asp
From our perspective, a couple changes stand out as improvements:
1) Zoom. The A650's 6x zoom, while not a critical feature, is more useful than the A80's 4x zoom.
2) Image Stabilization. A very welcome addition. This feature allows you to shoot at slower shutter speeds and still have a sharp image. ( It's important to realize though that IS does not freeze your subject if he/she/it is moving. This feature only reduces blurring due to camera shake.)
3) Larger LCD with a better viewable range. 2.5" vs 1.5" screen. Enough said.
4) Greater ISO range.
5) Faster startup.
6) Dedicated ISO, Exposure Compensation, and White Balance buttons means less menu digging.
7) Second-curtain sync flash. Useful for shots where you want to "drag the shutter."
So far the down-sides have been:
1) No more high-speed mode. This is a feature I started using a lot once Nate became mobile. The mode allows you to shoot 4 or 5 frames in a row with no review on the LCD. Very handy if you're trying to capture a particularly fast child. The A650 did away with this and also, due to it producing much larger files, decreased the number of frames per second you can shoot.
2) Only one Custom mode. The A80 had two user-configurable modes on the command dial. What was nice about that is I could set general parameters for shooting outside ( -1/3 EC, ISO 50, "shade" white-balance) and inside (high ISO, incandescent white-balance). Moving from outside to inside was a turn of the dial. While the A650 does offer more control over settings via buttons on the back of the camera, the process is still more time consuming.
Other changes, such as SD instead of CF cards or the (much) higher pixel count are neutral in my book. Memory cards have never been less expensive per MB and I don't need the obscene number of pixels this camera provides, but the consumer market equates megapixels with virility (or something along those lines) so there's no avoiding it.
Overall, we've both been happy with the camera. It has done its job well so far and we're still figuring out ways to get more out of its feature set.
Velcro Love
An American Dagger Moth Caterpillar finds itself in love with the Velcro on my Teva sandal.
I found this guy hanging out on my sandal at the front door. As I needed them to go wading through all the standing water in my yard, I carefully detached him/her from the velcro. However, it was no easy task as the caterpillar was determined to stay.
30,000
Our first digital camera was a Canon A80. It took its first photograph on December 1, 2003 and by December 1, 2004 it had taken 9,544 more. To say we have enjoyed using this camera would be an understatement.
Today marks the 30,000th exposure captured with this camera. In a time of increasingly disposable digital point and shoots, this is no small feat.
30,000
Certainly nothing to write home about but at least it wasn't something horrid.
Little by little…
Despite the extremely low temperatures we've been receiving, I much prefer this weather to that of winters past. The cold mean the snow stays around, it means we don't have to look at dead grass all winter but clean white covers of softness.
And coupled with this, our snowfalls have been numerous but not difficult to handle. Save that first snowfall (that all melted away anyway) we continue to receive a inch or two here and there, slowly building up a nice layer of winter. Last night we received another 3 inches or so. It's like a fresh pallet every week and I'm very happy for it.
Today the Chicagoland area will be at or near 30 deg F for the first time in a very long time. I'm going to try and make the most of it by walking. Sadly I won't be taking my new gloves with me. Following my previous post on the subject I ordered a pair of gloves from Campmor. Sadly they lasted exactly one day. By the end of just one walk, I noticed a hole in the thumb of one of the gloves. Very frustrating to say the least.
A couple weeks ago Canon sent back our A80 which was in for a (free) repair due to a faulty Sony CCD. Much to our surprise they also fixed the damaged top-plate of the camera (former damage seen here). Sadly, however, the camera has re-developed the same fault that caused it to be sent in in the first place. Dealing with Canon the first time on this issue was fairly painless, except for the fact that I was without the camera for a couple of weeks. Hopefully this will be a repeat of the previous experience.
This weekend we found out that Nathan has been exposed to RSV. While I'm very worried about him I'm very glad to have found out from the parent of the child who currently has it. That way we can keep a closer eye on Nathan should he develop symptoms (which are easily confused with a common cold).
On a lighter note, it should be noted that when I step off the train in the evenings there is now light still remaining in the sky. Deep bands of pinks and purples off to the west fill my heart with warmth and joy. It's really good to see the sun again.
Uh oh…
When helloheather, nathan, and I spent part of the weekend at the Marriot, our Canon A80 did a strange thing. At high-ISO, when the camera was trying to "gain-up" the LCD to approximate the shot (as 99.9% of all digital cameras do) strange horizontal lines appeared in the images. At first I though it had something to do with the humidity/moisture from the pool-area getting into the camera body (as the body is partially open due to the camera being dropped 3 times).
The problem seemed to go away on its own by the next day which certainly seemed to indicate a moisture issue.
But it happened last night, and most certainly there were no pools around.
(click for a resized version of the original image)
In this example, the lines appear vertical because the camera was rotated 90 deg for the shot. I also used the "Equalize" feature of Photoshop to more clearly define the lines. For a copy of the original file click here: IMG_3619.JPG
The lines showed up intermittently in images last night and eventually disappeared. This morning the camera is presenting the lines in images, but again, only when the camera attempts to "gain-up" the LCD.
At this point the camera simply cannot be trusted for indoor photography which sucks because it's been our carry-everywhere camera for so long. I'll continue to use it for my photography walks during lunch but beyond that it would seem the A80 is not long for this world...
Because I'm a geek, here are some stats:
First photo: Dec 1, 2003
# of photos by Dec 1, 2004: 9545
# of photos by Dec 1, 2005: 17918
# of photos by Oct 21, 2006: 23490
We've more than gotten our moneys worth, that's for sure.
Canon G7
A lot of noise (har) has been made over the lack of RAW file capture with the Canon G7. And, for the most part, I have to agree with the comments: Canon has shot themselves in the foot. They have mis-judged the market in order to try and force people into their DSLRs.
Anyway, the Luminous Landscape review of the G7 is up here:
http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/Canon-G7.shtml
Photokina – 2006 – part 2
Enough has happened since my last post to warrant an update I think.
Pentax
Pentax has announced the K10D. A 10MP feature-rich DSLR at a sub-$1000 price point. This camera is, for the money, an amazing piece of equipment.
- 10MP CCD not developed by Sony.
- Anti-Dust using high-frequency vibration (user selectable) and anti-static coatings
- CCD-shift based Shake Reduction mechanism. On-body image stabilization means every lens you put on the camera "becomes" image stabilized.
- 22-bit A/D converter. First in the industry as far as I know. However, what the body does with this information remains to be seen. RAW files have traditionally been 12-bit and JPG files are, by definition, 8-bit.
- DNG support! Another first in the industry, Pentax has added support for the standardized RAW format "DNG" first created by Adobe.
- Weather-sealing. The camera body contains a host of weather-sealing keeping out dust and water from the body.
- A ton of new program modes. Not to be confused with "scene" modes, these new program modes offer a ton of control over ISO and Aperture/Shutter combinations
- DDR2-SDRAM. High-volume, high-speed data throughput. A first in the DSLR world.
See dpreview.com for a hands-on preview.
Canon
Having already released the 400D (the replacement for the 350D) and a couple point and shoots, Canon surprisingly released 4 more with a new image processing chip: Digic III. That the 400D did not include the Digic III goes a long way in detailing Canon's approach to segmenting the market space. Digic III will also enable support for DDR2-SDRAM.
The newly added point and shoot offerings are a range of entry-level and prosumer models. However, Canon is clearly indicating that the most advanced features (like RAW format) will require the consumer to purchase a DSLR. Point and shoots, even ones with other advanced features, are still point and shoots.
- Canon G7. Canon once said that the G-series was an evolutionary dead-end. The margins were too thin and the price too close (in some cases exceeding) to their DSLR line. They've released the G7 with a mixed-bag of new features: Digic III, Image Stabilization, High-ISO (1600), longer zoom (6x). However, they've eliminated the RAW mode, abandoned the rotating LCD, and dropped the fast f/2.0 lens for a f/2.8. They have kept the hot-shoe for an external flash. The 10MP sensor is the same as the one included in the A640, so one has to wonder, what is the point? Are the features of the G7 that really worth the more than $200 price difference between the two? Any user smart enough to know how to best use an external flash with this camera would be looking for something with RAW for maximum control of image quality.
- Canon SD800 IS. To me, the most interesting of the Digic III cameras, simply because Canon did not abandon the wide-angle zoom lens. This camera features a 28-105mm Image Stabilized lens, replacing the larger S80 (which did not have IS). If I were to choose a new digital point and shoot and were willing to give up the rotating LCD, I would look very closely at this one. I can't wait for the reviews.
- Canon SD900 and SD40. The new top-of-the-line SD-series from Canon features the same 10MP sensor as the A640 and G7 is the SD900. Like the SD550 it replaces, it does not feature any Image Stabilization. The SD40 is their smallest point and shoot and is more accessory than camera. Both feature the new Digic III image processor.
Olympus
A new DSLR has been announced: The E-400.
As was expected, the 4/3-sized sensor has been upped to 10MP. But completely unexpected is that the camera is NOT going to be offered for sale in North America. No word yet as to why or if perhaps the release to the US will simply come later. This is a confusing move on the part of Olympus. Perhaps they're feeling the pressure from Sony and Pentax making strong moves into the DSLR market.
Photokina – 2006
Every two years there is a photography trade show called Photokina. At it, every camera manufacturer releases at least one new item and, in the digital age, most companies release a dozen new products.
As usual, dpreview.com has good coverage of the event. But I thought I'd mention a few highlights of items that have been released or leaked "accidently" to the net before the show has even started.
First and foremost is Canon. Their Chinese website "leaked" information about the following products: The latest DSLR: 400D (a replacement for the 350D). The expected jump to 10MP, and the unexpected inclusion of ultrasonic vibration on the sensor for dust cleaning (something I lust for). Also a part of the Canon "leak" was the announcement of two wallet-killing lenses: 70-200mm f/4 L with Image Stabilization and a 50mm f/1.2. Drool-worthy to be certain.
Olympus, so far, has released 10 new or updated digital point and shoots. In a trend that is likely to continue, at least one model claims ISO sensativity up to ISO 6400 (higher than professional DSLRs). Sadly, this is accomplished only through "pixel binning" which involves combining adjacent pixels and averaging them. This turns the detail in your images to mush (except for maybe a 4x6 print). Olympus is not the only company to turn to this method and it's an unfortunate trend. If companies would stop trying to cram more pixels into the same area (ie. the Megapixel Race) they wouldn't have to turn to these gimmicks.
Speaking of which, expect to see a number of point and shoots featuring 10MP sensors. With these cameras, consumers will get either excessive sensor noise, or will lose details to overly-aggressive in-camera noise reduction. The sensors being used are smaller than your pinky finger nail. Packing 10 million of anything into that space is just asking for trouble.
But on the plus-side almost every camera company has integrated some form of image stabilization into their point and shoot digital cameras. This is a tremendous boon for consumers.
Let's not forget the Nikon D80. Picking a price-point between the Canon 350D (soon to be 400D) and the Canon 30D, or, somewhere around the price of Sony's first DSLR the A100, the D80 offers some nice upgrades to current D50 owners or those getting a DSLR for the first time. It will be nice to see if the camera performs better in terms of image noise than the Sony (which uses the same sensor).
So that's all really for now, more bits of interest as they roll in.