Jon Sienkiewicz Blog

Underwater, All Weather - Pentax Optio W80 Posted Thu Jun 25, 2009, 6:53 AM ET

Pentax announced a new underwater, all weather camera this week—the Optio W80—and I’m glad to hear it. It’s been raining so much in New York this spring that the Weather Channel has started showing reruns—or so it seems. I am really getting tired of taking pictures of raindrops on roses. It hasn’t been sunny in so long that I fear our Earth has lost her status as a planet.

Foul weather sure puts a damper on picture taking with an ordinary camera. Those of us who live in areas where winters provide snow and cold temperatures have become accustomed to moving our hobby indoors when the climate demands it. We have to.

Or do we? I’ve been shooting with a Pentax Optio W60 (the older model) for a few months now and there are several things I like about it. It has a 5X zoom (longest in its class) that begins at true 28mm wideangle and extends to 140mm telephoto. And it’s a non-extending zoom, so the W60 maintains 1-inch thickness instead of doing a Pinocchio. Pentax pioneered the category of waterproof cameras, so it comes as no surprise that the Optio W60 is useable to depths of 13 feet.

What matters most of all—the thing that I like best—it takes terrific pictures.

The latest model is the Optio W80, introduced on June 24. It’s 12-megapixel and dives deeper than its predecessor, all the way to 5 meters (about 16 feet). It’s also shock resistant. Since “Impact Damage” is the #2 killer of cameras (water damage is #1) it’s great to know that the Optio W80 will survive a fall from a height of three feet.

And the Optio W80 has feature that all New Yorkers will love: it thumbs its nose at cold weather. The new model can be used in below-freezing temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10 degrees Celsius). So in addition to snorkeling, canoeing and backyard pool splashing you can add frigid winter activities such as skiing and snowmobiling to its many talents.

The image above was shot by Lars Granoe with my Pentax Optio W60.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (2)

TARP Posted Thu Jun 11, 2009, 6:44 AM ET

The House of Representatives recently passed the so-called “clunker rebate” bill that provides robust monetary incentives to folks who upgrade from a gas guzzler to a more energy efficient vehicle. There are conditions of course (it’s a government program after all) and as of this writing it hasn’t passed through the Senate, but if it’s signed into law, some lucky car buyers may get as much as $4500 back. I think it’s a great idea, despite the fact that it rewards those who sinned against the environment in the past by driving socially irresponsible vehicles.

And I see no reason why it shouldn’t be expanded to include the photographic industry.

Owners of digital SLR cameras in the 6-megapixel category should get a $1000 rebate if they migrate up to a more efficient 10- or 12-megapixel camera, for example. That would stimulate sales. The Senate would probably want to prorate it at $200 per megapixel, but I’m sure an equitable formula could be derived.

Or maybe the people who bought film cameras after 2003 under the mistaken notion that silver halide was still a viable energy—I mean imaging—alternative could turn in their old celluloid burners and get a cute little modern compact camera that gets 300 shots on one SD card.

It would be so easy to advertise and promote. TARP would suddenly stand for Technology At Reduced Prices.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

Five Things That Are Bad For Cameras Posted Mon Jun 1, 2009, 6:56 AM ET

Summer's almost here, and we made our annual May jaunt to the Jersey Shore. The full name of the park we call Sandy Hook is "Gateway National Recreation Area." As far as we're concerned, it has everything anyone could ask for: several of the white sand beaches New Jersey is famous for, deserted military bunkers, miles of bike trails and a light house. Plus it's nearby and never seems overcrowded.

You probably have your own Sandy Hook somewhere close to you. And like ours, it almost certainly is haunted by the same five camera killers.

I'm talking about five of the seemingly benign accoutrements of summer that make even the most hardened camera service managers cringe. They are, in no particular order, Water, Sand, Sunblock, Insect Repellent, and Direct Sun.

Water—"liquid damage" to the service manager—is a major problem, particularly with compact cameras and entry level DSLRs that lack moisture resistant seals. You don’t have to submerse a camera (or lens) to ruin it. A light mist or blast of spray will often do the trick. When water reaches the microscopically close solder traces on the printed circuit boards inside your camera it can wreak havoc. And water often leaves a contaminating residue when it evaporates. Get into the habit of carrying a large plastic garbage bag along with your cameras gear. You never know then a summer shower will appear.

Sand has an uncanny knack for winding up where it doesn't belong and working its way into crevices that resist other forms of dirt. I think it's because sand granules are hard and more-or-less regularly shaped. Think of it this way: a bag full of diamonds will tumble through a tiny opening more readily than a bag full of woodchips. And do more damage, too.

Sunblock is great for protecting skin from UV—or so we're told—but it can be unkind to cameras, particularly lens coatings. Of course, it's never good to leave a fingerprint on a lens, but it's especially bad when that finger has been coated with SPF 30. Don't forget that if you're like most of us, your nose comes in contact with the LCD on your SLR monitor when you focus, so make sure that you never apply zinc oxide or even common sun screen to your nose.

Insect Repellent can contain chemicals that damage smooth, shiny, plastic surfaces—cameras, cell phones and PDAs included. The spray-on variety seems innocuous enough but it lingers on your skin and can easily transfer to your photo gear even hours later. I can't recommend an alternative but I can suggest that you keep the stuff off of your hands as much as humanly possible.

Direct Sun is dangerous on many levels. And it can really make a black camera get hot. Makes you wonder why SLR cameras are not silver-colored anymore…anyway, keep your camera cool—it's easier than it sounds. Simply avoid direct sunlight and hot spots like glove boxes. I have a cheap ($5) collapsible cooler—the size designed to hold a six-pack of soda. It just fits my DSLR with kit lens attached and sits on the floor in the back seat of my car. It protects my camera from bumps and scrapes as well as heat.

Fisheye photo made possible by Sigma. Canon 5D Mk II with Sigma 8mm full-frame 180-degree fisheye.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

What Do You See? Posted Sun May 24, 2009, 5:15 PM ET

What do you see?

I see the shadow of a wolf that’s about to pounce on a rabbit.

To some people it may look like a scrap of poster attached to a utility pole that’s riddled with staples. But if you look closely you can see the line of the wolf’s jaw, his alert ears and his black, wet nose.

Photography creates the ultimate Rorschach test. While some people try to see everything, photographers can see small details. And in the process, they sometimes find things that aren’t even there until they are isolated from the whole.

Technical information: Nikon D5000 with 18-55mm Nikkor (zoomed to 55mm) f7.1 at 1/200 second at ISO 200.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

Olympus 150mm f2.0 Zuiko Lens Posted Wed May 13, 2009, 10:09 PM ET

Olympus was kind enough to lend me a 150mm f2.0 Zuiko lens for some personal shooting. I recently bought a new E-520 at an incredible price because it’s a discontinued model. Even so, it has a rich feature set, Image Stabilization and weighs slightly more than a well-dressed chicken taco. It also offers Live View, Dust Reduction and Wireless Flash. On close-out, this DSLR body cost me about the same as a high-end point-and-shoot.

The weather was lousy for the first several days after I received the lens, but I was not able to resist shooting in the early morning and early evening between cloudbursts. It was not what you’d call the ideal shooting environment. Later, of course, I was able to use it under more favorable conditions. But even in the worst light, I was truly amazed.

The 150mm f2.0 is the equivalent of a 300mm f2.0 on a 35mm film camera. I knew that using this glass would be fun, and I expected the results to be superb because it’s one of Olympus’s highest quality (Super High Grade Series) lenses. So I began this adventure with very high expectations—like when you order the signature dish at a famous restaurant. But I was not prepared for this. Holy cats!

This is a worldclass lens. To say it’s sharp is almost an insult—sharp is an adjective reserved for earthly lenses. This glass is from another planet.

To be honest, part of the reason why the performance appears even more extraordinary is a result of the extremely limited depth-of-field that a 300mm lens provides at f2.0. If you want to blur the background and isolate your subject—as in a portrait—there’s no better way to do it than to use a long lens with a large aperture. Separating the main subject from its environment enhances the appearance of sharpness. But physics aside, this glass really cooks.

This lens is no lightweight by any measurement. Tipping the scales at nearly three-and-one-half pounds, it reminds me of a fireplug with a tripod socket. Of course, when a lens is substantially heavier than the camera body to which it’s attached it’s wise to carry the combination by the lens—and carefully, at that. I found it quite comfortable to do so. In fact, the center of gravity provided terrific balance. Between that and Olympus’s in-camera Image Stabilization, I was able to shoot wide open at slow shutter speeds without mishap.

It’s also rather expensive—around $2300 in most shops. But if you consider the fact that you can buy an Olympus DSLR body at a very reasonable price, the combo becomes more attractive. If you shoot stage performances, wildlife, arena sports or anything similar you might find that this lens makes you a suddenly better photographer. And it serves to remind us, once again, that the lens is the most important part of the equation. Oh, the camera body is important, that’s for sure, but if you’ve got worldclass glass you can get good images.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

Desaturate Posted Sat May 2, 2009, 11:55 AM ET

A reader asks how to restore color in selected areas of an image that has been converted to monochrome. Photoshop users can follow these steps.

Open an appropriate image. The hardest part of this operation is finding the right shot.

From the CS4 dropdown menu select Image/Adjustments/Desaturate (or simultaneously press these keys: Shift+Ctrl+U. Your colorful image is now black, white and shades of gray. The color is still there, however.

From the Toolbar select the History Brush Tool (or press the Y key and it will activate automatically). Choose the most appropriate brush size (as you normally do) and paint over the areas where you want to restore color.

Stop and release the mouse button frequently, and use Ctrl+Z to Undo mistakes. Ctrl-Z will undo everything you did since the last time you released the mouse button, so if you fail to release it frequently you may end up undoing more than you'd like.

Note that the History Brush Tool will not work if you open an image and rotate it, so do your color editing before rotating. Or Rotate, Save and then begin from step one.

If you have a graphics tablet this procedure is much easier. You can use the Blur Tool and Smudge Tool to clean up around the edges.

Note that you can give the image an overall color cast before you selectively restore the natural color—that is, the background does not have to be black and white. But I'll let you figure out how to do that step on your own.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

Kids and Cameras Posted Thu Apr 30, 2009, 5:50 AM ET

How old were you when you took your first picture? By yourself, I mean, not while an adult was looking purposefully over your shoulder. If you remember that moment then you know how exciting and meaningful it is for youngsters to begin taking pictures at an early age.

Everyone I know has outgrown at least one generation of digital camera, and many have passed them on to responsible kids who are having a blast. Specifications like resolution, zoom range and focusing speed don’t matter to children. They’re just thrilled to have a camera and to be able to make images. We can learn a lot from that.

Trusting a young person with a camera is an opportunity to teach and reinforce values as well as artistic expression. How old to start? That depends on the child, of course. The important thing—regardless of the child’s age—is to establish some rules. Here are rules that we observe at the Sienkiewicz house.

- No pictures from inside the car (except an occasional bridge, large mammal or boredom-induced self-portrait).

- Not too many pictures of just feet if they can be avoided.

- Turn the flash off when ambushing the dog.

- Be prepared to explain each image and why it was created. (We always gather around the PC to admire and discuss the images, usually the same day they were shot.)

- Especially when traveling, spend more time enjoying your surroundings, family and friends than you spend taking photographs.

- Try not to drop the camera and tell dad if you do.

- Don’t forget and leave the camera at Cracker Barrel ever again.

Needless to say, cameras that have small, removable parts (including batteries) that could present a choking hazard should not be given to kids, particularly kids who are younger than five years old.

Above photo of Maya Sienkiewicz using a Pentax Optio E70 was shot with a Pentax Optio P70.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (2)

Contrarian Posted Mon Apr 20, 2009, 7:36 PM ET

Contrarian

You know the guy who goes to the famous steakhouse and orders chicken? And swears up and down that he does it because he likes chicken? Well, I kind of feel like that guy.

Spring is painting herself on every tree, shrub and flower garden—the Earth is shedding her drab, gray pajamas and slipping on her party dress—and there is color everywhere. Finally.

So what am I doing? Shooting pictures of colorful flowers and converting them to monochrome.

Now, I suppose some psychologist somewhere could make something of this. But I’ll bet that any behavioral expert who finds this strange is a person who never shot Panatomic-X, developed it in Microdol and printed it on Agfa Brovira. There is something exciting about the texture of a black-and-white image that color shouldn’t be allowed to disguise.

Fortunately, I don’t need a darkroom to get the sort of enjoyment I remember from the Film Ages. Nowadays I shoot black-and-white images in color and make the conversions in Photoshop using Nik Software Silver Efex Pro. The Silver Efex package allows me to emulate the results I might have gotten from 18 different black and white film types, plus there’s a variable toning selector that delivers results very close to traditional wet-chemistry toning techniques. The application features more than 20 preset styles and a pretty nifty grain reproduction engine—although grain is the one thing I usually try to avoid.

There are other ways to produce monochrome images, but many of the alternatives I have tried resulted in insipid, lifeless, colorless pictures—not the dramatic black-and-white statements that are worthy enough to shove the colors right off of the palate.

Image above shot with a Pentax K20D and Pentax 100mm f2.8 Macro.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (3)

Card Readers Posted Sun Apr 12, 2009, 8:35 PM ET

Most digital cameras don’t come with memory cards these days. Instead, many have onboard memory where you can store a handful of images. The amount they include is usually meager, but it’s better than nothing.

The Pentax Optio W60, for example, has around 36.4 megabytes and in a pinch—like when you remembered to charge the battery but forgot to change the memory card—you can record about fifty 1280x960 images. The camera is capable of much higher resolution, of course, but even at this level you’ll get enjoyable images instead of kicking yourself in the pants for not buying an extra card.

This means that camera manufacturers must continue to include a USB cable. And that’s too bad, because you don’t really need it to download images that have been captured to your removable memory card.

Instead of using a USB cable to transfer image files, buy a multi-format card reader. Connect it to your PC and leave it there. Card readers have steadily gotten faster, prettier and more reliable. And they’re not very expensive. If you’re starting to look for the perfect under-$30 gift for Mom or Dad or the graduating student in your life, consider a card reader.

The image above shows Transcend and SanDisk multi-format card readers. Either would look attractive next to your computer. The Transcend is small and travels well with your notebook PC; the SanDisk can be removed from its tripod-like legs. Kingston offers several models as well, as does Lexar.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

CFL Posted Sun Apr 5, 2009, 8:27 PM ET

If we’re to believe what it says on the energystar.gov website, breaking a Compact Fluorescent Light bulb is a scary proposition. CFLs contain mercury, the same stuff that’s in the fish we’re not supposed to eat. The gov’s FAQ suggests that if a mishap should occur, the first steps include ordering people and pets to vacate the area, airing out the room by opening a window for 15 minutes or longer, and shutting down the central forced-air heating system.

I suppose that means if you live in the Arctic or somewhere else where winter temperatures fall well below zero you should only change light bulbs May through September to minimize the risk of dropping one when it’s cold outside. Sadly, that runs afoul of the northern nights that last six months; but it could possibly explain why some Eskimos still burn fish oil in their lamps. I think it’s fish oil…in any case, it appears to be safer to dispose of a broken Tuna, mercury content not withstanding.

When I learned that CFLs do not reach peak efficiency until they’ve been on for about 15 minutes, I began to do a little research. Like so many other things that sound too good to be true, they are. Aside from being a single serving of mercury poisoning, CFLs (for the most part) cannot be dimmed. Dimmers operate by turning incandescent light bulbs off and on very quickly. CFLs don’t cotton to that at all. And that’s too bad because dimmers can save energy and extend bulb life.

I don’t care what the package says, every time I replace a standard tungsten bulb with a CFL—like in my yard light and in my basement—it just doesn’t seem as bright as it did with the old GE Softwhite, even though they swear that the output is “equivalent.” And the colors look a little spooky, too.

CFLs do have one huge advantage, however, and that’s why they’re being mentioned in this blog. They don’t get very hot, even when they’re on for a long time. Now, I’m not suggesting you press one of these babies against your cheek, but they definitely run cooler than a standard incandescent bulb.

And for that reason they work well for table top photography. In an inexpensive steel reflector they can be positioned close to a subject for long periods of time without overheating. They’re a bit safer to handle because the reflector doesn’t get dangerously hot. And although the color temperature they radiate is inconsistent (and apparently not constant, either) you can compensate by using the manual white balance setting (sometimes called Custom WB) on your camera.

Look for 10- or 12-inch steel reflectors that have a porcelain lamp socket, 10-foot cord and spring clamp. I found some at a hardware super center for about $6 a piece. Add some 100 Watt CFL bulbs and you have a cost efficient—and possibly energy efficient—lighting system. I use large sheets of rough-textured Styrofoam insulation (another hardware store bargain) to reflect the light back toward the subject to eliminate the shadows. Give it a try—and let us know the results.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (3)

In Just Spring Posted Sat Mar 28, 2009, 7:16 AM ET

In Just Spring

March is teasing us with spring’s first flowers. After a long winter of gray and black, it’s invigorating to see some early green and actual COLOR breaking through the sleepy earth.

It’s time to recharge your battery (literally as well as figuratively) and get outdoors with your camera. If you have a macro lens (or close-focusing zoom) all the better. There’s no such thing as a bad flower picture but here’s how to make yours even better.

A flower photographer’s number one natural enemy is the wind. Even a gentle breeze can cause the flower petals to stir and appear blurry. The countermeasure is to use a faster shutter speed on a windy day—or exploit natural windbreaks created by trees, buildings, and large friends.

Dew or raindrops can add an extra dimension to flower shots. Focus on the water droplets and if you’re lucky you might catch an interesting reflection. The leaf surface of the wild columbine Aquilegia Canadensis seems to provide good traction for even large water drops.

Other precautions are the same as those that apply to any other form of close-up photography. Even when you use the finest equipment—like a true macro lens—depth-of-field decreases as you get closer to the plane of focus. And camera movement—just the slightest jitter—is magnified. Tripods are definitely recommended. These hazards make close-up flower photography difficult but more importantly mean that shooting the casual crocus can be great practice for more serious stuff.

If you really feel confident, try shooting flowers in low light—near dusk or dawn—with a flash unit. Master that and you’ll have mastered several skills, including the obvious: macro photography with flash. You’ll also enjoy how easy it is to control the background since you’ll be able to keep it dark and make your flower subject appear to dance on the surface of the night. Try it. And let us know how it turned out.

Photo © Maya Sienkiewicz (seven years old).

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (2)

Nor A Lender Be Posted Thu Mar 12, 2009, 9:02 AM ET

In school we learned it’s polite to share. Loaning a digital camera to a comrade is commendable, but never, ever loan anyone a memory card unless you’re aware there’s a risk that the borrower can view the images that you think you’ve deleted—even if you formatted the card.

Digital camera memory cards are efficient and economical because you can “erase” them and reuse them. But here’s the rub: the images you shoot are never actually erased—unless you use special “scrubbing” software which we’ll describe momentarily. Instead, when you delete an image, the space that the image occupies on the media is marked as “available”—which means that another image file can be written over that space.

As a result you wind up leaving whole images and image fragments all over the place. Enough, usually, that when a snoopy person uses “Undelete” or so-called “Image Recovery Software” they can see what and whom you have been photographing. Yikes!

Needless to say, if you sell a camera to a stranger on an auction website (or if you sell a camera to a friend, for that matter) either exclude the memory card from the transaction or use the Secure Erase function that you’ll find in SanDisk’s RescuePro. To be sure, there are other brands of software that will do the same thing, but I use RescuePro because it works. And I recommend it because it comes free with certain SanDisk Extreme memory cards. Secure Erase is activated from within RescuePro—just click the “Wipe Media” tab and she will obliterate the data—including all image fragments—on your memory card by overwriting the 0s and 1s with nonsense numbers. The cards will work fine the next time they’re formatted—they’ll just be squeaky clean.

If you do not want to invest in image recovery software there is another way to achieve a high level of protection. But truth be told, as a photographer who is also a human and, by definition, capable of accidentally deleting an important image, by every measure you should own some image recover software like RescuePro.

Here’s what you can do if you choose not to use Secure Erase to bombard the image data on your card. Set your camera on manual and at the highest resolution possible—RAW if it has it—and shoot pictures of the sky until the card is full. Then format the card and do it again. Like the shampoo bottle says, “Lather, rinse and repeat.” After about four or five repetitions your card should be clean. If prying eyes attempt to sneak a peek, all they will see are clouds. Unless you live in New Jersey like I do, where clouds are visible only when they are passing through on their way to Pennsylvania.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

Cokin Creative Filter System Posted Thu Mar 5, 2009, 8:47 PM ET

I’d forgotten how much fun Cokin Creative Filters can be. You remember Cokin—slotted plastic filter holder that attaches to many dissimilar lenses via inexpensive adapters, and square filters made of CR39 acrylic resin. The idea that is you can use the same set-up on just about every lens you own, even if they have different size filter threads. And because most of the filters are square, you can slide them up and down in the holder to adjust the effect. The few round filters can easily be rotated for the same reason.

Cokin filters were distributed by Minolta Corporation for well over 20 years, beginning around 1980 or thereabouts. I began using them at the very beginning, and in my lifetime have taken thousands of pictures through Cokin filters. I even won a contest back in 1981, and a romantic photo I shot at a café in Montreal was published in a Cokin brochure for years—may still be in some parts of the world. I shot it with a Dreams filter which I still own.

Then I stopped using Cokin filters. Digital cameras, image editing software and a highly refined sense of personal laziness conspired to make Cokin filters less attractive to me. What a mistake!

Cokin filters have always been correctly described as “The easy and inexpensive way to enjoy creative photography.” They still are. On digital cameras they become even more attractive for three reasons. First, DSLRs with Live View and compact cameras in general provide large LCD monitors that allow you to preview the filter effect and make micro-adjustments until you get things just so. Second, because you can preview the final results immediately you can keep finding new creative angles and variations. Finally, you can enhance the results with any good image editor. No, you cannot duplicate the effects exactly in Photoshop, regardless what you may read elsewhere. Yes, you can modify the results for even greater enjoyment.

So yesterday or the day before I was shooting with a bruised Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 and realized that it has three features that make it a good match for Cokin filters: a 52mm filter thread, a non-rotating manual zoom and a large, bright LCD monitor. I refer to this camera as “bruised” because it’s contusion blue in color and arrived loose in its box without packing material—but that’s a story for another time. Anyway, it’s a very capable camera on many levels, and it’s a perfect camera for Cokin filters.

Slip the metal 52mm adapter ring into the hard plastic filter holder: that’s step one. Then carefully screw the combination onto the front of the lens. Next, select the filter you want to use and slip it into one of the slots in the filter holder. How hard is that? You can use more than one filter at a time and you can preview the effect right on the LCD. Cokin even offers a filter holder that works with many compact, non-SLR cameras.

I’ve always been partial to Cokin Graduated filters. They are clear on one half and have color on the other. The clear and colored portions meet in the middle with a graduated blend, hence the name. Imagine a sunset. Now imagine a light orange filter enhancing the sky while the entire area below the horizon is left unfiltered. You’re getting the idea.

Cokin Star filters, Multi-image, Diffusion and the legendary Sepia Filter are fun to use, too. The system is easy to like and not at all expensive. If you’re reluctant to buy a pricey new lens because of the threatening economy, but still want to enjoy some affordable cameras toys, take a look at the Cokin Creative Filter System.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (6)

20 Percent Chance of Snow Posted Sat Feb 21, 2009, 8:06 AM ET

Photography relies on science as much as art, and to be successful, photographers have to know a lot of things. Some of the requisite knowledge falls into the category of common sense and some is acquired through the indispensable combination of training and practice. And every once in awhile we stumble upon a nugget that can only be described as dumb luck. It was dumb luck that led me a few years ago to a website I want to share with you.

Because I’m an early riser, I’ve always wanted to know two things about my morning prospects: the weather and the approximate time when day would break. The weather is a dice roll, of course. I know, for example, that that the National Weather Service (NOAA) has issued a forecast calling for a high temperature today of 42 degrees with a low of 27 and a slight (20%) chance of snow. But I don’t believe it for a minute. A weather forecast is a guess, not a guarantee.

However, I do know exactly what time the sun will rise, and I know exactly when it will be light enough for animals (including me) to see without artificial light. Furthermore, I can, with absolute certainty, declare that on July 4th of this year in New York City the sun will set at precisely 8:30 p.m. and it will be dark enough to need a flashlight at 9:03. I can even go one step further and proclaim that there will be a Full Moon on 7-July-2009 at 5:22 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. These are important things for photographers to know.

In fact, anyone who deals with the uncertainties of life can take comfort in the fact that some things are predictable. Sunrise and sunset are two of them. Being over your credit limit when you find a used Leica M2 marked $125 in an out-of-state pawn shop is a third.

To find out the schedule of the Sun and Moon, visit this US Navy website:

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php

Enter the data matching your geographic location and you’ll learn everything you need to know, including the ending time of “civil twilight.” Civil twilight is that period after the sun sets but before complete darkness when it’s still bright enough to do things outside without artificial light (i.e., you can read your watch without flicking your Bic).

From this website you will also learn that the phase of the Moon on 4-July-09 will be “waxing gibbous with 93% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.” The word “gibbous” means that at least three quarters of the Moon will be visible and “waxing” indicates that even more of the Moon will be visible on the following night.

Photographers have to know a lot of things, even if the Moon is waxing gibbous.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (2)

Charge It Posted Sat Feb 14, 2009, 6:21 AM ET

Charge it

Those of you who got into digital photography during the first two or three years of its existence—say, around 1995—know how frustrating it was to operate an energy-hungry camera on AA alkaline batteries. Some cameras lasted for only a few shots on a fresh set of batteries. That’s when the benefit of NiMH (nickel metal hydride) rechargeable batteries became abundantly apparent.

Battery technology has improved significantly over the past 15 years. The capacity of high performance NiMH, rated in milliamp hours (mAh), has grown to 2900; more than double what the average cell was back in the day. And cameras have become more efficient, too. Still, most digital cameras these days use some form of rechargeable Lithium Ion battery, and merrily click along for hundreds of shots before demanding nourishment.

Some cameras, however, the likeable Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ8 and über-affordable Canon Powershot A590 IS for instance, use AA size batteries. So do most electronic flash units, some LED flashlights and a few other items photographers use on a frequent basis. Not to mention the scads of kids toys you may find underfoot (it seems that every toy my daughter owns has an Energy-STARved rating instead of Energy Star).

In any case, if you ever have a need to charge AA or AAA NiMH batteries, buy an Energizer 15 minute charger. I used to be an advocate of slower (2 to 4 hour) chargers, and for good reasons. With certain chargers, speed-charging creates excessive heat. Rapidly hammering energy into a hot battery causes the chemistry to breakdown and shortens the battery’s overall lifespan. But the Energizer 15 minute charger has a built in cooling fan that (by actual measurement) leaves cells cooler at the end of the charge cycle than my 240 minute charger.

Besides, even if the batteries could be charged only 300 times instead of the normal 500, what’s the big deal? That’s two years of heavy use, and a replacement set of four costs only $12. That’s good economy in exchange for the convenience of a 15 minute recharge time.

Plus, the Energizer 15 minute charger comes with a 12V automobile (car lighter) adapter, so I can recharge my batteries on my way to or from a shoot. And it’s compact and light, so it’s easy to pack for travel (although the “wall wart” style AC power adapter is a tad bigger than I’d imagined).

One negative point—the package includes with two AA and two AAA cells. Personally, I’d rather get four of the more useful AA size cells. But I did finally find a Mini Maglite to harbor the tiny AAA batteries.

The Energizer 15 minute charger costs about thirty bucks (MSRP is $32.99) and it will charge one to four AA or AAA NiMH rechargeable batteries simultaneously in 15 minutes. As someone who never has enough energy, I recommend it highly.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (0)

Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Posted Sat Jan 31, 2009, 9:12 PM ET

Can you take a shot like this? Of course—it’s not difficult.

First, find a blonde serpent and a blonde girl willing to hold it.

Use a fairly long focal length lens and a relatively large aperture. This shot was taken with a 12X zoom set at 49mm (300mm equivalent) at f6.3 (1/1000 sec.). The combination provided intentionally limited depth-of-field which isolated the subjects from the background to make them appear even sharper.

Be sure to use a camera that’s at least in the 7-to-10 megapixel range. This camera, I think, is a 10-megapixel (I could look it up, but megapixels are the least significant variable in this equation). I was able to crop this picture and use only about 60% of the frame. But first I had to reduce the resolution significantly to make it fit this web page. The original shot is 3648x2736. The image you’re seeing here is 450x559, substantially smaller. You can imagine how sharp the full size, full resolution image is—

Making a snake pose is easy. Snakes smell with their tongue, so if you wait long enough you’ll see something like this sooner or later.

Next question: Can you take a shot like this with your pocketsize compact camera?

Probably not.

This image was captured with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 which will be available in the US for about $399 in April. The camera is small—about 4” long and 2.3” high—and slips easily into a pocket or purse. It weighs less than half a pound but has a 12X zoom lens that will bring soccer matches—or girls with snakes—up close. And it has a potent image stabilization system, so you can shoot handheld at 300mm without the picture getting all scaly—I mean fuzzy.

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 produces images that are sharp and rich in detail, and delivers incredible color fidelity with very little fiddling. It has so many features that recounting them extends well beyond the realm of this blog. But I do have to mention what is clearly the most advanced video capture mode available on any compact camera. It’s called AVCHD Lite and you’ll be reading a lot about it in the coming months.

It also has what’s arguably the world’s smartest Face Recognition system. You can register up to five human faces and, when one of them appears in the frame, the camera automatically prioritizes focus and exposure for that person’s mug. You can even decide which person is most important—and if the camera “sees” the same face several times it will prompt you to register that person. (Hmmm—is this where the Law of Unintended Consequences comes into play? I can hear it now: “Honey, your camera’s broken. I took a picture of Helen today and the camera asked me if I wanted to register her face...”)

By the way, on the wideangle end of the 12X zoom you’re shooting at 25mm equivalent—that’s a REAL wideangle. The shutter goes as high as 1/2000 sec and…and if I don’t quit now I’m going keep remembering more and more cool things about this camera—there are so many. I don’t want to spoil it for you when you read the full review, so let me just say that if you’re planning for the perfect Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduation or TGIHBLOY (Thank Goodness I Haven’t Been Laid Off Yet) present, keep this camera in mind.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (2)

Pancake Lenses, Mulching Mowers and Other Things Posted Sun Jan 25, 2009, 9:48 AM ET

I read George Schaub’s review of the Olympus 25mm f2.8 pancake lens on Shutterbug.com and, faster than you could say “Zuiko,” I bought one. This was only the second time in my life that I purchased something because I read a positive review about it. The only other time was many years ago when I bought a Bolens Mulching Lawnmower. Sadly, that adventure ended abruptly in tragedy when the mower impaled itself on a hidden iron survey stake one week later.

However, I will confess that I once dated a girl based on a positive review. That episode lasted an even shorter period of time, but had a similar ending. We were mowing along nicely, then Bam! We hit something that irreversibly dulled the blade. But I digress.

Hoping to fare better this time, I ordered the 25mm f2.8 lens from B&H Photo late on a Wednesday night and took delivery that Friday. Cost was $217, and UPS ground shipment was free. When the package arrived I thought the box was empty—it was that light.

This lens is small—which is great, because my one-and-only Olympus camera is small, too. I own an E-410. My wife bought it for me a year or so ago because I have a pain in the neck—and I complain about it so enthusiastically that I become a pain in the neck. It’s called radiculopathy, a ten-dollar word that means that distressed nerves in my neck cause pain and discomfort in my hands and fingers. It’s pretty common among photographers and other people who don’t have enough sense to carry heavy things properly.

The Olympus E-410 combined with the 25mm f2.8 Zuiko lens weighs lighter on the neck than the kiss of an angel and is really fun to use.

The lens is sharp, too. And it’s very bright. The f2.8 aperture makes it the fastest Zuiko (Olympus) lens I own. The 14-42mm kit lens that came with the camera is an f3.5-5.6. At f2.8, the 25mm Pancake’s extra brightness makes it just that much easier to use indoors under dim light, which is important because that’s where this camera will spend most of its time.

Since it’s a member of the 4/3 system, the 25mm focal length delivers the equivalence of a 50mm. I shot almost exclusively with 50mm lenses in my youth. Back then zooms were typically in the 80-200 or 70-210 telephoto range—not something you could use on all occasions. It wasn’t until we at Minolta introduced the Maxxum 7000 packaged with a 35-70 zoom in 1985 that short zoom lenses became standard fare.

I really like this lens. Knowing that I cannot zoom—that I must compose by adjusting the distance between me and the subject—forces me to think a bit differently, and that’s refreshing.

I should point out that all of the good things I wrote about the Olympus E-410 also apply to its successor, the E-420. The newer model has a larger LCD, faster continuous shooting speed and couple other upgraded features.

Now, let me tell you about this lawnmower that doesn’t need a bag attachment to collect the grass clippings...

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (,654)

CES Posted Tue Jan 13, 2009, 10:59 PM ET

The Consumer Electronics Show (affectionately known as “CES”) is an annual gala event where manufacturers show off the best gadgets in the world. Held in Las Vegas right on the heels of the New Year’s holidays, more than 100,000 people are said to have attended CES in 2009. I was one of them.

One of the most intriguing products I saw at this year’s show was a digital picture frame. Yeah—that’s what I said. I know that there are more digital picture frames on the market than there are coffee tables in the world to set them on, but the Lite-on Skyla Memoir truly offers something new. It has an 8-inch display, 1GB of internal storage, 5-in-1 card reader and two USB ports, and it can play MP3 music files and most MPEG video files.

But what really sets it apart from the pack is its ability to SCAN photos up to 4x6 inches.

You may think that it would be great to own one of these so you could scan some of the photos that you accumulated before you began shooting digital. That’s only a tiny part of what you can do. The best use for this clever device is to take it with you when you visit family and friends and scan THEIR photos—the ones they won’t trust you with outside of their living room. You can store up to 200 4x6-inch prints at 600 dpi, and you can dump the scanned image files to a USB thumbdrive or directly to a PC for further sharing.

The point is this: one of your relatives is the unofficial curator of your family’s photo collection—but they don’t know how to share them because they don’t know how to get the prints digitized efficiently. Take one of these to your next family reunion and you’ll go home a hero.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

Lensbaby Posted Fri Jan 2, 2009, 6:58 AM ET

A couple years ago I bought a used Canon EOS D30 for an article I was doing for Shutterbug. To be sure it’s an EOS D30, not a more modern EOS 30D, and it’s “only” 3.1-megapixel—it produces images that are a modest 2160 x 1440 to be exact. I paid around $300 for it secondhand. It cost $3000 when it was new back in 2000.

I could point out a hundred flaws in this old clunker—if I compared it to a more current model like the EOS 40D. But instead I’ll say these good things. First, it still works as advertised and it accepts all of my Canon lenses. Second, it produces sharp, small RAW files. Last but not least, it has found new life thanks to Lensbaby.

In a nutshell, Lensbaby is a lens that colors outside the lines (literally) and uses optical aberration as a creative element. Images have slurred colors, blurred outlines and surrealistic unsharpness.

Think of it as Timothy Leary meets George Eastman. Or Mathew Brady with color film and no tripod.

There are three models. My favorite piece—The Composer—is basically a short flexible tube that stays in whatever position you bend it. It has a rotating focusing ring and, depending on which f/stop “washer” you have installed, it can produce images that range from pleasantly soft to pretty sharp.

You don’t need to use a 10-megapixel camera with Lensbaby. My EOS D30 is nearly a decade old and I still have fun with it—thanks to Lensbaby.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (1)

STP Posted Tue Dec 30, 2008, 7:07 AM ET

My friend Toko is the best golfer I’ve ever known. He ordered new graphite shafts from a mail order company in Texas and reshafted his clubs by himself. When you hear these two facts you may think that he was using state-of-the art, custom-made equipment.

Truth is, he played the ugliest set of sticks I’ve ever seen. The no-name club heads were all blackened and the paint had been scorched off. He used the kitchen range to heat the club heads to break the epoxy bond—until his wife caught him and chased him out onto the patio. He finished the job by starting a fire in the BBQ grill and poking the golf clubs through the cooking grate until the heads got hot enough that he could remove the old steel shafts. His wife said he looked like he was roasting metal hot dogs.

Toko consistently shot in the low 80s with these nameless, nearly cremated golf clubs. He regularly beat guys who teed off with drivers that cost more than Toko paid for his entire set of clubs. You see, Toko had three things going for him: skill, training and practice.

You can guess where this is headed. It’s important to have modern, enjoyable camera equipment, but STP—Skill, Training and Practice—are the three most important accessories you can possess. The three make a circle that strengthens itself as it grows. Get some training, practice what you learn and you will develop skill.

Blog Entry  ::  Comments (6,254)

1 2 Older Posts >