Sunday, November 3, 2013

What's this nonsense about digital photos not being eligible for the annual exhibition?

Heard about this on the Film Photography Podcast (episode 90).

It's an absolute blast. An episode of the Midsomer Murders, which provides the last word in the digital vs film debate. It's got it all: film photographers in beige photovests, digital photographers in black leather biker jackets, and a novel use for a Weston meter.

Check out the episode on youtube here: Midsomer Murders - A Picture of Innocence

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

DXO Film Pack 3 free until October 31st, 2013

DXO Film Pack 3 is a program that can be used either stand alone or as a plug-in for Photoshop and Lightroom. It offers a range of filters for digital photo files which try to emulate the look of various black and white and colour negative and slide films.

It is available as a free download until October 31st, 2013 and at that price if well worth a try to see how it fits in your digital workflow. The nice thing is that it is a full unrestricted version, not a time limited demo or trail.

You can download it from here (email registration required to obtain serial number):

http://www.dxo.com/intl/sony

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Great Photoshop Tutorial Resource - lots of free content

http://phlearn.com

Got a recommendation to check out the above site. Excellent Photoshop and photography tutorials. I think there are something like 400 videos to view free of charge. Well presented and informative - well worth checking out!

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Kudos to Nikon - update adds AF-C to FT-1 adapter for Nikon 1 system

Well after the disappointment of the ending of the Leica mystery (yes, it was Old Man Withers all along!), got a welcome email from Nikon.

New firmware released today for their 1 series cameras adds support for AF-C focussing when using AFS lenses with the FT-1 adapter. This is something many users, including myself, have been wishing for since the adapter was announced. Looking forward to trying it out and seeing if it transforms the 1 series ability for wildlife photography.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Leica Mini M - the last word?

Well it looks like my horse is coming in last. The rumour sites are awash with the news that the Leica Mini will be a fixed zoom lens aps-c, somewhat compact, but hardly svelte model. More elephant in a tutu than mini skirt.

A mystery that started out as a good episode of Inspector Morse, looks like it will end up as Scooby Doo. Let's just hope it doesn't turn out to be Old Man Withers after all.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Leica Mini M follow up

I am going to cover myself with an each way bet here!

If the Apple like advertising turns out to be just Apple inspired and not connected, it could of course be a new product line after all.

With the Leica M (M240) only just beginning to reach the market, it might be easier to consolidate manufacturing than start on from scratch. I like the guesses I have seen on forums for a full frame M with no optical viewfinder.
I don't think it will have a built in electronic viewfinder. My reasoning being that it will be essentially the same camera as the M240, just without the rangefinder bits and on permanent live view.

So the same EVF connector (and hence the same choice of EVF to attach), essential the same chassis, same battery, much the same electronics and CMOS sensor and firmware. Possibly smaller LCD screen on the back. I guess they won't need the rangefinder cam in the bayonet. Metering would be directly off the sensor as M240 does in live view mode. Might allow for simpler shutter system too (won't need off the shutter measured exposure as used for the rangefinder model).

Monday, May 27, 2013

Leica Mini M Teaser Advert

Any regular visitor to http://www.rangefinderforum.com/ or http://www.l-camera-forum.com can hardly fail to notice the speculation caused by Leica's teaser campaign 

To me this has Apple written all over it. From the 'Meet the New Leica Family Member' to the labeling of the cameras, especially mini and nano.

Putting this together with the announcement in September 2012 that Jony Ives is designing a one off Leica M to be auctioned for charity and I think you have the answer to the riddle.

Whether it will turn out to be a minor special edition of an existing camera, or something radically different remains to be seen. I could be totally wrong of course and we will see a genuine new product line, but I think it is much more likely those wishing for the latter will be disappointed!

Though I think it highly unlikely that this will be anything like the Mini M, I like the idea of a full frame M mount camera with a slot for an iphone to provide the lcd and interface. A quick google search brings up a design study of something similar 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

And funny Reviews on Amazon


Seems to be the day for funny reviews. 'Reviews' on Amazon over H4D-50 digital camera

Funny review of Fuji X100s

I found the lead in to this review of the Fuji X100s very funny.

Free OnOne Plugin/Stand Alone Filters

Came across this collection of plug ins (stand alone version also) from OnOne software.
For a freebie it's pretty good. TriX emulation filter is fun. Definitely worth a try.