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Posts Tagged ‘Worst’

Video: Mathieu Stern says LomoMod No.1 is the ‘worst camera’ he’s ever tested

24 Feb

Photographer Mathieu Stern, the creator of the Weird Lens Museum and unique DIY lenses like the ice lens, has published a review of Lomography’s LomoMod No.1 featuring the Liquid Lens. The review is not kind, with Stern stating bluntly that LomoMod No.1 is the ‘worst camera’ he has ever tested.

The LomoMod No.1 is a build-it-yourself medium format cardboard camera that features a unique liquid-filled lens. Photographers can inject their own preferred liquid into the lens, such as tea, in order to create the effects they’re seeking. The DIY nature of the camera makes it seem like it would be a good fit for Stern given his lens projects.

Stern explains that though he likes to create his own lenses, building the LomoMod No.1 was ‘not a fun moment,’ and that the entire process took around two hours because some of the pieces didn’t fit properly. Among other issues, Stern shows in the video that his cardboard camera’s back wouldn’t close properly.

He had more luck assembling a second camera kit but encountered other issues. In addition to producing poor image quality, the film advance wheel — which is made of cardboard — broke, leaving him unable to use the device. ‘I was really p*ssed for spending two hours building a camera and only [getting] 10 minutes [to use] it,’ Stern explains in the video.

The reviewer was able to replace the broken wheel with the wheel from the first camera kit, but it, too, broke in a short period of time. Ultimately, Stern explains that while he liked some of the images shot with the liquid lens, the camera itself was ‘one of the worst things I [have] ever used.’

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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CIPA’s 2019 numbers detail worst year of the decade for the camera industry

04 Feb

Camera & Imaging Products Association, more commonly referred to as CIPA, has released its December report, which not only provides the details for the final month of the year, but also gives us a complete picture of the camera industry in 2019.

For anyone paying attention, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the news isn’t great. In fact, it’s downright terrible if we’re only looking at the numbers and not contextualizing the industry as a whole as it continues the transition from DSLR to mirrorless cameras. But, even then, it’s not a pretty sight.

According to CIPA’s data, digital still camera sales decreased by approximately 14 percent year-over-year. DSLR unit sales dropped almost 34 percent, while their value dropped roughly 28 percent. Meanwhile, mirrorless unit sales dropped by 10 percent, but the value of mirrorless camera sales increased by almost 6 percent, suggesting more advanced mirrorless cameras are increasing in popularity. Fixed-lens cameras saw a unit sale decline of 23 percent, while value dropped 12 percent.

As a whole, these numbers define what’s easily been the most dramatic year-over-year decline in the past decade; and most camera company’s don’t seem too confident the market will improve much next year if we’re to consider their financial projections as any indication.

However, as noted by CIPA’s mirrorless numbers, it does appear as though mid-to-high-end mirrorless cameras are providing more revenue year-over-year, and with both Canon and Nikon expected to ship more advanced mirrorless models in the coming year, that number will likely only go up, even as DSLR and fixed-lens sales continue to decline.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DPReview TV: The best and worst cameras and lenses of 2019

15 Dec

Our 2020 ‘Best and Worst’ episode is here! Will Jordan’s art house movie trivia drive Chris to madness? Can you make martinis with pickled tomatoes? Find out what gear the boys from Calgary liked most – and least – this year, and learn a few things you didn’t know you wanted to know.

If you disagree with their selections, tell us in the comments! If you make your own pickled tomato martinis, let us know how that works out.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

  • Introduction
  • The game
  • The drink
  • Best lenses
  • Most improved camera
  • Best hybrid camera
  • Best camera
  • Worst lens
  • Worst camera
  • Thanks for a great 2019!

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Report: ‘Photographer’ among 2018’s worst jobs due to rise of freelancing, smartphones

23 Apr

CareerCast has published its 2018 Jobs Rated Report, which provides a ‘general snapshot’ of 220 careers based on certain ‘key criteria,’ including stress levels, work environment, growth outlook, and income. The report lists the best and worst careers of 2018 based on these factors; included in the ‘worst’ category is photography.

The career of ‘photographer’ is listed as #25 among CareerCast’s ranking of 2018’s worst careers, falling behind other roles like ‘enlisted military personnel,’ ‘newspaper reporter,’ and ‘disc jockey.’ Factors that negatively influence career ranking include high stress levels, danger, low pay, and poor outlook.

As far as photography goes, CareerCast noted an annual median wage of $ 34,000 for photographers working in the US last year, which is slightly lower than the nation’s median wage across all jobs of $ 37,690. As well, the company projects photography as a career will experience negative growth of -5.6% from 2016 to 2026.

An increase in smartphones, which make the field more accessible to non-professionals, as well as an uptick in the corporate use of freelancers are cited as issues impacting the career’s projected negative growth over the next decade. As freelancers are increasingly used, the photography industry has seen an elimination of salaried photographer positions.

In contrast, ‘mathematician,’ ‘genetic counsellor’ and ‘university professor’ are listed among the report’s best careers.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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DPReview TV: Best and worst of 2018

23 Dec

For weeks, we’ve been getting hammered with the question “Will Chris and Jordan continue their tradition of doing a Best and Worst year-end episode?”

Oh yes, dear readers, they will. And here it is. Pour yourself a cocktail and enjoy. And if you must, get ready to throw some rotten tomatoes at the screen if you don’t like their selections, and tell us why you disagree in the comments. They won’t take it personally – we promise.*

Get new episodes of DPReview TV every week by subscribing to our YouTube channel!

  • Introduction
  • Best Lens
  • Best Video
  • Best Camera
  • Worst Video
  • Worst Lens
  • Worst Camera
  • Wrap-up
  • Bonus Content

*They will probably take it personally, but go ahead and leave your comments anyway.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Tips for Culling Your Photos – How to Throw Away the Worst and Concentrate on the Winners

12 Aug

Can you happily throw away your worst images and concentrate on your winners? Are you confident culling your photos to find the best?

I know many photographers struggle to cull their photos after coming back home from an enjoyable photo session. It can be effortless to create hundreds of images from a photo session you are immersed in. But feeling buried by a mountain of new photos to post-process can be discouraging.

The key to breaking free of this dilemma is to discern which of the photos are worth keeping, which are the best, and which to throw out. To do this you need a method, a good healthy workflow. Possessing a positive attitude will be a considerable help too.

I use Adobe Lightroom to import and cull my images and I will refer to it during this article. The workflow I am sharing can be utilized with any similar software.

woman catching a pumpkin - Tips for Culling Your Photos

Start by Seeing Your Best

Creative people often excel at being negative when it comes to their own creations. How many times have you heard musicians tell you they are not practiced enough to perform? Or friends who paint tell you they don’t have the confidence to complete a canvas they are working on?

It is quite typical of creatives to be too hard on themselves.

When you first load your images from a new photo session be purposefully positive. Don’t let yourself get sucked into negative thoughts. Start looking for the best photos in a series you have made, not the worst.

Take some time to scan through and get an overview of your new pictures. Look for the ones which excite you and mark them. You can use a flag, color or star rating.

Buddhist monk making art - Tips for Culling Your Photos

Take Out the Worst

You will usually have some photos which are clearly not usable. It is best to remove these from your workspace right at the start.

The most common problems not able to be fixed are:

  • Poor focus
  • Bad timing
  • Very poor exposure
  • Unwanted image blur

Bad focus

You cannot fix poor focus in post-production. If you have a photo that is not sharp where it really needs to be, delete it. It is not worth keeping. Some amount of sharpening can be applied but is only somewhat effective on photos which are slightly out of focus.

monk making pressed metal art - Tips for Culling Your Photos

This one gets deleted. It is not focused.

Very poor exposure

Working with RAW files produced by a modern camera, the images need to be really over or underexposed before I throw them out. You must know your camera and your own post-processing skills. Still, if the exposure is way off, delete it.

Unwanted blur

Sometimes we want blur in a photo. That nice silky look waterfall. The bicycle rider passing. The people walking by in the market. When you have motion blur because your subject moved or your camera has moved, delete those images.

Occasionally you can still make something of an image like that. Not by fixing it, but rethinking it and applying some careful post-processing, but not often.

Bad timing

Maybe someone has walked in front of your camera just as you took a photo. Perhaps the bird you were photographing had already flown out of frame. Many things can happen like this that means you have missed the shot or the decisive moment. Delete them.

Pumpkin Store at the Market - Tips for Culling Your Photos

Poor timing makes this photo unusable.

Don’t Want to Delete?

If you are nervous about deleting photos at first, you can just hide them. I use the flags to determine which images I see and which I do not.

In Lightroom when you are in Grid view in the Library Module with the filter bar showing at the top, click on Attributes at the top of the window. If you then click on the black flag to turn it off all the images you apply a black flag to (rejected) will be hidden from view. To quickly apply a black flag to an image, select it and hit the X key to mark it as rejected.

You can bring the hidden black flagged images back into view by turning on the black flag in the Attributes bar.

Once I have am confident I want to delete my flagged images I turn off the other two flags in the Attribute bar. With only the images I have flagged as rejected showing, I select them all and hit the Delete key and delete them from my disk.

NOTE: Lightroom will give you the option of just removing them from the program or deleting from your hard drive as well – I do the latter, but make note they will be gone forever so make sure you have the right images before hitting delete.

Screen Grab for Black Flag - Tips for Culling Your Photos

Use the grid view, Attributes and flags to help your workflow.

Select Similar Images

Now begin to work through to separate out the best of your photos. Many photographers will take multiple frames of whatever they are photographing. This results in too many images that are really similar. To deal with these, it is good to compare them to each other.

Do this by selecting four to six images and hitting the N key. The selected images will be displayed and the others will be hidden from view. You can now begin to compare your similar images. Using this method it is much easier to concentrate on the qualities of the photos and decide which ones are better than others. Look for similarities and differences in each frame.

Maybe your timing is noticeably better in one than the others. Maybe your composition was a little different or more interesting in one over another. Narrowing down your options as you go will help you see the stronger images more easily.

To do this, keep using the X key to flag the photos as rejects (note: do not do this using the comparison N view as it will tag them all at the same time) so they become hidden. Once you have only one photo in view, press the G key to take you back to Grid view. Now you can select more photos and repeat the process. I sometimes keep the best image from my last selection to compare with three or five other images in the series.

lightroom thumbnails - Tips for Culling Your Photos

Select similar images (use ctrl+click) and the N key to view only the images you have selected.

lightroom compare images side by side - Tips for Culling Your Photos

Look for Strengths in Your Photos

Choose photos which are well-exposed and well composed. Look at your backgrounds. Are there unwanted distractions which will be too difficult to remove? If so, use the X key.

Do you have one or two where your exposure is bang on? These will be potential keepers. Using the P key will mark them with a white flag (as a Pick). You could also use colors or star ratings (from 1-5) to mark your favorites.

Focused Monk - Tips for Culling Your Photos

In this frame, the monk was well focused (pun intended)

Find the photos that make you feel good. Narrow down your selection step by step.

By making comparisons with a small selection it should be less vexing than with all your photos showing at once. You will be more confident to come to recognize your best work using this method. If you are more randomly browsing through hundreds of photos at one time you are less likely to find your best photos as easily.

The post Tips for Culling Your Photos – How to Throw Away the Worst and Concentrate on the Winners appeared first on Digital Photography School.


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MindShift’s new ‘Exposure’ messenger bags are built to handle Mother Nature’s worst

12 Apr

MindShift Gear, the sister company of ThinkTank Photo, has released its all new Exposure messenger bag lineup. Like its backpacks, the MindShift Exposure lineup is made with outdoor photographers in mind, complete with water-repellent material and a rugged bottom.

The Exposure shoulder bags come in two versions: the Exposure 13 and the Exposure 15. As the names suggest, the Exposure 13 can fit a 13-inch laptop, as well as one ungripped DSLR with a 24–70mm F2.8 attached and 2–3 extra lenses depending on your setup. Moving up, the Exposure 15 can fit a 15-inch laptop, as well as one ungripped DSLR with a 70–200mm F2.8 lens attached and 2–5 extra lenses depending on the glass you’re packing. Both bags can also hold up to a 10-inch tablet inside a zippered pocket.

As for looks, the bags are available in two color schemes: Black and Solar Flare, the latter of which is essentially gunmetal grey with orange accents.

Here’s a closer look:

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Looks and capacity aren’t the Exposure lineup’s selling point though; these bags were purpose built to handle inclement weather.

The Exposure 13 and 15 were constructed out of durable water-repellant (DWR) fabric and lined with a polyurethane coating, with integrated waterproof sailcloth panels for increased protection from the elements. And for those times when you need to set the bag down, MindShift has constructed the bottom of the bag with Tarpaulin, a strong waterproof fabric that shouldn’t have a problem keeping your gear dry. Finally, if the weather gets even more demanding, there’s also an included rain cover.

The Exposure 13 and 15 messenger bags are available now for $ 160 and $ 170, respectively. To learn more, visit the MindShift Gear website.

Press Release

MindShift Gear’s “Exposure” Shoulder Bags Offer the Ultimate in Durability and Weather Protection for Outdoor Photographers

SANTA ROSA, CALIF – There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. MindShift Gear’s new Exposure shoulder bags are storm-resistant carrying solutions for the active photographer in virtually any outdoor environment. Built with high performance waterproof sailcloth panels, strategically placed storm flaps, water-repellent DWR fabric, and a sturdy Tarpaulin bottom; the Exposure protects camera gear from the elements and withstands the rigors of adventure photography. And, with its cross-body stabilizer strap, the Exposure moves with you while you’re active or is removable for more causal environments. A waterproof rain cover is included when it’s time to put the camera away and hunker down.

Exposure shoulder bags come in two models, the Exposure 13 and the Exposure 15, and in two colors, Black and Solar Flare. The Exposure 13 fits a 13” laptop; the Exposure 15 fits 15” laptops. A 10” tablet fits in zippered pocket.

?“We believe it is time for outdoor photographers to have the optimal level of weather protection and durability in a shoulder bag,” said Doug Murdoch, MindShift Gear’s CEO and lead designer. “The X-Pac™ technology we employed is a four-layer laminated waterproof sailcloth material. It is abrasion resistant and the C6DWR coating meets current environmental concerns and regulations. Many of the large outdoor companies are using this level of DWR coating now.”

ADDITIONAL FEATURES AND BENEFITS

• YKK® AquaGuard® weather-resistant zippered front pocket sized for today’s large phones

• Weather Wings on flap for additional weather protection

• Anodized aluminum hardware is lightweight and resists corrosion

• Tripod attachment straps included

• Comfortably padded neoprene shoulder strap with easy adjustment

• Luggage handle pass-through

• Customizable divider layout for stacking short lenses

• Internal pockets hold batteries, card wallets, and other accessories

• Ultra-Stretch mesh water-bottle pocket fits most 1 liter water bottles and secures with an elastic cord-lock

• Deluxe organizer located in wide zippered pocket

• Gusseted pockets allow for large objects

• Compatible with the MindShift Filter Nest, Filter Hive, and Switch Case (sold separately)

• Compatible with the Peak Design Capture Clip and the SpiderLight Camera Holster

• Seam-sealed rain cover included

MATERIALS

Exterior: For superior water-resistance, all exterior fabric has a durable water-repellant (DWR) coating, plus the underside of the fabric has a polyurethane coating. It also has YKK® AquaGuard® (weather resistant) zippers, high-performance Sailcloth, 420D velocity nylon, 600D polyester, heavy-duty nylon tarpaulin, UltraMesh pockets, anodized aluminum hardware, nylon webbing, 3-ply bonded nylon thread.

Interior: PE board reinforced removable closed-cell foam dividers, 200D liner, PU backed nylex liner, 2x PU coated nylon 190T seam-sealed taffeta rain cover, 3-ply bonded nylon thread.

SPECIFICATIONS

Exposure 13

Exterior Dimensions: 16.1” W x 10.6” H x 6.5” D (41 x 27 x 16.5 cm)

Interior Camera Compartment: 13.8” W x 9.1” H x 4.9” D (35 x 23 x 12.5 cm)

Laptop Pocket: 13.3” W x 9.6” H x 1” D (34 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm)

Tablet Pocket: 11.8” W x 4.7” H x 0.8” D (30 x 12 x 2 cm)

Phone Pocket: 4.7” W x 6.7” H (12 x 17 cm)

Weight: 2.6 lbs. (1.2 kg) – With all accessories included

Exposure 15

Exterior Dimensions: 17.3” W x 12.2” H x 7.1” D (44 x 31 x 18 cm)

Interior Camera Compartment: 15.7” W x 10.4” H x 5.1” D (40 x 26.5 x 13 cm)

Laptop Pocket: 15.4” W x 11” H x 1.2” D (39 x 28 x 3 cm)

Tablet Pocket: 13.4” W x 9.4” H x 0.8” D (34 x 24 x 2 cm)

Phone Pocket: 5.5” W x 6.7” H (14 x 17 cm)

Weight: 3.0 lbs. (1.4 kg) – With all accessories included

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Modest growth hints that the worst of the camera collapse is over

03 May

It might not be much, but the latest industry figures from trade body CIPA suggest the camera market may have finally bottomed-out.

Shipments of digital cameras with built-in lenses were flat, compared with the same period in 2016. This may not sound positive, but it comes after 21 consecutive quarters of year-on-year sales declines. On top of this, the value of these shipments was up by 7%, compared with the the same period last year.

Meanwhile, shipments of interchangeable lens cameras are up, compared to Q1 2016, with 6% more cameras shipping and the value of those shipments increasing by 14%. Mirrorless cameras make up a historic high proportion of these sales, and now account for 36% of all the ILCs shipped, though they make up only 25.6% of the value of those shipments, suggesting the average selling price of a mirrorless camera is lower than that of a DSLR.

Although there is a chance that some of this (comparatively) positive news stems from camera makers finally being able to satisfy the pent-up demand that had built up following 2016’s earthquake, the increased average selling price of fixed lens cameras can only be good news.

However, to put it into context, although ILC sales are 34% down, compared to the same period five years ago (though only 15% down in terms of value), cameras with built-in lenses are down 84% by volume. And, while every manufacturer says it’s focusing on the higher margin end of the compact market, it’s going to be difficult for all the current camera makers to get their fill of a pie that’s so much smaller than it was.

Source: CIPA 1, CIPA 2

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Adobe Stock Apparel line celebrates the worst of stock photography

17 Sep

Adobe is promoting its stock photo service with a ‘limited edition clothing line’ celebrating such stock photo atrocities as ‘laughing woman eating healthy vegetable salad’ and ‘smiling seniors using laptop.’ The campaign pokes fun at famously bad images that services like Shutterstock are rife with, and commemorates the images by putting them on t-shirts and sweatshirts. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your views on ironic t-shirts, none if it is actually for sale, but you can view the whole collection in a mock lookbook. 

The promotion rests on the premise that Adobe Stock weeds out the so-called low quality images found in other stock websites, saving creatives from spending time sifting through the cheesiest of photos. It’s also worth noting this comes just after the news that Shutterstock is now offering a Photoshop plugin, making it possible for designers to access their extensive collections within Adobe’s own software. 

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Critical eye: Picturesqe aims to highlight your best frames and throw out the worst

28 May

Picturesqe is a software application that’s designed to speed up the process of selecting the best image from a sequence of frames and the most successful pictures from a day’s shooting or a project. Load your images into the program and it applies artificial intelligence and machine learning to pick the best shots based on its own criteria and common preferences in photography.

The idea is that the program analyzes the pictures as you import them, highlighting some and rejecting others, in an automated process that takes the strain out of determining which are the frames to use. All you have to do is review those Picturesqe selects and chose the best of three, for example, instead of the best of the 26 you shot in that sequence.

I have to say at this very early stage that I’m not very keen on a machine making artistic decisions for me. It’s enough to battle the wants and tastes of a pushy modern camera without then allowing a canned algorithm to replace the subtle process of appreciating line, form, focus, light, composition and atmospheric exposure. That is quite a lot to expect a computer program to do, no matter how ‘intelligent’ it is. Nevertheless, I endeavored to give Picturesque a shot.

What it does

The beginning of the process involves importing your images into Picturesqe, which sends thumbnails to its servers to create groups and then determine which pictures are the best of each group.

Picturesqe is a desktop application that runs on PC and Mac platforms, using support from the cloud to run its more power-intensive tasks. Once installed the program invites the user to import images either from an external source, such as a memory card, or from files already stored on the hard drive. As images are imported they are analyzed so that they can be formed into groups of similar-looking images and then arranged in order so that the best frames of each group are positioned at the top left of the screen.

The process of grouping and ordering is done via an algorithm that exists in the cloud – or Picturesqe’s servers – so thumbnail images are sent from your machine for inspection and the information gleaned returns to Earth to inform the arrangement of images in the Picturesqe user window.

The import process doesn’t actually copy files from the memory card onto your main desk drive but acts as a filtering system in between the two – a sort of staging post – so that you’ll eventually only have to save the best of your images. This way you’ll stop clogging your machine with pictures that will never be used and never seem to get deleted.

Does it work?

I imported the contents of a memory card into the software and it sorted the 460 image into groups according to content and what it determined would be the pictures I would want to choose the best of. Pictures it couldn’t find groups for, and lone images, are left floating freely. While most grouping exercises go well there are exceptions, such as this group in which the images clearly do not belong together.

I found the results of an import and a dose of analysis to be a little mixed. At first I was impressed that Picturesqe was able to divide the contents of a memory card that contained street images, portraits and product shots into a number of mostly sensible groups. Images that feature the same color in about the same place get grouped easily, and those that contain the same objects in approximately the same composition are also bundled together with a decent degree of accuracy. Pictures that fall between stools are left ungrouped for us to leave floating on their own, to manually delete or to add to the group we think most appropriate.

Opening a group reveals what the program thinks of your pictures, as it orders them according to its perception of their merits and labels those it doesn’t think much of with a waste paper basket. Those with a sensitive nature should avoid this stage, as the program’s mathematical opinion will not necessarily reflect everyone’s perceptions of their artistic brilliance.

I had to remind myself that it was a machine I was dealing with so I didn’t have to take things personally

In some instances I was glad of Picturesqe’s help in selecting the best frames from each group, but in others I was left slightly mystified by the way my images had been treated – like entering a camera club competition. Pictures that I thought were the better of the group were often not placed ahead of others I thought less pleasing. On more than a few occasions pictures I had previously selected for printing were marked out for shredding by the algorithm in the cloud. I had to remind myself that it was a machine I was dealing with so I didn’t have to take things personally. I hope Picturesqe has good insurance to pay for user’s trauma therapy. 

I wouldn’t have grouped all of these images together as, while they are all from the same shoot, they represent the pool from which I’d hope to pull three quite different pictures. It doesn’t make sense, to me at least, to group uprights and landscape format images together.

The criteria for the grouping process is a little more open than I’d like as, for instance, it doesn’t seem to take into account the orientation of the image. When shooting a portrait, for example, I’ll shoot poses and locations in upright and landscape formats, and generally edit to offer the sitter one of each. To me then it doesn’t make sense to group uprights and landscape format images together as though you’d pick one or the other instead of one of each. On the whole though the grouping process does a pretty decent job of working out which pictures belong together, and will only rarely drop an odd frame into a group in which it clearly doesn’t belong.

Groups can be edited, of course, once the program has made them, and we can reject individual images from the group so that they float free in the main browser window. A process of drag-and-drop then allows us to manually create our own groups by bunching images together.

This is how the images look when they are first imported into the program – as they should. Picturesqe though then drops the camera-dictated color, contrast and styles for a much more ‘Raw’ looking image. Removing image characteristics doesn’t make picking a winner easier.

The application works with Raw and JPEG files, and I was impressed it is able to display the latest Raw files from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX80/85 even before Adobe can. It does it though at the expense of any in-camera processing settings so we see the Raw ‘Raw’ data with distortions that are usually corrected before we get to view the picture. Anything you’ve shot in black and white using Raw will also be displayed in color, though for a short few seconds images are shown as we intended before Picturesqe renders them flat and with native colors. Thus we have to make our judgements without a good deal of the qualities we might often weigh-up when selecting the best of our images – such as color.

I found this quite irritating. JPEGs are rendered just as they should be though, but when fed simultaneously-shot Raw and JPEG files we only get to see the Raws but with the rendering of the JPEGs – though I found the relationship between what I’d shot and what was displayed a little inconsistent across camera brands. If you only shoot Raw though you get to look at slightly flat and unsharp images.

Judgement Day

It seems that the ‘best’ picture (top left) has been selected by the software because the subject is quite central in the frame. The picture the software likes least (bottom right) shows the subject against a distracting background.

It’s not completely clear on what grounds the program and analysis makes its judgements as it orders our images from good to bad. I spotted that it seems to like a subject that’s in the middle of the frame, and one that sits on a third, and that it can tell within a group when the subject is against a clear background and when it’s against one that’s a bit distracting.

Magnifying the eye of the sitter from this group of portraits makes it clear that the software doesn’t place sharpness at the top of its list of priorities. The sharpest picture (bottom center) is actually marked with a waste paper basket, indicating that that Picturesqe thinks I should dump it. The shot it recommends is a good deal less focused.

Things that humans might take into account though the software doesn’t seem to – such as exposure, over-powering flash, focus and whether there are distractions in the background. It can work out when eyes are closed though, and it knows the difference between someone facing the camera straight on and someone at an angle – but it always prefers face-on as though that’s the safe formula for a ‘good’ picture. It can’t tell an unflattering angle from a complementary one though, and doesn’t distinguish between a well-lit subject and lighting that makes a nose look big.

The zoom feature identifies the part of the subject that you want to inspect and just magnifies that bit. The clever bit is that it doesn’t just magnify the same area of the frame of each picture, but actually identifies the part of the subject – wherever that subject is in the frame.

A very nice feature is the synchronized zoom that is great for checking focus across a number of images at the same time. With a collection of portraits, for example, you can zoom into the eye of one frame and the eye area of all the other frames get magnified along with it. What is particularly clever is that the eyes don’t have to be at the same coordinates in the picture for the program to magnify them, as it can identify similar objects in the images across the series.

This feature worked brilliantly for portraits, allowing closed eyes and missed focus to be spotted easily and early on, and on occasions it worked even when the images weren’t all in the same orientation. The success rate is reduced for landscapes and more general scenes where the element you want to inspect isn’t as distinct or as obvious as an eye, but the application can concentrate on rocks, trees and buildings so long as the object you are checking has reasonably powerful edges and outlines.

When the images are less regular, such as in these street pictures, the software finds it more difficult to identify the subject. Using the zoom feature didn’t allow me to compare the sharpness of the subjects in the street pictures, even though they have similar outlines and contrast in each frame.

Export

Once you have whittled your selections down to the best images in each group, or to the better groups in the collection, you are ready to export the pictures to their final destination. The editing process involves deleting the images that aren’t wanted – not from the card or from their home on your hard drive, but from the imported collection. No files are actually deleted.

To do this you’ll have to click on the trash can icon on the image. And that will have to be done on every unwanted image. So, if you have shot a sequence of 100 images and only need one you have to delete 99. You can attend to each frame individually and delete each one in turn, or you can select them all and use the delete key on the keyboard.

I’m a little unhappy about the solely subtractive nature of the process and feel I’d rather just select the best frame and export that without having to deal with the wreckage of the frames that didn’t work, but the truth is it’s more of a big deal in my head that in reality. Clearing away the duds doesn’t take that long.

Images can then be exported to a chosen folder on your hard drive or directly into Adobe Lightroom for editing. 

The research program

At the export stage the first option in the navigation is to send the images to Picturesqe’s research program. The company wants users to send images that have been rated by humans so that it can compare the ‘right’ ranking and grouping with the way the software performed. The idea is that the company can study the differences and similarities and develop algorithms that select and grade more like the user does.

The uploaded images, we are assured, will never be used for anything other than research, and the company takes only a 1500×1500 pixel thumbnail that is studied by a computer and not by a human. The idea is to build a database of how images are selected to allow the software to learn and get better at its job.

In this example the software has compared a Raw file with a JPEG I processed from that same file, and has concluded that the Raw file isn’t just weaker than the JPEG, but that it should be deleted. Had I used the software to select which Raw files I would save for processing in the first place, this one wouldn’t have ever got to the black and white JPEG stage.

Conclusion

So, Picturesqe isn’t perfect. Not by a long shot, in fact, but it gets enough right that shooters who work with long sequences of the same subject will find it useful. In more general work it is not much of a chore to compare three or four frames to select which is the better, but if your photography involves long bursts of action or multiple frames of the same thing, then what it does will be enough to make it useful and to save you time. As the engineers seem to have prioritized portraiture it makes sense that this is the area in which it works best, and for which I’d most recommend it, but motor sports and general action would suit it too.

The company doesn’t claim that Picturesqe can make judgements of taste

As the selection process tends to judge on more formulaic principals you’ll have more success with images that are more about content than artistic ideals. The company doesn’t claim that Picturesqe can make judgements of taste, but that it uses math and obvious standards to rank images, and that is exactly what you get.

There is a good deal of potential to make this a very powerful program for factual photographic subjects and the learning element of Picturesqe promises great things. Right now it needs a bit more work to make it of a standard that the majority of photographers will find it useful, but it is an interesting idea and even as it is will be useful for a good many.

Fortunately we don’t have to take its advice completely, and when you work together with the program, combining its literal mind with your own taste and style, it can work very well if you shoot the right sort of subject.

What we like:

  • A great concept
  • Easy to use
  • Very good for comparing magnified views 
  • It does have some success
  • Good for factual images

What we don’t like:

  • Success rate just isn’t high enough yet
  • It doesn’t sort by orientation
  • Doesn’t seem to take focus into consideration


Interview Q&A with Picturesqe CEO Daniel Szollosi

We got some time with Daniel Szollosi, the CEO and founder of Picturesqe, and questioned him about the way the application works and some of the issues we picked up during the review process.

DPReview: The process to get to the pictures photographers want to save and work on means they have to delete those that they don’t. So, in a collection of 100 pictures to get to one you want to keep you need to delete 99. Is there a way to just export the one you want instead of going through the process of deleting the 99?

Daniel Szollosi: We realize it is not a perfect workflow concept, you are totally right. Originally our primary goal was to get rid of the digital trash – so image deletion was the main focus. Since then we have come up with a new workflow, which directly helps the selection of top quality photos. The new workflow is going to be released in the next version of Picturesqe.


DPR: Raw files don’t always look the way they were shot – when they are supposed to be black and white, for example. Does that only happen when there is no simultaneously shot JPEG imported with it?

DS: We know about this bug. It’s related to white balance, we have problems with setting the right value yet. 


DPR: Your program displays Raw files from cameras that are new and which Adobe can’t display yet. How does that happen?

DS: We’re using a 3rd party library for decoding Raw camera images. Another advantage of this library is that the user doesn’t need to install any kind of camera drivers. 


DPR: The program doesn’t always detect when images are out of focus – is it supposed to or is that something you are working on?

DS: We are definitely working on it! In the next version we expect a really big improvement regarding focus detection. We have developed a technology which seems to be better than the current state-of-the-art regarding local sharpness/blur evaluation. 


DPR: Picturesqe seems to prioritize images where the subject is in the centre of the frame, or on a third. Is that part of the analysis? What other factors are taken into account?

DS: We do take into account composition factors, like rule of thirds. The quality factors we take into account are:

  • Location of visually attended area
  • Exposure (globally and in the visually attended area)
  • Focus (global blur, wrong focus localization)
  • Lighting distribution
  • Color harmony
  • Composition
  • Optical distortions
  • Visual noise

DPR: In some cases the program recommends deleting a Raw file but promotes a JPEG processed from that file to the top of the stack. Why does that happen?

DS: Thanks for mentioning this, we have not thought about it. We resize the images to a smaller size when evaluating the quality and aesthetics and on this scale Raw information does not exist anymore. We can easily implement a filter which prioritize Raw images when compared to its JPEG descendant.


DPR: Does Picturesqe assess exposure and the content of the background?

DS: Semantically we do not interpret the content of the background, but visually we assess the background and the foreground separately. The quality attributes calculated from the foreground have more weights.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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