Boeing’s new and very shiny 737 MAX 9 is a pretty cool plane. And so is the equally new and equally shiny 787-10. And in Boeing’s latest promotional video you can see its two newest airliners flying together in close formation, ahead of the annual Paris Air Show.
Does this video have anything to do with photography? Absolutely not. But you should watch it anyway.
Read about our experience recently shooting the 737 MAX 9 first flight
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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In the mid-2000s camera manufacturers had to find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. Kodak brought Wi-Fi to the camera world with its EasyShare One, Panasonic released the DMC-LX1 that had a 16:9 sensor and Samsung put selfie mirrors on the front of its compacts. Not to be outdone, Sony released its Cyber-shot DSC-N1 in October 2005, which was a compact camera and a 500-shot photo album in one.
On the front panel, the N1 had an 8.1MP, 1/1.8″ CCD with a top ISO of 800, a 38-114mm equivalent lens, 5-area AF system and a battery that lasted for roughly 300 shots (which is quite respectable). Images and VGA video could be saved to internal memory or a Memory Stick Pro Duo slot.
Photo quality was typical for 2005, which is to say, good until about ISO 400 or so.
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The real action takes place on the back of the DSC-N1, where you’ll find a 3″, 230k-dot RGBW LCD. The display was touch-enabled and offered features that we take for granted today, like touch AF, menu operation and image playback.
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Enough beating around the bush: here’s what made the DSC-N1 unique. Every time you took a photo, a VGA-sized version would be saved to the camera’s internal memory bank. Album photos are saved ‘first in first out’, which means that older photos will be automatically deleted from the album if you don’t protect or copy them first.
Images were organized by date and time and you could view slideshows of images from that date or the whole album. Slideshows were accompanied by fancy transitions and generic background music. One nice thing was that you could replace the built-in music with your own, drawing from CDs or MP3s.
As the photo above says, you could ‘paint’ on top of a photo using an included stylus. You could pick a color and a line size and draw away or add ‘stamps’. Thankfully, an eraser was also available.
Sony offered an optional dock, known as the Cyber-shot Station, which let you charge the battery or display your slideshows on a TV.
Read DCResource DSC-N1 review
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Did you have a Cyber-shot DSC-N1 or the DSC-N2 that followed it? Share your memories in the comments! As always, suggestions for future tbt’s are appreciated.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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NYC based photographer William Vazquez on one of his earlier assignments.
New York City based photographer William Vazquez, travels about 30-50% of the year. From Cuba to the mountains of Nepal, Vazquez has worked in more than 54 countries on more than five continents, often arriving first on the scene of a humanitarian crisis to document recovery operations for NGO’s and the companies that provide support to the areas affected by natural disasters.
While his documentary humanitarian work may be the most dramatic in context, Vazquez’s portraiture brings us closer to other cultures, whether it’s a flamenco dancer outfitted in a brilliantly colored red dress in Cuba or a black and white portrait of a woman cloaked in a burka in a clinic Afghanistan captured with a Speed Graphic on Type 55 Polaroid film.
You may find him trekking in the mountains of Nepal, wandering the streets of Cuba, or watching a baby being born after a devastating a typhoon in the Philippines. But, no matter where he is, Vazquez’s images bring life to the stories of the people and places he’s been.
You can see more of Vazquez’s work at his website and on Instagram.
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Vazquez’s warm personality and genuine interest in people elicits wonderful reactions in the portraits he makes around the world, including the photo of this woman in rural India.
Photography started as a hobby when I was a teenager. My first camera was a used Rollei 35 S, which I still have. But I had never considered photography a profession and didn’t know anything about professional photography until 1985 when I met a New York City based still life photographer named Jeff Glancz. He hired me one Christmas season to deliver gifts to his clients. At the time, I was studying electrical engineering at New York Institute of Technology but when Jeff started calling me to assist him on jobs at his NYC studio, I would cut class to work for him.
Summer break came, and he was looking for a full-time assistant. I agreed to work the summer and then go back to school when fall came around. But I never went back. I had found my calling: shooting 4×5, processing black and white film, and printing. This is where I wanted to be. I worked for Jeff for about a year when he told me I need to finish my education. I got a scholarship to Parsons (School of Design in NYC) in1986 and returned to school.
During and after Parsons I worked for a wide range of photographers in advertising, catalog, fashion, location, portrait and travel. I did it all, and travelled the world on assisting gigs. I learned things during this time that I still use in my work. It was an amazing experience! I learned how people worked business wise as well as photographically. I think that assisting pros is where I got my real education in photography.
I assisted for about 5 years with a 3-year transition period. Then my first big job came in. I did the 1995 Pfizer annual report. It was a global book with locations spanning the globe including Milan, London, Johannesburg, Sao Paulo, Hong Kong, Tokyo and a number of locations in the U.S.
When I first started as a pro, I did product photography for magazines like Martha Stewart Living, This Old House, GQ, and others. After a while I realized that I was not cut out for product photography. I am too impatient, and I liked being out of the studio. So I started doing more portraiture, and chasing down portraiture work.
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The circle of life continues with the birth of babies despite the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Right now my work is a blend of commercial, and humanitarian projects. I create photo libraries for my corporate clients such as Abbott, Pfizer, and Samsung, just to name a few. These assignments can be anything from lifestyle, portraits or industrial shoots. For example, one day I might be making pictures to illustrate middle class lifestyle in India; another day, I’ll photograph people working in a production plant.
An important part of my work is photography that illustrates CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) efforts of large corporations around the world. This is how I got started in humanitarian work. Companies want to document the support they give to NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) so they hire me to work with these non-profit groups. Once I connect with the NGO, we develop a relationship, which allows me to work for them directly.
The work I do for organizations like Americares, Direct Relief, and Project Hope, for example, varies from in-depth still or video stories on their humanitarian projects or documenting emergency relief operations such as those after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, or the earthquake in Nepal. When documenting relief operations, I’ll fly in with the first people on the ground. It’s tough work—rough sleeping, bathing out of a bucket, low quality food, no electricity, etc. But that’s just a minor inconvenience compared to what the people who lived through the disaster have endured.
I also work with much smaller organizations as personal projects. These small organizations need quality images and video in order to help with fundraising, so it’s a good thing to do. Sometimes my expenses are paid or I tack it on to a paid project in the same country or close by. It’s one of my ways of giving back.
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On his way to the day’s location in rural Shirdi India, this young man swinging from the vines of a banyan tree caught Vazquez’s eye. Captured with a Sony a7R II and a 24-70mm F4 lens.
If I have to just do still photos, and I don’t have to be dragging my gear through a jungle, I bring my Canon 5D Mark III with a variety of lenses, and accessories. I like working with the Canon 5D Mark III – it’s responsive and tough.
If I have to keep a low profile or do a combo of stills and video, I use my Sony A7R with a variety of lenses. The Sonys are great for keeping a low profile – they are small, lightweight, and less obtrusive. People get relaxed faster when you don’t have a huge machine with you. I also like the Sony a7S and the Sony a7R II for video because of the features and the dedicated accessories that help make the process easier for a one-man show, particularly for sound.
One of the things I am in love with at the moment is the DJI Osmo RAW. One of my biggest problems is getting usable video when working handheld, and when things are moving fast. The DJI is great for following people, shooting from a car and for grab shots. I end up with much more, and better, footage with the DJI and it still allows me to shoot loose.
I work alone in most of my projects, so I try to travel light. Sometimes I am able to get a local person to help carry gear but most of the time I’m on my own. Also, what I bring depends on the nature of what I need to accomplish. I usually try to keep it to one bag of gear with some additional items such as tripods, etc. that I carry in my suitcase. If I am working in an urban environment, I use a rollercase. If I’m going to be out in the countryside, I use a backpack. I have a mix of Thinktank and Tenba bags. Sometimes I use belt packs from Thinktank and leave the backpack in the car. When I start photographing, I’ll put my bag down and walk away from it when the action moves on, so I need to keep my gear attached to me.
One of the issues I am facing these days is that airlines are really cracking down on the size and the weight of carry-ons, particularly on short hops within a country like India. So I use a photo vest that I pack full of gear to make sure the bag weighs as little as possible. I’ll sometimes use the photo vest when I’m forced to check in bags or I’ll use a backpack that fits in a Pelican case, and check that in.
I’m really excited about my upcoming trip to Nepal. However, I’m am not excited about what I have to do to deal with that electronics ban when traveling through the UAE. There is always something new to make life difficult.
I tend to fly though one of the UAE countries on most trips east, to Asia and Africa. They have the best fights to those places and good prices. I always carry my gear with me on the plane. But now with the restrictions banning electronics larger than the size of a cellphone on the way back, I have to pack my cameras in a Pelican 1510 case to carry on board, take a backpack in my suitcase to carry the gear when I work, then pack it back in the Pelican and check it in.
As for backup drives I invested in Samsung 1TB T3 SSD drives that are half the size of an iPhone so I can carry them on the plane with me. I’ll bring a smaller Macbook so I can pack more essential equipment. I usually don’t need a powerful laptop on the road – just something to copy files. If I have to process a few files, I can do that, too. At the end of the day, I just need is to make sure my images stay with me. Cameras can be replaced.
At this point, though, the bigger issue is the uncertainty of it all. What about batteries? Can I take them? Which ones? The list goes on and on. It’s about being prepared for whatever is thrown at you but, at this point, there’s little real information out there.
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Crammed into a tiny hut without electricity in Nepal waiting for a storm to pass, people turned on the lights on their cell phones so Vazquez had enough light to take pictures.
Nepal is one of my favorite places to visit. It’s stunningly beautiful and the people are very friendly and open. I have traveled there many times on assignment and for personal projects and I have a deep love for the place, and its people.
I went there right after the devastating earthquake in 2015. Seeing how the Nepalis were able to overcome something really traumatic, and still take the time to stop what they were doing to offer me hospitality, is something that will stay with me forever. I remember traveling with Americares up in the mountains to visit some people who were hurt and a freak storm rolled in. We had to take cover in the patients’ home. It was five of us and what felt like half the village crammed into their tiny hut.
It was pitch black in the hut and as I contemplated how I was going to photograph in the dark, someone turned on their cell phone light, then another, and another. I had lighting! Tea was served as we sat together waiting out the storm. Despite the hardships the people endured, they still thought of me. It was a magical moment.
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“In the mountains of Nepal,” says Vazquez, “you are always climbing up or climbing down.” When he offered his hand to help the woman behind him—one of a group of social workers for Americares—she laughed and reminded him, “we are mountain women.” After thinking about it for a minute, Vazquez realizes “She could probably carry me up and down that hill—in sandals, no less!”
Anytime I am going anywhere I always do research on who I am working with, and where I need to go. It is important to have a sense of the geography I will be traveling through so I can gauge how far out in the woods I will be, travel times, etc. Plus it’s important to get to know who I’ll be working with on the ground.
I also look into the types of places I will be staying at so I know if I need to bring any specialized gear. Things like battery packs, solar battery chargers, a hammock, sleep sack, satellite phone, GPS tracker, water purifier, lighting, mosquito netting, what type of footwear, medicines – the list goes on and on.
I am my own best travel agent. I have a good grasp of geography, I know the airlines I like to travel on, and the places I don’t want to get stuck in. I organize my travel to and from places and take care of some hotel reservations. If I am going to be way out in the field, the local NGO I am working with handles the local logistics, like accommodations, and transport or I may hire a fixer to help me with translation and getting around.
When working with the NGOs they have people on the ground who know where things are, as well as speak the local language. But speaking even a few words of the local language goes a long way. I speak Spanish so when I was in the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Matthew, I was treated like family. In Nepal, many of the younger generation speak English, so you can always find someone to communicate with. Once you have done lots of traveling, it gets easier figuring out what people are trying to say. If all else fails… Google Translate!
I do use a travel agent when it comes to booking multiple cities and airlines. It makes it easier and if you run into problems, you have someone to reach out to. All I have to do is email my travel agent and she takes care of it. Try doing that with Expedia.
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One of the first people on the ground after Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Vazquez photographed these massive ships that were forced ashore during the storm.
Working on humanitarian assignments usually means really long days. Get up early and go for a long ride in a beat up car, in the heat with no air conditioning on a bad road. I get up early, eat whatever there is for breakfast, and get on the road. I always make sure I bring plenty of water and something to eat for the day. Most undeveloped places or places in crisis won’t have any food or water to buy.
Then you make your stops at whatever the story is about. In my case it’s usually clinics or temporary places set up to distribute food and medicine with lots of people needing help—whether it’s food, or medical care. It’s amazing how overwhelming it can be. So much so that I sometimes have to put my camera down and lend a hand in unloading a truck, opening boxes, and handing out food. Then you get back to wherever you’re staying, clean up, eat, download cards, back images up, check out the day’s work, upload to my social media channels (if there’s an internet connection), then plan for the next day.
I have stayed in everything from a tent, to a home with a tarp over it, slept in a truck, slept in a communal room with lots of beds, and snoring people—again, minor inconveniences compared to those who have lived through a disaster. In the course of day I can see a baby being born in a tent, ride in an ambulance with someone in distress, witness an operation, and everything in between.
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These schoolboys were more than happy to smile for Vazquez’s camera when he was on assignment in India.
One of the best things about what I do is meeting people. I do my best to stay in touch with them. Facebook makes it much easier, in some cases. There are many times I end up coming back to a country for a different assignment, and I make it a point to see the people I’ve met before.
When on assignment I usually spend a lot of days with the same people. We are together 24/7, eating together, traveling together, drinking together, laughing together and hanging out together. Much of what is experienced on some of these assignments is very emotionally charged, so we often form a tight bond.
I photographed a young woman in India, and her photo was used for the cover of the publication I was working for. The next year I returned and I saw her again, and I had some copies of the publication. She was so amazed she was speechless. She was so thrilled that she showed the magazine to everyone in sight. That’s one of the reasons I do what I do. That my work can perhaps inspire that type of response.
Also, I make it my business to get to know the people I am working with, which also helps for future opportunities in working together.
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Ongoing humanitarian missions include the donation and distribution of medicine. Here, horsemen prepare to escort dignitaries celebrating the 100 millionth dose of antibiotics to reach the population of Ethiopia’s Amhara Region to combat malaria and trachoma (a disease that leads to blindness).
Working in remote locations is tough for many reasons. If you forgot something or a piece of critical gear breaks, you can’t get a replacement. You’d better be a flexible eater, too, because bush meat stew can be all there is to eat for days. If you get sick, you should be prepared with any medications you may need, because there is no medicine.
There will probably be no internet or even cell phone service. I have a satellite phone that I use for emergencies, and a satellite GPS tracker that I can send messages with so my wife knows where I am. Be prepared for no electricity too, but I have battery packs that I can charge with the sun or in a car. And, with a multitool and duct tape you can fix almost anything.
At the end of the day research where you are going, think of what the challenges will be, ask anyone you know for firsthand advice, invest in having the right gear, make sure you have all the insurances you need like evacuation insurance, and think carefully about what you are taking. If you take too much, getting around is a problem. If you don’t bring enough, you may not have what you need to get the job done. It’s all about bringing the right stuff.
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Whether he’s shooting stills or video, Vazquez will put his cameras down to help distribute supplies when needed.
Almost all my assignments right now include B-roll in addition to stills, and sometimes more involved video work. I have tried different cameras, and setups but I prefer the Sony A7 series cameras because they do great video, are great still cameras, have advanced features, and have accessories that can make things work together instead of having to Frankenstein them together. I work by myself with lots of distractions going on, so I need to just have one button to push to make everything work.
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To raise money for orphanages in India and Nepal, Vazquez and fellow photographer Greg Kinch did a “Rickshaw Run” for more than 2500 miles through India in this colorful but cramped auto rickshaw. Getting stuck in the mud, dealing with burned out pistons and a carburetor that needed regular disassembly and cleaning were part of the adventure.
In my assignment work, I see so many great organizations and people that need support. I always want to do more. So besides providing free photography and communications advice I fundraise. I found the best way to fundraise is to do something that people will pay attention to. It’s been working. I also couple it with personal challenges that I want to do, and to inspire me.
My life revolves around my photography work so I have to constantly feed it with investment and inspiration. I feel that is what keeps my work relevant these days. Being able to combine my adventures to help people less fortunate makes it perfect.
Last year I did the Rickshaw Run. Fellow photographer Greg Kinch and I decided to drive an auto rickshaw (also known in some countries as a Tuk Tuk), 2500 miles through India to fundraise for an orphanage in India and an orphanage in Nepal, including Kids of Kathmandu. It was an amazing thing to do. It was tough, but a great personal achievement, and we raised about $ 5,000 – money that goes a very long way in that part of the world.
This year I am trekking to Everest Base Camp and taking a group of people who will also fundraise for the education fund of Kids of Kathmandu. The organization does amazing work in Nepal—they support an orphanage and rebuild schools up in the mountains that were damaged by the earthquake. All donations go straight to the organization and are tax deductible.
We’ll also be stopping at schools along the route to deliver solar powered lights donated to Kids of Kathmandu by Mpowerd. Electricity is scarce in this part of the world and kids often can’t read or study after the sun goes down, so these lights will help tremendously.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By SA Rogers in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]
It rains more in Berlin than it does in England, especially during the cold and dreary months of winter, so enticing Germans to vacation in Mexico with a cloud that literally rains tequila is probably pretty effective. And this isn’t just a cloud-shaped installation that pours a mist of tequila out of a showerhead or something equally predictable – it’s a real cloud of tequila condensation that turns liquid in response to vibration, timed to coincide with real-life rain outside.
United States-based creative agency LAPIZ teamed up wit the Mexico Tourism Board to create an ad specifically tailored to boost German tourism to the sunny, margarita-soaked nation. Installed in Urban Spree, a Berlin art gallery, the project mimics the look of natural clouds by containing condensation within a cumulus-shaped sculpture. You can see the mist rolling off the cloud in Instagram videos of the installation.
#tequilacloud Serving free shots of delicious Silver Tequila since 2016. Come to Urban Spree, Revaler Strasse 99 for a taste #mexico #travel #tequila #art #berlin
this is how @pojpojberlin spends feierabend. with #tequilacloud @urban_spree come by. #pøjpøj #feierabend #feierabendtequila #mexico #olé #avocado #tequila
Make it rain tequila. #tequila #cloud #artistic #installation #vapor #alcohol #mexico #agave #makeitrain #pouritup #kunst #innovation #wowfactor #cloudydrink #tequilacloud #liquid #tequilashots #shot #urbanspree #weather #cloudy #smoke #vape
A flash of lightning heralds an oncoming tequila storm, and onlookers gather to hold a shot glass under the cloud. It’s the third year in a row that Lapiz teamed up with the tourism board to get Germans to Mexico, and it seems certain that this would be their most successful effort yet. Who doesn’t like free tequila? “This time, we combined the Mexican thing Germans love most, tequila, with the type of weather they like the least, rain, and created the Tequila Cloud,” they explain.
[ By SA Rogers in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]
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| You’re flying… kind of! Cape lets registered users fly drones in remote locations. Takeoff and landing are handled automatically by the drone. |
We were promised jetpacks, but as many-a-scholar has noted, here we are knocking on 2020’s door and we are still jetpackless. We have, however, managed to put countless drones into the sky. While jetpacks are scarce, a drone can be had for as little as $ 15 and as much as, well a hell of a lot more than that. Anyone can fly a cheapo drone into their living room wall, but if you want to fly a bigger drone somewhere cool there are costs, logistics and federal guidelines to contend with. What’s an apartment-dweller with big drone flying ambitions to do?
Enter Cape: a service that lets you fly real drones in real outdoor locations, without leaving the comfort of your home or your web browser. No license, no learning curve, no expensive crashes. Flight locations are exclusively located in California at this point, and the service is in beta so its developers expect to work out some bugs and improve latency before launch. Deep into a stretch of grey Seattle weather, flying a drone around a sunny California desert sounded fantastic to me.
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| Just sitting at my desk in Seattle, flying over the Sacramento River. You know, no big deal. |
Cape’s locations include desert and coastal sites including San Francisco Bay, the Salton Sea and Sacramento River. Each has its own hours and days of availability, but most are available weekdays until 5pm Pacific Time. Provided your internet connection is robust, all you need to do is select a site that’s available and hop to the controls of your very own DJI Inspire 1.
Your flight begins with a diagram of your keyboard control shortcuts overlaying the camera’s live feed. Getting started just requires pressing ‘enter’ to initiate autopilot take-off. And there you are – soaring above the California desert with the press of a button.
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| When your session starts, you’re met with this handy controls diagram. |
Cape’s drones are as dummy-proof as you’d hope they would be. A map in the corner of the screen indicates where your aircraft is in the geo-fenced zone. You can’t go beyond the zone’s boundaries, can’t crash your drone into another drone, and can’t stray outside of minimum and maximum altitudes – autopilot will kick in and prevent you from doing any of these things.
You quite literally learn the controls on the fly, but they’re easy to master. There’s some lag, but it was honestly less than I expected. In no time, I was zooming across a little patch of California desert at a reasonable speed and legal altitude. There wasn’t much to see, since that’s how deserts are, aside from some distant brush and pixelated mountains on the horizon.
And on that topic: considering you’re flying a drone that could very well be a world away, the live feed resolution isn’t bad. At best it looks like a Google Street View image, but most of the time it’s a bit more pixelated than that as it catches up with your movements. This translates to a slightly less awe-inspiring experience than, say, actually being there to gaze on some distant desert mountains.
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| I’m trying to drown this drone and it’s having none of it. |
The zones feel small once you’ve flown from one edge to the other, and by necessity the controls are pared down to a minimum. If it’s a truly realistic piloting experience you’re hankering, I’m not sure it’ll scratch that itch. Playing tennis on a Nintendo Wii is convenient and fun in its own way, but it’s not the same experience as playing on a real court with a racquet in your hand. You don’t come away with the same satisfaction when so much is done for you.
So if it doesn’t quite provide the same excitement as flying a drone in person, is it escapism that Cape can provide? Sure, getting a peek at the sun for the first time in days, even virtually, felt pretty nice. I can attest to how strong the desire is around Seattle to be somewhere sunny right now. I got a little bit of that escapism from Cape, but not so much that I’ll be racing back to fly somewhere else tomorrow.
But really, when you think about what Cape allows you to do, it’s kind of incredible. You’re controlling an aircraft hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away, in real time. Finding visually rich places where those drones can be operated safely and legally seems like a tricky balance. Cape’s website says the company is working on ‘unlocking new locations,’ and if one of those locations is in say, Norway or Iceland, then you’d definitely have my attention.
It’s not jetpacks, but maybe we’re getting closer.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
[ By SA Rogers in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]
Twice a day, when the tides go down, this causeway appears to connect the French mainland to the island of Noirmoutier, but cross quickly or the road will disappear, stranding you in the middle of the Bay of Bourgneuf. The Passage du Gois was built upon a strip of silt that just barely elevates it above the surface during low tide for a little over an hour at a time. Crossers often wait too long to get started, bet that they’ll be able to make it across, and lose.
Once it starts flooding, it happens quickly. That’s why there are elevated rescue towers located along the stretch – you might just have to swim over to one, climb up and wait it out. When the tide is low, abandoned, ruined cars can be seen littering the sand.
Each year, runners gather for the Foulées du Gois, a race across the causeway. The road also tends to be covered with seashells, making it a popular destination for both souvenir-seeking tourists and locals who look for edible shellfish.
Photos via Flickr Creative Commons: garder le cap, ludovic, pics by brian, oliver gobin, alain bachellier, marc bourbon, oliver hankeln, wikimedia commons
[ By SA Rogers in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]
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| Organic chips, but not the kind with sea salt. On the left the sensor is used in plain old visible light mode. By changing the electric charge applied to the chip, visible and near-infrared light are captured simultaneously, shown on the right. |
Panasonic has been developing organic sensors for a while now and has just announced a new breakthrough: an organic CMOS chip that can capture visible and near-infrared (NIR) light simultaneously without sacrificing resolution.
There are sensors available now that can image both near-infrared and visible light, but they sacrifice one out of every four pixels to NIR capture. As a result, resolution of the final image suffers. Panasonic’s new chip makes use of two organic layers: the top layer is sensitive to visible light and the bottom layer is sensitive to near-infrared light. By changing the voltage applied to the layers, it’s possible to choose whether the lower layer is active or not. This means it can switch between visible and visible+NIR imaging frame by frame, which is useful in machine vision applications where subjects may be moving quickly.
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| The image on the left is recorded with color imaging mode, the right shows the scene in NIR imaging mode. The new sensor could be used for night vision and surveillance. |
Alternatively, it allows for the creation of security cameras that capture visible light during the day then switch to visible+NIR for a full-resolution ‘night vision’ mode after dark.
It’s great news too if your job relies on checking things that aren’t visible to the human eye, like checking things on an assembly line that are out of sight, but this sensor is unlikely to ever be used in a consumer digital camera. Still, it’s promising to see that Panasonic’s experiments in creating chips made of something besides silicon are paying off.
If nothing else, separating the capture medium from the readout mechanism makes it easier to implement a global shutter design, since the light-sensitive layer can be switched on and off independently, rather than being constrained by the (sequential) read-out process.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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The Sigma 85mm F1.4 Art is finally here, with units of the $ 1199 lens shipping now. The big question, almost as big as the lens itself: is it worth the wait? And, is it worth the weight? To find out, we wasted no time taking it out to shoot some portraits. Lots and lots of portraits.
See our Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG HSM Art Sample Gallery
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Photokina 2016 gave us a chance to speak to Nikon about the models it’s showing, where the market is going and the challenges it faces.
It was a relatively quiet show for Nikon, with three KeyMission lifestyle cameras taking up as much space as the recently announced D3400 and 105mm F1.4 lens. We took the opportunity to speak to Naoki Kitaoka, Department Manager, Marketing Department and Masahiko Inoue, Group Manager, Marketing Group 2, to see how the company sees the market. Please note the following interview has been slightly edited for clarity and flow.
We started by asking whether they foresaw DSLRs and other dedicated cameras returning to being the niche product they were at the end of the film era and where KeyMission fits in:
‘We don’t want to change our policy,’ said Kitaoka: ‘We will keep offering the best DSLR to the customer. On the other hand, smart devices are getting popular: almost everyone has one or two or three devices in their pocket. In the mobile era, we have to offer new solutions that are fit for the mobile era. We want to be the end to end solution for consumers. The KeyMission is one of our solutions I think.’
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| The KeyMission range, including the KeyMission 360 are aimed at ‘immediate immersive storytelling,’ the company says. |
KeyMission, then, is intended as a way of bringing Nikon’s expertise to new customers, Inoue explains: ‘Our competence is high quality imagery. So we will continue to keep that our core competence and apply it into the KeyMissions.’
‘For instance, the lens in the KeyMission 360 has a very wide angle of view. But this kind of category needs the size to be wearable. Using our competence and some new techniques, we managed to keep the quality and realize the miniaturization.’
‘It’s a very wide-angle view. Very fast lens: F2.0. Very bright and very wide, normally that kind of lens is larger optical design but we try to do the miniaturization.’
As well as image quality and size, simplicity is another aim for the camera, says Kitaoka: ‘It is not just an action camera. With the KeyMission series, we are bringing to market the ultimate tools for immediate immersive storytelling. They also demonstrate the role Nikon technology can play in the exciting new field of VR.’
‘The concept is about sharing your beautiful experience.’ Inoue concurs.
This means making it easy to share a wide variety of content types, Kitaoka says: ‘We believe every single model, every single customer has a different image of sharing. We have expanded the categories we cover to include KeyMission so you can find your best camera, from KeyMission to DSLR. Additionally, different types of consumers with different purposes need different types of cameras for every mission. We don’t want to interrupt your adventure.’
This need for simple sharing underpins the company’s plan to introduce a version of its SnapBridge sharing system across its entire model range: ‘Easy means setting up between camera and smartphone,’ says Kitaoka: ‘We launched the WMU app so we had kind of experience for this setup process. We tried to improve, to make the setting easier. But still some of you might feel it’s quite difficult. Now three or four steps are needed to connect camera to mobile phone. We are trying to reduce steps from four to one, and finally zero.’
The company has chosen the technology it thinks will help. ‘We use Bluetooth Low Energy so it can realize smart link,’ says Kitaoka. There’s a benefit to this technique, despite its low bandwidth, he explains: ‘If we use Bluetooth you can use Wi-Fi at the same time. Once you can shoot your story and then camera automatically sends your story to smartphone. Your Wi-Fi can stay connected to the internet: you don’t need to switch Wi-Fi from the camera to Internet. We wanted to make your steps easier.’
Moving on, we asked about the future of the Nikon 1 series and what role it now plays in expanding Nikon’s audience. Despite a dearth of releases, the cameras featured prominently on Nikon’s booth and both men spoke positively about the system’s future.
‘The Nikon 1 concept is fit for some customers,’ says Kitaoka: ‘For now we’ll keep Nikon 1 as usual.’ The sudden focus on KeyMission doesn’t take away from this, he explains: ‘as I told you before, the action category getting popular. [The] market [is] always changing so we launched KeyMission series to expand our customers.’
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| It’s been nearly two-and-a-half years since Nikon last released a Nikon 1 V-series body but we’re told the system is still part of the company’s plans. |
Inoue elaborates: ‘Some manufacturers have tried to enter the DSLR market with their mirrorless camera or something. Our standpoint is different. Because our product mix covers full-frame and APS-C DSLR and the Nikon 1, these three product categories mean we offer to the full lineup and we receive each customer’s good reactions.’
‘And then we’re not seeing cannibalization between the DSLR and the Nikon 1: the customer is completely different.’
While this distinction is clear for the J and S models, we wondered whether this also applied to V series customers. ‘The J, S and V models are different categories, says Kitaoka: ‘the V series is sort of special, people they well know about DSLR, what is a photograph, they understand these ideas.’
The smaller size of the cameras provides a benefit for these customers, Kitaoka explains: ‘Sometimes you get work from a client that requires you to travel for the job and maybe go back to shoot more. In that kind of situation, sometimes the photographer doesn’t get enough money from their clients to carry their whole equipment because of the baggage costs of the airline.’
‘V3 helped them a lot. The telephoto lenses are smaller. Just in case, they use V series for second camera at the same time, so they can reduce the size of their systems.’
‘One of the most important features of the V series is the high frame rate and accuracy of autofocus. It’s fit for professional photographers’ demand. It’ll never be the main camera for a photographer but it can help them a lot.’
Neither man would be drawn on whether Nikon intends to concentrate on one of these 1 series user groups over the other. ‘We really recognize the mirrorless type of camera, the possibility and we always study [the market],’ says Inoue: ‘but sorry, we won’t be able to comment on future products.’
On the topic of future products, we also weren’t able to get clarification on when to expect the much-delayed DL compacts, so we asked how these users were distinct from the Nikon 1 V series customer:
‘DL’s concept and target is users of the D800 series,’ says Inoue: ‘Of course the D800 is a very nice camera but the DL… Anytime and anywhere [you can] take a high quality picture by using the DL. It’s a very good second camera for that kind of user. Therefore the switching and the menu, the GUI, is in accordance with the DSLR equipment. That kind of DSLR customer can use the DL without any stress. Even the power switch is in the same position as on DSLR. Zooming dial right here.’
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| There’s still no news on when Nikon’s delayed DL series of 1″-type sensor compacts will arrive. |
‘[They] borrow technology from Nikon 1 and DSLR. Of course the one inch sensor, on-sensor phase detection autofocus and high frame rate continuous shooting, everything from the Nikon 1, but the high quality images and the user interface and the Picture Quality control from our D series. Also the lens quality. You know, the DL has fast lenses with the nano crystal coating, but in a compact type of camera. This is the first time we’ve used that kind of technology in a DSC.’
Finally, and continuing the theme of making models for more than one type of customer, we asked about the importance and challenges of video for Nikon.
‘There are two types of high end users [using video]’ explains Kikaota: ‘those who started [their careers] shooting still pictures, but also there are a lot of customers who started with video. In our company we have two types of customer. It’s difficult to make one solution to fit for both of them.’
Shooting video with current cameras can often be quite complicated, we suggested. ‘[This] complicated operation is fit for the customer they started shooting from video. On the other hand there are professional [stills] photographers: they are not yet used to using video, their demand is easy operation. So there are two types of people. It’s a big problem.’
‘We are trying to make a solution fit for both of them. One solution is Flat Picture Control. Flat Picture Control is well suited for the professional photographer, who started shooting pictures and now find they have to shoot some video, too.’
‘They are not necessarily so familiar with video editing or modifying video. With Flat Picture Control they can understand from stills point of view.’
‘Now we have an exact solution right now, but we will keep considering [whether to make] a separate product or [if it should] go into the one product.’
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| Nikon recognizes the challenge of adding video features that both stills and video shooters will appreciate. |
‘I think that line between movie photographer and stills photographers has gone. The client wants to you to shoot the both of them at the same time to reduce the costs.’
Kitaoka then expanded on the demands they’re hearing from customers: ‘First of all, quality of the movie is a basic demand so we have to answer that, second frame rate, then lens quality and autofocus, also, [the challenges of] movie AF and still AF totally different.’
‘Movie autofocus needs to be smooth, sometimes fast, sometimes slower, depends on the situation. Movie shooters want to [be able to] choose high speed autofocus or natural speed autofocus.’
‘Actually we equip the autofocus system fit for the movie but a lot of people [are finding it difficult to use] autofocus between still photo and movie. But we keep trying to [provide the] best movie autofocus in [our] DSLRs and across every single category.’
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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Grand Prize winner. Photo by Greg Gulbransen
The Weather Channel recently announced winners of its annual It’s Amazing Out There photo contest, awarding $ 15,000 to the grand prize winner. Second and third place winners took home cash prizes as well, and a total of 64 finalists were recognized for their photos celebrating fantastic weather, wildlife and adventure. Take a look at a few favorites here, including one from a familiar face.
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Grand Prize winner. Photo by Greg Gulbransen
Greg Gulbransen captured this photo of a polar bear on the frozen Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada when a rapid temperature drop at sunrise created the mist in this image.
‘I said to myself, “I hope a bear walks into this scene’ and sure enough this bear just walked into the scene,” he says. ‘The bear walked out there with his head down. I was so cold, I couldn’t feel my fingertips and I was praying my battery wouldn’t freeze and I said, “bear, would you just lift your head about 8 inches?” And sure enough, it lifted its head and that’s when I got the shot. I knew it was a special moment when I took it.’
If only nature was always so cooperative for photos.
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Second place. Jomblang (Grubug) Cave, Indonesia. Photo by Dale Johnson
We featured Dale Johnson’s work last year as part of our Readers’ Showcase series and since then he’s continued to gain recognition for his photos. He describes this shot from a trip inside Jomblang Cave in Indonesia as ‘the toughest selfie I’ve ever taken.’ If Instagram selfies were half as good as this one, we’d generally like them a whole lot more.
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Third place. Photo by Derek Burdney
Derek Burdney’s photo of a Texas thunderstorm earns him the contest’s third place prize. Based in Omaha, Neb. Burdney says of this storm ‘The [weather] models looked good, so we got in position and watched this thing develop. It was a beautiful storm and everything was good for tornado production. It was really rotating. It never threw a tornado down, but it was really photogenic.’
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Finalist. ‘Walking in the clouds.’ Midway Geyser at Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Derek Burdney
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Finalist. ‘Playtime.’ Photo by Jimmy Marz
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Finalist. ‘Galactic Rainbow.’ Stargazing on top of Maui’s Haleakala Volcano. Photo by Michael Trofimov
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Finalist. ‘Sunset gallop through the marshes.’ A herd of Camargue White Horses galloping through a marshy area in the Camargue region, southern France. Photo by Steve Lange
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Finalist. ‘Fisherman on the Dam.’ Three fly fisherman crossing the dam on a small creek in Tennessee. Photo by Shane Durrance
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Finalist. ‘Step of rice terrace at Chiangmai, Thailand.’ Rice terrace at Chiangmai, Thailand, before rain. Photo by Sarawut Intarob
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Finalist. ‘Weeki Wachee Springs.’ A bird’s eye view of the Weeki Wachee River in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida. Photo by David Underwood
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
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