Time « 360Photography

RSS

Posts Tagged ‘Time’

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time. Part 1 – Seeing the Light

03 Apr

The post How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time. Part 1 – Seeing the Light appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Part One – Seeing the Light

Opinions about what a correctly exposed photograph is must be about as numerous as what people choose to take pictures of. Some opinions are more common than others.

‘Every photograph must contain an even range of tone with no details lost in the highlight or shadow areas.’ This is the one I encounter most frequently. It’s probably been learned from technical books and academics.

Durian How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time

Performing a quick Google search on this topic brings up the Canon Australia website with this:

“The act of having ‘correct’ exposure means your combination of settings between aperture, shutter speed, and ISO speed have produced a perfectly exposed image. When nothing is blown out (highlights) or lost in shadow in an image, it has achieved correct exposure.”

I’m not including this quote to get at Canon users or Aussies, (even though I am a Nikon user and a Kiwi,) but because it represents a purely technical approach to exposure choice.

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Flower and Moss

How can creative expression be judged as correct?

Photography, at its best, is a creative expression of how we perceive what we see. Our world view is unique. Each of us has the ability to interpret and convey our experience through the photographs we capture.

Freedom to expose our photos so some parts of our compositions have no recorded detail is a natural part of this art form. If our minds are boxed in by technical restraints such as are expressed on the Canon Australia website, our expression is inhibited.

I’m not suggesting we disregard technical quality – this would be like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I am recommending you reach beyond purely technical restraints to expose your photos so that they are more expressive of what they are about, not just what they are of.

Conforming to the opinion that photographs are best when no details get lost due to exposure choice can provide documentation of what you are photographing. This approach to taking pictures will not often infuse your photographs with much life, emotion, or energy, apart from what your subject may naturally provide.

Histogram bells taste like Vanilla ice cream

Vanilla ice cream – enjoyable sometimes – but plain nonetheless. You are likely to get bored with it if that’s all you eat. It’s not the most exciting flavor at the ice cream parlor.

A bell-shaped histogram indicates your camera has recorded a lot of mid-range tones and little or no extreme dark or light ones.

Striving for a bell-shaped histogram is not going to produce the most flavorsome photographs. At times you’ll make a great image that’s got a bell-shaped histogram, but not often.

I believe it’s a common myth that the ideal histogram is bell-shaped.

Even Exposure Buddha Statue How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time

You can see that the histogram for this image is reasonably balanced. There are no spikes to the left or right. This indicates we will see detail in the darkest and brightest parts of the composition.

I took the photo mid-afternoon on an overcast day. Because the light was soft and even, and the tones in my composition are all fairly neutral, I have obtained a ‘correct’ exposure.

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Contrast-Buddha-Statue

Subscribing to the ideal of the bell shape, you might look at this histogram and think the photo is extremely underexposed. You might even consider deleting such an image based on this information alone.

It is the same statue photographed on a sunny day in the mid-afternoon. It’s a much more appealing photograph than the one made on the overcast afternoon.

It was my intention to lose shadow detail. I wanted to isolate the statue from the dull background and add some drama.

Exposure choices are as personal as ice cream preferences

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Chocolate Ice Cream

Seeking to only create photos with an even exposure throughout the tone range is like choosing to eat just vanilla ice cream and always ignoring all the other flavors.

Great photographs express what the photographer sees and experiences. Sometimes they are technically correct, many times they aren’t. It all comes back to the intent of the photographer.

Choosing to let most of your composition fall into darkness is your choice. If you want to use the shadow areas to enhance your subject, then do it. If light streaming into your lens from behind your subject creates softness and depth of feeling, let it happen.

Don’t just focus on the technical details. You will usually end up with photos containing little or no feeling.

Before you bring your camera up to your eye, you need to see the light. Consider the brightest parts of a scene. Are they important? Do you need to show detail in them to convey what you want to with your photo?

Likewise for the dark areas of your photo – if there are a lot of distracting elements in the shadow areas – let them be buried in the darkness.

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Woman Tourist with an Elephant

Behind the woman and elephant was a large, open building casting a helpful shadow over its messy interior. By positioning myself so I could only see the shaded area behind my subjects, I knew I could isolate them. I set my exposure for the woman’s face, as it’s the most important part of my composition.

The fact that the background is dark and contains no detail helps make my photo stronger.

Understanding light and tone will help you make more interesting exposures. Knowing how your camera evaluates and records light and tone is equally as important. How to manage your exposure is the topic of the next article in this series.

What’s the most important element in your composition?

Recognizing your key subject is an important early decision in taking a photo. Most often it will be your first.

This will be what you focus on and what you want to expose well, (usually). If your subject has a wide tonal range – say a bride in a white dress and a groom in a black suit – be careful. Your camera will not be able to render detail both in the dress and the suit because the tones are extremely different.

Likewise, if part of your subject is in bright sun and part is in the shade, you will need to choose your exposure carefully. The contrast created by sunlight and shade is also extreme.

Discerning your primary subject helps you compose everything in your frame around it. Exposing it well helps make it the center of attention in your photograph.

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Fancy Kaftan

What mood do you want to capture or create?

To me, the answer to this question is more important to focus on than trying to obtain a full tonal range in my photographs.

The type of light you’re photographing in will influence the feeling in your photographs. So will your exposure choice. Is the light bright and hard, or soft and gentle? Should you set your exposure so you can see all the detail in the shadows or chose to let them become very dark and contain little or no detail?

Letting your camera make these choices for you, by not controlling your exposure, your photos may become flat and somewhat lifeless. By taking control and exposing your main subject well you can infuse story, drama, and imagination.

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Karen Grandpa

I have a mantra of sorts. Look. Think. Click.

Look at what you want to photograph. See what is before you. Your subject, it’s surroundings and the background. The light.

Think about how you want to portray your subject. What is your intention?

How much or how little do you want to include? What will fill your frame?

What quality is the light and how will it affect your photo?

Where will you stand or position yourself?

When will be the best time to take your photo?

Which exposure settings will you choose to best suit your intention?

Click. This should only happen once you have thought these things through.

How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time Chedi

It may seem a whole lot to do before taking a photograph, but this is what makes the difference between a snapshot and an image you may want to have framed and hang on your wall.

In the next article in this series, I will cover how to manage your camera settings to match your intent.

The post How to Make Well Exposed Photos Every Time. Part 1 – Seeing the Light appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Kevin Landwer-Johan.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

3rd time isn’t a charm for Huawei, who once again gets busted faking smartphone photos

12 Mar

You would think Huawei would’ve learned its lesson by now, but apparently not. Yet again, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer has been caught suggesting DSLR photos were images taken with its upcoming P30 and P30 Pro smartphones in an advertisement.

In both 2016 and 2018, Huawei was caught trying to do the same thing by passing off a DSLR photos as images captured with its P9 and Nova 3 smartphones, respectively.

$ (document).ready(function() { SampleGalleryV2({“containerId”:”embeddedSampleGallery_6581560962″,”galleryId”:”6581560962″,”isEmbeddedWidget”:true,”selectedImageIndex”:0,”isMobile”:false}) });

This time, Hauwei shared a collection of advertisements, seen above, on its Weibo social media account to promote the launch of its upcoming P30 Pro smartphone on March 26th with a visual design that suggested the images were captured with the much-anticipated periscope camera system inside the devices.

In a result that’s surprising no one, it turns out the images weren’t actually captured with the smartphone. While it doesn’t take much of a pixel-peeper to tell the images weren’t actually captured with a smartphone, GadgetMatch took a closer look and confirmed the images weren’t just DSLR images, but stock photos that can easily be licensed by anyone.

Using reverse image search, GadgetMatch discovered the volcano image was first shared on Flickr back in 2009 by photographer Tom Pfeiffer and also available for use on Getty Images. Similarly, the duck image was captured on a DSLR by photographer Jake Olson from a photo shoot some years ago.

Not long after it had been called out, Huawei updated the advertisements with a disclaimer saying the ads were meant only as an example, not photos actually captured by the P30 or P30 Pro. Huawei also made the following statement to GSMArena regarding the ‘misunderstanding’ in the P30 Pro preview ads:

‘We’ve been made aware that there might have been some misunderstanding regarding our recent HUAWEI P30 Series teaser posters. We would like to reiterate that those are, in fact, only teaser posters, and are only intended to hint at the unique new features that will come with the HUAWEI P30 Series. Huawei has acquired the licenses to the original images and the posters are artistic renditions of said features only. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the media for their interest in our posters. We have much to announce in the coming weeks. Please stay tuned!‘

Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us three times…we can’t get fooled again. Let’s see how long it’ll take until we’re inevitably running the fourth edition of this article.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Focus on Autofocus – Achieving Sharp Images Every Time

25 Oct

Focus on Autofocus 1

Focus on autofocus – this article goes out to all my fellow focus-obsessed shooters who strive for consistently tack-sharp images no matter what the scene, subject matter, or lighting situation.

Have you ever walked away from a shoot feeling confident that you nailed every last shot only to discover, upon closer review, that the majority of your captures are slightly or significantly front or rear focused? If so, this article is most definitely for you!

My eyes have been drawn to and compelled by explicitly sharp, detailed, and descriptive imagery since I was a young man pouring over the works of photojournalists such as Gordon Parks, Diane Arbus, Elliot Erwitt, and Eugene Richards to name a few.

These photographers not only captured substantive and spectacular content (moments) but did so with a technical acumen that titillated my visual senses and sent chills down my spine. I wanted to create images just as clean and captivating as those I idolized.

Focus on Autofocus 2

Autofocus in the age of modern digital technology offers quick, responsive subject acquisition and focus, but that technology sometimes yields inconsistent and unreliable results when creating images in chaotic environments or adverse situations—and, surprisingly, sometimes even in ideal situations.

My intention with this article is to discuss autofocus (AF): how it works and the various AF modes and points that are available to help ensure more consistent focus even under the most challenging circumstances.

Autofocus systems are incredibly complex and providing an in-depth explanation of precisely how they work, would take far too long and lead us astray. So here’s a concise breakdown of the two types of passive autofocus modes.

Phase Detection

Focus on Autofocus 3

Phase detection is most common in DSLRs and employs what is known as a beam-splitter. The beam-splitter directs the light (the image) onto two different microsensors, thus creating two separate and identical images. These are aligned (brought into focus) automatically using the camera’s internal software.

If you’ve ever used an older film camera with manual focus lenses, you may recall how the image or scene would appear split in the center of the viewfinder, and focus was achieved by aligning the two misaligned images. Phase detection works this way.

Contrast Detection

Focus on Autofocus 4

Contrast detection is arguably more accurate than phase detection, especially when shooting subjects (portraits) close-up with a wide aperture (i.e., f/1.4–f/2.8). The technology behind it is less cumbersome (lightweight) and less expensive. We see contrast detection AF systems most commonly in smaller and lighter mirrorless cameras.

Phase detection is more robust and more expensive, but it is also more responsive and reliable with subjects that are in motion or moving erratically. The mechanics of contrast detection are much leaner, lightweight and less expensive, but this system is notably slower and less responsive than phase detection.

For this article, I focus (no pun intended) on DSLR systems since they remain—for the time being—the mainstay for fast-action, low-light photography (i.e., photojournalism, sports, wildlife, and wedding photography).

Focus on Autofocus 5

I’ve worked extensively with both Canon and Nikon systems (each has their strengths and weaknesses), but based on my personal experience Nikon prevails when it comes to fast, accurate focus acquisition under adverse low-light situations with subjects in motion.

I shoot mostly using available light, fixed lenses, and wide apertures—typically between f/1.4 and f.2.8. There is no margin for missed shots when it comes to capturing key moments for wedding clients.

I need speed and accuracy and strive for consistency. I need to be able to capture those decisive moments as they unfold, but I also want tack-sharp images. Nothing frustrates me more than capturing great content that is slightly out of focus.

I need my focus to land precisely where I want the viewer’s eye to arrive first. Typically, that focal point is the main subject present in the scene or that subject’s eyes if the image is more portrait-like (rather than a scene with multiple subjects).

The issue of precise and accurate focus becomes even more pronounced and problematic when focusing on subjects close to the lens or when using fast lenses with wide-open apertures. A thorough and comprehensive understanding of your camera’s autofocus modes and AF points prove to be paramount in these cases.

Focus on Autofocus 6

When capturing stationary or slow-moving subjects, I achieve the best results with AF-S. I use the camera’s center focus point, which is considered the most accurate and reliable AF point. I acquire and lock focus with the center AF point then quickly recompose and capture.

Today’s cameras come equipped with many focal points. Depending on which make and model of camera you’re using, you could choose from up to 153 points. AF points typically light up in red or green when the shutter-release button is halfway depressed.

Focusing Modes (for Both Nikon & Canon)

Focus on Autofocus 7

Autofocus Automatic (AF-A) Nikon | AI Focus AF Canon

In Autofocus Automatic (AF-A), the camera analyzes the scene and determines which AF point/s to use. Based on whether or not the subject is moving or stationary, it automatically switches between AF-S and AF-C to achieve focus.

Single Servo AF (AF-S) Nikon | One-shot AF Canon

In Single-Servo AF (AF-S), the selected AF point locks focus on the subject as long as the shutter release button remains partially depressed. Focus lock is typically indicated in the viewfinder by the illumination of a solid circle.

Once focus is acquired and locked, the scene is recomposed without losing focus on the chosen subject/s. This AF mode is ideal for subjects that are stationary.

Continuous Servo AF (AF-C) Nikon | AI Servo AF Canon

In Continuous Servo AF (AF-C) focus, the camera continues to focus (and adjust focus) on the selected AF point up until the moment the shutter is activated. This AF mode is ideal for subjects that are moving.

The AF Area Mode (AF points)

In addition to these focusing modes, Nikon and Canon DSLRs come equipped with numerous AF points and AF area mode options.

Nikon AF Area Modes

Nikon allows you to choose the following AF area mode options:

Single Point – The photographer determines a single AF point manually, and the camera focuses on the subject in the selected AF point, working best with stationary subjects.

Dynamic Area – The photographer determines the AF point manually, as with Single Point AF (above). However, if the subject moves and leaves the selected AF point area, the camera adjusts accordingly based on surrounding AF points and refocuses accordingly. This setting works best with subjects that are moving unpredictably.

Auto – The camera determines which AF point contains the subject and focuses automatically.

3D – The photographer determines the AF point manually. Once the shutter release button is partially depressed, and the camera achieves focus, the photographer recomposes the scene, and the camera automatically shifts to a new AF point to maintain focus for the selected subject.

Canon AF Area Modes

Canon’s AF Area Mode options are very similar to Nikon’s but are predicated more so on groupings of AF points to achieve focus.

AF Point Expansion – This mode allows you to select a primary AF point accompanied by a surrounding 4 or 8 additional AF points for subjects that are moving or don’t offer much contrast for quick focus acquisition.

Zone AF – This provides a cluster of either 9 or 12 moveable AF point groupings to achieve focus on the nearest subject that falls within in the zone you’ve selected.

Auto AF Point Selection – In this mode, all AF points are active and track focus much like Nikon’s 3D AF mode.

If you’re anything like me, options can be exciting but also incredibly overwhelming. When reading camera manuals or highly technical tutorials, I want to ball up in the fetal position and go to my happy place.

So, I urge you to take a deep breath and read on as I speak more prosaically about how to synthesize and integrate this information for the practical application and use in the field.

I’m primarily a portrait and wedding photographer whose obsession with making sharp images has led to a great deal of experimentation throughout my 20-year career. I have worked with every pro DSLR body and lens combination imaginable and what I’m about to tell you isn’t a secret; it’s an affirmation.

Lens Calibration

First, I have achieved my best focus and image sharpness results by using fixed proprietary lenses. Proper lens calibration is also instrumental in achieving optimal results with DSLRs and proprietary lens combinations – both fixed and zooms. Lens calibration is the very first step you must take to achieve consistency and accuracy when it comes to focus.

Nikon offers AF fine-tuning with some of their newer or newly released DSLR pro bodies, and I can’t rave enough about what a valuable tool this is. Canon also allows its shooters to fine-tune and calibrate their pro lenses with their pro bodies, but for right now it remains a manual process.

If you’re interested in learning more about Nikon’s AF fine-tuning, please visit https://fstoppers.com/gear/how-get-most-nikons-auto-af-fine-tune-194063. This video provides a great tutorial that enables you to harness the power of this awesome feature!

Focus on Autofocus 9

Know that no camera body lens combination is ever a perfect match and that all body/lens combinations can benefit from calibrating your lenses. Whether you have a newer Nikon that allows you to calibrate automatically, or you own a Canon system and have to perform lens calibration manually, this is the genesis of consistently tack-sharp imagery.

My experimentation with AF points and AF modes is equally extensive. I have come to find that center point focus, and Single-Servo AF (AF-S) delivers more consistently for stationary or slow-moving objects than any other available combination of AF point and focusing mode.

I prefer to use the AF center point to achieve and lock focus, then recompose my scene for final image capture, rather than using AF points located nearer to the edge of the viewfinder. I haven’t always shot this way but discovered through comparison that this method was quicker and more reliable and that the focus was also far more accurate shot after shot.

Your camera’s AF points and focusing modes rely heavily upon contrasts present in the scene. The AF center point discerns contrast and thus achieves focus faster and more accurately than points closer to the edge of the viewfinder or image. Here contrast, clarity, and brightness get stifled by vignetting and optical aberrations that occur in all lenses—especially toward their edges and corners.

Additionally, the AF center points are cross-type focusing points, which are capable of focusing on lines in two directions, horizontally and vertically.

Focusing on Moving Subjects

Focus on Autofocus 10

When focusing for moving subjects, I have found that using Continuous-Servo AF (AF-C) in combination with Dynamic Area AF mode (Nikon) or Zone AF (Canon) delivers the best, most consistent results even in extreme low-lighting conditions.

Remember, Dynamic and Zone AF modes allow for the selection of AF point groupings ranging from 4-8 point groups to maintain constant focus tracking for subjects in motion.

When I’m a bit further away from subjects that are moving, I find that shooting in Continuous-Servo AF (AF-C) in combination with 3D area AF mode (Nikon) or Auto AF (Canon) produces the most consistent results.

For example, when I’m shooting the bride and groom’s first dance, 3D AF-C is my go-to, as it allows me to tell the camera which subject/s I want in focus and maintain that focus continuously as the subject/s move within the frame or I recompose the scene myself.

Shooting Portraits

I think the most significant focus challenges come with shooting portraits or close-up details with longer lenses (50mm or greater) at apertures of f/1.2–f/2.8. This is where the pros separate from the amateurs.

Many photographers want to achieve the striking visual effect (bokeh) we see when shooting a subject wide open (f/1.2 – f/2.8) and nailing focus on the eyes. In these instances, there is no margin for error. Sometimes you see just a centimeter of sharpness—and if you miss it, the image is unusable (at least in my opinion). It’s a significant risk with huge rewards.

I’m often asked if there is a trick to nailing eye sharpness in portraits shot at such shallow depths of field. The ‘trick’ is to know how all of your equipment works. Know how each lens works with the body to which it’s paired, and which AF point or focusing mode produces best results when shooting shallow for that particular subject or scene.

Focus on Autofocus 11

For me, the reward is only worth the risk if I possess the technical acumen and confidence to achieve the desired result at least 8 out of 10 times (that’s my standard).

Consider the following: When shooting at 85mm set to f/1.8 with a subject to camera distance of 1 meter, you only have around a 1.3cm depth of field. If you use the center AF point in AF-S to set, lock focus, and recompose before capturing the image, it is highly unlikely your razor thin plane of focus will land where you initially locked focus.

It’s basic trigonometry.

The slight change in camera angle from recomposing (or even breathing), drastically affects (shifts) the plane of focus, resulting in the cheek, nose, ears, or chin (rather than the eyes) being in focus.

So unless you want the subject’s eyes positioned dead-center of the frame in all the portraits you shoot with a shallow aperture, you’ll need a more creative and effective strategy.

In my experience, using Continuous Servo AF (AF-C) and selecting a group of 4 to 6 Dynamic AF points near the eye is the best way to achieve eye sharpness in this precarious scenario.

However, I have found shooting in Continuous Frame or High-Speed mode, and manually making micro adjustments to the focus while the shutter is activated, is the only surefire way you’ll capture at least 1 or 2 frames where eyes are tack-sharp.

Conclusion

Autofocus is a powerful and convenient tool that has helped evolve and elevate photography to heights I would have never imagined 20 years ago.

However, with all things mechanical and humanmade, there exists weakness and limitations. That aside, there are no limitations when we speak of imagination or the creative wills that enable us—and compel us—to push those tools well beyond their limits to achieve optimal and desired results; something only possible when we possess the proper knowledge of how those tools work.

As I stated earlier in this article, Autofocus and AF systems are incredibly complex. It’s a topic of great interest and value to many photographers – from novices to seasoned pros alike.

It’s also a rapidly evolving technology, which means that what we know today may not apply tomorrow. Many variables and factors impact and affect AF accuracy and consistency – it’s a multifarious topic for sure. One article alone could never address all of these facets.

I hope that with this article I’ve been able to break the ice and provide useful information that inspires you to hone your skills further. We as photographers rely upon technology to articulate our vision and voices, so it’s not only crucial but also incumbent upon us to understand the technology – so that we may advance our artistry.

That said, I’m looking forward to writing more articles on this topic and carrying forward this conversation so that we may examine more closely and improve our collective focus.

The post Focus on Autofocus – Achieving Sharp Images Every Time appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Tips for Ensuring You Get Sharp Photos Every Time

07 Sep

How many times have you captured an image that looks great as a thumbnail only to lose that sharpness when it is enlarged? If you’re like me, TOO MANY times. It happens to all of us all too often, but it doesn’t have to. You probably know the reasons why and how to avoid the problem, but let’s review them all in one setting to you can get sharp photos every time.

Tack Sharp photos - Leaves

There are several known contributors to soft photos and specific ways to prevent them.

First and foremost – clean the lens

Clean Lens - Tips for Ensuring You Get Sharp Photos Every Time

Fingerprints and dust on the lens are the most obvious hinderances to sharp pictures and are one of the most commonly overlooked causes. Carry a small clean microfiber cloth (or packets of lens cleaning wipes) in your camera bag at all times, and keep the lens cap on the lens when it’s not in use.

Become a clean freak with your lenses.

Aperture Settings

While shooting with the aperture wide open does allow you to use higher shutter speeds, it can also have an adverse effect on image sharpness because of an issue called a spherical aberration.

Simply put, light rays travel in straight lines. When they pass through a lens, the curve of the lens actually bends the light rays and diffuses their focus. The more the rays are curved, the softer the focus. When the entire rounded surface of the lens is utilized (as in when using a wide open aperture), the light-bending is increased and the sharpness on the outer edges of the picture is somewhat softened.

This aberration issue is most evident in less expensive lenses.

Tack Sharp photos - Aperture

It is widely known that an aperture 2-3 stops down from wide open produces the sharpest results. If your shot doesn’t require an extremely shallow depth of field to blur the background, close the lens down a stop or two and compensate the exposure with a slower shutter speed or higher ISO.

But be aware that extremely small aperture openings (f/22 and higher) present their own problem called diffraction. When light is forced through a very small opening, the outer rays bend to get past the small opening, which can soften the image and require a longer exposure time.

Lessons learned: Either aperture extreme will cause a slight softening of the image. Except for special applications, so stay in the middle of the road!

Lens Quality

It’s always good advice to buy the best glass you can afford. It is a known factor that THE most critical equipment in your camera bag is not your fancy camera body, but the quality of the glass in front of your camera.

Tack Sharp photos - Lens

Save your money and invest in quality lenses (f/2.8 or faster). Most of us carry at least one zoom lens, but these lenses, because of the complex grouping of internal glass, are seldom faster than f/2.8, and many are as slow as f/4.5 – f/5.6. The lower the number, the more light that passes through the lens. An f/1.4 prime (fixed length) lens always produces sharper images, though it costs more money.

Weather

Believe it or not, the cleanliness or dirtiness of the air can have a significant impact on your photography, especially long-range shots like landscapes. Both heatwaves rising from the hot ground and floating particles of dust and pollutants (what we lovingly call atmosphere) bend the lightwaves, dull the saturation, and blur the focus of your pictures.

Tack Sharp photos - Rust ‘

Living on the “beach coast” of Florida, steady breezes come in off the ocean that are refreshing on a hot summer day but they contain serious amounts of salt. This air salt can be seen for miles in the distance while driving down the coastline. The saltwater mist hangs in the air and has an adverse effect on both metallic surfaces and photographic subjects.

The most ideal weather for shooting razor-sharp pictures is those delightful hours right after it rains. That happens in Florida like clockwork almost every afternoon and at least once every day, Florida gets a nature-shower that lasts for less than an hour and leaves the air sparkling clear for all kinds of outdoor activities. Thankfully, these daily showers scour the air and rinse the salt from both nature and automobiles.

Depth of Field

Choose an f-stop that will keep your entire subject in sharp focus. If you want to keep your subject in full focus while blurring the background, do the math to figure out the depth of field that will remain in full focus at a particular distance.

Each focal length lens has its own “pocket of precision” or focal zone for each subject-lens distance. Take the time to explore your lens’s capabilities so that you will be prepared.

Tack Sharp photos DOF

The depth of field is particularly critical in macro photography. The very nature of the process limits the actual focus on subjects to a very shallow distance. Sometimes this works out well and sometimes it just doesn’t.

Learn the limits of each macro lens’s “pocket” before you make your shot. If your camera allows you to preview the depth of field, use it religiously. Very small changes in the lens-to-subject distance have a very big effect on the focal distance.

Use the One-Third, Two-Thirds Rule

All photographers know that higher number f-stops mean greater depth of field, but maybe some don’t realize that there is an important ratio involved in the field of focus. This ratio must be considered when choosing the f-stop for a particular shot.

While the length of the lens affects how much of the subject will be in total focus, where you set your focus point is also critically important.

This is true whether you are using Automatic, Spot or Manual focusing. Learn to divide the desired focus area into thirds and set the focus one-third into that distance. When you focus on a particular spot, two-thirds of the focal range behind that spot will remain in focus while only one-third of the area in front of that spot will remain sharp.

This is why portrait photographers set their focus on the subject’s eyes. This way the distance from the nose to the ears remain in focus.

Autofocus Versus Manual Focus

Tack Sharp photos - Lumix Manual Focus

Unless your subject has a high level of contrasting edges and is located in the middle of your field of view, you might want to consider using manual focus. Autofocus is a life-saver most of the time, but any higher contrast item in the scene could very well steal the camera’s attention.

Camera autofocus is designed to zero-in on high contrast and those areas in the scene will always set the camera focus. If your subject is located in subdued lighting, try switching to manual focus instead.

Shutter Speed

Slow shutter speeds in hand-held conditions always present problems. No matter how still you hold, your body is always in motion.

The simple fact that your breathe and have a heartbeat means that slight motion will most likely become an issue with slow shutter speeds. Even the slight motion of pushing the shutter button is a contributing factor in this process. I personally make it a point to not go below 125/th of a second when shooting hand-held. Bracing yourself against a stable surface or using a tripod is always advisable.

Tack Sharp photos - Remote Trigger

Use a tripod and a remote trigger. The ultimate preparation for capturing detailed and sharp photos is to take human motion out of the equation altogether.

Once you mount your camera on a tripod, frame the scene, set the focus, set the appropriate f-stop for the depth of field, switch to the electronic shutter (if available on your camera). Set up a remote trigger using either a cable release or a smartphone app. Then sit back and be ready to pull the trigger when the scene is right.

Compensate ISO for Shutter Speed

If your shot requires a shallow depth of field or lower f-stops, try dialing up more light sensitivity (increased ISO). Most ideal lighting situations accommodate 200-400 ISO, but low lighting scenarios may require you to set the camera to significantly higher ISO.

But keep in mind that ISO determines how sensitive the image sensor is to light and darkness. Very high ISO will yield higher levels of electronic noise in your picture. Noise is the polar opposite of “signal.” Make your choice of ISO carefully if the image is to be enlarged at all.

About Image Sharpening

Tack Sharp photos - Smart Sharpen

Nominal sharpening takes place (usually) at the time the photo is taken. However, sometimes additional sharpening may be necessary. Beware, image sharpening should always be the last step in image preparation.

Most photos are intended to be sharp and detailed. But refrain from sharpening your images in the editing process in a ditch effort to bring out more detail. Image sharpening artificially simulates image sharpness and can actually degrade the digital image. Unless you use a sharpen brush, every time you sharpen an image in post-production you also enhance the non-subject elements in the scene.

So make sharpening for detail a last resort.

Conclusion

Make it a habit to capture the highest level of detail in the original shot. Take the time to learn each of these precautions and then consider them briefly before you take your shot. If you discipline yourself to go through this checklist the next half-dozen times you shoot, this will become a mental-muscle memory that you check subconsciously.

Exercise your good habits and you’ll come home with more sharp photos and become a sharpshooter.

The post Tips for Ensuring You Get Sharp Photos Every Time appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

Yuneec Mantis Q 4K camera drone offers voice control and 33 minute flight time

15 Aug

Yuneec has introduced the Mantis Q, a consumer drone with an integrated 4K camera, electronic image stabilization and voice control. The model is designed for both outdoor and indoor use, utilizing down-facing dual sensor alongside infrared detection to navigation inside buildings. Mantis Q includes a controller with a smartphone mount in addition to the voice control.

Yuneec Mantis Q is small and lightweight at 16.7 x 9.7 x 5.6cm / 6.6 x 3.8 x 2.2in when folded; it weights of 0.5kg / 1lb. The drone’s integrated camera supports recording video and capturing images at 4800 x 2700 (16:9) and 4160 x 3120 (4:3), as well as recording Full HD video with electronic stabilization. Still images are saved to a microSD card in either DNG or JPEG formats.

Users can control both the camera and the drone using voice commands, using phrases like “Take a picture” or “Take a video.” Gesture Control enables the user to take a selfie using a hand wave, and there’s also face detection that snaps a photo when the camera detects a smile. Recording modes include Orbit Me and Point of Interest.

The Mantis Q has a flight time of up to 33 minutes and a top speed of 44mph / 71kph, as well as a drone racing mode with a live video feed that is presented on a smartphone.

Yuneec is now accepting pre-orders for Mantis Q. The drone with a controller, single battery, spare propellers, a three-port charger, power supply, and USB cable is $ 499.99 USD. There’s also an X-Pack that adds three batteries and a travel shoulder bag for $ 649.99 USD.

Via: New Atlas

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4 (for real this time)

10 Aug

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

The last time we saw the Pentax D FA* 50mm F1.4 it was an unfinished prototype at the CP+ show in Yokohama, back in March. Following some delays earlier this year (and a lot of patience from the Pentax faithful), it’s finally shipping, and is available now for $ 1200.

Check out our full gallery of samples from the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Now that the finished article is in our hands and we’ve had some time to shoot with it and examine the results, we wanted to update our earlier impressions of this powerful lens, including some notes on image quality with the full-frame K-1 II.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

First announced last October, the HD Pentax-D FA* 50mm F1.4 SDM AW is a weather-sealed fast prime for the company’s full-frame DSLRs.

Optical construction consists of 15 elements in nine groups, including three anomalous dispersion elements and one aspherical. The combination of ‘Aero Bright Coating II’ and ‘HD coating’ is claimed to help reduce flare and ghosting in challenging lighting, while the ‘Super Protect’ coating keeps dust and moisture from adhering to the front element.

The 50mm F1.4 has nine rounded aperture blades, and a minimum focus distance of 40cm / 15.75″. The maximum magnification at the closest focus distance is 0.18x.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

The ‘D FA*’ label designates this as a flagship lens for Pentax, and it certainly feels like it. When we first handled the lens in prototype form back in March, we didn’t know its exact optical makeup but published schematics show exactly how much glass has been packed inside. It’s no surprise that the 50mm F1.4 is heavy (910g / 2lbs) and solid-feeling, and the K-1/II is no lightweight either. Despite its bulk though, the 50mm balances well on the K-1 II assuming you don’t mind the combined weight of the package.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

As you can see, the 50mm F1.4 is a big lens, even without the large hood attached. The only controls are an autofocus switch and a broad, nicely damped manual focus ring. The distance scale is likely to be appreciated by users preferring manual focus, and the lens can focus down to 0.4m or 15.75 inches.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

The 50mm F1.4’s ‘AW’ label stands for ‘all weather,’ which is made most visible by the bright red gasket on the rear of the lens. A number of other seals at key points in the body of the lens help protect against both dust and moisture incursion. We haven’t tested it, but in general our experience with high-end Pentax equipment in tough weather has been very reassuring.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Ricoh claims that a newly developed SDM ring-type motor provides 7.5x as much torque as previous models, which makes sense given how much glass needs to be moved around inside the lens. Focusing is taken care of internally with a silent ring-type SDM motor, and though it isn’t what we’d call ‘lightning fast,’ it’s fine for most shooting. The K-1/II and 50mm combination definitely isn’t up to the task of tracking fast-moving kids around the frame, but after our in-depth testing of the K-1 II’s autofocus system, this didn’t come as any surprise.

In use, the most limiting factor about this lens is probably its sheer weight. Attached to a K-1 II, the total package weighs two kilos (~4.4 pounds) and that’s the kind of weight that can quickly become uncomfortable during shooting.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Since the 50mm F1.4 makes use of an electromagnetic diaphragm, note that it is only fully compatible with recent DSLRs – specifically, the K-1 Mark II, K-1, K-3 II, K-3, KP, K-70, K-S2 and K-S1. The lens will mount on older cameras and work fine, but only at its maximum aperture setting of F1.4.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Photograph by Wenmei Hill

The Pentax 50mm F1.4 is a pretty expensive lens (at $ 1200 it’s almost twice the price of the excellent Sigma 50mm F1.4, which is sadly not available for Pentax), but for many users of the company’s full-frame DSLRs, its performance could justify the cost. As far as sharpness is concerned, the HD 50mm F1.4 is up there with the best of its competitors, even when shot wide open.

It’s not perfect though. Longitudinal chromatic aberration (which is near-impossible to remove post-capture without some penalty) is a major factor in images shot at faster apertures. Look closely at the image above (taken at F1.8) and you can clearly see how the wire mesh in front of our subject is ringed with bright green fringes in the areas just beyond the zone of sharp focus and magenta fringes in the areas just ahead of the in-focus point.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Photograph by Carey Rose

This is a another example (admittedly a stress-test) shot at F2.8. To see the issue at its worst, take a look at the area upper left (it might help to download the full-sized original). Unlike lateral CA, longitudinal chromatic aberration is very hard to correct in post-processing, especially in a scene like this.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Photograph by Wenmei Hill

This is a more everyday subject (shot at F2.4, with flare slightly reducing overall contrast) and as you can see, longitudinal CA is much less objectionable. How and where it appears depends to a large extent on the content of your images, and overall the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4 gives excellent performance. This shot is a good example of the very pleasant bokeh (free of common nasties like onion ring patterns in the out of focus highlight disks) that the 50mm F1.4 delivers at wide apertures.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Photograph by Wenmei Hill

As well as pleasant bokeh, the 50mm F1.4 can also make really pretty-looking sunstars. This shot was taken at F16.

Hands-on with the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

So it’s big, it’s heavy and it’s very sharp. But is it worth $ 1200? That’s a hard question to answer, given the paucity of other options for Pentax full-frame users. Older Pentax primes are showing their age, and currently, third-party 50mm options for PK mount are non-existent. Right now, for Pentax users wanting a modern fast 50mm, the HD FA* 50mm F1.4 is the only game in town.

Speaking of third-party options, the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4 is almost certainly an OEM product, and bears a striking external resemblance to the recently-released Tokina ‘Opera’ 50mm F1.4. This isn’t particularly significant (the Pentax 15-30mm F2.8 and 24-70mm F2.8 look suspiciously similar to Tamron-branded lenses, for example) and this kind of an arrangement makes sense given the relatively small market for Pentax full-frame glass.

Currently we don’t know much about the Tokina Opera beyond the fact that it will be available in Canon EF and Nikon F mounts (schematics and detailed specifications are yet to be released) but we’re interested to compare the two lenses as soon as we get a chance.

Check out our full gallery of samples from the Pentax HD FA* 50mm F1.4

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

RED and Lucid unveil 8K 3D camera that produces 4V holographic video in real time

26 May

Computer vision company Lucid and cinema camera maker RED have partnered to create an 8K 3D camera that can capture 4-view (4V) holographic images and video in real-time. The camera is designed to work with RED’s upcoming holographic Hydrogen One smartphone—both by shooting holographic content that can be viewed on the phone’s 4V screen, and by using the modular phone as a “viewfinder.”

The camera itself (which has yet to be named) will be made by RED, but it will be powered by Lucid’s “real-time 3D Fusion Technology.” This tech generates 3D/4V footage in real-time, promising to turn a processing-intensive task into “an instantaneous point-and-shoot experience.”

The camera looks like any other RED cinema camera… sort of. Except instead of one 8K sensor the camera uses two “perfectly hardware-synced” 4K sensors and a beam splitter to capture and output 8K 4-view footage. That footage can be viewed after the fact or even live using the upcoming RED Hydrogen One smartphone, which will be able to integrate directly into the RED 3D/4V and act as a 3D viewfinder.

It’s important to not that this isn’t just a concept. RED and Lucid had a working prototype shooting scenes at the Hydrogen One launch party on May 19th.

If you see this as a gimmick—and an expensive one at that—you’re probably not alone. But Lucid CEO and Co-Founder Han Jin has faith the world is ready for, and in fact craving, 3D/4V content you can digest without goggles or glasses.

“This partnership allows us for the first time to deliver the highest-quality 3D capture to our customers, and now they can view the content immediately in 3D/4V without headsets,” says Jin via press release. “At a time when two of the biggest challenges in the industry have been resolution and easy viewing of 3D content, we believe this is the solution everyone has been waiting for.”

We don’t have official pricing and release date information just yet. All Lucid and RED will reveal is that the camera—colloquially called the RED 3D/4V but still officially unnamed—will “be rolled out” in Q4 of 2018. To learn more about Lucid’s tech or this strange new camera, read the full press release below or visit the Lucid website.

Press Release

Lucid Partners with RED to Build 8K 3D/4V Camera for Hydrogen One

Collaboration will result in the first camera to convert full 8K 3D/4-View (4V) holographic images and videos in real time and the capability to dynamically adjust lens distances for the best 3D focus and zoom

Santa Clara, CA – May 22, 2018 — Lucid, the maker of the first VR180 3D camera, LucidCam, announces today it is working with Hollywood camera maker RED to build the next generation prosumer 3D/4-View (4V) camera for 8K video and image capture. The new camera is the first dual camera to give users full 8K video and picture capabilities converting to 4V in real-time while allowing them to shoot like professionals with dynamically adjustable lens distances for the best 3D focus and zoom. By attaching the soon-to-be-released modular holographic phone–RED Hydrogen One–to the camera, users will be able to view 3D/4V content in post and live as if it were the viewfinder.

The new RED camera is powered by Lucid’s real-time 3D Fusion Technology, transforming the time and processing-intensive 3D/4V workflow into an instantaneous point-and-shoot experience users crave. The look and feel of the new camera sticks to RED’s previous designs, but this time it has two perfectly hardware-synced 4K cameras which leverage a beam splitter to capture and convert the output to 8K 4V (.h4v) files. Once the content is created, all the high resolution 3D/4V videos and images can be distributed on YouTube and Facebook as well as through RED’s curated content universe.

“Having RED as a partner allows us to combine the best of both worlds – the highest resolution and quality hardware from RED with the most advanced software, our 3D Fusion Technology,” said Han Jin, CEO and co-founder, Lucid.

The RED and Lucid partnership enables both companies to extend their customer reach. Over the past year, Lucid has shipped and sold thousands of its VR180 3D LucidCams through Amazon and Best Buy as well as direct to consumers online, confirming the market interest and demand for creating and consuming such content. With Lucid’s solid consumer base and RED’s base of independent filmmakers and Hollywood producers, the new camera meets the need of a large, combined audience. The magic of 3D, VR and AR videos and images created by both the LucidCam and the RED 3D/4V camera can be enjoyed on the Hydrogen One without the hassle of wearing headsets.

The unique functions of the Hydrogen One phone in combination with the new 3D camera were showcased with a live 3D/4V preview at RED’s launch party on May 19th. Many people came to experience the holographic display capabilities, which provide a unique ability to let users look around and behind objects through 4-Views, and allow for viewing 3D, VR and AR content without any glasses or goggles. This phone also attaches easily to RED’s new camera and can act as a 3D viewfinder.

“This partnership allows us for the first time to deliver the highest-quality 3D capture to our customers, and now they can view the content immediately in 3D/4V without headsets,” said Jin. “At a time when two of the biggest challenges in the industry have been resolution and easy viewing of 3D content, we believe this is the solution everyone has been waiting for.”

The camera will be rolled out in Q4. Exact pricing is to be announced, as is the name of the camera. It will be sold through RED and its reseller channels.

For more information about Lucid, visit www.lucidcam.com.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

Weekly Photography Challenge – Time for a Picnic

12 May

Whether it’s spring where you live or fall, it’s always a good time for a picnic! And what better way to cap it off than by taking some photos as well for this week’s photography challenge.

Photo by Lucie Capkova on Unsplash

Think of all the things you could photograph at a picnic like:

The food (get some tips on that here)
People enjoying themselves
The table and surrounding scenery
Ants if they show up to the party (get out your macro lens!)
Patterns
Abstracts

The sky is the limit – oh wait, you could photograph that too!

Photo by Juja Han on Unsplash

Weekly Photography Challenge – Picnic

Simply upload your shot into the comment field (look for the little camera icon in the Disqus comments section) and they’ll get embedded for us all to see or if you’d prefer, upload them to your favorite photo-sharing site and leave the link to them. Show me your best images in this week’s challenge. Sometimes it takes a while for an image to appear so be patient and try not to post the same image twice.

Share in the dPS Facebook Group

You can also share your images in the dPS Facebook group as the challenge is posted there each week as well.

Win Prizes from ViewBug

We’re excited to introduce a sponsor and prizes for this week’s challenge. ViewBug is the World’s biggest photo contest community with over 70 contests always open for submissions. Win prizes, exposure, and the bragging rights. It’s FREE to join! This week, ViewBug will be awarding three winners prizes!

One Challenge winner will receive 1 year of ViewBug PRO ($ 139 value) plus a free photography logo bundle ($ 59 value). Two Runners Up will receive a 1 year of ViewBug Premium ($ 59 value) plus a free photography logo bundle ($ 59 value).

To Enter

Participate in the challenge as you normally would (as described above) by posting your photo. To be considered for a prize you just need to complete the entry form below (or via this link) and submit the link to your photo.

The Contest is open continuously from 05:00am Australian Eastern Standard Time (“AEST”) on May 12, 2018 (03:00pm United States Eastern Daylight Time (“EDT”) on May 11, 2018), through May 19, 2018, 04:59am AEST (May 18, 2018, 02:59pm EDT) (the “Contest Promotion Period”).

Full Terms and Conditions Digital Photography School Weekly Challenge Picnic – ViewBug T&C

Winners are announced on the Weekly Challenge Winners page on 26th of May.

Loading…

The post Weekly Photography Challenge – Time for a Picnic appeared first on Digital Photography School.

Digital Photography School

Comments Off

Posted in Photography

CP+ Olympus interview: “It’s time to enhance the imaging business”

30 Mar

Shigemi Sugimoto, Head of Olympus’s imaging business unit. Pictured at the CP+ show in Yokohama, Japan.

At last month’s CP+ show in Yokohama, we met up with Shigemi Sugimoto, Head of Olympus’s imaging business unit. During our interview, Mr. Sugimoto explained where he sees the most opportunity for Olympus, and how his company will continue to differentiate itself from the competition.

This interview (which was conducted through an interpreter) has been edited for clarity and flow.

You’re relatively new in your role as head of the imaging business unit. How will your leadership change the company?

We’ve gone through a painful period, in the past. We had to shrink the size of the business, and that was reflected in our product lineup – especially the compact cameras. But now it’s time to enhance [and grow] the imaging business and catch up in terms of market share. Part of this will be enhancing our lineup.

How long have you been with Olympus?

I joined Olympus 32 years ago, initially in the accounting department. I’ve been with the imaging division for ten years. In 1997-2002 I worked in Hong Kong, where I established our factory in China.

What was your first Olympus camera?

A compact, at first but I replaced it with a PEN E-P1.

Our first priority is what we call system mobility – not just the size of our camera bodies, but the entire system

What are your ambitions for Olympus’ range of photography products going forward?

We’re focused on the mirrorless ILC category, because we’re concentrating on portability and reliability. This is our value in the market. Our first priority is what we call system mobility – not just the size of our camera bodies, but the entire system, such as our telephoto lenses. Because of the benefit of the 2X crop factor we can provide a dramatically different solution [compared to other manufacturers].

We see the OM-D system truly as a system, including accessories and other equipment. We need to expand the capability of the entire system – not only bodies and lenses.

The 300mm F4 PRO behaves like a 600mm on full-frame, giving Olympus shooters a powerful and sharp telephoto option at a fraction of the size and weight of a ‘true’ 600mm lens.

Are you still aiming primarily at a still photography-oriented audience, when you develop new products?

Our position hasn’t changed. We’re focused on stills photography – this is our basic stance. But if we see that our customers want to take more video with our equipment, we’ll [include] video features. But our main focus is stills. Video technology is not our first priority. On the other hand, we can also provide the benefits of the OM-D system’s mobility to video users, for example our high-performance 5-axis image stabilization.

Considering the film-making audience, we’re not going to be going in the direction of large [dedicated] video cameras. Rather, [hybrid cameras], for handheld use, which can shoot high-quality video just with a single operator. That’s a benefit that [I think will be] appreciated by videographers.

We don’t have a strong line of communication with the video audience

Do you have a sense of how many of your OM-D E-M1 Mark II customers use the camera to shoot video as well as stills?

We don’t have a strong line of communication with the video audience, so we don’t have many people using that feature in our cameras. We know our cameras and lenses are capable of capturing high-quality video, and we’d like to get this message across. Olympus makes nice, multi-operation handheld cameras that can shoot good video.

Would you like to increase the number of people who use your cameras for video creation?

Yes, of course.

Advanced amateurs and professionals tend to want more robustness, and improved operability

A number of enthusiasts and some professionals have adopted the OM-D E-M1 Mark II. What are they asking for?

The demands are different depending on their level. Advanced amateurs and professionals tend to want more robustness, and improved operability. For entry-level users, they want new technology, which they can’t find in DSLRs. Olympus is a pioneer in digital photography in the camera field, and our users expect that.

The OM-D E-M1 Mark II is an uncommonly tough camera, which can take a lot of punishment. From the jungles of Thailand to the snowy mountains of British Columbia, we’ve soaked it, frozen it, and dropped it in the mud but it keeps on shooting.

Is there an engineering limit to the effectiveness of image stabilization systems?

When we introduced the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, the IBIS system in that camera represented the limit at the time. But of course the technology is still developing. After the OM-D E-M1 Mark II was announced, our engineers have tried to [push the barriers] of performance and recently they’ve come up with some solutions. So there is still room for improvement in terms of stabilization.

The next generation may be even more effective?

Yes, you can expect so.

Going forward, is there any value left for Olympus in the compact camera segment?

We are focused on the TG tough range of compact cameras, and mirrorless cameras. From a profitability point of view we’re focused on these high value products, even though the volume [of sales] is lower.

The Tough TG-5 is a class-leading waterproof camera, in a market segment that remains profitable for Olympus.

Can you tell us anything about how the Tough camera range might evolve over time?

At this point, we’re not looking to [develop] this range too aggressively. That’s based on the current situation. Of course, the market is always changing, and flexibility is really important to meet customer demands.

Editors’ note:

Mr. Sugimoto has been with Olympus for a long time, but he was only recently promoted to his current position as head of the imaging business. It’s a tough job, especially in such a competitive landscape, but during our conversation he seemed confident that Olympus can bring a unique value to the marketplace. By his own account, Olympus has gone though some difficult years, but now the time has come to invest and grow its market share.

That’s not to say that we’re expecting Olympus to suddenly start churning out cameras like they used to – it’s very clear that Mr. Sugimoto sees most value in the mirrorless ILC segment, and the high-profit Tough line of compacts. He is hoping that what he calls ‘system mobility’ will continue to attract enthusiast photographers to the OM-D and PEN lines, and all but confirmed his engineers are working on even more effective 5+ EV IBIS. DSLR and full-frame mirrorless photographers can only dream of this kind of stabilization, which is equally useful for video, as well as stills.

It’s extremely unlikely that we’ll see Olympus creating a Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S competitor any time soon

Speaking of video, Mr. Sugimoto confirmed that it still isn’t the main priority for Olympus, but he did frame the issue partly in terms of communication. Unlike competitors like Panasonic, Olympus has never really dealt with video creators in the past. Clearly, Mr. Sugimoto believes that his company makes products that will have value to this constituency, but is concerned that up to now, Olympus hasn’t found a way of effectively communicating with them.

Products like the OM-D E-M1 Mark II with its spookily effective IBIS, and high-quality 4K video are impressively capable when it comes to video, but it’s extremely unlikely that we’ll see Olympus creating a Panasonic Lumix DC-GH5S competitor any time soon. Instead, after talking to Mr. Sugimoto we’re predicting a consolidation of Olympus’s mid-range and high-end ILC lineup and more high-end lenses. In a landscape increasingly dominated by chunky APS-C and full-frame cameras and lenses, Olympus will need to start selling the ‘system mobility’ message aggressively. New products will help, but communication is definitely part of the challenge.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized

How two photographers captured the same millisecond in time

11 Mar

On March 3^rd, during a large East Coast winter storm, I headed to the ocean to capture some wave action. My travels eventually took me to Great Island Commons in New Castle, NH where Whaleback Lighthouse is prominently featured 0.8 miles offshore. I was hoping to capture big waves crashing around the lighthouse, and Mother Nature didn’t disappoint.

Great Island Common is a wide open park where people come to picnic during the summer and to watch the ocean during the winter. After arriving, I set up my tripod and my Canon 5D Mark IV with Sigma 150-600mm lens on a tripod and positioned myself just to the right of a tree in order to help reduce the pummeling Northerly winds. As many of you know, it’s a challenge keeping 600mm stable in high winds, even on a tripod.

I set the camera up and then waited until I saw a wave starting to hit the lighthouse. I then kept firing until the splash ended, not knowing ahead of time the action of the wave. Most shots never panned out, but about three of them over the course of about 45 minutes were pretty decent.

Once back at home, I culled through the images and choose one to edit and upload to Instagram, replacing an earlier upload that was done in haste while still in the parking lot.

When a local TV station shared the photo to their Facebook page (with permission) it started to receive a large amount of shares, comments, and likes; however, there was one comment that mentioned that I had stolen the image from another New England photographer, Eric Gendon. After letting the commenter know that it was indeed my image and that I possess the original RAW file, I headed over to the other photographers page and was blown away.

We had what looked like the exact same image, taken at the exact millisecond in time, from what looked like the same exact location and perspective.

Aside from choices made in Lightroom, the photos at first glance look virtually identical aside from water in front and some of the white caps being in different position. Even then, the white caps were identical in size and shape—and I know those things are easily moved using the clone stamp in Photoshop—so I was concerned that maybe MY image was stolen and altered a bit.

Initially, I only had access to his shared, low-resolution, image so I wasn’t able to make out some of the very fine details that ultimately helped to convince me that we both had originals. After overlaying and aligning the images in Photoshop I was blown away that the lighthouse and waves were carbon copies, almost to the pixel. As mentioned already, there were many differences in the foreground water and the white caps on the horizon, and it was these differences that held me back from claiming he stole my image.

It wasn’t until another local photographer started comparing my photo to a higher resolution version of Eric’s image that he noticed that the iron gating around the top of the lighthouse had slightly different spacing between the vertical bars compared to my image. This would indicate that the other photographer was likely standing just a little bit left of where I was standing.

Since the 60D uses an APS-C sensor he would have also likely been back a little further to compensate for the 1.6x “zoom” / crop of the sensor or using a shorter focal length to compensate. This would also explain the white caps being in different positions.

However, the fact that the lighthouse doesn’t really show any rotational changes—and the crashing wave is an exact match—makes this all the more remarkable that these were captured randomly from two different photographers.

The next morning, Eric woke up to a flood of messages from me as well as other photographers, and immediately contacted me to share his EXIF data, and to agree that it was astounding that we both captured the exact same image of water motion at the exact millisecond in time. What makes this even more amazing is that this wasn’t a planned event (aka. sporting event, shuttle launch, etc.).

I also didn’t know Eric—we each chose this location randomly, and we both shot with different cameras (60D and 5D Mark IV) with different size sensors.

The 60D has a burst mode of 5.3fps, the 5DMKIV is 7fps; we both used a 600mm focal length; our exposures and depth-of-field were almost the same as well (F8 aperture, ISO 400, 1/1600^th shutter vs. F8, ISO 320, 1/1000^th shutter); and, ultimately, we both selected the same photo from that day to promote. Come to find out we were only 28 meters away from each other. He was hunkered down under a picnic enclosure to help block some of the wind and I was up against a tree to help reduce the wind.

I did a Google search to see how often this happens and could only find one article from 2011 where two photographers filming a surf competition on Huntington Beach ended up catching a virtually identical image of a surfer and its wave action.

If you shoot water in burst mode you know how different each exposure is even when the difference in time is just 1/7^th of a second between shots. And I have been leading night-sky photography workshops for five years and have had well over 200 photographers who are often aiming at the same subject, shooting with similar cameras and lenses, and capturing at the same moment in time, even doing continuous shooting for time lapse, and until now I have never seen two images that were so close as to be virtual clones of each other.

While this is a rare occurrence, I believe that with cameras getting faster and photographers taking more time to prepare for their shots, I have to imagine that these situations will happen more frequently. It happens every day with stationary or slow motion objects (buildings, sun/moon rise) but almost never with water movement.

One commenter on my FB post mentioned how this mistake brings to light the importance that post-processing plays in making your images your own. Here we had two essentially identical images—one edited to preserve a more natural feel, while the other image was edited to enhance the drama and emotion of the scene.

Photographer Information

Ron Risman
Website: http://www.timelapseworkshops.com
Instagram: Timeographer
Facebook: risman

Eric Gendron
Website: http://www.ericgendronphotography.com/
Instagram: ericgendronphotography
Facebook: ericgendronphotography

Ron Risman is a New England-based photographer, cinematographer, and time-lapse specialist with over 30 years of experience behind the camera. You can find more of his work on his website, Instagram, and Facebook page.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

Comments Off

Posted in Uncategorized