Photography

Posted by Philip Northeast

Amazon already had been selling some GE-branded cameras but will now expand its offerings to include the 2008 models. This push by a manufacturer to increase its online retail presence highlights the increasing importance of e-commerce in photo retailing. The ability to generate high volumes of sales without the need for shops or knowledgeable sales staff helps keep prices low.

"We're delighted to offer our products through Amazon.com," said Hiroshi "Hugh" Komiya, Chairman and CEO of General Imaging. "Amazon has continued its amazing growth through 2007 and now into 2008, and we're happy to be a part of it."

Many photographers are happy to trade off the service provided by a local expert for the ease of internet shopping. "Many of our customers appreciate the convenience and selection of online shopping, and Amazon.com is obviously a leader in that category," said Rene Buhay, General Imaging's Senior Vice president of Sales and Marketing for the Americas. "We think e-commerce will continue its strong growth, so it's a perfect place for us to extend our brand."

The GE range is currently aimed at the compact point and shoot segment of the market and include an array of popular, advanced functions. The GE cameras offer blink detection and smile detection, helping photographers capture just the right moment when taking shots of people. After a shot is taken, the blink detection feature alerts the photographer if the subject's eyes were closed and allows another attempt. The smile detection feature works by tripping the shutter automatically when the subject smiles.

Posted by Philip Northeast

The theme of the Photography In The Parks Photo Contest for 2008 is "Inspirational Nature Images," and is open to all (legal) United States resident non-professional photo enthusiasts over 13 year of age. This rules out all those residing north of the 49th parallel.

Starting on April 22 and closing on September 30, photographic enthusiasts are encouraged to submit their favorite photographs from a United States park to the Canon Digital Learning Center. The winning photographer will receive a trip to a park of their choice, and a full suite of Canon photographic equipment.

While the image may be any park, national state or even a local city park in the United States trip is to a participating national or state park, so Central park in New York is probably out.

"A picture captures a moment in time, but the right picture triggers an emotional reaction within people. Through our Photography in the Parks Photo Contest, we want people to seek out those inspirational images and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors while doing it," stated Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Canon U.S.A. "As an environmentally-conscious organization, we encourage everyone to enjoy the beauty of nature, and also to work to protect it."

Logging onto the contest website, photographers will not only have the opportunity to enter their favorite photos, but also forward an e-postcard of their submitted images to friends and family as a fun way to share their photographs.

To help create a prize winning image, explore the Canon Digital Learning Center where there are various educational resources that Canon offers for novices and advanced photographers alike.

Of course, suite 101 offers expert advice in a rapidly increasing number of landscape photography articles from a variety of experienced photographers.

Posted by Philip Northeast

A Digital Storage Study shows one in three consumers don't see the need to back up their files, while nearly a quarter (22 percent) say they aren't backing up files because it's too time consuming. While modern hard disks are more reliable than never they still are mechanical device and still have the potential for catastrophic failure. Manufacturers continue to push the boundaries of technology to store more data on physically smaller hard drives, keeping the spectre of disk failure ever present.

Photos (85 percent) are the most stored files, while productivity files, such as home office documents (59 percent) ranked third.

"The issue appears to be a combination of lack of awareness of storage options and ease of use," says CEA's Director of Market Research, Tim Herbert. "Generally, consumers don't know how to back up their data and if they do, they're failing to back up data because they claim it takes too much time."

The research shows consumers are satisfied with their storage options. Eight out of 10 respondents report using their home computer as their main long-term storage option. Unfortunately, it may take the rude shock of total loss of data to make them realise the insecurity of digital storage.

While CD and DVD formats are popular for long-term backups the CEA recommends keeping an extra copy off-site, say at the office. This helps keep your data safe in case your home is damaged by fire, flood or earthquake. For additional data security use an online backup service to protect your content from disasters and/or hardware failures.

Posted by Philip Northeast

This month Pentax introduces a new scheme to capture budding professional photographers with offers of rebates for cameras and accessories to U.S. students enrolled in bona fide photography courses. With relative newcomers to the SLR world, Nikon and Canon, now dominating the market, Pentax are hoping to rekindle some of the magic created in the 1970s when many photographers learnt their craft using the K1000 film SLR.

The Nikon and Canon domination of the DSLR market is partly due to the hero effect of professional photographers using their top end cameras and lenses. This suggests to many first time DSLR buyers that entry level cameras from Nikon and Canon will magically produce top quality professional looking images. By enticing full time students with equipment at reduced prices Pentax hope to create a generation of professional photographers who will consider Pentax equipment first when making new equipment choices. For DSLR users the logical choice is to stay with their current system for expansion and upgrades.

Pentax said their photography equipment offers value, quality, ease-of-use, durability, and affordability, and Pentax takes great pride in the commitment to countless users who have learned and taught the art of photography with a Pentax camera

Pentax are offering the Student Photography discounts only to full-time students at accredited institutions (high schools, colleges and universities), as well as full-time photography educators in the United States, for Pentax equipment bought in the United States. See the Pentax site here for more details and application forms.

This perhaps reveals a major problem with Pentax equipment and support; in many countries local importers do the marketing. This limits the scope of initiatives such as this program to a particular country, while their competitors have a more coherent global marketing strategy.

Posted by Philip Northeast

Before the advent of zoom lenses, the 50mm primes were the workhorses of SLR photography. They were standard with every camera and were an important part of new camera reviews. Cameras makers put their best foot forward when designing the standard lens, unlike today when the kit lens often suffers from the compromise of achieving a low shelf price for the camera.

Another important aspect of the 50mm design is it gave an approximation of the angle of view of the human eye, so giving a natural look to photographs. With the smaller digital sensors, they now give the view of a 75mm telephoto lens. This is a very good focal length for portraits and general photography.

The Sigma carries their EX designation which they say, “Denotes the superior build and optical quality”, and differentiates it from the price conscious Sigma lenses. Another indication is the large maximum aperture (f1.4), making this a ‘fast” lens. Digital noise from high ISO settings is an issue for DSLRS, and the extra light from the large apertures helps produce low noise images in poor lighting conditions.

The extra light is also an aid to fast autofocus performance and the Sigma incorporates a HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), ensuring quiet and high-speed AF as well as full-time manual focus override. In a sign of the times, there is no connector to the camera body focus motor. If your camera does not support HSM then only manual focus is available, although most new DSLRs now support HSM. Each manufacturer tends to have a name for it, such as USM and SDM.

The internal construction features a molded aspherical lens, rather than the more traditional manufacturing process of grinding the glass to shape. Aspherical lenses have complex curve shapes to compensate for off axis lens behavior.

Posted by Philip Northeast

Mr. Reichman is responding to an article by Ken Rockwell suggesting cheap cameras make great photographs. Mr. Rockwell cites a number of anecdotal pieces of evidence suggesting skilled people achieve better results using cheap equipment than the less skilled using good equipment, although not all the examples are from photography. This is one of the frequent clichés expressed in online forums in response to comparing the merits of different cameras.

“The quality of a lens or camera has almost nothing do with the quality of images it can be used to produce,” according to Mr. Rockwell.

This is an oversimplification and neglects the real technical requirements of the many different types of photography. As a response to those who suggest cameras with brand XYZ are the only cameras capable of taking a good photograph; Mr. Rockwell’s argument goes too far the other way.

There are a variety types and brands of cameras on the market, and one of the largest segments is for DSLRs. They are popular because of their versatility. By choosing the right combination of equipment, they become suitable for a range of subjects. Most sports events feature a forest of telephoto lenses and monopods. Without the right equipment, all you end up with is a small figure lost in the expanse of the arena or track. Conversely, for landscape work tripods and wide-angle lenses abound. There is a need for an angle of view to include as much as possible of an expansive vista, so the lens choice is important.

Mr. Reichman acknowledges the importance of the photographer’s skill, but suggests it needs combining with appropriate equipment to achieve the best results. After all one of Mr. Reichman’s main activities is teaching photographic techniques via video tutorials, and workshops.

Posted by Philip Northeast

Olympus was a pioneer of live LCD screens on DSLRs and the larger screen makes this feature more usable on the new E420. The autofocus system still works while using live view making it a practical option for candid shots. Without the need to hold the camera close to the face obscuring or restricting your view of the wider event.

Olympus claim the E420 is the world’s smallest DSLR so you can take great photographs without weighing you down. The E-420 is small enough to fit into a purse or a jacket pocket and light enough to shoot with comfortably all day.

Part of the small size comes four the smaller four thirds sensor, also the world’s smallest sensor on DSLR. However, with a more than 10 Megapixels and combined with the excellent Zuiko range of lenses image quality should be first rate.

"The Olympus E-420 delivers the professional-grade image quality of a digital SLR with the simple operation of a point-and-shoot camera,” said John Knaur, senior marketing manager - DSLR, Olympus Imaging America Inc. “Thanks to the camera’s small size and lightweight body, users can take the E-420 everywhere, and they will never miss another shot because the of the camera’s straightforward controls."

Face detection technology assists with focusing, and the face is the most important area to get right when photographing people. Shadow Adjustment Technology captures detail in the bright areas of a frame and opens up detail in the shadows.

To go with the world’s smallest DSLR, Olympus has a new ultra compact Zuiko 25mm f2.8 digital specific lens, similar to the flat Pentax pancake style. With a crop factor of 2, this lens is equivalent to the view of a 50mm lens, long the mainstay of film SLRs.

Posted by Philip Northeast

Modern cameras make it easier for the average photographers to take ordinary snap shots under average conditions, good photographers produce stunning images under difficult conditions.

Wedding advice suggesting cutting costs by getting an acquaintance to take some snaps at your wedding in return for free booze could result in missing magic moments. A professional photographer will remain sober and alert, rather than propping up the bar.

With the advent of digital photography, people still suggest it is possible to save money by buying the CD and getting them printed at your local discount mini-lab, as professionals charge too much for prints. However, photographers no longer rely on selling prints to cover the costs in time and equipment to photograph a wedding. With the advent of scanners, people would buy one set of prints then get them copied illegally at photo stores. Photographers changed their business models. They commonly charge a flat fee that includes a CD of the images and a small number of prints. They still provide high quality prints from professional labs, not cut price corner store snaps.

One of the things included in the price of a professional should not be obvious to the customer. This shows in the extensive range of duplicated equipment they carry around at a wedding. While Uncle Harry may have a shiny new camera, he probably only has one, and how many flashguns does he have? A professional will take the unlikely event of equipment failure in their stride and ensure that your wedding is not the one to miss out.

A professional is an experienced photographer whose knowledge of their equipment and photographic techniques enable them to capture those “decisive moments” at a wedding. The quality of the composition and timing makes the pictures look professional.

Posted by Philip Northeast

With a big photographic job looming the need for a second digital camera body became more urgent. Then there is the usual rush of new photo gear set for announcement at PMA in Las Vegas. The rumors of a new camera for my system started about the time I got an assignment to cover my state’s major horse racing carnival.

While camera failures are rare, they do happen. I needed the security of a spare, and the film bodies just do not cut any more in the world of photojournalism. The ability to review shots on location to ensure that there is a good shot on the memory card is now essential. So, a new digital body it was.

Once a photographer collects a number of lenses for their particular brand of SLR camera they usually stay with that brand, as starting from scratch can be expensive and time consuming. The choice was easy, a new top of line digital body for my lens collection that started in 1975.

Then rumors started about a new camera due to go on show in Las Vegas in January at PMA 08. The new camera sounded very good according to the rumors and while it is an improvement on the current model, I needed one now. The changes were not enough to wait months for it to become available.

On the job, I soon appreciated the advantage of having two camera bodies. Constantly changing lenses in the field became outdated, now I could just pick up the other body and keep shooting. There are zoom lenses available covering a wide range of focal lengths, but this involves to sacrifice in image quality to get the extended range. With two bodies I can cover a wide focal length without sacrificing quality.

Posted by Philip Northeast

PMA 08 International Convention and Trade Show is one of the world’s leading international convention and trade shows. PMA 08 hosts people from around the world, including photo retailers, professional photographers, mass merchandisers, professional labs, custom picture framers, scrapbook retailers and professional wedding and event videographers. The PMA 08 International Convention has more than 200 sessions for professional development and advice on photographic trends. The PMA 08 Trade Show offers the latest products to help people everywhere create, keep, display and share memories through pictures.

The pressure is on camera manufacturers to have something new to show the influential attendees. The inbox is full of press releases promoting the latest products and services on display at PMA 08. Some like the flood of Pentax announcements of upcoming products are for items that are a significant step over forward over their old products or indicate the companies’ capability to keep supporting and developing their photographic system.

Other such as Nikon and Canon are in a difficult position trying to create something genuinely new in the DSLR market, and significantly better than their old stuff. With comprehensive ranges of excellent cameras and lenses, there are very few weaknesses or gaps in their model ranges. The result is a new models and lots of hype with little real substance as “new” cameras do not offer significant improvements over the old models they replace. While the marketing spin lacks real substance, the new models are still excellent cameras with a wide range of high lenses and accessories and well worth considering.