Tag: technical

New Podcast is Up!

Jason2 Comments

That’s right, for two successive weeks now since our move, I’ve been able to find the time to record an audio podcast.  Todays show had everything to do with the absolutely horrendous performance by the Broncos last night on MNF – their season turned to the toilet rather quickly.  What ever happened to the fundamentals?

Oh, sorry, this is a photo blog, not a football one! 🙂

Okay, here’s the latest and greatest from CB. First and foremost, CB Episode #55 went up today. I took about twenty minutes to talk about off-camera lighting. I looked at the radio transmitters available, infrared transmitters and a number of different companies that deliver products. Pricing from various websites was also reported. As prices may change, and sales may happen, those are approximate according to the date of publication. So, if you have questions about off-camera flash, this may be a good starting point. I look at everything from PocketWizards to Cybersyncs, Skyports and more. It’s about a 20 minute listen, but chock full of information, so download it and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments – I’d really like to hear what people think of the “new format”.

Other news from CB – the header is updated! I’ve got new header shots rolling out every day this week, so make sure you visit the blog and look at the new images (this is for all you RSS readers out there). For the regular visitors, you may also notice that I finally took some time to sit down and add some of the common links above the header, so now you have quick access to The Online Photography Test (more questions and ideas are needed for the “Expert exam”, not linked like yet), the Colors and Textures Gallery, and my own website of personal photography work.  Finally, I also added a link to the  CB Flickr group (I’d love to see some more members sharing photos and ideas). Pretty cool stuff that I am happy to finally have in place. Thanks go out to Erik Bernskiold of Bernskiold Media for taking some time to jog my memory on the particulars of HTML editing – it’d been a while.

As promised, here are the links from the show (a.k.a. show notes):

As I said in the show, I’m migrating from the ST-E2 from Canon to the Cactus transmitters. If you’d like to hear a follow-up episode on my experiences when I am done, let me know and I’ll try to get that “in the can” too.

Well, that was just a ton of information for a Tuesday, so I’ll leave things at that, and let everyone come back tomorrow rejuvenated for the Wednesday “What’s This?” Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here tomorrow!

P.S.  Don’t forget the poll on the sidebar or the Photrade contest – both are ending soon so get your votes in today!

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Thursday Thoughts v2.0

Jason1 Comment

As I jump back in the saddle of topical discussions, I am going to actually share an experience I had with the readership today.  You’ll notice the title of the post today includes a v2.0 – why is that?  Well, because there are many versions of many things out there, and as photographers one of the things that is easy to lose sight of is the versioning of our firmware.

See, cameras, like any other device in todays technologically advanced world, can have flaws that are discovered after it is released to the public.  Most of the time the bigger players like Canon and Nikon keep these to a minimum, but nevertheless, things can happen.  Here is what happened to me.

Thus far my lens collection has consisted of glass that does not have built in image stabilization(or Vibration Reduction if you are a Nikon shooter).  So, when I had a shoot for work this last Tuesday, I thought it might be a good idea to go rent some glass and give it a whirl – to see if I could benefit from it.  Well, the oddest thing happened…whenever I was using the IS lens, I would hear a funny sound in camera.  It’s very hard to describe, but when I swapped lenses out, I didn’t hear the sound anymore.  I stopped using the lens and did the rest of the evening with my kit 18-55 lens.  When I returned the lens to the rental store, the guy told me that there have been reported problems with my particular body (the 40D), and I should check my firmware.

Sure enough, the firmware was at 1.5 or something, and Canon’s website verified that a newer release had been issuedto correct this very problem.  So, I downloaded the firmware and will be updating that for a tutorial next week.  (Make sure you tune in for that, because it’s not like I’ll have a chance to practice for it, and if I mess up, that will make for a funny tutorial!)  The moral here though is that cameras need maintenance too.

As we think about our work flow, we make sure our software is up to date, our operatig system is patched and secured, and hotfixes or system updates are applied…after all, we’re talking about all our work captured and saved on those precious hard disks.

Since Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, and the rest all have ways to automate our updates, that side of things can become rather ubiquitous.  We’ve set things up, and we know it will update itself when it needs to, so we don’t even think about it anymore.  it falls off our radar.  Cameras though, do not have a way of “auto-updating”.  Thus, we can’t let things things fall off our radar.  Letting things slide like that will only result in what happened to me on Tuesday – equipment failure or problems due to lack of current firmware.

As sort of a PSA, I am including here indications of what the latest firmware is for all the EOS cameras that are active in Canon’s line.  Check your firmware in camera and if it matches, you’re good to go.  If not, follow the link to get the latest firmware direct from Canon.  Mac is listed first, Windows is listed second:

Canon 1Ds Mark III – at version 1.1.2, dated 4/30/08

Canon ID Mark III – at version 1.2.3, dated 4/30/08

Canon 5D – at version 1.1.1, dated 3/18/08

Canon 50D – brand new, no version updates available yet

Canon 40D – at version 1.0.8, dated 4/7/08

Canon 30D – at version 1.0.6, dated 3/18/08

Canon XSi – no firmware updates are available for the XSi – but software updates can be obtained too

Canon XTi – at version 1.1.1 dated 12/7/07

Canon XS – no updates are available for this camera on a current platform, but legacy WIn2K has some installers

Canon XT – at version 1.0.3, dated 12/1/07

So, there’s the complete list of all EOS cameras.  Hope you take a moment to check your firmware today.  Happy shooting and watch those apertures (and firmware).  We’ll see you back here tomorrow!

The 50D has surfaced

Jason1 Comment

I got home tonight to quite a few emails of people asking if I’d heard of the 50D yet and whether there was any validity to the rumors flying around the internets.  While Canon does not confide inme, I’ve seen some pretty intriguing information, and at the risk of perpetuating rumors, I will share some of what appear to be the more valid remors.  Most specifically intriguing is a Chinese website for Canon that shows a banner of the entire EOS line, which includes a 50D on the right hand side of the banner.  Hard to say whether it’s legit or not, but with Photokina right around the corner, and the desire of all manufacturers to hopefully get a little buzz going on their announcements, I’ll play into their hands a little.  Here’s the links I’ve received that suggest it is a reality rather than rumor:

  • http://bgpictures.com/blog/
  • http://www.photographybay.com/2008/08/21/canon-50d-info-leaked-real-specs/
  • http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/Canon_50D.html
  • http://www.canonrumors.com/index.php?entry=entry080125-142506
  • http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/24/canons-eos-50d-product-shots-test-photo-leaked/
  • http://www.canon.com.cn/products/camera/eos/index.html

The fact that the source URL of that last one is from China and not Japan (Canon is in Japan, not China…or are they?) makes me suspicious, but by the same token, another portion of the site has interviews that discuss the history of the EOS lens system for Canon, saying it’s the anniversary of their 20t year.  Plus, the graphics aren’t exactly the makings of hacks and pseudos who are trying for a temporary jump in their web traffic – there’s nothing to buy there!  Anyway, the movie itself has a translation and was kind of neat to watch, so here’s a link to that too:

http://www.canon.com.cn/specialsite/EOS_final/index-e.html

Plus, I finally learned that EOS stands for Electro Optical System.  As a guy running a blog about Canon and photography, I guess I should have known that! 🙂

No tutorial for today folks – just too busy to get one recorded in time.  As I have an event to shoot at work tonight I suspect that the post tomorrow will be the “no blog” day…but I’ll try to make it back here Thursday to share some more detailed shots and thoughts from the photowalk last Saturday.

Until Thursday then, happy shooting and watch those apertures! 🙂

What’s this? – Week 6

Jason3 Comments

What's This - Week 6

So, any guesses for the latest edition of “What’s This?” Last week, the crop was from some fancy ornate crown molding in a capture from an old plantation house here in SC. It was kind of a stretch as I was pulling from my portfolio, rather than taking a shot specifically with the weekly theme in mind. This week I did a mite better though. I had hoped to have a tutorial compiled for publishing tonight too, but alas, t’was not meant to be. Someone did mention in the comments earlier this week though that the title page was notdisplaying correctly in their feed reader. Could anyone enlighten me further, as I don’t see any punctuation or anything wrong in the blog title header info. Thanks a bunch! Good luck with the theme, and we’ll see you out here again tomorrow! Happy shooting and watch those apertures…

Backpacks, and Belts and Bags: Oh My!

Jason5 Comments

For this week (and the foreseeable future), I am continuing the “live video talks” where I share a little insight into things I use and do to with photography, and the gear that’s involved.  This week, I recall that some others have done a “What’s in Your Bag?” type of theme, and rather than just show you my gear (which is what the question basically is a lead-in for), I also share some different bags and bag systems I have used, and that I continue to use.  Bag types range from small shoulder bags, to belt systems, backpacks, and equipment bags.  One bag I did not include is one for your tripod and/or light stand.

 

Anyway, it’s kind of a bandwidth intensive episode this week at over 100 MB of download in Quicktime ® format.  Sorry, again, no flash-based version.  Until Camtasia can import .mov files and render as Flash, when I record in QT, the .mov format is all I can do.

 

With that in mind, I’d like to also open it up to the readers/viewers out there.  What kinds of bags or bag systems do you use?  Backpacks?  Belts?  Shoulder bags?  What works best for you?  Sound off in the comments!

 

You Want Fries With That?

Jason5 Comments

We live in a world of super-sizing everything:

From sodas to coffee, fries, meals, cars, and houses, bigger always seems to be better. This is no different in photography. From larger bodies, to larger bags to more Megapixels, we are constantly in pursuit of something “bigger and better.” The idea behind all of this is that the bigger the camera is, or the more megapixels you have, the larger you can print (or the more you can crop and still get a decent print). This is true for the most part. Higher MP counts translate to higher sensor resolution (note that the sensor size isn’t changing, just the resolution). The higher sensor resolution then ultimately translates to higher print sizes. Serious photo enthusiasts know though, that it’s not in the megapixels, the sensors, the cameras, or even the lenses. Truly great prints come from capturing something unique and wonderful that you see with your own eye. Having said that, we are still obsessed with creating the biggest prints we can – after all, the larger the print, the more we can “wow” our clients, right?

Sensor resolution is, by and large, the single most important determinant of how big you will be able to print a particular image. It’s a simple matter of math, native print size will vary as a function of the number of pixels on the sensor. You may get more noise has MP counts ratchet up on identical sensors, but the more pixels you can fit, the larger you can print.

So, that only makes one wonder – what are the maximum print sizes for various cameras? No one tells you that. You can read all about the Digic III sensor from Canon to Nikon’s CCD sensors, and onto the 4/3rds sensor from Olympus. You can also find out everything from the MP counts to frame rates, lens mounts, and a host of other information, but I have yet to find a vendor that publishes a maximum print size in terms we can understand. Instead, they just give us the sensor resolution. But that doesn’t help. We need to know how that resolution translates into prints! Paper sizes aren’t measured in pixels, they are measured in inches! Well, no fear, I’ve taken care of all the legwork and put together a spec sheet for all the cameras currently listed in Canon’s product line. So, without further ado, here are the current Canon cameras, replete with model, current retail price, MP count, sensor size, and max print size. Enjoy!

Canon Camera Print Sizes
Got a camera other than Canon or an older model? Well then, unfortunately it’s a little trickier for you, because you actually need to know 2 things. First, it’s helpful to know that as a general rule of thumb, your maximum print size is proportional to your sensor resolution. Second, you need to know your sensor resolution. To figure out your maximum print size, divide your sensor resolution by 200. For example, the Nikon D80 has a sensor resolution of 3872×2592. So, the max print size would be 3872/200 x 2592/200, or 19″x12″. This is, of course, only taking into account the native resolution of any sensor. Up-sizing programs can adjust for this, but that would no longer be a native measurement.

P.S. I do have this as a worksheet in a larger Excel workbook…other sheets include the Canon lens list, a sunrise/sunset calendar, and bunches of other goodies. If anyone is interested in that, drop me an email! Good stuff in there…