The CeBIT electronics trade show in Hannover, Germany is now drawing to a close. There haven’t been too many new photography announcements, but if you want to catch up with everything that’s happened at the show, these reports by e-Fotografija and LetsGoDigital are essential reading.

Website: e-Fotografija - CeBIT 2004 Report

Website: LetsGoDigital - CeBIT 2004

I very rarely link to the websites of other photographers (maybe I should do this more often?), but this morning rion.nu’s shots of London caught my eye. It’s always interesting to see what someone from a different part of the world makes of the place that you live, especially when they ignore the usual tourist landmarks and focus on the things that you take for granted. As with these photos of what I consider to be pretty boring street signs, but which rion.nu turns into excellent photographs.

Website: rion.nu - London Typography 1

Website: rion.nu - London Typography 2

After a couple of month’s away, the monthly photography magazine 28MM has returned with 8 new galleries.

On display in the March issue of 28MM:

- City reflections, by Filipe Bianchi
- To Market - To Market, by Jen Boxer
- Abandoned well house, by Ron Cillizza
- Downtown Laundromat, by Gary Moyer
- Radio Tower Array, by Justin Ouellette
- ARKHEE, by Eolo Perfido
- Coloring Between the Lines, by Dan Schwartz
- Pipeline, by Sean Slavin

Cover Photo: Shane Lavalette

Website: http://www.28mm.org

This week’s Sunday Morning Photographer column Mike Johnston is very subtly titled “Moving Pictures”...

“I’ve always believed - on very little actual evidence - that watching black-and-white movies can help black-and-white photographers get better. New on DVD recently is the famous “Schindler’s List,” which, although perhaps a qualified success as a film (only Spielberg could come so close to ruining a movie full of death and genocide with a saccharine ending), is indisputably a tour-de-force of superlative monochrome cinematography. Never mind the red cloak; Janusz Kaminski’s camerawork is of an extraordinary standard, always very good and, quite frequently, flat-out great. A movie to rent if you’re trying to learn how to see, or see better, in black-and-white.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Moving Pictures

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. Highlights this month include a couple of articles that look back at PMA 2004 Article 1, Article 2, and a look forward to the Konica Minolta Maxxum 7 Digital.

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #34

Michael Reichmann’s recent review of the Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom digital camera provoked a lot of negative feedback on various discussion forums. In his latest essay, Michael looks at what is important when it comes to evaluating a new camera.

“In the end both image quality and a camera’s operational quality are equally important. No camera is perfect, and few are perfectly bad. For some photographers who don’t have a lot of experience with a wide range of equipment, and of working under difficult conditions, where seemingly small operational features can make the difference between getting the shot or not, my complaints may seem like so much unfair griping.”

Website: Luminous Landscape - The Case of the Nit Picking Pixel Peepers

Mike Johnston’s weekly column looks at the tricky issue of authenticity and the ethics of cooperating with your subject in photography:

“But, even for journalists, there is a very hazy line where enlisting cooperation is concerned. Someone in the photo.net thread mentioned the fact that Dorothea Lange may have “directed” the migrant mother and her children to get her famous Migrant Mother picture. But does that “lie” in any significant way about the reality of the situation? Roy Stryker, boss of the Farm Security Adminstration photographers, had this to say: “People would say to me, that migrant woman looks posed and I’d say she does not look posed. That picture is as uninvolved with the camera as any picture I’ve ever seen.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Evidence, not Proof

DIWA Press Release 05/03/04

Friday, 5th March 2004: The Digital Imaging Websites Association (DIWA) is delighted to announce that Steve’s Digicams (www.steves-digicams.com) has joined the DIWA team. The number one* US-based online digital photography review site, Steve’s Digicams joins 8 existing DIWA members based across Europe.

“I’m delighted to confirm my association with DIWA,” commented Steve Sanders, founder and webmaster of Steve’s Digicams. He added: “I look forward to being an important part of the DIWA team, helping to establish DIWA’s digital imaging product awards as the most valued and trusted in the industry, both for consumers and the industry.”

Ian Burley, DIWA general manager, explained: “The addition of Steve’s Digicams to the DIWA line is a huge boost for the realisation of DIWA’s ambitious goals.” He added: “DIWA has a regular dialogue with product manufacturers in the industry. Again and again we are hearing that the DIWA formula of rigorous and standardised product test scoring is just what the industry has been looking for. With Steve’s Digicams onboard, DIWA has a vital presence in the USA. This news makes DIWA no longer just an interesting new idea from Europe, but a global force to be reckoned with.”

Like all DIWA members, Steve’s Digicams adopts DIWA’s unique product test scoring system to evaluate products being reviewed. By statistical comparison of standardised data from a minimum quota of test scores per product, DIWA determines if that product has met the strict criteria for a Gold, Silver or Bronze award. These awards are made throughout the year in addition to annual Platinum awards for the single most outstanding product in its category.

The DIWA website, at www.diwa-awards.com, functions as a multi-lingual portal to reviews on all member websites, now spanning the USA, Norway, Denmark, Turkey, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Poland, the UK and Spain. DIWA is actively seeking to include members from more countries and expects to make further announcements later this year.

For more information, please email [email protected] or visit our home page at www.diwa-awards.com.

*According to Alexa web traffic data.

Amanda Gilligan has let me know about a photography project that she is running on St Patrick’s Day (Wednesday March 17th):

“I’ve started a new project just for St Patrick’s Day this year and I’d love you guys to participate in some form or another!

Check out the website info page here:
http://www.lyptonvillage.org/stpatricksdayproject.htm

and Lypton Village for more details:
http://www.lyptonvillage.org/mt/archives/000496.html”

In this week’s Sunday Morning Photographer column Mike Johnston suggests a number of different ways of beating the winter blues and getting out there to take some photos. Personally, I highly recommend a long trip to a warm and sunny Spanish island :-)

“Post-PMA, the ‘Net is simply awash in exciting news of a technical and product-oriented nature. You can sure learn a lot about digital photography - it seems like a whole world of knowledge in and of itself, sometimes. But when Spring comes and the light turns nice, it’s good to remember that the purpose of it all is taking pictures.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Set Yourself Free!

Steves Digicams has announced that its “Most Important Camera of 2003 Award” has gone to the Canon EOS 300D DSLR:

“There were many excellent cameras produced and sold during 2003 but in terms of the one that had the greatest impact on the market we feel the Digital Rebel was clearly the standout camera.”

Website: Steves Digicams - Most Important Camera of 2003 Award

This week’s Sunday Morning Photographer column from Mike Johnston is rather off-puttingly called “Parameters of Lens Specification and the Properties of Lenses”, but it’s actually a lot more interesting than the title first suggests:

“I’ve been known to have a pretty jaded and cynical and sometimes even (heavens!) sarcastic view of “lens tests.” I feel for the most part that they’re relatively useless. It’s not just that lens tests are sops to insecurity, although they are that. It’s not that most of them are silly, or misleading, or wrong, either, although they are often that, too. It’s that, often, they’re just not helpful at all.”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer - Parameters of Lens Specification and the Properties of Lenses

Unfortunately I was forced to miss this year’s Focus on Imaging show, held at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, due to my 10 day trip to Tenerife. DP-Now editor Ian Burley did manage to attend the show, however, and his report of who was showing what is now online.

Website: DP-Now - Focus on Imaging 2004 Report

Now that PMA is over expect to see websites who actually attended the show to start publishing photos from the event (although Phil Askey from DPReview managed to do this throughout the show!). First up is A-Digital-Eye with a gallery showing the new Konica Minolta DSLR, Canon Powershot Pro1, Olympus C-8080 and several other new products.

Website: A-Digital-Eye’s PMA Photo Gallery

PhotographyBLOG visitor Martin Smith has emailed with a link that will appeal to the more technically minded amongst you. Microsoft have started a research project that will allow you to find out the exact characteristics of your camera and then correct any anomalies in post-processing. I was confused by about the third sentence, but I’m sure there are a few people out there who can explain it to me in simple layman’s terms :-)

Website: A Flexible New Technique for Camera Calibration

If like me you’re more than a little tired of reading about the latest and greatest digital camera, then a visit to the website A Picture’s Worth may be in order. In line with the idea that “a picture is worth a thousand words”, visitors to the site are invited to share the memories, emotions or creative stories triggered by a photograph of personal significance in the form of a photo-essay. A Picture’s Worth has been running since August 2003 and so far they have posted a new essay every day, so there’s a lot of of personal stories to dip into.

Website: A Picture’s Worth

In this week’s Sunday morning column Mike Johnston shares his thoughts with us on the PMA show:

“I have to admit I’m utterly dazzled by the torrent of news coming out of Las Vegas. Is digital exploding, or what?

If I remember correctly, it was 1998 when my doctor-brother showed up at a Chinese restaurant with a new plaything - a digital camera. I probably smiled with patronizing tolerance. The little thing had about two hundred pixels (2 centipixels?) and it took two minutes between the time you pushed the shutter button and image capture. A lot can happen in two minutes - John Kerry can eclipse Howard Dean, for instance.

I’m exaggerating again, of course…but not significantly. The fact is, in 1998 most photographers couldn’t use digital. The good cameras cost an amount that my little boy generically refers to as “a billion dollars,” and the consumer cameras were toys…”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Digital Sizzles in the Desert

The latest issue of the monthly online photo magazine, Vivid Light Photography, has just been published. Highlights this month include a review of the Canon EOS 300D:

“The other misconception is that the Digital Rebel is just an EOS 10D in a plastic body. That’s like saying a Subaru WRX STi is the same as an Imprezza; hell, they look similar don’t they? Yes, the DR has a plastic body, but that’s as much of the statement is true. Let’s look at the similarities: they have the same imaging chip and similar electronics, so the image quality should be as good as the 10D and when using both cameras back to back, I haven’t noticed any difference in image quality.”

and an article called David vs. Goliath which compares consumer lenses with pro lenses:

“These are both quality lenses but they are aimed at two very different types of shooters. The trick is to figure our which type you are and buy the right lens.

The amateur who buys the 80-200mm will soon tire of hauling around its bulk and the lens will start spending more time in the drawer than on the camera. Likewise the pro who buys the 70-300mm will be frustrated by its autofocus speed and will likely damage the lens at some point through hard use. “

Website: Vivid Light Photography - Issue #33

Nature Photographers Online Magazine has been updated for February with some new articles and an excellent cover photograph. “Out with the Old and In with the New” looks at the ritual of replacing old photography gear with new and improved gear, whilst I wish “Quick Lessons in Computer Maintenance, Disaster Recovery, and Data Backup: Part 2” had been published about a month ago, before my PC’s motherboard decided to give up the ghost…

Website: Nature Photographers Online Magazine

In this week’s Sunday morning column Mike Johnston talks about hi-fi systems, vinyl and a little bit about cameras:

“Digital makes all kinds of sense. It’s more fun that film. It’s easier than film. It’s more controllable than film. It’s more ecologically sound than film. It might require more money, but it requires a lot less space than a darkroom does, and, let’s face it, for some people space is more precious than money. With digital it might even be easier to make better pictures ? the advantages of instant feedback are that significant.

So why, then, do I keep resisting it?”

Website: Sunday Morning Photographer: Of Old Dogs and New Tricks