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Giraffes - 18 July, 9.30pm, Mile End Park


“A London premiere from international theatre ensemble Compagnie Off brings Giraffes to the heart of the East End. A night-time procession of life-sized giraffe puppets will cross Mile End Park, including the famous Green Bridge, accompanied by music and pyrotechnics.”




This is the second and final set of photographs from Compagnie’s “Giraffes” procession.




The Greenwich and Docklands International Festival culminates this coming weekend with Tattoo, “a surreal army of insects, elaborate costumes, giant mechanical structures and specially composed music”, and Raastay, “a series of incredible, large-scale pyrotechnic paintings, accompanied by a soundscape from Farzana Fiaz”.




Website: Greenwich and Docklands International Festival

The Fuji FinePix website is currently running a Macromedia Flash-based teaser on its website for a new digital camera, which will be officially announced on the 29th July (found via DPReview. The filename of the Flash movie is s5000.swf, which may be giving the game away about the actual name of the camera.

Imaging Resource were the first website to provide details about this new camera here. Apparently the new “will have a 3.1 megapixel SuperCCD HR CCD imager giving a final image size of just under 6 megapixel interpolated (2816 x 2120 pixels). It will have an electronic viewfinder, 10x optical zoom lens, 2.2x digital zoom, xD-Picture Card storage, power from 4 AA batteries, and will finally have the ability to shoot images in RAW mode.”

Imaging Resource have reported today that Fuji may be releasing two additional new cameras, the 53000 and 57000, details of which have been found on various Fuji websites.

Digital Secrets is a website that I’ve not come across before, but it seems to have been up and running for quite a while. They’ve just reviewed the Nikon 5400 digital camera (found via DCViews.

“The famed CP5000 Wide Angle Coolpix broke new ground for Nikon. Wide lens zoom cameras were rare when it came out and now the Coolpix 5400 brings a new idea to digital photography; a decent zoom range wide zoom camera. The 28 to 112 (35mm equivalent) zoom optic on the 5400 is sharp, capable and very decently wide.”

Website: Digital Secrets - Nikon 5400 Review

One story is dominating the headlines in the photography world today. Nikon have confirmed what many people already knew (as it was leaked on several websites last week) by announcing their new DSLR, the Nikon D2H, along with a bunch of new lenses and flashgun. Aimed at the professional sports and press photographer, the D2H body-only has a suggested RRP of ?2,800.

There are a number of websites that have posted extensive in-depth looks at the new camera. Ian over at DP-Now.com was one of the first to post the news and his preview is well worth checking out.

Website: DP-Now - Nikon D2H News

LetsGoDigital have had the opportunity to actually use the camera; they’ve posted an impressive presentation, although you will need to have the flash plug-in installed to view it.

Website: LetsGoDigital - Nikon D2H First Look

And as usual the ever-dependable DPReview have got the scoop, posting a 5-page preview of the camera.

Website: DPReview - Nikon D2H Preview

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Giraffes - 18 July, 9.30pm, Mile End Park


“A London premiere from international theatre ensemble Compagnie Off brings Giraffes to the heart of the East End. A night-time procession of life-sized giraffe puppets will cross Mile End Park, including the famous Green Bridge, accompanied by music and pyrotechnics.”




Question: How do you successfully photograph a herd of human-powered Giraffes that move at jogging pace in the near-dark and are lit up by spotlights and the occasional flare? When the vast crowds of onlookers rule out the use of a tripod? And when I haven’t got round to buying an external flash and have to use the pop-up one instead?




Answer: After trying for about 2 hours, I still don’t really know, but it was fun trying…

Petteri’s Pontifications have posted an extensive user review of the Canon 200mm f/2.8 L lens in conjunction with the Canon 10D. There are plenty of sample images and Petteri also tries out the lens with a Tamron 1.4x convertor.

Website: Petteri’s Pontifications - Canon 200mm f/2.8 L Review

DCRP have taken a look at the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1, a 3 megapixel digital camera with 3x, f/2.8 optical lens made by none other than Leica. All for an RRP of $299.

“The LC33 has very good photo quality, a nice design, good performance, and above average movie and playback modes.”

Website: DCRP - Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1 Review

You have two options when you want to want to make big prints of your photos. Either lower the dpi to obtain a larger print size and accept a loss of quality. Or try to interpolate up in size using Photoshop or another image editor, which can lead to artifacts and loss of sharpness.

SmartScale is a new Adobe Photoshop plug-in from Extensis that claims to be able to “Scale images up to 1600% with no discernable loss in printed quality”. You can preview different scaling options in real-time and refine the quality of your scaled image by controlling the overall sharpness, edge contrast and edge detail. At $199 it’s perhaps a little on the expensive side for home-users, and unfortunately there’s no trial version available to test it out.

Website: Extensis SmartScale

Website: Extensis

Meanwhile, the magazine Photography Monthly have reviewed the curiously named Pentax *ist in the August 2003 review. As well as giving the 35mm SLR camera a rating of 9 out of 10 and saying “the Pentax joins the Canon EOS 300V and Nikon F75 as the pick of the best sub-?300 SLRS”, they also contacted Pentax UK to explain the reasoning behind that strange name (to say the least). To quote:

“Apparently, it’s meant to be used as a suffix to describe the type of photographer who might use the camera. You can be a Pentax-ist - someone who loves using their Pentax. Or, an Artist, Specialist, Pictorialist, Perfectionist, Portraitist, Publicist…”

So now you know :-)

The Canon Powershot G5 was recently released, following on from the previous G3 model. A few PhotographyBLOG visitors wondered what happened to the G4 name. Well, it appears that guest Krishna was right when they said “In Japanese characters(kanji) numeral 4 also represents death/bad thing and hence is avioded in most of the version numbers of products”, at least according to the UK magazine Amateur Photographer.

AP say on page 28 of the 19th July issue that “the truth behind the leap from 3 to 5 is one based on cultural superstition - in Japan, the number 4 is considered unlucky. This is because the pronunciation of 4 - “shi” - is the same pronunciation as death. This is the reason why the EOS range jumps from the EOS 3 to EOS 5, and why the latest IXUS digital compacts bucks the trend of the IXUS v2 and IXUS v3 models by becoming the IXUS 400. Indeed, to find a Canon camera with a model number 4 you have to look back as far as the 1950s to the Canon IV.”

So now you know :-)

By the way, Amateur Photographer loved the Canon G5, awarding it a rating of 92% and summarising “In short, the five-million-pixel camera market contains a lot of good cameras, but very few exceptional ones. The Powershot G5 must certainly be counted among their number and is arguably the best that we have seen so far.”

Chasseur d’Image have beaten everyone to the punch (maybe by breaking any embargo that is in place) by posting images of Nikon’s new DSLR, the Nikon D2H, and also some new Nikon lenses and a flash unit. Chasseur d’Image are saying that the new Nikon will cost around 3900 Euros, and that the camera will be available in November…

Website: Chasseur d’Image - Nikon D2H First Look

Website: Chasseur d’Image - Nikon D2H First Look (Google Translation)

Digital Camera Resource has posted some larger sample images from Sony’s new 4-colour filter CCD, which was announced on Wednesday.

Website: DCRP - Sony CCD Samples

The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) have just announced their awards for “The Best Photo Products in Europe, 2003-2004”.

Why should you be interested? Well, in TIPA’s own words “When the TIPA Awards logo appears in an advertisment, a leaflet or on a product packaging, you can be sure that it deserves it. TIPA editors judge on quality, performance and value criteria that are very important to the end user. Buy a product distinguished by a TIPA Awards logo and you can be sure you are buying the very best.”

Here are some notable winnners:

Pentax *ist: Best 35mm SLR Camera
Olympus 4/3 Digital System: Best Innovative Technology
Sony Cybershot DSC-V1: Best Digital Prosumer Camera
Canon EOS 1Ds: Best Digital SLR System Camera
Epson Perfection 3200 Photo: Best Flatbed Scanner
Minolta Dimage Scan 5400: Best Film Scanner
Epson Stylus Photo 900: Best Photo Printer

To see the full list, visit this URL:

Website: TIPA Award Winners - 2003/4

Imaging Resource have reviewed the 5 megapixel Pentax Optio 550 which retails for $599.

“The Optio 550 well deserves its place at the top of Pentax’ digicam lineup. With a 5 megapixel sensor and sharp 5x optical zoom lens (with an optical viewfinder as well), the 550 delivers sharp, high-resolution images with excellent color and tone.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Pentax Optio 550 Review

Epson have announced 2 new additions to their range of flatbed scanners. The EPSON Perfection 3170 PHOTO scanner costs $199 and the EPSON Perfection 1670 PHOTO $129. Both scanners will be available in August.

“The EPSON Perfection 3170 PHOTO is the best choice for an image-driven individual who is looking for a premium quality scanner at an extremely affordable price. This scanner delivers outstanding results with its true 3200 hardware dpi resolution, 48-bit scanning and its built-in slide and film strip adapter for conveniently making duplicates or enlargements from 35 mm slides and negatives, and even medium format transparencies.”

“The EPSON Perfection 1670 PHOTO scanner is perfect for home or office environments with its economical price and ease of use. This scanner delivers resolution of 1600 x 3200 dpi for capturing and reproducing images with incredible detail and accuracy. This scanner also utilizes easy, four-button automated scanning and offers a convenient built-in 35 mm slide and film strip adapter for scanning multiple slides and negatives.”

Website: Epson Press Release

Minolta have announced a new addition to their range of ultra-compact digital cameras. The DiMAGE X20 is a 2 megapixel which Minolta claims “is the world?s smallest and lightest 2 megapixel camera with a 3x optical zoom.” The X20 has some unusual features that help it to stand out from the crowd. The self portrait mode utilises a mirror on front of the camera to help you compose images, while the multi-frame drive mode allows you to capture 9 images on one frame. Image pasting allows one image to be placed in another for a creative touch, and there is also a movie mode with sound.

Website: Minolta Europe Press Release

Website: ePhotoZine - DiMAGE X20 News Story

It seems that the rumours of a new DSLR from Nikon are gaining ground. First reported by the French photographic magazine Chasseur d’Images a few days ago, Michael Reichmann is also adding his weight, going as far as identifying the D2’s main features:

- 4 Megapixel sensor
- 8 frames / sec
- approximately a 21 frame buffer in RAW mode
- minimum 125 ISO
- 802/11b wireless LAN

Website: Luminous Landscape - News

Website: Chasseur d’Images - Nikon D2H

At $899 for the champagne coloured model and $999 for the black version, the Contax TVS is firmly at the expensive end of the 5 megapixel compact digital camera market. Find out if the Contax TVS justifies its high price tag by reading Imaging Resource’s review.

“Overall, the TVS delivered good-looking photos, nice and sharp from corner to corner, thanks to its Zeiss lens. Color was generally accurate, and dynamic range was good. All in all, a very workmanlike performance with better than average lens quality.”

Website: Imaging Resource - Contax TVS Review

I’ve introduced several more new features to the site during the last couple of days. Here’s a summary of what’s been improved and enhanced:

- Members Only
There’s a new Members Only section of the site which currently contains two sub-sections, Screensavers and Wallpapers. You need to be a registered member and logged into your account to access these pages, where you can download free, errmm, screensavers and wallpapers :-) I’ll be adding some more free downloads in the very near future…

- Blabber Board
This new feature is on the right-hand side of every page. It allows you to instantly post quick messages and, if there are enough people online, to chat to other PhotographyBLOG visitors.

- Support PhotographyBLOG
There is now a “Support PhotographyBLOG” link in the Members navigation bar at the top of every page. You can voluntarily choose to help out PhotographyBLOG and support its future development by purchasing Prints or Stock Images from my personal photography website, markgoldstein.co.uk.

If you have any comments about these new features, or suggestions of your own, then send an email to [email protected].

Mark

Sony today announced a new 4-colour filter CCD, which will be used in new consumer Sony digital cameras in the “near future”. The CCD features an Emerald sensor in addition to the traditional Red-Green-Blue sensors, which Sony claims will produce more realistic images.

Here’s the full Press Release with all the details:

”Realization of natural color reproduction in Digital Still Cameras, closer to the natural sight perception of the human eye
Technology development to realize 4-color filter CCD and New Image Processor, achieving halving of color reproduction error

(Tokyo, Japan) - Sony Corporation today announced the world’s first practical consumer (home) use of CCD with 4-color (Red , Green , Blue + Emerald ) filters, together with a new image processor corresponding to the 4-color filter. By this technology, the color reproduction error is halved compared to Sony’s conventional 3-primary-color filter CCD and, expression of images closer to the natural sight perception of the human eye is achieved under various shooting conditions.

Conventional digital still cameras mainly use 3-primary-color filter CCD, and the colors are recorded by the intensity of each of the 3 colors, Red(R), Green(G) and Blue(B), corresponding to the color reproduction characteristics of the color TV or monitors. However, the characteristics of these CCD filters are different from those of the human visual system. Color differences therefore emerge compared to natural human sight, resulting in different color reproduction.

In the 4-color filter CCD, a filter with the Emerald (E) color is added to the conventional 3-color RGB filter, in order to reduce the color reproduction errors and to record natural images closer to the natural sight perception of the human eye. As a result, the characteristics of the CCD color filter become much closer to those of the human visual system, achieving dramatic reduction in the color reproduction error.

In addition to the development of the 4 color filter, a new image processor corresponding to the 4-color filter has been developed. With this processor, each of the signals captured by the 4 colors is processed to produce ideal 3 colors close to the natural sight perception the human eye by a matrix calculation. Also, in addition to functioning with 30% less power consumption, by the efficient processor management, functions such as high-speed image shooting and high-speed playback are realized, as well as enhancing the of overall basic functions of digital still cameras.

By the combination of the 4 color filter CCD and the new processor, color reproduction errors have been minimized by half, and the reproduction of blue-green and red colors has been particularly enhanced.

Sony plans to integrate the newly developed 4 color filter CCD and the new image processor into the new digital cameras which will be introduced in the near future. This unique Sony original technology will offer the capability to shoot images with enhanced reality.

Sony will continue to further improve the technology in order to enhance image quality in the growing digital still camera market, with the aim of offering customers more fun and joy in taking pictures.”

Website: Sony Global - Press Release