Friday, June 04, 2010
By their very
nature, lenses add distortion to the images they
capture. I've posted a new tutorial
over at
TipSquirrel.com that addressed how to fix lens
distortion for both stills and video.
“One of the commands in
Photoshop CS5 that received a major makeover is
the Lens Correction command. It’s no longer
buried, rather it sits proudly near the top of
the filter menu. Adobe now ties the filter to
specific lenses in the file’s metadata. You
can even create your own lens profiles with a
great utility. Visit http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/lensprofile_creator/
for full
details.”
Check out the full tutorial here for
free.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
I spent the day in
New York city at the 2009 Photo Plus Expo show.
It was just a one day trip (thanks Amtrak Acela).
I went up for lots of reasons, but here's some of
the gear I saw that looked interesting.
I spent a lot of time
looking at the Drobo Pro in-depth.
This seems to be the
perfect box for creatives who need data
redundancy. You can place up to 8 drives in
the rack (adding them as you go and even
mixing and matching sizes). Current drive
capacities mean you can store 16TB, but the
Drobo folks tell me 3 TB drives are just
around the corner (which means 24TB in a
rack). .
What's also nice is that you get two options of
data redundancy. The Drobo can have protectio so
one or two drives can fail and your data is still
safe.
The Drobo also offers three interface
connections:
- FireWire
800
- USB
2.0
- iSCSI
(utilizes Gigabit Ethernet)
It's iSCSI that promse some great options for
perfomance.
What I also like is that the Drobo Pro can be
rackmounted or placed on a desk.
I'm
a big fan of my
Hoodman HoodLoupe
to make it
easier to view the monitor on the back of a
DSLR camera. With the new HoodEYE you can upgrade your loupe.
It offers an oversized eyecup with a temple
flair – this helps seal of light when
viewing outdoors.
I am particularly interested as we are exploring
using loupes like viewfinders for shooting video
on DSLR cameras. Having the extraeyecup really
does make a difference, but it is a very personal
choice.
Installation as an upgrade took only a minute,
you can also order a new loop with the modified
eyepiece include. They're also offering straps so
you can attach the viewfinder. I'm up in the air
on this one (compared to a Zacutto viewfinder).
This is a much more affordable approach. I do
prefer this loop (as a director) so its easier to
go aroudn and check cameras, we'll try it as an
active viewfinder next week and wil let you know
how it does.
The
Millenniata has tried to solve this with their
Write Once, Read Forever. The discs are based
upon obsidian stone (and I tried to get more out
of them.. but trade secrets). The burners use
more energy to burn and the surface of the disc
is MUCH harder. The results are a disc that is
etched (as opposed to just using dye)
While its not a cheap solution, (around $1800
list price for the drive and starter pack) the
Millenniata folks are offering optical media that
looks the test of time. The discs are also much
better able to withstand temperature and physical
damage. What's also great is the media is
backwards compatible once burned, so you can burn
with their special burner, then hand off to a
client. They also promise to soon have specialty
discs so you can print on the label face.
Bruce Dorn is a Canon explorer of light
and a photog who's jumped
in head first to the DSLR video market. He's
made a folow focus kit that makes it much
easier to control focus when shooting video
on a DSLR. The device is less complex than
other units, as it uses a skateboard style
wheel that makes gentle contact with the
existing rubber rings on a camera. I played
with it hands on and it looks worth testing.
- It currently
only works with Cannon lenses (although I am
willing to try and make it work with
Nikon)
- 24mm f1.4
L
- 35mm f1.4
L
- 50mm f1.2
L
- 100mm f2.8
Macro
- 135mm f2
L
- 16-35mm f2.8
L
- 24-70mm f.28
IS L
- 24-105mm f4
IS L
- 85mm f1.2
L
- 135mm f2
L
- 200mm f2.8
L
I'll be doing a more detailed write-up soon.
I
stopped in at B&H on the way over to the
convention center.
This little beauty can
mount on the camera hot show and give you a
threaded mount. This will be perfect to
attach an audio recorder to the top of my
camera for DSLR Cinema projects. You can
mount a variety of audio or video hardware
directly to the camera. You can also rotate
the mounting plate to a better angle as
needed (works well if attaching a light or
monitor).
- height:
2.52
in
- lateral
tilt: -90°
/ +90° tilt range
- load
capacity: 4.41 lbs
- material:
aluminum
- weight:
0.33
lbs
The folks over at Delkin
Devices have comeout with an affordable mount
for DSLR cameras.
The Fat Gecko is a dual
suction cup mount that can be adhered to a
smooth, non-porous surface (like mirrors,
cars, airplanes.) It appears rugged, but is
still very cost affordable (I would still
recommend using a safety chain... but I am
paranoid when it coms to gear and
insurance).
- Suction cups
can hold a eight pound camera
- Double
knuckle design and 2" extension tube allow for
360° tilt, 360° turn & 360°
rotation
- The ¼ x 20
tripod mounting screw allows for use with most
digital still or or small video cameras on the
market
- Suction cups
use a quick release function to make attaching
and detaching you camera easier
- Steel frame
construction is rugged and durable
- Four
adjustable joints make it easy to tweak the
shot
You can see videos of the product in use
at www.fat-gecko.com.
Lensbaby Fisheye Optic
Some people love them (I am a
fan) others hate them.
But Lensbaby keeps putting
out great new products. They released a new
option, a fisheye
optic, that drops into their
Composer lens.
- Ultra-wide
12mm focal length
- 160 degree
field of view captures
- Minimum
focus: 1" from front of optic
- f/4 optic
with aperture disks that range from f/5.6 to
f/22
- Designed for
use with the Composer, and can also be used
with the Muse with a special
adapter
The lens won't work with the Control Freak lens.
I'm told because it goes soe wide that you
actually see the control cabels on the lens.
That was my day... I saw a few more products I
like and will try to post. The show runs through
Saturday, October 24.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
The
folks over at NPR have a great article
on
Photorealism.
"Can you
guess which one is a photo and which one is
a painting?
Quartet
by
Ralph Goings
If you're going
to do a painting that looks exactly like a photo,
why even paint it? When asked this question in a
written Q & A, photorealist painter and
octogenarian Ralph Goings responded, "What I'm
about is making paintings, and my camera is one
of the tools I use. It's the artist's job to take
the painting beyond the photograph."
Keep reading the entire article
here.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Billed
as "functional neckwear,"
XUBÁZ™ [pronounced
SHOE:BÁZ] offers an alternative to a jacket.
The scarf-like accessory with six pockets and
two straps to keep it in place. This thing
looks seriously great for field shoots and
photography where I need a place to keep some
gear on a warm day. While the company promises
to "add style to my wardrobe" (do I need it?)
I'd just be happy to have more pockets and
less sweat.
• Two upper pockets secured with flaps and
snaps.
• Two “nested” pockets within
the upper pockets.
• Two lower pockets with a zipper.
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