Camera: A History of Photography, Coffee Table Book A Must Have

I’ve always been a fan of big coffee table books, but I can’t recall ever reading one from cover to cover…until now.  “Camera” from Todd Gustavson made the effort easy to accomplish.  Gustavson is the Curator of Technology at the Eastman House in Rochester, N.T., and he has put together a history of machines that have captured moments in time.  With over 350 color images and illustrations the book starts with a camera obscura from 1820 and completes with the digital Leica M8. 

I knew I was in for a treat when the first full page photo was of a Kodak No. 1 Brownie box camera owned by Ansel Adams.  The camera collector in me was thrilled.   I’ve got a No. 2 Brownie that still works.  It blows my mind that I can still take decent shots on 120 roll film with this little box camera that is over 100 years old.  Amazing.  While I love my Canon EOS 7D, I doubt it will be capturing 18MP images after a century. 

Some of the first images in the book are from Niepce, Daguerre and Talbot; names synonymous with the birth of modern photography.  The quality and clarity of the Daguerreotype images displayed in the book are a testament to this capture process.   Some of the most interesting sections cover the oddities in camera development such as the Photo-Revolver de Poche.  In 1882 the interesting idea was conceived to create a camera that looked like a handgun.  It operated like a pistol too with ten 20x20mm dry plates loaded into the cartridge and a 70mm f10 lens in the nickel-plated brass barrel.  There was no viewfinder, but as expected it did have a front sight on top of the barrel to assist with drawing a bead on your target.

This book is a must have for any camera collector or enthusiast with hundreds of cameras spanning almost two hundred years, plus historic photos, drawings, ads and plenty of informative captions and text.  Best of all it won’t damage the wallet.  

Camera: A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital

'Best of' Photo Chosen From Flagstaff Kelby Photowalk 2010

I was fortunate to participate in the Third Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk this year.  The specific walk I attended was in Flagstaff, Arizona and in July Northern Arizona is the only place you want to be in this state.  The high elevation, cool temperatures, pine trees, mountains, fresh air and small town make it ideal for photography.  There were some very good photographers on the walk and great personalities and photo opportunities discovered as we strolled around downtown Flagstaff. 

I consider myself lucky to have one of my photographs chosen as the ‘Best of’ the Flagstaff walk by coordinator Chris Pondy, and entered into the 2010 Photo Contest and People’s Choice Contest.  Those I didn’t win, but just getting recognized for the walk itself is great.  The chosen photo is displayed above.

I came across this bike while walking back alleys and liked the composition between the bike and the vent which someone has obviously 'vented' on.  The color of the bike against the painted wall also caught my eye.  I ran this through the HDR Toning feature in the new Photoshop CS5 with some initial adjustments in Photoshop Lightroom 3.  I am very happy with this image, which can be purchased (by the way) at the CTZ Photography Store in several sizes including a big 24x36.  

My Flickr Group from the Flagstaff Kelby Photowalk

Complete Kelby Photowalk (Flagstaff) Flickr Group

Kelby Worldwide Photowalk 2010 Flickr Group

Canon Announces Several New EF Lenses and Extenders

Canon has announced several new EF lenses and extenders.   Dpreview has posted first looks for all of the products below.

Canon EF 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM Zoom Lens

Canon EF 8-15mm f4 L USM Fisheye Zoom Lens

Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L IS II USM and Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS II USM Lens

Canon EF 500mm f4 L IS II USM and 600mm f4 L IS II USM Lens

Canon EF Extender 1.4x III and Extender 2x III

Canon Announces New EOS 60D DSLR

Canon is releasing the new EOS 60D soon with an expected retail price of around $1399 with Canon EF-S 18-135mm Lens.

·      18 MP APS-C CMOS sensor

·      Advanced creative features with Basic +

·      Vari-angle 7.7cm (3.0”) 3:2 ratio LCD

·      Full HD movies with manual control

·      DIGIC 4

·      ISO 100-6400, H:12800

·      5.3fps shooting for up to 58 JPEGs

·      9-point cross type AF System

·      iFCL metering with 63-zone Dual-layer Sensor

·      Integrated Speedlite transmitter

·      In-camera RAW processing

Official Company Press Release (Partial)

Canon today announces the latest addition to its world-famous EOS series of Digital SLR (DSLR) cameras – the new EOS 60D. Replacing the EOS 50D, the EOS 60D is designed for photographers who want to take their skills to the next level, offering high performance, a series of creative features, a Vari-angle LCD screen and enhanced ergonomics – empowering photography enthusiasts to capture outstanding stills and Full High Definition (HD) video for unique, creative results. 



High speed, high resolution - 
With an 18 Megapixel APS-C sensor, the EOS 60D offers high levels of detail and a magnification of 1.6x the focal length of the lens to capture poster-size images in a variety of aspect ratios*1. Canon’s powerful DIGIC 4 technology rapidly processes image information captured from the CMOS sensor’s four-channel output, providing outstanding colour reproduction, as well as high-speed shooting at 5.3fps in bursts of 58 full-resolution JPEGs. 

A standard ISO range of 100-6400 is extendable to 12800, providing smooth images with minimal noise in low light conditions. A 9-point, all cross-type autofocus (AF) system also provides swift and accurate focusing, with an extra-sensitive centre point for lenses faster than f/2.8, allowing photographers to artistically employ a shallow depth of field during portraiture or for more atmospheric shooting.

The EOS 60D features Canon’s iFCL metering system, first introduced with the acclaimed EOS 7D, with a 63-zone Dual-Layer sensor.  Information on subject location is gathered from the Auto Focus system, and is combined with colour and luminance readings for consistent accurate exposures whatever the situation. The Integrated Speedlite transmitter also provides in-camera control of multiple EX flash units for more creative lighting.



Shoot from all angles
- A new 7.7cm (3.0”) Vari-angle wide LCD monitor features a 3:2 aspect ratio and a 1,040k dot resolution, providing added flexibility and allowing photographers to view their images in incredible detail. The Vari-angle wide LCD helps frame shots from difficult angles, and can be positioned with Live View enabled to achieve the desired composition if shooting isn’t possible using the viewfinder. The ability to capture wildlife portraits, overhead shots or ground-level photography is instantly enhanced, and the surface of the screen features an anti-reflective, water-repellent coating to protect the screen allows easy viewing in bright light and from a variety of angles.



Empowering creativity
- A new Basic + function makes it easy for photographers to add their own creative touch to images without worrying about changing settings. Photographers can add ambiance to a scene by shooting according to lighting and scene type, with Portrait, Landscape, Close-Up, Sport, Night Snapshot or Creative AUTO modes all available. Different effects can be achieved by shooting with Basic + enhancements such as Daylight, Cloudy or Sunset or pre-set Picture Styles including Vivid, Soft, Warm or Monochrome.

View the Hands-On Preview from dpreview.

Sony Announces New Alpha 560 and 580 DSLR models

Sony announces two new Alpha DSLR models, the A560 and A580.  The A580 will be released later this year, while the A560 is not expected until early 2011.

Company Press Release:

Appealing to photographers ready to explore sophisticated new creative possibilities, the DSLR-A580 and DSLR-A560 from Sony offer unparalleled levels of imaging refinement.

At the heart of both is a new-generation Exmor™ APS HD CMOS Sensor processor. Together with the latest iteration of Sony’s powerful BIONZ imaging processor, it supports high-speed continuous shooting plus a sophisticated range of digital image compositing and processing functions. This gives even greater artistic possibilities to beginners and photo enthusiasts alike.

The A580 and A560 can freeze fleeting photo opportunities at up to 7 fps in Speed Priority Continuous Advance mode. What’s more, Sony’s popular Quick AF Live View system is now more effective than ever. The benefits of live image preview are maximised by a newly developed 15-point phase-detection autofocus system that keeps even moving subjects in pin-sharp focus.

The DSLR-A580 and A560 are compatible with the full α range of over 30 A-mount interchangeable lenses of Sony and Carl Zeiss and offer SteadyShot INSIDE. This in-body sensor shift image stabilisation system provides up to 4 exposure steps of anti-shake correction when shooting handheld.

Full HD movie shooting
 - Both the A580 and A560 offer Full HD video shooting. Just touch the dedicated Movie button and record detail-packed HD videos and crisp stereo sound in a choice of AVCHD 1080i or web-friendly MP4 formats. Thanks to the large, high-resolution Exmor™ APS HD CMOS Sensor, it’s possible to capture stunning HD movie clips with beautiful background defocus (‘bokeh’) effects.

Effortless composition and image viewing
 - The A580 and A560 enable exciting new possibilities for framing and viewing the highest-quality still images and video.

Articulating up or down for comfortable framing in any shooting position, the bright 7.5 cm (3.0") Xtra Fine LCD offers a bright, high contrast view with superb detail and colours.

As an additional refinement, new Focus Check Live View mode simplifies critical assessment of the finest image details. A real-time ‘feed’ from the main sensor can be viewed on the LCD monitor, with switchable magnification allowing close-up confirmation of delicate manual focus adjustments. Contrast AF method is selectable in focus check Live View mode.

DSLR enthusiasts will also welcome the bright, high contrast optical viewfinder with 95% frame coverage that provides a supremely detailed view while composing still images.  Depth of field preview is now available at the touch of a button.

Both cameras feature 3D Sweep Panorama, allowing photographers to capture detail-packed extra-wide panoramas with a huge field of view. 3D panoramas can be enjoyed on any compatible 3D HD television.

Auto HDR is now refined further compared with previous-generation α models. Data from a burst of three frames at bracketed exposure values is automatically combined, creating a single image with extended highlight and shadow detail. Multi-frame Noise Reduction ‘stacks’ a high-speed burst of six frames, creating a single low-noise exposure that boosts effective sensitivity as high as ISO 25600.

The new cameras accept both Memory Stick PRO Duo™ (including Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo™) and SD (including both SDHC and SDXC formats) media (all sold separately).  Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX 30MB per second transfer rate offers the best performance during cameras' continuous shooting mode or when transferring the data to another media.

Sony Unveils New SLT Camera Line With A33 and A55

Sony announced plans to release a new SLT camera line with the A33 and A55. Sony calls the new system Translucent Mirror Technology. A traditional DSLR uses a mirror placed in front of the camera's sensor to bounce an image up to the optical viewfinder. When the shutter is released, the mirror is pulled out of the way, cutting off the image in the viewfinder and allowing the sensor to capture light from the lens.

In place of a traditional mirror, the a55 and a33 contain a piece of optical film. This makes it possible for light to pass through the mirror to the Exmor APS HD sensor as light is simultaneously reflected up to a 15-point phase-detect AF chip. The stream of light to the sensor and the auto focus mechanism is never interrupted.

The A55 is built around a 16.2MP sensor while the A33 features a 14.2MP unit. Both feature 3.0" articulated LCDs, full HD video recording and ISO sensitivity up to 12,800, while the A55 also features built-in GPS. Priced at $749 and $649 respectively, the A55 will be available from October, while the A33 will hit the markets earlier, in September.

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