photography,video,cameras,d5000,d3s,d90,d300s

Yesterday I did two things I said I would not do: get into “video” via my DSLR camera and buy another DX-format camera.

I must admit I have thought of video-via-DSLR somewhere between a fad and a joke. It seemed reasonable that if you wanted stills you would use a DSLR and if you wanted video you would use one of the digital video cameras. How difficult can that be? Not very until I read a post on Sallee Photography’s blog. In it, there is a great quote: If you aren’t learning something new every day, you competion is! While I am not a wedding photographer (and not sure I would want to be one – the pressure of a once-in-a-lifetime shoot), there are other aspects of photography I am interested in such as portrait, pets and nature photography. Video-via-DSLR seems to be one of those things.

Which brings me to my second point: I’m not buying another DX-format camera. I’m not! I did, a Nikon D5000.  Now let’s clarify a couple of things. First and foremost, I got spoiled in a hurry by my FX-format D700, especially when I went to fast lenses. No more 1.5x conversion factors, no more “if I want a 75mm I have to use a 50mm lenses”, no more “I wish I had better color” or “I wish I had a higher ISO”, none of that. The full frame of the FX means lenses are what I expect them to be (i.e., an 85mm protrait lenses is really 85mm).

Second, why the DX-format D5000? Well that is a bit of perverted thinking on my part. Call it an experimental camera. I’m not interested in spending $6K to get an FX-format camera (read “D3s) until I know what video from a DSLR can do. (I know, several big name photographers have done amazing video with their cameras but I’m talking about me here.) Either way, I expect to “ebay” the D5000 within a year and, assuming I like what I see, buy a used D3s, which is what I really wanted in the first place. Better to lose a few hundred dollars than a few thousand, neh?

And about the October 14, 2009, post… ignore that one.

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i don’t get it,nikon,d3s

Did I miss something? I looked at some other web sites / blogs and nobody is saying squat about Nikon’s newest wonder, the D3s. Now either they aren’t reading their email or they are more taken with Adobe’s Photoshop app for the iPhone (which has gotten a lot of airtime). This new camera has HD and everything!

I guess I just don’t get it.

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nikon,d3s,canon,5d mkii,d300s,d90,d5000,video

The guys at Nikon are at it again and have released the D3s. My uneducated guess is the D3Xs will come out in the spring and the D4 will come out November of 2010.

(Image © 2009 Nikon, All Rights Reserved.)

This is definitely a everything including the kitchen sink. Major new features:

• ISO 102,400 equivalent. I remember falling out of my seat for ISO 800 without push processing!
• 9 FPS for up to 82 JPEG (fine) or 36 14-bit NEF (RAW) images.
• 24 FPS HD video, leveraging low-noise D3S image quality along with high fidelity stereo sound.
• 4200 images per battery charge!

Why is everybody putting HD video into a still camera. Ever since Canon came out with the 5D Mark II and Vincent Laforet’s Reverie video, the industry has just gone nuts! Nikon now has four (4) DSLR cameras (D3s, D300s, D90, and the D5000) with video. Put one in a box of Frosted Flakes and maybe I’ll get excited!

Call me a dinosaur but I think there is always going to be a place, no a need, for high-quality still photography made with cameras that aren’t video-cams with a shutter release on the side. If nothing else, a still photograph gives the viewer time to interact with the image – to think about it and decided what it means to him. It’s damn tough to do that with video.

If this is the direction of the future, I may just save my pennies for a D3 and call it done.

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photography,writing,2009 resolutions

Making New Year’s Resolutions are a tradition for most people. Most resolutions are things you know you should do but you lack the will power to actually follow through on them. I know that sounds harsh but it is January 1, 2009, and you need to be brutatally honest at least one day a year. As the Bard says, "But screw your courage to the sticking place, and we’ll not fail." (Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 7)

Making Resolutions

Back in late 2005/early 2006, I took a six month sabbatical from work with the stated intention of writing the first draft of a book. When January rolled around, I wrote out my goals/plans and called them my New Year’s resolutions (you can read it here if you’ve a mind). While I didn’t complete them all, I did complete some of them.

The time management types will tell you that goals need to be measurable if you are going to achieve them. So, "go on a diet" is a meaningless goal but "stop drinking caffinated beverages" is a valid goal because you can track it. They will also tell you that you are more likely to complete "positive" goals than "negative" goals, i.e., "I will do X" rather than "I won’t do Y." I think that has to do with your investment (or commitment) in meeting a goal and the notion that it’s a rewardable behavior; negative goals frequently feel like punishment. But then I’m not a psychologist so I can’t tell you for sure.

I don’t know about you, but I need a certain amount of definition in my day. I don’t need to have every minute mapped out but I function best with at least a basic plan. The routine does not have to be the same every day or even week to week; in fact it’s better if it isn’t the same. The essential point is to plan what I am going to do so everything gets done or deliberately rescheduled. That was hard to do in 2008 with all the medical events. Hopefully things will be better in 2009.

2009 New Year’s Resolutions

My job can be intense and time consuming, so a certain amount of realism has to creep into my goals for the new year. I’d love to write a book or spend large blocks of time on my photography but that isn’t going to happen right now. So, some of my goals for this year include…

• Write one short story every two months. I don’t know that I can focus enough to write a novel right now but I can work on some short stories. My target is 2,000 words per story. This year, I’d like to do three fantasy stories set in the Lands of the Six Planes, and three "neo-political" stories. And unlike during my sabbatical, I’m not going to think about "publishing" what I’m writing. I’d be happy to get stories on paper.
• Spend at least four hours a month shooting new images. A lot of my photography in 2008 was accidental rather than intentional; in 2009, I’d like to change that. The best way to do that is to go out and shoot.
• Shoot a roll of B&W film once a month. I bought a used Nikon F3 HP last fall because I would like to get back in to shooting black and white film. B&W film has a different look-and-feel, requires a different eye for composition. You can simulate B&W film in a digital workflow using tools like DxO’s Film Pack or Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro but it just isn’t quite the same. If you have ever worked in a darkroom doing your own prints, you know what I mean. When you get it right, it’s magic!
• Print and frame three 13" x 19" photographs this year. I did one of them in 2007(a shot of one of the interior gardens at Windsor Castle) and really enjoyed it. I’ve got all the tools to make the prints (software, printer, inks, and paper), I just need to do it.
• Register copyrights for images every two-three months. Another "I just need to do it" kind of thing. Scott Kelby and Co. have been talking about copyright a lot recently (see this or this). The bottom line is if you want the full protections of copyright law, you’ve got to register your images. Even if you make versions of your images available under one of the Creative Commons‘ licenses, you still need to register your copyright. You can submit them on CDs (multiple images per CD), and the cost is $45 per submittal ($35 is you do it online). See the Copyright Office’s web site for details.
• Make monthly back-ups of files. Yeah, I know, this is a no-brainer. I work in the tech industry, I know you need to do this. And I just spent four days (Saturday to Tuesday) rebuilding our Mac mini and rescuing movies and images from a failing hard drive. Multiple copies on multiple hard drives, copies on DVD’s for the safe deposit box.

Those are my main resolutions. I’ll drag the list out mid-year and let you know how I’m doing.

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nikon,dslr wars,photography

I was visiting the Macworld web site this morning and this caught my eye: Nikon has announced their new, 24.5-megpixel D3x. They are supposed to be available this month for a mere $8,000. You can read the specs on their web site here.

Photo of the D3x from Nikon’s web site. © Nikon.

Mind, it was just a year ago that the D3 and D300 started shipping and four months ago that the D700 came out. Include the D60 and D90 and you’ve got Nikon releasing a new camera every three months or so. It’s nuts! The new body you order today and get next month was obsolete six months ago! (Ranting done.)

Would I get one even if I had the money? No. The D300 is more camera than I’m likely to ever need and these days, I’m more inclined to buy faster glass than a faster body. From an "investment" stand-point, good lenses hold value much better than camera bodies. That makes at least some sense. How often does Nikon or Canon or any other manufacturer announce a new lens design? The optics don’t change that much and, short of a new coating or development of a new technology like VR / IS, the 35mm f/2.8 you bought 10 years ago is just as good today as it was then.

I noticed in a couple of forums people were debating the Nikon vs Canon thing, who had the more advanced technology, etc. It’s a religious thing and I’ve no better insight that anyone else. People lose sight of the fact that good photographers can make great pictures with the least expensive camera and bad photographers can make lousy pictures with the most expensive camera. Your buy decision should be based on how well the camera meets your needs and how good it feels in your hands, not who has the biggest megapixel count.

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nikon,d300

Nikon finally released firmware v1.10 for the D300. This one has been rumored for a bit and actually showed up on new D300 cameras before it was available on the website for download (Mac, PC).

Nikon has put a number of enhancements and bug fixes in this release so you will want to visit the download page. A couple caught my eye. First, they have increased the minimum shutter speed in Auto ISO from 1/250 to 1/4000. They have also made some AF improvements and what looks like a number of menu changes. If you use the MB-D10 battery grip with your D300 (I do), there is a fix for battery type information. Some GPPS fixes.

Users of the WT-4a Wireless Transmitter should be happy. Nikon had previously released a firmware upgrade for the WT-4 that was incompatible with the D300 1.03 firmware. V1.10 fixes that problem.

If you have a D300, this looks like a firmware upgrade you are going to want. I have already upgraded my camera though I have not gone out to shooting yet. Hopefully this weekend.

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family,portraits

From the latest family birthday party. Aribella (1 year) and Nate (3 years).

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nikon d200,technology,photography

Everything can be updated. Download the latest software, hook up your device and – bang! – your EEPROM gets the latest.

Nikon has released firmware version 2.01 for the D200 camera (Mac here; Windows here). From the Nikon web site:

An issue that, in some rare situations, caused the battery indicator to blink with shooting, regardless of actual battery charge status, has been resolved.

In spite of the headlong rush to design new cameras, it’s nice to know companies like Nikon can take a few minutes to fix bugs. Just shows you how much software rules the world.

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photography,photoshelter,technology

I know this isn’t news but Photoshelter is exiting the stock photography market. You can read their blog post about it here.

For those who don’t know, Photoshelter started a stock photo service in 2007 call Photoshelter Collection. Photographers could submit some images and, if they liked your work, your images would be part of PSC. Their goal was to provide a viable alternative to the 800 pound gorilla, Getty Images. They would also open the stock photography door to lots of new photographers.

The Photoshelter post explains why they think they didn’t make it. I just want to highlight a couple of thoughts as they relate to me.

First, I don’t know if you have read The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen. If you haven’t, you should. While I don’t agree with him completely, he does make a reasonable case that the Internet is lowering the overall quality of what we read, see, and hear. Anyone can create a blog or a web site and publish their particular bent on life with no "oversight" or "editors" to get past. While that may be a good thing (you’re reading my thoughts), it can also be a bad thing (there is a whole lot of crap out there).

Which leads me to my second point: with so much stuff, how do you get people to look at your stuff?

For photographers, this is a problem. You make you money shooting images and selling them. The only way you sell them is if people are looking at them – and the right people at that! While sites like flickr let people share their images with friends and family, they also provide a ready source of shall we say… free… images? What’s the probability someone is going to notice that their photo of Aunt Zelda is being used for Mo’s Plumbing? Rather low I’d say. When everything’s free, everything’s free. Even when it isn’t.

I have a day job (and damn glad I do!) so I don’t have to make money from my photography. Not yet anyway. So how do I get people to see my images and maybe even pay for them? I’m not shooting enough to have a big portfolio and, even if I did, I have to have a way to get people to notice my images.

Enter Photoshelter Collection.

I had hoped to be able to place some with them. At least a few, just to get started. Alas it’s not going to happen.

All isn’t lost. Photoshelter isn’t shutting down their Personal Archive. It’s their core business and I’m a happy customer in that respect. I’ll keep shooting and keep looking for that golden opportunity.

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nikon,photography,equipment

Nikon has a new camera posted on their web site: the D90, long rumored as the replacement for the D80.They just released the D700 in July, the D60 earlier this year, the D3 and D300 last November. Cameras are a commodity item now!

It used to be a body was in production for several years and the improvements from generation to generation were more pronounced. Now? They tend to be more incremental – and frequently small increments at that! The D700 is a D300 body with an FX sensor. A D90 is a D80 with the new DX sensor, Live View, and a movie mode. A D60 is a D40x with the new DX sensor.

On the other hand, new lenses are a much more rare event. They tend to stay in production for many years, sometimes decades. Lenses also hold their value; camera bodies don’t. Given that, better glass is the better investment.

The one nice thing about the new bodies is they seem to be making use of the previous generation’s accessories. The D90 uses the the MB-D80, the same battery grip used on the D80. Why you would buy a D90 if you still had a D80 is beyond me but you could. The D300 and D700 share the same grip (MB-D10), the same grip used with the D100. The SB-900 / 800 / 600 / 400 and SB-R200 Speedlites are usable on the newer cameras.

Nikon has finally released a GPS unit – the GP-1. I have no idea what took so long. Civilian mode GPS chips are also commodity and have been for a decade. That should have been a no-brainer accessory. Still, better late than never I guess.

Photography has never been a cheap hobby. Trying to keep up with the Joneses is downright prohibitive!

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