Nik Software, Inc. - will soon also support Lightroom (Viveza is leading the way). Great - this will make some tasks even easier with Lightroom.
fotografie - 14.2.2007 - 5.3.2009
Alien Skin Software: Bokeh - interesting software for creating bokeh effects. Unfortunately, it's only available as a plugin - I prefer standalone programs.
Adapters: Micro 4/3 - well, I probably won't buy the rather expensive G1 after all (even though it handled nicely at Photokina), but if Olympus comes out with the announced compact Micro-4/3 camera, and the adapter works with it, that would be a real alternative. Especially with the cute little 90mm macro that I have for my M6 ... (though of course the question remains how focusing is supported - if it's only based on the electronic viewfinder image, I can forget it)
Kim Keever - very interesting photographic technique based on dioramas. Beautiful images.
The Impossible Project - hmm. New Polaroid - this could be fun. Unfortunately only integral film, not pack film, which I would be much more interested in (since I have a pretty awesome pack film camera with my 660SE).
Raw Photo Processor (RPP) - sounds very interesting, I should check it out. Normally I am satisfied with Lightroom - and thus Adobe Camera Raw - but for some images one could invest a bit more energy and time and then this could be quite interesting.
Modular camera with a 6 x 17 cm giant sensor - wow. That's finally a format!
I'm actually Knuth's homeboy on Flickr - damn, I'm jealous of such a photo.
Kidding (not) - "But, where the rubber meets the road (or more to the point where the ink hits the paper), in medium sized prints it's been almost impossible for experienced photographers who I've shown these comparison prints to to tell the difference. Scary." - und was war der Vergleich? Canon G10 (500 US$) gegen Hasselblad H2 (40000 US$) mit Ausdrucken auf A3.
Frauenstraße 24
Frauenstraße 24
One of my favorite places in Münster - cozy pub, nice people, good music, good (Turkish) food and my favorite drinks: Beamish and Strongbow. And free Wi-Fi.
John Nack on Adobe: The DNG Profile Editor: What's it all about? - a very interesting short article about the DNG 1.2 Profile Standard, which Adobe is currently developing. The Profile Editor in conjunction with a standard color card sounds like it could be a practical tool for the photo bag - small cards don't take up much space and reduce the color noise in the later processing of the images of a session.
Jeffrey’s “Export to Flickr” Lightroom Plugin - because I'm looking at the latest version of Lightroom again. Picasa is great on the go because it uses so few resources, but for the desktop, maybe another software would simply be more powerful.
Jeffrey’s “Export to PicasaWeb” Lightroom Plugin - and Picasa works too.
PresetsHeaven - presets for Lightroom. Since Lightroom is currently fascinating me greatly (hey, they save the processing parameters in the DNG files on request, so I can edit on two computers very simply and sync with Unison - and yes, Lightroom runs quite well on the small Asus Eee-PC 901!), I'll blog the link. There are some very charming presets to download.
picasa2flickr - flickr upload plugin for picasa - works great with Picasa3. This gives me a compact workflow for my little Digi and the Asus. Yes, I know, Google is evil, Yahoo is evil and the chip of my Digi is noisy.
the world's most bad-ass grotesques and gargoyles - since my character in SL is usually a gargoyle, a very fitting link.
Neat Image /Mac - best noise reduction for digital cameras and scanners on Mac - blogged for future reference, as I might need it.
Leica S2 with 56% larger sensor than full frame: - oomph. Oh - what will this thing cost? Probably two arms and two legs.
Sigma announces DP2 large sensor compact - will the new processor improve the DP1's poor performance? That would be desirable, as the DP1 is quite good in many areas in terms of image quality - only its terrible performance causes the subject to fall asleep before the photo is taken. If the new processor helps, that could be a nice leap forward for Sigma.
Making (some) sense out of sensor sizes - because I always look for this from time to time, finally blogged.
Mario's Bike on Flickr - already old, but still funny: the Flickr photo criticism buffoons criticize an HCB photo, without knowing (and noticing) that it is one. And they complain about blurriness, lack of subject and all sorts of things. Then they are told that it is by HCB - and they still nitpick. Extremely amusing.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II: 21MP and HD movies - thanks, Canon. How the hell am I supposed to decide now with the choice between 5D MKII, D700 and Alpha900? Can't one of the three drastically lower its prices, by about 1000 euros, then it would be easier for me ...
Carl Zeiss lenses for Canon SLRs - nice, if Canon now brings a reissue of the 5D with a full-frame chip in the performance class of the Alpha 900 or D700 according to the rumors, it will get really interesting. However, Sony still has the edge because their Zeiss lenses support full AF and not just focus confirmation like with Nikon and Canon.
Luminous Jewel: Leica Noctilux with World Record Aperture - 8000 Euro. For a few pieces of glass. High-quality glass, of course. And with impressive light intensity (and if they have fixed the soft drawing of the old Noctilux, all the better). But let's be honest - not even specialists need this. "Want" - sure. "Need"? No. They should have given the M8.2 a faster startup time, that little darling costs almost 5000 Euro as well ...
Canon EOS 50D - if this comes out now, the 40D should soon be sold off. I should pay more attention, because the 40D would be a great upgrade for my rather old 10D ...
Nikon D700 Hands-on Preview - ok, that thing just sounds great. That should directly motivate Canon to re-release the somewhat outdated 5D. It's great that full-frame sensors are finally being used more widely. A bit of competition between Nikon and Canon can only do the prices good (they are still ridiculously high). But I will never understand the ridiculous 95% viewfinder - in the film area, it came from the typical crop of slides and prints - but with digital, it's rather silly ...
Wee Westerns - Tabletop Western Photography. Fun!
Olympus E-420 Review - hmm. Doesn't sound incredibly exciting. On the other hand, it wouldn't be a replacement for my 10D, but a replacement for a compact camera. And from that perspective, it could be interesting again - especially with the 25mm lens. But is the price still justified? Ok, good compact cameras aren't much cheaper and the image quality of 4/3 is still significantly better than that of compacts (especially with today's megapixel craze).
Olympus Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8 Lens Review - örks. The results read much worse than with the camera. I don't know if a poorly corrected 25mm lens can really excite me. Ok, I would have tested it before buying it anyway.
Nudibranchs - no, not that kind of nude photos you perverts. Sea slugs. Colorful.
Panorama freedom in danger - great, now they're making photography completely impossible by requiring every little thing to be registered with permission in triplicate and checked with the big boss first. What nonsense? Public space is public space, even if there's some alleged art crap standing around. With the cultural understanding of our prolethicians (who are usually responsible for the "beautification" of public space), these things are mostly just disruptive to photography anyway... (yes, I saw the note about "commercial use" - but since commercial intent is often attributed to blogs, photo bloggers quickly find themselves in a gray area)
Nikon D3 Review - digital cameras are slowly getting to where we want them to be - in terms of features. The price is still beyond good and evil for these powerhouses.
CHDK in Brief - it begins. Hacks for Canon compact cameras. Sounds quite interesting, not just a toy. In my opinion, camera manufacturers should simply provide this from the outset, it is simply the next logical step. But they probably look too much at "product design" by arbitrarily removing features (as is often done with RAW storage)
Polaroid says goodbye to instant film - another one bites the dust. Too bad - the black and white pack films in cassettes were always a nice treat for my little thick one. Okay, I eventually switched to the Fuji FP100B because it's just crisper. But that's probably no longer available (or if it is, it's only a matter of time before it disappears). The format is just too exotic. With my low photography output, the compartment in the fridge should last a few more years ...
Sigma announces DP1 to be available spring 2008 - I'll believe it when I see it in the store. Although the concept - compact camera with APS-format chip - is quite exciting.
Unshaking and refocusing your photos - a few interesting tools linked, worth checking out.
The Tintypes - interesting portraits with interesting, old-fashioned technique. I like that kind of thing.
First Impressions of the Nikon D3 - wow, I rarely read such an enthusiastic review on Luminous Landscape.
Canon announces lenses with 200mm f/2 and 800mm f/5.6 - hmm, the 200mm could be quite nice on the 10D - for nature photography. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't use it enough to justify overcoming the resistance to buying it.
Leica M8 Review: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review - to be honest, at that price, some of the quirks are simply not acceptable. Sorry. And for the Leica fans who might want to hit me: I myself have an M6 and am very satisfied with it. The M8 is simply not the digital M I had hoped for (and the poor rangefinder base plays a part in that).
An analysis of EOS-1D Mark III autofocus performance - Canon will probably need to improve this a lot.
Third View - Photos from the 19th century re-taken in 1970 and the 90s. Interesting Flash site.
The Deep - fascinating images.
Leica 25mm F1.4 Four Thirds lens - ok, now 4/3 is getting interesting. A normal focal length with the familiar 1.4 aperture, that's something. And the Lumix or Leica for the 4/3 system is bulky, but still looks quite nice, in terms of features.
Sigma DP1 - also not uninteresting. Compact camera with wide-angle fixed focal length and decent sensor size. With the viewfinder attachment, the result reminds me a bit of the Bessa-L, just not with the extreme field of view (but digital).
The largest drain hole in the world - when the drain is clogged ...