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| <title>The Online Photographer</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-1321040</id> | |
| <updated>2014-12-23T10:06:44-06:00</updated> | |
| <generator uri="http://www.typepad.com/">TypePad</generator> | |
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| <title>In Memory of a Shutter-Bug (A Christmas Story)</title> | |
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| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/in-memory-of-a-shutter-bug-a-christmas-story.html" thr:count="15" thr:updated="2014-12-23T14:56:25-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7267415970b</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-23T10:06:44-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-23T17:42:57-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Back when I was editor-in-chief of the now-defunct Photo Techniques magazine, one of my duties was to sort through the many letters the magazine received to find a few short ones to print. As happens at any magazine, among the...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="News and Occasions" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0afe165970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Christmastree" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0afe165970c img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0afe165970c-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Christmastree" /></a></p> | |
| <p>Back when I was editor-in-chief of the now-defunct <em>Photo Techniques</em> magazine, one of my duties was to sort through the many letters the magazine received to find a few short ones to print. As happens at any magazine, among the many ordinary inquiries were a variety of epistolary missiles from an always-entertaining assortment of cranks and crackpots. One enigmatic correspondent, for instance, sent us a perfectly mediocre drugstore snapshot of a field with a nondescript tree stump in the middle distance. On the back was written, "I just thought this was a pretty nice stump." Still makes me laugh.</p> | |
| <p><em><strong>Evening brandy</strong></em><br />During one period that lasted half a year or so we received a succession of long, rambling, often angry letters from one particular reader, one after each issue was published. Each letter inventoried an astonishing number of grievances. The letter-writer seemed so dissatisfied that I found myself wondering why he subscribed to the magazine at all. After the second or third of these, I was so puzzled that I got his phone number from our circulation records and called him.</p> | |
| <p>I didn't get through to him that day, but he returned my call sometime later and admitted that he had cleared up a mystery. Evidently he subscribed to a large number of magazines. When he received an issue in the mail, he would read it during the day, and then, in the evening, get very drunk on brandy...in which state he would write long, impassioned letters-to-the-editor, reacting, in quite oblique and unnecessarily detailed fashion, to everything he'd read—and a lot more besides. Then in the morning he'd find the letters on the mantlepiece and throw them in the fireplace.</p> | |
| <p>But it seemed that recently he had not been finding his letters in the morning any more. Not being entirely sure of his own actions—due, no doubt, to his somewhat compromised memories of the evenings prior—he assumed he had simply stopped writing the letters. But after receiving my call, he did some detective work, and discovered (or so he said) that his newly-hired housekeeper had been finding the letters in the mornings and, to be helpful, mailing them for him, looking up the addresses in the issues of the magazines that lay on the couch or coffee table.</p> | |
| <p>If this was a lie, it seemed a needlessly complicated one. At any rate, he apologized profusely, sounding sincerely ashamed. He said again and again that he just wrote the letters to blow off steam and never intended for them to be sent. He also said he had no idea how many other letters had gotten mailed that way, or what he might have said in any of them—though we both agreed there had probably been some doozies!</p> | |
| <p><strong><em>The man with complaints</em></strong><br />An even more puzzling case, at least until one of my colleagues figured it out, was a particular reader who sent a long complaint to the Circulation Department early one December. They quickly dispatched his problem, but soon got another letter even more out of sorts than the first. No sooner was that one answered than a third one arrived. The Circulation assistant, a lovely older woman named Fran who had the most beautiful manners, brought the matter to my attention because, despite the complainant's insistant tone, it seemed his complaints didn't have much...well, substance.</p> | |
| <p>Fran did what she could, corresponding with him several times in the process. Then, a few days into January, Fran got one last letter. It came from the same reader but was written in a completely different tone—warm, friendly, and effusive, thanking her again and again for all her help.</p> | |
| <p>And that seemed to be the end of it.</p> | |
| <p>...Until the next December, that is. The next year, the same thing happened again—similar complaints from the very same subscriber. Fran checked his records and noted that during the year there had been an address change for him—from a street address to a nursing home—and she got an idea about what was going on. The fellow just got lonely with Christmas looming, she figured, and would initiate complaints to businesses he had dealings with so he'd have a little human interaction during the holidays!</p> | |
| <p>So the next year, Fran was ready: she wrote him a nice long letter in early December! Ostensibly it was to check on his subscription, referencing his issues of the years before, asking cordially about his current service, and, along the way, putting in a good deal of chatty news from the various departments of the magazine.</p> | |
| <p>This time, she got the last letter first—a positively delighted letter dripping with gratitude. Which she answered, of course.</p> | |
| <p>Well, this went on for several years. Every December, Fran and some of the others in the Circulation Department would exchange a series of semi-businesslike but very cordial letters with that reader in the nursing home. For a couple of years we even passed a Christmas card for him around the office that everyone would sign. Fran learned a great deal about him—when his wife had died, how his daughters had grown up and moved away, and so on. He didn't even have a darkroom any more since moving to the nursing home (<em>Photo Techniques</em> had begun as <em>Darkroom Techniques</em>, and was still largely a darkroom magazine)—he just kept taking the magazine to "keep current." Perhaps it reminded him of happier times.</p> | |
| <p>Then one year Fran got bad news. Our pen-pal's copy of the magazine was returned with the words "<em>DECEASED—PLEASE CANCEL</em>" scrawled across the mailing label.</p> | |
| <p>Well, let me tell you...none of us ever had laid eyes on that guy. Not one of us would have known him if we'd passed him on the sidewalk. But more than a few tears were shed around the office that day, in memory of a resourceful old shutter-bug who used to get lonely right around this time of year.</p> | |
| <p>So have a kind word for someone you seldom see this holiday, and maybe send a card. Sometimes, even an incidental amount of human contact is a little gift of kindness, all by itself.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Illustration: Stan and Theresa Noyszewski's Christmas tree)</span></p> | |
| <p><em>First published on TOP on December 11th, 2006.</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Dennis Mook</strong>: "back in the early 1970s, when I was a young police officer, I encountered an older gentleman by the side of the city street who was raising a ruckus. This was about the first week in December as I remember it was quite cold outdoors.</p> | |
| <p>"A small group of concerned citizens, pointing to him, flagged me down. I stopped my patrol car and pulled to the side of the street. As I exited my unit, immediately I realized the individual of concern was probably drunk as he was unsteady on his feet, swearing up a storm and being generally disorderly. The others around him were concerned as he was trying to provoke a fight with several of them.</p> | |
| <p>"At this point, I approached the gentleman to fully assess his condition and understand if, in fact, he was intoxicated or maybe ill. Previously, I had dealt with individuals suffering from Alzheimer's and diabetes that were disorderly, but due to illness. It was clear to me in this case that he was intoxicated.</p> | |
| <p>"I tried speaking with him in a calming voice but to no avail as he aggressively moved toward me with hands raised trying to hit me. He was intoxicated to the point that it was easy for me to side step him and take him into custody. He resisted arrest, was violent with me and I charged him appropriately.</p> | |
| <p>"During his court appearance a few days later, the judge heard my evidence and sentenced him to 30 days in jail. Wow! I thought to myself, that is really harsh. But after the judge passed sentence the older man thanked the judge. I walked away and went about my business.</p> | |
| <p>"The next year, about the same time, an almost identical situation happened with another officer. I recognized the name of the older gentleman who now was arrested for assaulting a police officer. To make a long story a bit shorter, he was, again, sentenced to 30 days.</p> | |
| <p>"It was then I found out that these same events transpired each Christmas season. This same older gentleman, who lived in a rooming house, would get publically intoxicated and try to assault a police officer during the Christmas season and the judge, always recognizing him and his real motive, gave him the same 30 day jail sentence so he wouldn't have to spend Christmas alone and without a hot meal.</p> | |
| <p>"Sadly, after about 15 years of this same scenario, the older fellow passed away (he was intoxicated and was hit by a car).</p> | |
| <p>"I thought there were some interesting lessons to be learned about doing the job of a law enforcement officer from this man concerning motive, compassion, understanding and follow-up. Sometimes things are not as they first appear and we do well to not pre-judge and draw conclusions before knowing the entire story."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Brian</strong>: "I don't know who you are or the publication you are referring to. What I do know is on average I read approximately 25 articles a day using an iPad app called Zite; it's a great app for news and I have enjoyed it for approximately 2 years.... My point is simple, as are the maths: out of 25x(365x2), or 18,250 articles to date, this is one of the most touching articles I have ever read and the <em>only</em> one I have felt compelled to take the time to reply to. Have a happy Christmas, from Ireland. Brian."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/Val615lteSc" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/in-memory-of-a-shutter-bug-a-christmas-story.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Jeff Goldstein Sells His Vivian Maier Holdings</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/7ASgDduyoNA/jeff-goldstein-sells-his-vivian-maier-holdings.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/jeff-goldstein-sells-his-vivian-maier-holdings.html" thr:count="10" thr:updated="2014-12-23T14:49:58-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0afdffa970c</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-23T09:40:15-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-23T09:40:15-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Jeffrey Goldstein, the second largest holder of Vivian Maier archives with about 17,500 negatives (to John Maloof's 150,000*), has sold all his holdings to Toronto gallery owner Stephen Bulger. You may recall that Jeff suspended all his sales and activities...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Photographers, historical" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Jeffrey Goldstein, the second largest holder of Vivian Maier archives with about 17,500 negatives (to John Maloof's 150,000*), has sold all his holdings to Toronto gallery owner Stephen Bulger.</p> | |
| <p>You may recall that Jeff suspended all his sales and activities in the wake of legal action involving a second claim on the rights. Jeff and John had previously believed they had cleared the rights with the person who was most likely Vivian's closest locatable relative (she also had a brother who has disappeared). In September, however, a lawyer named David Deal dropped the bomb that he had located a second claimant and was making a play for the rights.</p> | |
| <p>The most amazing part of the present chapter of the ongoing saga is that Cook County, Illinois, is allegedly also making a play to profit from the rights to the photographs, insisting that the former Charles Maier, the brother who is believed to have changed his name and disappeared way back in the 1950s, is the only rightful heir. Legally he has six years to step forward and claim his inheritance. In the meantime, Cook County, as custodian of the estate, would like to license the rights, according to Bulger.</p> | |
| <p>StreetShootr.com did the original reporting on this most recent development in the ongoing saga and you can <a href="http://www.streetshootr.com/toronto-gallery-buys-jeffrey-goldsteins-entire-collection-vivian-maier-negatives/" target="_blank">read about it there</a>.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7266d54970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Maier-6" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7266d54970b img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7266d54970b-400wi" style="width: 400px;" title="Maier-6" /></a></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The mysterious Vivian Maier</span></p> | |
| <p>One thing's for sure—this whole tale is going to make for an excellent book someday, when things finally get sorted. If they ever do.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">*Both numbers according to Stephen Bulger.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p>No featured comments yet—please check back soon!</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/7ASgDduyoNA" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/jeff-goldstein-sells-his-vivian-maier-holdings.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Jane Bown's Working Method</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/aHLvlxY_BDQ/jane-bowns-working-method.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/jane-bowns-working-method.html" thr:count="11" thr:updated="2014-12-23T07:37:20-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0af3db6970c</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-22T11:50:27-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-23T11:43:32-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>The full "Jane Bown obituary" at The Guardian is a gold mine of information about how Jane worked as a photographer. Interesting for any photographer, I would think, but must reading for any editorial or photojournalistic environmental portraitist. A two-paragraph...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Photographers, historical" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The full "<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/21/jane-bown" target="_blank">Jane Bown obituary</a>" at <em>The Guardian</em> is a gold mine of information about how Jane worked as a photographer. Interesting for any photographer, I would think, but must reading for any editorial or photojournalistic environmental portraitist.</p> | |
| <p>A two-paragraph sample, two substantial paragraphs being about the allowable limit for quoting under Fair Use (some punctuation and spelling has been corrected):</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>In stark contrast to her mostly male peers, Jane was supremely uninterested in camera equipment. With some reluctance, she abandoned her beloved Rolleiflex in the early '60s, first migrating to a 35mm Pentax before settling on the Olympus OM1—she owned about a dozen Olympus cameras, all bought secondhand. Throughout her career she referred to herself as a 'hack,' and even when her reputation was at it height, she always deferred to the picture editor. She worked almost exclusively with natural light and ignored the camera's in-built light meter, preferring instead to hold a clenched fist away from her body to see how the light fell on the back of her hand. In fact, Jane once admitted to me that her preferred setting was ƒ/2.8 at 1/60 second and that she would, if at all possible, conspire to make the environment work at this setting—indirect sunlight from a north-facing widow would usually achieve it.</em></p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Jane tried colour in the mid-'60s—largely in response to the launch of the</em> Observer <em>colour supplement—but abandoned it after three years, finding the medium too inflexible. But I think her true motivation had more to do with aesthetics—using available light to dramatise the subject with the infinite gradations of grey between pure black and white provided the subtlety that was her stock in trade. 'Colour is too noisy,' she once said. 'The eye doesn't know where to rest.'</em></p> | |
| <p>Very fine article. Written by Luke Dodd and Eamonn McCabe.</p> | |
| <p>Alun J. Carr provides a link to <a href="http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait-list.php?search=sp&sText=jane+bown&wPage=0" target="_blank">a collection of Jane's work at the National Portrait Gallery</a>. Note that Fair Use needs to be observed if downloading these images! Or I would have used <a href="http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw195977/Jane-Bown?search=sp&sText=jane+bown&wPage=1&rNo=22" target="_blank">this one</a> to illustrate this post (from her Rolleiflex years, in this case 1959).</p> | |
| <p>Richard Parkin tells us that <em>Looking for Light</em>, the Jane Bown documentary, is available for rent or purchase from the UK iTunes Store. Not the USA one, though. Here's the trailer:</p> | |
| <p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="264" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jgH6OlZsihM" width="470" /></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Thanks to Carl Weese, Alun, and Richard)</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Scott Johnston</strong>: "This lady is just so wonderful—I wish I could be her, quietly crafting beautiful pictures with nothing but the essential character of the subject in mind. Wow. Thanks Mike."</p> | |
| <p><strong>John Sarsgard</strong>: "As a portrait photographer, I have no higher ambition than to imitate Jane Bown as well as I possibly can. Her process is exactly how I feel called to work. I have no need to do anything differently, only to work with people as she did. RIP, lovely lady."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/aHLvlxY_BDQ" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/jane-bowns-working-method.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>It Is Finished</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/vllNup4btNM/it-is-finished.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/it-is-finished.html" thr:count="7" thr:updated="2014-12-23T06:02:27-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0af069d970c</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-22T07:59:02-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-22T07:59:02-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Our "Ten Best Digital Cameras" list, which was a rolling post that took several days to complete, is now all finished. Take a look if you haven't already. Let us know what you think, but do note the astute comment...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Blog Notes" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Our "Ten Best Digital Cameras" list, which was a rolling post that took several days to complete, is now all finished. <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-ten-best-digital-cameras.html" target="_blank">Take a look</a> if you haven't already.</p> | |
| <p>Let us know what you think, but do note the astute comment made by our friend Ken Tanaka: "<em>Any</em> of [those] cameras would be a #1 for its owner." </p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
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| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/it-is-finished.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>A Word of Encouragement</title> | |
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| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/a-word-of-encouragement.html" thr:count="17" thr:updated="2014-12-23T00:59:45-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b7c72574a2970b</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-21T23:09:26-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-22T11:48:57-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>...For those in the northern hemisphere. The days stop getting shorter from now on. Slowly at first, admittedly, but I'm just...(wait a minute, I'm not allowed to say that any more). Good light and happy solstice to you. Mike Original...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="News and Occasions" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>...For those in the northern hemisphere. The days stop getting shorter from now on. Slowly at first, admittedly, but I'm just...(wait a minute, I'm not allowed to say that any more).</p> | |
| <p>Good light and happy solstice to you.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Andy F</strong>: "An interesting article from the BBC: '<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30549149" target="_blank">Why do mornings still get darker after the winter solstice?</a>'"</p> | |
| <p><strong>David B adds to Andy's comment</strong>: "Another, perhaps better, explanation for why sunrise is still getting later each morning <a href="http://stardate.org/radio/program/2014-12-15" target="_blank">can be found here</a>. In any case, the later sunrises have been working in my favor as I try to get up for early morning photos. And the low sun angle at this time of the year results in great light for more hours in the day."</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>Good point</em>.</p> | |
| <p><strong>Øyvind Hansen</strong>: Where I am in Norway sunrise was at 09:44 today, with sunset at 15:29. The weather is rainy and dark much of the time, stealing away what little daylight there is. Outdoor photography is still a few months away, but it is good to know we are starting to get there. Of course in the northern parts of the country the sun doesn't come up at all during winter."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Dan Smith</strong>: "Finally, after nine years of trying I got the Winter Solstice image I have been after. I can get it for a couple weeks before and after the day but have wanted it on the correct day since I first saw the possibility.</p> | |
| <p>"An old barn within 20 minutes of us has a great old windmill that casts a shadow across the face for a couple weeks before and after the solstice. The wind vanes have to be in the right orientation for the shadow to travel across the barn as a full shadow and the sky has to cooperate without clouds covering the sun.</p> | |
| <p>"Finally yesterday I got my triptych of the shadow on either side and the middle of the front of the barn. Right after finishing the breeze blew in a cloud bank from the east and the whole sky socked in. I'll get a few 'better' shadow shots over the next couple weeks as the shadow moves up higher and with luck we finally get snow to pile up on the roof and on the barn. At least now I have the images actually on the solstice—worth waiting for.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07ca3be5970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Winter Solstice 2014 Triptych" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07ca3be5970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07ca3be5970d-800wi" title="Winter Solstice 2014 Triptych" /></a></p> | |
| <p>"Pixelography or film doesn't matter—getting the shot does."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/a4Mm5GIz7Tg" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/a-word-of-encouragement.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Jane Bown 1925-2014</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/BT7A09_FxXM/jane-bown-1925-2014.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/jane-bown-1925-2014.html" thr:count="12" thr:updated="2014-12-22T22:28:03-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c9a2f5970d</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-21T12:42:00-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-22T08:35:28-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Jane Bown at home, surrounded by some of her photographs. We are reached this morning with news of the death of the great Jane Bown. The quintessential photojournalistic portraitist, she worked for the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, the UK's The...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Obituaries" /> | |
| <category term="Photographers, historical" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ae8170970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Bown-2" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ae8170970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ae8170970c-800wi" title="Bown-2" /></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Jane Bown at home, surrounded by some of her photographs.</span></p> | |
| <p>We are reached this morning with news of the death of the great Jane Bown. The quintessential photojournalistic portraitist, she worked for the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, the UK's <em>The Observer</em>, for more than half a century, beginning 65 years ago.</p> | |
| <p>Renowned for modest reticence and for the simplicty of her style, she worked quietly and quickly, without calling attention to herself, using natural light.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c72522d7970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Bown-1" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c72522d7970b image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c72522d7970b-800wi" title="Bown-1" /></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">An earlier photograph of Jane from her home.<br />Both photos are screen grabs from the Channel 4 profile below.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aeca48970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Bown-3bymadameyevonde" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aeca48970c img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aeca48970c-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Bown-3bymadameyevonde" /></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">The picture above is this one, by Madame Yevonde, 1967. This is from a bromide print in the Yevonde Portrait Archive of<br />Britain's National Portrait Gallery.</span></p> | |
| <p>Just this year a film documentary of her life was released, called <em>Looking for Light</em>. It's not available online that I know of. [<strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">UPDATE</span></strong>: <em><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00IJ7HTUK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00IJ7HTUK&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=HIXLE473AVIVSAQH" target="_blank">The DVD is available</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=cdrebyc6-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00IJ7HTUK" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> from Amazon UK. There is also a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00PB5M38G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00PB5M38G&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=K3KSTTTWTTBRX3JK" target="_blank">Limited Premium Edition</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=cdrebyc6-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00PB5M38G" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> that includes a signed original print. NOTE that these will be Region 2 (European Union) DVDs. These play on Apple Computers (what I use) if you reset the region, </em>but<em> you are only allowed to <a href="http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201705" target="_blank">reset the region</a> five times!! Be careful. Thanks to Gill R and Bob Curtis for this. —Ed.</em>]</p> | |
| <p>Here's a brief recent profile of her from British television:</p> | |
| <p><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="264" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/546OT_ViFdo" width="470" /></p> | |
| <p>She published many books, most out of print now, including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LLP76QO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00LLP76QO&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=PESF7VI5EOFSOPZ7" target="_blank"><em>Exposures</em></a> (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0852651414/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0852651414&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=6J7FYL47WGN6EGM4" target="_blank">UK link</a>) from 2009, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0852650760/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0852650760&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=FFG72D646QI753XC"><em>Unknown Bown</em></a> (2007) (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0852650760/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0852650760&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=UZZ5EQAAYUIUEBZ5" target="_blank">UK link</a>), <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1855858657/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1855858657&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=QTEEMJJTXG2XAY36"><em>Faces</em></a> (2002) (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1855858657/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=1855858657&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=Q7OSI77SEGHEKLCU" target="_blank">UK link</a>), and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0500272042/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0500272042&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=OI4IGNDAODHXWBBG"><em>The Gentle Eye</em></a> (1982) (<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0500272042/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=0500272042&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=UIC5YB4GJSF6GRJK" target="_blank">UK link</a>).</p> | |
| <p>The book <em>Faces</em> is subtitled "The creative process behind great portraits," but Jane sums it up in a jot: "What people say to me is how do I do this. And I say, just <em>look</em>."</p> | |
| <p>Observer Editor John Mulholland, quoted in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/dec/21/observer-photographer-jane-bown-dies-age-89" target="_blank">the <em>Guardian</em> obituary</a>, said "her contribution to the paper’s history, as well to Britain’s artistic legacy, is immense, and will long survive her. She was loved by her colleagues and adored by our readers. We will miss her hugely."</p> | |
| <p>She was 89.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Thanks to Guy Batey and Leslie Ashe)</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Elaine</strong>: "Oh, I loved Jane Bown's work! I still have her book <em>Faces</em>. She used Olympus film cameras. Her work really inspired me. She used natural lighting, which is what I love. She was such an inspiration to me. R.I.P., Jane. :-( "</p> | |
| <p><strong>David Paterson</strong>: "In the '70s and early '80s I worked quite regularly for the <em>Observer</em>'s Sunday magazine and was fortunate to meet Jane Bown a couple of times. She was friendly but brisk and there was a strong impression of an acute intelligence in spite of her quiet manner. She was a legend even then—cameras in a shopping bag—and will be greatly mourned and missed even though she retired quite some time ago. A true great."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Alan Hill</strong>: "<em>Ars est celare artem</em> (art is about concealing art)—has there ever been a better example of the truth of this old saying?"</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/BT7A09_FxXM" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/jane-bown-1925-2014.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>The Ten Best Gifts for Photographers</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/OUyXBBdRwpo/the-ten-best-gifts-for-photographers.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-ten-best-gifts-for-photographers.html" thr:count="23" thr:updated="2014-12-22T01:37:47-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7201b970d</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-17T21:48:34-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-19T23:36:59-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>1. Whatever YOU most want. Merry/Happy Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/Solstice to you and yours! 2. Crystal camera paperweights from Fotodiox. There's a Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, or Leica. Irresistable. 3. The F-Stop Watch . Wholly impractical (who wears a watch these days? Nobody...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="News and Occasions" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>1. <strong>Whatever <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank"><em>YOU</em> most want</a></strong>. Merry/Happy Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/Solstice to you and yours!</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c86f25970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Crystalcamera" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c86f25970d img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c86f25970d-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Crystalcamera" /></a>2. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-keywords=fotodiox%20crystal%20camera&linkCode=ur2&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Afotodiox%20crystal%20camera&tag=theonlinephot-20&url=search-alias%3Daps&linkId=2HF552B3BRCMQ6TC" target="_blank"><strong>Crystal camera paperweights</strong></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> from Fotodiox. There's a Canon, Nikon, Hasselblad, Rolleiflex, or Leica. Irresistable.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c86dd6970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Fstopwatch" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c86dd6970d img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c86dd6970d-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Fstopwatch" /></a>3. <strong>The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004CGJFFO/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004CGJFFO&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=SFOWLTU4GD5KDSBL" target="_blank">F-Stop Watch</a></strong><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004CGJFFO" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Wholly impractical (who wears a watch these days? Nobody under thirty) and it doesn't even make a whole lot of sense conceptually (a shutter-speed dial might be better in that respect). Even so, the F-Stop Watch from The Unemployed Philosophers Guild works as a conversation piece as well as a timepiece. And it's fun. And not even too expensive.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c870b4970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Onabag" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c870b4970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c870b4970d-800wi" title="Onabag" /></a>4. <strong>Ona Union Street</strong> messenger bag <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1070962-REG/ona_ona003ltc_leather_union_street_messenger.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">in walnut color</a>. Hand made of distressed Italian leather intended to acquire more character with use. And, in a sop to the modern, holds a 15" laptop.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7236bd7970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Wtd" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7236bd7970b img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7236bd7970b-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="Wtd" /></a></p> | |
| <p>5. Stuffed Duck, <em>mmm</em>. <strong>'What the Duck' plush toy</strong>—a must for the well-appointed home. Available <a href="http://www.whattheduck.net/content/what-duck-plush" target="_blank">from the source</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c73ca2970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Trantparketote" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c73ca2970d img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c73ca2970d-450wi" style="width: 405px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Trantparketote" /></a></p> | |
| <p>6. <strong><a href="http://www.clickandblossom.com/collections/totes-1" target="_blank">Trent Parke tote</a></strong>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c73e6e970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Mypassport" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c73e6e970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c73e6e970d-800wi" title="Mypassport" /></a></p> | |
| <p>7. The wee little <strong>Western Digital My Passport </strong>hard drives are wonderful. We chose the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO1I2DU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CO1I2DU&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=TZJQFNUOOFFYRJZI" target="_blank">the 2TB USB 3.0 model</a> for Mac, for $99<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00CO1I2DU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />—and the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003LSTD38/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B003LSTD38&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=AKDTQRJDWC2N6LF3" target="_blank">hard carrying case</a>, for $6—but there are lots of different models—and different colors, even. <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=wd+my+passport&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&BI=2144&KBID=2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo carries them too</a>. Small enough to stuff in a stocking. Here's the link to <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&field-keywords=WD%20my%20passport&linkCode=ur2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&url=search-alias%3Daps&linkId=OC6QJQENWSAUW3E6" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=cdrebyc6-21&l=ur2&o=2" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c71eff970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Manualtshirt" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c71eff970d img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c71eff970d-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="Manualtshirt" /></a></p> | |
| <p>8. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JMXIKH6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00JMXIKH6&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=4ZXMYFOFIC3BWT7P" target="_blank"><strong>Real Men Shoot Manual T-shirt</strong></a>. We won't comment on the implied sentiment. There are some other nice T-shirts at the link too—we like "Shoot, Edit, Sleep, Repeat," for one.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ac1b29970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Lenspen" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ac1b29970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ac1b29970c-800wi" title="Lenspen" /></a></p> | |
| <p>9. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BWFCOYC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00BWFCOYC&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=SGJ25BAIZEV4ADZS" target="_blank"><strong>Zeiss Lens Care Kit</strong></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00BWFCOYC" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. And you can buy the "moist towelette" pre-moistened <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N5QUIMG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00N5QUIMG&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=RF4H4JZ5XGRA4PIU" target="_blank">Zeiss Lens Cleaning Wipes</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00N5QUIMG" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> separately, too—for lenses, eyeglasses, or smartphone or tablet screens. A plug here for our favorite, the <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1051483-REG/lenspen_nlp1_c_nlp1c_lens_pen.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">Lenspen</a>, with the caveat that some people don't like 'em. (You have to follow the directions.)</p> | |
| <p><em> <a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7122b970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Winecaddy" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7122b970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7122b970d-800wi" title="Winecaddy" /></a></em>10. <strong>Photographer wine-bottle caddy</strong>. There are <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/WINE-BOTTLE-HOLDER-PHOTOGRAPHER-Character-Wine-Caddy-/360623242763" target="_blank">four available on eBay</a>; I don't know where else to get one.</p> | |
| <p>Clearly there are ways to add elegance and good taste to your festive board—and this isn't one of them! It is, however, one way to insure that you're not the dorkiest photographer at the table.</p> | |
| <p>And hey, after this weekend, it starts to get lighter again!</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.peterturnley.com/workshops/cuba-2015-april" target="_blank">Peter Turnley Cuba Workshop, April 2015</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Steve Rosenblum</strong>: "Speaking of ONA bags...Carl Weese turned me onto <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=ona+bowery&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&BI=2144&KBID=2882" target="_blank">the ONA Bowery bag</a> as being the perfect size for a Micro 4/3 camera, several lenses, and a charger. It also comes in leather, but I really love my canvas version with 'leather accents.' It's perfect—looks great, hangs just right, easy access, and doesn't scream 'RIP ME OFF!!' Actually, it would be pretty hard to rip it off as the strap is made out of seatbelt material and the hardware is quite serious. It's small enough that when I fly I can just throw it inside of my carry-on computer messenger bag. Five stars!"</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/OUyXBBdRwpo" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-ten-best-gifts-for-photographers.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>The Ten Best Digital Cameras</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/RR6JWuSjhOc/the-ten-best-digital-cameras.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-ten-best-digital-cameras.html" thr:count="79" thr:updated="2014-12-23T09:47:23-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b7c72227ab970b</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-17T13:33:15-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-22T07:52:58-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Always with a thumb clamped on the pulse of the Zeitgeist, herewith TOP's totally idiosyncratic, completely subjective, plausibly deniable, and cheerfully self-incriminating list of Digital Cameras We Love at the cusp of 2015—the digital cameras we think are the hottest...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Recommended Cameras" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>Always with a thumb clamped on the pulse of the Zeitgeist, herewith TOP's totally idiosyncratic, completely subjective, plausibly deniable, and cheerfully self-incriminating list of</em> <strong>Digital Cameras We Love</strong> <em>at the cusp of 2015—the digital cameras we think are the hottest at the moment and the most desirable. <br /></em></p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="color: #ffffbf;">-</span></p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7250d73970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="A7ii" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7250d73970b image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7250d73970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="A7ii" /></a></p> | |
| <p>1. <strong>Sony A7II</strong>. And the camera o' the moment is...</p> | |
| <p>Canon and Nikon should thank their lucky stars that Sony doesn't understand the old Camera System concept that they themselves have understood for so long. A Canon rep explained to me back in the '90s that Canon didn't care if it <em>ever</em> recouped its investment costs on the three tilt-shift lenses for the EOS system...the point was that certain pros needed such lenses and would switch to the Canon system in order to get them. Which meant that those pros would also begin buying Canon bodies, Canon lenses, and Canon accessories, and would switch from NPS to CPS, and would lend their implicit endorsement and the prestige of their professional accomplishments to Canon instead of to Nikon. Sure enough, over the next dozen years I heard many stories of pros switching systems to get their hands on those lenses—or the white fluorite teles, or some other goodie that Canon had created specifically to entice them. And that is how Canon went from #2 to #1.</p> | |
| <p>And that is why Sony will stay at #3. Sony's happy throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall strategy—the opposite of the Camera System concept—is, however, keeping amateurs and enthusiasts delighted and entertained. With its go-anywhere, do-anything product strategy and fictional roadmaps of phantom lenses that never materialize, Sony has become the most fun camera company of all, even eclipsing Fuji in that regard. And Nikon and Canon sit safe and smug behind their allegedly unbreachable Maginot Line of oldthink DSLRs.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7250ffa970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="A7ii-2" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7250ffa970b img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7250ffa970b-800wi" title="A7ii-2" /></a></p> | |
| <p>And the most delightful of all Sony's entertaining products in 2014 have been the full-frame mirrorless A7[x] cameras. There were three, including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FRDUZXM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00FRDUZXM&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=HAFILXAN3RLNRN74" target="_blank">the original A7</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FRDUZUK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00FRDUZUK&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=BCYJGKAGAQANDOUJ" target="_blank">the 36-megapixel A7R</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JIWXTXG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00JIWXTXG&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=QPW72TUXDUW6CA2Y" target="_blank">the speedy videocentric A7S</a>. But now, before the ink is even dry on the A7's paper manual (the camera was introduced a mere 14 months ago), Sony has retooled it, revising the grip and shutter button and adding the world's first full-frame five-axis in-body image stabilization.</p> | |
| <p>Our standard advice for Sony is the same as for Kyocera's old Contax (for which Zeiss also made lenses): make sure the lenses and accessories you want <em>already exist and are offered for sale</em>, and <em>do not</em> count on any particular lenses, even specifically promised ones, actually appearing at any time in the future. You have been warned! Sony is not a system camera company.</p> | |
| <p>But if you can deal with that, oh boy are these things wonderful.</p> | |
| <p>Here's the camera o' the moment at <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1102008-REG/sony_ilce7m2_b_a7ii_mirrorless_digital_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PX8CHO6/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00PX8CHO6&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=73KWC32B3LCAJOVM" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://www.adorama.com/ISOA7M2.html&kbid=62935" target="_blank">Adorama</a>. </p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0adb7fa970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Em1-3" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0adb7fa970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0adb7fa970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="Em1-3" /></a></p> | |
| <p>2. <strong>Olympus OM-D E-M1</strong>. An interesting and curious fact about photography is that even many people who do it for a living also do it as a hobby. It's not unique in that respect—I know some car mechanics who are the same way, and even some airline pilots who fly small planes for fun. Few camera types offer more pure fun than mirrorless Micro 4/3. You can adapt other lenses, or use a broad array of native Micro 4/3 lenses from Olympus, Panasonic, Panasonic/Leica, Voigtländer, Rokinon, Bower, Tamron, Tokina, Mitakon, Samyang, Sigma, and even a company incongruously (well, in this instance at least) called "SLR Magic." This de facto lineup might not be very rationalized or comprehensive, but it sure is fun—a 21mm-e ƒ/0.95 lens—made of <em>metal?</em> Are you kidding?</p> | |
| <p>The OM-D E-M1 is one of two premium/flagship/"pro" Micro 4/3 cameras (the other being <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I9GYG8O/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00I9GYG8O&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=62NYYCO5OJIXDAOM" target="_blank">the GH4</a>). Although the menus are a bit of a Chinese puzzle box, the build quality is what you'd expect for the price, the ergonomics are outta this world, and the 5-axis in-body image stabilization (IBIS) works a treat. A hit from the get-go and a very fine effort from the engineers at Oly.</p> | |
| <p>Here are links to the E-M1 at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EQ07PG2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00EQ07PG2&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=T3G36EVQZVQETEJM" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EY6AU6K/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00EY6AU6K&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=E4TNKE42PAYZPID4" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>, <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1003633-REG/olympus_v207010bu000_om_d_e_m1_mirrorless_micro.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a>, and <a href="http://www.adorama.com/IOMEM1B.html&kbid=62935" target="_blank">Adorama</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c85d82970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Rx100iii" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c85d82970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c85d82970d-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="Rx100iii" /></a></p> | |
| <p>3. <strong>Sony RX100 III</strong>. One way to remove a system's lens line from consideration is to buy a fixed lens camera (such as our #10). While we love both the popular <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1080889-REG/fujifilm_16440616_x100t_digital_camera_silver.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">Fuji X100t</a> and the beautiful full-frame <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/891105-REG/Sony_dscrx1_DSC_RX1_Full_Frame_Point.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">Sony RX1</a>, the current king of <em>pocketable</em> fixed-lens cameras for enthusiast photographers is the wee little 1"-sensor Sony RX100III.</p> | |
| <p>It's had a surprisingly long reign, considering the fierce competition from all quarters and the fickle nature of consumers. Sony releases new models even while the old model is still selling fine, like Honda does with Accords. It's a tried and tested way of staying on top.</p> | |
| <p>It's smaller than you can get a sense for online, so it really is handy to carry around in a pocket, briefcase, glovebox, or purse. As for the best reason to get one, consider Dpreview's comment: "The RX100 III offers the best image quality of any pocketable camera we've ever seen." 'Nuff said.</p> | |
| <p>Get one at <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1049537-REG/sony_dscrx100m3_b_cyber_shot_dsc_rx100_iii_digital.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a>, <a href="http://www.adorama.com/ISORX100M3.html&kbid=62935" target="_blank">Adorama</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K7O2DJU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00K7O2DJU&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=VCW4S4ETM4I2TMXN" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, or <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00KW3BJ1Y/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00KW3BJ1Y&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=PPFMQSQM74UISJ3F" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c723b2d6970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="D750" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c723b2d6970b image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c723b2d6970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="D750" /></a></p> | |
| <p>4. <strong>Nikon D750</strong>. Pros and amateurs alike these days love full-frame—i.e., cameras with 24x36mm sensors. (Nikon's other most-coveted camera is its <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1062499-REG/nikon_d_810_digital_slr_body.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">D810</a>.) The new D750 is the spiritual heir of the <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/06/our-favorite-cameras.html" target="_blank">exceptionally popular</a> D700. The landscape has changed a lot since the D700 came out, so the two cameras aren't actually all that similar...</p> | |
| <p>...But the gestalt is. With the 24-megapixel sensor similar to the one in the lower-level <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1008264-REG/nikon_d_610_digital_slr_body.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">D610</a> and most of its other features inherited from the D810, The D750 is the sweet-spot full-frame camera in the Nikon lineup for enthusiasts. And the one most desired by the greatest number of diehard Nikon shooters.</p> | |
| <p>Here it is at <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082599-REG/nikon_d750_dslr_camera_body.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a>, <a href="http://www.adorama.com/INKD750.html&kbid=62935" target="_blank">Adorama</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0060MVJ1Q/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0060MVJ1Q&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=Q3PEVPQ3QFAXYGQ7" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/?tag=cdrebyc6-21" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c78c28970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="X-t1" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c78c28970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c78c28970d-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="X-t1" /></a></p> | |
| <p>5. <strong>Fujifilm X-T1</strong>. Yr. Hmbl. Ed.'s favorite camera o' the moment, mainly because of four things: the huge, gorgeous viewfinder; the well-thought-out lens line; the ease with which Fuji's X-trans files convert to B&W; and the knobs 'n' dials aesthetic of the camera controls.</p> | |
| <p>Of course, only two of those four things are exclusive to the X-T1. Electronic viewfinders (EVFs) are the way of the future—they'll eventually largely replace SLR mirrors because they'll be easier and cheaper to manufacture once the technology is more developed and more mature. Precision will also be less costly to achieve (there is considerable manufacturing slop built into the design of less expensive SLRs, and various tricks for helping to hide it). That's <em>why</em> it will happen. Why it's <em>good</em> is that there are a lot of advantages to EVFs: they can brighten dark scenes, they can offer various shooting and focusing aids impossible to achieve with optical viewfinders, and they can be converted to different styles (such as B&W) and used for review. (Makers do need to learn to keep the clutter down. You still do need to see what you're pointing the camera at, after all.) The X-T1's viewfinder shows a taste of what the future will hold, and lo, it is good. Very pleasing; sets the "feel" of the whole camera.</p> | |
| <p>The very thing that some people will love about the X-T1 is what other people won't; its old-fashioned controls allow you to check many basic settings visually, but lack the fluidity of configurable control wheels and greater automation. There are still a few shortcomings even to Fuji's knobs 'n' dials implementation—the one thumbwheel is spongy, small, and hard to operate, and the exposure comp dial needs a press-on, press-off lock similar to the Olympus E-M1's PASM dial lock. Still, the X-T1 does the knobs 'n' dials thing the best of any modern camera.</p> | |
| <p>The overriding feeling this wonderful little camera gives you is that it's just seductively fun to use. It does everything well. A perfect hobbyist camera of its time.</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;">[<span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>UPDATE</strong></span>: <em><a href="http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digital_cameras/software/firmware/x/xt1/download.html" target="_blank">Firmware v.3</a> was released just yesterday. Thanks to Stephen Scharf for this. —Ed</em>.]</p> | |
| <p>You can get it from <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1025328-REG/fujifilm_x_t1_mirrorless_digital_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a>, <a href="http://www.adorama.com/IFJXT1A.html&kbid=62935" target="_blank">Adorama</a>, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HYAL88W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00HYAL88W&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=CD5CMUO55E3K5QJI" target="_blank">Amazon</a>, and <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00I3I2D9W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00I3I2D9W&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=4K7FK47MI2MJSXTI" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>. There's also a good-looking Graphite Silver edition.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c722f9e0970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="7dii" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c722f9e0970b image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c722f9e0970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="7dii" /></a></p> | |
| <p>6. <strong>Canon 7D Mark II</strong>. There is now, finally, the faint scent of obsolescence beginning to cling to the flipping mirror. SLRs, which took the camera market by storm starting in the late 1950s, are finally on their way out. (Good harbingers of what's to come are provided further up on this list.)</p> | |
| <p>And yet the species has reached a state of impressive development and high refinement. A pro photographer TOP reader, Michael J. Perini, writing about his wife's original 7D cameras (she's a pro too, and so is their daughter), said "there is nothing glamorous about a 7D except it works flawlessly, focuses in the dark, and provides gorgeous files at ISO 800...it's a working person's tool. It never breaks...it is a pro workhorse." The 7D Mark II puts all, or nearly all, of the flagship features, the best Canon has, in a standard-sized body. Nothing has been held back. (Michael feels the needs of working pros are often overlooked in photo-website discussions of cameras.)</p> | |
| <p>He himself shoots the full-frame 1Ds Mark III (precursor to the $6,800 <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/827036-REG/Canon_5253B002_EOS_1D_X_EOS_Digital.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">1D X</a>), and notes that having full-frame and APS-C cameras that take the same lenses is a big plus in a family of working pros.</p> | |
| <p>Here is the link to <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1081808-REG/canon_9128b002_eos_7d_mark_ii.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the Canon 7D Mark II at B&H Photo</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NEWZDRG/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00NEWZDRG&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=UE6J2OMKRVKVOZZR" target="_blank">Amazon</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ac2c06970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="GR" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ac2c06970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ac2c06970c-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="GR" /></a></p> | |
| <p>7. <strong>Ricoh GR</strong>. This camera has had a great run. It traces its lineage directly back to a series of <em>film</em> cameras that debuted in 1996, and for the last ten years has gone through a number of iterations as a digital camera with a small sensor. The current GR is the fifth in the digital line, and the first with a large APS-C sensor.</p> | |
| <p>Photographers have loved these cameras right along and many have remained loyal. Adherents give the GR series the highest of marks for real-world usability in the field. Can be called a niche camera, but they are beloved of street shooters the world around, and that's no easy niche to fill.</p> | |
| <p>No one knows what Ricoh will do next, but you can bet it won't stray far from the well-proven—and well-liked—magic recipe.</p> | |
| <p>The GR is a steal right now, too. Not only has the camera settled from its inital (and, at the time, competitive) $800 down to $596.95 (<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/965424-REG/ricoh_175743_gr_digital_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">at B&H Photo, this is</a>), but you get the great optical viewfinder and a 32GB card too, for...nuthin'. [<span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>UPDATE</strong></span>: <em>The free viewfinder is apparently no more. Deals and prices change daily, almost hourly, at this time of year. The free viewfinder deal was active when this post was written. —Ed</em>.] [<strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">UPDATE</span> #2</strong>: <em><a href="http://www.adorama.com/IRCGRNI.html&kbid=62935" target="_blank">The free viewfinder is still being offered at Adorama as of noon Thursday</a>. —Ed., with thanks to Yonatan Katznelson</em>] Here's the GR at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CGY4N7Y/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00CGY4N7Y&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=IX3P4JXNTJSHUCDH" target="_blank">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00CGY4N7Y" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and at <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CEZPQJE/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00CEZPQJE&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=XLGZ6NYMBHQEQR2E" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7212b970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Leica-s" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7212b970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c7212b970d-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="Leica-s" /></a></p> | |
| <p>8. How could we ever leave <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2012/12/the-best-camera-in-the-world.html" target="_blank">the best camera in the world</a> off the list?</p> | |
| <p>While many people who were wedded to the classic 35mm film rangefinders are grateful that Leica was loyal to them by making digital versions of those cameras, it's the <strong>Leica S (Typ 007)</strong> that's the truest expression of the Kaufmann era in Leica history. And a brilliant expression it is. A system conceived as a whole, it supremely achieves parallel goals: ease of use and image quality.</p> | |
| <p>Now that the lens line has matured, it's better than it's ever been before, too. The S System Leica lenses are the best lenses available for photography. There are now an even ten of them, including one macro, one zoom and one tilt-shift lens. We'd start out with <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1007206-REG/leica_11078_elmarit_s_45mm_f_2_8_asph.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the 45mm</a> and <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1077204-REG/leica_11056_summicron_s_100mm_f_2_asph.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the 100mm</a> (35mm-e and 80mm-e respectively).</p> | |
| <p>Why no higher on the list? Alas, its high price is an unfortunate barrier to wide adoption, and will keep it out of the hands of many photographers—most people will never get to try one. There are more practical choices. However, this is the camera for you when only the best quality will do.</p> | |
| <p>Here's <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082939-REG/leica_10804_leica_s_medium_format.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the B&H Photo link</a> and here's <a href="http://us.leica-camera.com/Photography/Leica-S/Leica-S-Lenses" target="_blank">the lens page at the Leica site</a>.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c6cda4970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="K-3" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c6cda4970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c6cda4970d-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="K-3" /></a></p> | |
| <p>9. <strong>Ricoh Pentax K-3</strong>: A fan favorite, winner of popularity polls if not critics' choice awards, Ricoh's Pentax K-3 quietly continues on its way as perhaps the best alternative to the Big Two DSLR makers known collectively as Canikon.</p> | |
| <p>The camera's lineage started out with the workmanlike, well-judged K-7 back in 2009, and has been sensibly evolved since then, through the K-5, K-5II, and K-5IIS. It shows the signs both of its sensible workhorse heritage as well as of its continual refinement, improvement, and updating. Unabashedly APS-C (Pentax's full-frame camera is <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1045517-REG/pentax_16599_645z_digital_slr_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the medium-format 645Z</a> with its awesome 43.8x32.8mm, 51.4-MP CMOS sensor, the only real competitor to Leica's formidable S), the 24-megapixel K-3's fancy dog trick is its switchable virtual anti-aliasing filter. It is also the best attachment point for Pentax's lineup of very fine prime and pancake lenses, including such gems at the Tokina-built <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1002134-REG/pentax_21450_hd_pentax_da_35mm.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">35mm DA Macro</a>, which is <a href="http://photo.net/columns/mjohnston/pentax-35mm-lens/optical-discussion/" target="_blank">spectacularly good</a>; the delicious and unique <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1014041-REG/pentax_23000_hd_pentax_da_20_40mm.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">DA 20–40mm ƒ/2.8–4 ED Limited DC WR</a>; the tiny <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1002136-REG/pentax_21390_hd_pentax_da_40mm.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">40mm true pancake</a>; and legacy lenses like the beautiful <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/388316-REG/Pentax_27980_Telephoto_SMCP_FA_77mm_f_1_8.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">77mm ƒ/1.8 Limited</a>. They're on the expensive side, but ya gotta love it when expensive things are worth it. Pentax's lens lineup might be a motley—requiring considerable deconstruction and research to get a handle on, too—but it's a cornucopia of treasures.</p> | |
| <p>Here's the K-3 <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1007545-REG/pentax_15530_k_3_dslr_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">at B&H Photo</a>. It's cheaper at Amazon, but I can't link to it directly—you'll have to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/?tag=theonlinephot-20" target="_blank">go there</a> and search "Pentax K-3" yourself. For our Brit friends, here it is <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00FOPHY0U/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B00FOPHY0U&linkCode=as2&tag=cdrebyc6-21&linkId=MW2DY6PA7MHPMIU7" target="_blank">at Amazon U.K.</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=cdrebyc6-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B00FOPHY0U" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7222567970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Lx100" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7222567970b image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c7222567970b-800wi" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: 3px solid #000000;" title="Lx100" /></a></p> | |
| <p>10. <strong>Panasonic LX100</strong>: One-half of the Micro 4/3 partnership, Panasonic has been on a roll since the GF1, making not only a plethora of pleasing small interchangeable-lensed digicams such as <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1083733-REG/panasonic_dmc_gm5kr_dmc_gm5k_digital_camera_with.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the GM5</a> (only available with a lens, alas) but also the formidable <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1028453-REG/panasonic_dmc_gh4kbody_lumix_dmc_gh4_mirrorless_micro.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">GH4</a>, an SLR-style workhorse well equipped for and well known for video. Particularly pleasing is the Leica-like GX7, a handsome and fun-to-use premium compact that is <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/997464-REG/panasonic_dmc_gx7s_lumix_dmc_gx7_mirrorless_micro.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">a spectacular bargain</a> right at this moment.</p> | |
| <p>Making our list is the new LX100 which seems to have grabbed a lot of peoples' attention in a positive way. It's a handy all-in-one fixed-zoom camera with a twist: it competes with the smaller 1" sensor cameras by offering a much larger 4/3 sensor, but crops the sensor to offer different aspect ratios. Nice—we approve of whoever thought up that idea. Coupled with a fast Leica-branded 24–75mm lens. Also nice. The LX100 doesn't lead the field in any way but it's a splendidly well-judged compromise of competing factors in every which way, making it the perfect camera to have with you when you can have only one camera with you. </p> | |
| <p>Here it is at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NHZUFPU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00NHZUFPU&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=CGS7CJ53VRHTXPWB" target="_blank">Amazon</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00NHZUFPU" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> and <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082158-REG/panasonic_lumix_dmc_lx100_digital_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">B&H Photo</a>.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://michaeltapesdesign.com/fusion_b_land.html" target="_blank">Don't Blow It! (Michael Tapes Design)</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Mahn England</strong>: "I agree with your summary of the Panasonic. I've acquired the Lumix LX100 to take on a trip to Cuba. For me it is a 'Goldilocks' camera: Not too big (my Canons and their lenses) and not too small (my Sony RX100). It gives me the control I like to have analogous to driving a car with an manual transmission as opposed to a car with an automatic one. It does a lot without shouting 'look at me I'm a serious camera.'"</p> | |
| <p><strong>Stephen Scharf</strong>: "I agree the Fujifilm X-T1 is a wonderful camera, and very fun to use, but the 'hobbyist' designation does it a disservice; the number of working professionals that have converted to this camera this year is considerable, and Fujifilm has certified a number of extremely accomplished 'official' X-photographers.</p> | |
| <p>"It is also a sales home-run: Fuji sold more than 2X the forecasted sales volume of this camera this year, and it only became widely available around the end of Q1/beginning of Q2, 2014.</p> | |
| <p>"IMO, the most innovative camera of the year, and not by a ittle ways."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Remi</strong>: "SLR are on the way out? If I didn't know you better, I'd think you're trolling.... We've had electronic viewfinders since the 80's and they've improved but nothing beats the actual image viewed through a (large) prism."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Mick Ryan</strong>: "f you had claimed last year that the SLR was on the way out I would have thought you'd had too much egg nog. But for the last few months I've left the 5D Mark III in the bag and used the Sony a7R, and I'm a pro. It won't go fast but it definitely will go the way of the medium format."</p> | |
| <p><strong>James Moule</strong>: "Another thought about the E-M1: Wildlife photographers need long focal length lenses with very rapid autofocusing. I can tell you from field tests that long focal length legacy lenses are very sharp but have such a long focus delay that they are useless on the E-M1. Olympus's recently released <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082046-REG/olympus_v315050bu000_m_zuiko_digital_ed_40_150mm.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">80–300mm (equivalent) PRO lens</a> plus <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1082049-REG/olympus_v321210bu000_mc_14_1_4x_teleconverter_for.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the matched 1.4X teleconverter</a> gets out to the equivalent of over 400mm which covers mammals. The 600mm (equivalent) prime promised for next year will cover birds.</p> | |
| <p>"No other Micro 4/3 maker has a lens line up that can compare. Neither does Fuji. The new Olympus 80–300mm-e lens and teleconverter was just shipped this month. When enough field test experience has been gathered I expect that wildlife photographers will be abandoning their heavy full frame SLRs and their huge lenses in droves."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Kenneth Tanaka</strong>: "As an owner of four other choices on your list I agree with your #1 pick. I've now had Sony's A7R for a year and have used it on demanding projects. It's a remarkable camera that not only produces breathtaking detail but also, with good care and glass, equally breathtaking spacial separations (a quality rarely observed on photo hobby sites).</p> | |
| <p>"The A7II, which I've only had for a couple of weeks, has already revealed itself to be the powerful generalist camera I hoped it would be. Without too deeply diving into detail, two aspects beyond its excellent image quality have strongly impressed me:</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;">1. The A7II's in-body image stabilization (IBIS) system works...well. Being able to shoot with, for example, a fully stabilized Leica 75mm APO-Summicron M on such an outstanding a 24x36 sensor is an experience worth the long wait for me. The FE lenses I've used have all been excellent, especially that 55mm (wow). But the A7R and A7II have created a new experience from my existing excellent Canon EF lenses, too. I now have, for example, a stabilized EF 24–70mm ƒ/2.8L Mark II (wow squared).</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;">2. Sony, like Fujifilm, listens and learns. One of the small engineering weaknesses of the A7R was its FE mount design. The tolerance and materials enabled lenses a bit too much lateral shimmy. Sure enough Sony has remedied this in the A7II's mount. Impressive.</p> | |
| <p>"I don't really hold with ordered 'best' camera lists. <em>Any</em> of these cameras would be a #1 for its owner. But I agree with calling-out the ten cameras here and I especially agree with highlighting Sony's A7II. To borrow an ancient ('80s?) Sony ad slogan, '<em>It's a Sony, no baloney!</em>'"</p> | |
| <p><strong>John</strong>: "I'm surprised at your number 1 choice. I have an A7 II as a rental and I think it's less of a camera than the E-M1 or the X-T1. Only the sensor is larger and better. Yes, it's better than the original, but it isn't there yet. The camera is also getting substantially heavier, meaning soon only the size is an advantage over full-frame DSLR offerings. If any camera impressed this year, it was <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LHWDZUC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00LHWDZUC&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=MBCQM3GPO2FYCEV6" target="_blank">Pentax 645Z</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00LHWDZUC" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Alex S.</strong>: "I'm surprised the 645Z didn't made it; playing in the same league as 'the best camera in the world' yet costing 1/3rd is no small feat."</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>The camera might play in the same league but the lenses don't. There are only four dedicated lenses for the 645Z; the rest are legacy lenses of varying quality, most not close to the standard set by their Leica counterparts. The Leica lens lineup is a major reason why the Leica S is a better overall camera, although, as you point out, the Pentax's cost advantage is just as impressive and might well be the determinant when real people with real money are actually choosing between the two.</em></p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/RR6JWuSjhOc" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-ten-best-digital-cameras.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Two Tips: One for Fuji X-T1 Owners, One for Apple Laptop Buyers</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/zk8QzfDL9E0/two-tips-one-for-fuji-x-t1-owners-one-for-apple-laptop-buyers.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/two-tips-one-for-fuji-x-t1-owners-one-for-apple-laptop-buyers.html" thr:count="14" thr:updated="2014-12-23T01:47:30-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaf14d970c</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-16T15:02:15-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-17T11:48:56-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>First of all, a few days ago when we were discussing the Fuji X-T1, a couple of people complained about the write speed. The X-T1 is one of the few cameras on the market configured to take advantage of the...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Photo equipment" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>First of all, a few days ago when we were discussing <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1025328-REG/fujifilm_x_t1_mirrorless_digital_camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the Fuji X-T1</a>, a couple of people complained about the write speed. The X-T1 is one of the few cameras on the market configured to take advantage of the new UHS-II high-speed cards. UHS-II cards are significantly more expensive (I wanted four of <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1030992-REG/sandisk_sdsdxpb_032g_a46_32gb_extreme_pro_sdhc_uhs_ii.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the 32GB Sandisk Extreme Pro UHS-II cards</a>, but bought just two of <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1030993-REG/sandisk_sdsdxpb_016g_a46_16gb_extreme_pro_sdhc_uhs_ii.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the 16GB cards</a>, attempting to have my cake and economize too), but they're much faster—250 MB/sec. write speed compared to 90 MB/sec. write speed for the UHS-I version of the same card, and just 6 MB/sec. for the cheapest SD cards! A big difference.</p> | |
| <p>With most cameras you won't see the speed difference. UHS-II cards will work with UHS-I devices, but not at the higher bus speeds.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" style="display: inline;" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c5fe07970d-pi"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c5fe07970d img-responsive" style="width: 360px;" title="Uhs-ii" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c5fe07970d-400wi" alt="Uhs-ii" /></a></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">UHS-I card vs. UHS-II card</span></p> | |
| <p><em><strong>Laptopland</strong></em><br />Under the heading of Lessons Learned the Hard Way: if you're buying an Apple laptop, and you intend to do photo editing on it, you really do want the Retina screen. There's a good reason Apple is transitioning to Retinas—it's because its older screens have horrendous vertical viewing angle problems. On the good side, you can adjust the tonality and density of pictures you're looking at by just tilting the screen. On the bad side, well, the tonality and density of what you're looking at changes radically when you tilt the screen.</p> | |
| <p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/iMac-5K-Save-up-to-200/ci/26691/N/3838507490/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">The iMac with the 5k Retina display</a> is on sale today too, in limited quantities.</p> | |
| <p>The several people who told me to get a Retina screen when I was asking for advice about my current laptop can now say "I told you so." In my defense, for the most part I'm using the laptop with a 27" Cinema Display, in which setup the quality of the laptop screen doesn't matter. But if I had it to do again I'd get a Retina screen like <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1072686-REG/apple_mgx82ll_a_13_3_macbook_pro_notebook.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the 13" Macbook Pro that's on sale today</a>. Worth the extra cost, according to someone who was too cheap to shell out said extra cost.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Fazal Majid</strong>: "The Retina MacBook Pros are the only ones with IPS panels, and also the only ones that have true 8-bit panels, as opposed to 6-bit panels that cycle very quickly between values in a form of temporal dithering. The iPads also have IPS/Retina, which is why an iPad is superior for displaying photos to any non-Retina MacBook Pro."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Ctein</strong>: "Dear Mike, re: the laptop screen...I will take advantage of your terribly kind offer. Toldja so."</p> | |
| <xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/zk8QzfDL9E0" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/two-tips-one-for-fuji-x-t1-owners-one-for-apple-laptop-buyers.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>The Classic Messenger Bag</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/JPcCfcjeD28/the-classic-messenger-bag.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-classic-messenger-bag.html" thr:count="18" thr:updated="2014-12-20T23:25:36-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b7c7213b5e970b</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-16T14:21:30-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-17T20:44:12-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>New With three days left for free expedited shipping at B&H prior to Christmas, they're offering a great price on the updated version of the all-time classic messenger bag. The Domke F-842 (currently less than half price at $64.99) is...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Photo equipment" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaea6a970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Domkef842" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaea6a970c img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaea6a970c-400wi" style="width: 400px;" title="Domkef842" /></a></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">New</span></p> | |
| <p>With three days left for free expedited shipping at B&H prior to Christmas, they're offering a great price on the updated version of the all-time classic messenger bag. The Domke F-842 (<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/712098-REG/Domke_701_02B_F_832_Medium_Photo_Courier.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">currently less than half price at $64.99</a>) is a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Domke+F-802&N=0&InitialSearch=yes&BI=2144&KBID=2882" target="_blank">Domke F-802</a> but with a padded slot added for a 13" laptop and a panel added for securing the bag to the handle of a rolling cart.</p> | |
| <p>If you want the laptop too you can get <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/871865-REG/Apple_MD101LL_A_13_MacBook_Pro_Notebook.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">an Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro for $120 off</a> or <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1072686-REG/apple_mgx82ll_a_13_3_macbook_pro_notebook.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">a mid-2014 Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro laptop with Retina Display for $150 off</a>.</p> | |
| <p>My Domke F-802 was a freebie from Kodak in the '90s and is now delightfully shabby, looking like it came from about the Spanish-American War. Really deserves a heavily brassed Leica to go with it....</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaea9f970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false"><img alt="Domkeold" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaea9f970c img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aaea9f970c-400wi" style="width: 400px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Domkeold" /></a></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Old</span></p> | |
| <p>Other deals include a return of the Black Friday price for <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1023326-REG/fujifilm_x100s_digital_camera_black.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the Fuji X100S at $849</a> ($450 off plus $31.40 in free accessories), <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/0/Ntt/Nikon+D810+DSLR+Camera/N/0+30/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">a Nikon D810 for $300 off</a> with nearly $100 of free accessories—and perhaps a <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/560578-USA/Sigma_310_306_Normal_50mm_f_1_4_EX.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">Sigma 50mm ƒ/1.4 EX DG HSM in Nikon F mount</a> to go with it for $100 off. Or how about <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/0/Ntt/Canon+EOS+5D+Mark+III+DSLR+Camera+and+Inkjet+Printer+Kit/N/0/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">an outstanding deal on a Canon 5D Mark III and a Canon printer</a> that saves $687.30.</p> | |
| <p>For less scratch, how about <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/842880-REG/Canon_6145B001_PowerShot_D20_Digital_Camera.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">a waterproof beach camera</a> for $169 or <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/910126-REG/nikon_27619_1_s1_mirrorless_digital.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">an easy-to-use Nikon 1—with lens—for only $149</a>? Can't beat that with a stick.</p> | |
| <p>(I will now accept wagers as to which of those links I got wrong. Sigh.)</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Stephen Scharf</strong>: "I think it's really tough to beat Think Tank at this game. My <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847337-REG/Think_Tank_742_Retrospective_5_Shoulder_Bag.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">Retrospective 5</a>, in my experience, is the perfect camera bag and the best-designed bag I've ever used. I keep two Fuji X bodies and three lenses in mine, and the entire kit weighs less than a Canon 1D and 70-200mm ƒ/2.8."</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>True, but it's tough to beat $64.99 with $144.75, too</em>.</p> | |
| <p><strong>Rob L</strong>: "I love Domke bags (and straps)—my favorite has been mine since 1991, and was two years old when I flat out stole it from my father. I'll likely have to watch my kids or they'll grab it someday. :-) "</p> | |
| <p><strong>Kenneth Tanaka</strong>: "Like many photographers I have collected far too many bags over the years. (See <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL_e5OvSpPM" target="_blank">David Alan Harvey's uncomfortably hilarious video on his 'bagology' philosophy</a>.) I have to largely agree with Stephen Scharf's remarks about ThinkTank's Retrospectives. I have the 5 and 7 which are both excellent, although my favorite bag for the past year or two has actually been the excellent (non-photo) PacSafe Metrosafe sling bags [<em>like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006QKOP8G/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006QKOP8G&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=NLITMSGXKJXYEOUP">this one</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B006QKOP8G" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> —Ed.</em>].</p> | |
| <p>"Speaking of Domke I must admit to being a hater of Domke bags! Heavy, non-weatherproof canvas, clunky metal hardware, lack of sustained structure, inflexible compartments...what's to love? I know that many old-time photographers think Domkes are the ultimate camera bag, and seem to whiff into dreamy memories of their youth as they testify as much. But Domkes remind me of canvas-wall tents. I couldn't get rid of mine fast enough. Ugh."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/JPcCfcjeD28" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-classic-messenger-bag.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>The One That Got Away</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/HnhtgtBonP0/the-one-that-got-away.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-one-that-got-away.html" thr:count="55" thr:updated="2014-12-18T16:46:11-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0aa66fc970c</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-16T00:03:46-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-16T19:21:08-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>This came up in the preceding days. If there was one at all, what's the one camera you almost bought, but didn't, that you now wish you had? For me it was a beautiful new 5x7 Deardorff displayed at Ferrante-Dege...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Cameras, old" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This came up in the preceding days. If there was one at all, what's the one camera you almost bought, but didn't, that you now wish you had?</p> | |
| <p>For me it was a beautiful new 5x7 Deardorff displayed at Ferrante-Dege in Cambridge, Mass. It was actually a 4x5 Special with a 5x7 back, I think. I was visiting my mother and stepfather (he taught at the Kennedy School) in the late '80s or early '90s, and I kept getting drawn back into Ferrante's as though by a tractor beam, to gaze longingly at that Deardorff. <a href="http://www.apug.org/forums/forum379/127158-fs-late-model-deardorff-special-4x5-w-2-backs-4x5-5x7-some-extras.html" target="_blank">Here's what it looked like</a>.</p> | |
| <p>(And the reason I wanted a 5x7? Because Paul Caponigro used one! No lie.)</p> | |
| <p>What about you?</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">TOP's links!</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Rodger Kingston</strong>: "It was 1973, and I was newly married and new to photography, still on my first camera, a Minolta SRT 101 single lens reflex (which I eventually ruined by backing into a swimming pool at a wedding rehearsal, but that's another story). A friend offered me a new Leica M2-R with a Dual Range Summicron and Close-Focus Attachment for the ridiculous price—if I remember correctly—of $250, with the proviso that if I didn't like the camera, I had to offer it back to him at the price he sold it to me for.</p> | |
| <p>"A complete newbie, I was used to the tunnel vision of an SLR, and found the inscribed frame of the Leica rangefinder unsettling to use, so after a short time I sold it back to him. Now, four decades later, my favored cameras have been rangefinder/viewfinder style for many years (including a few Leicas), but none as sweet as that M2-R that I let slip away because I didn't have the sense to learn how to see with it. There have been other cameras that I've loved—the Contax T and TVS, for example, and my current Fuji X20—but that Leica M2-R truly remains the unforgettable One That Got Away."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Mike Plews</strong>: "I needed a 120 camera and a friend was paring back his studio. He had three Rolleiflex cameras for sale, a 2.8f a wide Rollei and a Tele Rollei and wanted $125 for each. I bought the 2.8 and passed on the other two. This would have been about 1972 and another $250 was just too rich for my blood."</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>Ouch, and also ouch. For those who don't know, the Tele Rollei and especially the Rollei Wide now sell for roughly $1k and $3k respectively, or they did the last time I looked.</em></p> | |
| <p><strong>Gordon Lewis</strong>: "Here's the thing: All of the cameras I may have lusted for in the past were film cameras, which means that if I had bought them they would either be sitting unused with the other film cameras I did buy or I would have sold them. So no, no regrets there. As for digital cameras, I find it hard to project much glory or emotional satisfaction onto them. They're just recalcitrant tools I have to bend to my will to get the job done."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Tom Hassler</strong>: "For me, it wasn't a camera or other gear, but two beautiful prints that got away. It was 1979. I was living in L.A. and saw two Arnold Newman prints in a gallery priced at $400 each. One was his iconic portrait of Igor Stravinsky, the other a lesser known but equally wonderful picture.</p> | |
| <p>"I was newly in the working world and money was tight. I re-visited the gallery three times in the next month to look at the prints, each time wishing and hoping I could find a way to make a purchase. In the end I had to pass in the interest of paying my rent. In retrospect, I may have made the wrong choice.</p> | |
| <p>"I've thought of these events many times over the years. The lesson learned was 'find a way to make it happen.' Some opportunities only come along once.</p> | |
| <p>"P.S. Taking my own advice, I just made it in under the wire on the latest Caponigro print sale!"</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>I hear ya Tom. I had a chance to buy one of these in the '80s for $1,200, and almost pulled the trigger but didn't:</em></p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ab173f970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Koudelkaprint" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ab173f970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0ab173f970c-800wi" title="Koudelkaprint" /></a></p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>That's from a Christie's auction page. That print was almost certainly made by Voja Mitrovic, by the way.</em></p> | |
| <p><strong>John Boeckeler</strong>: "The one that got away from me was a beautiful little Retina IIIc folding rangefinder that I traded in for a used Nikon S1 at Ferrante-Dege in 1963. I don't remember why I did it—probably just because I wanted a Nikon—but I missed that beautiful Retina. I bought it at the PX in Port Lyautey, Morocco in 1958.</p> | |
| <p>"I got a Rollei 3.5F there the same year for about $150 and ran many, many rolls of film through it over the years until the film transport mechanism finally gave out for good about 1998 and couldn't be repaired for lack of parts. I've had a lot of cameras over the years, but for sheer use and production none could beat the 3.5F. As for the Nikon S1, I gave it to my wife when I got a Pentax Spotmatic in 1966."</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>You've enjoyed some "camera aristocrats" over the years.</em></p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/HnhtgtBonP0" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/the-one-that-got-away.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Last Hour! Last Chance</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/0JoTIcXzh6g/last-hour-last-chance.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/last-hour-last-chance.html" thr:count="2" thr:updated="2014-12-16T12:28:09-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c52076970d</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-15T16:00:56-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-16T08:24:38-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>This is the last hour of our current Paul and John Paul Caponigro Print Sale. The sale ends at 5 p.m. New York time—that's 10 p.m. in London, and 7 a.m. Tuesday morning in Tokyo. John Paul will extend it...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Photographers, current" /> | |
| <category term="Print Offers" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c52256970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Caponigro2" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c52256970d img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c52256970d-350wi" style="width: 350px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Caponigro2" /></a></p> | |
| <p>This is the last hour of our current <a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=FB03C5C7-E8FF-4763-B872-2E1528AFE1D0&pid=778d66b84073463caa0bdac424f556c6" target="_blank">Paul and John Paul Caponigro Print Sale</a>.</p> | |
| <p>The sale ends at 5 p.m. New York time—that's 10 p.m. in London, and 7 a.m. Tuesday morning in Tokyo. John Paul will extend it a little bit for West Coasters (and Aussies in Perth).</p> | |
| <p>Otherwise this really is the last chance for this work, as the father/son print pair was created for this sale and will be retired permanently when the sale ends...it won't be offered again under any circumstances for any price. It's a great piece—you will love it when you see it.</p> | |
| <p>The first six prints have already shipped. The rest will go out by mid-week. Most people will get theirs in plenty of time for Christmas.</p> | |
| <p>A bit of news: this print, like the last father-son print pairing we featured, has been accepted for the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.</p> | |
| <p>Buyers of the print will receive a free copy of the e-book <a href="http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/store/ebooks/two-generations/" target="_blank"><em>Two Generations</em></a>, which is a nice sampling of the work of both of them.</p> | |
| <p><em><strong>Revivalist</strong></em><br />Personally, I think it's high time for a Paul Caponigro revival. Paul is 82, and has been a major American landscape and still life photographer since the 1960s. He's never fallen into obscurity, never been ignored; he's still well known, and his work still sells well. At the same time, he's not as well known as some other photographers of his generation and level of accomplishment, and almost none of his many books are in print...which is a shame as his medium has been the book as much as the fine print. He really deserves an Indian Summer, a bloom of appreciation for his wonderful career and superlative work.</p> | |
| <p>He's been one of the most important photographers for me for most of my life. Here are a few words I wrote about Paul many years ago:</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>It is easy enough to mistake Caponigro for a mere landscapist; but it would be about as accurate as categorizing Diane Arbus as a portraitist, or Emmet Gowin as a maker of family snapshots. Caponigro is a spiritualist, a seeker, a mystic.</em></p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>In general, the old saw about photographers wanting to show the substance beneath their subject, the soul of the machine, is nothing but a conceit—photographs are concerned with surface, not with substance, and they are infinitely better at showing how things look as opposed to how they are. But every one of us has had the experience of being in a place and suddenly having the hackles on the back of the neck stand up, as if an extraordinary insight had angled in upon us, or a ghost had flitted past. Paul Caponigro has managed to make a career of showing us those moments in photographs—and not by relying on symbolic shorthand, tricks, or gimmicks, either, which makes his accomplishment all the more remarkable. Somehow, by picking his spots with extreme care and fanatically eking the greatest descriptiveness possible out of the medium’s materials, he manages to compress those moments, those insights, into a square of gray. Many nature photographers please us by showing us nature as we might relate to her; Caponigro elicits awe by suggesting a nature entirely independent of us. </em>[<em>His work is</em>]<em> not about the world of appearances, but of the Spiritus Mundi that exists outside of time.</em></p> | |
| <p><a href="http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/photographers/conversations/paul-caponigro/" target="_blank">Here's a link to a great conversation</a> between Paul and John Paul—there are lots of insights in it, both about them, and for you and your own work.</p> | |
| <p>If you purchased one of these prints, thank you. Remember to give it time; Caponigro photographs never grab you by the shirtfront, but reveal themselves slowly across time and through repeated, renewed contemplation.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Fer</strong>: "That conversation you linked to made my day. Thanks."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/0JoTIcXzh6g" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/last-hour-last-chance.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Ugliest Camera of This Millennium</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/TRsvNEJqF6o/ugliest-camera-of-this-millennium.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/ugliest-camera-of-this-millennium.html" thr:count="29" thr:updated="2014-12-21T11:16:00-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c4f2da970d</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-15T12:41:05-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-16T08:23:53-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>This is too funny. Longtime readers might remember that we awarded the palm for the "World's ugliest camera" in the Sam Memorial Dog Camera Award, in 2006. The winner (and still champion) was the Simmons Brothers Omega 120. Given the...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Cameras, new" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This is too funny. Longtime readers might remember that we awarded the palm for the "World's ugliest camera" in the <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.blogspot.com/2006/04/sam-memorial-dog-camera-award.html" target="_blank">Sam Memorial Dog Camera Award</a>, in 2006. The winner (and still champion) was the Simmons Brothers Omega 120.</p> | |
| <p>Given the huge number of cameras ever made, this pinnacle is rarified indeed.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c4f16b970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Brikkdf" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c4f16b970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c4f16b970d-800wi" title="Brikkdf" /></a></p> | |
| <p>Well, I think we have a subcategory winner for the 2000s...this delightful horror is the Brikk Nikon Dƒ, which costs $41,395 and is for those who like to flaunt their wealth and bad taste in equal measure. The plating is 24-carat gold and the leather is stingray skin. What? I said <em>stingray skin</em>.</p> | |
| <p>Limited to 77 copies, which is fine as long as I never have to see two or more at once.</p> | |
| <p><a href="http://www.brikk.com/" target="_blank">Brikk</a> normally sells gold-plated i-Phones and gold-plated versions of other smartphones to people who have never had lots of money before and don't know how to behave. I kid, I kid...no hate mail, please, gold-plated smartphone users—yours looks good.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em><br /><span style="font-size: 10pt;">(Thanks to Stephen Scharf)</span></p> | |
| <p><strong>Correction</strong>: <em>Sorry about the bad link earlier. Fixed now. Blogging really is like being the helmsman of a ship—you can't leave your post for more than a few minutes or bad things can happen.</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">You're only as ugly as your worst purchase</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Kent</strong>: "OMG, that thing is horrible. I rarely post these days, but I'm afraid the horror of that apparition is so severe that my reflexes have taken over and I'm just going to have to barf all over your otherwise very fine blog."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/TRsvNEJqF6o" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/ugliest-camera-of-this-millennium.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Open Mike: Collectibles</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/nd6mY13_YJw/open-mike-collectibles.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/open-mike-collectibles.html" thr:count="42" thr:updated="2014-12-17T08:53:34-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b7c71f5163970b</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-14T11:24:11-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-17T12:55:13-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Although I love cameras, at times to the point of obsession, I've always had an ambivalent attitude towards collectibles. Leica at one point in its spotty history seemed to be keeping itself afloat with a variety of special edition M6's....</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Cameras, old" /> | |
| <category term="Open Mike" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c71f4dad970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="float: right;"><img alt="Bruckner" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c71f4dad970b img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c71f4dad970b-250wi" style="width: 250px; margin: 0px 0px 5px 5px;" title="Bruckner" /></a>Although I love cameras, at times to the point of obsession, I've always had an ambivalent attitude towards collectibles. Leica at one point in its spotty history seemed to be keeping itself afloat with a variety of special edition M6's. There was, for example, the Platinum Anton Bruckner Edition, because who doesn't associate tough little rangefinders with 19th-century Romantic composers with arrested-adolescent problems?—and who doesn't associate Anton Bruckner with powder-blue lizard skin?—and the China-only, gold-plated, $29,300 special edition commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Peoples Republic of China, which had "Long Live the People’s Republic of China" engraved on the top plate in what one website described as "Mao-style calligraphy." (The Anton Bruckner edition had a small portrait of Bruckner engraved on its top plate, and Blackletter-style, um, "calligraphy.") Nothing says 60 years of communism like a $29,000 camera! The admittedly awesome <a href="http://www.kpraslowicz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/packer_leica.jpg" target="_blank">1997 Green Bay Packers commemorative</a> (warning: shield your eyes as you open that link) somehow failed to find buyers, and most ended up being destroyed. Apparently one is able to keep one's head if it is made of cheese*.</p> | |
| <p>Of course I have to admit there were some very sensible special editions. The black-paint Leica Historical Society of America (LSHA) M6 <a href="https://www.cameraquest.com/lm6lhsa.htm" target="_blank">was wonderful</a>, and actually made sense—the LHSA is, after all, a society of Leica enthusiasts.</p> | |
| <p>Strangely, something in the vicinity of 1,500 of each of the uncommissioned special editions were made, which was a very fortunate coincidence in that there were known to be about 1,500 deep-pocketed "completist" Leica collectors worldwide. It was really lucky how that happened to work out.</p> | |
| <p>Leica is far from the only culprit when it comes to collectibles. Doesn't this thing just make you want to take it out and beat the crap out of it?</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c40141970d-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Pentaxgold" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401bb07c40141970d image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401bb07c40141970d-800wi" title="Pentaxgold" /></a><span style="font-size: 8pt;">Photo by Josh/ephotozine</span></p> | |
| <p>That's not the weirdest gold Pentax, even. There was a gold K1000, which, given that the K1000 was a basic, cheap student workhorse, was a bit conflicted conceptually.</p> | |
| <p>I think I did hear of one intelligent application of a special edition once: it was a portrait photographer who allegedly used a <a href="http://www.fotografiareflex.net/Rolleiflex28Fau.jpg" target="_blank">Rollei Aurum</a> because it helped make him memorable to his clients—he used it as a conversation piece and sort of a signature. Hey, whatever works.</p> | |
| <p>(The Rollei Aurum was issued in an edition of 1,500. Hmm.)</p> | |
| <p>I have to wonder about the fate of the collectible in the digital era. Right now you can get a Hasselblad Stellar for <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1059912-REG/hasselblad_1105024_hasselblad_stellar.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">a whopping $2,300 off,</a> which has to qualify as the best savings of the season—although it bends my mind, because why would anyone want to save $2,300 on a camera that was originally marked up by about the same amount in order to make it into a status object? And what does the sale price do to the peace of mind of the 17 guys who bought one at full price? Lastly, how can one be sanguine about acquiring digital collectibles if the value is just going to drop off them like scales off your eyes?</p> | |
| <p>Then again, it is just a Sony RX100 (not the II or III). Maybe the people picking them up on sale are Sony collectors.</p> | |
| <p>I'm sure there are people out there collecting digital cameras. But probably not 1,500 of them. Digital cameras don't age well. They break, and become outmoded and unsupported. And let's face facts—since cameras became computers, it just hasn't been as much fun to tart them up in gold plating and lizard skin and name them for the King of Thailand. They're electronic devices, and electronic devices just don't age as well as mechanical ones. Of course, collectors never use their cameras anyway, but it comforts them to know they could if they wanted to**.</p> | |
| <p>If you have the collector bug, I suggest <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008B8WN6M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B008B8WN6M&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=WPWH34XGYBTRYSY4" target="_blank">book collecting</a>***. Books are the perfect collectible, with a vast history as such and endless possibilities for personal customization of your principles of collection. And as long as you can see to read and you manage to keep it in decent shape, the technology of a book will never let you down.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">*For those of you not from here, Packer fans and by extension people from Wisconsin are sometimes very admiringly called "cheeseheads" by envious people whose football teams are not as covered with glory and/or cheddar.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">**Saying that reminds me of someone who did, and of one of the most delightful camera books ever: Ivor Matanle's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0500276560/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0500276560&linkCode=as2&tag=theonlinephot-20&linkId=OOPMX2PZHWTCNNF7" target="_blank"><em>Collecting and Using Classic Cameras</em></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=theonlinephot-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0500276560" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. Anyone who likes cameras might enjoy spending some time in Ivor's good company.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">***Speaking of being conflicted conceptually...Basbanes' <em>A Gentle Madness</em> for the <em>Kindle</em> is right up there! A great book on the subject, though, and a fun read if you're a book lover.<br /></span></p> | |
| <p><em>"Open Mike" is the editorial page of TOP, meaning, regular plain old TOP posts but gussied up with gold plating and lizard skin. Yr. Hmbl. Ed. has a small but well-loved collection of photography books, and no gold cameras.<br /></em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">Pave your streets with the yellow metal</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Robert Hudyma</strong>: "You missed <a href="http://www.kpraslowicz.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/hellokiity-m6.jpg" target="_blank">the 'Hello Kitty' Leica M6</a>; it never came to North America. Do you think that Oskar Barnack would have produced this model?"</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>Just so everyone knows, the Hello Kitty M6, like the Packers M6, is a spoof (pre-existing, though—I had nothing to do with either.)</em></p> | |
| <p><strong>Ben Rosengart</strong>: "I have a counterexample to your last sentence. My copy of Alberto Schommer's delightful <em>Flamenco</em> photobook is coming apart at the binding. I bought it new and have taken good care of it, so I can only conclude that it was badly manufactured."</p> | |
| <p><strong>The Lazy Aussie</strong>: "Mao had very striking calligraphy. Spiky and bold. You can see many examples adorning university entrances and suchlike in China. It's a style I would very much like to be able to emulate."</p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/nd6mY13_YJw" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/open-mike-collectibles.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Caponigro Print vs. JPEG</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/MahcaCxHrpM/caponigro-print-vs-jpeg.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/caponigro-print-vs-jpeg.html" thr:count="8" thr:updated="2014-12-16T13:00:02-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b7c71ef06c970b</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-13T17:35:13-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-13T20:27:30-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Many times, buyers of our prints have expressed their surprise at how different the real thing is from the JPEG they saw online. I feel like I'm used to that, in a general way. And yet I still was unprepared...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Print Offers" /> | |
| <content type="html" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"> | |
| <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p><a class="asset-img-link" style="display: inline;" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a88cc1970c-popup"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a88cc1970c image-full img-responsive" title="Caponigro2" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a88cc1970c-800wi" alt="Caponigro2" border="0" /></a></p> | |
| <p>Many times, buyers of our prints have expressed their surprise at how different the real thing is from the JPEG they saw online. I feel like I'm used to that, in a general way. And yet I still was unprepared for my own reaction to the real print.</p> | |
| <p>Something about this print (<a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=FB03C5C7-E8FF-4763-B872-2E1528AFE1D0&pid=778d66b84073463caa0bdac424f556c6" target="_blank">here's the link</a>) really grabs me. Since the proof arrived here five or six days ago I've been looking at it a lot. What I like about it doesn't seem to exist in the JPEG above, and yet I'm not able to quite put my finger on what it is.</p> | |
| <p>I don't think the print is exceptional in any technical sense. It's more vivid, richer, deeper, than you might think it is based on the JPEG. But that's to be expected.</p> | |
| <p>Ctein sensed it right away. Privately he wrote to me:</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>I am seriously torn. I don't really have the cash right now, but I missed out on their last sale. The thing is, I honestly can't tell from the JPEG on the website whether this photograph appeals to me. I think that too much of its impact is based on fine detail that comes out looking like oatmeal in a low-resolution JPEG. Unlike their first one, I think the devil will be in the details (to coin a phrase).</em></p> | |
| <p>It's not fine detail, I don't think. Maybe it's that the texture of the print so clearly speaks of the texture of stone. The blacks seem to sparkle.</p> | |
| <p>There's something deep and amazing about the colors hiding in the color print, too. Again it's not technical—it's not bright or saturated. Rather the opposite—it's very subtle, yet it seems to glow. Do you notice the reddishness inside the opening in the wall? It sings in relation to the colors shimmering in the stone. It seems...mysterious.</p> | |
| <p>Whatever it is about this print, it gets to me. I've put it under the pendant lights in the kitchen and I stop to look at it every time I go by. And even though I'm used to such things, it seems further from the JPEG you see here than most prints are from their online representations. I can't really guess if you're going to like it as much as I do. But I think you'll be amazed by how different the effect is. Unfortunately it sort of points out one of the inherent limitations of online sales—at least in a gallery you see exactly what you're buying before you decide whether to buy it. This is a print that should be seen.</p> | |
| <p>(You <em>can</em> return it for a full refund if you don't like it, I should point out. All our sales are "satisfaction guaranteed.")</p> | |
| <p>I'm already planning to frame this one with low-reflectance museum glass, in the hope that it will allow the paper texture to make it through the glass.</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" style="display: inline;" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a88e62970c-popup"><img class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a88e62970c image-full img-responsive" title="Paulcaponigro" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a88e62970c-800wi" alt="Paulcaponigro" border="0" /></a></p> | |
| <p>John Paul took his Black and White Mastery Workshop to visit Paul on Thursday and, purely by chance, Paul pulled out the silver gelatin version of his image included in our print—along with an alternate version. Here he is showing it to the workshop participants.</p> | |
| <p>Here's <a href="http://www.1shoppingcart.com/SecureCart/SecureCart.aspx?mid=FB03C5C7-E8FF-4763-B872-2E1528AFE1D0&pid=778d66b84073463caa0bdac424f556c6" target="_blank">the link to the print again</a>, if you're interested. The sale ends Monday, at 4:00 p.m. Central Time.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p>No featured comments yet—please check back soon!</p></div> | |
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| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/caponigro-print-vs-jpeg.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
| <entry> | |
| <title>Gadfly Gives Up or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Digital Black-and-White</title> | |
| <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/bhQP59Ap98k/gadfly-gives-up.html" /> | |
| <link rel="replies" type="text/html" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/gadfly-gives-up.html" thr:count="55" thr:updated="2014-12-18T14:39:45-06:00" /> | |
| <id>tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a8696a970c</id> | |
| <published>2014-12-13T11:35:20-06:00</published> | |
| <updated>2014-12-13T17:47:51-06:00</updated> | |
| <summary>Test shot converted from a Fuji X-trans file Digital took black-and-white away. To me it's the biggest change about the Digital Transition (which I define as 1994–2011). "Black and white are the colors of photography," said Robert Frank. That "are"...</summary> | |
| <author> | |
| <name>Michael Johnston</name> | |
| </author> | |
| <category term="Photographic aesthetics" /> | |
| <content type="xhtml" xml:lang="en-US" xml:base="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/"><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p style="text-align: center;"><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a863c4970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Butterssniffing-small" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a863c4970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a863c4970c-800wi" title="Butterssniffing-small" /></a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Test shot converted from a Fuji X-trans file</span></p> | |
| <p>Digital took black-and-white away.</p> | |
| <p>To me it's the biggest change about the Digital Transition (which <a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2013/04/the-digital-transition-1994-2011.html" target="_blank">I define</a> as 1994–2011). "Black and white are the colors of photography," said Robert Frank. That "are" would now have to be changed to "were."</p> | |
| <p>I've made the point many times that for some of us—those of us who approach working with a camera by learning to see the way the camera and lens sees—being able to convert a color file to B&W is not the same thing as having a camera that only shoots B&W. If the camera natively shoots color, I see in color. Can't help it. People who look at it like it's only a technical question can't see the point in a B&W-only camera; they'd just convert the file. They don't get it: we see with our brains, and if the way you conceive of making pictures is to adapt your brain to the way the camera and lens are recording the image, then you'll only "see" in B&W if that's what your camera is seeing. So for a long time I agitated for dedicated B&W camera, saying I'd buy one when someone made it.</p> | |
| <p>Then someone did...Leica. Leica was a slightly more expensive brand of camera in the marketplace when I got into photography, costing a modest 10 to 30% more than similar Nikon equipment. Now, Leicas are Veblen goods marketed mainly to the carriage trade and cost many multiples of what similar equipment costs.</p> | |
| <p><a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1046770-REG/leica_11081_summicron_t_23_mm_f_2.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">The 23mm ƒ/2 lens</a> for <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1046766-REG/leica_18181_t_digital_camera_silver.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the Leica T</a>, for example, is made (or was originally made; maybe Leica has brought it in-house now) by a no-name Pacific Rim OEM supplier, but Leica charges $1,950 for it. If the very same lens—no magic added or subtracted by mystical means—were marketed by Sigma or Tamron, it would cost 1/10th that much.</p> | |
| <p>If a digital B&W-only camera were marketed by Canon or Fuji, it would cost $795. Leica charges $7,950 for <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/860536-REG/Leica_10760_M_Monochrom_Black_and.html/BI/2144/KBID/2882" target="_blank">the M Monochrom</a>, thus making a liar out of me. I <em>wouldn't</em> buy one, turns out.</p> | |
| <p>I've also been searching for years for a way to make digital B&W look good. It usually doesn't. There are two main reasons for that, first that the technology wasn't good enough, and second, that most people don't have good judgment about tone.</p> | |
| <p>But it's been getting better and better. The first good B&W print I made was shot with the Nikon D700; the first digital B&W print of my work that looked <em>better</em> than a film-on-fiber-base print was the print Ctein made of my photograph "<a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2013/07/random-snap.html" target="_blank">Hands</a>." (Yes, it didn't look quite like film. No, the shadow separation wasn't as good.)</p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a86713970c-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Busttersstanding-small" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a86713970c image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b8d0a86713970c-800wi" title="Busttersstanding-small" /></a></p> | |
| <p>Anyway, I just wanted to report that I am officially resigning from the fray, hanging up my gadfly badge, not gonna complain any more. I've decided that Fuji X-trans files convert <em>well enough</em>, and that I'm going to go ahead and accept the new order: that digital cameras record color, and color photography is the new normal. The shift has happened: black and white are no longer the colors of photography.</p> | |
| <p>Of course, I'm going to continue to make B&W pictures myself, for the simple reason that I like B&W better. It's more expressive to me and I respond (viscerally, elementally, at an emotional level) to tones more than I do to colors. (Always have. Seems to be the way I'm wired. Although of course I can appreciate color photography, my own and others'.)</p> | |
| <p>And Fuji conversions aren't perfect. They don't quite look like film-on-fiber-base. They're...different. A little better in some ways, a little worse in others. But I have officially decided that they're good enough for me.</p> | |
| <p style="text-align: right;"><em>Mike</em></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 10px;">Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.</span></p> | |
| <p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/affiliates.html" target="_blank">It's either one or the other</a></p> | |
| <p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">(<em>To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.</em>)</span><br /><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;">Featured Comments</span></strong> from:</p> | |
| <p><strong>Clayton Jones</strong>: "By early 2004 I had completed my transition to digital after having shot Tri-X for over 20 years in 4x5, 6x7 and 35mm. For two years I struggled with trying to make my pictures have 'the Tri-X look.' I tried many photoshop tricks and various software solutions that claimed to be able to produce that look. Nothing worked and I was constantly frustrated.</p> | |
| <p>"Finally one day I came to the realization that I was suffering needlessly. Digital B&W had its own form of beauty and I needed to let go of the past and tune into the new. My frustration vanished, my pictures got better, and I began to see the inherent beauty in this new medium. And now I'm in the process of living happily ever after.</p> | |
| <p>"I love the B&W prints I'm making (with the Epson R3000 on Hot Press Natural) and my long time love for B&W photography is as strong as ever. I love working in Photoshop and you couldn't drag me kicking and screaming back to film. I'll always remember how hard it was to let go and what a huge difference it made when I did."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Joe Holmes</strong>: "Re 'If the camera natively shoots color, I see in color. Can't help it.'</p> | |
| <p>"Absolutely.</p> | |
| <p>"One day walking down the street a couple years ago, I spotted a scene I wanted to shoot. So I lifted the camera to my eye and suddenly had a dizzying moment of disorientation. I had been walking along as usual looking at the world through the mental filter of the lens that's typically on my camera—but I'd put a different lens on as I walked out the door, and I'd forgotten about it.</p> | |
| <p>"That was moment I realized that I often walk around in mental-camera mode, framing the world as I'm able to shoot it. When my camera is on my hip, it does me no good to look at the world in a way I can't shoot. I stop seeing other modes when mentally framing.</p> | |
| <p>"Though I love B&W, I haven't shot it for probably 25 years, but I know it's the same. If I carried a B&W-only camera, that's how I'd be framing the world—but not otherwise."</p> | |
| <p><strong>Gingerbaker</strong>: "If you could turn off the color saturation of the Fuji electronic viewfinder, would you do it?"</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>No. I don't have any need to have the camera make the conversion for me. I'm very used to translating the real world to B&W in my head. My problem is that when I know the camera records color, then I anticipate that. When it records B&W, then I anticipate that.</em></p> | |
| <p><strong>John Krumm</strong>: "After over a month of shooting almost all digital black and white (seeing black and white in the viewfinder, importing with a black and white preset) it feels like my brain has changed. Every once in a while I will see a shot, maybe one out of one hundred, that I think might look good in color, so Ill shoot it for that purpose. At the very least, my impression is that I'm becoming a more discriminating color photographer. If I change a photo to color, my usual reaction now is "yuck" and I quckly change it back. It's a strange thing."</p> | |
| <p><strong>marcin wuu:</strong> "What I find interesting in this (and previous) posts about black-and-white photography is, how these shots really aren't. They're actually dark gray and light gray. Noticeably the black is absent. It's like there's something inherently wrong with the colour (or actually, lack of it) black. They're smooth and have lots of detail and fine transitions from darktones to light, but no real punch—like they follow a rule of no contrast. Why is it so?"</p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong>Mike replies</strong>: <em>Because that's what I like. Look at Henry Wessel's prints—they're less contrasty than mine. Look at Ralph Gibson's prints for a counterexample: virtually every one of his pictures has strong blacks. Most black-and-white photographers (the ones who do their own printing) have their own taste, their own aesthetic. Black-and-white allows for a very wide range of interpretation.</em></p> | |
| <p><a class="asset-img-link" href="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c71ef120970b-popup" onclick="window.open( this.href, '_blank', 'width=640,height=480,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0' ); return false" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Butterssniffing-alt" border="0" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00df351e888f883401b7c71ef120970b image-full img-responsive" src="http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/.a/6a00df351e888f883401b7c71ef120970b-800wi" title="Butterssniffing-alt" /></a></p> | |
| <p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>For instance, here's an alternate interpretation. I'm not saying this is worse, but it's different. Some people might like it; to me, it's coarse and crude. I don't like it. Since it's my pic, of course, I get to decide.</em></p> | |
| <p><strong>Bruce Robbins</strong>: "Well done, Mike. I'm pleased you've found a way of shooting and enjoying black and white again. I'm sticking with film but not because I think it offers better quality than digital. I just prefer the whole process of shooting with film, from choosing the right film, loading the camera, not having an LCD to bother about, to developing the film and making a print in the darkroom. For most digital shooters, these seem to be inconveniences, but for me and my band of blog readers we'll never give them up. <em>LONG LIVE FILM!"</em></p><xhtml:img xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" src="//feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~4/bhQP59Ap98k" height="1" width="1" /></div></content> | |
| <feedburner:origLink>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2014/12/gadfly-gives-up.html</feedburner:origLink></entry> | |
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