The mediageek’s World Toy Camera Day adventure

Today was the 2011 edition of World Toy Camera Day, an annual celebration of plastic cameras that were never intended for serious use. But in this era of powerful digital cameras and endless Photoshopping, many people, like myself, have embraced the imperfection and random chance introduced by toy cameras that refuse to let you control their functions like a good SLR would. To me WTCD is not anti-SLR or a jeremiad against careful, well-planned and executed photography. Rather, is a day to embrace that there are many approaches to photography and art, and sometimes focusing only on what’s in the viewfinder without any ability to adjust exposure, zoom or even focus, can be refreshing and fun.

I’ve celebrated WTCD in some form for about five years now. I have only a small stable of toy cameras. While I greatly enjoy them, I don’t need to have too many, because it’s a rare toy that performs that differently than the others. Unfortunately, as I packed up for today’s WTCD excursion I found that one of my planned companions, my Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim, was a little broken. It’s take up reel seemed not to be moving in tandem with the thumbwheel, meaning I would be hard pressed to exposure more than one shot. The Viv is much beloved by toy camera enthusiasts because it has a unique combination of utter plastic crappiness combined with a very wide 22mm lens that flares like hell when the sun is anywhere near it. I bought mine for a buck at a thrift store. I believe its previous owner probably got it for free as a freebie gift with a magazine subscription.

The UW&S became a cult item after Vivitar quit making them, driving up used and old-stock prices above $30, which is absurd for a camera that has the build quality of a gumball machine toy. Now there are Japanese knockoffs available in cute colors for about $30, but I’m not sure I’m willing to drop that kind of coin. I may attempt a fix of my UW&S, but this afternoon wasn’t the time.

I went looking for a couple of other toys and found neither of them was functioning correctly either. My Paul Frank Julius the Monkey camera actually has a motor wind mechanism and fresh batteries didn’t seem to make it run. A friend gave me a version of the famous Time Magazine camera last year. I had yet to put film through it and found this afternoon that it was good for only one shutter fire. Maybe it just needs some WD-40. But again, time was awasting, so I put it back in the box.

Luckily the wonderful Blackbird, Fly 35mm TLR my wife gave me last year is still in fine functioning condition. So I loaded her up with film and was ready to go.

However, I do like to have at least two cameras on me for World Toy Camera Day. That’s because some shots need a different focal length or sometimes I keep different film in the different cameras, sometimes loading up one with black and white an another with color. The Blackbird, Fly takes photos in a portrait angle, unlike the landscape position of most 35mm cameras. It has a moderately wide lens at 33mm, which means you need to get close to your subject.

Without another film toy camera at my disposal I decided that this would be the first year I’d allow myself a digital camera. Luckily I have a digital camera that pretty much fits the bill as a toy. My Aiptek Pencam SD has long been out of production, sporting just 1.3 megapixels of resolution, but conveniently recording photos to an SD card, making it easier to transfer to a computer. It’s lens is tiny and plastic, and it was never marketed as a serious camera. Instead it was a cheap drugstore alternative to much more expensive digital cameras back when it was new in the early 2000s.

Now equipped with my Blackbird, Fly loaded with 400 speed Walgreen’s film and my Pencam SD I headed out to North Lincoln Ave in Chicago to celebrate WTCD with a few hours of photowalking. I truly enjoy having the time to just walk and take photos of interesting things I find. As I focus on locating subjects and then composing pictures all my other thoughts and worries melt away. It’s very relaxing and satisfying.

I have to take my film in to get processed, but my Pencam SD photos are already edited. In the spirit of not Photoshopping, these pics are unedited. In particular, I did no cropping whatsoever. The viewfinder of the Pencam is only sorta accurate, but to crop later would for me spoil the spirit of WTCD, which is to embrace the lack of complete control. You can check out my growing set of WTCD 2011 photos at flickr.

Admiring Sony’s new NEX-7 but easily resisting the urge

Sony announced a pile of new digital cameras yesterday. I was quite pleased to hear about them, despite the fact that I have no immediate plans to buy one. As I’ve shared here, I’m very happy with my Sony NEX-5 compact interchangeable lens camera. I like having a cam that’s the size of an advanced point-and-shoot, but with a dSLR-sized sensor that delivers better overall quality, and much better low light performance without a flash.

Sony announced a high-end NEX camera, a “prosumer” version if you will, called the NEX-7. I must admit that I do have a little bit of camera lust because it sports a very high resolution 25 megapixel sensor, along with an actual electronic viewfinder, inside a body a little bit bigger than my NEX-5. However, I don’t really know what I’d do with 25 megapixels, since that kind of resolution is mostly useful for very large prints, which I don’t make.

More importantly, I just don’t need a new camera, and I’m resistant to the perpetual upgrade mentality that our contemporary consumer electronics culture perpetuates. Not a single thing about my NEX-5 has changed since Tuesday, the day before the NEX-7 was announced. Like all tools, there are little niggles that bug me about the NEX-5 that might be better on the NEX-7. But I honestly can’t think of one concrete way in which my photography would improve if I only replaced my NEX-5 with the NEX-7.

There’s a oft-repeated adage in photography that “it’s the photographer, not the camera.” (Or as photography blogger & gadfly Ken Rockwell puts it, “it’s not about your camera.”) In general terms, I most certainly agree. An experienced photographer knows a camera well enough to know how to get the picture he needs from it. Many great cameras have been used to take crappy, or just mundane, photos.

An experienced photographer also knows when a particular tool is not right for the job. But this caveat has more to do with significant differences than minor upgrades. For instance, a 110 film camera is likely an inferior choice to shoot a photo for a billboard as compared to a medium-format camera with a much larger negative. That’s a fairly extreme example, but the idea should be clear.

Looking at the NEX-7, even though there seem to be operational improvements–like the addition of two customizable control dials–that may make it easier to control the camera, I can’t say that will necessarily result in better photographs than what I’m taking now. Just because I might want it doesn’t necessarily mean I need it, or that it will even be that much of a real improvement in my actual photography. My photography will improve more if I just go out and thoughtfully shoot more photos than if I save up for or buy a new camera instead.

So then, why do I care about the NEX-7? Frankly, I’m glad to know that Sony seems to be committed to further developing the NEX line of cameras. Along with the 7 Sony also announced three new E-mount lenses that fit the NEXes. Despite the fact that many photographers upgrade cameras with every change of season, for me a digital camera is not an insignificant purchase. I like a camera body to last me years, not months. Therefore I would prefer not to feel like someone who purchased a brand new $500 HP Touchpad a month ago, only to see the whole product line now discontinued and clearance priced at 99 bucks.

Even if Sony did abandon the NEX line it wouldn’t be the end of the world. My camera and lenses would still work, and I don’t really need to buy that many more lenses or accessories. Nevertheless, I am glad to know that there’s a good chance that in five years or more Sony will have an up-to-date NEX model camera available should I need to replace mine or upgrade.

I will continue shooting with my NEX-5, feeling just a little more secure that my favorite little camera isn’t an orphan.

Speaking of my NEX-5, I recently purchased a cheap and fun little lens that easily adapts to the NEX, and that won’t work with a bigger dSLR. That will be the subject of my next photography post.

Surprised to enjoy my Panasonic ZS6 travel-zoom camera

Most serious photographers like having a pocket point-and-shoot camera to throw in their bag or keep in a pocket, so that they’re rarely without a camera. It’s the idea behind the adage, the best camera is the one you have with you.

However, if you are serious about photography you tend to like to have some manual control over your camera and the potential to obtain technically good pictures in a variety of conditions. My first digital camera was a point-in-shoot, Olympus Stylus 300, which I bought in 2003. It had no manual controls, but I wasn’t very good at using manual controls then anyway. I upgraded in 2005 to another Olympus, the Stylus 800, which jumped me to 8 megapixels, better ability to take low light pictures without a flash and manual controls. Then in 2008 I bought an Olympus 830 on eBay. It had a longer 5x zoom lens, but no manual controls. I gave the 800 to my wife, but it felt like the 830 was a step down in picture quality and control from the 800.

There are several models of point-and-shoot camera that offer that combo of compactness, manual control and good picture quality, but they’re also on the expensive end of the spectrum. And I’m cheap. But earlier this summer I found a camera deal that I’ve been quite satisfied with.

At the daily deal site woot.com I bought a Panasonic DMC-ZS6 for about $130. I was drawn to the camera’s long 12x zoom lens, combined with real manual controls, like aperture and shutter priority. It was a clearance because it’s a year-old model, and one that was primarily sold at warehouse stores like Costco. While the zoom is long, the widest point is a very nice 24mm equivalent. The camera is a member of what has come to be called the “travel zoom” class of cameras, offering long lenses in a compact package. However, the lens is not particularly fast, with a maximum aperture of f/3.3 at the widest, but a relatively fast f/4.9 at the full 12x zoom, which is better than the f/5.6 or f/6.3 you might find in other cameras.

The camera is little bigger than the most compact point-and-shoots, but I’ve found it to be no big deal to have in a bag. It’s not great for a pocket, but few cameras are. It’s still very compact for having such a long zoom. The optical image stabilization is also very effective, letting me take still sharp photos at the maximum zoom range.

A nice feature Panasonic has added to it’s travel-zoom cameras is the ability to extend the zoom range by reducing the pixel count. While many cameras offer a so-called “digital zoom” which really just blows up the picture like in Photoshop, Panasonic actually let’s you take a picture from patches of the center part of the sensor. The camera’s normal resolution is 12 megapixels, but you can take photos at 8 MP with a zoom of 14.7x, 5 MP at 18.8x or 3 MP at 23.4x. The effect is the same as cropping the photo later in your editing app, but in the field it’s nice to be able to just shoot it that way, seeing accurately on the screen what you’re going to get, without having to edit later. The quality is much better than a digital zoom if you don’t mind the smaller pixel count. For 4×6 prints or the web 8 MP or even 5 MP have plenty of resolution, and are good for even 5×7 or 8×10 prints.

I think the camera performs very well up to 400 ISO, and is quite acceptable even at 800 or 1600 ISO, provided you don’t underexpose. When it comes to exposure I find that the camera is pretty spot-on, requiring me to compensate only when exposure is typically challenging.

I’ve even used the camera to shoot a rock concert in a small theater and managed pretty reasonable results shooting from the middle of the place. Being able to set the exposure manually–fixing both the shutter and aperture–allowed me to get many more decent shots under low light and lots of action than if I had to rely on the camera to meter for each one.

I expected I would like the camera, but also thought that the compromises in terms of lens speed and size would keep it from being a constant companion. So I was surprised to find that it has become my grab and go camera, especially when I don’t want to think about selecting lenses or packing a kit.

Still, if I’m going to be more serious about my picture taking on an outing or trip I choose my Sony NEX-5, which is a bit bigger with a lens, but a much better performer until almost all conditions. But sometimes even the NEX is more camera than I want to carry, or I’m going somewhere I don’t want to worry about having a more expensive camera. In that case I don’t hesitate to bring my Panasonic ZS6.

Although it’s a 2010 model camera, you can still find the ZS6 online. You might not find it for as cheap as I got mine, but it does pop up at Woot and other deal sites with some regularity. Although I haven’t tried them, the Panasonic DMC-ZS5 and ZS7 are very similar cameras that ought to offer the same performance. Also, if you want a current model-year camera the Panasonic ZS8 and ZS10 should perform at least as well.

It is a great time to be cheap-skate photographer.

Shooting with Nikon lenses on the Sony NEX-5

This past Sunday, with grey skies but temperatures in the lows 60s (F), I had a chance to go out for a nice photowalk with my new Sony NEX-5. I took along three lenses, all primes. For wide-angle shots I brought the Sony 16mm e-mount lens, which is equivalent to a 24mm lens on a full-frame camera. Putting to use my Fotodiox Nikon F-mount adapter, I took a 28mm f/3.5 Nikkor and a DeJUR 135mm f/2.8, both likely dating from the mid-70s. The 28mm is nearly equivalent to a normal lens, if slightly wide, and the DeJUR makes for a long telephoto, equivalent to about 200mm on a full-frame camera.

The two F-mount lenses are heavy metal beasts with manual aperture adjustment and focus. When mounted to the diminutive NEX the camera more than quadruples in weight, looking fairly disproportionate.

At the same time, mounted with these big manual lenses, the NEX looks a lot like Sony’s pro-sumer so-called “bridge cameras” from the early and mid 2000s. Models like the F707 and F828 both feature a non-detachable large lens barrel attaches to a relatively small camera body. Sony also used a similar design for their first large sensor camera, the R1. In many ways the R1 is the closest predecessor to the NEX line, in that the R1 featured an APS-C sized sensor, just like most dSLRs, but without a mirror-reflex viewfinder, using a small electronic viewfinder (EVF) and rear LCD, like the NEX. Unlike the NEX the R1 had a fixed, non-interchangeable zoom lens, and so the camera as a whole was much bigger, and SLR-like in dimensions.

Being able to mount lenses of all different brands and mounts was one of the features that really attracted me to the NEX, and using these F-mount lenses on the NEX-5 was no disappointment. Although this requires that you manually select your aperture on the lens and also manually focus, I found this to be no more difficult than using an older manual film SLR. The NEX lets you magnify the view on the LCD by 7x or 14x which greatly helps in getting very accurate focus. I often enjoy using manual film cameras because they force you to slow down and focus on getting the image rather than having the camera set everything and just blasting away. Thus I really enjoyed having this manual-camera experience with my digital NEX on this photowalk.

Most old manual focus lenses have a distance scale printed on them, so you can easily set them for particular focus distance ahead of time, and then just fine tune when you need to. This is the way many users of rangefinder cameras shoot, especially when street shooting, where capturing the “decisive moment” is more important that perfectly accurate focus and exposure. In fact I was pleased with some grab shots I got with guesstimated focus, like this one below, which was featured on the Chicago news and culture blog, Chicagoist:

Shooting with an old manual lens means that you don’t interact with the NEX’s control interface and menus very much, except to set ISO and to magnify the image on the LCD. Using such a lens wouldn’t be my choice for shooting events or other situations where I need to obtain accurate focus quickly. Nevertheless, it’s a very nice experience.

The Fotodiox F-mount adapter I used works very well, mounting very surely to both the NEX and the lens. With these manual lenses you just move it’s aperture level to “lock,” and then you’re ready to select the aperture using the lens. With the adapter you get a very WYSIWYG experience on the LCD, getting an effective depth-of-field preview because the lens is already stopped-down. On modern SLRs the aperture only stops down when you press the shutter, therefore what you see in the viewfinder is always the lens at its maximum aperture. In order to compensate for the reduced light coming through the lens the NEX brightens the LCD. I primarily shoot aperture-priority, so the camera still chose the shutter speed, which I adjusted using exposure compensation. But, by and large, I found the NEX’s meter to be very predictable and spot-on most of the time, barely needing any compensation even when shooting something against the sky.

The physical balance of the camera with either of these two lenses wasn’t too bad, though the large 135mm lens felt heavy after a while. Given that one of the big pluses of the NEX is its small size and weight, the 135 will not be a frequent choice for me, except for those rare occasions when I want a camera with that kind of telephoto reach at a still reasonable size. The Nikkor 28mm lens felt more reasonable and therefore made for a more pleasant shooting experience.

Still, I would prefer to find a prime lens of a normal focal length on the NEX that is smaller and lighter, more proportionate to its body. Currently Sony doesn’t offer anything like that in the native E-mount, but it’s a young camera model. Sony does offer an inexpensive 35mm f/1.8 lens in the Alpha mount for its Alpha line of dSLRs, which will work with the NEX using an adapter. While the Sony 35mm is relatively light weight, combined with the a-mount adapter it will still be fairly long, at about 78mm or nearly 3 and a quarter inches. The advantage of this combination, of course, is that I could use the same lens on my a100 dSLR.

An alternative option I’m considering is the Voigtlander 35mm or 40mm f/1.4 lens in the Leica M-mount. Because they’re designed for rangerfinder cameras that have shorter flange than SLRs, which makes for a smaller lens. Similarly, the adapter for an M-mount lens is also shorter and lighter, making for a smaller overall package.

Finally, I also enjoyed using the Sony 16mm e-mount lens on this photowalk. Having now set my autofocus point to the center I got very predictable focus compared to the multi-point autofocus that I complained about in my first post about the camera. Though many reviewers and commentators complain about the lack of sharpness and distortion at the edges with this wide lens, I find that if you take that into account when framing your shot (and you do see the distortion on the LCD), then it isn’t much of an issue. In fact, many people go out of their way to add softness and vignetting at the corners of their images in Photoshop after the fact. So, really, it’s about what kind of image you’re looking to produce and choosing the lens that will produce it. That said, both Photoshop and Lightroom have lens correction presets for the lens that work quite well.

In the image above the slight vignetting and lack of sharpness at the corners helps to focus the viewer’s attention on the center of the image, where the subject is. This image also highlights something else I liked about using the NEX-5, the movable LCD display. For this picture I set the camera on the ground and flipped the LCD up so I could see it from above. This way I didn’t have to lay on the ground in order to frame it properly. This would have been a more difficult shot to get with an SLR where I would have either had to lay on the Chicago streets or guess my framing.

One of my few complaints after using the NEX-5 for a few weeks is its start-up time. I haven’t taken a stopwatch to it, but I’d say it takes nearly 15 seconds, if not longer, for it to fully start up after turning it on. This is slow even compared to a point-and-shoot camera that has to open up a lens door and move the lens out with a motor. It’s absolutely glacial compared to a dSLR. I still find my self wondering if the battery is dead or not in there after turning it on because I’m not used to waiting so long. It’s a very minor gripe, but something I hope Sony can address with a firmware update.

I did shoot a little bit of video with the F-mount lenses, though nothing critical. I just wanted to test out the ability to manually rack focus and control the focus point using depth of field. This was easiest using the 135mm lens which has a very slow and precise focus ring. I suspect this would be easier with an M-mount lens, like the Voigtlanders, because they have a tab on the focus ring. Of course, those who are serious about racking focus add a follow-focus rig to their camera.

In any event, here’s a very short video demonstrating this technique on the NEX-5 with the Nikkor 28mm f/3.5 lens:

Of Fences and Depth of Field from Paul Riismandel on Vimeo.

The real test of a camera is using to shoot for an extended period of time. Now that I’ve had the chance to get out for a good, long photowalk, I’m quite happy with the NEX-5. It does not quite replace an SLR for situations where you need very fast autofocus or long telephoto reach, or where using a viewfinder is most appropriate. Nevertheless, it’s a great combination of compact-camera size and weight with dSLR image quality.

I’ll continue to write updates as I use the camera more.

Considering video/still convergence and Sony’s NEX-VG10 interchangeable lens camcorder

Back in May I wrote about the vexing mix of features in Sony’s new NEX interchangeable lens digital cameras. While visiting a big Chicagoland electronics megastore I finally got my hands on the NEX-3 and NEX-5 cameras and came away liking them more than I expected. Though I only got to play with them for a few minutes I didn’t find the user interface to be as frustrating as I predicted. I rarely shoot in full manual mode, generally preferring aperture- or shutter-priority. So changing aperture or shutter using the back control dial was fairly intuitive and easy.

I was truly blown away by the form-factor. These are tiny cameras! Without the lens they’re the size of a typical compact point-and-shoot. With the lens they’re no bigger than so-called “bridge” cameras of the sort that look like mini-SLRs. The fit and finish is very nice, and the lens casing feels top-notch. Some of my initial concerns still remain, especially the lack of true manual exposure control when shooting video along with the lack of a microphone input for video. Nevertheless, I came away more intrigued than before when I’d only read about them.

Answering some of the concerns about the video capabilities of the NEX-3/5 Sony is releasing a camcorder using the same large APS-C sized image sensor and interchangeable lens mount, named the NEX-VG10. The Luminous Landscape just published a hands-on review of the camcorder, giving it a qualified recommendation. It seems like most of the weaknesses of the camera lie in firmware — that is, features that are programmed in rather than part of the physical mechanics of the camera. In particular, there’s limited exposure monitoring making it difficult to see when you’re clipping the highlights. I find that omission particularly surprising, since it’s included in nearly every pro-sumer Sony camcorder I’ve used in the last decade.

The idea of having a still camera and a camcorder that can share lenses is quite exciting, as is having a true video camcorder–not just a still dSLR with video capabilities tacked on–sporting a large high-quality sensor that’s nearly the size of 35mm motion picture film. All the more amazing is that the still camera costs well less than a grand and the camcorder costs just under $200 with lens. This approach promises to be a game-changer in many of the ways that video dSLRs shook up the digital video world.

Panasonic has also announced its own version of an interchangeable lens camcorder based on still-camera sensor, the AG-AF100. Panasonic’s version is based around the micro 4/3 standard behind still cameras like the Olympus Pen series and the Panasonic GH-1. The AF100 is still a little further away from stores, and looks to be a bit more pro oriented than the Sony, with the inclusion of XLR mic jacks and more exposure options. It also looks to be more expensive, at a price around $6000.

I find the Sony cameras to be so interesting because of their price, and because I’m already an owner of a Sony dSLR. While Sony dSLR lenses don’t mount directly on the new cameras and camcorders, there is adapter that lets you use them.

I’m not quite ready to jump into a new camera, camcorder or lens-mount system, but am seriously considering taking the plunge with the NEX-5 or its successor. To add more grist to the mill, dSLR News Shooter has a short review of the NEX-5 as a video camera for the working journalist.

In any event, I will be keeping close watch to see what develops. Exciting times, indeed.

The best camcorder is the one you have with you

There’s a common idea amongst serious photographers that it’s a good idea to always have a camera on you, because you never know when you’ll see the stuff of a great picture. Seeing as how it’s often impractical to always have an SLR or other larger camera with you, many photogs adopted smaller point-and-shoot cameras they could easily toss into a bag or even keep in a pocket. In the digital age these are often called “serious compacts,” because they offer enough control for the experienced photographer without being enormous.

In fact, many photographers over the years have argued that the moment a great photo happens is far more important than the gear you use to shoot it. That’s why many will contend that your camera doesn’t matter or that the best camera is the one you have with you.

While these ideas seem to be quite common in still photography I don’t often hear them repeated in video circles. It could be that photos and video often are thought of differently, or perhaps serious videographers look upon video shot in the moment to be too much like bad home videos to be taken seriously. Or maybe it’s because it’s a very recent occurrence that there are video cameras that are as small as compact still cameras.

Home video camcorders are about thirty years old now, but for the first ten years of their existence they were big shoulder-mounted affairs. In the 1990s the birth of 8mm, VHS-C and then miniDV led to so-called “palmcorders.” Yet, they were still a little bigger than most film SLR cameras. That is to say, one might take it on vacation to record special moments, but only a dedicated few would take one on a walk through the park or to a party.

In the early 2000s there were several miniDV camcorders shrunk down to about the size of a couple of paperback books. While this seems to have encouraged more folks to carry camcorders with them, the relative delicacy of their complex tape mechanisms and the need to carry blank tapes still served as discouragement from keeping one in your bag all the time.

By 2005 the ability to record video crept into most point-and-shoot digital cameras. At this point I think a lot of average folks started to take more video, primarily because it was simple and built into the camera they were hauling around anyway. But the quality of the video still was lacking compared to a decent dedicated camcorder, often with much poorer sound. So while many more videographers played around with their digicam’s video function, it doesn’t seem like they were taken too seriously.

Now we’re finally at the point where there are good camcorders that will fit in your pocket. Whether it’s a Flip cam, a Sanyo Xacti like I use, a point-and-shoot digital camera with HD video or even an iPhone 4 it’s possible to shoot quite credible video using a device only slightly bigger than a miniDV videocassette. Thus begins the era wherein serious videographers can indulge in taking “video notes” of daily life and events in the way still photographers have been doing for decades.

I’ve realized that’s the real value to small camcorders, having the ability to easily shoot video without a lot of planning and schlepping. As a result I think I’ve shot more video with my Xacti VPC-CG10 in the last year than I shot with my miniDV camcorders over the previous nine years. The miniDV camcorders, as relatively small and easy to use as they were, still required more forethought and planning, along with carrying an extra bag for the camera and tapes.

What I’ve really enjoyed is shooting short “slice-of-life” videos that last no more than a few minutes once edited down. Not coincidentally, this is the perfect length to share on the web. So I also think that having the ability now to share HD quality video so easily on the web contributes to the value of the pocket-sized camcorder, where before the venues to share such video widely were quite a bit more limited.

I’ve got quite a bit of video in the queue waiting to be edited. Luckily, sometimes I end up with a solid 3 minutes that requires minimal editing. As an aside, while I still lament the lack of a proper microphone input jack in most small camcorders, I continue to be amazed at the quality of the sound recording in my Xacti VPC-CG10. It truly rivals the quality of dedicated digital audio recorders like the Zoom H2. The Xacti doesn’t quite measure up at the low-end, and emphasizes the midrange a little more than I’d like. But a little equalization cleans that up pretty easily. I now notice that the new Sanyo VPC-PD2 that I wrote about yesterday sports some fairly serious looking microphones that I am curious to hear.

Here’s a short video I shot of the classic post-punk band Mission of Burma at the Wicker Park Fest street fair here in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. This was shot hand-held from the crowd in the street. There was no room for a tripod or monopod. The only reason I was able to grab the video was because I had the camera in my bag and could easily grab it. I’m able to hold the Xacti much more still than a Flip style camcorder because of it’s pistol-grip design and flip out screen which makes for a more stable two-handed grip.

The sun was starting to go down so I switched the CG10 into black and white mode which I think works better in low light. I accidentally underexposed it a little, as I’ve learned that the LCD screen isn’t the most accurate way to judge exposure, so I had to boost the gamma in post. This makes the video a little more contrasty in a way that I like and is more film-like, but it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Interesting new Sanyo flip-style camcorder

Sanyo just announced a new Xacti camcorder that looks interesting due to the way it breaks from the company’s typical pistol-grip style camcorders and due to its lens. The VPC-PD2BK has a form-factor more like the Flip-style cams, but with a 3x zoom lens that looks like it came from a compact still digicam, therefore also featuring a faster maximum aperture of f/3.1 than on their pistol-grip style cams which usually start at f/3.5. Every little extra bit of light gathering helps.

As I’ve noted before, while I really like my Xacti VPC-GG10, I find that it’s lens is not up to the standard of the average digicam. In everyday use this matters less for video than for still pictures. But this better looking lens on the new PD2 gives me some hope that perhaps this cam will deliver better stills alongside full 1080p HD video (alas, only at 30 fps, rather than the cinema standard of 24p).

The PD2 also doesn’t include a mic jack or optical image stabilization–two features which would be very welcome. But at a pre-order price of $169 over at Amazon, if the quality matches or betters the VPC-CG10 (which is what I’d hope), the PD2 may still be a very appealing option for videographers looking for more flexible image control than available with the typical Flip-style cam.

Hey Sanyo, if you’re reading, how about sending me one for review? I promise to send it back ;->,

Pencam shoots and scores

I was pleasingly surprised to find out that a picture I took this weekend was selected to be featured in Today’s Photos on Chicago’s Windy Citizen yesterday.

The interesting thing is that I shot this using an inexpensive “lo-fi” digital camera, the Aiptek Pencam SD. The design of this little cam is about 10 years old, shooting photos sporting all of 1.3 megapixels. There isn’t even an LCD screen to preview or review photos, just a roughly accurate optical viewfinder.

But I really enjoy shooting with the camera because of the combination of its simplicity and unpredictability. In many ways it’s a digital equivalent of a toy film camera like a Holga, frankly only less expensive. What I like shooting with such a camera is that it encourages you to let go of technical details and focus on taking the picture, often taking more risks because you can’t just review your photo and adjust.

The fact that anyone else likes the photo taken with this $19 lo-fi digital camera is just more evidence for the old adage, “the best camera is the one you have with you.”

Sony teases me with their new, but frustrating NEX digital cameras

Digital photography turned me into a photography enthusiast. Although I’ve been shooting video ever since I first got my hands on a black-and-white 1/2″ reel-to-reel VTR as a kid, for some reason still photography never interested me much in high school or college. But in 2001 when I got my first miniDV camcorder which also had a still image recording I awoke to the allure of photography.

Like a lot of people, I started with a very simple point-and-shoot digicam–a Fuji sporting a full 1.3 megapixels–before eventually getting a digital SLR in 2006. Instead of going with a Nikon or Canon, I decided to take a chance on Sony’s very first dSLR introduced after acquiring Konica-Minolta’s camera division, the a100. Although I had a few Nikon lenses to go with some old film SLRs, I didn’t think my investment in glass was substantial enough to make a Nikon dSLR necessary.

I chose the Sony a100 primarily for one big reason: in-body image stabilization. Nowadays Olympus and Pentax offer this feature, too, but in Oct. 2006 the a100 was the only a100 that had it. With a Nikon or Canon dSLR you can buy lenses that have image stabilization, but they’re more expensive than non-stabilized ones. With the a100–and now, any Sony dSLR–every lens you mount on it is stabilized. What this means is that you can take pictures with longer shutter speeds, such as in low light, minimizing the effect of camera shake, making for sharper pictures.

I can find things to quibble about in the a100, but I’ve been quite happy using it for the last three and a half years. No gadget is ever perfect, and a good photographer learns his way around his camera. I’m quite familiar with its operation and quirks, and satisfied with the images I obtain. I don’t use this camera professionally, but I’ve built up a small collection of nice lenses. Aside from the fact that newer models offer lower noise at high ISOs in lower light, and have higher resolution, I’m not particularly tempted to trade in my old a100 yet.

However, I have been quite tempted by the new compact mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras in the micro-four/thirds mount like the Olympus Pen series and the Panasonic GF-1. They offer image quality on par with dSLRs in bodies closer to the size of larger point-and-shoot cameras. I’m tempted because I like having a compact digital camera, but have been generally disappointed with their image quality. They tend to be fine for casual shots in daylight, but suffer quite a bit in anything dimmer. Furthermore, as I’ve become a more experienced photographer I like to use manual controls and these are often missing or very limited on digital point-and-shoots.

Then at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show Sony previewed a new line of interchangeable lens compact cameras to add to its Alpha line. I’ve been cautiously excited as various details were rumored and leaked. Today the real cameras were announced, and I’m a little disappointed.

Aesthetically the two new cameras, named the NEX 3 and NEX 5, look very cool, with styling that doesn’t quite look like any other camera out there. The camera body itself is very thin and compact, with the higher-end NEX 5 constructed from sturdy magnesium. They also have dSLR-sized (APS-C) sensors sporting 14 megapixels, which are bigger than both high-end point-and-shoots like the Canon G11 and Olympus and Panasonic micro-4/3 cameras. Finally, also in the plus column, they both shoot full 1080i HD video, where the other cams top out at 720.

Unfortunately, there are two big minuses that dump some cold water on my enthusiasm. The biggest drawback is that they don’t have in-body image stabilization. Given that this was why I chose a Sony dSLR in the first place, this is a big disappointment. By comparison, all the Olympus Pen cameras have in-body IS, although the Panasonics do not. I understand that the NEXs lack IS so Sony could make the camera bodies thinnner. But, I, for one, would gladly take a slightly thicker camera in exchange for the IS.

To be fair, Sony plans to offer lenses with IS to fit the NEX cameras, just like Panasonic does for its micro-4/3 cameras. However, Sony isn’t putting IS in all their lenses, and the first two being offered don’t have it.

The second minus is that the cameras use a new lens mount, meaning Sony’s A-mount dSLR lenses don’t work without an adapter. Now, I was expecting this possibility, since micro-4/3 was a new mount requiring an adapter to use older Olympus and Panasonic dSLR lenses. So by itself, this isn’t a huge deal. But the adapter won’t support autofocus using the Sony dSLR lenses. To me, this significantly undercuts what could be a big advantage of choosing a Sony NEX camera–the ability to leverage my existing Alpha lenses.

Because of the unique design advantages of these mirrorless interchangeable compacts, a thriving aftermarket in lens adapters has sprung up. Now you can get adapters for an Olympus Pen or Panasonic GF-1 what will allow you to use just about any 35mm lens in existence. The caveat with these adapters is that they also don’t support autofocus.

But I can actually get a Sony lens adapter for an Olympus E-PL1, which has in-body image stabilization, my most coveted feature. Given that, why would I buy a Sony NEX 3 or 5 which offers no better Alpha lens compatibility and lacks image stabilization?

That said, the NEXs aren’t in stores yet and I haven’t had my hands on them. The preliminary hands-on previews and reviews I’ve ready are generally positive. There’s mostly praise for the cameras’ size and the handling, along with good reports on image quality. Based on some image samples I’ve seen, four years of sensor advancement give much better low-light ability than my a100 in a body much closer in size to a point-and-shoot.

At the moment I’m quite undecided as to whether I want to take the plunge with an NEX or a competitor like an Olympus Pen. With a few rare exceptions, with tech gadgets you rarely lose by waiting to see what lies around the bend. Sony might introduce follow-up models with in-body IS (though I kind of doubt it) or that can autofocus Alpha-mount lenses (somewhat more likely). Or Olympus might offer up something even more tempting that makes me forget the NEX’s 1080i HD video and better high-ISO performance.

So that means I’m going to wait and see, saving my hard-earned dollars for the moment. It’s fun just watching and having something to look forward to.

Rocket Blower, I Love You

Seems that photography is a topic the moves me to write at the ‘geek. So let me get in a quick post about a simple little device that has blown me away, pun intended.

I’ve been shooting, developing and scanning my own black and white film for about two years now. And one of the biggest problems with the DIY method is dust on my negatives. I’ve tried all sorts of methods to keep it at bay. The one that worked the best was canned air, but it’s not particularly environmentally friendly.

Then I heard that a number of DIY photographers swear by Giotto’s Rocket Blower, which is a completely analog solution, if you will. Really, it’s just a big hand-operated bulb blower shaped like a rocket so you can easily set it down.

I’ve had this roll of film that I did a horrible job of developing and drying. I was in a rush and wasn’t careful and just botched it badly. When I first went to scan it the negative was so dirty and messed up that I got too frustrated only got about half-way through. Finally, today I decided to give the rest of the roll another shot wiping it down with an anti-static cloth and blowing off dust with the Rocket Blower.

Holy crap! This neg turned out as clean as anything I’ve ever scanned myself. I had to clone out only a few specs of dust in Photoshop. Pre-Rocket Blower I would have to spend several minutes hunting down specs and tiny hair-like dust particles.

It’s also great for cleaning keyboards or anything where you need to blow some dust out easily, but careful. In that way it’s better than canned air because you have much more control and are less likely to blow dust into something delicate when cleaning electronics. It’s nice to discover that sometimes the simple things work best.