The long and winding road

If you believe the media, the western world is split into two kinds of people. Those who waddle between the fridge and the sofa and are setting new limits as to how big you can make a pair of elasticated tracksuit bottoms and those stick insects who run a marathon before having a breakfast of a raisin and 4 grains of organic rice.


Like many normal (i.e. not on television) people however we believe in healthy diets and exercise, while declining the pleasure of snorkeling the entire length of the amazon wearing only a swimming costume and an iPod.





You may have noticed that the bulk of images posted on this blog are taken outdoors in usually scenic surroundings. Often this will include a footpath, canal towpath or road in the image.





As is apparent by now, many of these images are shot as picture library or stock images, but its more than that. We actually love being out on some footpath or track and can think of nothing better than getting paid for wandering the highways and byways of the British or European countryside and coastline. Its a rotten job but somebody has to do it.





True there is a question of degree here. The youngest and fittest of us thinks nothing of pounding the length of the Offas Dyke long distance footpath, or walking the ridge of the Malvern Hills and back before descending to a scenic hostelry for a pint or few of "Old shepherds socks" or some other tasty beverage. Those of us who are on the steady road to decline take a more sedate approach but still manage to clock up enough miles to relish a hot bath and an early night.

People become photographers for many reasons. Some to photograph their families, others to document the world around them. Many like to record the places they have been and to try to capture and preserve the pleasure of being out in the landscape. Some travel the globe in search of the spectacular and unique. Others develop a relationship with their local area, often in the process rediscovering some of their roots.

While not advocates for comparing painting and photography, we would recommend the work "A year in Yorkshire" by the artist (and sometime photographer) David Hockney.

Though working in a different medium, his transformation of the familiar, the commonplace and the unnoticed into works of art can give inspiration to us all.

More on the Lightroom 3 Beta.

After a very good initial response to the new Adobe Lightroom Beta released yesterday I spent yesterday working with it on the backlog of images I have waiting to be edited.

When the very first version of Lightroom was released it was in beta for a long time, and I got very familiar with it then. At the time it included many raw development parameters that Photoshop didn't have so I found it very useful. These were then incorporated into Photoshop so I stopped using it.

I started using this new version as it has support for the Canon 550D and I was interested to see what it could achieve with the outstanding files I had from that camera. Certainly my initial impressions were favourable and a full days work with it yesterday confirmed this.

I'm particularly impressed by the way that it handles noise, CA and fringing. The default settings produce very clean and sharp files and I had to spend far less time in Photoshop. There is a very real difference in how Lightroom processes raw files as opposed to the current 5.6 version of Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop and the Lightroom files look significantly better to me. I was particularly pleased with my Leica M9 files and my Canon 5D Mk II files were easily the best I've got out of that camera. Dpreview found an improvement too:- http://www.dpreview.com/news/1003/10032402lightroombetaupdate.asp

I'm a bit unfamiliar with the interface these days, but by the end of the day was finding ways to speed up the process.

It will be interesting to see whether these improvements in raw processing transfer over to the new version of Photoshop, announced yesterday.

However its something I would recommend you having a look at. Since at the moment it's free, its an easy recommendation.

Finally it even managed to get some decent results from a whole pile of Pentax K-7 files I have waiting. Not great but reasonable & better than I was able to achieve with either Photoshop or Pentax's version of Silkypix.

Words - D

Images - D & A

Retro = Modern??

Some interesting stuff floating around photographic cyberspace lately.

Is the DSLR dead?

Rumours that the next Panasonic m4/3 camera will be a L1 Rangefinder lookalike.

People talking about selling off entire Nikon & Canon DSLR systems to buy a GF1 + 20mm lens.

There does seem to be an increasing antipathy to the black plastic identikit DSLR. (Did you think this was going to be objective?) There also seems to be a return to the photographic values of previous decades. Retro design, small light cameras, fast large aperture primes, are all marketed as cutting edge. I suppose there is a limit to the amount of increasingly similar APS-C sensor DSLR's with slow cheap kit zooms that you can offer for sale. Though this doesn't seem to have put Sony off! The "hottest" new cameras of recent times, in terms of media attention and discussion as opposed to sales, have been the Panasonic GF1, Olympus E-P1 and the Leica M9. Not exactly what you might have expected for the start of 2010.

Having said all that, what camera comes out top for sales, worldwide? Well its the Canon 500D. This is not to say that its not a decent camera, it is. I bought one and it takes really good pictures. However it is one of the nastiest and cheapest feeling picture taking machines you could ever pick up. For what it does - 14MP, HD video etc. its incredibly good value - and its sales reflect that, but it seems that many other people don't actually want that anymore.

Our technology, toys, gadgets, whatever we choose to call them, are important to us. They are important to us in the way that they can define who we are, or at least who we think we are, or even who we want to be. Some of us have to have the latest mobile phone, an iPod, an iPhone, a netbook etc. etc. New phones don't make better phone calls or texts than the old ones or an iPhone, other MP3 players are just as good as an iPod and netbooks are just small, low spec laptops. I found myself looking at a red netbook in a computer store, thinking that looks cool, it would match my G-series cameras! I very nearly bought one for that very (stupid) reason.

In terms of cameras we seem to have reached some sort of megapixel ceiling. People are gradually realising that 12-14MP is probably enough. Theres not a lot of benefit to be gained from adding more. Canon to their credit have actually reduced the no. of pixels in their latest super-compact the G11, citing improved picture quality as the reason. I'm sure that some other manufacturer will attempt to cram 18-20MP onto one of those tiny sensors, but the trend does seem to be away from the MP numbers game.

Its now more about features, funtionality and style. HD video and Live view are a must. Though once again Sony don't seem to have got the message yet! There's also a realisation that people are actually concerned about ease of use and quality. There's an awful lot of patronising, derogatory nonsense written about the "point and shoot snapper" which usually consists of something like - "Oh they don't want anything complicated - they just want to press the shutter" Yes simple, like mobile phone menus, uploading tracks to your iPod, assembling Ikea furniture - the first and last of which are complete mysteries to me! So for everything else we do complicated but for cameras we want something a deaf, dumb and blind gerbil could operate. Its nonsense. For starters have you ever looked at the range of compact cameras? Its huge and unbelievably complicated. People often ask me for a camera recommendation & if its a compact they want, I usually refer them to the dPreview site. But even they can't cope with the ever increasing profliferation of these things, which seem to getting smaller and smaller. So just choosing one involves major research.

I believe that everyone who owns a camera wants to take good pictures. Why wouldn't they? I also believe they are looking for the best that they can afford and are also looking for something that looks and feels good. If a combination of retro styling and space age technology fills these needs then so much the better. If that retro look brings with it an appreciation of photography and its possibilities then thats a good thing. It won't take long for people to realise what they can do with a 20mm f.1.7 lens as opposed to an 18-55 F3.5-5.6. Given enough converts the tyranny of the black plastic identikit DSLR may be nearing an end.

D

Editing, Editing, Editing!!!

Finally getting round to sorting out the huge backlog of images we have - to get them ready to upload to library websites.

Still with the freezing weather set to continue,

a nice glimpse of warmer days on the screen.

D & A

All change - again!

Anyone who has ever dropped in on this blog from time to time will notice that I change cameras often. This is partly to do with the nature of digital photography, in that the camera makes so much difference because it contains the sensor. Back in my film days I kept cameras for years and only occasionally bought new lenses.
The second reason is because I CAN change cameras. Being a working photographer means I get certain tax advantages, e.g. I can claim the VAT back, I get tax relief on the depreciation etc. This means that I can take advantage of new developments without loosing large sums of money.
By buying cameras new and selling them relatively quickly I can almost get my money back.
Its like hiring something really, though with the cost of hire the way it is its probably cheaper, and you also don't have to worry what the person who had it before you did to it!
Thirdly I'm fairly ruthless & non-forgiving about camera performance. If a piece of equipment doesn't do what I want then its on its way to ebay!

So whats gone/going?

The Pentax K-7. I was always unimpressed by the quality of the stills, but had decided to keep it because it functioned very well as a video camera. However last weekend at a wedding it demonstrated banding under certain kinds of lights. As I said I'm pretty unforgiving about camera performance. Since my nephews GH1 produced perfectly acceptable images, the K-7 has gone. Put on Ebay and sold within 1/2 hour.

The D3X is going, as is my Leica M8. To be replaced by a Leica M9, for which I am waiting impatiently. I love the D3X images, but hate the weight & bulk. Everything I've seen of the M9 impresses me. I love my M8, but once I saw that the sensor was similar on the M9 in terms of sharpness and colour AND added full frame & a few tweaks here and there, I knew it was for me.
My M8 images easily interpolate up to 48MB (The minimum size for high end picture libraries) so M9 images will easily match the D3X for resolution. I've downloaded a few images from the web & they do indeed look superb.

Also going are my Olympus E-420, which I really never use & a Canon 500D which is a lovely stills camera but truly horrible to use. Canon make this lovely sensor & then put it in a cheap plastic body & stick unwelcome curves all over it. It feels & looks like a toy & I am unable to "bond" with it at all.

Its also going to help pay for another GH1. I sold my first one to my nephew, who is my business partner in the event/wedding business we run & I've missed it. I really like micro four cameras & their ability to use my favourite Voigtlander & Nikon lenses. Its a great stills camera & an even better video camera. It performed wonderfully well at the wedding we shot recently & I can also use it as a light carry around camera. I am waiting to get my hands on the 20mm F/1.7 Panasonic are bringing out, which is getting rave reviews. In the meantime I'll use the 14-140 kit zoom lens which is a technological marvel plus my aforementioned Voigtlanders & Nikons.

So the plan is:- to work with 3 cameras.

Leica M9 with 15mm, 50mm F/1.1, & 75mm lenses plus my Zeiss Biogon 28mm F/2.8.
I'm looking forward to the wide angles in all their full-frame glory!

Panasonic GH1 with 14-140 & 20mm F/1.7 Panasonic lenses plus the M fit lenses plus some Nikons I'm keeping. 35mm F/2.8, 50mm F/1.2 MF, 85mm F1.8 & 135mm F/2.8 MF.

Canon 5D MkII with 28-135 IS zoom, 20mm F/2.8, 28mm F/1.8, 50mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8 & a 90-300 zoom. I can also use the Nikons with my Nikon F > Canon EOS adapters.

The Leica for my stock work with the Panasonic as a backup & the Panasonic & Canon for Events/Weddings/Commercial Work.

Finally a word of praise for my 5D MkII. I've not always been a great fan of Canon but this is a beauty. It worked flawlessly at the recent wedding. I shot jpgs only & every shot was on the money. It was fast & the low light performance was incredible. I used to think my Nikon D3 & D700 were good, but this is better & at 21MP too. Hope I haven't jinxed it. Its almost a record for me keeping a digital camera - 10 months & counting.

This won't be the end of my buying and selling but it clarifies what I want for the moment & gives me 3 cameras that I will use and more importantly enjoy using.

Pentax K-7 Video

My ongoing attempts to "bond" with the K-7 have finally ended.
I'm still not impressed by its stills performance but its an amazingly good video camera!

The video is terrific, sharp & with the body stabilisation it works hand-held.

More later but it will be staying for a while.

B

See this video on Vimeo at:-
http://www.vimeo.com/6487449

Pentax K-7 latest

Before the good news, I must say that the Pentax K-7 is the most difficult camera that I have ever had to deal with in terms of setting it up satisfactorily for myself. If my ebay auction had realised another £40 then I wouldn't have it.
Intuitive its not. I have already had the problem with the fps & there are other things lurking away in the menus that improve its performance considerably. However it strikes me that this is the wrong way around. I shouldn't have to be trying to find sections in the manual to "get it up to speed" My D3X was never this complicated. Pentax nearly lost me as a customer for life with the strange way they have the camera set up for default.

THE GOOD NEWS.

I'm a lot happier with it. I bought a battery grip & the handling has improved out of all recognition. I do use grips a lot as I feel they often balance a camera out better. For example its all very well to have small light cameras but most modern high-performance lenses are not light & small & this often negates the advantages of the body.
The Pentax grip made this camera into a joy to use for me. Its now beautifully balanced and I keep wanting to pick it up as it feels almost perfect. One of the reasons for my initial disappointment was the way the camera felt in my hands. My two favourite cameras for handling were both Pentax. An MZ-5 film camera & the *istD.
Its now very quick to use + solid without being overly heavy and I do love the velvet shutter release.
So great news on the handling front.

I'm also getting the image quality better, though this is proving more difficult. To me it underexposes slightly at its default setting, resulting in an increase in noise when adjusting the levels & I still think the anti-aliasing filter is too strong. However with a bit of tweaking and setting up a workflow in Photoshop I can achieve better results than before.

I feel that I should see a significant difference between the prime lenses I am using - 21mm F/3.2, pancake, 35mm F/2.8 macro, 50mm F/1.4 & 70mm F/2.4 and the two WR kit zoom lenses that I have. I am however not seeing much difference at all. The 70mm is the best of all but the 21mm & 35mm are particularly disappointing. When I had my K10, I used 31mm & 77mm limited lenses, which were pretty special. This time around I'm not going to buy those lenses again, particularly since Pentax lens prices have almost doubled here in the UK.

I'm currently getting decent jpgs from the camera & in many ways they are preferable to the raw files - though i'm going to persevere with this.

Next week I'm in Dorset to do some Stock Photography and have a good look at the video.

To be continued........................

Pentax K7 - Take 2

The "only 5 frames" problem is now solved. I'm not sure how, as I couldn't track down the problem & decided to do a reset to all default settings. The camera now blasts away quite happily.
So "user error" on my part then, though I am at a loss to understand what I did.
I may well at some point start a discussion on the complexity of modern camera menus. I freely admit that I only know a fraction of what my D3X and GH1 will do. The latter is especially complicated and with its small design very prone to unintentional changes.
However back to the K7. My comment "Its very slow & a buffer that lets you take 5 pictures & then locks up for several seconds is unacceptable in a £1000 DSLR." was therefore wrong & I apologise unreservedly to Pentax & its engineers.
However that doesn't change my general feelings about the camera. Though, encouraged by Andy's comments I will be giving it a second chance. I was unable to secure my desired price on ebay so I've decided to keep it, at least until the end of the summer (what summer!) and see if I can bond with it.

My initial post on the K7 met with some hostility. In one regard its encouraging to know that someone is reading this but on the other its dispiriting to encounter the venom that emanates from certain sections of the photographic community. (I don't include the comments by Andy in this, who was polite & the person who led me to solve the fps problem. I will be responding to that in a while.)
I've published one of the comments, from Borea, which was reasonable, but have declined to give space to other offensive comments.
I read the results of a survey once which concluded that camera brand loyalty is second only to supporting a football team in terms of passion & commitment. Anyone who spends any time on photographic forums such as www.dpreview.com will have no doubt that this is true, but I have always been puzzled by it. I can understand how support for a team or club can become a cause for irrational emotion, (as a long-time, long-suffering Birmingham City fan more irrational than most!) but support for one camera manufacturer to the exclusion of all others, is something I am bewildered by.

I'm including a quote from a photographer who co-runs a flickr group with me:-

"as a large format photographer I find that the tidy little tied up thinking that the camera makers have managed to foster in Japan is quite astounding. People really need to see that a lens is a lens and all this proprietary stuff is just annoying and defeats advancement .. wait ... I just had a cynical thought ... of course ... makers want to lock out other makers from their little subscription base."

And from Andys comment below:-

"there seems to be a certain anti-Pentax bias from some 'Canikon' enthusiasts on the web, and I feel a certain obligation to stand up for Pentax as I have enjoyed their recent dslr's so much."

This latter comment is very reasonable & a nice succinct summing up of a response that we can all identify with in the face of unreasonable and unjustified attacks on our purchasing decisions.

Let me make it clear - I'm a fully paid-up Pentax Fanboy & have been for many years. I have a very soft spot for them, as an ME Super was my first SLR & the camera that started me off in photography. But I'm also a Nikon Fanboy, a Canon Fanboy, an Olympus Fanboy & a Leica Fanboy. And I can also be critical of all those companies and their products.
I posted some very enthusiastic comments about the Canon 500D but if you go back to one of the earliest posts in this blog you will see that I wrote about the Canon 350D:-

"8MP The best selling DSLR of its era. Bought as a backup for the 5D. Without any doubt the worst DSLR I have ever used. The images were so soft that I thought I had a lens problem! Washed out dull colours. Very cheap feel. Like most Canons this got rave reviews & I'm sure it made a lot of money for the company. Just shows you should never believe a review! Maybe I got a faulty one.
PROS - It was very light!
CONS - Everything else!"

See original comments here :- Digital Cameras I have owned & used.

My feelings about the K7 were genuine & tinged with a certain disappointment. As I said I am now re-assessing it. I 'm going to try the battery grip to see if I can get a better "feel" from it.

The problem is I'm constantly searching to get from a DSLR what I achieved with my last 35mm film camera. A Pentax MZ-5 with battery grip + 43mm F/1.9 limited lens was my "holy grail" Light, small, wonderful to handle & a delight to look at.

Pentax K7

I've had time to use the K7 now & have one word to sum it up. DULL!
It takes decent pictures, but nothing remarkable. The main problem is the handling & operation.
Its very slow & a buffer that lets you take 5 pictures & then locks up for several seconds is unacceptable in a £1000 DSLR.
I've used Pentax ever since I started serious photography - 26 years ago. I've bought every Pentax DSLR apart from the K20 so I'm pretty disappointed by the K7.
I hate holding it, as its very uncomfortable & it also doesn't look great. To me the grip is too big and the whole camera is too deep. It may suit some people but not me.
I'm so underwhelmed by it I can't actually bring myself to write anymore. Its on ebay at the moment.

Addition.
In the light of the comments below I went back and tried it again. Using a Sandisk Ultra II 4GB card. With no lens the camera duly fired its 14 frames of .dng files. However when a lens was attached it went back to 5 & then stuttered away.
In the light of what the Canon 500D will do with the same card I don't find this particularly good.
This is just a personal opinion & is not any attempt at a serious review. As I said I've used Pentax for many years from ME supers to 645's to MZ series and some of their superlative lenses including the limiteds, both film & digital. I have nothing against Pentax & was looking forward to the K7.
The speed is not the only issue I have with the camera. The files it produces are OK, but there is either a strong AA filter or some software manipulation of the RAW files which softens some of the detail. I found it very difficult to get a "punchy" image & one that should take advantage of all those pixels.
I normally do a test shooting a section of lawn to see how a camera renders a large area of grass.
The 500D, to my surprise, made a better job of it.
Finally, I really wanted the Pentax to be good, but ultimately we all have to make our own choices. The fact that I don't like it doesn't mean that I don't know what I'm doing, or that I have a faulty camera, it just means that I don't like it. Others, like Andy, may think that its wonderful. Thats fine by me & why I'm happy to publish his comments.
Finally Finally - you flatter me when you say that anything I might say would have any influence whatsoever on Pentax sales of the K7

Lavender with Pentax K7 70mm F/2.4 limited

Some lavender pictures shot with a Pentax K7 fitted with a 70mm F/2.4 limited lens.
Just got the K7, mainly for its video capability combined with stills for some upcoming industrial/education seminars that we have been asked to video/photograph in September.

Initial impressions are that the K7 is very good, certainly the build quality is very robust.
The 70mm F/2.4 limited is very good indeed. Most of these images were shot at F/2.4 since the light was not wonderful & these were mostly shot under cloudy skies.

However I was very pleased with the pictures and particularly the colours.