People often say that the default Flickr presentation and navigation of photos is not the greatest.

Well, use other tools then - the Flickr API will well established and you see many non Flickr websites giving alternative presentations.

For example, have a look at my photos via:

• Flickr Leech
• Darckr by Laurent Henocque
• FlickRiver
• My Contacts via Flickr Hive Mind
• Coverflow Slideshow
• view my Flickr social relationships in flickrGraph
• View On Black
• 

Many DSLR shooters are used to 3:2 whether that be APS-C or 35mm full frame. Leaves us Four Thirds owners sometimes perplexed. Sure, the common 4R and the 12R print size is exactly 3:2 ratio. But 3R and 5R isn't. 16:9 movie isn't. Widescreen LCDs for the computer aren't. Neither is A4 paper. Hmmm...

Update: Looks like I'm not quite exact on "6x7 film". We're alluding to the 120 size film (entry in Wikipedia). Although the film was a Kodak initiative, it is now enshrined in ISO 732:2000. This 120 size film allowed various cameras to create different ratioed frames. There was 6x4.5, 6x6, 6x7 and so on.

A long and for the most part interesting thread of square vs rectangular aspect ratios has coincidentally surfaced on the Open Talk DPREVIEW forum. In it, a recitation of the Rolleiflex history occurs.

Bert Stephani has a few tutorials on YouTube.

The Masters of Photography Slideshows

Photoleancouk has a Portrait Photography Masterclass.

Rick Sammon's Top Ten Digital Photography Tips

I've been a fan of the wide angle view since the 35mm film camera days. I remember getting an f/3.5 28mm MD Rokkor for my Minolta XE-1, then finding that it wasn't as sharp or with enough pop as I expected. I sold it through the Trading Post and after a few years, Vanessa helped me get a 21mm - 35mm Sigma - I still have that lens. I would take it on the Uni student trips and had fun with it. Even shot Ronnie's wedding years ago. But I still wasn't getting it. With film, you only make that many mistakes (and it was colour slide that I shot), each time paying. This was before the Web and no one to compare notes, swap stories. My foregrounds would dominate with boring flat detail, I'd get the odd good shot.

This year, to celebrate the special occasion, I bought a Zuiko Digital 7mm-14mm ultra wide angle lens (that's 14mm to 28mm equivalent). When I handle it wrong, I get seriously elliptical heads, legs as big as lamp posts, really cartoon character exaggerations (like the special effects in Madagascar movie). When I don't have enough Depth of Field (how on earth can you get insufficient depth of field on a 14mm uwa lens on a Four Thirds Sensor?), I get the zoom effect like on a crude 3D graphics PC Game (Doom, anyone?)

On the other hand, sometimes things work out.

 Saw this photographer discussing her shots of Chefs in a book called "My Last Supper"

YouTube - Authors@Google: My Last Supper
  

I know the Malaysian scene well. As a kid, I would sit with the Kodak Starlet, look out the car and try and capture everyday shots. Older, I would shoot with the Kodak P880.

When you pass a scene every day, you get jaded. It takes someone foreign to show you with new eyes. Here's Trey's Malacca shophouse.

See it larger and more at Trey's blog

I was itching to photo shoot, asked around in Flickr but the few people who replied said they were gearing up for Mother's Day tomorrow. I thought I was gonna shoot alone but my old Uni buddy came shooting with me. He shoots a Nikon DSLR, I shoot the P880 and the Oly 510.

Of course, I'm mad keen to use the Oly 510, but the style and type of photo saw me shooting the P880 mostly because of the 24mm. I've gotta wean myself off the P880 sooner or later - maybe later - I can't afford the Zuiko 11-22mm (equiv to 22-44mm) nor the fantabulous Zuiko 7-14mm (equiv 14-28mm) . I did make a less good decision after 5 pm. The light was going and I still stuck to the P880 mostly because I wanted the 24mm Field Of View but more due to laziness in changing lens for the Oly 510.

We met a very cheery RACV man, he was changing a back tyre for a client. Told us to shoot him and but leave out his mug.

I like this next one a lot - it is with the P880, vertical hold. Now, in theory, you've got to sight the shot properly, check Depth Of Field, check Exposure, think of mapping Input Tones to Output Tones. Thing is, with a the P880 and the Point and Shoot mentality, it's a different ballgame. I shot RAW - this is a move away from exposure bracketing 3 JPEG that I have been doing since February. I paid attention and tried not to overburn the highlights - however, the P880 live view histogram is different from the review histogram. Secondly I did try to use a smaller aperture but with ISO 100 on a dullish autumn day, you're pretty much on max aperture.

Now, on a DSLR, that would mean that some worrying about Depth Of Field (or lack of) and whether the cheapie wide angle (usually 28mm equivalent kit) would be sharp enough. On the P880, oh, what the heck, this is the only lens you have, so let's shoot. Plus the small sensor will give as much DOF as it can.

What about focus point? Well, you can't really manually focus on the P880, after all the LCD is pale and the EVF not much better, both are pretty low res devices. So, heck, let the thing autofocus.

Of course, the Olympus e-510 comes into it's own when you want a focus on the main subject and a reduction of distracting elements

As I said in my previous blog posting, it's interesting times for DSLR buyers. The market has been escalating in volume progressively and now every major brand has something to sell.

People who are newbies to digital photography, photography in general or are "graduating from DSLR" ask certain questions. Are they the correct questions? Maybe, maybe not. Here are some questions and my answers:

Questions

How much is it?

A very good question. Don't think of shopping for a DSLR like you're shopping for your Point and Shoot. A DSLR potentially is an endless hole where your money can go. It's quite easy to go into LBA (Lens Buying Addiction). When you cost a DSLR, cost the whole package that you would use for say 3 years. Don't look too far and question whether this brand has a future or not. Yeah, some brands may vanish - Minolta almost did, but now Sony has taken over their cameras and created a new future. What do you care abou the future? Buy it, use it, enjoy it.

But it costs so much more than my Point and Shoot and does less?

Yes. If you want value for money on paper spec, a high end Point and Shoot will have a lot more "stuff" for the same money. But the DSLR can do more - particularly if you buy more DSLR stuff. A Point and Shoot does not have much to expand. A DSLR is about trying to get a tool that can potentially deliver more image quality, assuming you pay more and more for the price of admission.

But I just bought a DSLR and the photos look worse!

Yes. For several reasons.

1. Point and Shoot cameras are made for people who are real beginners - they probably want to shoot, take the photo files to the store and get them processed immediately. Such people are expect "out of the box" quality. So many brands make the photos super sharp, super "bounce" or "pop", highly saturated colours to please people. DSLR are meant for people who want to inspect their files on computers, adjust this and that to taste before they print or whatever. Thus some DSLR photos don't look good immediately, they need tweaking.
2. Point and Shoot cameras have small sensors. This allows the lens size and weight to be small. Small sensors allow a large DOF - Depth of Field. Many things look sharp in the photo. DSLR have bigger sensors - the DOF with such cameras is shallower. Meaning that focus, auto or manual, must be spot on otherwise the target will be blurred. With a shallow DOF, even if your target is sharp, some stuff in front of the target and behind the target might be blurred especially in low light conditions.
3. Point and Shoot cameras have slower autofocus but autofocus over a larger area. The way DSLRs work, they have very quick autofocus but their autofocus zone(s) are very sharply defined spots in the photo. Sometimes, you point the camera off centre and the autofocus zone doesn't cover that spot on the target.
4. In order to shave the price down so that an entry DSLR price comes near or below a high end Point and Shoot, the brands often shave the image quality of the "kit" lenses. To the extent that the kit lens may have poorer image quality for general shooting conditions than a high end Point and Shoot.

Ok, Brand A Model 1 has this and that, Brand B Model 2 has this and that, so Model 1 is better!

No, that's not the best way you compare cameras. Some people just take an empty Excel sheet or a Word table, put all the features on the left column, put Model names along the top and check this, check that. The one with the most ticks must be better, right?

This is how you compare computers. This is not how best to compare cameras because there are some unwritten things that are not on the product comparison table. Yeah? Like what?

1. Weight - not figures or numbers but how it carries in your hand and in your bag. Not just the camera weight but the lenses as well
2. Balance and grip - how it feels in your hand, lens and camera.
3. Personal feel of the body as you hold it tight and put it up to your eyes - some DSLR have darker and smaller viewfinders with a shorter eye point / eye relief. You will be aiming using the OVF (Optical View Finder) so you need to judge.
4. Ability to use legacy or old lenses, even 20 / 30 year old lenses. The brands want you to buy new lenses for sure. But some brands and models work with old lenses - some of these lenses are already paid for, some are very cheap, some are quite useable and quite sharp.
5. Ability to rent or borrow lenses (friends with the same brand).
6. Bulk - both the body and the lenses. Yes, you can see dimensions but you have to hold it and carry it over the day to figure out how bulk feels. Bulk is also a problem if you don't want to stand in the street and everyone whisper - "Ooh, look at the Pro." On the other hand, if you want to look like a Pro, then bulk up.
7. Self image or prestige - would you prefer to be using a brand that Pros use?

These factors are often not in the product comparison table. Factors that are in the product comparison table, well, they're easy to identify and debate over.

How come I can't aim with the LCD? Should I get a DSLR model with LiveView?

Yes, some or many people aim a Point and Shoot with the LCD screen. The DSLR traditionally, you aim using the OVF. The idea is quite different, the visualisation and impact on your brain is quite different. So, some brands implemented the LiveView idea in DSLR. There is LiveView and then there is LiveView - each one does it slightly diferrently, no one is 100% like a Point and Shoot.

And although LiveView is indeed useful, it robs light from the OVF by design (even when you are not using it). The DSLR has a big body and an even longer snout in the lens. It's not easy to use LiveView like you would with a Point and Shoot. Yes, it is a useful feature, but not for every shot.

From time to time, beginners to digital cameras and photography ask for reading material. Sure they can buy a book but there's quite a bit of stuff on the web.

Photonhead is a website that teaches you some fundamentals.

Earthbound Light is a melange of articles. One deals with the perennial question of PASM.

Luminous Landscape and Cambridge in Colour are full of detailed and reflective articles.

Duke University has a Photography FAQ.

Wikipedia has articles on Digital Photography, the Camera Lens, Exposure Value, Depth of Field.

Photography Composition Articles has the obvious.

Short Courses.com has Curtin's Guide to Digital Cameras

BernieCode's Better Beginner's Guide

Edwin Leong has ebooks on Photography and Wedding Photography

The Radiant Vista has reflective articles

Wrotniak has lots of Four Thirds articles

There are one off articles on:

• calculating Exposure Values and the Exposure Value Table
• Digital Photo Interpolation
• Bokeh
• Dynamic Range and Tonality
• EXIF attributes
• Safety with electronic flash
• Grokking the GIMP
• Depth of Field

There are also photo magazines

• ePhotoZine
• PhotoAnswers' Free Field Guides

and Podcasts (see forum thread)

I was looking at the May 1st 2008 edition of the The Age Green Guide and spotted the Photo Plus sale advertisement for digital cameras. It's interesting how the progress of semi-conductor technology has caused multiple generations of cameras to compete at the same time and within price brackets that they were not targeted to do at launch. No wonder newbies in  the DPReview Forums are thoroughly confused in this candy shop of choices. Let's have a look at some instances and prices.

• Pentax K100D Super, 18-55 Pentax lens (AUD 699)
• Fuji S100fs (AUD 849)

Between these two, you already have some diverse contrast. (Don't forget, you may be able to find a Nikon D40 for similar)

Here you have a entry level DSLR - the Pentax. It has only 6MP only, getting a little bit old fashioned but not something to be embarrased about - the photos of even 4 MP for 8" x 10" prints are ok. The Pentax has the implied and potential flexibility of better, ADDITIONAL, lenses (you need to find more money). The Fuji is the latest point and shoot out - it has the famouse Fuji CCDs which allow it to have a high ISO performance that competes with DSLRs at up to say, ISO 400. The Fuji is not a small camera though. Because you cannot change the lens, you are not likely to get caught up in LBA (Lens Buying Addiction). The tele focal length of the Fuji might be less sharp than the Pentax tele zoom that you have not yet bought, but it certainly has more reach than the Pentax package that is on offer.

• Sony Alpha A200 with twin Sony kit lenses - 18-70 and 75-300  (AUD 1049)
• Canon EOS 400D with twin Canon kit lenses - 18-55 and 75-300 (AUD 1049)

The Sony is a newer camera, released February 2008, the Canon is an outgoing model but famous for it's clean sensor images. The Canon is notorious for it's uncomfortable right hand grip (regardless of whether your hands are big or small) and it's ugly looking 18-55 kit lens. What is underlying is the LBA features. New Canon lenses tend to be expensive, big and heavy. Of course, you could buy third party for both. The Sony Alpha mount takes second hand, older Minolta film auto focus lenses - the Melbourne second hand prices for these lenses are not unreasonable. The Sony has physical image stabilisation in the body - a noticeable value for money feature and it can take these cheaper lenses or the Carl Zeiss branded high end lenses. Both are 10 MP.

• Pentax K200D with twin Sigma kit lenses - 18-70 and 75-300  (AUD 1149)
• Nikon D60 with twin Nikon kit lenses - 18-55VR and 55-200VR (AUD 1299)
• Nikon D80 with unspecified 18-135 lens (AUD 1299)
• Canon EOS 450D with unspecified twin kit lens 18-55 and 55-250 IS (AUD 1499)

These three are competent cameras but not on the upgrader's list of exciting models. The Pentax is 10MP, body Image Stabilised and weathersealed. This is what people who were eyeing the K100 always wanted - 10MP, competent camera. At this price however, the two Sigma lenses and the overall feel of the body would not impress as much as one of the Nikons in your hand. The two Sigma lenses are probably not weathersealed.

In terms of sharpness and build, however, the Nikon D60's two Nikon VR lenses would be good and very good value for money. You would get Image Stabilisation as long as you do not buy other Nikon lenses. The D60 would not have a lens motor to focus old Nikon lenses and it does not have auto exposure bracketing - a feature that is very convenient when you are first learning about photography and different scenes and different lenses. The D60 is also a February/March 2008 recent model whilst the D80 is a veteran older classic. The D80 does not come with an Image Stabilised lens and the body is not image stabilised, but it is a classic "good Nikon" model that has sold well. The Canon is a 12MP new model, has Live Preview, costs more. This is Canon's exciting entry level DSLR - it has a lot of nice features (except Image Stabilised body) but the price is not aimed low.

Then, there are two high cost, pro built bodies - the Sony Alpha A700 (AUD 1749) and the Nikon D300 (AUD 2599). It's impossible to compare price with them because no lenses have been chosen.

All that much equipment, so little money to spread around.....

I went to the ANZAC day dawn service and parade in Melbourne for the first time in 2008. Pressed the shutter release like crazy on the Kodak P880 and the Olympus e-510 (with the 45-150 kit lens and the Minolta f/5.6 250mm MD Rokkor cat lens) to the extent that I filled up the 4Gb ADATA CF card on the Olympus and filled up the 2Gb Apacer SD card on the P880 (shooting JPEGs, forgot to empty the card actually from my Northcote shoot).

While shooting the ANZAC parade in bright sun, high contrast, standing along St. Kilda Road looking towards the Arts Centre side, near the bridge. The Highlight warning in the Oly LCD was blinking like crazy.

250mm f/5.6 MD Rokkor Cat on E-510

With the 250mm - it was good for closely cropped shots of architectural decorations on buildings on Elizabeth Street. It was ok for Rosellas. It was even passable for close ups from a distance of ANZAC participants. It was hopeless for the Parade - the over close magnification (equivalent to 500mm on the Oly Four Thirds sensor), the slow focus because it has significant focus thread rotation from 12 ft to infinity). But what surprised me was the metering on the Oly was odd with this lens.

Issues

• The histogram was narrow - it did not spread towards the sides - this equates to a muddy, midtoned scene, which it was - "I'm feeling lucky" in Picasa stretches out the histogram and compulsory software sharpening brings the photos up well.
• It kept underexposing - which is the opposite of modern Olympus autofocus lenses on this body. I had to dial in EV+1.3 - this is one case, you won't have burnout. The behaviour was the same for centre weighted and spot metering.

In Retrospect

• Use this lens for birding or buildings.
• Don't even try using this lens for parades.
• Long distance people shots, are fine.
• Don't get anxious over the meter. Just slap on the EV+1.

40-150mm Olympus AF on the E-510

It was bright and contrasty. The LCD was difficult to see (the Delkin e-Film 2.5" LCD shades did help subjectively - not sure whether it was personal bias or they actually helped). What was obvious was that the histogram was either flush against the right (burnt highlights) or truncated on the left (over dark shadows). I tried centre weighted and spot - both similar. Did not try ESP or ESP-AF - I don't normally try those. I tried EV-0.3 which was hopeless - the Blinking Hightlights warning was clear or EV-0.7 - still blinks but sometimes too dark. Unable to judge and the parade was marching on. Through the optical viewfinder, not putting much effort to looking at the info display on the right - would love a vista like the Nikon D300 but that's a large camera (and cost as well).

Shot into the front of each group in the parade, could hear autofocus beeps well. Then later on, tried across the participants, so high motion speed.

Issues

• Lots of burnt highlights. Inevitable. The EV-0.3 ones were throw aways. Remember back to my film days - shooting transparency film or even black and white. Same deal I would think, this scene would burn highlights on transparency too. Black and white would turn white but then because it is monochrome, you are not irritated because you haven't lost colour - whatever greys and blacks still left would be ok.
• Lots of blurs. Either I am not hitting the people with the focussing spots of the DSLR - typically say there would be 8 marching across the view, not always central so the centre spot might have hit the background AND/OR the movement of the people is faster than the shutter speed. Nah, something more fundamental maybe - PhotoMe, the EXIF reader tells me the focus mode was MF - Manual Focus, not Single Shot AF. I did set it to MF when using the legacy manual focus lens - did I forget to set it back to AF when I changed lens in the bright sun and excitement? Or is PhotoMe wrong because there are so many focus modes on the 510?.
• Why is the shutter speed slow? Typically f/6.3, 1/200th sec, ISO 100. Let's think this true. I was on AutoISO. The widest aperture on the 45-150 @ 150mm is f/5.6 - so that means AutoISO was not going to ISO 200 or 400.

In retrospect

• Listen to the meter. Try ESP maybe.
• Use EV -0.7. There is too much risk with EV-0.3 even if it is right for a few shots.
• Aim the focus point and recompose before triggering.
• Up the shutter speed:
• Use ISO 200 or 400 - the Oly can do that without noise rising like the P880.
• Switch to Aperture Priority and use the widest aperture.
• Alternatively use Ps - Program Shift but is it in-your-face enough to wake up to over prolonged use?
• If I did something gross like accidentally setting Manual Focus, maybe I should set it to Single Shot AF even with legacy lenses so that I don't forget?

It's interesting to see free video tutorials on photography on YouTube. Here's:

Wedding Photography

Studio Portraiture

Eng Tong tutorial

Fashion Photography

Depth of Field

Commercial & Product Shots

Food Photography

Skin Tones

Landscape

Sometimes, correctists (n. refers to people who always want to be right and will put you in your place if they think you are wrong) are sooo painful. They will tell you that a shot just can't be done, it's not worth taking and gee, what kind of IQ (Image Quality) will you get with such an shot.

Sometimes, you just shoot for the heck of it.

I've got this thing about broken things - there's an unreal beauty in patina and rust. Not to mention a confrontation against order and purity.

What causes something to give way? Are some unequal to the task or does fate decree different roles?

As we grow older, do we coat our memories with a patina that glows?

Or do we leave it broken so that something can come back?

Well, nearly everything. One of my pet interests in the Four Thirds System, in particular, the Olympus e-510 that I have, is the ability to fit legacy lenses on it. You'll need adapters of course. I have manual focus Minolta MC/MD mount and Pentax K mount lens adapters by R.J. (store here on eBay).

I had to trim the Minolta aperture levers by several mm (say two or three) so that they would not scrap the internals of the Olympus e-510 mirror box - other than that, they are loads of DIY fun.

You focus manually - you're absolutely responsible for backfocus or frontfocus problems. You have to choose the f/stop manually and you have to ensure the IS calculation is correct by inputting the focal length of your lens.

Here's an intent magpie

via the 250mm f/5.6 Rokkor (effectively 500mm)

and a flock of BIF (Birds In Flight)

Then, if you fit on a 2x convertor (in this case the ancient Komura Telemore, bringing equivalent focal length to 1000mm)

you just might be able to focus on a honey eater.

I've been playing with Minolta manual focus MD mount lenses on my Olympus E-510. They're fun to handle and shoot but not easy to get sharp. Shallow Depth of Field, Body movement (my body, not the camera) between sighting, focussing and triggering, camera shake (in-body Image Stablisation on the E-510 helps) and motion blur. Funnily enough, impreciseness due to the small Optical View Finder on the camera is the least of the problems.

The Eye

Not Blood

The World (Wayang Kulit)

Interwoven

My little story (and pics) seem to have given some folks a bit of enjoyment. I was looking through the equivalent 300mm focal length of the Olympus kit lens and framed this bird.

It's a standard tele zoom, I'm curious how the sky looks almost like it was taken with a CAT lens. One complaint about the Four Thirds cameras is that you don't have enough Depth of Field separation between your subject and the surroundings. And there's some uncertainty about the Olympus e-510 having only three (count them, one, two, three) phase contrast focus points. This is one time when the camera nailed the focus right, given of course, I pointed the thing.

So, then my son says, let's feed them. We just have some favourite black seeds in a bag (oh, you're silly, we came here to feed the birds didn't we?)

Here he is, his palm outstretched, waiting for the birds. Hey, another photo where you have nice separation of subject vs surroundings. And yummy seeds too. Wonder if they can be eaten like kwa chee?

A Rosella does come closer.

Even perched on a broken twig. Do you think it's overweight? LOL

Finally a white fellow comes near

He's just glorious, don't you think? How on earth do they keep that white without a laundry? Thing is, he doesn't travel alone. What a family!

Sometimes, people want the strangest things. This appears to be a Hummer, made into a stretch limousine in Melbourne. Spotted on Blackburn Road near Imperial Kingdom. What a way to go....

Photography's changed a lot since I started with it in the 1970's. It's not the obvious film vs digital transition, it's a whole lotta other factors and issues. Let's look at a few (tongue in cheek).

Updated: 1519 hrs AESDT