Posts Tagged camera
A different type of Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM demo
Posted by Cameron in Equipment, Just for Fun, Newspaper, Photography, Sport, Video on August 3rd, 2010
Had a bit of spare time to muck around today while shooting a football training session so I thought I’d hook my 5D MkII (with a 16-35) to my monopod with a magic arm to give you an idea of the field of view difference between a 16mm lens on a full frame camera compared to a 400mm lens on a 1.3x crop DSLR (equivalent to 520mm on a full frame camera).
It’s not that exciting but hopefully it’s better than a poke in the eye! 
Feel free to check it out in HD by hitting this link or watch the embedded video below.
What Apple’s WWDC announcements mean to a photographer
Posted by Cameron in Apple, Equipment, iPhone, Photography, Technology on June 9th, 2009
Ok, I was really looking forward to what Apple were to announce at WWDC (World wide developers conference) and they didn’t let me or other Apple fans down.
Probably the biggest shock of all was the announcement of Macbook Pro updates (which weren’t expected or leaked at all!). Whilst most people needing the power of MacBook Pro’s go for the 15″ or 17″ screens many traveling photographers need/love the compact size of the 12″ or 13.3″ form factor. Apple stopped production of the 12″ Powerbook G4 in May 2006 leaving the (then) new polycarbonate 13.3″ MacBook as the only option for ‘size-conscious’ photographers.
The more powerful black polycarbonate version was very well received and was popular until Apple updated this black MacBook to the new aluminum unibody design. Apple left out the FireWire port and included a reportedly inferior quality LED backlit screen. So for snappers and video guys who swear by FireWire (I love my Sandisk Extreme FireWire reader) and NEED a great screen this was a real problem.
A few hours ago Apple announced the MacBook Pro line would now not only include 15.4″ and 17″ models but would extend down to a new 13.3″ model which INCLUDES FireWire 800, an SD card slot, backlit keyboard and (hopefully) the same quality LED backlit display as the larger two models. It’s a bit of s shame about the inclusion of an SD card slot rather than a multi-card slot as the vast majority of pro photographers are using Compact Flash cards. (A full comparison of the MacBook models is at this link)
Awesome start to the WWDC conference (anyone want to buy a 2.4Ghz Black MacBook, 2.4Ghz 4Gb RAM 250Gb HD?)
The other great announcement was the new iPhone 3GS. Forgetting most of the new 3.0 software and other new features I’ll only focus (‘scuse the pun!) on the camera, tethering and video capability.
and 
and 
- The new 3Mp camera with autofocus looks super. I know it seems dumb for a photographer who carries around a 20+Mp camera to be happy about a 3Mp camera in a phone. But in the wise words of a good friend of mine “It’s not what you’ve got, it’s what you get!”. A good news/editorial photographer needs a camera with him 24hrs a day. The pics out of this camera really look like the could be very nice! [link]
- The new camera also shoots 640×480 video at 30fps. The footage can be edited on the phone and uploaded to YouTube, a MobileMe gallery, emailed or sent as an MMS message. Could be GREAT for press conferences etc.. [link]
- Tethering! [link] Currently I, like many other snappers, pay for an additional wireless broadband service and use a USB ‘dongle’ to get internet access virtually anywhere (I use ‘Hellstra’ [aka Telstra] and pay $89.95 for 5GB of data per month). The problem is, I have to also pay $29 for 300Mb of data for my iPhone. With the new tethering option the iPhone will be responsible for creating and maintaining an internet connection and will connect via bluetooth to my MacBook at speeds up to 7.2Mbps using a HSDPA network. Therefore, no dongle required and only one wireless broadband fee. A couple of problems however that could rear their head – I travel to quite remote locations quite a bit and rely on an external antenna connected to my USB wireless broadband device. There is no option for extending the range of an iPhone so not sure what I will do in that situation. Secondly – Telstra. Basically they suck and undoubtedly they will try and rip off their customers and increase their prices to combat this. And no surprise, when Apple showed worldwide networks who were ready to provide internet tethering, lo and behold – no Telstra. Australia’s other two carriers Optus and Vodafone were there of course.
Here’s a look at the updated MacBooks and the new Iphone 3GS
My little old Olympus Pen looks REALLY out of date now!
Posted by Cameron in Equipment, Photography, Technology on June 7th, 2009
My first 35mm camera, An Olympus Pen EE-S
One of my first cameras as a teen was a wonderful Olympus Pen (model EES) 1/2 frame camera. With a roll of 36exp I could get 72 frames (but normally I would squeeze a few more on the end of the roll!). I used to play around with film & developer combinations – I was a big fan of Agfapan 400 B/W and Kodak Tri-X B/W and loved Agfa’s Atomal and Rodinal developers. I can smell those chemicals just thinking about it…. Ahhh memories!
The Pen camera is widely regarded as one of the most influential cameras ever made and for the lucky people who owned one of these I’m sure they’ll understand.
Anyway, Olympus are banking on this love of the marque as they introduce a new digital Pen. And it looks absolutely FANTASTIC! It is still unannounced but here is a spy pic of the top of the upcoming model and some specs. It uses the Micro Four Thirds format which allows it to use interchangeable lenses and the 4:3 aspect ration. The sensor is also much larger than that of other compact digital cameras (5-9 x the size) giving much higher image quality and much better control over depth of field.
The new 'digital' Pen
Olympus Pen E-P1 - Micro Four Thirds
Possible specs
12 Megapixel, 100-3200 ISO, Body IS, 3.0 LCD (no swivel) with new improved liveview (IS will work while you use the liveview), Same autofocus as the Panasonic G1, Video 720p, 2 models, one in silver-black, one beige, thicker than the G10 or DP2, 17mm 2.8 lens and 14-42 kit lens
UPDATE – A new pic of the camera is out (July 15, 2009)
Psst, wanna know how to fire a camera remotely?
Posted by Cameron in Equipment, How do I do that, Photography, Technology, Video on June 6th, 2009
Made up the first in hopefully a few “How do I do that?” videos, this one detailing the very basics of remote firing of a camera. Hopefully someone gets something out of it!
“How do I do that?” – Remote camera firing from Cameron Laird – Photographer on Vimeo.
Technical timelapse assignment – want to help?
Posted by Cameron in Equipment, Photography, Technology on April 4th, 2009
Hi readers!
- Camera is to be mounted on a train, which will be travelling all over the state of Queensland, Australia (area – 1.85 million km or 715,000 miles)
- Images are to be captured over a five month period in various increments from sunrise to sunset every day
- Images are to be transmitted immediately after capture
- Images need to be of a high enough resolution to be used as single ‘stand-alone’ photographs as well as be put together in resolutions from full HD down to YouTube size
- I want my client to have access to any of the images at any time they require
The computer will have a 3G wireless data card connected to Telstra’s NextG service. The NextG service has excellent coverage (as shown below) however undoubtably it will be out of range at times.
- Any recommendations on a particular netbook/notebook? It will only be running timelapse software and wireless connection software as well as the background DropBox software but will need to be on and reliable for five months.
- As the netbook will be unattended have you got any good tips on achieving maximum reliability?
- Any idea of the longest run of USB cable that is reliable? (from netbook to camera)
- Should I set up some sort of remote software so I can log in to the computer and fix any problems?
- Any other things I am forgetting?
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