Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips
No matter how excited we get, there are certain things we need to remember when photographing wildlife. This is especially true when you are looking for animals that are notoriously hard to capture on camera. Whatever you do though, you need to keep in mind that practice makes perfect and that perseverance will eventually get you that shot. Here are a couple of reminders for your reference. [Read more…]
Recently, I’ve been shooting all my shots without autofocusing and only relying on the manual focus wheel on my Olympus E-510. What I’ve discovered is that it’s making me think more about my shots, framing, and forcing me to concentrate more on achieving the perfect photo that I have set in my mind already.
In contrast, the world of commercial and event shooting has called for the “spray and pray” method of shooting. On top of this, your camera’s autofocusing may not always be up to par with your expectations and standards; especially in low light as is the case with the above photo. It was achieved with manual focus. [Read more…]
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A patent application, filed by Canon, reveals technology that would effectively incorporate fuel cell technology in DSLRs and other small consumer electronic devices. The United States Patent Application Publication Pub. No. 20080081236 can be found here.
As Canon points out it the patent claims, fuel cell technology is a bit of a tough cookie for small electronic devices due to uneven gas densities and variances in load currents, among other things. For example, the mirror operation in a DSLR can cause sudden fluctuations in the load current, which is problematic for fuel cells. However, Canon claims to have overcome this barrier in its fuel cell power system, “which is capable of counteracting the instantaneous fluctuation of a load current and [is] designed as a smaller lightweight system.”
The patent doesn’t reveal the what the fuel cell system will look like when integrated into a DSLR. Maybe we’ll see some sort of battery grip integration in the first iteration, like in the MTI Micro image above.
On a (perhaps) related note, MTI Micro recently announced a partnership with an unnamed Japanese digital camera manufacturer to evaluate the use of fuel cells in digital cameras. (See this report on Engadget for more.) I’m just reading between the lines here, but maybe Canon is that “someone special” for MTI Micro.
Nikon has blown photographers away this past year with the introduction of the critically acclaimed Nikon D3 and Nikon D300. Rumors abound of several new Nikon DSLRs in the works, including a D90 (update to the D80), D10 (mid-range full-frame camera) and a 24 megapixel D3X (leaked in a recent D3 firmware update). We should know by the time Photokina 2008 rolls around which of these new cameras will come to fruition.
The technological advancements found in the D3 and D300 have pushed Nikon to the forefront of the DSLR market. According to recently published patent applications, Nikon may have something special up its sleeve for its next generation of DSLRs. [Read more…]
Aptina has brought a degree of smallness to CMOS technology with their innovative new 9 megapixel sensor designed for mobile phones and compact point and shoot cameras. [Read more…]
With the pervasiveness of Live View modes from DSLR makers, it is only a matter of time before similar technology brings a “movie mode” to DSLRs. While the ability to record video is a common feature among point & shoot cameras, technological challenges make the incorporation of a video recording more difficult in DSLRs. A recently published patent application by inventor Hiroshi Terada may change all of this. The patent addresses many of the technological hurdles that have prevented incorporation of a movie mode into DSLRs.
As we all know, DSLRs are designed for optimal performance in capturing still images – and DSLR manufacturers have truly raised the bar over the past couple of years. Accordingly, DSLRs are specialist tools that have been optimized to have a very narrow focus tolerance and an ever-increasing auto-focus speed. These features are not quite conducive to smooth video capture. Additionally, the field-of-view changes, albeit slightly, during auto-focus operation. Finally, fast and accurate hand-held auto-focus is dependent up accurate phase-difference AF evaluation, which requires a mirror to reflect the image to the AF sensor.
As you can see, getting live image to the image sensor and capturing smooth, in-focus video seems difficult to achieve without sacrificing some still image capture properties of DSLRs. These obstacles, among others, are what Mr. Terada attempts to overcome in his patent application. [Read more…]
Canon is using Iris watermarking to take photographer’s copyright protection to the next level.
. . . to provide an imaging apparatus that makes it possible to protect the copyright of photographic images by reliably acquiring biological information of a photographer . . . – US Patent Application No. 2008/0025574
Stories like the recent discovery of Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir’s stolen Flickr images that surfaced on iStockphoto make all photographers cringe. Many photographers go to great lengths to protect their images. Past attempted solutions include watermarks on the front of images. I can recall this practice from my childhood years with the Olan Mills studio gold embossing in the bottom corner.
More recently, in the digital age of photography, watermarking in Photoshop or other image editing software. While visible watermarks are common among a variety of photographers, invisible watermarks (“electronic or digital watermarks“), which are embedded in the image file, are somewhat less prevalent – but gaining ground and acceptance among photographers. Companies like Digimarc are pressing the digital watermark cause to protect photographer’s and other author’s data.
Camera companies are pushing forward as well. Stories like that of Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir help increase the desirability and demand for practical copyright solutions in modern digital photography. [Read more…]
Industry’s First 1.4 Micron, 5 Megapixel, High-ISO CMOS Sensor Combines Two New KODAK Technologies for Better Pictures from a Smaller Sensor
ROCHESTER, N.Y. –(Business Wire)– Feb. 4, 2008 Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) is enabling a new level of performance in consumer imaging devices by redesigning the basic building blocks used to collect light and is incorporating that technology into a brand-new sensor. [Read more…]
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ATP’s Photo Finder allows you to use GPS technology to “tag” your photos with geographical information. After geotagging your photos, you can literally add your photos to the map on sites like Google Maps, Flickr and Panoramio. [Read more…]