Popular Photography and Imaging - December 2005

2005
CONTENTS
R
L
S
D
LL
DECEMBER 2005
VOLUME 69, NO. 12
CAMERA OF TH
$3,300 Canon EO
raises the bar for al
but thrusts it into th
FE ATURES
▲
28
All I Want for Festivus Holiday
84
Camera of the Year The Canon
86
▲ DREAM TEAM: What a year for digital SLRs! Here are seven that we
tested in 2005, along with a scouting report on those to come.
The Editors
▲
86
A S
R
A
ST
DSLR All-Stars of 2005
5 Best in the league
Michael J. McNamara
▲
90
They Might Be Giants Will EVFs stomp
DSLRs?
Dan Richards
▲
92
Mothers of Invention Cool digicam tricks
96
Digital Optical Options Kit lenses vs. the pros
Dan Richards
Peter Kolonia
You Fall, You Die Shootting to extremes
92
Jad Davenport
HOW-TO
Nature Bring Death Valley to life
Tim Fitzharris
Travel Fit to be Thai
Digital Toolbox
x Healing Brush step-by-step
▲
78
81
100
Tips & Tricks Tips our readers
aders swear by
You Can Do It! He shoots seashells Peter Kolon
nia
Read a Camera Test Behind the numbers
▲
122
Get Creative Alphabet City
▲
39
47
58
▲ FEATS IN INCHES: Sure, they’re small, but these 12 digital compacts
are packed with amazing features.
PLUS...
Debbie Grossmaan
12
21
27
31
64
136
154
167
Michael J. McNamara
Bryan F. Peterson
TES T S/RE VIE WS
▲
68
Canon EOS 5D The one to beat
Michael J. McNamara
▲
72
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-R1 Big, beautiful EVF
@ WEB SITE EXCLUSIVES
www.POPPHOTO.com
Dan Richards
74
“DIGITAL TOOLBOX” PODCAST Listen as Debbie Grossman leads you
Pentax 40mm f/2.8 DA Limited pancake lens
step-by-step through various Photoshop skills. Play it on your computer or
download this audio file to your iPod so you can take Debbie wherever you go.
Peter Kolonia
75
NEW PAPERLESS MAGAZINE Check out the new digital edition of POP
ACDSee 8 Photo Manager Organize fast
PHOTO. Every feature and every page is there, only in an electronic format.
Click “Subscribe Now” on the home page for all the details.
Debbie Grossman
76
Quantum Qflash T5d Flash system
PHOTO EMERGENCIES! What do you do if a flood or other watery disaster
Peter Kolonia
77
strikes your prints, negatives, slides, or electronic-image files? We come to the
rescue with tips on saving your precious pictures.
Epson PowerLite 755c LCD digital projector
Philip Ryan
ADOBE PHOTSHOP ELEMENTS 4 Debbie Grossman reviews the latest version
of this superpopular program. Also, exclusive Podcast commentary by the
“Digital Toolbox” diva.
DEPAR TMENT S
17
52
62
168
Editorial Show us your stuff
John Owens
SLR
R DSLR boom
Herbert Keppler
Film Now Positives for negatives
Russell Hart
Showcase Ladies or Gentlemen
Debbie Grossman
Letters
Snapshots
Just Out
Your Best Shot
The Fix
Time Exposure
Tech Support
What’s Up With…
Cover: Photographer of the Year 2005 Michael Soo shot the cover
image of a Canon EOS 5D using a Canon EOS 20D and a 24–70mm
f/2.8L Canon lens, exposing for 1/250 sec at f/5.6; ISO 100. Why
f/5.6? “So that the rear of the camera is soft enough to melt into the
background, bringing focus to the front, brand name, texture, and
shape,” he says. With the 5D on a grill-like table, Soo set three redgelled White Lightning strobes around it and one beneath.
▲
= COVER STORY
© MICHAEL SOO (COVER AND CAMERA PYRAMID); RICO POON (OTHER CAMERAS)
104
> S H A R E YO U R T I P S , E X P E R I E N C E S , Q U E S T I O N S , A N D C O M M E N T S W I T H O U R E D I T O R S
LETTERS
A bull in the
© TIM FITZHARRIS
PHOTOSHOP
What’s Tim Fitzharris doing? I maintain a virtual shrine to his scenic and
wildlife photography. And when I
glanced at the October issue (“Nature”), I saw that he’d scored again
with the magnificent bugling bull
elk. How amazing is that photo, with
the breath and snow squall...or not.
When I read the caption, I discovered he added frosty breath and the
snow squall with Photoshop. Huh?!
Now, I’m all for image correction,
Kodachrome: keepin’ the faith
In response to Michael Gottlieb’s letter in the September 2005 issue suggesting that in 2027 when people hear
Paul Simon’s song “Kodachrome,”
they’ll ask, “What’s Kodachrome?”
I think that in 2027 people will
know Kodachrome quite well. After decades of gradually losing their
digital photography to hard drive
failures, corrupted files, unreadable
disks, viruses, obsolete formats,
and just plain mistakes, film photography may make up the majority of
images from these times.
Patrick McNamara
Westfield, NJ
m an avid Photohop user, and I’ll
et Tim’s gizmos
and neutral-density filters slide, but
this crosses the line. Next time, Tim
should leave well enough alone.
That said, I still have my shrine.
Gary Lehman
Pearl River, NY
Tim confesses that only the snow
and breath are real. The animal
was made using Photoshop’s littleknown Bull Elk Tool on the Ruminant Palette.
in each seat, but there’s no tell-tale
signs of multiple exposures. I’ve also
ruled out mirrors, since her expression changes slightly. Cut and paste
would have been too expensive for a
postcard. Any ideas?
Bill Becker
Hillsdale, NJ
According to Todd Gustavson,
Curator of Technology at George
Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in
Rochester, NY, the picture was indeed made with mirrors. What appear to be slight changes in expression are due to the different
Noise—and speed—reduction
Flying back ffrom a photo trip to Yellowstone and
d Grand Teton, I picked
up POP PHO
OTO at the Denver airport. I wish
h I had read the article
“10 Things Y
You Should Know About
the Nikon D70” (October 2005)
before I left for my trip. I learned
at least three new things about my
trusty D70, all of which would have
helped me bring home a larger number of better pictures.
In item 8, you recommend using
the noise-reduction feature in exposures over 1 sec. But, as I found,
don’t use it with faster shutter
speeds, or the camera’s burst rate
will drop significantly.
While shooting my daughter’s
soccer game over the summer, I
couldn’t understand why the camera
shot only 1 fps. I was about to send it
back to Nikon when I glanced at the
manual (page 133) and learned that
the D70 slows to under 3 fps with
noise reduction on. I switched noise
reduction off and the burst rate went
back up to 3 fps.
James Fraser
Warwick, RI
Get in touch! Write
us at Letters to the Editor, POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING,
1633 Broadway, New
York, NY 10019; or
send an e-mail to Popp
Editor@hfmus.com. p
Ñ Ye olde Photoshoppe?
Knowing that I work with old
photos, a customer recently
brought me this one, hoping I could shed some light
on the technique. I can’t. It
appears to be the same girl
12
angles at which the subject is presented to the camera. The illustration below, from an early edition of
Photographic Amusements (first
published in 1896), by Frank Fraprie and Walter Woodbury, shows
how it’s done. The book says this
type of shot was a popular moneymaker for photographers in summer
resorts who printed the photos on
postcards. Also, French police used
this technique “for photographing criminals and thus obtaining a
number of different portraits with
one exposure.”
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
EDITORIAL
BY JOHN OWENS
PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR
2006
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS MONTH’S
cover. It’s a damn good photo.
Could you have taken it? If the answer is “yes,” then let me ask you a
few more questions:
•How are you under pressure?
•Can you think fast, work fast,
and get the shot when the
going gets tough?
•Are you the best all-around
photographer you know?
•What are you doing the week
of July 9, 2006?
μTHE 2005 FINALISTS
If you’re up for an adventure, I
encourage you to enter POPULAR
PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING’s Photographer of the Year 2006 Competition. Our goal is to find the best
shooter on the planet—and reward
that person with a $5,000 grand
prize, as well as the assignment to
shoot the December 2006 cover of
POP PHOTO.
After three intensely competitive
days of shooting, California-based
software engineer Michael Soo
emerged as the 2005 Photographer
of the Year. His images grace this
month’s cover and illustrate the articles, “They Might Be Giants” and
“Camera of the Year.” You can see
more of the work that earned Soo
the title (and that big check),
ll
h
t’s your turn to prove who’s
e best shooter on the planet
2006
talented photographers he was up
against, in our October 2005 issue
and at www.POPPHOTO.com.
But, chances are what you really
want to see is what’s in store for the
2006 competition, and how you can
get in on it.
Okay. Here are the basics.
Send us four of your best photos:
•One people shot.
•One product shot.
•One action shot.
•One shot of anything, of any
type you want.
They must be prints. No e-mails,
no digital files, and they must be no
larger than 11x17 inches.
The criteria defining “people,”
“product,” and “action” shots are really wide open. And is Photoshopping
allowed? Sure. But software won’t
get you into the final round; photography will. Put simply, we’re looking
for all-around photographic prowess.
Out of the thousands of entries, our
editors will pick 10 semifinalists. The
work of these photographers will be
posted on our web site from April 17
until May 30, where readers can see
the photos and vote for their favorite.
The top three finishers in this voting will be invited to New York for
the four-day Shoot-Out during the
week of July 9. We’ll provide coach
airfare from alm
any major city in the world, a hotel
room in midtown Manhattan, even
some spending money for each of
the three finalists as they battle to
prove who is really the best.
As in the 2005 Shoot-Out, POP
PHOTO’s editors will hit these shooters with a wide range of assignments
that will test their talent, skill, creativity, resourcefulness, and stamina. In
2005, the assignments ranged from
shooting food in Chinatown, to capturing the action behind the scenes
of a Broadway show, to chronicling
what goes on at a horse track on a
rainy summer day. This year’s competition will be grueling, but it also
could be one of the best weeks of
your life.
When all of the assignments are in,
the editors will select the winner of
the title and the five grand. The results will be published in POP PHOTO
and on our web site. Talk about bragging rights!
Are you in? It doesn’t matter if
you’re an amateur or a pro. It doesn’t
matter where you live—the 2005 entries came from everywhere, including India, Argentina, and China. You
can shoot digital or film (though with
the Shoot-Out’s tight deadlines, digital offers an edge). And you must be
available the week of July 9.
So c’mon, send us those four prints.
Your entry must be postmarked no later than Friday, March 31, 2006. Get
all of the details, rules, and entry
procedures at www POP-
> P O P P O R T R A I T U R E . . . S TA R S S H O O T . . . B E T T E R P I C S Q U I C K
DISCOVERIES
& COOL STUFF FROM THE WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY
NIKON D50
HOW THIS PRO GOT SATURATED
COLOR AND A SUPER POSE
NAOMI HARRIS,
A NEW YORK photographer famous for her Haddon Hall series documenting the Haddon Hall retirement community in Miami, Florida, shot this
picture in Los Angeles for a Marie Claire
UK story on Angelenos and their dogs. We
found out how she got the final picture.
At $800 (street), the Nikon D50
DSLR kit is a heck of a deal. After all, you get 6.1MP, a big LCD,
a body that’s small and lightweight, and an 18–55mm f/3.5–
5.6G AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor.
What could be better than that?
Getting it all for free. We’re giving away a D50 kit this month at
our web site. For your chance to
win, go to POPPHOTO.com and
enter as often as once a day until December 16. NO PURCHASE
NECESSARY.
DO
NOT
NO
Try
This At
Home
CAM E RAHAC KI N G.CO M
teaches you super tricks with
ordinary stuff. The site’s author,
Chieh Cheng, gives you truly
useful tips (like how to mount a
camera to the dashboard of your
car or simulate mirror lockup) and
sneaky hacks (like how to get your
negatives out of those dang APS
canisters or make your own infrared remote). Just don’t tell anyone
you heard about it from us.
Q
WHO IS THIS FELLOW?
Q
WHAT DID YOU SHOOT WITH?
The dog is Diva, and his owner is Norwood Young, a record producer and philanthropist. He lives in Hancock Park [near
Beverly Hills]—in what used to be Nat King
Cole’s house. He rented the house for a
couple of years and the neighbors were
not too pleased. Then he bought it. He put
up one [copy of Michelangelo’s sculpture]
David and the neighbors were so livid that
he put up a dozen more.
The Contax 645, with a 35mm lens.
I used Kodak Portra 160 VC film, so that
accounts for the bright colors. I used to
shoot slide film—this is the negative film
that’s the closest to the Kodak E100G.
Q
WHAT TIME OF DAY WAS IT, AND HOW
DID YOU GET THE LIGHT SO EVEN?
It was about 5 o’clock. The sun was right
behind me and the lights are pretty much
in the same place. If the sun was anywhere
else I could have lit him but the house
would have still been in shadow.
I brought three Profoto 7 heads, and we
ran a cord from the garage. No silks, no
umbrellas—just reflectors straight on him.
When you’re shooting outside you lose
so much power anyway. In order to get
the lawn and sky so saturated, I metered
the daylight, then set the camera and the
lights a stop brighter than reality. That way
the sky and grass were underexposed. I’m
not a real technical person—I’ve just figured out what works for me outside.
Q
Q
HOW DID YOU GET THE DOG TO YAWN?
Q
DID YOU HAVE A BACKUP LOCATION?
Diva was great. That was just luck.
ANY STUMBLING BLOCKS? This picture
wouldn’t be nearly the same if the sky
weren’t blue. When we arrived the smog and
fog were just burning off. I was relieved.
No. This was the picture. How could
you not shoot the Davids?
In the final image, Young looks natural and Diva
the dog is smiling for the camera. Meanwhile, the
sun lights the house and sculptures while three
Profoto heads make the portrait’s subjects pop.
21
©NAOMI HARRIS (2)
NEWS
MOS
DEF
SNAPSHOTS
©GETTY IMAGES (4)
COREL PAINTER
ESSENTIALS
BROOKE
SHIELDS
DENNIS
HOPPER
THREE WAYS TO
IMPROVE YOUR
PIC RES FAST
PICTURES,
1. DOT IN THE MIDDLE: Get a Post-it Note, cut a 1⁄4inch square out of the sticky part, and place it in the middle of
your DSLR’s viewfinder (or put a bigger square on your LCD
screen). Now shoot, and make sure that all your action happens outside the blob. Better compositions guaranteed.
2. LOCK IT UP: Grab your fastest lens, turn on aperturepriority mode, open your aperture all the way (as far as f/1.4
if you’ve got it), and stay there. Switch to manual focus, and
shoot. See how the shallow depth of field forces you to see
the world through a whole new eye.
3. PICK A COLOR: Choose a color, like white, then try
to find white everywhere. Fill your frame with it, make your
pictures about it. Keep shooting until you’re seeing red.
22
3
IF PAINTER ESSENTIALS can make
this nasty-looking piece of pizza appetizing,
think what it can do for your images. Corel,
the company that brings you the mother
of all painting programs, the $350 (street)
Painter IX, now has a $99 version for regular people. It
requires little-to-no talent at
mixing colors and rendering.
Instead, it makes it easy to turn
a photograph into a painting.
Import an image, choose th
paper you want (the progra
simulates lots of textures), the
hit “Quick Clone.” You get wh
looks like a foggy version of yo
photo—it’s sort of like tracing
per. Pick the kind of clone br
you want—anything from chalk to
oils to watercolor that even behaves like it’s
wet—then paint. The brush grabs both color
and form from your image. You control the
thickness and direction of the line but the
the shape and shading are taken care of.
The results are far better than what you
get from quickie photo filters in your imageediting program. Instead, it’s fun, addictive,
and easy. If you’re talented, mix colors and
make your own compositions sans photo.
One cautionary note, though: painting
with a mouse is like writing with the wrong
hand. It’s difficult and the results are somewhat clunky. Pressure-sensitive pen tablets
(such as Wacom tablets) make the whole
experience better. For info: www.corel.com
or 800-772-6735.
> N E W G E A R T H AT H A S I M P R E S S E D O U R E D I T O R S . . . B Y P H I L I P R YA N
JUST
READY FOR HD
For more than a year, the buzz about Leica has revolved around the
10MP Digital Modul-R camera back for the R8 and R9 cameras. Now, the company’s
long-standing relationship with Panasonic has given birth to something else: a new
digital compact called the D-LUX 2 ($800 estimated street). It features a Leica DC
Vario-Elmarit 28–112mm (equivalent) f/2.8–4.9 4X zoom lens, along with a 2.5inch, 207,000-pixel screen. Its most interesting feature: the 16:9 aspect
ratio of the 8.4MP CCD sensor. That means you can shoot photos that
display perfectly on any HDTV. If you prefer, a switch on the side
of the lens lets you change aspect ratios to 4:3 or 3:2 with
correspondingly lower resolutions of 7 and 6MP. The D-LUX
2 also incorporates Panasonic’s Mega OIS opticalimage stabilization. Note the similarity between
this Leica and Panasonic’s Lumix DMC-LX1
($600 street). But also note that the DLUX 2 has a 2-year warranty instead of
Panasonic’s 1-year, comes with Adobe
Elements 3.0 instead of ArcSoft’s
software suite, and, of course,
is a Leica. (Leica; www.
leica-camera.com;
800-222-0118)
WALLET-SIZED VIEWER
Still lugging around wallet-sized prints in plastic sleeves that flop down
to the floor? Get with the times. Apple’s new iPod Nano not only plays music, but also displays photos
on a 1.5-inch screen that’s about the same size as those prints. And the unit itself is only 1.6x3.5x0.3
inches and 1.5 ounces. It comes in 2GB ($200 street) and 4GB ($250 street) versions. Apple says
the 4GB unit can store up to 25,000 photos. Now people won’t think you’re weird when you carry
around a picture of your Canonet. Well, maybe they will. (Apple; www.apple.com; 800-692-7753)
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
27
BUDGET PHOTO GIFTS FOR THE REST OF US BY PHILIP RYAN
We know you want a fully
loaded, 12-megapixel DSLR
this holiday season. But, if
your family is anything like
the Costanzas (of Seinfeld
fame), you can forget about
that. Here are a half-dozen
items for your shopping list—
each priced under $25, plus
one crazy splurge at $79.
Twinkle, Twinkle
Nothing says Festivus more
than a star filter, such as this
Hoya Cross Screen. It turns
specular highlights into
multi-armed sparkling stars.
Plus, it’s a fun complement to
the regular circular polarizers
and UV protectors that most
photogs buy for themselves. This
one makes four-pointed stars, but you can
also get six- and eight-pointed versions.
And remember, you can always rotate the
filter in the threads to control the effect.
Price: $16.50 and up, depending on the size.
(THK Photo Products, Inc.; www.thkphoto.
com; 800-421-1141)
Sticky Situation
Shooting
and
printing
pictures can be fun. And
it’s even better to do
something
with
those prints. But,
mounting them or
making scrapbooks
can get, well, sticky.
Krylon’s acid-free,
photo-safe
EasyTack creates a nonpermanent, slightly
28
sticky coating on the back of your prints, so
you can lay them out on mats or scrapbook
pages and reposition them as much as you
want. Then, when you make up your mind, you
can stick them permanently with Krylon’s acidfree, archival-safe, Spray Adhesive. Price: Easy
Tack, 10.25-ounce can, $6.50; Spray Adhesive,
11-ounce can, $5. (Krylon; www.krylon.com;
800-457-9566)
Power Packer
Carrying batteries loose in your camera bag is a
bad idea. They can scratch your lenses and LCD
screens. Worse, loose batteries can leak. Then
there’s the annoying issue of distinguishing
new cells from those half-used, I-think-thesestill-have-juice cells. The solution: a simple
battery holder, like this one from Ansmann.
Price: $3.50. (HP Marketing; www.
hpmarketingcorp.com; 800735-4373)
Read Up
Chuck Delaney has been the
dean at the New York Institute of Photography
for 20 years—so he has a lot of advice for
photographers. His book, Photography Your
Way (Allworth Press), a favorite since it was
first published in 2000, has been updated
this year to include a fresh perspective on the
progress of digital technology as it relates to
novice, advanced, and pro shooters. Delaney’s
very readable book is
filled with personal
insights and nuggets
of information. Price:
$23. (Allworth Press;
www.allworth.com;
800-491-2808)
Luster for Life
Almost
everyone
who prints photos—
or has them printed
at a store—goes for a
glossy finish. But many
of us are secretly in
love with luster finishes.
Adorama’s ProJet Royal
Satin and Projet Smooth Silk inkjet
papers offer a great alternative to the
usual glossy prints. Choose Smooth
Silk if you want brighter whites. The
Royal Satin, with what Adorama calls
a Pearl finish, has a warmer look
that’s great for portraits. Price: $11
for 20 8.5x11-inch sheets. (Adorama;
www.adorama.com; 800-223-2500)
Press-on ’Pod
Looking for the best way to shoot
the Autobahn? Mount a camera on
the hood of your car. According to its
manufacturer, the Original Sticky Pod
will stay stuck even if you drive up to
110 miles per hour. Just to be safe, it’s
probably a good idea to tether your
camera to something and put a clear protective filter on the front of your lens.
Oh, yeah, and avoid shooting at insane
speeds. You don’t want to spend Festivus
in jail. Price: $79. (Sticky Pod; www.stickypod.com; 866-544-3636)
p
> S H O W U S W H AT YO U ’ V E G O T ! T H E S E R E A D E R S D I D .
1
ST PLACE
PEEK-A-BOO
This black leopard,
Boo, lives at the Shambala Preserve in Acton, California, a sanctuary for unwanted and abused big
cats where Bill Dow of Van Nuys is
staff photographer. Dow photographed
Boo’s intense face through a chainlink
fence. Wise move—just after the shutter
clicked, Boo leaped at Dow as if he were prey.
Tech info: Nikon F100; 300mm f/2.8 Nikkor
lens. Exposure, 1/125 sec at f/4; film, Fujichrome
100. Scanned with Nikon Coolscan 4000, and Adobe
Photoshop CS used for minor balancing and correcting.
YOUR BEST SHOT
2
ND PLACE FUN IN THE SUN
All the elements come together in this winning composition: a compelling subject matter, strong vertical lines, and zippy colors.
While photographing surfers and sunbathers on Manly Beach in Australia (a half-hour ferry ride to the northeast of Sydney), Lisa
Wiltse of Redfern, New South Wales, befriended this family who had “brought their backyard to the beach all way from the suburbs of
western Sydney.” For Wiltse, this shot not only captures the spirit of this particular family but, in essence, “represents the daily life and laidback nature of Sydney.” Tech info: Nikon F100; 35mm f/2 Nikkor lens. Exposure, 1/250 sec at f/9.5; film, Fujichrome Sensia 200.
Scanned with a Nikon Coolscan LS-400ED; Adobe Photoshop 7.0 used to adjust contrast and brightness.
3
RD PLACE
DUCK SOUP
Walking along the
shore of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Steven Reyer of
Mequon, Wisconsin, spied this
handsome mallard “couple” in
the water. He took about 15
shots of the ducks, but he didn’t
realize that they were giving each
other the eye in this shot until he
looked at all of his results at
home. Tech info: Canon EOS
20D; 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L
IS Canon lens. Exposure, 1/350
sec at f/6.7; ISO 200. Adobe
Photoshop CS used to crop the
shot, modify the brightness, and
sharpen the image.
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
YOUR BEST SHOT
HONORABLE MENTION
WHITE CARPET
Walking after a big snowstorm toward the
building where he teaches at Syracuse University, Bob Gates of Jamesville, New York, noticed
how the snow had blanketed the steps, isolating the forms of the railings, lights, and trees.
He took some shots with his wide-angle lens,
but that didn’t give the desired flat perspective.
Gates backed up and used his telephoto for
this winner. Tech info: Tripod-mounted Canon
EOS 10D; 70–200mm f/4L Canon lens. Exposure, 1/250 sec at f/8. Adobe Photoshop CS
used to correct levels and curves.
HONORABLE MENTION
FIERY VIEW
Lewis Abulafia of Carlsbad, California, had
been visiting Yosemite National
n Park for several
overcast and snowy days. On
O the fifth day, he
trudged through the park with his gear and
caught the sun bursting through the clouds,
illuminating El Capitan. The hot-red mountain
peak reflecting in the Merced River was the
capping magical moment: “It was truly a glorious 10 minutes, what every landscape photographer lives for.” Tech info: Tripod-mounted
Canon EOS 10D; 17–35mm f/2.8 Canon lens.
Exposure, 1/15 sec at f/22. Adobe Photoshop
CS used to dodge and burn.
NEW RULES &
ENTRY PROCEDURES:
SEND PRINTS ONLY
“Your Best Shot” Entry Rules: To enter, send prints—
and only prints—no larger than 9x12 inches to “Your
Best Shot,” POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING, 1633
Broadway, NY, NY 10019. Do not e-mail p
photos and
do not send electronic files. If your photo is selected
and material is needed for publication, we will contact you. Prizes are as follows: First Place, $300;
Second Place, $200; Third Place, $100; Honorable
Mention, $50. Up to five entries per month. Photos
not chosen may be selected for “The Fix” feature. Include your address, phone number, and e-mail, plus
any pertinent technical information (camera, lens,
exposure, film, filters, software). Submission grants
POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING the right to publish
photographs and descriptions in print, electronic,
and other media, and for promotional and advertising
use. You represent that your photographs are original
and of your own creation, publication of the material
will not violate the rights of any kind of third party, and
you have provided all necessary permissions and releases. Due to the large
g number of entries,, we cannot return your
y
photos,
p
, and we cannot acknowledge
g
receipt
p of them. For details on this contest go to the
“Your Best Shot” button on the right hand side of the
homepage at www.POPPHOTO.com.
34
NATURE
TUCKI MOUNTAINS, MESQUITE
FLAT SAND DUNES
A perfect winter shooting spot: Death Valley!
DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK
encompasses nearly 3.4 million
acres of airy wilderness furnished
with tinted mudstone ridges, windsculpted dunes, winding canyons,
lush oases, still pools of water, and
vast stretches of sand and gravel.
Mild temperatures, clear blue skies,
and plenty of shooting opportunities make it an ideal winter destination for photographers.
Three-part strategy
The best times to photograph
in Death Valley are during early
morning, twilight, and late evePOP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
ning, when the light is soft and
warm. At other times, the park’s
usually cloudless skies generate
contrast beyond the range of fi lm
or digital sensor. You can use the
midday period, however, for the
essential tasks of reaching and
scouting new locations.
This huge park contains two
major valleys (Death Valley and
Panamint Valley), each bounded by
mountains running north/south on
both sides. Within the park, three
staging locations provide access to
great photo spots: From the Scotty’s
Castle area (which allows camping
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
only), you can work the Racetrack,
Eureka Dunes, and Ubehebe
Crater. Out of Stovepipe Wells Village (where you’ll fi nd camping and
lodging), you can access Aguereberry Point, the Mesquite Flats
dunes, and Devil’s Cornfield. And
from Furnace Creek (camping and
lodging), you can photograph at
Zabriskie Point, Dante’s View, Artist’s Drive and Badwater. Of these
various sites, here are five I don’t
think you should miss:
1
MESQUITE FLATS
SAND DUNES
Death Valley’s most photogenic sand dunes lie adjacent
to California Highway 190, a few
miles from Stovepipe Wells. Great
shots are possible here at either sunrise or sunset. You’ll need to hike well
into the dunes to find a stretch of foot39
NATURE
PANAMINT RANGE, BADWATER
Follow the trail and explore different compositions. Pentax 645NII with a
45–85mm f/4.5 Pentax lens on tripod. Exposure, 2 sec at f/22 through a
Singh-Ray Color Intensifier and a 2-stop hard-edge split ND filter to hold
back the brightness of the sky; film, Fujichrome Velvia 50.
2
PANAMINT RANGE, DANTE’S VIEW
The well-defined foreground elements and
saturated midground colors at Dante’s
View contrast nicely with the hazy wash of
colors in the background. Pentax 645NII
with 45–85mm f/4.5 Pentax lens on tripod.
Exposure, 1 sec at f/22 through a SinghRay polarizer and a 2-stop hard-edge split
ND filter; film, Fujichrome Velvia 50.
print-free sand, so plan on spending at
least an hour to find a tripod location,
plus another 30 minutes to try out
various compositions. The best light
occurs during the 30-minute periods
before sunset and after sunrise.
40
BADWATER
Right off the
road you will find
this spot, 282
feet below sea level, where
saltwater pools reflect
the snow-capped Panamint Range to the west.
Arrive an hour or so
before dawn to allow
time to work out compositions using the scattered rocks, shrubs, and
dried mud p
patterns along the shore.
Both soft twilight illumination and
the momentary sunrise glow of rosy
light on the Panamint Range offer
prize-winning opportunities.
On a cloudless day, the magic dissipates abruptly once the sun clears
the horizon. You’ll need a 1-stop or
2-stop hard-edge neutral-density
fi lter to control scene contrast.
3
ZABRISKIE POINT
This surreal terrain just off
Highway 190 is best photographed at dawn when the
rising sun spotlights Manly Beacon,
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
a dogtooth projection of tawny
rock surrounded by rumpled ridges
stained in pastel hues. Behind this
feast of shape and color rises the
ice-crowned Panamint Range. A
two-stop hard-edge neutral-density
fi lter is needed to restrain contrast
on compositions that combine both
foreground and sky.
4
DANTE’S VIEW
5
EUREKA DUNES
This rocky, shrub-covered
prominence 35 miles from
Badwater provides the most
expansive view of Death Valley,
5,753 feet below. You can hike along
an easily reached trail that skirts
the rim, picking up vantage points
northward and southward into the
valley. Morning creates frontal illumination on foreground features and
is my preferred shooting period.
Stretching up nearly 700
feet, these cream-colored
dunes in the remote northern corner of the park are reached
(continued on page 42)
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
NATURE
ZABRISKIE POINT
The best wildflower areas change from year to year (and week to week), so call
ahead, ask a ranger, or stop in at a visitor center. Pentax 645NII with 35mm f/3.5
Pentax lens on tripod. Exposure, 1/4 sec at f/11 through a Singh-Ray polarizer and a
2-stop hard-edge split ND filter; film, Fujichrome Velvia 50.
Arrive at Zabriskie at
dawn to have enough
time to set up and
capture the glow that
strikes Manly Beacon
as the sun rises. Pentax
645NII with 80–160mm
f/4.5 Pentax lens on
tripod. Exposure, 1 sec
at f/16 through a
Singh-Ray Color
Intensifier/Polarizer
and a 2-stop hard-edge split ND filter to
hold back the brightness of the sky; film,
Fujichrome Velvia 50.
by a 50-mile drive over mostly dirt
roads. The dunes are best photographed at sunset, allowing an
unhurried daylight journey and
build your compositions on curving
dune crests.
Happy shooting, and do your
best to stay cool!
p
WILDFLOWER BLOOM, UBEHEBE CRATER
on-site reconnaissance before the
magic hour arrives. You won’t fi nd
photogenic ripples here due to the
powdery texture of the sand, so
CAUTIONS IN THE CAULDRON
Death Valley is one of the hottest
and driest places in the U.S. In
summer, temperatures often exceed 120°F for weeks at a time.
Humidity is so low that sweat
evaporates before it can form on
your skin. Even during the pleasant winter season you should
keep these precautions in mind:
Make sure your vehicle is in top
condition, especially the cooling system, brakes, and tires. You will be traversing rough roads and steep grades
in sometimes isolated territory.
When hiking, wear a hat and carry
adequate drinking water. Maintain
awareness of your route back to the
trailhead, especially when seeking
photo ops in hilly terrain, canyons,
and gullies.
If your vehicle has a trunk, use it for
equipment storage. Otherwise keep
your gear and film on the floor of the
vehicle with the windows slightly open
for ventilation.
Carry a cell phone for emergencies,
but remember that reception is patchy
throughout the park.
Visit Tim’s image-filled web site at
www.timfi
fitzharris.com.
LINKS, NUMBERS, INFO
Web site and phone: National
Park Service, www.nps.gov/deva
p g
,
or call 760-786-2331.
Book: National Park Photography, Tim Fitzharris (Death Valley
plus 20 additional parks), AAA Publishing, $25; www.amazon.com.
Newsletter: Photograph America
newsletter, Robert Hitchman; web
site: photographamerica.com
p
g p
.
Bloom Boom
I n times of ample rainffall Death Valley is transformed
db
by fields
ld off brilliant
b illi
bl
blooms that
h may first b
begin
i to show in early February.
The best wintertime flower fields are usually found at lower elevations on alluvial
fans, such as near Jubilee Pass, Highway 190 near Furnace Creek Inn, and at the
bottom of Daylight Pass. To time your visit to catch this color bonanza, call park
headquarters (760-786-2331) or go to www.nps.gov/deva/wildfl
p g
owerstxt.htm or
to www.desertusa.com/wildflo/wildupdates.html
p
.
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
★
TRAVEL THAILAND
AMAZING GRACE: Steve Gershberg
Magic Kingdom
A land where photographers get a royal welcome
FINDING COLOR IS NOT A
problem in Thailand. Nor is finding
exotic settings. Easiest of all, is finding willing models. It’s as simple as
lifting your camera.
“The people loved having their
picture taken,” says Mirjam Evers,
who organized this past July’s nineday POP PHOTO Mentor Series workshop to Thailand. “The people were
so happy. I have never met happier
people anywhere in the world.”
Surprised? Especially after last
December’s tsunami had such a
devastating impact on this country?
You shouldn’t be. As the 18 photographers on this Mentor Series workshop found, the Kingdom of Thailand
is uniquely beautiful and resilient.
While Bangkok has a skyline filled
with glass and steel, at
ground level you’ll discover truly one-of-a-kind settings. At the sprawling
Grand Palace, there’s the
Temple of the Emerald
Buddha, one of the country’s most sacred sites,
along with ornate architecture and a wide array
didn’t capture these Buddhas with his
Canon EOS 20D right away. “I just stood
there for a few minutes in awe of the
site,” he says. “I want to go back just to
stand there again.”
of visitors that includes scores of saffron-robed monks. In fact, from the
ruins of the ancient former capital
Ayutthaya to the beaches and reconstruction at Phuket, there’s an
amazing amount to photograph.
That’s where the Mentor Series
team comes in—sorting it all out and
putting the photographers in the
right places to get the best images.
And as on all Mentor Series workshops, a mentor accompanied trekkers. In this case, it was pro Roseanne Pennella, who offered tips on
all aspects of travel photography.
For details on all of the Mentor
Series workshops, go to www.mentorseries.com, or contact Michelle M. Cast at
mcast@hfmus.com, 888-676-6468.
For more on visiting Thailand, go to
the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s
web site, www.tourismthailand.org.
(continued on page 48)
TRUNK SHOW: The trekkers visited a rubber plantation in Phuket where
there were more than a dozen elephants. But Julie Williams and her Nikon
D50 found a nice shot in one small piece of the scene…relatively speaking.
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
47
★
TRAVEL
Craig Gordon
THE BIG PICTURE (top): Craig Gordon used the wide end of the 28–135mm lens on his Canon EOS 20D for this shot, a wooden boat
on Phuket’s Patong Beach (exposure, 1/250 sec at f/5; ISO 100). “Seven months after the tsunami,” Gordon says, “there were no signs of
the damage that this beach endured.” ■ STRIKE GOLD (above left): When rain pushed these monks under an overhang at Bangkok’s
Grand Palace, John Hutchins saw a photo op. “Through a series of head nods and hand gestures,” he says, he persuaded them to pose by
a gold-leaf tile wall, as he shot with a Nikon D2x. ■ ON THE RIVERFRONT (above center): Craig Gordon captured these buildings
along the Chao Phrya River with his Canon EOS 20D. ■ MORNING GLORY (above right): “The fruit caught my eye because the dew
was still fresh and undisturbed,” says Steve Gershberg. To brighten the shot, he fired a Canon 580EX Speedlite along with his EOS 20D. p
48
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
BY HERBERT KEPPLER
SLR
CATCH ’EM IF YOU CAN:
THE COMING
DSLR EXPLOSION
COULD WE BE HEADED NOT
only for a greater choice in digital
SLRs next year, but also an oversupply? Yes, the seeds were planted last
year, when Canon and Nikon benefitted from concentrating most
heavily on digital SLRs. They reaped
a bountiful harvest, cornering 90
percent of the 1.5 million DSLR
camera market in both the top level
$3,000–$4,000 sector pro camera
and in the even more profitable
$1,000 amateur range. Both types
were often in short supply.
Though going by the numbers
Canon was certainly the leader,
Nikon was able to crow that its firstquarter profit this year was quadruple last year’s, thanks to the company’s concentration on DSLRs.
With some 71.5 million pointand-shoot digital cameras shipped
globally last year by all manufacturers, you might conclude that
these companies should have done
as well or better fi nancially—but
they didn’t. The main target audience had already made their purchases, and the smaller group of
holdouts could not digest the
mighty river of new cameras—the
hallmark of a saturated market (as
financial types call it).
52
We were awash in overproduction—too many new models introduced too quickly, resulting in plummeting prices—a consumer bonanza
and maker’s disaster. What can
manufacturers do?
Join the DSLR success club!
Pentax was a typical switcher. With
2005’s first-quarter profits dipping
42 percent and forecasts indicating
continued drops, Pentax admitted
the problem was its primary reliance
on point-and-shoot sales. Now,
according to Pentax’s president, the
DSLR party big players. Even
before this year’s P/S debacle, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.,
(brand name Panasonic),
Panasonic) a global
monster combine of electronics and
marketing know-how, decided there
was money in DSLRs. While the
group shows plenty of digital capability in its top-level Panasonic Lumix
point-and-shoot cameras, it hasn’t
had any SLR camera designing or
manufacturing technology. Matsushita signed a joint development agreement with Olympus Corporation
for digital interchangeable-lens
cameras,
(continued on page 54)
NARROWING THE GAP: All DSLRs except Olympus use lensmounts originally
designed for 35mm cameras. I thought the Olympus 4/3 System DSLR used smaller
diameter lensmount to make smaller lenses possible. Not so.
SLR
(continued from page 52) based on
the Olympus-developed Four Thirds
System. Some would be developed
cooperatively, others separately.
Why pick this system? At first I
reasoned that the 4/3 system had a
smaller sensor than any other DSLR
and so allowed a smaller lensmount
and shorter back focus distances,
both of which permitted smaller
diameter lenses with extended rear
element closer to the film plane.
Wrong reasoning. The lensmount
surprisingly is virtually the same diameter as Nikon’s, and the back focus
distance isn’t substantially less. However, while Canon, Konica Minolta,
Nikon, and Pentax must design and
make both full-frame and small-sensor lenses, Olympus and anyone joining the 4/3 system can concentrate
exclusively on 4/3 system optics.
Olympus first offered the use of
the 4
who wished to adopt it. But nobody
came to the party. Panasonic is, in my
opinion, a big enough party all by
itself. It could provide savings in
manufacture, particularly of 4/3 sensors. Perhaps low-cost DSLRs may
show up with the Panasonic brand
name, ideal for mass markets and
electronic stores, while Olympus markets most to photo specialty stores.
Could Panasonic develop imagestabilization know-how for Olympus
DSLR camera bodies?
Maybe that’s not needed. There
are rumors that Sigma, which makes
lenses for the 4/3 system under the
Olympus and Sigma brands, may
also pick up the 4/3 system for its
next DSLR. Sigma already has Optical Stabilizer (OS) technology for
its lenses, and could also license
Olympus and Panasonic to use it.
q WHADDAYAMEAN IT’S GOTTA
BE BIG?
mm
e.
ght.
2.5 lb
24x3
sens
EOS
lb
6mm
or Canon
5D
q SMALL SENSOR SLRS LOSE MORE THAN YOU THINK:
(24x36mm) Canon EOS 5D imaging sensor shows outer picture area with 18mm
lens. Same lens on small sensor SLR with 1.5X magnification factor crops in to
outlined rectangle area.
50MM LENS VIEW WITH AVERAGE 24X16MM SENSOR IN
SMALL SENSOR DSLR
50MM LENS VIEW WITH 24X36MM SENSOR IN FULL FRAME DSLR.
54
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
SLR
FAKING A 35MM CONTACT SHEET:
Miss those good old, highly visible
35mm contact sheets? Canon 5D with
PictBridge-compatible printers will be
able to simulate them from memory
cards—without a computer.
Nobody is quite sure what Sony
will contribute to its DSLR joint
development agreement with partner Konica Minolta, which is
technologically very advanced. The
two companies have announced they
would use the present Konica
Minolta Maxxum lensmount and
Anti-Shake technology. But Sony
has its own CMOS technology,
which is considered superior in
many ways and much less expensive
than the CCD technology Konica
Minolta is using in its imaging sensor system. My suggestion: Sony
should contribute CMOS technology, plus marketing know-how
and many dollars and euros for
advertising. Thanks to Minolta’s vast
financial losses years ago, caused by
a protracted lawsuit brought by
Honeywell for patent violation
monies sunk in overforecas
Advanced Photo System (A
sales, the company has been sta
for sufficient advertising and p
motion of its uniquely featured d
ital cameras. Sony should feed it
An INFO/CAP Ventures industry
analyst predicted an 81 percent
DSLR sales growth this year, adding that he thought we probably
would see $500 DSLRs before year
end. I’d say that a $500 DSLR
would be more likely next year,
although Pentax’s $650 price for its
*ist DL, just announced as I write
this, is getting mighty close.
With Olympus-Panasonic, Konica
Minolta-Sony, Sigma, and Pentax
all expected to produce new DSLRs
next year, what more can Canon
and Nikon do to make sure you
keep faith with them?
Let me ask you a question. If
you own a Canon or Nikon DSLR
using a small sensor that in effect
multiplies the lens’ focal length by
a factor of 1.5 or 1.6 to calculate
the equivalent 35mm camera focal
length, would you have bought it
if, instead, you could have purchased a full-frame DSLR with far
more megapixels for about the
same price?
Many purchasers of small sensor
CLOSE TO BEING AN SLR? Kodak
claims P880 EasyShare with fixed 24
140mm zoom is alternative to DSLR.
if you need full lens interchangeability
Maybe almost?
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
55
DIGITAL TOOLBOX
BY DEBBIE GROSSMAN
Healing Arts
One tool to smooth
all imperfections
ZITS, DUST, WRINKLES, AND DARK CIRCLES. THESE PLAGUE ANY PHOTOGRAPHER on the quest to make
a picture (or, for that matter, a person) more beautiful. Fortunately, with the help of the Healing Brush—one of the
most versatile and magical tools in Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements—you can fix them all in little time.
A
B
Find your Healing Brush on the toolbar
on the left side of your screen in both Photoshop (left) and Elements (right). There are
two kinds of Healing Brushes: the Spot,
which does most of the work itself, and the
Original, which requires sampling. The Original works best to correct areas that require
drawing with the brush to fix, and the Spot
works best on, well, spots.
Here’s how to use both on the four things
you’ll probably need to heal most.
3
Check your brush size:
58
a section of a portrait
where, unfortunately, the subject did not
wear any makeup. She’ll look like she’s never
had a pimple in her life when we’re finished.
Zap those zits:
2
Grab the tool and modify it:
5
Porcelain skin at last:
To fine-tune the brush, go to the
Options bar on top of the screen.
Click the down arrow next to the word
“Brush” (A). Move the Hardness to 100%
(B); defined edges work best with this tool.
Hold your
cursor on some acne, and click.
Poof! Way faster than Clearasil. In
this shot I’ve gotten rid of the ones on the
neck, and that big mother on the cheek, but
not yet on the chin. Resize your brush as the
blemishes require. Notice how Photoshop
adds the right skin texture and luminosity.
If you’re working on a blemish
near an edge where the texture
changes, make your brush bigger and encircle the spot so the texture you like fills
the brush, but the edge is left out. That way,
you’ll encourage the brush to sample good
texture, not bad. (continued on page 60)
THE FASTEST BLACK BORDER YOU’VE EVER MADE Here’s a
CHANGE BRUSH HARDNESS FAST You
quick way to add a border. Go to Image > Canvas Size. Check the box
for “Relative,” change the Canvas Extension Color to Black, then type
in double the width and height of the border you want (it’ll split in half
as it’s evenly distributed on both sides). Hankering for an even 1⁄4-inch
border? Then type in 0.5 in both boxes. Click OK and you’re all set.
know you can hit the open bracket (“[”) to
make your brush smaller and close bracket
(“]”) to make it bigger. But did you know that
you can hold down Shift at the same time to
make the brush edges harder or softer?
Move the Diameter slider to the
left or right to pick the right size.
You want a brush that’s just slightly bigger
than the spot you want to remove. To check,
adjust the Diameter, then move your cursor
over the speck on your image. If it’s encircled, you’re good.
QUICK
TIPS
1
SPOT-HEALING
BRUSH: ZITS Here’s
4
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
DIGITAL TOOLBOX
1
continued from page 58
SPOT-HEALING
BRUSH: DUST This is
a detail from a scanned,
dirty negative. Using the Clone Stamp to get
rid of it would take forever, but the Spot Healing Brush will make the task go by fast. Use
the same settings you used to wipe out zits.
2
Make a duplicate layer:
5
Add subhead: Draw and
cover: Draw on top of the wrinkle
Make a copy of your background
layer by going to Layer > Duplicate Layer and click OK. Work on the copy—
we’ll modify it later.
you want to hide. As you move your
cursor, the little crossbar that represents your
sampled area moves with you. Don’t mind the
weird-looking line you’re drawing, because
when you let go, Photoshop will do some
calculations and the wrinkle will disappear.
60
2
Clear skies: Change sizes on
the fly by hitting one of the square
bracket keys (“[“ or “]”) on your
keyboard, and spot heal accordingly. When
your picture is this dirty, the spotting can
feel almost meditative. But next time, clean
your negative better before you scan.
3
Make it a soft brush:
6
I’ve got your nose: If you ac-
Drag
the hardness down to loosen up
the edges, and size it so it’s just
slightly larger than your first wrinkle. Make
sure you’re good and zoomed in.
cidentally run over a different
texture—part of, say, a nose—Photoshop will sample the texture of the nose
near the eye you’re working on, which is no
improvement. If that happens, type Ctrl + Z
to undo, and pick a new place to sample.
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
1
HEALING BRUSH:
WRINKLES
Once you know how to
fix wrinkles realistically, everyone you know
will be begging you to take their portraits.
These crinkly crow’s feet are no match for
the original Healing Brush.
4
Sample first: To use this Healing
7
Tone it down: This is definitely
Brush, first sample the texture you
want to replace the wrinkle with.
Hold down the Alt key (Option on a Mac)
and click. Pick a smooth area that’s at least
as long as the area you want to cover up.
an improvement, but our subject
is looking a little Botoxed. To give
her back some of her expressiveness, go to
your Layers Palette. Grab the Opacity slider,
and bring it down to about 80%. Or, if you
really want to flatter, 85%.
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
BOTOXED
Wrinkle-free:
That’s better.
Chances are your subject won’t
even notice he or she’s had virtual
plastic surgery.
8
NATURAL
1
HEALING BRUSH:
FIXING DARK
CIRCLES
Healing dark circles is pretty much the same
as healing wrinkles, but with a few modifications. This time, make your brush larger,
but don’t attempt to heal the whole area at
once; if you do, you may end up spreading
more darkness around.
QUICK
TIP
Take your time: Instead, work
your way up from the bottom in thinner strokes. It may take you several
passes to get the color right. As when you’re
healing wrinkles, work on a separate layer.
You may find your healing of the dark circles
is overdone, and your subject looks unnaturally well-rested. If that happens, decrease
the opacity, as you did with wrinkles.
2
SHRINK AND SEND Here’s a quick way to make e-mail-sized images: go to File > Save for Web. You can adjust and preview four levels
of compression at once, and check the length of time it will take a 28.8
modem to load. When you hit Save, you’re automatically saving a copy;
once you hit OK you can go right back to work on your original.
p
FILM NOW
Bor
AN IRONY O
revolution in p
silver-halide film
capture medium
technology aims
ply the best it h
it’s good, film
good. It’s actua
ing detail than
end digital cam
ness and the ab
highlights and
delivers this qu
starting price th
You do need
film into the d
image-manipul
options far sur
with optical m
halide photogra
about scanning.
include noise
negative film’s redrenamed to reflect
OLD COATING
NEW COATING
dish-orange mask
this new family
(something
I
harmony,
with
haven’t experiNPH 400 becomenced), and the
ing Pro 400H and
inability to capture
NPZ 800 becomthe full scale of
ing Pro 800Z.
color slide film
Other improve(despite the widements to the two
spread notion that
slower Fuji Pro
slide film is best
films include betfor scanning).
ter neutral gray
The bad news is
balance, smoother
skin tones (due to
that manufacturers aren’t creating SHARPER IMAGE: Details from a photo of film boxes show how a new surface new color couall-new films; dig- overcoat on Kodak Portra improves scanning results. Left: Shot on old version of plers), and finer
ital’s wild success 120-format Portra 160NC film, and negative then scanned; note artifacts along grain (an RMS
has eroded any edges. Right: Shot on new 160NC with surface coating; edges are much cleaner. granularity of 3,
incentive to do so.
versus the 4 of
The good news is that they’re fine- one is that they made the films’ their predecessors). But wait—
tuning their existing emulsions to base tint and density consistent don’t improvements of this sort
make them even better for scan- throughout the Pro family.”
benefit traditional optical printing
ning purposes. Such evolutionary
In real-world terms, that means as much as scanning? Yes, not that
change doesn’t always make for you can switch Fujicolor Pro emul- there’s anything wrong with that.
sexy ad copy or editorial kudos, sions freely—using ISO 800 for an “The changes to our Pro films will
something we hope to redress in existing-light shoot, for example, deliver better output whether the
this continuing column. But it and ISO 160 in a strobe-lit stu- image is printed optically or digicertainly keeps film viable as a dio—and not have to adjust scan- tally,” says Fuji’s Fridholm. “To use
capture medium.
ning parameters to get consistent the old chemical lab terminology,
62
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
s family of fi lms can now be
nted on a single channel.”
n contrast, some recent changes
Kodak’s professional color negae emulsions are aimed squarely at
proving scanning performance.
r example, medium- and largemat members of the Portra fami—both ISO 160 and ISO 400, in
th NC (natural color) and VC
vid color) versions, as well as ISO
0 and 160T—have been endowed
h a new surface coating that
ually fixes a widely reported
nning problem. In addition to
oviding scratch resistance, this
er of dry-lubricant matte beads
duces friction as film moves
ough a camera. Until the change,
had relied on an older formulation
t made it “toothy,” according to
omas J. Mooney, Kodak’s worldde product manager for consumer
d professional films. (See illustran, page 62.) “What was happenwas that the matte layer was
ng imaged,” Mooney explains.
you scanned a negative and blew
up, you’d sometimes see the actutexture of the matte beads, especially along high-contrast edges.”
Since the original reason for the
matte beads’ texture was to make
the negative’s surface more receptive to hand retouching—still in
fairly wide practice among Portra’s
intended users when the film was
introduced—the new replacement
now has a coating in which the
matte beads have a finer, more
homogenous texture that won’t
show up in scans.
Oddly enough, Portra’s original
matte bead layer was also creating
problems for photographers using
digital retouching—specifically, the
Digital ICE automatic dust-and
scratch-removal systems found in
many desktop film scanners. “Digital
ICE was picking up the texture of
the matte beads and trying to correct it,” says Scott DiSabato, Kodak’s
marketing manager for professional
films in the U.S. “But as a result, the
scans could end up looking noisier.”
This applied to scanner models
incorporating specular light sources,
according to DiSabato, and is completely remedied by the new coating.
Photographers who scan their
own film aren’t the only ones to
profit from this attention to scanning. Commercial digilabs have also
benefited greatly from the technology. “In general, scanning has
improved the quality of our printing,” says David Kang, manager of
New York City’s Photolab Part 1,
whose prints from both color negatives and memory cards are made
with a Fujifilm Frontier 370. “It’s
still harder to control skin tones and
certain kinds of color with digital
camera files than it is with negatives
we’ve scanned.”
Go film.
p
One of the most respected journalists
in the imaging field, Russell Hart is
author of Photography For Dummies (Wiley, $22) and executive editor of our sister magazine, American
PHOTO.
> P H O T O S H O P A N D O T H E R F I X E S T H AT M AY D O M O R E H A R M T H A N G O O D
BY DAN RICHARDS
FIXES BY DEBBIE GROSSMAN
HUNGRY HUMMINGBIRD
Don Knight, Tucson, AZ
THE PROBLEM
The photographer
cropped for a better composition, but
in upsizing to 8x10
and sharpening in
Photoshop LE, the
noise got a bit out of
hand—note noise in
shadow of wing (inset) and halo along
the bird’s back.
NOW?
BEFORE WHAT
We could have used
noise reduction software (like Dfine
by nik MultiMedia), then upsized with
Genuine Fractals 4.0 by onOne Software. But in truth, the digital file is too
small for the chosen print size, especially with the higher ISO setting.
NEXT TIME Move closer, use
a longer lens, go to higher-res
capture—or be satisfied with a
smaller print.
TECH INFO Canon EOS
D60, Canon 70–200mm
f/2.8L IS lens. Exposure, 1/1000 sec at
f/6.7, ISO 400.
BEFORE
AFTER
READER FIX
64
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
THE FIX
BEFORE
READER FIX
O U R FIX
OVERGROWN COURTYARD
Bridgette Dickey, Stillwater, OK
THE
PROBLEM
Interesting artistic decisions to gray-scale the
lush vegetation and to
crop in—but do they
work? We think the irony of nature’s brilliant
greenery trumping the
dullish man-made structures in the original shot
was lost. And it looks
pasted together.
WHAT NOW? We
tried to improve the
original by goosing the saturation of the greenery and sky, leaving the contrast and color of the
courtyard pretty much as they
were, but added tone to the bright
highlight to the right, using Photoshop’s Highlight/Shadow tool.
NEXT TIME Have a little more
faith in your original photographic vision—and work with that.
TECH INFO Sony Cyber-shot
DSC-H1; exposure not reported.
Adjustments and manipulations
made in Photoshop 7.0.
CHERRY BLOSSOMS
C i
i
F i f
A
OU R FIX
66
THE PROBLEM
he original file setngs give a yellowish
ast, which the photogapher kept in convertng from RAW. Also,
what’s the subject of
he composition?
WHAT NOW? We
ike our cherry blosoms pink, so we
READER
color-corrected the
file accordingly. We cropped out the distracting dome in
the upper left, letting the reflection stand on its own.
NEXT TIME Watch your color when converting from
RAW or adjusting a JPEG. Move around—place the
building and reflection in different relations to the tree.
TECH INFO Nikon D70, 28–80mm f/3.3–5.6 AF
Zoom Nikkor G. Exposure: 1/160 sec at f/6.3, ISO 200.
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
FIX
TEST
CANON EOS 5D
BY MICHAEL J. MCNAMARA
A powerful DSLR that worked
its way up the ranks
Meet the
CANON’S NEW EOS 5D DSLR ($3,300
street, body only) is a study in the yin and
yang of camera design. On the one hand,
its 12.8MP full-frame CMOS sensor eliminates the 35mm lens factor found on all
lower-priced DSLRs and gives it a potential image-quality edge. On the other
hand, it costs more than twice as much as
the 8.2MP EOS 20D ($1,300 street)
from which it was cloned, and it’s missing
a few of the 20D’s features. So you might
ask, if the EOS 5D takes a picture in the
woods and nobody hears it, does it make
a sound purchase? Put simply, yes. Which
is why we made it our 2005 Camera of
the Year (see page 84).
Last month, we gave you an overview
of the EOS 5D’s features (see “First
Look,” November 2005 or go to www.
POPPHOTO.com). Here’s a closer look at
the 5D’s top features, image quality and
performance results from tests we ran on
a production model. We’ll let you decide if
the camera deserves Zen Master status.
Those who already shoot with an EOS
20D will immediately understand the logic
What’s Hot
•Full-frame, 12.8MP CMOS sensor
eliminates 35mm lens factor.
•Super fast and sensitive AF system.
What’s Not
•Missing pop-up flash.
•High price might limit appeal.
•Viewfinder magnification reduced.
68
behind the
EOS 5D’s
copycat construction and
controls. Canon
started with a
great camera
body and made a
few modifications
(and omissions) to
fit in the extra features of the 5D.
Like the 20D, its
stainless steel and
molded magnesiumalloy body make it
ough enough to
handle most of the
abuse it’s likely to run into when used by
pro news, sports, or wedding photographers. At 1 lb, 13 oz (body only) it weighs
four ounces more than the EOS 20D, due
primarily to the larger mirror and prism
assembly for the larger sensor. Canon
also expanded the left side of the camera
to make room for additional processing
circuits, RAM for the capture buffer, and a
beefed-up main mode dial. Finally, the
solid metal top plate covering the prism
(where once sat a plastic pop-up flash)
increased the weight slightly.
Will pros miss the built-in flash? Not
likely, as the advantages of shoe-mount
units far outweigh those of a pop-up system. Like the 20D, the 5D supports multiple flash arrangements, and it also supports E-TTL II capabilities found on the
latest flash units such as the Canon
Speedlite 430EX ($300 street). Highspeed flash sync (FP flash) is also possible with some units up to the camera’s
maximum 1/8000-sec shutter speed, but
standard flash sync has dropped to 1/200
sec from the 1/250 sec of the EOS 20D.
The next, most obvious physical difference between the two cameras is the
5D’s gorgeous 2.5-inch TFT LCD monitor
(compared to the 1.8-inch LCD found on
the EOS 20D). With approximately
230,000-pixel resolution, its played-back
images look sharper, and exposure data
and menu controls can be read at arm’s
length. The viewing angle is also extraordinary (nearly 170 degrees off-axis), and
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
this LCD is extremely accurate, showing
nearly 100% of the image as shot. As with
the 20D, you can view exposure information, highlight and shadow warnings, and
luminance histograms, but the 5D also
includes RGB histograms.
The optical viewfinder also shows excellent image accuracy—rating 95% in our
CANON EOS 5D
u
Certified Test Results
Resolution: Excellent (2050Vx2000Hx
2025D lines). Color accuracy: Extremely
High (Avg. Delta E: 8.20). Highlight/
shadow detail: Very High. Contrast:
Normal, and adjustable in 7 steps via
menus. Noise: Extremely Low at ISO
100, Very Low at ISO 200 to ISO 400,
Low at ISO 800, Moderately Low at ISO
1600. Image quality: Excellent from
ISO 100 to 800. Extremely High at ISO
800 to 1600. AF speed: Very Fast in
bright light (EV 12 to 7) from 0.52 to 0.62
sec, but slightly slower than the EOS
20D (0.49 to 0.55 sec). In low light (EV 6
to 3) it was still fast at 0.64 sec to 0.77
sec, and in very low light (EV 2 to 1) it
slowed down just a bit to 0.95 sec. At its
impressive limit (EV –0.5, just better than
the 20D) it took 1.5 sec to focus.
Viewfinder: 0.76X magnification gets a
good rating, similar to the EOS-1Ds Mark
II. It shows 95% of the picture area, an
excellent result. The removable, etched
focusing screen (below, type Ee-A) shows
9 selectable AF zones with center-cross
type. Red boxes show actual sensitivity.
Green boxes show invisible AF zones
active in AI Servo mode. CIPA battery
life: Approx. 800 shots with rechargeable
BP-511A Li-ion battery. For info: www.
canoneos.com; 800-652-2666.
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
TEST
CANON EOS 5D
A
IMAGE QUALITY: The
12.8MP EOS 5D captures
excellent image quality, with low noise
and wide dynamic range. A 1-inch square
detail from a 14.5x22-inch photo (at 200
ppi) shows high definition in eyelashes
and great skin tones. Photo taken with
Canon 50mm f/1.4 EF lens, Speedlite
580EX flash, 1/90 sec at f/8.
tests. Image magnification, on the other
hand, isn’t as good as the 0.94X of the
EOS 20D. But it’s on par with the EOS1Ds Mark II ($7,395 street) at 0.76X, a
Good rating. Higher magnification viewfinders are easier to design when working
with a smaller sensor, which explains why
few full-frame SLRs have ever achieved an
Excellent magnification rating.
While most control buttons and dials are
found in the same places as on the 20D,
the EOS 5D has a larger main mode dial,
which no longer includes the programmed
presets and A-Dep (aperture-priority depth
A
of field
F
the 20
5D’s m
less clu
include
User po
to your
setting
setting
sures.
G
include
Style s
dard,
scape,
ful, and
plus t
custom
ness, and saturation settings, unlike the
presets on the 20D.
Other control changes include a new
easy-print button above the large LCD
on the back, and the elimination of the
pop-up flash button on the front. The
easy-print button glows with a blue light
when the camera is connected to a
printer and gives you quick access to previous printer settings stored in the camera.
Inner Strength
The EOS 5D offers even more from within.
The full-frame, CMOS sensor features
12.8MP (effective) resolution, which gives
it a sharpness edge over the EOS 20D.
Thus, 14.5x22-inch photo-quality prints can
be made from the 5D (at 200 ppi) compared to 12x17.5-inch prints from the 20D.
On the color accuracy front, the EOS
20D does slightly better, with an Excellent
rating (Delta E 6.63) compared with the
EOS 5D’s Extremely High rating (its Delta
E of 8.2 just missed the 8.0 cutoff). While
both the 20D and 5D produce Extremely
Low noise at ISO 100, the EOS 5D holds
down noise better at ISO 400 and above,
a testament to the 5D’s larger pixels. Way
up at ISO 1600, both cameras delivered
similar Moderately Low ratings—without
resorting to blurring filters. Bottom line?
The 5D delivers Excellent image quality
from ISO 100 to 800, with better sharpness than the EOS 20D. However, both
the Nikon D2X and the new D50 have
lower noise levels at ISO 1600.
B
C
E
D
(A), AE lock, AF-zone select, and playback
zoom buttons (B), multicontroller wheel
and select button (C), CF card door (D),
230,000-pixel, 2.5-inch LCD (E), directprint button (F), and menu, info, jump, and
playback buttons (G).
Canon claims the AF system on the
EOS 5D is an improvement over the
20D’s, especially in motion tracking (AI
Servo) modes where nine selectable and
six invisible AF zones come into play (making a total of 15). With f/2.8 or brighter
lenses, more of the AF zones are crosstype. Our tests show that the 5D is very
fast in bright light and even capable of
focusing in very low-light levels at EV –0.5.
But while the AF tracking system on the
5D is fast enough for most action, the camera drops its JPEG burst rate to 3.5 fps,
compared with the 4.5 fps of the 20D. The
good news? If you load it with a fast CF
card, such as the SanDisk Extreme III, the
5D can capture up to 60 high-quality
JPEGs in a continuous burst.
The EOS 5D appears to follow a path
between two extremes. On the yin side,
its full-frame sensor gives photographers
the advantages of the expensive EOS
1Ds Mark II and the best image quality
you can find in a sub-$3,500 DSLR. On
the yang side, its construction, size, and
array of features are closer to those
offered by the APS-sensored EOS 20D.
Now if it only cost less, more photographers would reach nirvana.
p
VIEWFINDER LOWDOWN: This highly accurate viewfinder has nine etched AF
B
70
C D E
F G H
I
zones in the center (A) and a circle delineating the 3.5% spot meter zone (B). Data display
is smaller than on EOS 20D, but still shows AE/FE lock (C), flash-ready light and flash
exposure comp indicator (D), shutter speed and aperture values (E), exposure level (F),
white-balance correction (G), burst capacity (H), and focus-confirmation light (I).
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
(!.$3/.
3/.9#9"%23(/4$3#2
6IRTUAL
3,2
BIGGEST
BADDEST
"9$!.2)#(!2$3
BILITIESTOKEEPA$3,2USERHAPPY
4HE2BEARSASUPERFICIALRESEMBLANCE
TOTHEDISCONTINUED-03ONY#YBERSHOT
$3#&BUTITISVERYDIFFERENTINMANY
WAYS4HE2FOREGOESTHESARTICULAT
EDLENSBODYFORARIGIDDESIGNANDUNUSU
AL TOPMOUNTED MULTIANGLE ,#$ MONITOR
)NSIDE THE 2 USES 3ONYS FIRST LARGE
#-/3IMAGERMUCHLIKETHEONESUPPLIED
FORTHE-0.IKON$XBUTUSINGLESS
AREAANDFEWERPIXELSOFTHESENSOR
WITHITSASPECTRATIO
4H T BL
ITH L
ANDVERTICALLYWITHAFEELCLOSERTOTHATOFA
MEDIUMFORMATCAMERATHANAMM3,2
4HE TILTANDSWIVEL ,#$ LETS YOU SHOOT
SIDEWAYS OVERHEAD ON THE GROUND OR AT
WAIST LEVEL BUT AT INCHES IS A BIT SMALL
4HE %6& IS REASONABLY FINEGRAINED AND
HASGOODMAGNIFICATIONANDYOUCANSETIT
TO SWITCH FROM MONITOR TO %6& AUTOMATI
CALLYWHENYOURAISEITTOYOUREYE
!VERYCURIOUSOMISSIONFROMTHE2IS
VIDEO AND SOUND CAPTUREPERHAPS 3ONY
REALLYWANTSYOUTOTHINKTHE2ISA$3,2
)NANYEVENTTHE2LOOKSLIKEAREALWIN
ANDWELLGIVEYOUTHEFULLLOWDOWNIN
PCOMINGTESTOFAPRODUCTIONUNIT
-" 9Ê
9,-"/Ê-
,£
X
Y
HAS BUILT WITH MEGAPIXEL CAPTURE
ON AN !03SIZED #-/3 IMAGER A 8
nMM EQUIVALENT Fn LENS
AKILLERSTREETPRICEANDENOUGH
ADVANCED FEATURES AND CAPA
*"/"-Ê9Ê,
"Ê*""
"!#+6)%77ELLSPACED
ANDEASYTOREACHBUTTONSAND
DIALSINCLUDEPICTUREREVIEW
!EXPOSURELOCK"INPUT
DIAL#MONITORINFO $
SETTINGWHEELWITHCENTER
JOYSTICK%MEMORYCARD
SWITCH&MENUACCESS'
FINDERMAGNIFIERDIGITALZOOM
(VIEWFINDERMONITOR
SWITCH)SELFTIMER *
BURSTBRACKETING+
MONITORMODE,METER
PATTERN -MODEDIAL.
FLASHREADYLAMP/
ÇÓÊ
ACCURACY RANKED %XTREMELY (IGH !ND
NOISE WAS LOW FROM )3/ THROUGH
MODERATELY LOW AT )3/ AND
MODERATEAT)3/
4HESCULPTEDHANDLE
PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT
GRIP THOUGH THE CAM
ERAISTOOHEAVYTOBE
HELD SINGLEHANDED )T
BALANCES EXTREMELY
WELL BOTH HORIZONTALLY
"Ê
s4OPQUALITYIMAGESWITHLOWNOISE
s:OOMSTOAWIDEMM
s,#$SWIVELSTONEARLYANYANGLE
)MAGING -0 EFFECTIVE #-/3
X PIXELS ,ENS #ARL :EISS
4
8 OPTICAL ZOOM nMM MM
EQUIVALENTFn ,#$4ILTINGSWIV
ELING INCH PIXEL 4&4 %6&
INCHPIXEL4&43TORAGE
#& 4YPES ) AND )) AND -EMORY
3TICK SLOTS *0%' AND 2!7 FORMATS
%XPOSURE CONTROLS n SEC
PLUS 4 SHUTTER SPEEDS Fn APER
TURESPROGRAMAPERTUREPRIORITYSHUTTER
PRIORITY MANUAL FOUR SCENE MODES AND
!%LOCK-ETERING%VALUATIVEMULTISEG
MENTED CENTERWEIGHTED SPOT &LASH
"UILTINUPTOFTWITHAUTO)3/ADJUST
ABLE IN b %6 STEPS #OMPATIBLE WITH
3ONYACCESSORYFLASHES(6,&AND
(6,&8/UTPUT(ISPEED53"
.43#0!, VIDEO 0ICT"RIDGE ENABLED
0OWER 0ROPRIETARY )NFO,ITHIUM ,IION
RECHARGEABLE BATTERY 3IZEWEIGHT
XXINLBWITHCARDANDBAT
TERY 3TREET PRICE )N THE
BOX "ATTERY CHARGING CORD !6 AND
53" CABLES NECKSTRAP LENSHOOD SOFT
WARE0IXELA0ICTURE0ACKAGEAND)MAGE
-IXER6#$2!7CONVERTER&ORINFO
WWWSONYSTYLECOM
Y Y
6
7HATS(OT
6ITAL3TATISTICS
3
7HATS.OT
s7HATNOVIDEOCAPTURE
s3MALLISHLOWERRES,#$MONITOR
s(EAVIERTHANSOME$3,2S
*"*Ê*"/"É
,ÊÓääx
LENS TEST
Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited AF
BY PETER KOLONIA
Gourmet
Pancake
technically not limited) production runs.
Cool factoid #1: It’s claimed to be the
smallest and lightest-weight interchangeable AF lens in the world. Cool factoid
#2: The lenscaps have the Pentax logo
printed on the inside surface.
HANDS ON: Matte black and small, even
by pancake standards, this 40mm f/2.8
looks more like a teleconverter than a lens.
Its manual-focus ring features an adequately
THE EQUIVALENT OF A 60MM IN A damped turning action and, at 0.12 inches,
35mm system, Pentax’s new 40mm f/2.8 is among the most slender we’ve seen. The
DA (digital only; $290 street) belongs to lenshood, focusing ring, and lensmount
that rare breed of unusually flat lenses com- base all feature beautifully machined, knurled
monly called pancakes. One of two made edges, which makes it tricky picking out the
by Pentax, it extends a mere 0.61 inches manual-focus ring by feel while shooting.
Due to limited real estate, the
focusing scale combines feet
2.46 in.
and meters along a single continuum (in blue and yellow type,
respectively). Resembling a filter
0.61 in.
ring, the included lenshood
0.12 in.
extends a mere 0.25-inches
from the outer barrel and is outfitted with its own set of 30.5mm
filter threads.
ACTUAL SIZE p
IN THE LAB: SQF numbers
from the camera body and weighs a feath- show unusual sharpness. Slightly better
ery 3.2 ounces. Mounting it on the *ist DL, than the comparable Nikon 45mm f/2.8P
Pentax claims, gives you the smallest and Nikkor AI-S, the Pentax pancake’s SQF
lightest-weight DSLR system anywhere.
performance falls in the Excellent range at
This f/2.8 is one of only a few such every aperture and magnification. DxO
shorties in production, and it is the only Analyzer 2.0 tests found slight barrel disone that autofocuses. Like Pentax’s full- tortion (0.20%), which is average for the
frame 43mm f/1.9 pancake, it’s a Limited class. Light falloff was gone by f/4, also
(edition) lens, with all-metal construction, average. At the close-focusing distance
exquisite machining, manufacturing toler- of 15.7 inches, its magnification ratio is
ances tighter than usual (resulting in bet- 1:8.2, better than the Pentax 43mm’s
ter optical performance), and small (though 1:12.4, but not the equal of Nikon’s 1:7.4.
CONCLUSION: Many Pentax shooters
u
looking for a normal/moderate tele lens will
be justifiably tempted by the faster and less
40mm (39.93mm tested), f/2.8 (f/2.86
expensive 50mm f/1.4 ($220 street).
tested), 5 elements in 4 groups. Focusing
Though housed in plastic and converting to
turns 70 degrees counterclockwise.
a longish 75mm on the *ist DL, the 50mm
n Diagonal view angle: 39 degrees.
is lightweight (0.49 pounds) and quite
n Weight: 0.21 lb. n Filter size: 49mm.
sharp. The 40mm f/2.8 pancake, however,
n Mounts: Pentax AF. n Included:
will have a near-irresistible attraction for
Lenshood. n Street price: $290.
photographers who value fine craftsmanship and/or extreme compactness.
p
A slim lens serves up a
big performance
Specifications
u
Subjective Quality Factor
40mm
Size
2.8
4.0
5.6
8.0
11.0
16.0
22.0
5x7
97.6
97.8
97.5
97.5
97.4
97.0
96.3
8x10
96.9
97.1
96.8
96.7
96.6
96.0
95.1
11x14
95.2
95.5
95.1
94.9
94.8
93.8
92.5
16x20
92.3
92.9
92.1
91.8
91.6
89.9
87.5
20x24
89.1
89.9
88.7
88.2
87.9
85.2
81.4
key
A+
74
A
B+
B
What’s Hot
• Extremely small.
• Very sharp.
• Very well made.
What’s Not
• Unusually slim manual-focus ring.
C+
C
D
F
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
REVIEW
ACDSEE 8 PHOTO MANAGER
BY DEBBIE GROSSMAN
Quick Clean-Up
Software for putting your image files in order
complex photo editor, ACDSee 8 Photo
Manager ($50 download) helps you
organize masses of images powerfully
and efficiently—and, if you need to, fix
them quickly. What a relief not to have to
do the scroll-and-wait while your stateof-the-art hard drive is reduced to coughing and spluttering like an overheated
toaster oven. The company’s priority has
always been speed, but the graphics
and interface have finally caught up. This
update is the prettiest and easiest to
navigate to date.
The default setup reserves the center
of your screen for viewing thumbnails.
Choose the folders you want to view and
check out a blown-up preview on the left.
On the right, toggle between organizing
with keywords or ratings and working on
your images in the Task Pane. Sets of
tasks that you can show or hide are conveniently organized into tasks that apply
to files or folders and tasks that help you
import, fix, or share.
Even though the program is a breeze
to learn and navigate, it includes the
options and controls a professionally
minded shooter requires. Case in point:
when you pop in a memory card, you get
a window asking whether you want to
import using ACDSee. If you wish, you
can choose your settings right there, and
even rename them according to your
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
EXIF data. Or you can tell the program
never to bug you again.
Another innovation? You can view the
contents of multiple folders at once.
Pick the images you want to address,
then throw them in the Image Basket.
From that virtual folder, choose a task or
drag them into a more robust editor
such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel
Paint Shop Pro. Similar to the Image
Basket is the Burn Basket, another virtual box that keeps track of what you’ve
burned and when, and keeps those
images searchable.
If you make good use of the keywords—
and it’s easy to do that because adding
them en masse is so fast—you can take
advantage of the Quick Search box and
superspeedily populate your screen with
the pictures that qualify. Other useful stuff:
you can find duplicates with the Duplicate
Wizard, add audio comments to files,
compare up to three images side-by-side,
make a PDF, burn your DVDs and VCDs
to PAL format for those European relatives, and all the while work with colormanaged thumbnails.
For total beginners, ACDSee 8 may
be all you need; you can do a good job
fixing pics simply and keep track of all
those images you’ve been snapping. For
seasoned enthusiasts, the program is a
thorough tool that’s fun to use to manage your images, repair your snapshots,
and figure out which ones you’re going
to put the time into fixing in earnest. For
everyone, the speed and simplicity of the
interface makes working with the program a simple pleasure.
p
For info: ACD Systems; www.acdsysy
tems.com; 250-544-6701.
What’s Hot
• Scroll through thumbnails fast.
• Color-managed.
• Browses RAW.
What’s Not
• Can’t use Quick Search on IPTC data.
• Serious users will need a separate editor.
75
TEST
QUANTUM QFLASH T5d
BY PETER KOLONIA
Quantum
Leap
Qflash adds wireless
TTL control
IF YOU MATED A STUDIO STROBE
and a portable TTL hot-shoe flash, the
result might be something like Quantum’s
popular Qflash T4d ($560 street). Batteryor AC-powered, the 26-ounce T4d looks
equally at home softboxed on a lightstand
for portraits or bolted to a flash bracket for
run-and-gun-style event photography. Moreover, with the proper TTL adapters, it’s
compatible with the latest SLR flash AE
systems (E-TTL II, iTTL, etc).
For all its strong points, however, the T4d
lacks one significant tool: wireless TTL
exposure control. For that, you need Quantum’s newest Q: the T5d ($580 street).
With the new hot-shoe TTL adapters and
FreeXwire transmitters and receivers, your
Canon, Fuji, Nikon, or other popular SLR
can control one or more T5ds, wirelessly,
with preset lighting ratios, via radio signals
that travel up to 500 feet—even through
walls and around corners. You also get
more power than with a normal hot-shoe
flash, plus faster recycling, softer light output due to both the parabolic shape of the
Qflash reflector and the included diffuser
disk, and various Quantum exclusives.
For readers unfamiliar with the Qflash
system, here are a few of these exclusives:
“Sensor Limit Control” lets the user set a
subject distance range beyond which the
Autoflash sensor ignores.
If, for example, you set
a subject
distance limit
of 10 feet,
the flash’s
AE system
E:
s
will ignore anything beyond
that. This, of course, is
great for situations where
a distant background is
much lighter or darker than
your flash-lit subject. The
Qflash accepts a number
of power sources, including three different Turbo
batteries, select Lumedyne
and Norman powerpacks,
and AC power. The manual
explains all aspects of flash
operation and gives informative insights
into studio lighting. Finally, Quantum is one
of those rare companies that offer live telephone support for their products.
The Qflash system fits together logically,
if expensively (about $1,500 complete,
street). For a quick test drive, we slid one
end of a new TTL hot-shoe cord (D12w)
onto a Fujifilm FinePix S3 DSLR and the
other end into Quantum’s compact FreeXwire transmitter (FW9T). We then put the
T5d and Turbo 2x2 battery on a lightstand,
attached a FreeXwire receiver (FW8R),
and aimed the rig upward to bounce its
powerful output (GN 320 at 100mm and
ISO 100) off the ceiling. Next, we posed
our model and fired off 20 shots. The
Qflash recycled instantly and our exposures were close to perfect.
Our impression: Master it, and Quantum’s new Qflash is an exciting and multifaceted tool that can propel your photography to new heights.
p
What’s Hot
• Wireless TTL exposure control.
• High power.
• Multiple power options.
What’s Not
• No support for high-speed flash syncing.
• Expensive.
ours.
76
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
TEST
EPSON POWERLITE 755C
TTriple Threat
With three LCDs, this projector oozes c
W
DIIGITAL PROJECTORS, ONCE SOLELY
for business use, are now for photograph
hers, too. Take Epson’s PowerLite
75
55c ($1,700 expected street). With
features like 802.11g wireless connectivvity, a CompactFlash reader, and automatic keystone control, it makes slide
sh
hows easier than ever. But its three
LC
CD chips—one each for red, green, and
blue—make the real difference. The sampl e we tried produced well-saturated,
ac
ccurate colors after we calibrated it
ussing GretagMacbeth’s Eye-One Beamerr ($835 street).
Setup was quick and easy, especially
wh
hen we skipped a PC connection in
favvor of a CompactFlash card. Without a
co
omputer, however, we lost the benefit of
ou
ur Eye-One profile. In our darkened
ro
oom, we got the best performance in
Epson’s Living Room color mode with the
color temperature menu option set to
6500K. Thanks to auto-keystone correction, images were square despite our
table’s upward tilt. You can also access
photos directly from any USB-equipped
portable storage device.
Unlike most sub-$1,000 projectors,
which sport SVGA (or 800x600-pixel)
resolutions, this Epson’s XVGA pixel array
numbers 1024x768. While it’s notably
sharper than less-pricey models, those
who are accustomed to traditional slide
projectors will still yearn for the continuous tone and sharpness of chromes. They
may also complain about its noticeable
“screen-door effect,” the faint grid among
pixels. But that’s true of any digital projector in this price range. (You can counter it
by increasing your viewing distance or
reducing the image size.)
What’s Hot
• 3-chip LCD light engine.
• Built-in CF reader.
• 802.11b/g wireless.
What’s Not
• Still not as sharp as film.
• Noticeable “screen-door” effect.
• Remote not backlit.
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
Other gripes were mi
control isn’t backlit, so it’s hard to use in a
darkened room. Also, the wireless card
occupies the CF slot, so you’ll have to
se between the two.
Overall, the PowerLite 755c is an easy
way to show off your digital images in all
their vibrant color.
p
TIPS&TRICKS
Contact manager
Leaking alkaline batteries can leave
a residue that corrodes your camera’s electrical contacts until they
become nonconducting. Here’s a
quick way to revitalize them: First,
because “battery acid” isn’t an acid,
but a base (they’re called “alkaline”
batteries, right?), neutralize the
residue with a little mild acid. Apply
it with a cotton swab and wipe the
contacts clean. Don’t be alarmed if
they bubble...that’s normal. Then
flush the contacts with distilled
water (again, using a cotton swab).
Result: the contacts are clean, shiny,
and conductive again. Don’t have a
“mild acid” handy? Try lemon juice.
It won’t bubble, and it smells better.
Gerd Kortemeyer
East Lansing, MI
Dump the bump
When hiking, to control the movement of the camera hanging around
my neck, I use a 48-inch length of
string with a small hook on one
end. I attach the hook to the right
camera-strap eyelet, draw the string
around my back, pull it taut, and tie
it to the left camera-strap eyelet. To
use the camera, I simply release the
hook and let the string hang free.
Tom Canapp
Jarrettsville, MD
setting sun. Conversely, if you use
yellow paper, the resulting color will
be blue. Bonus tip: For a neutral
white balance, camera instructions
call for using a white target, but a
neutral gray one will work, too.
Sveta Dragovic
Geneva, Switzerland
Pencil pusher
I prevent my filters and close-up
adapters from sticking to the front
threads of my lenses by going over
the filter threads with a No. 2 lead
pencil. The tiny amount of graphite
lubricates the threads just enough.
Stanley Sizeler
Pleasant Hill, CA
Dew this
While on nature hikes, I occasionally come across a photo op that has
literally dried up. Fall leaves, spider
webs, wildflowers and other natural close-up subjects tend to photograph better wearing fresh coats
of morning dew. To recreate early
morning’s sparkling light and more
saturated colors at any hour, I carry
a small atomizer filled with water. A
bit of its mist on flora or fauna, and,
voilà, it’s dawn all day long!
Bob Taylor
Salt Lake City, UT
Breathe easy
Neat feet
As a crime scene photographer, I have
to set my tripod in some rather nasty
places. To keep my ’pod dirt-free, I
cut the fingers off rubber gloves, slide
them over the tripod feet like little
boots, and secure the fingers with rubber bands. It keeps grit, water, mud,
and worse(!) out of the tripod legs, extending their life in the process.
Jim Yoghourtjian
Racine, WI
Art warming
If you’re shooting digital and want
to get a warm-tone picture, try setting a custom white balance from a
light-blue sheet of paper. Your picture will look like it was lit by the
78
When shooting an impromptu portrait that could use a little softening,
try breathing on the lens right before
releasing the shutter. The effect is
like a soft-focus filter’s, but variable:
The longer you wait to fire the shutter, the less the softening effect.
Michelle Harbour
Hayes, VA
Got a tip, trick, or technique?
E-mail it to PopTips@hfmus.com
p p
f
.
Readers whose tips we publish will
receive a special-edition POPULAR
PHOTOGRAPHY & IMAGING Tamrac
Photo-Video 1 Model 5201
camera bag. See this SLR-sized
bag at POPPHOTO.com.
p
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
PHOTOS BY HAROLD FEINSTEIN
TEXT BY PETER KOLONIA
SHELL GAME
YOU CAN DO IT
CLEAN THEM FI ST! Before laying
shells on a flatbed scanner, Feinstein
cleans them to remove loose sand.
HAROLD FEINSTEIN IS ON A
roll. In the past five years or so, the
Berkshires-based dynamo has produced nearly a half-dozen glorious
photo books; breathtaking tributes
to the beauty of roses, tulips, shells,
and other natural subjects.
What accounts for this surge of
productivity? Simple. The long-celebrated film photographer discovered
digital. Using Adobe Photoshop and
the Epson Perfection 4990 scanner,
he’s become a master of camera-free
photography. By simply placing his
subjects on the Epson flatbed and
using a black sheet of cardboard
as background, he creates art. “If
people knew how easy it was,” he
laughs, “I could be arrested.”
How easy? For his shell pictures,
the hard part is finding the shells.
“Don’t try wading into the surf at
Sanibel Island,” warns Feinstein.
“What you find there, even the good
ones, are eroded and their colors
are bleached from tumbling around
in the surf.” The best shells come
from deep water, and you get them
at shell shops or through collectors.
Retailers and collectors are easy to
find on the Internet and may be willing to lend or rent valuable shells in
exchange for prints. However, most
shells, like those from the $8 bag
Feinstein used for the photo on the
pages that follow, are cheap.
To make the picture, Feinstein
arranged the mini mollusks on the
Epson 4990’s glass, carefully fixing
spacing and orientation, removing
and replacing any that were obviously wrong for the composition. The
idea is to cram as many shells as possible onto the scanner, with as little
empty space between them as possible. It’s like putting together a puzzle. Once the composition is set, he
makes a preliminary scan and studies it carefully. “I continue to prescan
and make adjustments until I look at
the computer screen and my mouth
drops open. That’s when I know it’s
time to go high-res.” It usually takes
about an hour, and as many as a dozen prescans. “For me, one scan usually suggests another and another. It
can be hard to know when to stop.”
As for scanner settings, with
smaller subjects such as these, he’ll
scan at 300 percent. Larger shells,
those five or more inches long, are
scanned at 100 percent. Feinstein
also sets the 4990’s driver to automatically sharpen the image between 50 and 100 percent.
The final stage, in Photoshop,
also takes about an hour. It includes
boosting saturation, adjusting tone,
sharpness, and color balance, as well
as cloning out irregularities in shell
surfaces.
“I’ve been working with shells for
18 or 19 years and am still in awe
of them,” says Feinstein. “I’ve never
found a human architect who could
design anything so simple yet so fascinatingly intricate.”
p
BE GENTLE: When setting the paper
nautilus (top), Venus comb murex (middle), and clear sundial (bottom) on his
Epson flatbed, Feinstein handles the
shells gently to avoid scratching the
scanner’s glass plate.
5
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
BOOK IT:
Feinstein’s
One Hundred
Seashells
(Bulfinch
Press, $50),
with writer
Sydney Eddison, showcases some of his
most superb
work.
YOU CAN DO IT
OUR EDITORS’ CRITERION:
The camera that best
refines or redefines
photography
OUR EDITORS’ CHOICE:
The Canon EOS 5D
Digital SLR
84
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
WE THOUGHT WE HAD
light—less than 2 pounds with battery—
and packs a large (2.5-inch) LCD,
interchangeable focusing screens, and
excellent resolution and image quality.
(See the review and Certified Lab
Results on page 68.)
About all that’s missing are a built-in
flash and a superrugged, heavily
gasketed body. The first is typical of a
pro tool; the second suggests an
amateur-oriented approach.
The price, too, walks the pro-am line.
Granted, at $3,300 (street, body only),
the 5D is no impulse purchase. But it’s
one heck of a value considering the
megapixels, image quality, and full-frame
sensor. Also, bear in mind that the 20D
debuted a year ago at $1,500; today it
sells for 13 percent less. If the same
happens with the 5D, it won’t be merely
2005’s Camera of the Year, it could be
2006’s Deal of the Year.
p
©MICHAEL SOO
a winner—the Canon EOS 20D. After
all, when the criterion is “the camera
that best refines or redefines
photography,” how could the Camera of
the Year title not go to the EOS 20D?
This DSLR took the bar set by 2004’s
Camera of the Year, the 6.1MP Nikon
D70, and raised it to 8.2MP and a 4.5frame-per-second burst rate, along with
nearly pro-caliber construction, all for a
street price that now stands at $1,300
(body only). In other words, the EOS
20D was the Great Serious Amateur
Camera of 2005.
But it was unseated for the highest
honor late in the year by a member of its
own family. In fact, by a camera built on
virtually the same chassis.
The Canon EOS 5D scooped up the
Camera of the Year laurel not simply
because it raises the bar, but because it
thrusts that bar into the stratosphere by
obliterating the major shortcoming of the
EOS 20D and every other under-$7,400
digital SLR currently in production—the
35mm lens factor.
Since the 5D’s 12.8MP sensor is the
same size as a frame of 35mm film (“full
frame”), it’s good-bye “effective focal
length.” Twist a 14mm lens onto the 5D’s
steel lensmount, and you’re shooting
14mm, not the 21–22mm that you get
with the usual DSLR’s 1.5X to 1.6X lens
factor. Those who do lots of wide-angle
work (such as architectural shooters) are
rejoicing. So are those who grew up in
the 35mm world and still think that way.
Also smiling are photographers who
have major investments in Canon EFmount glass.
But there’s more to this camera than
just sensor size. It’s also reasonably
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
85
5
0
20
DSLRS: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
R
L
S
D
e
at th
s
t
a
n greeir game
e
v
e
S
th
EL
MICHA
L
L
A S
R
A
T
S
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
2005 was the year of the digital SLR.
Sure, serious photographers (with serious
money) embraced them long ago. But this
year DSLRs went mainstream, with sub$1,000 models selling like crazy to soccer
moms and football dads.
With 20 DSLR models, priced
from $620 to $7,400 (street),
how do you choose the right
camera for you? Start with our
All-Star lineup—seven DSLRs
with talent, value, and features
special enough to earn MVP
status—listed in order of street
price for the camera body only.
(For our Camera of the Year,
the Canon EOS 5D, see page 84
and test on page 68.)
CANON EOS-1DS MARK II
($7,400) HIGH-SCORING CHAMP
S THE LEAGUE LEADER IN IMAGE
quality and pro features, the 16.7MP
(effective) Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II demands
top dollar. But if you’re a pro looking for a
supertough, gasket-sealed DSLR that can
deliver image quality exceeding that of most
films, the investment may prove worthwhile.
It boasts a full-frame CMOS sensor with no
35mm lens factor, a hyperfast and sensitive
45-point AF system, extensive exposure and
metering controls, vertical shutter release,
and long-life rechargeable battery. With dual
card slots, the 1Ds Mark II is also capable
of capturing JPEG, RAW, or JPEG + RAW
images and saving them simultaneously to
both CF (Type I and II) and SD cards. Canon
includes its powerful (and free) Digital
Photo Professional 2.0 RAW conversion
software, and even a software utility that lets
you control the camera remotely via its fast
FireWire connection.
Okay, the EOS-1Ds Mark II has only a 2inch LCD monitor, but in the perilous
environments that this camera may find
86
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
NIKON D2X ($5,000)
LOW-LIGHT LEADER
THE 12.4MP (EFFECTIVE) NIKO
much more for those who can afford it th
4.1MP D2hS ($3,500). No other DSLR
its noise at higher ISOs as well as the D
to a blurring filter)—one of the reasons
image-quality rating all the way up to IS
goes to its Sony-manufactured sensor—t
imaging sensor to be used in a
Nikon DSLR. Although its APSsize creates a 1.5X 35mm lens
factor that turns a 28mm wide■
angle into a 42mm lens, Nikon
es lenses
(e
■
etproof as
DSLRs, but
stainlessagnesiumather/dustso sports
ease, 40
h-capacity
gorgeous
and faster
1 highestfps. And
appreciate
speed and
E
t
F
J
J
c
E
p
e
M
J
is
8
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
CANON EOS 20D ($1,300)
FIRST DRAFT PICK
N EOS 20D DOMIN
r most of 2005 and w
ra of the Year. It was un
by its higher-priced
y photographers, thou
alue.
e EOS
5D, with
control
■ SENSO
rugged
■ IMAGE
ess-steel
nesiumfrom IS
a similar
LENS FA
sensitive
JPEG,
at locks
on CF
■ AF SY
ss than
extrem
■ CONTR
meterin
image
Up to 3
JPEGs
Januar
www.c
800-65
1 sec at EV 0, as well as
po erf l e pos re metering
35mm lens factor, but the camera s
smaller sensor allo ed Canon to design
■
■
■
■
■
87
KONICA MINOLTA MAXXUM 5D
($800) STEADY DEFENSE
IF YOU’RE GOING TO
DSLR major leagues, it’s g
the one Konica Minolta built
5D. Along with KM’s 7D, it’
built-in Anti-Shake (AS) sys
up to a 3-stop advantage
light or at slower shutter spe
all KM A-Type lenses, inc
18–70mm f/3.4–5.6 AF D
kit lens ($100 additional). B
price, the 5D has features
earn it MVP status. It has
APS-sized 6.1MP (effect
sensor as the more expe
giving you a 1.5X 35mm
and extremely high-quality im
body i
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
quality JPEGs at 3 fps. ■ REVIEWED:
October 2005 issue. ■ INFO: www.
konicaminolta.us;; 877-462-4464.
CANON EOS REBEL XT
($790) 8MP POWER PLAYER
■
■
■
■
■
■
of features it boasts. Weighing just 1.2 pounds and easy to hold,
the XT body has a stainless-steel chassis that adds strength to the
reinforced plastic body, along with fairly advanced exposure and
metering controls that rival those on the EOS 20D.
enger to the EOS 20D. Besides its
rugged body, its 7-point AF system
as fast or as sensitive, and it has a
r-capacity rechargeable battery (up
0 shots based on CIPA ratings).
e XT doesn’t hold down its noise
s at higher ISOs, though it beats the
P Olympus Evolt E-300. Like the
the XT has an APS-sized CMOS
or with a 1.6X 35mm lens factor,
it’s compatible with Canon’s less
nsive EF-S lenses. The XT’s burst
bility of up to 50 fine-quality JPEG
es at 3.5 fps is impressive for the
■
. But we’d sure like a larger LCD
tor than this 1.8-incher.
■
■
88
in low light. And while the LCD monitor isn’t
as sharp as we’d like, the terrific viewfinder
includes an eye-activated LCD cutoff switch to
reduce glare while shooting.
SCOUTING
REPORT
NIKON D50 ($650)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
CLAIMED THE CAMERA
4 with its D70, Nikon’s bigg
R that would compete with
with the D50. While it lacks t
as of the more expensive D
capabilities not found in its
0’s image quality is sligh
to changes in the APS-size
or and image processing. T
O speeds up to 1600. Am
at its AF system,
its class, which can
n very low light down
■
And it has a high
■
flash sync speed
■
h in bright daylight.
■
also has advanced
ncluding 3D Matrix)
ure controls. Thanks
ch LCD, with a well■
user interface, it’s
t to the most useful
exposure and metering.
■ BURST MODE: Up to 13
nd the extended-life
h up to 2,000 shots
JPEGs at 2.5 fps. ■ TESTED:
per charge) should hold out
September 2005 issue.
■ INFO: www.nikonusa.com;;
despite increased LCD usage.
The D50’s 2.5-fps burst mode
800-645-6689.
is nothing to brag about, nor
gh-quality JPEGs at 2.8 fps.
Images from the DL’s APS-sized 6.1MP CCD
ensor have slightly lower color accuracy and
solution than from the *ist DS, but it offers
PENTAX *IST DL ($650)
MIGHTY MITE
PENTAX SET THE SMALL DSLR STAN
with the original 6.1MP *ist D in early 2004. Sin
it has created ever-smaller models with the *ist
now the *ist DL. Yet somehow, Pentax squeeze
sharp, 2.5-inch LCD into the back of the DL.
210,000-pixel resolution makes it very easy
menus and view tiny details. Maybe
there was room to spare when Pentax
replaced the 11-point AF system of
■
the *ist DS with the 3-point AF system
■
on the DL. Don’t worry: all the zones
are very sensitive cross-types, and the
fr
■
DL’s AF, which almost matches that of
■S
the DS, is sensitive down to EV 0. But,
the data display is harder to read, and
JP
■A
burst capacity is
only five
se
w
■C
ex
■B
5
■T
20
p
pe
■
■
With DSLR design
and innovation in full
swing at all the leading
manufacturers, what’s in
store for 2006?
★ We can comfortably predict
that there will be high-res,
full-frame (12.8MP) DSLRs
available for the first time priced
below $3,000 (oh yeah, that
describes our Camera of the
Year, the EOS 5D, about six
months from now).
★ It’s high time Nikon had a
replacement for the D100 with
a lot more megapixels.
★ We predict Pentax and
Konica Minolta will have
under-$900 8MP cameras
by the Photokina show in
September.
★ The just-out Olympus
Evolt E-500 promises to be a
player. We got a sneak peek
(November 2005), but we can’t
declare it an MVP until we test
a production unit in the POP
PHOTO lab.
Harder to predict is what
we might see from the two
major electronics giants
that are poised to enter
the DSLR market in 2006.
★ Panasonic will showcase
its DSLR prototype, one result
of a partnership with Olympus,
in just a few months. It will
support the Four Thirds
standard (including lenses), but
little else is known. We’d sure
love to see Panasonic’s image
stabilization built in, and if
Olympus contributes its imaging
expertise to improve image
quality and adds its dedicated
flash system, the Four Thirds
System could flourish.
★ Sony, in partnership
with Konica Minolta, is
developing a DSLR—but, behind
the scenes, the KM 7D and
5D already have Sony CCD
sensors built in (as do the Nikon
D50 and Pentax *ist DL). Let’s
hope Sony brings not only its
image sensor and processing
expertise, but also smart
batteries and manufacturing
efficiency to the table.
★ Although Kodak is out
of the DSLR business, it still
manufactures CCD and CMOS
sensors. And it’s going strong
on 3MP and 5MP sensors for
cell phone cameras. We expect
big news to come from Kodak,
announcing bigger, badder
sensors for medium-format
SLRs and camera backs. Can
you say 39 megapixels?
Only one thing is for
sure—2006 will be a really
p
interesting year.
THEY MIGHT BE
WILL 2006 BE THE YEAR OF THE ALL-IN-ONE?
BY RIGHTS, THE CAMERAS
in this category shouldn’t exist by
now—yet not only are they alive,
they’re thriving. These are electronic
viewfinder (EVF) cameras, and they
present serious competition for digital SLRs—even as DSLR prices continue to drop. How do they do it?
Consider: The current cheapest
deal on an 8MP DSLR with a 10X
or better zoom starting at true wide
angle is a Canon Digital Rebel XT
body ($790 street) and a Sigma or
Tamron 18–200mm f/3.5–6.3 digital
zoom ($400 street). A sweet deal at
just under $1,200, yes, but for about
$500 less, you can get a Fujifilm
FinePix S9000, a 9MP EVF with the
same equivalent focal length and a
2⁄3-stop gain in lens speed.
Or consider this: For the same
700 bucks, you can get an 8MP
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 with a
jaw-dropping 35–420mm equivalent
12X zoom—plus an excellent optical image stabilizer. Still costs too
much money? The Kodak EasyShare
P850 has ample 5MP capture, a 12X
f/2.8–3.7 zoom, and image stabilization—for $450 street.
That’s how EVFs are competing:
bang for the buck. They have longer
zoom ranges, more megapixels, and
wider apertures at prices that still
undercut DSLRs—along with bonus
goodies like built-in image stabilization and high-quality video.
But the two things that make the
EVF possible—relatively small image
sensors and the compact view-by-wire
system—also make for the two major
90
drawbacks of these cameras. Namely, digital noise and viewfinders that
have the disquieting habit of freezeframing when you’re trying to track
a moving subject. Manufacturers are
addressing both problems, with larger
sensors, improved noise reduction,
and viewfinders with faster redraw.
HERE’S A RUNDOWN OF THE
HOT EVFS FOR 2006.
Megapixel monsters: If 8MP
capture plus 10X optical zoom once
formed a barrier, today’s EVFs are
demolishing it. The aforementioned
Fujifilm S9000, with 9MP and a
10.7X 28–300mm equivalent zoom,
should be selling now for $700 street
or less. Fuji’s Real Photo Technology
promises low noise in pictures taken
at ISOs as high as 1600, and it can
also reduce blur in photos via digital
oversampling.
Nikon, meanwhile, has continually
refined its Coolpix 8000-series cameras. The latest version, the Coolpix
8800 ($700 street), has a 10X zoom
at the longer end, a 35–350mm equivalent f/2.8–5.2, 8MP capture, and
optical image stabilization. Clever
tricks borrowed from Coolpix pointand-shoots include on-the-fly redeye
fix and D-lighting, which can tone
down the contrast in backlit shots.
Panasonic’s Lumix FZ30, as we
mentioned, combines a long zoom
with image stabilization, plus stabilized video shooting at 30 fps and
640x480 resolution.
How about a 15X optical zoom?
Samsung’s Digimax Pro815 has a
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
28–420mm f/2.2–4.6 Schneider lens,
8MP capture, and the biggest LCD
monitor in the business—3.5 inches.
That’s augmented by a 1.44-inch top
LCD control panel that can also display the finder image for waist-level
or ground-level shots! The Pro815
should be appearing in stores by holiday season for about $850 street.
Kodak joins the 8MP club with the
EasyShare P880, an SLR-like camera
with a wide-to-tele 24–140mm f/2.8–
4.1 lens and many features for the
enthusiast; it is coming onto the
market now with a street price
of around $600.
In many ways, the
EVF to watch in 2006
is the Sony Cyber-shot
DSC-R1 (see “Hands
On” on page 72). Sony
made the bold move
of building in a significantly larger imager to
tackle the noise problem, and to allow wider
focal lengths—the R1’s
zoom starts at a nicely
wide 24mm. Let’s see if
other manufacturers follow this lead.
Eagle-eyed
compacts:
When
camera makers introduced 10X or greater zoom
cameras with 2 to 3.2MP
capture, they were fun novelties.
Now that these cameras boast 5MP
capture or better (as in the Kodak
EasyShare P850), they can be taken
seriously as wildlife and sports cam-
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
eras, and they remain the top funfor-the-buck cameras in all of photography. Nikon, Konica Minolta,
and Olympus have all pushed the
resolution envelope to 6MP. The
KM DiMAGE Z6 ($400 street)
has a 12X 35–420mm equivalent
f/2.8–4.5 zoom and image stabilization using a shifting chip. The Nikon
Coolpix S4 ($400 street) is the style
standout of the bunch, with its
swiveling 10X zoom lens and a 38–
380mm equivalent f/3.5 constant
aperture. And the Olympus SP-
BY DAN R ICHAR DS
500 Ultrazoom ($380) has a 10X
38–380mm f/2.8–3.7 zoom.
Stay tuned for reviews of these
cameras in 2006.
p
POWER PLAYERS:
8MP Nikon Coolpix 8800 (1)
has image-stabilized 10X
zoom. Kodak EasyShare
P880 (2) combines 8MP and
24–140mm zoom. Fujifilm
FinePix S9000 (3) has 9MP and 10X zoom. A 15X zoom
and 3.5-inch LCD (not misprints!) set apart Samsung’s 8MP
Digimax Pro815 (4). Panasonic Lumix FZ30 (5) combines
8MP with stabilized 12X Leica zoom.
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
91
© MICHAEL SOO
ELECTRONIC VIEWFINDER SUPERZOOMS
CANON
CASIO
KONICA MINOLTA
FUJIFILM
NIKON
HP
KODAK
OLYMPUS
MOTHERS OF
PANOSONIC PENTAX SAMSUNG SONY
CANON
CASIO
FUJIFILM
HP
KODAK
INVENTION
KONICA-MINOLTA
NIKON
OLYMPUS
PANOSONIC PENTAX SAMSUNG SONY
Chances are you’ve never used
KONICA-MINOLTA
NIKON
OLYMPUS
even half the features lurking in
PANOSONIC
PENTAX
SAMSUNG
SONY
the
menus of
your compact
camera.
Just what
are all
those icon-happy
CANON
CASIO
FUJIFILM
HP KODAK
modes? Actually, many of them are
KONICA-MINOLTA
NIKON
OLYMPUS
useful, convenient, or just plain fun.
PANOSONIC PENTAX SAMSUNG SONY
So we’ve taken a current camera
CANON
CASIO
FUJIFILM
KODAK
from nearly
every
major HP
maker
and
KONICA-MINOLTA
NIKONknowing.
OLYMPUS
detailed features worth
PANOSONIC
PENTAX
SAMSUNG
SONY
BY DA N
R I C
H A R D
S
CANON
CASIO
KONICA MINOLTA
FUJIFILM
NIKON
HP
KODAK
OLYMPUS
PANA
NASONIC PENTAX SAMSUNG SONY
CANON
CASIO
KONICA MINOLTA
FUJIFILM
NIKON
HP
KODAK
OLYMPUS
CANON POWERSHOT SD500
HP PHOTOSMART R717
KODAK EASYSHARE V550
KONICA MINOLTA DIMAGE X1
NIKON COOLPIX P1
OLYMPUS STYLUS 800 DIGITAL
PANASONIC LUMIX DMC-LX1
PENTAX OPTIO 750Z
SAMSUNG DIGIMAX i5
SONY CYBER-SHOT DSC-T5
D I G I T A L
Kit lenses
vs. pro glass.
What’s the real
difference—
besides cost?
TEMPTING, ISN’T IT? YOU’RE
at the counter, buying a DSLR, and
the salesman asks, “Want the kit? You
save a hundred bucks.” Just like computer makers bundle software with
desktops, camera makers bundle inexpensive zoom lenses with amateur
DSLR bodies. “Buy the kit. It’s practically like getting a lens for free.”
OLYMPUS
14–54mm f/2.8–3.5
pro zoom ($500)
96
Kit lenses aren’t new. Starting as
early as the 1960s, 35mm SLRs
were routinely sold with 50mm
f/1.8’s—de facto kit lenses. The
main difference between those
50mms and the kit lenses of today:
They were primes, obviously, and
today’s kit lenses are zooms. Beyond
that, there’s a perceived difference
in quality. Yesterday’s kit lenses
were relatively fast, with all-metal
barrels and lensmounts, plenty of
sharpness, and distortion-free optical performance.
Can that much be said of today’s
kit zooms? To determine what you
gain and what you lose by saying
“Yes” to the kit question, we compared Nikon and Olympus digitalonly kit lenses with their higher-tier
siblings, which have roughly equal
focal-length ranges but much higher
prices. We evaluated five compara-
ble lenses by seven criteria commonly used to assess lens quality,
starting with...
SHARPNESS It may surprise you,
but POP PHOTO’s standardized lens
tests show little significant difference in sharpness between kit and
pro zooms. Nikon’s $180 18–55mm
f/3.5–5.6 kit zoom, for example,
produced SQF data indicating
image sharpness almost identical to
that of Nikon’s $1,250 17–55mm
f/2.8, even at the maximum magnification of 20x24 inches. The
Olympus lenses fared similarly.
DISTORTION In DxO analyzer
tests of all five lenses, the kit zooms
fared well at their longest zoom settings—matching, even beating, the
pro zooms at controlling linear distortion. The Nikon 18–55mm kit
lens, for example, showed Imperceptible barrel distortion (0.07%)
at 55mm, compared to a weak
showing of Visible pincushioning
(0.34%) from Nikon’s 18–70mm
at 70mm.
At the mid and wide settings, however, the kits fell far
behind. Barrel distortion raised
its image-warping head into
the Visible range with both the
Nikon and Olympus kit zooms.
The Olympus 14–45mm budget glass, for example, showed
Visible barrel distortion at
most focal lengths, while the
pro-grade 14–54mm produced
virtually no distortion (rated
Imperceptible) at comparable
zoom settings—an improvement
by two levels of magnitude. (For
OLYMPUS
14–45mm f/3.5–5.6
Evolt kit zoom ($249)
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
TEXT BY PETER KOLONIA
PHOTOS BY RICO POON
the complete test
data, visit www.
POPPHOTO.com.)
SPEED It’s hard to put a price on
speed. Every photographer craves it
at one time or another, and the pro
zoom’s got it. That maximum lens
aperture of f/2.8 can bring home
sharp shots in low light, allowing
you to shoot handheld in available
light and to leave flash and tripod at
home when they’d be too intrusive
or cumbersome. Shallow depths of
field, with their creamy, defocused
backgrounds, are another unquestionable plus of f/2.8. Good luck
nabbing them with f/4.5!
CLOSE-UP Judging from our subsample of Nikon and Olympus
lenses, kit lenses can surprise
you with close-up performance
that equals, and sometimes even
NIKON
18–55mm f/3.5–5.6
D50 kit zoom ($180)
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER
2005
PHOTO/AUGUST 2005
surpasses, pro glass. The Nikon 18–
55mm budget baby, for example,
boasts a significantly greater maximum magnification ratio (1:3.1)
than either the mid-level (1:6.3) or
pro Nikon zooms (1:4.1). Likewise,
the Olympus kit zoom comes in at
a not-too-shabby 1:4.5.
BUILD Nikon’s 17–55mm pro and
18–55mm kit zooms provide a stark
lesson in the construction values
separating pro and amateur glass.
The pro lens is 3.5 times heavier,
with a solid, substantial feel, rugged
all-metal barrel, metal lensmount,
ample focus and zoom rings, an
extremely well-damped manualfocus action, and easily legible
subject-distance scales calibrated
NIKON
Mid range 18–70mm
f/3.5–4.5 ($360)
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
in feet and meters. In comparison,
the airy 0.47-pound kit zoom is
plastic-barreled (including the
lensmount)—and feels it. Its
relatively tiny manual-focus ring has
a loose turning action and no
subject-distance scales. It’s also one
of the rare new lenses to have a front
lens barrel that turns during
focusing, making it difficult, if not
impossible, to use a variety of lensmounted filters, filter holders, and
lighting accessories.
One last thought on construction:
While your kit zoom may have superior optics out of the box, it’s debatable how long you will enjoy such
performance. Inexpensive materials
NIKON
Pro quality 17–55mm
f/2.8 ($1,250)
97
00
D I G I TA L
Kit vs. Pro Zooms at a Glance
NIKON
NIKON
NIKON
OLYMPUS
KIT ZOOM MIDLEVEL PRO ZOOM KIT ZOOM
OLYMPUS
PRO ZOOM
LENS
18–55mm
18–70mm
17–55mm
14–45mm
14–54mm
SPEED
f/3.5–5.6
f/3.5–4.5
f/2.8
f/3.5–5.6
f/2.8–3.5
SHARPNESS
Excellent
(92.5%)
Excellent
Excellent
(94.7%)
Excellent
Excellent
(93.6%)
(92.6%)
(95.1%)
Visible
Slight
Imperceptible
Visible
Slight
Visible
Slight
Slight
Slight
Visible
Visible
Slight
Visible
Imperceptible
Imperceptible
MACRO ***
1:3.1 at 11 in.
1:6.3 at 14.4 in. 1:4.1 at 14.2 in. 1:4.5 at 14.9 in. 1:2.6 at 8.6 in.
LIGHT FALLOFF
(gone by)***
f/5.6–8.0
f/5.6–8.0
f/4
f/5.6–8.0
f/4–5.6
WEIGHT
0.47 lb.
0.86 lb.
1.69 lb.
0.68 lb.
1 lb.
COST
$180
$360
$1,250
$249
$500
(for 11x14 in.)*
LINEAR
DISTORTION **
WIDE
MID
TELE
GREEN TYPE: Top in group. RED TYPE: Bottom in group.
*SQF performance for 11x14-inch enlargement at f/11 and mid zoom setting.
**Barrel and pincushion distortion.
***Maximum mag ratio at closest focus.
tend to shift or even warp over time,
throwing lens elements out of alignment, and sharpness out the window. Especially at wider apertures.
COST Well, we all know about cost.
Kit lenses can dip under $200, while
pro zooms rarely drop below $500
and often reach levels that are rich
by any standard.
CONVENIENCE Like to travel light? If
so, you’ll cringe at the sight of the pro
zoom. It typically weighs two to three
times more than the average kit lens,
making it a very noticeable companion while trekking along city streets or
mountain trails. And don’t forget the
size consideration: pro glass is significantly larger than kit and will gobble
up meager camera bag space fast.
98
SO, KIT OR SOMETHING MORE
costly? Which zoom is right for you?
If sharpness is your overriding concern, save some cash and grab the
kit. Do the same if compactness and
light weight or superlow cost are
your top priorities.
If, however, you want parallel
lines that remain (relatively) parallel
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
For more details,
go to www.POPPHOTO.com.
in your pictures, like to shoot in low
light without the hobbling effect of
flash or tripod, or need speed to
stop action (as with sports or stage
performances) or defocus a background, invest in a lens that will
serve you and your evolving photography well into the future.
And, if you’re rough on gear,
changing lenses frequently and tossing them into your camera bag more
or less unprotected, then you, too,
need a zoom that’s more metal than
plastic, more rugged than not, more
pro than kit.
p
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005
HOW TO READ A
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
7
RESOLUTION
(AVERAGE OF HXVXD LINES) ON AN IT-10 TARGET
100
1700+
EXCELLENT
1500–1700
EXTREMELY HIGH
1300–1500
VERY HIGH
1200–1300
HIGH
1100–1200
ACCEPTABLE
UNDER 1100
UNACCEPTABLE
CAMERA TEST
WHAT THE NUMBERS AND RATINGS REALLY MEAN
COLOR ACCURACY (AVERAGE DELTA E)
8.0 AND BELOW
EXCELLENT
8.1–10.0
EXTREMELY HIGH
10.1–12.0
HIGH
12.1–15.0
ACCEPTABLE
15.1 AND ABOVE
UNACCEPTABLE
NOISE (LUMINANCE, RGB AVERAGE)
BELOW 1.1
EXTREMELY LOW
1.2–1.5
VERY LOW
1.6–1.9
LOW
2.0–2.3
MODERATELY LOW
2.4–2.9
MODERATE
3.0 AND ABOVE
HIGH (UNACCEPTABLE)
LENS DISTORTION
For a compact camera or an EVF with a fixed zoom lens, we also include
lens distortion ratings at several focal lengths, determined by the same DxO Analyzer 2.0 target, software, and scale used in our standalone lens tests. The same target and software are also used to measure the effectiveness of image stabilization systems built into lenses
or cameras, plus light falloff (vignetting).
LENS DISTORTION:
(BASED ON DXO 2.0 TEST RESULTS FOR BARREL
AND PINCUSHION DISTORTION)
O
0.0—0.10%
IMPERCEPTIBLE
0.11—0.30%
SLIGHT
0.31—1.00%
VISIBLE
1.01—3.00%
VERY VISIBLE
3.01%
EXCESSIVE
AND HIGHER
HOW TO READ A CAMERA TEST
VIEWFINDER MAGNIFICATION
0.83X OR GREATER
EXCELLENT
0.79–0.82X
VERY GOOD
0.75–0.78X
GOOD
0.71–0.74X
AVERAGE
0.70X OR BELOW
BELOW AVERAGE
ONWARD & UPWARD
OUR VIEWFINDER AND AF SPEED TESTS for DSLRs are identical to
those we’ve been performing on 35mm SLRs for more than 20 years, while our
relatively new digital camera tests conform to tried-and-true evaluation methods used by camera manufacturers and industry associations. But as
digital cameras add features and improve image quality, we’ll continue to add tests that help you decide which camera is right for you.
p
ÇGAMUT VOLUME
102
ÇDIGITAL CAMERA GAMUT
ÇDYNAMIC RANGE S/N RATIO
HOW-TO
GET CREATIVE
TEXT AND PHOTOS BY BRYAN F
Letters create a
personalized
photographic
present
The
Name
Game
PHOTOGRAPHERS HAVE IT
pretty easy. When we need to give
someone a present and are short
on time or stumped on ideas, all
we have to do is make up an 8x10
print, put it in a nice frame, and
voilà—the perfect gift!
Of course, if the photo you’re giving doesn’t appeal to the recipient’s
taste, it won’t be such a great gift.
You have a better chance at making
the gift meaningful if your framed
photo is truly personal—and spells
out the person’s name.
Here’s what I do: When I’m out
with my camera, I always look for
street signs, ads, and store signs. I
zoom in close so I can photograph
individual letters. Try it—soon you’ll
have entire sets of the alphabet!
Individual letters have distinctive
personalities, based on their shape,
color, and texture. As you assemble
122
the letters to form the name, you’ll
realize that some the images of
your letters actually fit the personality of that person.
Once you have enough letters,
make 4x6 or 5x7-inch prints of
each photo. Take them to a frame
shop, and have the images placed
in a single frame, matted with individual windows cut out for each
photo.
Does this work? You bet! As
my daughter Chloe recently told
me, the most meaningful gift she
received for her 10th birthday was
her “name.”
p
ALPHABET CITY: All photos on this
page were shot during a single day in
New York’s Times Square with a handheld Nikon D2x and 70–200mm f/2.8D
VR G AFS Nikkor lens. Exposure, f/8 in
aperture-priority mode.
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
HOW WE LOOKED AND WHAT WE WROTE BACK THEN…BY JASON SCHNEIDER
TIMEEXPOSURE
25
YEARS AGO
COVER: DECEMBER 1980
3
2
1. ’Tis the season: Festive December ’80 cover image of New York’s St.
Patrick’s Cathedral is by Yasuo Haga of
Niigata, Japan. He took the night exposure
with a 35mm SLR and 28mm lens on
Kodachrome 64, duped the slide onto a
larger transparency, then double-exposed it
with a flash-lit, filtered, falling-snow image.
2. Smallest 35mm camera? That’s
what Minox claimed in its ad for the Minox
35 GL, and it was probably right. The
pocketable, scale-focusing folder had
a good-quality, 4-element 35mm f/2.8
Color-Minotar lens.
3. Debunking the ad flaks: This Leica
A of 1925 “markedly influenced camera
design,” but was not the first 35mm still
camera as claimed in a Leitz ad, accord-
1
1930
50
1
136
1940
1950
▼
YEARS AGO
DECEMBER 1955
1960
1970
1. Quizzical
pooch:
Sydney Silky
Terrier on our
December
’55 cover was
captured by Walter
Chandoha, a well-known
animal photographer, with, of all things, a
4x5 Graflex Super D camera, 190mm f/5.6
Ektar lens, and four Ascor speedlights! The
picture copped 2nd prize in the Color Division of our International Picture Contest.
2. Auto-focus stereo 35? Ad for the
Stereo Graphic claimed it had “exclusive
Depthmaster Auto-focus,” but this was just
adspeak for fixed-focus 35mm f/4 lenses
set at different distances to increase apparent depth-of-field.
3. Incredible shrinking flashbulb:
Regular Midget bulb at left, known as #5,
or Press 25, was
tiny compared to
the classic light2 bulb-sized Press
22, but “new”
WWW.POPPHOTO.COM
ing to photo historian
Eaton S. Lothrop, Jr.,
whose column found
“advertising fraught
with poetic license.”
4. Two-light drama: “Place second
lamp over Leslie, slightly behind, and her
hair will really sparkle,” advised Michael A.
Keller in his piece on basic portrait lighting, “but snoot the fill light or shield the
lens to guard against lens flare.”
5. New York state of mind? Whimsically glamorous image of the Big Apple
by Japanese photographer Tadao Matsuo
appeared in “Outside Looking In,” an
article showing how he captured the
glittering fantasy New Y
he had imagined before
visiting the city.
4
5
▲
1980
1990
2000
Powermite M2 at right was only a quarter
its size and 3 cents cheaper. Image is
from a General Electric flashbulb ad.
4. Times change: Nostalgic
still life of vintage Kodak Timer,
4
Kodak 4x5 Super-XX sheet film,
Tri-X 4x5 Film Pack, and can of highenergy DK-60a developer ran in “How to
Develop Sheet Film and Film Pack,” by
darkroom guru Dan Becker.
5. Casino dancer: John A. De Visser of
Toronto, Canada, sneaked this revealing
shot during a theater performance, with a
Leica IIIf and 50mm f/1.5 Summarit lens,
with lens wide open for 1/25 sec. His
reward: a $100 U.S
Savings Bond and
Honorable Mention
in POP PHOTO’s ’55
International Picture
Contest.
3
5
TECH SUPPORT
You’ve got questions?
We’ve got answers.
Q
Perilous popping
September 2005’s “Tech Sup” you mentioned possible harm
to digital camera circuitry when using a Vivitar 285 electronic flash. I
have Vivitar 283s that I would like
to use with my Panasonic Lumix
DMC-FZ20. Is their triggering voltage too high for digital cameras?
C. MICHAEL HAYES
MISSION, TX
A
t depends. The popular Vivitar
went through several incarnations, all bearing the same model designation. If your 283s are less than
10 years old, you’re safe, but if you’re
not sure, check to see where the units
were made. The old “Made in Japan”
models have high-voltage triggering
circuits that can damage your Lumix
DMC-FZ20.
Q
Stop bluffing
push an ISO 400 b&w film
Kodak 400 Tri-X Pan to ISO
1600, how many stops is that? I
recently shot a concert with Tri-X
exposed at 1600 and asked my lab
for a two-stop push. After processing the film, the lab said I should
have requested an eight-stop push,
because the film was almost completely blank. Is it eight stops from
ISO 400 to ISO 1600?
RICARDO MONTAÑEZ ALCAZAR
VIA E-MAIL
A
unds like your lab misrouted the
internally, and it was processed
normally instead of pushed the way
you requested. As you suggest, ISO
400 to 1600 is a two-stop push, and
if anyone knows of a film that can
be pushed EIGHT stops, would they
please send us a brick?
Q
Fuji fudging?
xposed a 36-exposure roll of
m Fujichrome Velvia 100F slide
film in my Canon EOS Elan IIE. It
rewound at 24 exposures, not 36. I
sent it to Fuji for processing, and it
came back as 24 exposures with no
154
(continued on page 157)
TECH SUPPORT
(continued from page 154)
surplus, unexposed film in the box,
and the slides were two stops overexposed. I think Fuji loaded a short
roll of the wrong film type in the
cassette. What do you think?
RICHARD W. UNDERWOOD
HOUSTON, TX
A
earn the film type, remove a few
s from their mounts and look
for their edge code. (Velvia 100F is
RVP100F, for example.) If Fuji’s automated film spoolers were misloading
cartridges, we would have received
dozens, even hundreds, of letters just
like yours.
As we haven’t, it’s more likely that
you shot a 24-exposure roll with +2
exposure compensation or an incorrect
ISO set. Maybe your lens aperture is
sticking intermittently. Film can bind
in the cartridge, causing a premature
rewind. Usually, the motordrive will
make a grinding sound—your cue to
head to a repair shop.
Q
Moldychromes
have 500–600 irreplaceable
achrome slides that are about 50
years old. They show some evidence
of mold. Can they be salvaged?
WILBERT LAWLER
VIA E-MAIL
A
can have your slides professionally
ned, scanned, and digitally restored,
but, considering their large number, it
would likely cost thousands. (Google
“photo conservators” and/or “slide restoration” for a service near you.)
To clean the slides yourself, remove
each one from its cardboard or glass
mount. Be sure to wear cotton gloves
or holding the transparency only by
the edges to avoid fingerprinting.
Next, moisten a Kodak Photo Chamois (a soft, plush pad) or an absorbent
cotton ball with isopropyl alcohol in
a concentration of 98% or greater
(check local drug stores), and gently
wipe the slide until it’s clean. Remount
the slides in clean glass or new cardboard mounts.
Whatever you do, don’t use water,
solutions that contain water, or ordinary rubbing alcohol (which also
contains water), since fungus usually
makes film emulsion water-soluble.
(continued on page 158)
157
TECH SUPPORT
(continued from page 157)
Optically equal?
ntly I had a chance to compare
tax G wide-angle lenses with my
Konica Minolta Maxxum lenses, and
just as your SQF charts predicted,
the Carl Zeiss G lenses were clearly
sharper. Perusing your tests, however, I see one Konica Minolta lens,
a 50mm f/2.8 macro, has put up
SQF numbers very close to those of
the Contax lens. Is that KM performance strictly for the macro range,
or does that Zeiss-like sharpness extend out to infinity, too?
LANGDON BEDELL
EUGENE, OR
SQF figures are based on an
ysis of modulation transfer function (MTF) performance of the lenses
focused at infinity. If the 50mm f/2.8
Minolta Macro has SQF numbers close
to those of the Zeiss G lenses, its performance will be close as well, regardless of focusing distance. Furthermore,
since most macro lenses are designed to
deliver optimum performance at about
1:10 (one-tenth life-size), there’s a
possibility the Konica Minolta 50mm
f/2.8 may actually outperform the G
lenses at similar magnifications.
Diopter dilemma
ve a set of close-up lenses marked
+2, and +4 diopters. It came with
magnification tables for various lens
combinations but no advice as to
the proper sequencing. How should
I order the close-up lenses numerically on my camera lens?
GEORGE R. BROWN
VIA E-MAIL
y: The strongest one (highest numgoes on the camera lens; additional
filters are attached to it, in decreasing
order of strength. Cool factoid: When
you stack two close-up lenses, the effect
is additive—combining a +1 and a +2
has the same power as a +3 close-up
lens. For maximum sharpness, though,
avoid stacking or using the maximum
aperture for your lens. Instead, use one
filter at a time, and close the camera
lens down to f/5.6 or f/8.
Got a question? E-mail us at
PopEditor@hfmus.com
p
f
.
158
p
WHATS UP WITH
BY DAN RICHARDS
EXPOSURE
COMPENSATION?
JUDGING FROM THE LETTERS IN
POP PHOTO’s mailbag and e-mail bin,
you’d think exposure compensation
was rocket science multiplied by
brain surgery.
Folks, you’re making it way too
complicated.
Exposure compensation (EC) just
means nudging the exposure one way
or the other from the meter reading.
You want the picture darker, you give
it less exposure. You want a lighter
picture, give it more exposure. In
modern photospeak, these actions
are called negative and positive exposure compensation.
EC is measured in stops (traditional) or EV (modern); where once you’d
say, “I gave it a half-stop more exposure,” you might today say, “I gave it
+0.5 EV exposure compensation.”
With the advent of autoexposure,
EC seems to have become more
confusing for people. But nothing
complicated is going on here, either. Autoexposure simply sets the
metered midtone exposure reading for you; EC raises or lowers the
midtone point. Your camera’s exposure readouts (on the LCD panel or
in the finder) are the exact settings
the camera will make, and they take
into account whatever compensation
you’ve set. (Think of it as the sales
tax being included in the price tag.)
With shutter-priority automation,
the camera will adjust the aperture
to make the exposure compensation;
with aperture-priority auto, the camera adjusts shutter speed. In program
automation, the camera can adjust
both shutter and aperture for EC.
Some cameras allow EC in manual exposure, too. This is something
like zeroing the needle on a scale to
cancel out the weight of a container
you’re about to fill. If, say, you want
to underexpose slide film by a thirdstop for more color saturation, you
can set EC for –0.3, then make settings exactly according to the camera
meter. And your exposure will be a
third-stop below normal exposure. p
167
SHOWCASE
LADIESORGENTLEMEN
JEAN-LOUIS GINIBRE’S LADIES OR GENTLEMEN
(Filipacchi, $65) brings together more than 700 images
of actors in almost every film that uses a man in women’s
clothing as a plot twist, comic device, or storyline. This
is no polemic on transvestism—it’s an amusing, dramatic
romp through cinematic history. It’s fun to see the greats
(Bob Hope in ringlets), the strange (there’s a whole section on children in drag), and the surprising (Johnny
Depp makes it in three times). A product of Ginibre’s
love for the movies, the book presents almost all of what
he’s collected through his own globe-spanning research over the past
nearly-30 years. As passionate as he is for the pictures, he does not, he
says, have a passion for dressing in skirts himself.
—Debbie Grossman
Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon
on the set of Some Like it Hot
(above), Rock Hudson dons a
mink in Lover Come Back
k (far
left), and Jackie Chan and
Steve Coogan in Around the
World in 80 Days
s (near left).
POP PHOTO/DECEMBER 2005