My still cameras, [...]]]>

A Canon C300 at the AbelCine introduction. NY, NY, January 25, 2012.

It’s a weird time – I just redid my people print portfolio, first time in years. Yet, last fall was dominated by video work. So, as I redo books (architecture is next) I’m also thinking about video, cameras both still and video, upgrade paths, compromises, choices and where best to allocate resources.

My still cameras, Canon 1Ds Mark III’s, have served me well. Four years old, rock solid. The next generation has been announced and should be out this spring, the 1D X. Primarily, a still camera but with 2nd generation DSLR video (less moiré, less artifacts).

And then there is the C300, a video camera. Stunning images, easier workflow and handling than when shooting DSLR video and the ability to take all of my Canon lenses. And no visible moiré or artifacts.

The former promises a better focusing, higher ISO camera, with slightly better video workflow and (most likely quality.) The still quality is not likely to be noticeably better except in low-light or in AF challenged situations.  The latter is orders of magnitude better on the video front – no more of the subject sitting down and moiré rearing its head and no more unusable shots because there are too many artifacts. Plus, it is better on the high ISO front and second system sound recording can be eliminated if desired.

Attendee tries out the C300 in stripped down mode. Looks and feels much like a medium format still camera - think Hassie or Mamiya. AbelCine, NY, NY, January 25, 2012.

While the options cost real money they also end up in the same ballpark when all things are factored in (old cameras sold, etc.) So, what’s it come down to? In the end, the same ever present question -> Who am I and what do I do? Not what do I do in terms of making the choice seen in the paragraphs above but what is it that I do as a person, as an individual, day to day, as one following my interests, and as one in the still motion world that is photography in 2012. In the end the question is not about equipment, it never is.

To see how far Kodak has fallen is to look back to the 60′s, 70′s, and 80′s when Kodak was ubiquitous. Even as a non-photographer you would have been hard pressed to go a day [...]]]> A Kodak corporate video used as an intro for CEO Perez’s 2006 appearance at the All Things Digital Conference:

To see how far Kodak has fallen is to look back to the 60′s, 70′s, and 80′s when Kodak was ubiquitous. Even as a non-photographer you would have been hard pressed to go a day without coming in contact with it. Film on sale everywhere, Kodak advertising in every medium, and all of the products that came about because of the use of Kodak materials.

Somewhere in the mid to late 80′s the change in photography started and Kodak’s responses kept missing the mark. First versus Fuji with film and then with digital. It wasn’t for lack of trying – Kodak was there first on many things, digital included. But it was as if nothing they did could bring the flow of money on the corporate industrial scale they had known prior and they weren’t willing to be patient enough for any one of their digital investments to grow.

As seen above – they did have a vision of the future, with hindsight an impressively accurate one. But a big corporation is like a huge ship or a tanker, it takes many miles to make it stop and even more to make it change course.

Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy.

Bottom edge, Kodak 35mm slide mount, 1977.

To learn more:

End Piracy, Not Liberty at Google. You can contact your congressional delegation in the column on the right.

Fight for the Future , video by Kirby Ferguson [...]]]>

Click to view PDF.

PIPA and SOPA are not Kate Middleton’s sisters, they are proposed federal anti-piracy bills which if passed would severely censor the Web.

To learn more:

End Piracy, Not Liberty at Google. You can contact your congressional delegation in the column on the right.

Fight for the Future , video by Kirby Ferguson of Everything is a Remix.

CPN Europe has a lot of information including a 12-page technical paper.

Canon Japan has a short film made with the [...]]]>

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon, never one to shy away from confusing product names, has announced their latest flagship camera – the *1D X. The web is already becoming inundated with information.

CPN Europe has a lot of information including a 12-page technical paper.

Canon Japan has a short film made with the camera which includes stills and video. At the very end it lists which lenses were used and what ISOs were utilized.

The camera looks to be intriguing, interesting, and a bit of a challenge to or, maybe better put, a practical recognition of shooters needs. For the first time Canon is lowering the megapixel count of its flagship model, in this case from 21mp to 18mp. This is being done in favor of lower signal to noise ratios and it should add another 2 stops of range over the Canon 1D Mark IV.

The 1D X is also a merging of Canon’s two pro lines, the 1D series and the 1Ds series. Canon themselves foretold this a couple of years ago – saying that once processing speed allowed there would no longer be a need for a sports optimized camera and a studio optimized camera.

Having shot with both the 1Ds Mark III and the 1D Mark IV I can see the value in splitting the difference between two. My clients rarely need a native resolution file from the 1Ds Mark III and the 1D X promises to still hit tabloid size at 300 dpi. Add in the 1D Mark IV better low light performance, its better focus, and better screen, then improve them all (Canon claims) and it should make the 1D X a great tool.

On the video front the changes look encouraging as well. Canon states that moire will be greatly reduced (“virtually gone” in some reports) and rolling shutter will be lessened. The 1D X will offer two compression options for video capture. Both are h.264 but one uses very little compression (e.g. ~6 min. of 1080p on a 16gb card vs. ~48 min as in the past.) There will be the ability to set sound levels before and during recording via a touch screen, two timecode options, and the clip length is expanded to 29 minutes and 59 seconds.

For those who wanted raw format video, xlr or sdi ports, in-camera sound monitoring via headphones, it’s not going to happen. But I wouldn’t have expected it with a body that is a stills camera at heart. There just isn’t the room, the available processing power, or the need. For that you might want to look to Canon’s big announcement on November 3rd in Hollywood…

Canon USA on the 1D X

Planet 5D beyond the press release

RobGalbraith.com

DSLRnewsshooter.com write up and news on expanded 1D X triggering options.

DSLRnewshooter first look (added 10-27-2011.) In the 14 minute video, the Canon rep states “no line skipping” in video mode on 1D X – that’s huge and will reduce if not eliminate moire and aliasing.  Dan also tests a few accessories on the prototype body.

–

*In the early 00′s Nikon had the D1x.

–

Update – 12/12/11:  Information on the Canon EOS C300.

–

Related – 1/26/12:  Change, Flux, Reinvention.

I don’t have the photos (my employer owned them) and at the time I didn’t think to grab some of [...]]]>

From "Young Egyptians Spread Their Message." Ed Ou for the New York Times.

I photographed Steve Jobs once. Some time in ’86 or ’87. Jobs was in a suite at the St. Regis in New York pushing NeXT computers. I remember getting there early and watching him prep.

I don’t have the photos (my employer owned them) and at the time I didn’t think to grab some of the extra prints. Maybe that says something… I saved odds and ends: Mario Cuomo at the opening of the Javits Center; Joe Raposo, Judy Collins, and a cat at a Purina Cat Chow event in Lincoln Center; Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in Fred’s car for AAA; Spanky from the Little Rascals promoting the Little Rascal motorized scooter. But no Steve Jobs.

I spent the 90′s with a shared NEC PC and then a couple of Dells until I hit a wall. A custom Dell configuration failed me. It couldn’t support a few scanners and an early digital camera. Many emails back and forth with Dell, including a couple from Michael Dell (yes, times were different then) and it turned out that Dell had not vetted the computer completely. They could not fix the issues and they could not recommend an alternative. At that point, about 1997, my Mac odyssey began.

In thinking about how much my iPhone has integrated with my DNA and in how much I couldn’t survive without my Mac Pro or my MacBook Pro when working on location, it’s actually two other thoughts which come to mind with Jobs’ passing.

This past year with the Arab Spring, demonstrations, and calls for democracy; it was common to see photos where in the mix of all that was happening a Mac laptop or an iPhone was present. Jobs must have seen these, the two examples here were on front pages of the New York Times, and he must have seen in them a culmination of his vision to truly *change the world. It wasn’t just about changing the culture in the United States or making a profit. It was about giving the world the tools to institute change.

My other thought is to my personal experience in switching from PCs to Macs and how, with hindsight, it shows what has always been at Apple’s core – the user experience. When I got my first Power Mac not only did it run all my peripherals seamlessly but when you opened it up it was a sight to behold. Brushed metal on the inside with slight circular patterns to it. Everything neatly arranged and easy accessible. It was the opposite of my PC experience. Going inside a PC was like trying to find your way through the back room of a storage facility. The think different here was Apple recognizing that a Power Mac user was going to open it up, otherwise they wouldn’t need a Power Mac. So, Apple made the experience positive – aesthetically and functionally.

I can’t help but think that up above there’s a room somewhere with Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Edwin Land, and others. When yesterday’s news spread Bell got on his phone, rang his assistant, and said, “Mr. Watson – come here – Steve’s arriving.”

Jalalabad, Afghanistan; volunteers build a wireless network with off-the-shelf components. Keith Berkoben/Fab Folk

–

*When hiring John Sculley, a former Pepsi CEO, Jobs asked him, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?”

Young Egyptians Spread Their Message from the New York Times. The photo ran on the front page, above the fold, on February 9, 2011.

US Underwrites Internet Detour Around Censors, from the New York Times.  The photo ran on the front page, above the fold, on June 12, 2011.