Digital Camera World » digital cameras

Gigapixel camera for consumers just 5 years away

jmeyer — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:39:47 +0000

Researchers have created the first gigapixel camera and claim it could be brought to market for consumers in as soon as five years.

Enginners from Duke University and the University of Arizona synchronised 98 tiny cameras into their prototype, which produces a resolution five times better than 20/20 human vision over a 120-degree horizontal field.

They claim the new camera can capture up to 50 gigapixels – or 50,000 megapixels and that their prototype could be available to the public within five years as smaller digital camera components become cheaper and more efficient.

The current prototy[e is two-and-a-half feet square and 20 inches deep, most of which consists of processors needed to assemble the information gathered.

Scientists claim these components will get smaller in time.

Source: TG Daily

112-megapixel camera captures starry skies during the day

jmeyer — Fri, 18 May 2012 09:57:12 +0000

An Arizona company has launched a super high-resolution digital camera that is capable of photographing a starry sky in the middle of the day.

The 1110 series from Spectral Instruments boasts a 112-megapixel CCD sensor measuring 95 x 95mm, which are extremely light sensitive and can take exposures lasting hours without recording any noise.

The company says its 1110 series cameras have a dynamic range so big that they can photograph both the sun and the stars during broad daylight.

Gizmodo reports that while typically Spectral Instruments cameras are sent into orbit, the company is aiming to develop a more gravity-friendly version of the camera for Earth-bound photographers.

Gizmodo writes: “They want to see what a professional would do with something like this applied to normal subjects, but they need to know first if there’s any interest among you, the people. That’s why they have asked us to pass the word around.”

The cost of developing the sensor alone is said to be $100,000.

Via Gizmodo, Spectral Instruments

Waterfall pictures: set up your DSLR to shoot moving water

jmeyer — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 07:00:19 +0000

Waterfall pictures are some of the most satisfying subjects you can shoot with your digital camera. However, the fast moving water throws up some challenges for photographers.

Often, exposures end up disappointing – you may have set the wrong shutter speed, for instance, and won’t get the traditional blurred-water effect in your waterfall pictures. Other times the exposure ends up being too dark or light, due to having to cope with the combination of dark rocks and bright, foamy moving water.

One of the great benefits of taking waterfall pictures is that you don’t need a sunny day to photograph them. In fact, an overcast day is a bonus, as it allows you to use longer shutter speeds and reduces the contrast that’s likely to make getting a decently balanced exposure near impossible.

Making sure your waterfall pictures aren’t blown out, however, is probably the most important thing to look out for. If moving water is blown out and lacks texture, the shot is effectively ruined. Fortunately, your digital camera’s histogram should save any heartache.

Waterfall pictures: get set to capture moving water

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 01: Grey days are good days
Sunny weather is a disaster when you’re shooting waterfalls. The bright light means fast shutter speeds, when you really need slow ones for this effect. Even more importantly, a bright day means a high-contrast scene, with white areas that are in direct sunlight, and shadows that are in complete darkness.

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 02: Shoot after heavy rainfall
Overcast, grey conditions are best, but you also need to look at the weather for other reasons. In dry spells, waterfalls can turn into trickles. You need them to be in spate, a day or so after heavy rain, so that there’s plenty of water to shoot. Check locations and weather reports on the internet before you leave home.

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 03: Go slow with the ISO
We need to set a slow, or very slow, shutter speed in order to turn the flowing water into a frothy, milky foam in our shots. The first setting to sort out on your DSLR is the ISO. Turn this to its lowest sensitivity, which will be 100, 200 or L1.0 depending on the digital camera model you’re using.

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 04: Shoot raw files, not JPEGs
Even in dull weather, bright highlights can be a problem with waterfall exposure. To give yourself the most leeway when editing, you need to set the picture quality to raw. Then, so you can set the longest shutter speed available, switch the exposure mode to A (Aperture Priority).

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 05: Three legs all akimbo
A tripod is essential with slow shutter speeds. A model that enables you to splay out the legs independently is best for working on uneven, rocky terrain.

When shooting with a tripod, a cable release or remote control is also useful so you don’t jog the setup at every exposure.

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 06: How slow should you go?
Select the narrowest aperture that the lens allows – f/22 is a great starting point. With this set up, half-press the shutter button and look at the shutter speed the camera displays. A value of 1/4 second is good for fast, flowing water, whereas 20 seconds is good for babbling brooks.

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 07: Take it slower with an ND
If the conditions won’t give you a long enough shutter speed, put an ND filter in front of the lens to block out light.

An ND8 or three-stop neutral density filter cuts 87.5% of the light. An ND64 or six-stop cuts 98%. Alternatively, use a polariser to cut out up to 75%.

Better Waterfall Pictures Step 08: Avoid a whitewash
Shoot a test shot, and review the picture carefully – it’s easy to get an exposure that’s too dark or too light. Check the histogram. If the shot is too bright, with burnt-out water, set the exposure compensation to about -1EV and retest. If it’s too dark, without bright highlights, reshoot with exposure compensation set to +1EV.

6 simple tips for better pictures of planes

jmeyer — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:07:36 +0000

Pictures of planes, like pictures of birds, can be incredibly difficult to capture, if not more. Their size and speed can lead to shots with awkward compositions or poor focusing, let alone exposing against a bright sky.

Below we offer 6 of our best tips for getting yourself into position and your digital camera set up ideally to take top-notch pictures of planes in flight or on the ground.

Action Photography Tips: 6 ways to get better pictures of planes

Tip 1: A setup for success
Set your digital camera to Shutter Priority (Tv) mode and it will be easier to switch between shutter speeds and maintain focus for different subjects. For fast jets, set your shutter speed to around 1/500sec to freeze the action. For older planes and helicopters, go for 1/200sec to get smooth motion blur on the propellers.

Tip 2: Get kit clever
A sturdy tripod is essential for aviation photography, as it will increase your hit rate for sharp shots and prevent your arms from aching after carrying heavy lenses for hours. By kitting out your tripod with a gimbal head, you’ll not only get extra support, but it also enables you to move the lens up and down smoothly as you pan.

Tip 3: Remember to shoot statics
Planes on the ground make interesting subjects too, so when there’s a break in the action, be sure to grab some static shots as well. Use a wide-angle lens and get close up to interesting features, such as the nose, cockpit or tip of the wing, to get a sense of size, scale and power.

Tip 4: Figure out your focus
You’ve got the lens, you’ve chosen your shutter speed and your DSLR is fixed firmly to a tripod – the final step in getting sharp shots is choosing your Autofocus and Drive modes. If your camera has an AF tracking mode, this is great for following moving subjects and refocusing in an instant, while selecting Continuous Shooting mode will give you a burst of shots that ensure you capture the aircraft at the apex of its movement.

Tip 5: Find your nearest airshow
The best place to photograph planes is at your local air show. In the UK, the air show season starts in May and ends in October, with most events occurring over a weekend. You can find comprehensive lists of aviation shows online, but be sure to also check for details in your local newspapers.

Tip 6: lens choice
It’s hard to predict the flight path of aeroplanes as they speed across the sky, so a telephoto zoom lens will ensure that you fill the frame, no matter where the air display is heading. The Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM has an excellent focal length range that covers all eventualities and high-quality optical stabilisation that gives you sharp shots, even at the 500mm end.

READ MORE PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Famous Photographers: 225 tips to inspire you

44 essential digital camera tips and tricks

13 tips for better pictures of babies, toddlers and teenagers

Family Portraits: 10 tips for setting up your home studio

21 street photography tips from the professionals

Digital camera effects from A-Z

Night photography tips: 9 essential steps for beginners

53 essential photo ideas for winter

Video: Olympus OM-D E-M5 hands-on review

jmeyer — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:30:40 +0000

In between Strictly Come Dancing revivals at Focus On Imaging we managed to get some time alone with the Olympus OM-D E-M5.

The 16-megapixel E-M5, announced last month, is the first camera in the new Olympus OM-D line – with rumours of an OM-D Pro possibly to come.

Below you can watch our initial hands-on review of the Olympus OM-D, with a full review to follow soon:

Lytro: photographers will soon shoot Matrix-style videos

jmeyer — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 07:00:32 +0000

Makers of the Lytro camera claim that soon Lytro photographers will be able to shoot slow-motion, wraparound video such as those seen in the Matrix movies.

The Lytro camera, which takes pictures in which photographers can change the point of focus after the fact, was announced late last year. The Lytro light field camera achieves this effect by capturing the entire light field within a scene, which includes the direction of individual rays as well as the colour and intensity of light.

In an interview with Mashable, the company’s vice president of marketing, Kira Wampler, says that soon Lytro photographers will be able to upgrade their equipment to shoot slow-motion videos like those seen in the Matrix movies when Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, bends backward to dodge bullets.

By using more than one camera, possibly linked via wireless, Lytro photographers could recreate those effects on their own, Wampler says in the interview. “It’s not that far away,” she adds. “If you had a camera over here and a camera over there — that know each other — then you can do bullet time.”

Wampler also claims that Lytro photographers will soon be able to create 3D effects in which users will be able to click and drag the photo to change the angle of the 3D perspective.

Other plans include adding editing features to its desktop software so Lytro photographers can touch up exposure or crop photos. Pro-level features are also in the works, like being able to focus at a point in space even if there’s no object there in the photo.

Still life photography: depth of field mastered in 8 steps

jmeyer — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 06:00:57 +0000

If you use a point-and-shoot camera or cameraphone, it’s often almost impossible not to get everything from your feet to the distant horizon in focus. But the large sensors built into DSLRs means it can be surprisingly difficult to get everything in the frame looking sharp.

That’s because the bigger sensors used on DSLR cameras mean less depth of field (DOF). While blurred backgrounds can be a real bonus for subjects such as portraits, the limited zone of sharpness can be a problem for other types of photography.

Outdoors, you need to set up your camera carefully if you’re going to get the boulder in the foreground and the mountain in the distance both appearing in focus in the shot. However, the same difficulties present themselves when shooting subjects that are close together, such as still life photography in your kitchen.

This is where you need a proper understanding of depth of field. In theory, only the object you focus on will be sharp, but in practice there’s a zone of apparent sharpness that extends behind the point you’ve focused on and in front of it. So you need to start thinking in terms of zones of sharpness rather than fixed focus points, and plan your camera settings accordingly.

Several factors affect depth of field, including the focal length you’re using, the lens aperture, your distance from the subject and where you focus.

Our photography tutorial below shows how it’s done. It’s a tricky subject, because our peppers are at different distances from the camera – so we need to make sure that we have enough depth of field to cover all of them.

Still life photography: master depth of field

01 Choose Aperture Priority mode
To control depth of field, you need a mode that enables you to choose the aperture setting directly. Aperture Priority (A) mode is best for this because the camera will then set the shutter speed automatically to produce the correct exposure. This leaves you free to concentrate on focusing and depth of field.

02 Select a small aperture
You can now use the command dial on your camera to close down the lens aperture to the smallest available setting. For most lenses, this is likely to be about f/22, although some macro lenses will stop down even further. This will increase the exposure time, which goes up to 1.6 seconds for the shot we’re taking here.

03 Use a tripod
You can’t get shake-free handheld shots with exposures this long, so a tripod is essential. It will also fix the camera position so that you can focus precisely. This is crucial for careful control of depth of field, because any slight shift in the camera position will affect the focus point.

04 Choose the focus mode
You also need to take control of the camera’s focus point, so open the menus to check the AF-area mode setting.

In Auto-area mode, the camera sets the focus point according to what’s nearest, so make sure you swap to ‘Single point’ mode.

05 Set the focus point
With landscapes, you should aim to focus about a third of the way into the frame, but with close-ups such as this, pick a point nearer to the centre of the frame. You can use the four-way controller to move the focus point, which shows up in both the viewfinder and on the LCD.

06 Use Live View
You might find this much easier to do in Live View, where you can position the focus point more precisely. Here, for example, we’ve placed it right over the stalk of the second, orange pepper. This is the perfect position to maximise the available depth of field, almost halfway up the frame.

07 Precise manual focus
The alternative is to zoom in on the LCD in Live View mode, and swap to manual focus using the switch on the side of the lens. Turn the focus ring manually, judging when the area you want looks sharpest on the screen. This stops any tendency for the camera to refocus between shots.

08 Depth of field calculations
You can look up precise distances with online tables, or use an app such as Depth of Field Calculator. Here, we type in the focus distance, focal length and aperture, and it calculates that the depth of field will be 6.5cm. If you need some help to work out hyperfocal distances, the ExpoAperture2 (£30, $40, www.expoimaging.com) covers a range of sensor sizes, focal lengths and apertures.

Canon unveils new professional accessories

jmeyer — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:57:35 +0000

Canon has extended its range of accessories for use with both its professional and mid-range EOS cameras.

The new releases follow the Canon announcement of the long-awaited Canon EOS 5D Mark III full frame DSLR.

Sitting at the top of Canon’s range, the Speedlite 600EX-RT is Canon’s first flash unit to feature inbuilt wireless radio connectivity and replaces the advanced Speedlite 580EX II. Partnering with the new Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT, this new model offers enhanced opportunities for photographers wishing to explore creative lighting techniques.

Canon is also launching the BG-E11 battery grip, Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7 and GPS Receiver GP-E2, which complement the newly-announced Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

The Speedlite 600EX-RT is a high-performance TTL flash unit designed for professionals. Integrated radio frequency triggering, in addition to standard infra-red wireless flash control, allows photographers to use complex on-and-off-camera lighting set-ups.

Using one master 600EX-RT or the new ST-E3-RT radio-frequency wireless Speedlite transmitter, up to 15x 600EX-RT flash units, positioned up to 30m away, can be remotely triggered.

Canon EOS cameras with a connected Speedlite 600EX-RT can also be triggered remotely by either model, allowing photographers to explore more extreme shooting angles to produce surprising and inspiring creative results.

The Speedlite 600EX-RT and Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT also feature a weatherproof design with a clear LCD display making it easy to select settings and switch between normal flash mode and wireless modes.

The WFT-E7 is a new wireless file transmitter for a wide range of EOS models. For those who need to transfer their images quickly, the WFT-E7 provides enhanced versatility through high-speed Wi-Fi and support for wired connectivity over Gigabit Ethernet.

Featuring 802.11a/b/g/n support for file transfer speeds of up to 150mbps, and Bluetooth for linking to external GPS units, the WFT-E7 offers super-fast image transfer direct to an FTP server or even to a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance ) -enabled HDTV.

Also introduced is the GPS receiver GP-E2 – a new compact, lightweight, high-performance hot shoe GPS unit which makes it easy for photographers to geo-tag their images.

Compatible with the EOS-1D X, EOS 7D (Via firmware update – connection via cable only) and new EOS 5D Mark III, the GP-E2 tags photos with longitude, latitude and altitude data as well as the direction in which the shot was taken, adding information to the EXIF file of the image.

Finally, for photographers who want to shoot for longer with the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III, the new ergonomic battery grip BG-E11, doubles the battery life with two additional LP-E6 batteries, with the added flexibility of using AA batteries as an emergency back-up.

For those who frequently shoot vertically, such as sports or portrait photographers, duplicate AF start, Focus point and AE-lock controls in addition to a second Multi Controller and Control Dial make shooting vertically more comfortable and intuitive.

In keeping with the premium design of the EOS 5D Mark III, the BG-E11 is made of durable magnesium alloy and offers the same weather-proofing.

Speedlite 600EX-RT Key features
Guide number 60 (m, ISO 100, at 200mm)
Radio triggering with 30m range
Use up to 15 units together
Infra-red wireless functionality
Remote camera triggering
Bounce-and-swivel head with zoom control
White-balance correction filters
Fast, quiet recycling

Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT Key features
Radio frequency remote flash trigger.
Fire selected Speedlites from 30m away.
Controls up to 15 flashguns.
Remote camera triggering.
Weather sealed against dust and moisture.

Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7 Key features
Supports IEEE 802.11n
Built in Bluetooth
Versatile design
Easy Wi-Fi protected Setup
FTP server transfer
Remote control functions
DLNA media server compatible
Linked shooting

GPS Receiver GP-E2 Key features
Hotshoe-mounted GPS unit for compatible EOS cameras.
Embeds location and altitude data into each file’s metadata.
Digital compass records heading information.
Data logging mode.
Portable design, powered by 1xAA battery.
Accurately set camera’s time using UTC time.

Battery Grip BG-E11 Key features
Improved handling for EOS 5D Mark III
Duplicate controls for vertical shooting.
Larger grip for bigger hands.
Use two LP-E6 batteries, or four AA/LR6 cells as an alternative.

Pricing and Availability
The SpeedLite 600EX-RT is available from end of March 2012, priced at £679.99 / €809.99 RRP incl. VAT.
The SpeedLite 600EX is available from the end of March 2012, priced at £639.99/€761.99 RRP incl. VAT.
The SpeedLite Transmitter ST-E3-RT is available from the end of March 2012, priced at £309.99/€369.99 RRP incl. VAT.
The Wireless File Transmitter WFT-E7B is available from the end of April 2012, priced at £789.99/€939.99 RRP incl. VAT.
The Battery Grip BG-E11 is available from the end of April 2012, priced at £329.99/€389.99 RRP incl. VAT.
The GPS Receiver GP-E2 is available from the end of April 2012, priced at £299.99/€356.99 RRP incl. VAT.

Lensbaby announce new lenses

rhamilton — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:59:28 +0000

Lensbaby has expanded its range with the addition of new Macro Converters and a new 80mm Optic.

Lensbaby Macro Converters

Used alone, the Lensbaby Macro Converters offer improved close-up range. Suitable for use with any Lensbaby Optic and lens body, they can also be combined with Lensbaby’s existing Macro Kit to allow for more creative macro photography.

The Macro Converter set includes an 8mm converter and a 16mm converter, stackable to make a 24mm converter.

Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic

Lensbaby has also announced the addition of an 80mm Edge 80 Optic to its Optic Swap System. Featuring Lensbaby’s internal 12-blade adjustable aperture, the new optic is compatible with the Lensbaby Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout and Control Freak.

As well as providing a flat field of clear focus when pointed straight ahead, the new Edge 80 can be tilted to create an adjustable slice of sharp focus within an image.

What is hyperfocal distance: 6 tips for sharper landscapes

jmeyer — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:22:32 +0000

What is hyperfocal distance? Hyperfocal focusing is a specialised application of depth of field theory that’s perfectly suited to landscape photography. Calculating hyperfocal distance actually quite simple to get your head around.

When managing depth of field, you need to think in terms of the zone of sharp focus as a distance range, from the near limit (the closest object that will appear sharp) to the far limit (the farthest). With hyperfocal focusing, you place the far limit at infinity, and this automatically maximises the depth of field available.

The hyperfocal distance will depend on the focal length of the lens and the aperture setting. However, once you’ve worked it out, and as long as you don’t change the settings, you’ll know that everything from a fixed distance in front of the camera right up to infinity will come out sharp. The near limit for depth of field works out to be exactly half the hyperfocal distance.

Hyperfocal distances
You’ll need a lens with a distance scale. Or, for instance, if you shoot with Nikon DSLRs and have a D-type lens, you’ll see depth of field markers on either side of the main focusing index. Align one of the left markers with infinity and set the aperture to f/22 or f/11 – that’s your hyperfocal distance sorted!

Handheld calculators
Some lenses and zooms don’t have depth of field markings, so you’ll need some help to calculate hyperfocal distances here. The ExpoAperture2 (£30, $40) covers a range of sensor sizes, focal lengths and apertures.

Phone apps
If you’ve got a smartphone, you’ll find that using an app such as Depth of Field Calculator (£0.69, $0.99) is much easier than juggling dials and lining up numbers. Once you’ve selected the camera, focal length and lens aperture, it tells you the distance to focus on.

In practice
Once you know the hyperfocal distance, you don’t need to worry about focusing. This shot was taken at a focal length of 31mm and an aperture of f/8, so the hyperfocal distance works out at 6.2m. When we focus on that, everything from 3.1m to infinity comes out sharp