Is The Canon G10 As Good As A Hasselblad?!!!

Posted on October 24, 2008 | Leave a comment

Yes, you did read that correctly and no, I haven’t lost my mind!

Photographer Michael Reichmann made some 13″x19″ prints from the 14.7 megapixel Canon G10 and also from the 39 megapixel Hasselblad H2. Customers visiting his studio couldn’t tell them apart as there was almost a 50 / 50 split in opinions. Read all about it on this CNET blog.

For a more in-depth look, the Luminous Landscape article makes very interesting reading.

UPDATE:

Having downloaded both files and compared them side by side on a 24″ screen, I must say that looking at the two images, its practically impossible to tell them apart! At 100% magnification, things are a little different; the Hasselblad was used on a tripod and the G10 was hand held at 1/8 of a second, so there is tiny movement with the G10 (only apparent at 100%) – but its still a very close call.
The colour, sharpness, tonality and the crispness of the lens on the Canon are astonishing! Who would have thought that a pocket camera could stand up to the best medium format system available?!

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Posted in Camera Equipment

Apple’s New MacBook Pro

Posted on October 24, 2008 | Leave a comment

No doubt that by now most people would have seen that Apple have launched new MacBooks, MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros.

The spec sheet is remarkable reading, and for me the new graphics offered across the range and the faster bus speed and RAM mean that these machines will be amazing. To top this off, with the MacBook Pro the top CPU runs at 2.8Ghz!
For me the only question mark is on the glossy screen and how well it will perform and calibrate. I have a MacBook Air and at first had a mental block against the glossy screen, but admittedly got used to it and it calibrate well. I have yet to see any of the new machines but am hopeful to have a hands on soon. Until then I shall reserve judgement on the screen.
Meanwhile, Apple Insider has a very good and in-depth look at the MacBook Pro, including a few videos.

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Posted in Computers and Software

Reuters Photographers On Covering The Olympics

Posted on October 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

I just came across a great short film of several of the Reuters photographers talking of their experiences and images from the Beijing Olympics. Its well worth a watch!

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Posted in Photography

War Exhibition At The Barbican

Posted on October 23, 2008 | Leave a comment

I had a chance to have a very quick look at the war exhibitions at the Barbican yesterday afternoon. I’ll definitely pop back as I only had 30 minutes before the place shut! Must say, that they are all worth a lengthy and thorough visit.


Robert Capa’s work was, as always, good to see again. There were a lot of images I hadn’t seen though, and some new prints from the recently discovered negatives have been exhibited. There’s an interesting section on the “Fallen Soldier” image, as well as some press cards and letters by Capa. My favourite has to be a letter he wrote to his mother and brother after the D-Day landings in which he said “Yesterday I had a bit of an adventure”!! Talk about an under statement!

I found Gerda Taro’s work really interesting too. Its such a shame that both Capa and Taro died so early in their careers. It would have been a joy and an education to see life through their cameras.

Geert van Kesteren also had an interesting collection of images worth checking out too.

Check here for some images.

The exhibition is on until 25 January 2009.

Barbican Art Gallery opening times:
Daily 11.00am – 8.00pm 
Except Tue & Wed 11.00am – 6.00pm 
Barbican Art Gallery is open late every Thu until 10pm.

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Posted in Photography, viewpoint

DRM on Music

Posted on October 21, 2008 | Leave a comment

DRM….Digital Rights Management. Anyone who knows me or has read this blog knows how strongly I feel on issues of copyright. I parted ways with a big wire agency after many years of working for them as they tried to bully me into signing over my intellectual rights to my work. My income has since less than halved as a direct result.


As photographers, we take great pride in the quality of our work; not just the content, but the physical quality too. The image has to be presented in its best form. I’m sure musicians take equal pride in the quality of their recordings, and find it paramount that listeners enjoy it at a high level of quality. This leads me onto DRM.

Whilst I 100% back the music industry in their efforts to protect their copyright, for us, the members of the listening audience who are quite happy to pay for music, DRM gets rather annoying. As an example, I can play MP3 CDs in my car. However, if I buy an album on iTunes, I need to make an audio copy of this in iTunes, then re-import it and make another lossy MP3 copy of it. In effect, running the MP3 compression twice. If you try and listen to any complex piece of music which has been compressed twice, you can definitely hear the difference. As I’m sure musicians care about the quality of their music, surely they need to apply pressure on their recording labels and the distributors to get rid of this DRM?

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Posted in viewpoint

Zeiss PhotoScope 1800mm f3.3

Posted on October 20, 2008 | Leave a comment

Its designed for bird watchers, but the Zeiss PhotoScope 85 T* FL  may just be ideal for news photographers too. Its a 600mm to 1800mm scope, f2.4 to f3.3, with a built in 7 megapixel camera. To top off this astonishing spec, it ony weighs 2.9 Kg!

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Posted in Uncategorized