The quintessential photo from this summer’s trip to Kythira (clickety click on the image for a ‘moderately’ higher resolution image) and a pretty good time to take a break.

One thing that bothers me with professional photographers, is that often they are completely clueless about the physics and technology aspects behind their gear — they typically possess a very superficial understanding of it all, defined solely by the tech. slang of the trade, enthusiastic peers and the press. Much like a new linux user learning how to pay a visit to a web forum, mailing-list or irc channel and thinking he or she has become linux masters.

Along those lines is the now so common megapixel myth: that higher pixel count automatically translates to better pixels. The 50D review, and indeed the camera itself, provide a pretty compelling demonstration of why, even with the best lenses out there, a very high pixel count can suddenly make ‘optical resolution’ a much more familiar term to all those that seem to focus only on the electronics; if the top lenses, beasts costing thousands and weighing kilos, are barely sufficient to provide adequate pixel detail at 15MP and an APS-C sensor, you can easily imagine how bad so many compacts sporting 10 or 12MP may very well be with their subpar, mediocre lenses.

If anything, the review demonstrates that the 50D probably represents the last of a series of cameras that came before it; for in the future Canon is most certainly going to shift its focus to other areas of the camera besides pixel count; features that are hopefully going to make its successor a much better camera overall.

It may be the case that the Red One camera has been around for a while, but it’s only lately that some of Hollywood’s leading directors have started to use and promote it. And that’s only three years after the company was established and less than six months since the camera has been available to the general public (although apparently there’s a considerable backlog before you can get your own Red, even if you’re willing to spend the $17,500 it costs to buy).

After Soderberg, a known fan of digital technology and longtime user of digital video along with or instead of film, Doug Liman jumps on the Red bandwagon and talks about the camera and how its changed the way he films.

Wired had a great article on the Red recently. You can find more clips from Red (at 720p) on the Vimeo Redusers group.

Εδώ και αρκετούς μήνες έχω έναν zoom φακό που θα ήθελα να πουλήσω όμως δεν έχω βρεί τον χρόνο να το κυνηγήσω. Καθώς — δυστυχώς — ακόμη δεν έχει πωληθεί και επειδή δεν έχω ούτε χρόνο αλλά ούτε διάθεση να ψάχνω τα διάφορα φόρουμ και κοινότητες φωτογράφων στην Ελλάδα και να αφήνω αγγελίες, αποφάσισα να κάνω ένα πείραμα και να το ανακοινώσω εδώ.

Ο φακός είναι ένας Canon EF-S 17-85 f/4-5.6 IS USM, ελάχιστα χρησιμοποιημένος και σε άριστη κατάσταση. Δε γράφω περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες για το φακό, φαντάζομαι όσοι ενδιαφέρονται τις γνωρίζουν ή μπορούν να τις μάθουν. Αν κάποιος ενδιαφέρεται ας μου στείλει ένα μήνυμα για πληροφορίες, τιμή κλπ.

Back in the days of 35mm film, Nikon was the undisputed king of high-end SLR cameras. Yet, this changed with the coming of digital photography. After several years of utter defeat by Canon, Nikon keeps hitting back hard at the No.1 manufacturer of high-end DSLR cameras with increasingly impressive models. Just a few days after the Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII and the EOS 40D were announced, Nikon strikes back with the high-end D3 and the mid-range D300. They look cool, but can they displace Canon’s lineup? What will Canon’s response be with EOS 5D’s successor?

The linked NYTimes article seems to gloss over some important details, but is, nevertheless, a decent read.