Photography

I was recently the recipient of a twitter campaign that actually kind of worked.  And it was from, of all places, The Weather Channel.

Every day I get the random follower on Twitter.  A lot of times it’s spam in the form of some woman’s name followed by some random characters – these accounts are just that, spam.

But every now and then, there’s a ‘legitimate’ account that’s trying to reach out.  These are usually sites of one kind or another that are following me because of the keywords found in my bio (hiking, traveling, photography, skiing, etc.,).  Clicking through to these accounts usually results in a lame twitter page with a bunch of crud tweets.

Recently I was followed by @TWCFromtheEdge and today I decided to check it out.  It’s actually a new show on The Weather Channel that follows a nature photographer around.  The twitter account is pretty active.  The tweets are not that great and the account is not maintained by the actual photographer (lame).  But it’s clearly active, it’s targeted and there’s a link to the show’s website where there are videos, photos, etc.,

This is the first time that I can say that I was actually interested in a random follower – the site was actually pretty compelling (to me) and I would consider watching the show.

Unfortunately, they only make the shows available on TWC on cable, and not available streaming online so I don’t imagine I’ll actually watch.  (Who can remember to sit down at 8pm every Wednesday and tune in to The Weather Channel?)

But good job The Weather Channel for actually making a compelling pitch.  I wouldn’t have pegged you as the first.

As I patiently (or not so) await the announcement and eventual arrival of the Nikon D700 replacement, it got me thinking about what ideal lenses I’d have for that camera.

Over the years many lenses have served the role as ‘primary’ on the various cameras I’ve owned.  Generally these days that falls to the 18-55 f/2.8 (- or something like that – My D300 hat the 1.4x crop factor and I still think in terms of 35mm focal lengths, so I actually think of that lens as my 24-70.. I can never remember the actual focal length..).

I like the lens well enough, the issue I have is the bulk of the lens.  The ‘pro’ series lenses are always large, I get that.  The problem is, there’s often a big step down from the pro lenses.

My understanding is that this is an area where Canon does well, offering a stepped down version of their top-of-the-line that is still really nice.  So that’s what I’d like to see from Nikon.

Nikon recently introduced an f/4 zoom lens, which sounds just about right.  The problem? It’s a 24-120.  I’ve owned one of those in the past (albeit the not-as-well-designed predecessor) and I had 3 primary problems with it:  First, the lens had pretty bad distortion; Second, it’s nearly as large as the F/2.8 lenses (because of the additional focal length); Third, because of the large focal length zoom the controls didn’t provide a solid feel.

So, what I’d like to see is this:

First, a 24-70 f/4.0 lens with the same handling and build quality of the pro f/2.8 line but smaller and lighter (because of the larger aperture).

Second, a refresh of the 70-300 incorporating the same f/4 aperture throughout the range.  If need be, restrict it to 200, but really that shouldn’t be necessary.  This can be a little larger than the current lens, but ideally not much.

Third, both lenses should share filter size so that 1 walk around set of filters can be applied to either

Finally, the 70-300 should be compatible with the latest 1.4x teleconverter for longer shots (and to obviate the need for something like the 80-400, itself in desperate need of a refresh)

OK Nikon, I’m waiting.

I was really hoping this year to make a couple of upgrades to my cameras.  Unfortunately, the manufacturers weren’t playing along.

There’s essentially 3 different form factors that I’m interested in for photography

1. point & shoot
2. compact
3. SLR

The Point & Shoot is the camera that’s always with me and is great for quick snapshots.  This was long ago replaced by my cell phone and I don’t see this changing.

When I think about a compact camera, what I’m looking for is more control than a simple point & shoot but in a smaller size than a hefty SLR.  These are great for traveling, around town, and as a second option when I do have my SLR with me.

Traditionally I’ve used the Canon G-series cameras for this and I’ve been pretty pleased.  The current iterations are the Canon G12 and Nikon’s P7000.  My older Canon G10 has a nasty smudge across the lens which I haven’t been able to remove so it hasn’t seen the light of day for quite a while.

This year I was really interested in trying out the newer Micro 4/3rds form factor to fill this spot but I wasn’t happy with any of the camera releases.  My ideal camera in this range would be a newer Olympus EP2 (EP3?) with better high-ISO capabilities, better connectivity options (as in, wifi), and a built-in flash.  According to the rumors sites, there is a new Olympus on the way that somewhat fits this request, but it’s based on the EPL-1 which is a more consumer-orinted camera, with a slightly poorer interface for advanced functionality. Unfortunately, this seems to be the market that the 4/3rds are trending towards which I think is a shame.  I really think there’s a market for enthusiasts/pro-sumers who want a smaller form factor than the traditional 35mm SLR but with similar controls.

The biggest disappointment this year has been in the SLR range.  Nikon introduced 2 new SLRs this year, both in their consumer line.  Last year they also released 2 new consumer SLRs as well as a new professional level camera but only a small revision to their enthusiast line.  They are long overdue for an update to their D700 camera (introduced in July 2008).  This is the camera I have been waiting for!  In this form factor I’m really interested in the better high-ISO performance as well as video.  I’m really looking forward to spending a little more time in 2011 working in video.

Early indicators are that Olympus should be making announcements in January about their next releases (at CES) and if they don’t deliver perhaps Samsung will provide.  Rumors are also beginning to stir that the D700 replacement (D800?) could be announced in the 1st half of 2011.

Here’s to hoping they match what I’m looking for.

I’m getting around to uploading photos from our trip to Greece.

The first batch is from the beginning of our trip – around the Southern coast of Crete.

This photo was taken during our stay in Plakias, a small touristy town surrounded by a nice large bay on one side and mountains on the other.

We saw a few rain showers during our stay in Plakias but all in all the weather was really nice – warm enough to swim but cool enough to enjoy walking around.  More often than not, storm clouds like this would just threaten without really producing any rain.

In the coming days I’ll be posting pics from the rest of our trip including Northern Crete and Athens.

I usually have a point and shoot camera with me – or at least, I used to.  In the past year I’ve stopped carrying it around, and instead I’ve just relied on my cameraphone.

What’s surprised me though, is the reason.

It’s not that it’s a burden to carry around a single-utility device.  Yes, it’s great that my phone now checks my email, my bank statements, my friends’ updates .. as well as taking pictures and making phone calls.  And yes, a point and shoot camera does none of those aside from snapping photos.

The reason that I no longer use my point and shoot camera is that it doesn’t connect to the internet.

I love the instantaneous posting that cameraphones enable: quickly posting a photo from a vacation or a get together with friends.

So why then haven’t camera companies (yes, you Nikon, Canon, et. al.) embedded wifi capabilities into their cameras?  There are still plenty of times when the cameraphone just won’t do: low lighting, zooming, and the like.  And people still (at least for the time being) do bring along cameras for special occasions – vacations, parties, etc.,

But for how much longer will this last?  How long can you expect the general public to take the camera home, download the images to your computer and then upload them online?

Yes, there are a few models available – but it represents maybe as much as 5% of the cameras out there?  Meanwhile you’d be hard pressed to find a cell phone without a camera..

On my recent trip to Greece, on a few occasions, I found myself putting the camera away and pulling out my cell phone for the sole purpose of.. capturing a photo – how insane is that?  Just because I wanted to share the picture quickly.

So I’m adding this to my wishlist for my next camera.  I want the Nikon D700 replacement to be wifi enabled.  I also want the next iteration of the high-ISO micro 4/3rds camera to be wifi enabled too.

Come on guys, if you want to stay relevant, you need to move a little faster.

Whenever I get ready to embark on the next trip, deciding what to bring always floats around the back of my mind during the weeks leading up to the departure.

Yes, that’s right – weeks.

I’ve got this iterative process that I go through where I think about what I’m going to be doing, what I’ll need and then what I can leave behind to make my bag lighter.  That process repeats and repeats at first in my head, and then in piles of stuff on the floor, until it eventually comes time to pack and leave.

There are a few items that I’ll always bring on any trip – belt, hat, toothbrush, etc., and there are others that are pretty trip-specific – hiking boots, down jacket, tent, zoom lens, etc.,  These are the easy things.  Over the years I’ve taken enough trips to know what I want to bring and what I want to leave behind.  The difficulty is always in the middle – the big pile of junk that I thought I might like to have along, just in case… And usually, this is the stuff that I’ve just learned to leave at home.

So in reality, I usually have a good idea of what 90% of what I’ll bring with me is.  And all I have to figure out is the other 10%.  But I’ll still go through the exercise of thinking through all of the options, weighing their value (and valuing their weight).

For this upcoming trip, as with many, where I’ll spend a good amount of time is thinking through which photo equipment I’ll bring with me.  Will I haul the tripod?  Which lenses?  A second camera body?  And in reality, the computer goes in the ‘photo equipment’ category, since the primary reason I’d bring a laptop would be to backup and review photos.

Ultimately, all of this, the whole thought process, the exercise of thinking about what to pack, building and tearing down piles – it’s a form of getting excited for the upcoming adventure and extending the enjoyment of the trip to well before I’ll depart (and processing the photos and posting them after the fact is a way to extend the enjoyment after returning).