30 September 2008
TWIP Podcast #49 - Photokina Wrap
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Audio Podcast
Episode 49 is in the feed or you can download the MP3 at Pixelcorps.TV
More news from Photokina, Adobe releases CS4, and making movies with the Mark II.
This Week in Photography - Episode 49 Photokina Wrap
Hosts:
-Scott Bourne back from the first Aperture Nature Photography Workshop in Grand Teton National Park. Photos from the workshop are up at www.photrade.com/scottbourne
-Alex Lindsay is back from his travels to Europe and Africa.
Guests:
-Frederick Johnson from Adobe hanging out in San Jose where it is sunny and where Fred participated in a little photowalk in Saratoga
-Ron Brinkmann from Hermosa Beach where he can escape to some sunshine when the weather turns sour in Seattle
Bandwidth provided by Cachefly.
Show is also sponsored by - Drobo.
HOUSEKEEPING
Reminder that the linking contest is going until October 30th. Link from your blog or website to TWiP Photo and you could win a great prize pack which includes:
-Vmware Fusion
- One copy Adobe Lightroom
- One paid JBL reference 220 earphones
- One Adobe ball cap
- One copy “88 Secrets to Selling & Publishing Your Photography” by Scott Bourne
- One copy “88 Secrets to Photoshop for Photographers” by Scott Bourne
- onOne Software Essentials (version 2) for Adobe Photoshop Elements
- One small Canon Camera gadget bag
- One RhinoSkin iPod case
- Aperture
- DV Matte
Aperture Nature Photography Workshop. Another round is underway with a chance to win a trip to Yosemite in the snow.
NEWS
Photoshop CS4 Officially Unveiled
Perhaps someone from Adobe could shed some light on the release 
- hint hint Fred.
Alex points out that it’s the first time that Adobe has rev’d the entired creative suite at one time for both Mac and PC. Fred mentions that it’s the company’s biggest release ever. They did an online release and had over 200,000 people login to watch the stream and so far the feedback coming in has been very positive.
Alex says that Photoshop CS4 looks to be an amazing update (although he is still waiting for Fred to send him his copy- wink wink) with some incredible updates. Being able to import OBJ models right into Photoshop is something Alex will really find useful. The one that is magic is the content aware scaling. You can stretch an image and it figures out which items in the image to stretch and which ones to not. Fred asks Alex if he noticed the new algorithm that will pull the text out of spoken word soundtracks in After Effects and Premiere Pro. Alex thinks that for media professionals, the biggest thing is the focus on metadata. Having the ability to have metadata from the time you caputre the image to the point where you embed it in Flash is going to be very helpful. Being able to search for comments and other elements in the metadata will help navigate raw footage.
Ron wonders with all of these still cameras starting to have sound capabilities - when will we be able to talk and tag photos as we are shooting stills. Fred points out that with newer cameras like the D3 and D700 you can add an audio note after you take a photo and programs like Lightroom will allow you to access the caption. Alex thinks that speech recognition moving forward will be huge.
The big complaint is that there will not be a 64-bit version for Mac OS 10. Fred mentions that John Kack (product manager for Photoshop) talks about the reasons why on his blog. Alex thinks that it’s the best integration between the Adobe and Macromedia products that we’ve seen so far. Alex asks Fred if there will be a demo but Fred wasn’t sure so he will look into it and put up a blog post on TWiP once he knows. In the meantime, you can head over to http://tv.adobe.com/ for a series of videos on CS4. Alex is really looking forward to checking out the hi-end features that a lot of people don’t often get into such as 3D, etc.
ICF fosters conservation of wildlife through sustainable development, using the power of photography to integrate art, education, and natural history.
Canon 5D Mark II Video Clips & Current Poll
A series of three video clips made with the new 5D Mark II as part of the Reverie film project have been posted on Canon’s site. This video has convinced Alex to stay with Canon. Scott asks Alex how these videos compare to what you’d get out of a similarly priced video camera. Alex thinks that for the price it’s as good or even better. To get to that quality of an image you would need an HV20 with a Red Rox Micro which would put you in the same price range as the 5D Mark II. To get an idea of what that would look like you should visit the site of the week ProLost which is maintained by Stu Maschwitz. The post in particular that you should read is here.
Scott wonders if there is any limitation on the length of the films you can get and how does it compare or limit Alex compared to a regular video camera. Alex says that the limit is 12 minutes but what he’s curious about is the HDMI out capabilities. Scott asks if the 12 minutes is limited by the memory card size. Alex says it could be a file size limit based upon the OS that they are using to write. For most of the stuff Alex does, 12 minutes is enough. Alex is going to be shooting in Japan for a month and is excited about being able to shoot behind the scenes video without having to pull out another camera. Another thing that is intersting is that it has an 8th inch audio jack in so now you can connect something like a Beachtek box which allows you to put 2 pro audio inputs into the camera.
Alex is surprised that Nikon added video capabilities to the D90 but not in the D700 or D3. It would have been a hard decision for him to stick with Canon if the D700 or D3 had it. Ron talks about the back and forth between Canon and Nikon and thinks that we’ll start to see 1 year product cycles on these cameras. Fred would love to have the video feature in the D3 or D700 but because they have so many features he hasn’t tapped into yet that he won’t jump to Canon just because of one new shiny object. Scott points out that it depends upon what type of photography that you do as well. If you are a nature photographer then things like Nikon’s 52 focusing points are a stronger selling point than having the video capabilities. Scott is intersted in it as a video camera however.
The discussion is a great segue to the Poll of the Week which is “Do you have any interest in a DSLR that also shoots high quality video? (eg. Canon 5D Mark II or the Nikon D90). Choices are Yes, No, Maybe, Not Sure.
Alex was planning on getting a D700 unless Canon pulled something out at Photokina so the announcement of the 5D Mark II changed his mind about getting a D700. Scott thinks it will be a great camera but he thinks it’s important to wait and see how things shake out once it’s released. One of the reasons that Scott switched from Canon to Nikon was because of some of the problems they were having with focusing issues on the 1DS Mark III so while there can be the promise of great things when a new camera is announced, the proof will be in the pudding.
Alex brings up the availability of an SDK for Canon as another advantage over Nikon but Scott points out that there is in fact an SDK available for Nikon according to several emails that he received. Scott asks for some crowdsourcing and wants to find out how to get the Nikon SDK so email him this info at twipphoto@gmail.com.
Tying back to the earlier discussion around video in the Canon 5D Mark II, the site of the week is ProLost which is maintained by Stu Maschwitz.
POLL RESULTS
Last weeks’ poll was “Where is your favourite area in the US to shoot?” Pretty even between SW, NW, & NE but Southwest was the overall winner.
-Nik software releases DFine as an Aperture & Photoshop plug-in which helps control banding
-New model Lens Baby called the Composer with a new design that allows more traditional barrel type focusing. The older designs are still available under 2 new names - The Muse and the Control Freak. Fred mentions OnOne’s focal point software which you can use to get a similar effect. Scott, Alex and Ron all agree that it’s harder to achieve the effect in post than it is in the field with the actual lens.
-Software and camera allies band together in an attempt to standardize the way Metadata is handled. You can learn more about the Metadata Working Group here.
-3D Photos. Ron says that it’s a project from Fuji film and they call it the Real 3-D camera which has 2 lenses on the front that allow you to take two seperate viewpoints. Then you would have a special LCD display that would give you a stereo view on the back. They are also working on picture frames that can display a 3-D image, etc. Fred says that something new in Photoshop CS4 along these lines is a feature that will allow you load multiple images into a stack that have different depths of field and then merge them together to make one all-in-focus image.
-100 GB Compact Flash card from PreTec. Talk about having all your eggs in one basket but the largest capacity CF cards will be available soon. 64 GB cards are also available for around $700.
-Sigma announces the DP2. This time it is a 14 MP hi-def camera with the full specs of a DSLR in a compact body. Scott thinks Sigma’s lenses are getting pretty good but they’ve had issues with their cameras such as RAW conversion and clunky menus.
-Leica has released 37.5 MP camera. It’s a medium format sensor built into a 35mm body. Street price is around $30,000.
-Next Photokina will be in 2 years. Other upcoming conferences include Photoplus Expo which runs from Oct 23rd - 25th and then PMA on March 3rd - 5th, 2009. Fred will be at both shows so stop by the Adobe booth and say hello.
DROBO - PREMIERE SPONSOR OF TWiP
Alex has been busy mirroring his two Drobos and Scott is now up to 4 Drobos. This week’s Drobo tip is from Scott. When using a Drobo on a Mac, go to Drobo share and move into standby mode when you move or dismount the Drobo to avoid any problems with buffers. Alex also mentions to give yourself enough headroom when formatting the Drobo. Visit http://www.drobo.com/twip to receive a $25 off coupon on either model of the Drobo.
LISTENER QUESTIONS
Andy Anderson asks if there is a correct method of changing lenses to avoid getting dust in the sensor and lens. Scott says to not change lenses in a dusty environment. Alex says to change lenses quickly. Fred says that you should try to change point the camera down when changing your lenses. Another related question is how to clean the front of your lens. Queue heavy breathing from Scott who breathes on the lens and then uses a microfibre cloth to clean it off. Fred asks the guys for their thoughts on whether it’s good or bad to have a skylight filter on your lens. Scott doesn’t believe in them and thinks that a sturdy lens hood will offer more protection. Ron has seen some tests and with that extra piece of glass you can get more lens flare. Alex uses it almost like a lens cap and takes it off when he wants to get serious about something.
Robin Casper asks the guys to discuss white balance cards after readying about them on http://www.rawworkflow.com/whibal/. Alex wonders if any of the guys care about WB especially when shooting RAW. When Scott is shooting portraits, he’ll get the model to hold a white card which he’ll get them to hold and shoot as the first image in the group. Then in a program like Aperture you can apply the WB in a batch by using that first shot as a reference. Fred would use a target to shoot against when shooting in controlled environments but he’s less concerned about it when shooting in the field. Ron suggests that when doing product photography with logos then you need to be more accurate with the WB. Alex uses a MacBeth chart or a Grey Card Plus from Kodak.
NEXT WEEK
Next week the gang is working on a special secret guest for the show. Alex is working on some videos on cleaning your sensors and on panoramas. Scott will also try to do some videos now that he’s back from all of his travels.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Scott’s tip this week is a simple one. If you want to get perfect exposures - take lots of shots and take meaningful notes. This would include things like there was a big cloud blocking your shoulder, angle of the sun, etc. This is what Ansel Adams did a lot so it helps you learn what works over time. Carry a notebook and write down stuff about each job. It’s also good to keep a notebook for scouting purposes.
WRAP UP
Ron Brinkmann - www.digitalcomposting.com or www.twitter.com/ronbrinkmann
Frederick Van Johnson - www.adobe.com/lightroom or www.twitter.com/frederickvan
Alex Lindsay - Pixelcorps.com or www.twitter.com/alexlindsay
Scott Bourne - www.scottbourne.com or www.twitter.com/scottbourne or www.f64.com
Aaron Mahler (Producer) - www.halfpress.com or www.twitter.com/halfpress
Visit the blog at www.twipphoto.com and the Flickr critique group.
Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke
19 Comments so far...
John Says:
30 September 2008 at 8:11 am.
I sure hope you guys try and get Vincent Laforet for an interview.
[Reply]
Rikki / UXXV Says:
30 September 2008 at 9:47 am.
Hi guys, just finished listening to the last episode and wanted to ask Scott about the UV / skylight protection filter comment he made. I’ve just got a new Nikon 24-70mm 2.8 which Im going to be using in nightclubs on my D700 (quite possibly the perfect combo for low light zooming). I just invested in a Hoya PRO1 UV filter to protect the lens in this environment, would you still strongly disagree with this or under these circumstances would it be ok?
Thanks!
Rikki
[Reply]
Scott Says:
30 September 2008 at 9:59 am.
@Rikki I don’t feel “strongly” about it - but I wouldn’t use it. The lens/camera combo you have is rugged. If you think having the filter on will protect you against a fool spilling his drink on you, I doubt it will help. If you use the lens hood, you offer yourself plenty of protection in most cases. And there certainly won’t be any UV light to filter out indoors unless the DJ uses UV lights.
[Reply]
Dennis Cadorniga Says:
30 September 2008 at 10:24 am.
Here is the link to the Nikon SDK info:
[Reply]
Rikki / UXXV Says:
30 September 2008 at 3:06 pm.
Thanks for your answer Scott, I was just a bit worried about it.
[Reply]
Joe Rodricks Says:
30 September 2008 at 4:29 pm.
@Rikki I would think the club scene would be particularly conducive to nasty internal reflections and ghosting and the such, all those bright, pin-point lights… just seems scary to me.
@Scott You mentioned the idea of doing some noise-reduction software comparison videos. Later on you mentioned that you’d be doing more videos now that your traveling had slowed down, how about a screen cast lesson on noise reduction as an art. I know you’ve mentioned there are specific methods and techniques that work better than others. Since some of us don’t get the D3/D700 sensor we still need NR How about Scott’s Noise Reduction 101?
[Reply]
dusan maletic Says:
30 September 2008 at 10:16 pm.
From the point of view of the “Sigma fanboy” that I am, Scott’s notion of RAW conversion issues with the Sigma digital cameras sounds strange. Yes, one must use Sigma software for proper results (which they provide freely) but the issue is really with other cameras that still have not adopted sensors with the full RGB information at each pixel… (And why they haven’t would be a good topic for some future TWIP - just imagine if all the sensor development went to the full RGB info sensors instead of manufacturers sticking to the primitive idea of interpolating incomplete data… ).
Disclaimer: not in any way related to the Sigma Corp. Just impressed with their technology as an Engineer and Physicist…
[Reply]
Robet in Tokyo Says:
1 October 2008 at 4:26 am.
Scott,
Have you written up any of your 11 copyright lawsuits? I just read the experience Chase Jarvis had against K2 at http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2007/06/jarvis-v-k2.html .
Always interested in the business side of the industry.
Thanks for the time you and all the TWIP team put in to your shows.
Regards,
[Reply]
Robert Says:
1 October 2008 at 10:06 am.
Thanks for covering the 5D MK II in great detail this week! Loved the show overall!
[Reply]
Rick Says:
1 October 2008 at 12:56 pm.
Keep up the good work guys. The combo of tips, reviews, and good laughs is perfect. Frederick’s “Can I use my life-line?” joke had me spitting out my coffee.
[Reply]
Many Ayromlou Says:
1 October 2008 at 6:21 pm.
Hi Guys,
Just had a comment about what Alex was saying RE: Canon 5D MKII. I personally think you can NOT compare the new 5D with HV20/30 and a Red Rox Micro rig. We’re talking a fullframe 35mm sensor with amazing ISO capabilities (CMOS) vs. a tiny CCD sensor in the HV20/30…..even though you can use 35 mm lenses on both of these rigs, the results would be light years apart. If anything I would compare the footage to the RED Cam or something similar (F35, Viper…..dare I say Dalsa…..hehehe)…..I think a RED comparison is quite fare though.
After listening to the Podcast and reading the notes today, I also want to make sure you guys understand that the Canon footage was shot between ISO 1600-2000. HV20/30 (or even a pro HD camera) can not pull that off (My Opinion). Not sure about RED at this ISO.
Another thing about 5D vs. Video Camera is the shear weight……The 5D is gotta be one of the lightest 35mm rigs out there…..No?
And while I’m here…..I have heard about Nikon’s D90’s wobbly shutter problem (I think I found the link on RED’s website somewhere) when shooting video. I wonder if you guys have come across anything mentioning this about Canon’s newborn baby? :-).
[Reply]
Scott Says:
1 October 2008 at 8:51 pm.
@Many you might want to read Michael’s post about the 5D MK II as a video camera.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/cameras/5dmkiipre.shtml
[Reply]
Jim Hanesworth Says:
2 October 2008 at 5:39 pm.
I was surprised to hear “skylight” filters discussed on this episode as if they were appropriate for lens protection. The term “skylight” filter is customarily applied to a color correction filter intended for use with daylight balanced color film in overcast daylight or open shadows. It warms up the blue cast under these conditions and yields a daylight color balance. “The technical designation for this light salmon colored filter is 1A.
“”
Here is a description from the Tiffen Web site [www.tiffen.com]:
“Sky 1-A Filter
“Safeguard your lens and absorb UV light. Film and video are more sensitive to UV light than our eyes are. This often shows up as a bluish cast in images, especially shots from high altitudes and long distances, particularly over water. Ultra Violet filters are available in a variety of UV absorption levels.
“UV Protector
“Protects your camera or camcorder lens against dust, moisture, fingerprints, scratches and damage. This filter can be kept on your camera at all times.”
While the Tiffen description for the Skylight does mention its use as a general protection device, they also mention blue light reduction which is a direct indication of color correction. This can be further verified by displaying an image of a Skylight 1A filter on their Web site: http://www.tiffen.com/displayproduct.html?tablename=filters&itemnum=37SKY
My test for differentiating a neutral UV filter from a color correction Skylight 1A filter is very simple. Just place the filter on a sheet of white paper. If there is a visible color cast to the filter, it is a color correction device. A pure UV filter will exhibit no color change.
It’s my understanding that color correction filters are not appropriate for digital cameras in most cases as color temperature is adjustable via software/firmware either dynamically or as a fixed setting. Placing a color correction filter into the light path would compromise the ability of the color temperature balancing algorithms.
Am I missing something?
jwh
[Reply]
Jim Hanesworth Says:
2 October 2008 at 6:12 pm.
I found a more complete description of a Skylight 1A filter versus a neutral-color UV filter on the B+W Web site. Here is the URL to download the coplete B+W Filter Handbook as a PDF file:
http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/handbook/pdf/B+WHandbook_Full.pdf
Below are two quotes from the above PDF file:
B+W Conversion Filter KR 1.5 Skylight SLIM MRC
This most delicate reddish-yellow conversion filter absorbs violet and some blue plus a minimal amount of green, but it passes yellow and red undiminished; the color of the light becomes “warmer” by 15 Mired. That is mostly the optimal amount for correcting the light blue cast in the shadows under a blue sky. It also absorbs UV radiation and hence it provides better sharpness. With color films and/or developing processes that generally yield results that are too “cool”, this filter can be kept on the lens at all times. With this filter, skin tones in particular will be rendered more naturally. Its filter factor is approximately 1.1.
B+W UV Filter UV 0¡0 [GG 375] DIGITAL-PRO SLIM MRC
This UV Filter blocks the invisible UV component of light from the sky, which can cause blur and to which many color films react with a blue cast. These filters should be called UV-Blocking Filters, because there are filters for technical applications that pass UV radiation and block all the other wavelengths. Nevertheless, the short term “UV Filter” has become established among photographers. UV Filters are ideal for photography in high altitudes (in the mountains), by the sea and in regions with very clean air. The pictures gain brilliance and disturbing blue casts are avoided. Because the glass is colorless, color rendition is not altered, aside from the elimination of the unwanted blue cast, and no increase in exposure is required. That makes a UV Filter very suitable as protection of the front element of the taking lens against dust, flying sand, sea water spray and the like, and it can be kept on the lens at all times. It is recommended for analog color- and black-and-white- as well as digital photography.
Enough already! Sorry to carry on….
jwh
[Reply]
Scott Says:
2 October 2008 at 6:53 pm.
@Jim we were talking about these filters because people use them primarily as lens protection. It was my point that you should not use them as lens protection.
[Reply]
Many Ayromlou Says:
2 October 2008 at 6:54 pm.
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the info over at LL. Pretty interesting……no wobbly cam…..Now I’m even more interested. I think I have to go back and check the data rates on the “raw” footage canon posted on their site. Michael’s post indicates that you can not play this stuff (raw h264 footage) straight out of the camera……I could swear the canon footage plays fine (more or less) on my macbook in full screen 1920×1080 using QT……strange…..
Anyways, thanks for the link…..Can’t wait to see what Canon will do to the new 1Ds MKIV (or whatever they will eventually call it).
[Reply]
Tim Johns Says:
5 October 2008 at 5:20 am.
I use Canon L glass mostly and I agree that putting a crappy $20 filter in front of that beautiful glass is a waste of money. But I do spend $100 on the Hoya Pro UV filters that are multicoated and let thru 99.7% of the light and in my mind do as little “damage” to the light that makes it thru to my lens.
What it does get me is some protection against having to clean the front element of my lens everytime it’s gets dirty, or after a day of shooting near the ocean where the salt haze settles on the glass. I’d rather risk scratching or ding’ing a $100 filter than a $3K lens.. But I would never put a cheap, or even midrange $50-60 filter on it. Why get L glass if your going to use a filter that only let thru 95% of the light. Get the best UV filter you can find, I use the Hoya Pro’s.
[Reply]
Dave Says:
6 October 2008 at 7:03 am.
Hi All,
Thanks to Scott and the guys for another great show!
Does anyone know if there will be any issue editing video footage from the 5D MkII with the likes of iMovie or similar software, or will it be like when a new camera is released where there is a waiting period for RAW file compatibility?
Thanks in advance,
Dave.
[Reply]
Brett Says:
6 October 2008 at 7:47 pm.
For Alex, another link to what I think he was after - https://sdk.nikonimaging.com/apply/
[Reply]
