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Author Topic: Photography and Camera Related  (Read 13732 times)

tomos

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Photography and Camera Related
« on: May 02, 2018, 05:00 AM »
I'll chance starting a topic with some photography and camera related news that I think might be of interest here.

I'm no expert, but do follow a couple of sites, in particular www.dpreview.com and www.imaging-resource.com/
Feel free to contribute.
Not sure whether do it as one link per post, or multiple. (We'll see how it goes.)

EDIT// stripped 'News' out of the title, as the thread, so far, is some news, but also nice pics, and simply 'of interest' posts e.g. how camera sensors work below
Tom
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 05:58 AM by tomos »

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related News
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2018, 05:18 AM »
SmugMug snaps up Flickr, promises 'the future is bright'
Published Apr 23, 2018 -- not much info available as of writing; comments are of interest -- some discussion of alternatives, generally positive comments about Flickr as is.

Tiny micro-camera sensor is self-powered by light
As one of the commenters says: "What's the betting that there is a heat detecting version mooted that will power up as soon as a warm blooded creature is in the vicinity."

Casey Neistat has his own style which you may or may not like, but he does a lot of interesting stuff. Here compares a $35 smartphone zoom lens with a $7,000 super zoom lens (link starts video at 1:12)
https://youtu.be/oGxsEpRWgmg?t=1m12s


Tom

rjbull

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Re: Photography and Camera Related News
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2018, 04:13 PM »
I look at DP Review too, and notice they sometimes quote PetaPixel, as if the latter tend to get news first.  But there's a limit to how many sites you can monitor...

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related News
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2018, 05:40 PM »
I look at DP Review too, and notice they sometimes quote PetaPixel, as if the latter tend to get news first.  But there's a limit to how many sites you can monitor...
that's a good source :up:

e.g. toy photographer Michael Wu
https://petapixel.co...d-practical-effects/

Antman-C.webpPhotography and Camera Related

Vader-Trooper-Swing.webpPhotography and Camera Related

Rancor-Simba-b.webpPhotography and Camera Related
Tom

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #4 on: May 04, 2018, 05:55 AM »
I'm making the mistake of posting pictures I like (above) instead of 'news'. Maybe I should edit thread title...
Here I do that again, but this time plus interesting story, and some science

Photographer Christopher Burkett makes photos with 10" x 8" color negatives (!) printing them using a paper that is no longer produced. The topic is of interest but mainly posting because of the beautiful images, and also because the photographer himself impressed me.

Landscape photographer races to finish decades of work

video starts properly at 0:30
https://youtu.be/hHINDOtFH1A?t=30s

via imaging-resource.com


Vaguely related:

The Science of Camera Sensors [also qualifies for the very interesting thread]

The 13 minute video explains:

    How photographic film uses a thin coating of silver halide crystals to capture light.
    The science behind the photodiode that converts light into electrical current for all digital image sensors
    How a Charged Couple Device (or CCD) sensor works, and its pros and cons.
    How a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (or CMOS) sensor works, and its pros and cons.

as approved by / via dpreview.com
Tom

mouser

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2018, 07:19 AM »
Just want to say thanks for this thread -- some cool stuff here  :up:

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related [Smartphones vs 'real' Cameras]
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2018, 05:31 AM »
Smartphones are starting to really challenge dedicated cameras:

Huawei P20 Pro vs Canon 5DS R: I’m Stunned… (petapixle.com)
and
Why smartphone cameras are blowing our minds (dpreview.com)

Screenshot - 2018-05-11 , 11_51_42.pngPhotography and Camera Related

see the blue there -- that's the size of the Huawei sensor. It's bigger than the iPhoneX sensor (shown with red outline), but still miniscule compared to the full frame sensor shown in orange. Yet it get's favourably compared with a 50MP full frame Canon 5DS. Does even better in low light: where the Canon is unable to focus there's so little light, the Huawei has no problem getting a picture.

Part of the reason for this is that the smartphone actually has three sensors with individual lenses: 40MP, a 20MP monochrome sensor, and an 8MP one with zoom lens. So the final image is a composite of images from (at least two of) those sensors. While it does involve better hardware, a lot of the magic is in the 'jpeg engine', the software that produces the final jpeg -- which corrects unwanted lens effects and combines the images from the various sensors. This is nothing new, but in smartphones it's being taken to a new level of efficiency.

The Google Pixel 2 XL has a different trick
It's constantly keeping the last 9 frames it shot in memory, so when you press the shutter it can grab them, break each into many square 'tiles', align them all, and then average them. Breaking each image into small tiles allows for alignment despite photographer or subject movement by ignoring moving elements, discarding blurred elements in some shots, or re-aligning subjects that have moved from frame to frame. Averaging simulates the effects of shooting with a larger sensor by 'evening out' noise.
-dpreview
(my emphasis)

Screenshot - 2018-05-04 , 17_10_50.png

Sunrise at Banff, with Mt. Rundle in the background. Shot on Pixel 2 with one button press. I also shot this with my Sony a7R II full-frame camera, but that required a 4-stop reverse graduated neutral density ('Daryl Benson') filter, and a dynamic range compensation mode (DRO Lv5) to get a usable image. While the resulting image from the Sony was head-and-shoulders above this one at 100%, I got this image from a device in my pocket by just pointing and shooting.
-dpreview
(my emphasis)
That's a stunning picture with really good exposure under difficult conditions.
Have to admit I dont even know what the "4-stop reverse graduated neutral density ('Daryl Benson') filter" required for the 'real' camera is, never mind the "dynamic range compensation mode", but it all sounds very complicated.

Another aspect of 'traditional' photography that is now being very succesfully done via the software engine is creating bokeh (background blur), using the ability to recognise depth in the image. Bokeh happens a lot more with larger sensors, especially when using lenses with wide-open aperatures. Can be a PITA though to manage: if you're very close to your subject, or are using a long zoom, the area in focus (depth of field) can be so small as to be problematic. The nose is in focus but the eyes aren't :-/ Smartphone software is now starting to successfully create an artifical bokeh -- the smaller sensor of the smartphone has a very large (deep?) depth of field (area in focus), the software can then choose to blur what it wants, or better, what you want, keeping the rest in focus.

the beauty of computational approaches: while F1.2 lenses can usually only keep one eye in focus—much less the nose or the ear—computational approaches allow you to choose how much you wish to keep in focus even if you wish to blur the rest of the scene to a degree where traditional optics wouldn't allow for much of your subject to remain in focus.
-dpreview

Screenshot - 2018-05-04 , 17_31_48.png

disclaimer: I'm not an expert, but tried here to distill two recent articles about smartphone cameras, if you notice any mistakes, do let me know,
thanks, Tom
Tom
« Last Edit: May 11, 2018, 06:37 AM by tomos »

Deozaan

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2018, 01:29 PM »
I have to admit that I don't consider myself interested in photography enough to want to follow your links (especially because the titles are so click-bait-esque) in this previous post, but I enjoyed reading your summary. :Thmbsup:
« Last Edit: May 11, 2018, 02:58 PM by Deozaan »

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2018, 02:45 PM »
^ thanks Deo, I'm happy about that :up:
Tom

mouser

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2018, 02:50 PM »
I feel similarly. Even when one is not particularly invested in an area (at least at the current time) -- it is very nice to have someone focus on an area and share with us what they find interesting.

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2018, 04:17 PM »
-- it is very nice to have someone focus on an area and share with us what they find interesting.
thanks mouser, nice to get the feedback.
Plan to continue as time permits, and as i find stuff of interest. The last post didn't take particularly long to write, but I wasn't happy with the first draft and let it sit a week, then it clicked on the second attempt.
Tom

wraith808

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #11 on: May 12, 2018, 10:47 AM »
So, I'm not a photographer, though my wife is.  And she made me realize the effects of light on your photographs, no matter what they are.  And so I purchased a light box for taking my keyboard photos.  And it's made such a difference!

I purchased an OrangeMonkie Foldio2, and wanted to recommend it.

https://smile.amazon...phone/dp/B013SVNWF2/

It, plus having a separate shutter control (a Just Mobile ShutterGrip - https://just-mobile....ariant=9787265220650) has changed the quality of even my pictures.

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #12 on: May 15, 2018, 07:46 AM »
belated response wraith,
re smartphone camera accessories:

So, I'm not a photographer, though my wife is.  And she made me realize the effects of light on your photographs, no matter what they are.  And so I purchased a light box for taking my keyboard photos.  And it's made such a difference!

I purchased an OrangeMonkie Foldio2, and wanted to recommend it.
Thanks for the tip :up:

for me the shutter control is of interest:
plus having a separate shutter control (a Just Mobile ShutterGrip - https://just-mobile....ariant=9787265220650) has changed the quality of even my pictures.

Re using smartphone for video:
One commenter in the dpreview article about smartphone cameras uses a DJI Osmo Phone Camera gimbal (amazon link) which, if you're not familiar with, is a camera stabiliser used for video. The results look pretty good -- there is a 'bounce' as he walks (he's got to learn to walk without a spring in his step):


Again I'm impressed with the image quality.
Taken with a Samsung S8 according to his comment:
I have completely switched to my Samsung s8 in combination with a DJI Osmo Mobile when shooting video. The files are less robust compared to the files from my Sony a6300 with noticeably less DR [dynamic range] but the easy of use has won me over. I stick my Samsung s8 on my camera [I'm presuming he means on the DJI gimbal] and activate the DJI app and all works really well.
My needs are those of a amateur. I never get paid, my hobby costs me money and so expenditure and ease of use are important factors.
Tom
« Last Edit: May 15, 2018, 08:40 AM by tomos, Reason: god forbid: I wrote \'your\' instead of \'you\'re\' :p »

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #13 on: June 11, 2018, 02:45 PM »
Gameboy!
I'm no gamer, and never was, but I suspect a few of you remember the Gameboy -- I never knew that at some stage it got a camera:

Back in 1998, Nintendo released an odd accessory for the Game Boy called the Game Boy Camera. Meant to be a light-hearted entertainment device for children, it went on to win the Guinness World Record in 1999 for smallest digital camera and was even used by Neil Young to take photos for the album cover of Silver & Gold.

Neil_young_silver_gold_cd.jpgPhotography and Camera Related
(image via wikipedia)

So, it was a very small camera that made very small images...
In the year 2000, photographer David Friedman used it to take some photos in NY:

Screenshot - 2018-06-11 , 20_54_51_ver001.pngPhotography and Camera Related

apparently the above images have been increased in size by 200%. Originals were 256 x 224 pixels and just 2 bits (although that's just black & white isn't it? images below include grey).

More recently, designer Bastiaan Ekeler decided to attach a monster Canon zoom lens to a Gameboy camera.
His 3D-printed adapter fits to a partially disassembled camera, and with a 1.4x teleconverter and 70-200mm F4 attached, produces an impressive 3026.8mm equivalent view.

I *think* that means a 3,000x zoom (?). Amount of zoom is difficult to understand and describe simply, but the zoom does increase proportionally to the size of the sensor i.e. smaller sensor = more zoom, and you're not going to find a much smaller sensor than this one.
Some of the images he made:

Screenshot - 2018-06-11 , 21_09_44.pngPhotography and Camera Related
Screenshot - 2018-06-11 , 21_09_51.pngPhotography and Camera Related
Screenshot - 2018-06-11 , 21_10_02.pngPhotography and Camera Related

Screenshot - 2018-06-11 , 21_47_55.pngPhotography and Camera Related

Via dpreview

If you're interested in more, the Gameboy also been used for astrophotography
Tom

Deozaan

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #14 on: June 11, 2018, 10:22 PM »
apparently the above images have been increased in size by 200%. Originals were 256 x 224 pixels and just 2 bits (although that's just black & white isn't it? images below include grey).

1 bit is black and white (true or false). 2 bits is 4 colors, which was the case for all GameBoy games as well. :Thmbsup:

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #15 on: June 12, 2018, 09:03 AM »
1 bit is black and white (true or false).
should have known this having worked with 1bit tiffs for years...

2 bits is 4 colors, which was the case for all GameBoy games as well.
initially I thought this was wrong --
and that it should be just black/grey/white -- with white being simply 'off' (i.e. bit#1 set to on would be black, bit#2 set to on would be grey). But of course that's all wrong, and you were right -- two bits is four colours. As one can *clearly* see if one looks at the images (I need a rolling-eyes smiley).

Wikipedia explains it as 2 squared -- another example: 6 bit colour would be 2 to the power of six (as opposed to 2*6, which was how I was thinking).
Tom

Deozaan

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #16 on: June 12, 2018, 03:44 PM »
Wikipedia explains it as 2 squared -- another example: 6 bit colour would be 2 to the power of six (as opposed to 2*6, which was how I was thinking).

Exactly. Each bit is either true or false. So each additional bit is another power of two.


This is tangentially related to the Game Boy Camera, but I saw a video some time ago of some hardware hackers who reverse engineered the Game Boy [Camera] Printer which may be interesting:


tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #17 on: August 10, 2018, 06:14 AM »
Screenshot - 2018-08-10 , 13_05_35.pngPhotography and Camera Related

damn, look at all those lenses...

I remember reading about the plans for this camera a few years back. It was launched earlier this year, review quotes via the Verge article:
Light L16 camera review: futuristic frustration

The Light L16 camera is an engineering marvel. It takes 16 different smartphone-sized imaging modules, each carefully aligned behind a piece of glass, and uses them in concert with each other to create images that are bigger and better-looking than the results the individual cameras are capable of. It does all this in a form factor that’s two or three times thicker than, but not quite as wide as, an iPad mini, something that actually fits in a few pockets and is easy enough to stow in a bag. That’s Light’s selling point for this $2,000 camera: the L16 is ostensibly a full bag of camera gear in one body.

It's not a very positive review: slow; poor desktop software (which necessary for creating highest quality images); and mixed quality images. The fact they are already trying to replace that full bag of camera gear with various lenses is part of the problem imo: that's a worthy goal, but realistically is going to take a long time.

Another problem for Light is that this hardware has been a long time coming and smartphone manufacturers have starting implementing their own version of multiple lenses.

Light told me as recently as late last year that it was working with a smartphone manufacturer to incorporate its technology. It seems like the right fit for Light’s technology, but it’s unclear what part of the market the company was talking about. Maybe Light will give midtier smartphones a chance to compete with the iPhones and Samsungs of the world. It also may have missed the boat.
Tom

Deozaan

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #18 on: August 10, 2018, 11:10 AM »
Reminds me of a spider or something Lovecraftian. :)

tomos

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Re: Photography and Camera Related
« Reply #19 on: February 03, 2019, 04:15 PM »
from another thread, worth reading, especially if you find yourself wanting to buy a new fancy camera rather than *really* learn how to use the one you have.

13 Confessions of an Amateur Photographer
Tom