Happy Thanksgiving

This turkey, born and raised by teens in Willmar, Minnesota, is particularly happy today.  As am I, as am I.  Happy Thanksgiving folks.

Topaz

A year or so ago a photographer friend of mine suggested that I take a look at the Topaz suite of plug-ins for Photoshop.  Considering what I could get for $75, I bought it immediately.  To be truthful, I haven’t used it that much.  My workflow, such as it is, tends to be pretty simple and is still developing.  That said I love the Topaz suite.  To begin with, each update (and there have been several) has been FREE.  Yep, free.  And these are major updates, not just tweaks.  In addition, each component is a very powerful set of tools and presets.  Topaz also offers detailed manuals and instructional videos.

Last night I got an email from Topaz offering me the free upgrade for one of the components, Adjust V5.  After I installed it, which is ridiculously simple, I took the time to watch the video embedded in the email.  Simply amazing and scary easy.  If you are looking to streamline your Photoshop sessions and avoid the steep learning curve Photoshop requires, take a look at the Topaz suite.  Highly recommended.  

Got Cards If Your Want 'Em

One of my sponsors, Adorama, has Lexar 16GB compact flash cards on sale for $47.95 here.  Buy a couple and support this site.

Thanks for your support,

Ye Olde Management

The Nikon V1 In My Shaky Hands

I finally got 'round to popping in to my local camera store this past weekend.  Unfortunately, I don’t do much business with them any more since I buy most of my stuff from B&H.  I wonder how long they’ll survive, but they always seem busy.

Anyway, I took the opportunity to take a quick look at the V1.  Despite its diminutive size, I was impressed by its heft and build quality.  The metal construction is quite impressive and says that this is a camera to be taken seriously.  The EVF is just fine and, at 1,440,000 dots, is state of the art.  The display is also top notch and is best in class at 921,000 dots.  Nice to look at and equal to my D700.  The V1 falls to hand quite nicely and the rounded edges are reminiscent of a Leica M3.  That’s the upside.

When Nikon set out to design the V1, it is clear that their target market was the compact camera user seeking to step up.  That is the downside.  The V1 is only slightly larger than a compact and, although I don’t have big hands, that was a problem for me.  The controls seemed positively minuscule, so much so that I never tried to use them.  Another irritant was the power button.  It is flush with the top plate and it took me several pokes to turn the darn thing off.  I never could figure out the best way to grip the little devil, although I tried several different ways.  The lack of a hand grip doesn’t help matters either.

I am sure that there are people out there that will adore the V1.  Kirk Tuck sure seems to like his.  I feel that for all its strengths, and there are many, the V1 is a little bit too compact for me.  Sigh.

This Is It

No, I am not talking about Michael Jackson’s not-concert film; I am referring to the newly announced Panasonic DMC-GX1. I have been pining for a small inter-changeable lens camera for a couple of years now, maybe longer. Problem is I am spoiled by my current DSLR, a Nikon D700. The D700 is my idea of the perfect camera, just too big to lug around everywhere. I also wanted a particular quality of video. Finally, I wanted a system with a lot of choices, including a couple of really fine lenses. So, I waited. And waited. And waited. My first real date was a Panasonic GH2. After it was over, I realized that we were incompatible and sent her packing. Then there was my fling with the Olympus EP3. Not really a hands on affair, more like an infatuation from afar.

When Sony announced the NEX-7 and I was able to tick off every box on my want list, I was head over heels. I nearly proposed, however, after reading her bio, I found out that, while she has a beautiful body, the NEX-7 is blind. While there is a cure, she would only have one really good eye that would cost $999. But, boy that was one hot body.

Finally, Nikon came calling after all these years with the V1. Unfortunately, the V1 was pretty underwhelming and the enthusiasts wrote her off immediately. I was not so sure. At least one pro had acquired her and was having a ball. The more I looked, the more I liked. I was pretty sure that theV1 was the one for me. I even went to fondle one this weekend, but the store was closed and I was tight for time.

Then a friend sent me an email this morning with a picture of the prettiest little thing I have ever seen – the GX1. Talk about a knock out!

Obviously, I will need to do more research, because buying a camera – like getting married -- is for better or for worse and no one wants a quickie Kardashian divorce. At first blush, however, I think this is it. The GX1 boasts a 16.01-megapixel Live MOS sensor. Only the Sony is larger at 24 and I question that many pixels on an APS-C size sensor. Panasonic claims excellent high ISO performance with a maximum 12800 ISO sensitivity. That will remain to be seen. Also attractive is the GX1’s 3.0-inch touch LCD screen. I have to have a viewfinder and I can attach the LVF2 tilt-shift Live View Finder which features 1,440,000-dot equivalent and 100% field of view. Finally, onboard video is 1920 x 1080 at 60i, with sensor output of 30p.

I’ll be reading more about the new girl in town at dpreview.com so stay tuned.

Still Born

Well, it’s official.  The “enthusiast” photographic community has written off the Nikon V1 even before its been tested.  Too bad, because professional photographer Kirk Tuck has not.  You can read his impressions here, here and here.  I’m certainly not a professional or Nikon fanboy, but I’m thinking of buying one out of spite.  For some strange reason I don’t think I’ll regret it.

Autumnal Musings

 

Buckthorn, 2011

After making over 800 images in August at Muskets and Memories, I haven’t shot too much lately except for a couple of ruffed grouse.  I went up to Grand Marais for a few days, but between hunting, another *&#% injury and some of the worst weather I have seen up there, there weren’t too many “photo ops”.  Pouring rain one day and gale force winds the next.  What I did shoot wasn’t worth keeping even as snapshots.  Firearms deer hunting season opens this weekend so I’ll be staying out of the woods for awhile.  And soon it will be the holidays.

I have been looking at the landscape work of Lee Friedlander a lot lately.  You can get a very good sampling simply by searching him in google Images.  Finally, I broke down and bought his book Apples and Olives.  His work certainly changed my views on landscape photography.  I can think of a bunch of images that I would have done differently had I seen his stuff long ago.

Speaking of photo books, over the holidays I will be putting most of my photo books up for sale on amazon.com.  This is the “good stuff”, some of it out of print, and each book is in pristine condition with a dust jacket protector.  I will keep you posted as things progress.

I also discovered Kirk Tuck the other day.  Kirk writes an excellent blog entitled The Visual Science Lab and will be a regular columnist on The Online Photographer.  Great writing and photography as well as philosophical and think pieces.  Oh yes, and gear articles as well.  He has been trying out the new Nikon V1 and his images are impressive.

As usual, I’ve been thinking about smaller cameras.  There are getting to be a lot of options out there.  Besides the Nikon, I have been most impressed by the Fujifilm X10.  Depending upon the reviews, I might go for that one were it not for Fuji’s announcement of an interchangeable lens mirrorless next year.  Seems to me that Fuji is the company making the waves right now.  I like that.