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What does color blindness look like? June 26, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : Color Vision , 1 comment so far

If you’ve stumbled across this site by accident or because you are curious about how being color blind affects people, you might appreciate getting a sense of how the world appears to a color blind person. There are a number of sites out there that provide demonstrations of color blindness. Here I’ll mention some of the web sites and tools that have been made available to people who are “color normal” and some of these will likely result in another post on tools for the colorblind.
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New contact tab June 22, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : Blog Admin , add a comment

I’ve added a contact tab up at the top of the site.  You can click that and send me a message directly by filling out the fields.

Storm chasing June 21, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : General , add a comment

Last night I tried to chase down some lightning but didn’t have much luck at all. When the storm first rolled in most of the lightning seemed to be between clouds and even that wasn’t terribly frequent.  I would have tried to shoot that but it was so light out that it really didn’t look like much when the clouds flashed.  I still went out and found a relatively scenic area to try and compose some shots. Unfortunately, the lighting was so infrequent (striking every one to three minutes) and spread out all around me that I never was able to pick a direction to aim the camera and compose and actually get another bolt to strike within frame.  I decided to wait and see if it would get better somewhere else so that I could move to a new location if needed.

After sitting in my car listening to heavy rain pound my sunroof for 15 minutes and seeing only a handful of strikes in in various directions all around me, I gave up and went home.

Hopefully I’ll get a more cooperative storm soon and be able to follow this posting with some photos!  Unfortunately, most thunderstorms in Rochester seem to be that way.  Only rarely do we get one where you can set up somewhere and expect to see enough lighting to get multiple decent compositions with lightning in the frame.  I don’t just want pictures of lighting, because I could have had that, I want good ones!

There are storms forcasted through Monday so I’m just going to have to keep an eye on them.

Software for the colorblind: Tenebraex eyePilot June 20, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : Color Vision , 2 comments

Pretend you’re at a busy subway or train station in a city you don’t know your way around.  You’re supposed to pick out the trains you need and the stations to switch at to get somewhere.  The lines are all color coded: red, blue, green, yellow, orange, etc.  What do you do if the colors are muted or not particularly clear and you’re color blind?

If you guessed stand there frustrated and confused, you guessed right!

Even under ideal conditions, like on a calibrated computer screen, greens can blend in to oranges and they can be difficult to differentiate from reds for many people (and there are certainly other kinds of color vision defects).  If you haven’t figured it out by now from posts about color vision and the title of this site haven’t given it away, I’m one of those people.

There are various programs on the market catering to helping people with color vision problems better understand what is on their computer monitor.  Although not generally tools for photography, some can come in handy and since I get a lot of people coming here after searching for color vision related topics I think writing about these programs is appropriate.  One tool which I have owned for a couple years and does come in handy from time to time is eyePilot made by Tenebraex and available here: http://www.colorhelper.com/.

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Nikon leaks something juicy, maybe? June 18, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : News & Rumors , add a comment

In writing this I think I should first reference my post about the mid-range full format battle that is heating up.  I’d usually ignore a speculative rumor like this instead preferring to comment on the interesting situation we’re in with regard to this market segment; but with the details about it available in possibly-real-looking gloss print here and here it seems perhaps Nikon is closer to announcing a new product than originally expected.  Not only that, but with a name that further serves to make me wonder if Nikon’s naming system isn’t some version of alcohol enhanced pin the numeric tail on the letter D.

With a new name in the mix, the D700 seems to be stealing bites right off the D3’s plate with the same or a similar “FX” sensor as Nikon calls it and ISO up to an identical 25600.  With the proven performance of the D3 this could be a sweet item indeed.

It leaves me wondering how Canon will combat it.  Certainly I don’t think ISO up to 25600 is necessary, because at that point on the D3 the image quality starts to make you wonder if you don’t have a camera phone hidden in the there somewhere. I do think that while a moderate bump in resolution over the existing 5D is likely, I doubt it will crawl too high.  Hopefully that means they can shoot to mimic the noise performance of the D3 and 1D Mark III to ISO 3200 at least.

The great wheel of alphanumeric names will just have to continue spinning until some official announcements are made.

The right lens makes all the difference June 15, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : Photography , 1 comment so far

I’ve never used a zoom that covered the middle range of focal lengths very much.  I have a 17-40 and the common 70-200 in my collection, but in between the two ranges the only lens I use is my trusty 50 1.4.  I once felt I had no need for some boring mid-range zoom to cover the gap between those two lenses with some overlap, that it’s a pointless range to spend my money on for what I tend to shoot.  Over time I realized that for what I shoot, that’s the perfect range for a good zoom that is versatile as a walk-around lens that would require no tripod.  Since most of my shooting is spent tripod-bound, for a long time I refused to recognize the opportunities the right lens would open up when I don’t feel like carrying a tripod and multiple lenses.  I suppose I had become a bit of a tripod snob; but the more I shot handheld with lenses that are really tricky to use in lower light, the more I started to turn around on that opinion.

105mm with IS on, f/8, ISO 800, 1/8 second handheld

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The mid-range full frame war June 12, 2008

Posted by tcbp in : News & Rumors , 4 comments

The hotly anticipated successor to Canon’s aging 5D is supposedly due any time now.  Rumors have suggested it might appear in January, then February, then April and even June.  Now everyone probably mostly expects to see something announced towards the end of the summer or during September to coincide with Photokina.  Specifications vary just as much as the expected release date, although there are certain things that seem to be a given at this point:

I suspect the anticipation of the last feature is due to the moves made by Nikon and Pentax to include sealing in their newer non-”Pro” SLRs.  Canon would be smart to incorporate those changes although I hope to see a more 1 series like interface and body, just kept smaller while still retaining a nice 100% viewfinder.  The D300 from Nikon closely resembles a lot of what I’d like to see Canon do in the 5D Mark II or 6D or 7D or whatever the name of the day is.

I certainly hope to see something this fall as I am interested in this camera personally to replace or compliment my 1D Mark II.

At the same time, while a 5D update is almost a given, there are many rumors surrounding a full frame mid-range camera from Nikon.  The name du-jour seems to be D10, not to be confused with Canon’s long passed 10D.  *side note: when will these manufacturers stop jumbling up each others names?*

Not really having a predecessor, I am sure the speculation on the D10 is a little different from the 5D MK II/6D/7D which has some pretty big shoes to fill.  Some rumors suggest the resolution will be at least that of the D3 although I imagine besting the D3 in terms of resolution in a less expensive camera might rub some people the wrong way (it’s not like this sort of thing hasn’t happened before though).  14 bit A-D is a given using EXPEED and hopefully all that will be packaged in a body similar to the D300.

Even though specs aren’t known, price estimates for both cameras float in the $2500-3500 range.  I expect either one would fall above $3000 personally. The real question is will Nikon try to beat Canon to the punch and if they do, will it get some Canon defectors to switch over who are impatient of waiting for the 5D’s replacement?