DIMW - Digital ImageMaker World

Here are a couple of the shots I took with my Canon 350D/Rebel XT on the weekend when I was out doing some more testing of the 5D. Overcast weather gave exposures on the 350D, with a Hoya R72 filter, of 8 seconds at f5.6 and 400ISO

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A Series of Articles About the Development of a Photography Business
- continued

It seems certain that any lexicon covering new terminologies introduced within the era of the personal computer would include the word ‘photoshopped’. And I’d estimate that a large proportion of the general public would feel comfortable using it, in order to categorize a photographic image which has been extensively and digitally edited using a PC. It’s often, for example, taken to describe either the inclusion or deletion of an extra figure or subject within a group portrait. While Adobe Systems’ Photoshop® software can indeed be used alone for such image reconstructions, there are nowadays other, alternative digital toolkits which can be applied equally well to such a task.

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A Series of Articles About the Development of a Photography Business
- continued

It’s pretty self-evident I guess that to be a new entrant in the business of selling photographic prints online, then a reliable and high quality printer is a fully primary requirement. I’ve long been a fan of the Epson Stylus Photo line of digital inkjet products - not just the printers themselves, but also of the media available directly from Epson as well as selected products from third-party suppliers.

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I got first light today with a Canon 5D camera and a Hoya R72 filter. One of the first shots is below. Forget about autoexposure in IR with the 5D. You need manual exposure.

Well, there have been a few interesting things lately.

Firstly, Pentax have announced a new 6MP camera with anti-shake technology (see the article on DIMi). This says two things. Firstly, that Pentax see 6MP as a suitable entry level camera resolution and, secondly, that they are pushing development of their cameras, which should mean they are going to stick around. Of course Konica-Minolta suffered the curse of the in-camera anti-shake technology and exited the industry, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen to Pentax. I think not, because they seem to have a more realistic idea of what to charge for their cameras.

Is 6MP a suitable size for an entry-level dSLR? Probably. When I compare the 8MP Canon 350D/Rebel XT with it’s older 6MP brethren you see a small increase in noise, or at least I do. The diffence in resolution is nice, but given most amateurs consider an 11×14 inch print large, I don’t think it makes a lot of difference. So perhaps 6MP is a great place to start. The pixel cells are larger, so the noise can be less and the sensitivity a bit higher. If you keep the sensors at 6MP the price can also come down, which is great.

So this is all probably good stuff.

The other interesting thing is that Canon are suspending (and probably permanently) development of new film cameras (see the Reuter’s article). This is a predicable development. Film is not going to go away any time soon (there are too many film cameras out there) but with all the interest and the bulk of sales now in digital you have to ask why invest more money in developing new cameras for a shrinking market.