Vivid Sydney 2012

The Frankencamera

The Frankencamera aptly named because in my eyes it is big and it is ugly but it is still a prototype at the moment. Hopefully it will become smaller and more elegant in due time.At present it is made from recycled parts. The professor (Marc Levoy) behind the prototype says one day it may change the way we take pictures. The Frankencamera has been programmed to take 2 rapid shots if a frame has both dark and light parts. One shot exposes correctly for the dark the other shot for the light, the programme then merges the 2 frames together taking the best exposure from each shot, hence a correctly exposed image for both light and dark areas.
Imagine if the camera could do the same with focus, take 3 shots focusing on different things in each frame then merging them into one crystal clear image. Oh the mind boggles.

The Leica M-Monochrom

The Maserati of cameras with an interesting catch. While the M9-Monochrom costs US$1,000 more than the already expensive M9,to some it may seem you get less bang for your buck, you see the M-Monochrom only shoots in black and white, no colour ever. Without the colour filter in front of the sensor it lets in more light, which means less noise in low light and a better dynamic range.
US$8,000 overseas we can probably expect to pay more down here in good old Oz, stay tuned for the hair raising RRP.

Are you ready for this folks The Leica M Monochrom will be available from the end of July 2012 at a recommended retail price of $10,999. I am thinking i won't be investing in one of these babies.

Street Performers -Darling Harbour

My Australia

We have such a great country here in Oz, I wouldn't be anywhere else for quids, so i decided to share some of my Oz with you, as i see it thru my lens .....The people,The places and how we celebrate ourselves as Aussies ..... I hope you enjoy the journey.

My Australia

 

How 35mm film and digital photography changed the world.

The 35mm film was actually developed for motion pictures until German engineer Oskar Barnak set out to develop a small portable still film camera.In 1913 he became the chief of developement at Leitz,a German camera company,where he began making prototypes of the 35mm camera.The company started marketing the first 35mm camera in 1925 after the breakout of world war 1. They called it the leica (a combination of Leitz and camera).
What made the 35mm camera important was it's compact size and portability.Barnak's design had the ability for a small area of the light sensitive film to be exposed in capturing the image(the negative)which then could be produced in the dark room.
This is among some of the most important developements in the history of photograhy as camera's could then be taken anywhere,they were also more affordable which allowed anyone to take up photography.
Leitz was the only maker of 35mm camera's for 10 years after the launch of the Leica.Which meant the equipment was still a little too expensive.
In 1936  American company, the Argus company produced a 35mm camera enabling the consumers affordability for the the new technology.Then along came Kodak the biggest name in film and camera equipment,they began making their own 35mm camera which in turn combined with their good reputation and distribution capabilities increased the spread of the 35mm camera.Other notable producers are Olympus,Canon and Pentax in Japan.
Since the 1980's digital camera's have become so sophisticated and widely available.They let the photographer view their images before downloading them to the computer,which is a huge saving not only in time but money and there is no wasted images, if you don't like them just delete them,now you can't do that with a film camera.
Digital photography aslo allows you to print from home the only way you could do that with a film camera was to have a dark room which was another cost and who wants chemicals laying around the house.
Some photographers still prefer the 35mm camera as they offer different effects and possiblities,so they continue to co-exist.