This journal documents my experiences with a Canon 50D,
my first DSLR camera, purchased on Oct. 16, 2008. The camera was
end-of-lined by Canon in July 2010 and the 60D was announced.
Friday Foto: Three Seasons (Composite)
Fri 04 Mar 2011 12:25:05 PM EST
This photograph of trees outside my window, is a composite of three photographs taken over the course of the last year. It was created in Photoshop Elements by overlaying the three images and then selectively erasing parts of each of the layers.
The three individual photographs used to make the composite were taken in the
spring, summer and winter.
X100 First Impressions from Japan
gear photos x100
Sun 06 Mar 2011 09:09:56 AM EST
Fuji X100 first impressions from Pieter Franken; the only complaint he seems to have is that the AF speed is noticeably slow and he preferred to focus manually as he's a Leica shooter. His complaint about softness wide-open is moot (for me) as I usually shoot people at that aperture and I prefer them to be soft.
I am willing to live with slightly slow focus but only if, when it achieves focus-lock the image is perfectly focused on my subject. Update: there seems to be a debate whether the slow AF is due to the camera being set to power-save mode.
Some more pics from another user (the Provia setting give Canon-like colour to the images).
Sun 06 Mar 2011 09:40:49 PM EST: The X100 went on sale in Japan on March 5th. Photos taken with the X100 are beginning to appear on Flickr.
X100 Manual
Sun 06 Mar 2011 04:49:14 PM EST
Having read the PDF manual which is now available online from various sites...
- The number of photos per battery charge is "approximately 300" (half the number of the Canon 50D which is rated at 640 photos). This means I would likely have to re-charge everyday instead of every other day or more with the Canon.
- A nice thing the X100 has that the Canons lack is the ability to quickly zoom-in to the area of focus when reviewing photos and in manual focus mode to aid in focussing.
- One of my concerns was whether exposure could be locked in an area different than the focus area and yes, that's possible.
- You can also take photographs without a memory card installed as the camera has 20mb of internal storage.
Friday Foto: Red Tulips (reprise)
photo
Fri 11 Mar 2011 12:58:31 PM EST
This bed of red tulips, next to St. James' Cathedral, was
photographed with the 50mm lens at f/4. The foreground tulips were
sharpened slightly to make them "pop". This photo appeared earlier on this journal but was not posted to the Picasa album.
Scotiabank Photography Prize
Fri 11 Mar 2011 09:35:26 PM EST
Three finalists were announced for the inaugural Scotiabank Photography Prize worth $50,000.
I am not qualified to judge or comment on the finalists (but my favourite is the indoor spa photo.
Friday Foto: St. Patrick's Day Celebrations
photos
Fri 18 Mar 2011 05:10:01 PM EDT
There are five photographs in this series, taken yesterday. The
slideshow begins with the on-campus celebrations and continues with
photographs I took on my way home ending with the CN Tower.
The Weatherman Photographer
landscape photos
Fri 18 Mar 2011 05:23:43 PM EDT
The most spectacular landscape photography taken by a photographer who knows how to read the landscape.
Passing Fancy: First Day of Spring
photo
Fri 25 Mar 2011 01:09:02 PM EDT
With the 50mm, one photo was all I got. It was sheer luck getting her exactly in mid-stride; any other pose would have looked awkward.
Friday Foto: Old City Hall framed by Bay St. Towers
photo
Fri 25 Mar 2011 01:09:36 PM EDT
This photograph (from 2003 taken with the Canon S30) of the Old City
Hall clock tower framed by the buildings on Bay street was originally
the top-half of a two-image panorama, but the composition works
nicely by itself.