When I first started shooting digital cameras back in early 2003, I was introduced to the Lexar CF compact flash card line. They were very reliable and I was a loyal user for many years, but over time Lexar just seemed to fall off of the map. No advertising, no interest in staying connected to pros and Sandisk was out maneuvering them at every turn. I hear that they are still out there and even ready to launch a new card that will overtake the Sandisk cards retaking the crown of fastest write speeds of any card on the market. Good for them. Competition is always good.

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I just returned from an extended time away from the studio, traveling to Kenya and Costa Rica. During my time away Nikon announced information on their two newest DSLR’s and they are both very interesting. I’ve not had a chance to handle either the D800 or D4 at this point but Nikon has agreed to send me one of each a week or two after they start delivering the pre orders.

D800 Incorporates a 36 Megapixel Sensor
I have to say that I was a bit surprised by the rumor of 36 megapixels coming true. Understand that I was one of the very few photographers who actually bought Nikon’s D2H that sported a measly 4.1 megapixel sensor. You don’t remember that camera? Most don’t but I shot it for two years and I’ve never had an editor or any photo buyer complain about the lack of resolution from the images I captured with that body. Keep in mind all D2H files were sized up through Genuine Fractals now known as Perfect Resize but nobody has ever been the wiser. Additionally, I shot that camera like I do all digital cameras which means I shot it as if I were shooting 35mm film. In other words I rarely cropped the final image. The files were actually quite good from the D2H unless you went over 400 ISO. In short, the sensor produced great images to start with when using a low ISO and then Genuine Fractals did the rest.  I’ve supplied dozens of images to a German calendar publisher that were proceed from the D2H and these guys are picky. They never published any calendar we did together that featured the photography smaller than 16×20 inches and never  once  did they complain.

Nikon's megapixel monster the new D800.

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As I’ve been saying for quite some time now the mirrorless camera revolution is a freight train that will be impossible to stop. A new survey out of Japan, the leading country of all great new ideas in photographic tools, shows that mirrorless cameras are now selling better than all DSLR’s, and the Micro 4/3s cameras are leading the mirrorless charge.

I just returned from our second year leading photo tours to Costa Rica and there was one other person beside myself that had a version of the  Micro 4/3s system. Our group had several ongoing discussions regarding the changes we’re all beginning to see regarding more and more people turning to smaller and smaller cameras. Through those discussions I came up with a theory I would like to share with you.

As many of you know, I’ve earned my living as a natural history photographer for many, many years. When I was 21 years old I bought my first Nikon 300mm F/2.8 lens. It was a beast, but based on the exquisite detail it produced in the transparency film I was shooting, I felt as an aspiring professional I needed to have that lens to make a living. It was somewhere around six pounds but the weight was worth it due to the sharper glass, the lower light situations I could shoot in and the fact that it was easier to MANUALLY focus due to a brighter image the large, front element allowed through the viewfinder. All of these benefits were worth the tremendous weight of the lens alone, but to make it work I had to add a Nikon F2AS body with motor drive. Combine it all and you had very close to a ten pound package sitting atop a tripod and a head that was an additional ten pounds.  With all that weight it was essential to wrap the tripod legs in foam padding to keep from developing groves in my shoulders when I hiked for miles searching for pictures.

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I recently ran across this article on the Video Blog EOSHD that compared the inexpensive Panasonic GH2 against the newly released Red Scarlet. Both shoot still photos, with the Panasonic being known for mainly being a still photo capture device. That said, Panasonic also equipped it with fabulous video capture, and it’s the video imagery that EOSHD was looking at. Comparing the two cameras is almost ridiculous since the GH2 is about $699 for the body. The Red Scarlet is in the range of $15,000 to get enough pieces put together to be able to shoot it properly. The difference in price is substantial yet the difference in video quality is amazingly close for the normal viewer. Read the article to see for yourself and to see some of the samples they’ve included. Panasonic really is producing amazing technology for a rock bottom price.

EOSHD compares video quality between the Panasonic GH2 and the Red Scarlet. Read the article to see the results that will floor you.

I recently posted the image below on our Natural Exposures Facebook Fan Page of my Godson Colter helping me rig one of the newest additions to my image capture arsenal. He was working to connect my Apple iPad and iPhone to a MiniHD, video camera known as the ContourGPS so my two Apple devices could each be used as a wireless viewfinder. A comment that came in on the Facebook page made me realize many of you may not be familiar with this technology and why it’s so compelling for capturing unique moving images.

Colter working on the Contour GPS video camera, getting it hooked up to the IPad via Bluetooth.

The Contour GPS is just one of several options out there that give you a small, HD quality, video capture devise that is super simple, can be placed almost anywhere, and produces stunning video images. The two most popular options include the Contour series of cameras and the GoPro series. Another option has shown up recently made by Delkin called the WingMan but it doesn’t get quite as good of reviews as the Contour or the GoPro.

I’m not going to get into the details of each camera since everybody has their own opinion as to what is important to them. The links I’ve provided will help you make a decision on what features YOU may want. I chose the Contour due to it’s small compact size and shape. I wasn’t to excited about the square GoPro. I also like the idea that the Contour would allow me to use my Apple devices as viewable LCD screens via the Bluetooth connections. The downside to the Contour is that if you don’t have an Apple or Android device you have to basically guess at what the camera is seeing since there is no built in viewfinder. The Delkin does have a a built in screen and the GoPro you can order one as an option, but neither of these other devices has the quality or form factor I wanted so I settled on the ContourGPS. So there you go, those are just a couple of things to chew on that delineates the three different models I’ve looked into.

The question that came up on Facebook was, “what is a Contour GPS camera, and how does it work with an iPad?” The iPad part I explained above but the “What” part is more of a question of, “why”? So here’s how I plan to use this camera in the future.

If you take a look at the ContourGPS web site you notice that they highlight video from vantage points we don’t typically see. Many of the videos where shot from what is known in the video world as POV or (Point of View) of the person shooting the video. Below is a very nice introduction to the ContourGPS by NETWORKWOLRD that gives you an idea of POV shooting.

Along with the HD camera you get software that allows you to work with the movies you produce. They call it SorryTeller and it gives you a fairly nice video editing setup that has easy options for uploading your video to Youtube, Facebook etc. However, I personally use Apple’s IMovie. IMovie is very easy to use, has tons of options for special effects and is also user friendly when it comes to uploading movies to several different places on the web.

How do I plan to use this camera you ask? Well I’m not completely sure yet. I do know that it will be a great option for hard to access locations that I’m sure to run into while shooting for the Arctic Documentary Project. I can see attaching this to the hull of a ship, maybe the tallest mast of a sailboat, on a remote controlled vehicle, on a helicopter, airplane to name just a few. Time will tell but the options are limitless.

The Contour GPS had numerous accessories and the one I picked up when I ordered the camera was the underwater housing. This housing is hard to believe due to the incredibly low price of $39.00. Compare that to the underwater housing I bought for my D2X several years ago that cost well over $6000.00. I realize the Contour and D2X housings are two different animals but for doing underwater video work the Contour GPS housing is a fantastic option. Other add ons for the Contour include the Rotating Flat Surface Mount, XL Bike Mount, Headband Mount, Vented Helmet Mount, Rollbar Mount, Suction Cup Mount, Goggle Strap Mount, Surf-Wake Mount, and the list goes on and on. You get the idea. You can stick this thing just about anywhere. Hope this explains the why that my friend Joel brought up on Facebook. If you have any further questions just let me know.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m attending the 2011 PhotoPlus Expo in New York. It’s an interesting year and the show is a bit different than other PhotoPlus Expos I’ve attended. The biggest difference I’ve noticed is there are many more Japanese engineer types, executives, etc. obviously  from Japan, in attendance. Not sure if I’m on track with this theory but my hunch tells me this has become a much more important marking event since PMA (Photo Marketing Association) in Vegas was merged into CES (Consumer Electronics Show) about a year or two ago. I mention this because it’s very interesting to think that PhotoExpo Plus may turn into an even bigger, better event since PMA is no longer around. Just my observation.

Getting inspired at the Nikon booth.

When I decided to try and keep up with this idea of blogging about the show I made the decision to not try and cover everything but rather just the things I was actually interested in. One of the downsides to attending a show of this size is what I call sensory overload. There are so many products, so much noise, so much fanfare. It’s really difficult to tune all that junk out and concentrate on finding the new and different. So that’s what I’ve tried to do. The following items are some of the things I found most interesting.

Aerial Photography or Videography

By far the coolest new gadget on the floor was Rotor Concept, Inc. This was a company that makes miniature helicopters that you can attach a camera to for either still or video shooting. Unfortunately you can’t hang a large DSLR like the D7000 onto this machine but I was able to see if my point and shoot sized Panasonic GF2 would work and the gentleman at the booth assured me it would. I shot a very short little video, may go back today and shoot something longer. But it was impressive. Here is the video of the guy flying the helicopter at the booth.

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I just flew into New York in preparation for PDN PhotoPlus International Conference & Expo. I’ve been attending this show for nearly twenty years, sometimes as a guest of Nikon and others, sometimes just on my own. This trip qualifies as just on my own. It’s a great trade show, all the big players are here from Nikon, Canon, HP, Sandisk, Lowepro and lots of others. I haven’t been to New York for a couple of years so I decided it was time to pack my bags and head east. It’s always nice to reacquaint myself with some of the folks we work with on a regular basis but hardly ever actually see.

I’ll be snooping and pocking and asking lots of questions about this, that and lots of other things. I’m crossing my fingers that we may see the newest pro or semi-pro Nikon body. However, I’m not holding my breath. Lots of rumors out in cyberspace regarding the devastation Nikon has endured in Thailand due to colossal flooding. Imagine the turmoil they must be going through created by the flood in Thailand the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation event in Japan and the downturn in the world economy. It can’t be easy but amazingly they are more savvy than I have ever seen in the nearly 30 years I’ve worked with them. Nikon has actually become amainzgly astute at marking. That was not always the case. Back in the 1980′s you would have never seen anyone remotely similar to Ashton Kutcher helping sell Nikon cameras. Ashton is a great asset for all of us wanting better and more sophisticated photographic tools. If Nikon can sell to the masses, the technology and research eventually makes it over to the more serious professional side. It’s good for everyone wanting to capture great memories.

My first stop will be the Nikon booth where I hope to see the new enthusiast cameras they recently announced, the Nikon J1 and V1. both these cameras are apparently doing very well. I’m hoping to get my hands on one or both to give them a good once over. Might even be able to talk my friends in to letting me give them a try. Stay tuned and stop by to see what I come up with. I’ll be blogging from the show each day.

About two weeks ago I posted an entry on the Corkboard titled My Predictions of Changes in Camears Coming True.  It was a short piece that included a news item from Bloomberg highligihting the Mirrorless revolution taking place with nearly all camera manufacturers except Nikon and Canon. Well, a lot of things can change in two weeks and so they have with Nikon finally joining the Mirrorless group with their introduction of a new line of photographic tools called the Nikon 1 J1 and the Nikon 1 V1.

Nikon 1 V1 Mirrorless Camera

With the introduction of these two cameras they have brought some interesting new technologies to the game that sound quite interesting. However, they also chose to go with a considerably smaller digital sensor than any of their major competitors. For example the Sony NEX7 uses a digital capture sensor with a 1.5X magnification factor. Olympus and Panasonic chose the Micro 4/3′s route with a magnification factor of 2X. Nikon decided to go with an even smaller sensor that has a magnification factor of 2.7X. Below I’ve included a graphic provided by CameraDebate.com that gives you an easier to understand visual of the differences between all these different sized digital capture sensors. Please note that the size of the visuals are not the actual size of the sensors but rather size comparisons of all options.

So the good news is that Nikon has finally joined the game and that is a tremendous plus. However, the possibly not so good news is, they chose to go with such a minuscule sensor. We’ll all have to wait to see if this will be a serious flaw to the new line of Nikon cameras since in general, smaller sensors produce lower quality images. For photographers that put a tremendous emphasis on image quality I’ll remain concerned until I see samples I’ve shot for myself. Who knows maybe Nikon will pull another rabbit out of their hat as they did with the sensor in the D3 and D700. If so these cameras could be amazing. If not then they will only be cameras for the point and shoot crowd.  I’m really hoping they will be AMAZING!

Some of the more interesting new features in the Nikon 1 V1 include:

• The capability to capture a still image even while recording in 1080P movie mode.
• 73 Point AF sensors across the entire viewfinder
• 12 Million pixel sensor
• Color LCD Viewfinder
• Frames Per Second equal 10, 30, 60
• Entire new lens system but also will have the ability to use traditional F series lenses.
• Movie Slow Motion
• Smart Photo Selector for best image suggested by camera.

You can read more about the new line of Nikon 1 cameras at the following web sites.

Nikon USA
DPReview
DxOMark
Nikon Press Release

Greetings everybody. What a glorious day as I type this post, head phones on and jamming out to Steele Dan. It’s a cool September afternoon and I’m happy to be back in Montana. I love traveling but it’s always great to get home.

I was doing a little web surfing this afternoon and found something you folks who are using Aperture might like to know about. It’s a company called Graphic Node. They’re out of Lithuania and they specialize in creating several different Mac related templates including some for Aperture. Aperture comes with a few templates of its own but it’s always nice to have other options so you might want to check these out. I actually had a custom template created   for our business Natural Exposures, Inc. that matches our web site’s design. A young man from Missoula, Montana did the custom CSS for us on that project. His name is Scott Rouse and you can get to his Facebook page by clicking the link to his name. A custom web page is a bit more costly but well worth it to help set your work off from others in photography world. Let me kow if you have any questions or any suggestions.

A sample of the custom template I had desgined by Scott Rouse

Those of you who have spent time with me on our Invitational Photo Tours know that I’ve been predicting that future cameras will be missing the traditional mirror designs we’ve all been shooting the past 50+ years. I’ve been talking about this for over two years now. The new technology that is currently  being used by Panasonic, Olympus, Samsung and Sony, incorporates an electronic viewfinder in place of the old prehistoric mirror box design. The new technology is moving ahead at breakneck speed and Bloomberg News service has a very interesting article detailing exactly what I’ve been predicting. Click on the image of the Bloomberg article to read the whole report. It’s fascinating reading and suggests that the traditional camera companies we all know better start taking this seriously or I have a huge investment in lenses that will be obsolete.

The image below was first run as part of my final post for our Arctic Documentary Project in Svalbard/Spitsbergen, Norway. It’s kind of buried in the main blog so I though I would pull this out for easier reading. The key elements I used to create this image include the Nikon D7000, Nikon SB900 wireless flash, Aperture software and Nik Viveza that was used as a plugin within Aperture.

A skeleton of a Svalbard Reindeer lies relatively undisturbed on the tundra of Spitsbergen, Norway.

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August 10, Danskøya Island 37F

Click on this link to see photos of our favorite images from the Svalbard shoot for the Arctic Documentary Project.

This morning is cold. Most definitely the coolest we’ve experienced. Danskøya Island is on the northwest part of the archipelago and is on the edge of better polar bear habitat. The ice is nearly 80 miles offshore, so any bears that are stranded on the Islands of Svalbard migrate towards the top getting as close to the ice pack as possible. Mark tells me that, “typically the ice is 15-20 miles offshore but this year is unusual.”  Surprising how often I keep hearing something similar to “this year is unusual” from people that work in the arctic. That’s been the description for hotter than normal temperatures and the varying climatic changes they’ve caused. Equally amazing is that I first started hearing people talk about the “unusual year” over ten years ago. My wife Tanya is stepping in here to describe our morning and the rest of the day as we head further north and east.

A Polar Bear wanders the snow-covered rocks in Holmiabukta, Svalbard, Norway. Nikon D7000, 200-400mm lens

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July 18, 2011

Pro Roller X200 Inside can be removed and hard shell sent to the baggage compartment

Yesterday I received a note on Facebook from a friend of mine in South Africa. He saw the picture I posted of Tanya with all our bags and asked if there was any camera gear inside.  We’ve traveled together so his comment was just a friendly poke. This business of taking pictures creates a lot of baggage. His comment made me think that I should give some details on all that I’ve brought for our shoot in Svalbard, Norway.

First of all when Tanya and I travel together and particularly when we leave North America I almost always use the Lowepro Roller bags. Since there are two of us we can often take more on board the aircraft than I can when traveling alone. If I am traveling solo I will often use a Lowerpro backpack of some sort placed within a large, Pelican, hard sided case and checked as luggage. I like the Pro Roller option the best since obviously I can keep my eye on my gear.

A minimal backpack harness good for short hauls onto a plane or a few hundred yards to a blind.

The Pro roller I currently us is the Pro Roller X200. Not the largest they make in the Pro Roller series but not the smallest either. What’s particularly interesting about this case is it’s semi-transformer personality. It’s a bit large for smaller planes overhead bins but with a quick zip of the inner case, you can reduce it’s size substantially. By zipping out the inside protective enclosure you remove the hard sided outer shell. On the back side of the inner case are backpack straps that make it easy to sling over your shoulders. More than once I’ve had the folks at the gate suggest my rolling strong box was too large for aircraft carryon. Quickly I can zip out the inside and hand them the outer shell, eliminating the concern. The inside fits nicely in virtually all aircraft bins I’ve ever needed access to.

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Leon Sorian, Tanya and Leon's wife Maude in Costa Rica

Many of you may recall a post on the Corkboard I wrote a couple of years ago titled The Changing World of Digital Photography discussing my introduction to the realm of Micro 4/3s digital cameras. It all revolved around a new camera called the Panasonic GF1. I was in Yellowstone and in the process of gathering our guests for our annual Yellowstone Winter Photography Tour. A good friend of mine, Leon Soriano, who travels with us regularly showed up with what looked like a gem of a camera hanging from his neck. It was small, light weight, had the styling of a photographic tool from days gone by and was digital to boot. Leon, a forty year rep for Fuji, assured me the files from it were as impressive as the camera looked. After all, no matter how beautiful the package it’s what’s inside that counts. And what was inside included a 4/3’s sensor that requires a lens be multiplied by two, when figuring out the 35mm film equivalent of the lenses range. In other words a 14-45mm lens on a Micro 4/3’s is the equivalent to a 28-90mm from the days of 35mm film cameras. He handed it to me and I was mesmerized by it’s diminutive size and sleek looking style. Immediately, it reminded me of a Leica rangefinder. I was hooked. Four days passed and on my return to to Bozeman I walked in to F/11 and bought one on the spot.

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Nikon D5100-Click on image for Nikon PDF brochure

I recently had a chance to spend some time shooting with the new Nikon D5100. One of the reasons I requested this camera from Nikon was my desire to get my hands on one of the smallest, lightest bodies they are currently making. Also, I do get people that travel with us on our Invitational Photo Tours that come with less than professional  cameras. I feel it’s always good for me to be familiar with less expensive equipment for those who use this kind of gear.

This will be the first review I’ve ever attempted and I have to say that I’m not planning to get super technical. There are lots of reviews available on the internet that will provide many nitty gritty graphs, studio shots etc. The best place I’ve found for getting super technical camera reviews is DP Review. In fact you can see a very indepth critique on the D5100 that just came out on DPReview.  My review will be more in line with real world examples and subject matter that I come in contact with in actual shooting situations. I’ll also be doing some tests for specific features, quality assessment etc. that I’m most likely to use.

Follow this link to see more photos from the new Nikon D5100.

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