Taryn Simon Lecture is Online

Taryn Simon is featured in a lecture she gave this past summer on TED.com. Simon is a large format, documentary photographer. The talk focuses on two of her projects. The first is called "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar," which deals with places normally kept hidden from the American public. The other project is "The Innocents," which is a series of portraits of people wrongfully convicted of crimes they didn't do. Simon was recently given the McArthur Award, which is also called the "Genius Award."

Go here to see her talk, which runs about 15 minutes or so. She's a fascinating photographer with a lot to say about the medium.

Actual New Leicas

Over the past several years, Leica has been having a hard time with the changing paradigm of film to digital. Actually, it goes further back than that. When all 35mm cameras went fully automatic exposure and autofocus, they hung back and waited to see if it was all a passing fad. Well, it wasn’t and they were left by the side of the road, becoming increasingly archaic and out of step with the rest of the universe. For more than a decade, it seemed like the only people using Leica cameras were either hard-core, anachronistic pros who used them no matter what or wealthy hobbyists who bought them for their prestige. Fewer and fewer working pros could justify the cost and the lack of ease of use any longer. Well, maybe that is about to change.

What Leica was good at was designing and building compact, ultra high quality cameras aimed at serious photographers. Olympus and Panasonic have recently announced cameras designed to fill that niche, the E-P1 and the GF-1. Well, Leica has just announced a few cameras that also fit that bill. And instead of rebranding cameras made by other companies, they are making these all in-house, just like the old days.

The new M9 could possibly be the worst kept secret in cameras in recent times, but there is now a full-frame, 35mm-sized digital Leica rangefinder and that is no small matter. The real surprise, though, is the X1, a compact fixed lens APS-C digital camera. This camera seems to take the design advantages of a Leica and apply them to a digital camera in an intelligent and thoughtful manner. In a weirdly old-fashioned way, it is an innovative and even fresh approach. It took a while for Leica to get things straight in their heads, but maybe they had it figured out for themselves. Leica can’t compete with Canon and Nikon or even Sony or Panasonic, but they can choose the ground they wage their battles on and I hope this strategy pays off for them. Here’s the run-down of these two new cameras:

Leica X1 • a fixed lens, compact digital camera.
12.2 MP CMOS APS-C sensor; 24mm f/2.8 Elmarit (35mm equivalent); 2.7-inch LCD monitor with 230,000 pixels; SD and SDHC cards, JPEG and DNG formats; 100 – 3200 ISO; optional optical viewfinder; really simple and straightforward controls; around $2000.00.

Leica M9 • full-frame, 35mm digital camera with interchangeable lenses and rangefinder focusing.
18 MP CCD sensor with an infrared filter instead of an anti-alias filter mounted in front of the sensor; micro-lens overlay on the sensor to create perfectly even images in terms of exposure and sharpness; JPEG and DNG formats; 160 – 2500 ISO (with a “pulled” setting of 80 ISO); 2.5-inch LCD monitor with 230,000 pixels; under $7000.00.

The only caveat I have with these cameras is Leica’s choice of rear LCD monitor. Both the M9 and X1 have decently large ones with rather anemic pixel counts of 230,000. The new camera, the Canon 5D Mark II has a 3-inch LCD with 920,000 pixels. Knowing the clarity and sharpness of that LCD, I have to wonder what Leica was thinking. Oh well, I’m still looking forward to checking them out when they are available. Congrats to Leica and best of luck. It's good to see you back in the game.

A New Leica, part 2

Panasonic has recently revealed the Lumix GF-1, which is pictured above. It's a camera in the same vein as the recently announced Olympus E-P1, which I discussed earlier this summer. Both of these cameras seem to be aimed at actual photographers, rather than P&S hobbiests. The lens paired with the GF-1 is a 20mm f/1.8 pancake lens, which will be equivalent to a 40mm semi-normal lens. The body and lens makes a compact set that won't be much bigger than most P&S cameras, but will provide much higher quality images. It has a 12.1 MP sensor and interchangeable lenses, and an enticing one for the near future is the 45mm f/2.8 Leica DG MACRO-ELMARIT with O.I.S. (Optical Image Stabilizer). The GF-1 and 20mm f/1.8 lens should sell for around $900.00, which isn't too bad for such a potentially high quality camera. Like the E-P1, this cameras looks to be one that will neatly fill the niche of the old Leica rangefinders, and should be near about perfect for photojournalists and street shooters. It certainly looks tempting.

Speaking of Leica, tomorrow they will announce several new cameras. Supposedly one of those will be the new M9 digital rangefinder camera. After the announcements, we'll post what they will have to offer.

New Sony DSLR!

The Sony a850 represents a landmark camera. This is the lowest price full-frame DSLR ever offered. It will sell for around $2000 for the body only and for around $2800 in a kit with the new Sony 28-75mm f/2.8 SAM lens. The only differences between this camera and the a900 is the viewfinder: a900 with 100% view and the a850 with a 98% view; and the shooting rate: a900 at 5 fps and the a850 at 3 fps. Otherwise, they share the same 24.6 MP sensor and the same dual BIONZ processors. Most of the other features of the a900 are carried over to the a850.

Considering that most other "entry level" full-frame cameras, like the Canon 5D mark II and the Nikon D700, sell for the price of the a850 with a lens, this is a great deal. Like I've said before, Sony is the company to watch out for in the years to come. I bet it won't be long before we see a full-frame DSLR for around $1500.

How not to use Photoshop

This is an example of the wrong way to use Photoshop. The story is carried on the BBC News website and says that the original image shows a black man who was altered to be white man for Microsoft's Polish website. Microsoft is looking into the matter. For the entire story, go to BBC News.

Whoever did this, shame on you. If you're going to do something like this -- not that it is ever okay to manipulate race in this way -- at least put in a head that is lit in the same way as the other people in the original photo. Sloppy work! The Asian man and the white woman have highlights on the right sides of their faces, while the replaced white man's head has a highlight on the left side. This is inexcusable on so many levels.

To see other examples of the misuse of Photoshop, go to Photoshop Disasters, an interesting blog dealing with these issues.

To the Moon!

Forty years ago, the summer before I started Middle School, my family moved up from West Point, Mississippi to Fairchild Air Force Base, near Spokane, Washington. My dad was a career Air Force man. We arrived on the base a week or more before our belongings did. This is important part of the story.

Like most kids in the 60s, the Apollo moon missions were a dream come to life. I grew up watching every cheesy sci-fi movie ever made and was a devoted Star Trek fan and I saw the Apollo moon landing as our first major step towards a life of exploring other planets. Unfortunately, our TV was in the moving van that was still making its way to the Northwest. We didn’t know anyone at this base, and I was going to miss seeing one of the most important moments in history. My only consolation was a small transistor radio. At least I’d be able to hear it happen.

But a few minutes before the scheduled landing, a guy from down the street knocked on the front door, and when my mom answered it, he handed her a small portable TV and said, “This isn’t something you should miss.” It was one of the best gifts I can recall getting in my entire life.

He came back the next day for his TV, but for a moment the people on this planet were drawn closer together. And that guy went out of his way to do something because he felt it was the right thing to do and I will never forget him and his generosity.

Here’s to the 40th Anniversary of the landing on the Moon.

Julius Shulman, 1910 - 2009

Julius Shulman, one of the best architectural photographers in the U.S., died at age 98 on July 15. Although he was more famous among architects than he was among photographers, Shulman was considered by most to be the best photographer of Modernist architecture in the 20th Century. He completed his last assignment two weeks ago and he began his career as a photographer in 1936. That's a 73 year run, which is truly remarkable in any field.