The End of Analog Photography

While the subject headline for this article is somewhat inaccurate, as in I don't believe that film photography will entirely disappear anytime soon, there is a newish book called The Disappearance of Darkness: Photography at the End of the Analog Era that is an extended photo-essay dealing with the closing of Kodak manufacturing plants and other photo-related businesses around the world. This book and project was created by Canadian photographer and teacher Robert Burley. Burley, who teaches at the School of Image Arts at Ryerson University in Toronto, spent six years, starting in 2005, traveling and photographing with a large format 4x5 camera and color film. He captured the dissolution of the Kodak plant in Toronto and ended up photographing at Dwayne's Photolab in Parsons, Kansas, which was the last lab to process Kodachrome film. Steve McCurry, National Geographic photojournalist and the man who shot the famous "Afghan Girl" image, shot the last roll that they processed. When Burley started the project, he knew that he was capturing a major turning point in the evolution of photographic imaging, when the technology shifted from silver-based imaging to digital imaging. This is an important subject and I am glad Burley was there to capture it. I know that there will be a time in the not too distant future when black-and-white film-based photography will seem as quaint and old-fashioned as wet plate photography and albumin prints. The Disappearance of Darkness is a memorial to that technology. The book is now on its second printing and can be purchased through Amazon, though as of now it appears to be out of stock.

Lenses, Lenses, Lenses!

Sigma announced a few lenses, which include two updated lenses and one brand new lens for Micro Four/Thirds and Sony E-mount, and one updated lens for APS-C digitals.

The two updated MFT/E lenses are the 19mm f/2.8 and the 30mm f/2.8. The first renditions of these two lenses were somewhat under the radar for most photogs, but the people who bought seemed to love them. They had some seriously good image quality. The new lens in this group is the 60mm f/2.8,which is the equivalent to an 120mm lens for MFT and 90mm for the E-mount. With its minimum focusing distance of just under 20 inches, this will make a very nice portrait lens, and like the other two, will be small and portable.

The other lens for Sigma is a new version of their 30mm f/1.4 lens for APS-C digitals, which makes it more or less a normal lens for that format. The previous model was known for its high quality images, especially in its smooth out of focus foregrounds and backgrounds, or bokeh. I'm sure this version will continue this same quality.

Also of interest from Sigma is something called a USB Dock, which attaches to your computer and when you attach the right Sigma lens to it, you can update its firmware and adjust its focusing, in both accuracy and speed. Not all Sigma lenses will work with the USB Dock, but the new 30mm f/1.4 will, once it is available.

And finally from Tokina is a new lens for APS-C cameras, the AT-X 12-28mm f/4 PRO DX lens. It replaces the 12-24mm f/4, which is a lens I owned and used and loved. It was a very fine lens and I'm sure the new version is just as good.

Two New Cameras Introduced

In the next few days, many new cameras will be introduced because of CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, which begins tomorrow on the 8th and ends this Friday, the 11th. A couple of cameras have already surfaced which have captured our interest. The first is the Pentax MX1, a compact digicam that seems to be following the lead of some of Fuji's latest offerings like the X10 and the soon to be announced X20. The MX1 has a 12 MP sensor with a 4X zoom, in 35mm terms from 28mm to 112mm, with a maximum aperture range from f/1.8 to f/2.5. Actual zoom range is 6 - 24mm. The controls and layout are intended to reference older film cameras and the construction also supports this. The camera features brass top and bottom plates with, I assume, a black paint finish, when the camera comes in the all black finish. It's also available in the black and chrome finish. With Pentax's solid history of making user friendly and high performance cameras, I'll be interested in checking this one out.

The other camera is kind of the polar opposite of the Pentax MX1; it is the Canon PowerShot N. This unconventional camera is intended as a supplement to your smart phone, as it can be connected via Wi-Fi to the phone, tablet, or PC of your choice. The square design and tilting touch screen enable the camera to used in any direction, configuration, and orientation, according to Canon. One of the two rings surrounding the lens is the zoom control while the other functions as the shutter release. The idea is that you can carry this highly pocketable camera (3 x 2.4 x 1.2 inches in size when closed) with you and take better quality pictures and videos than you can take on a phone and then be able to upload them to the social media platform of your choice through your phone or tablet. Interesting idea. I'm looking forward to seeing this as well.

Where Children Sleep

Lewis by James Mollison

Mother Jones published a portfolio of images by James Mollison. They are from a series he made of children around the world and their bedrooms. I've seen several projects like this over the years showing people, usually young people, in their bedrooms or homes. Mollison uses a different approach in this case. He doesn't try to photograph the person in their environment, but photographs each separately and then afterwards pairs them together. This makes sense because he can take his time with each image and then can try out different images to see how they work with each other. I'm only guessing about his working methods, but like I said, it does make sense. Anyway, a great portfolio and definitely worth checking out. You can see it here.

Top 10 Photoshop Disasters for 2012

Photoshop Disasters has published their top ten list of the worst, or best, disasters for 2012, depending on how you look at it. If you aren't familiar with this website, it's a fun one to check out. It's kind of mind-boggling that these kinds of mistakes make it into print, but as long as people are doing the work, mistakes will be made. It's human nature. See their picks here. Though why this particular image made it in this year is a bit of a mystery, since the image itself is dated 2008. Perhaps it is part of a series of photos showing Oprah's weight at various points in her life. That would make sense, I suppose.

New Photo Backpack

There is a new camera backpack for outdoor photography that actually looks new and is even exciting. It's being made by the new company, MindShift Gear, and will be called the Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack. This backpack and company is a collaboration between Mike Sturm and Doug Murdoch, who were designers for Think Tank camera bags, and conservation photographer, Daniel Beltra. I wrote a profile of Daniel for PhotoMedia Magazine in 2010.

The Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack is actually more of a system than just a backpack, with several well thought out innovations. The main feature is a separate belt pack that can be rotated out of the backpack and around to the front while wearing the backpack! Backpacks are really handy for carrying heavy loads for extended periods of time, but they are not really convenient to use. This product solves that problem rather neatly. This new backpack will be of interest to anyone who carries their equipment for hours at a time, whether you are a nature photographer or a photojournalist. There will also be a number of worthwhile accessories that will make it even more versatile, including rain covers and tripod slings.

This company and product is actually a Kickstarter project for the moment and will go into production very soon. They've already met their goal for Kickstarter, but they have some rewards packages left, if you want to get in on the action. As of today, they have 20 days left to go.

You can see their Kickstarter project here and you can read more about the Rotation 180⁰ Photo Backpack here.

New Canon Lens Spotted!

Making its rounds on the web is an image of a new Canon lens, the EF 35mm f/2 IS USM. Starting near the beginning of all Canon EOS film cameras, the older EF 35mm f/2 lens has been around. Fixed focal length lenses aren't nearly so popular since zoom lenses have gotten so good, so an update to this older lens has been long overdue and most people suspected, including me, that Canon would probably never give this lens the overhaul it deserved. But we were wrong and here is the proof.

The new lens is Image Stabilized and features Canon's Ultrasonic Focusing Motors, and has 10 elements in 8 groups with one glass-molded aspherical element. The original version used the older noisier focusing motors and you were on your own as far as reducing the shake in your pictures. So these are all good and needed improvements. But it will be bigger, the filter size goes up from 52mm to 67mm in the new version, though it will still be a smallish lens compared to most pro zoom lenses.

I have a special fondness for this lens. Of all the lenses I have owned, the older version is my favorite. The 35mm f/2 is small and light, and its resolution is simply breathtaking. I like to use it for catalog work in shooting textiles because it resolves down to the threads of the fabric. No other lens I have ever used, including Nikon, does as good. And the quality of its out of focus characteristics is nearly perfect, so you can shoot at f/2 and still have an out of focus background that hangs together and gives the illusion of greater depth of field and detail than is really there. To be fair, given sample variations in manufacturing, I realize that my particular lens may be better than other examples of the same lens. That is definitely possible, but still, my 35mm f/2 is great.

But to be honest, its not perfect. It doesn't like back-lighting and will flare and drop contrast like a rock when it encounters it. But for most other situations, it's nearly always perfect. There's nothing better than this for a walk-around lens. So I'm glad that Canon is updating this great lens. I just hope they haven't changed it too much or that they have only changed it for the better. And the other lens that is being updated to IS is the popular EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS, which I suppose was overdue as well. Thanks, Canon.