Light and Shade II

…and it’s expensive. But what do people expect? Already there are those criticising it for the price, for having too many pixels…

The answer’s simple - if you don’t want one, don’t buy one - leave it to those who do. Which isn’t me, of course!

So, Olympus and Panasonic have announced a new “standard”, Micro 4/3. What can we make of this? Another new “standard” format whilst the original one has failed to make a massive impact? Perhaps it’s an acknowledgement that standard 4/3 is neither fish nor fowl - the sensor is too small to compete on a level playing field with APS-C, never mind full frame, and there’s not enough size advantage - so the Micro version tacitly accepts the first point, whilst allowing a full frontal attack on the size front - removal of the mirror and associated components will allow much smaller cameras, albeit without real SLR viewing.
And what about quality? Well, the sensor size remains the same, there’s the possibility of a much shorter back focus distance, but on the other hand, there’s a smaller lens mount, reducing the maximum aperture - the latter two points pulling in different directions for the much-heralded telecentricity of 4/3 lenses. In short, we’ll have to wait and see.
But this basically is a format for a camera I’ve been suggesting for a long time, and I’m very excited by the possibilities. Picture something Canon G9 size with interchangeable lenses and a decent-sized sensor - I’m up for it.

So Nikon D3 owners can now fork out £300 plus VAT to double their buffer. Is it just me, or is that an absolutely obscene huge amount for a bit of RAM? And will new ones be sold with the new buffer size, or still with the old one that Nikon clearly now consider inadequate, at least in some conditions? Oh well, I suppose you would expect Nikons to be most suitable for old buffers…

Looks like fun. Should also be a worthwhile tool!

Not a lot gives me more photographic enjoyment at the moment than the Lensbaby. Yet it never ceases to amaze me how many people just don’t get it. But then I never cease to be amazed at the number of people who don’t get any photograph that’s not a straight representation of a scene. Fair enough, I suppose - the Lensbaby certainly isn’t true to life. But it can help get to the essence of a thing in a way that a straight shot can’t - and that’s what I like.