Came across a fairly old (well Christmas) blog on DPR from one of their writers, remembering the golden days of digital camera development...a very edited extract below.
Reminded me of the first digital camera I ever saw/used - which was one of those which took a 3.5 floppy disk (might not have even been a proper "digital camera", not sure how the technology worked). The art department at school acquired one at huge cost in the early 1990s.
From DPR:
First digital camera writer used was a Casio QV10 with 77,000 pixels.
"The first cameras I reviewed were, looking back, almost uniformly poor (I apologize unreservedly to anyone who spent £1000 on a Ricoh RDC-2 after my glowing review of a 0.4 megapixel camera with a 20 minute battery life and an appalling removable LCD monitor).
"Few cameras had a zoom, many had no screen, most relied on internal memory and anything over 0.3 megpixels (VGA) was considered 'high resolution'. Even the simplest things we take for granted these days - user controllable ISO, AE compensation, scene modes and so on - were unheard of at the 'affordable' (sub $2500) end of the market. Heck, we didn't even have EXIF or USB back then."
Lowest price for 32MB CF card £520
Fuji's first consumer digi-cam - 0.3MP DS-7 at £600
Cheapest pro DSLR - Minolta 2.5MP RDC-3000 at £4,000
Tuesday, 24 February 2009
Friday, 20 February 2009
So, what have we learnt?
I found this challenge the hardest so far. Thought it might be worth reflecting on what (if anything) we've learnt. I offer the following:
- Good vs great. Found it relatively easy to take a passable portrait; almost impossible to take a great one.
- My preferences are not shared by others - the ones you liked were not necessarily the ones I liked. Was this the same for yours?
- I am getting very critical of my own stuff; and begining to mistrust my own judgement. Maybe some of the ones I rejected were better than the ones I selected?
- I can see why photographers pay models! The kids won't stay still and Sarah is too self-conscious.
- It's very difficult to come up with an interesting pose that doesn't look "staged".
Any other thoughts?
Wednesday, 18 February 2009
Portraits: Toby #5
Yes, I realise there are blown higlights in the flames - should have use a faster shutter speed. But I still like it: it has atmosphere.
f4.8, 0.5sec, ISO640, 42mm, tripod.
Portraits: Toby #4
Sarah loves this, but I am not so sure: a bit too much going on. But it has impact.
F9, 1/60sec, ISO400, 50mm.
Portraits: Toby #3
Number 2. I like this because it cracked the problem of how to get Sarah to pose: don't show her face. I also think the pink jeans and shoes sum her up without needing to.
F2.5, 1/60sec, ISO100, 50mm.
Portraits: Toby #2
Well, this has been a bugger of a challenge. And I have only myself to blame. Lots of pictures to choose from and I didn't think any particularly stood out. So I've enlisted Sarah's help to narrow it down. Here's number 1. Girls on a sofa.
F5.6, 1/60sec, ISO400, 92mm.
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