MaxG
If you really want to be happy, always try to do what's right.
Bill Blackman
Photography and Related Topics
Summary: Photography is one of my hobbies, and has been for many many years. I utilise photography as a documentary tool rather than an artisic tool. Some of my thinking, learning and equipment has been captured on the following pages.
Going Digital …
After many hours spent in a lab (in Dec 2001), measuring resolutions, dynamic ranges, and all sorts of parameters on various cameras and camera-related gear, I have come to the conclusion to abandon conventional "film-based" cameras once and for all.
Feel free to find out the reasons …
How time is changing! After over three decades of convetional photography, and not long ago a proud owner of a Canon EOS 30, I have sold the latter on eBay on Oct 8th, 2002 — as it was only collecting dust, while I have been taking 6,000 images with my G2.
Some Thoughts …
"MyPhotography" is reflecting "my" opinion and findings (as a hobby photographer. If you really want to get a professional opinion, you may want to visit a site such as:
Michael H. Reichmann, MA, an excellent landscape photographer, who made many reviews, tests, and writes for photo magazines …
I have studied his web site for more than four full days! … I am deeply impressed … what an extraordinary site! You may want to browse through the
Mar 23rd, 2008: My comment above is still valid, if not more than ever… go there! Visit this site! You will not regret it!!
What can you find on the following pages?
Digital Photography …
Digital Camera Canon PowerShot G6 – (Dec 14th, 2004.) The Canon PowerShot G6 is the third successor of the G2 in the G-family (G2, G3, G4, G6, now G7).
Canon, based in Japan, omitted the number 4 from the range due to cultural superstition. The word "four" is read as "si" in Chinese Mandarin and "shi" in Japanese, a close homonym for the word for death in both languages and in the Cantonese dialect spoken in Hong Kong.
The G6 also has a hot shoe, allowing me to utilise my Speedlite 550 EX flash with E-TTL measuring.
Digital Camera Canon PowerShot G2 – (Oct 19th, 2001.) The DX3900 is very nice for point & click, but I require manual "interference". The Canon PowerShot G2 provides me with the creativity modi I need. Using the same symbols as my previous EOS 30, allows me to feel "home". It has a hot shoe, allowing me to utilise my Speedlite 550 EX flash with E-TTL measuring.
Digital Camera Kodak DX3900 – (Sep 9th, 2001.) It does absolutely the trick for snapshot and normal household shooting. Actually, it's much better than that! It's digital, instant pictures, no film development, no scanning, and with its docking station very easy to use. I took 700 pictures within the first 14 days! 
My wife is now enjoying taking pictures with it.
I still share the view that this type of camera (with its 3 MP) is good enough for the average photographer.
Accessories …
Speedlite 550 EX – Advanced flash light.
I never had a good flash in the past (before December 2000). Most of the time the build in batteries where empty when I was going to use it. Loading it would take hours, and I missed the action. I did crazy things in the very early days, like counting down from 3 to 1 to release the shutter at the same time with a friend, who had a flash and was also taking a picture. Yes, you've guessed it, and of course, it didn't work well and mostly not at all … when I eventually gave up to take photographs in low-light conditions … Not any more! This flash is very very good, and has put more fun into my photography.
Accessories – filters, tripod, etc. …
Colour Calibration …
Colour Calibration – I don't know why it took me ages to get a colour calibration tool … All I can say: Silly me.
I am in the process of writing a little article about my findings of the ColorBlind Prove It! — a software to calibrate color monitors and to create an ICC display profile with the included Sequel Chroma 4 colorimeter (works with LCDs as well).
Photo Printing …
EPSON Stylus Photo 870 – (Dec 2000) — A six-colour photo-quality inkjet … very nice results, printed some twenty images… now it's collecting dust. (Nov 2002: I just printed some twenty photos. One nozzle clean and it went like a dream. It did amaze me, after the printer had a forced rest of nearly two years.)
The printer is great, but since I view all my images through a browser and /or on-screen, not wanting any prints, its pretty much useless to me.
I think it was the fear: "Oh, when I only get film developed and scanned, I may not be able to show the pictures." … "and what if I need a print?" Well, as stated before, not any more, it was the wrong assumption.
Photo Scanning …
Nikon CoolScan IV ED – (Nov 16th, 2001.) Now I am impressed! Why? Well, when you consider that I was upgrading from a HP PhotoScanner, the Canon Foto Scanner FS4000US seemed to be a very nice scanner. Now I own this Nikon CoolScan IV ED, which is even better than the Canon … actually much better.
Canon Foto Scanner FS4000US – (Oct 25th, 2001.) Well, I first believed I got "Best value for money…". I got rid of it, after Canon dismissed my complaint by responding that "there is nothing wrong with it".
It produces horrible results from slides; ending up with very dark images, with a blue overcast! [Story here]
HP PhotoScanner – a 2,400 dpi film scanner …
Books …
Programming …
Electronic Photo Archive – a post-process for scanned film and digital images, to generate hyper-linked picture lists, suitable for browser viewing … I reckon I put some fifteen man-weeks into it until today. I started programming in February 1999.
Miscellaneous
Adjust yourself … the monitor I mean :)
You may want to adjust your screen a bit for better viewing:
Visitor's Comments
Entries are shown in the order of latest first.
| Author Date / Time |
Comment |
|---|---|
| Hellmut from Brisbane wrote on Saturday, August 17, 2002 17:38 |
Hallo wie gehts? Deine Webpage ist interessant und informativ. Da kommen doch gleich ein paar Fragen auf. Hast du deine Dias ein zweitesmal gescannt mit deinem Nikon Scanner? Willst du deine erste Digital Kamera verkaufen? |
| MaxG from Brisbane wrote on Monday, August 12, 2002 17:41 |
Hi Melissa, Thanks for writing. • do not know which model would be best. — Well, you could have asked "which car to buy?" … and the answer would be "it depends"… with the same multitude of answers possible. But, you have specified your cause… :) • My interest is sports photography (shooting action photo's at competive sporting events). I would like to eventually turn this hobby into a business. — Given these two statements will limit the scope of models suitable dramatically. Most of the digital (non-SLR) cameras suffer from relatively slow auto focus and / or release times (=delays for shutter operation). This includes the G2. I bought the G2, because it is in many aspects and specifications top of the range, and very close to digital SLRs. Owning a conventional Canon SLR made the decision even easier, since the G2 can be operated in the same fashion. If you want to use it for sports photography, the moment you "push the button" should be the same as "opening the shutter". Only professional digital SLRs (in case of Canon as a brand), such as an EOS-D30, D60 and 1D can provide this speed. If I would want to buy a D30, I would pay a few Dollars more and buy a D60 instead, for the following reasons: the short-comings of the D30 have been fully addressed with the D60, and its slow auto focus has been fixed too. In case you want to run a business you can establish your business plan and cash flow forecast, and then see for yourself, whether you can afford the 1D. As a business, you can depreciate the gear you buy (offsetting it against tax you would have to pay, etc.) I would argue that you are in for at least $6,500 if you set-up shop properly. • Do you have any thoughts on computer equipment that would work well with this sort or work?? — Again, it depends on what you know and prefer to work with. Whether you want to utilise a Mac or a Windows based system. Since computer technology is old the minute you buy it, the only true advice is to buy the best possible configuration. A proper screen should have 19 or 21", a fast graphic card, heaps of disk, two 100+ GB, a backup tape (or external hard disk), a CD-ROM burner, a colour calibration system ($300+) and a colour printer… usually an Epson, but Canon has recently released some very fast, high quality printers. • I would be leaving the film behind and switching completely to digital. — A decision I support any day :) … I will sell my conventional gear altogether. • I would appreciate any input that you have including books, software, websites, etc. — Software… PhotoShop is a must. Web sites: I strongly recommend the extensive web site of Michael Reichmann at http://www.luminous-landscape.com/ … you need nothing else, and will find articles about most of the things I have mentioned. • Thank you for your time and for making your website available. I will look forward to hearing from you. — You are welcome. I hope my input makes sense. Best regards, Max |
| Melissa wrote on Monday, August 12, 2002 12:39 |
Hi. Read your review on The Complete Digital Guide to Photograhpy. I am interested in switching to a digital and do not know which model would be best. My interest is sports photography (shooting action photo's at competive sporting events). I would like to eventually turn this hobby into a business. Do you have any thoughts on computer equipment that would work well with this sort or work? I would be leaving the film behind and switching completely to digital. I would appreciate any input that you have including books, software, websites, etc.. Thank you for your time and for making your website available. I will look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Melissa |
| MaxG from Brisbane wrote on Thursday, February 07, 2002 19:12 |
Hi Kesj, Thank you for signing my guest book. I am glad that I could contribute something useful. I can relate to how you feel about the darkroom, because I am a technical person; a person who likes to know his stuff. At the same token I am happy to embrace new technology as long as it adds real value. A digital camera does, including the digital process behind it... while I also understand that is very hard to literally forget about knowledge you have acquired and perfected over the years. General knowledge, such as the colour wheel, composite colours, etc. will stay the same, and are even more useful in the digital age. I can only encourage you to go for it, you have the time, take your time to learn this new "stuff". You have an advantage, by knowing all the underlying principles, all you have to achieve is to convert them and apply them in the digital darkroom. Give it a try, and you will see how powerful it is; or how it enables you to do things on the computer screen in minutes, what may have taken hours, or may have been even impossible to achieve. There is also a cost advantage: chemicals, paper and the rest of it are quite expensive, they do expire, and deteriorate over time... A D60 is certainly a good choice, without knowing exactly what you want to do with it, it could be well all you will ever need. My guess would be that compatible lenses should work with the D60. Why don't you visit your local camera store and ask them to put them onto a D60 and check it out right there?! Your lense would convert to 1.6 times the current focal length. I recommend you check out Michael's web site, in particular http://www.luminous-landscape.com/d60-field.htm I wish you well along the way. Keep in touch if you feel like. All the best… Regards, Max |
| Ken from Fort Dodge, Iowa wrote on Thursday, February 07, 2002 03:48 |
Thanks for going to all the trouble of building this web site. Your advice has been useful to me. I just retired after teaching "traditional" photography for 25 years, and I am interested in getting into digitial photography. I am about to buy a Canon D60 but am undecided about whether it is worth it. I'll miss my darkroom smells! Will my EOS compatible lenses made by Tamron and Sigma work with the D60? What would a 28-200mm lens be in digital? Are fstops affected? Thanks again. |
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