Seitz 6X17 digital camera

A bit out of my price range at 28,900 Euros, the astounding Seitz D3 6X17 panoramic digital camera offers shades of what’s to come (I hope). With an image size of 21250 X 7500 pixels (160 megapixels from non-interpolated red/green/blue photosites), resolution will depend more on optical performance and perfect focusing than any camera limitation. Having used a Linhof Technorama 617 (film camera) extensively, I can attest to the fact that optimal focus and perfect technique are needed to extract the potential resolution. Digital capture will only exacerbate those demands.

At about 1/2 meter wide (19.4 inches), the Seitz D3 will attract considerable attention. An accompanying Mac Mini is the storage device (via gigabit ethernet), and a huge 640 X 480 touch-screen controls the camera. And yes, it can be used handheld. Perfect for candids (just kidding).

There’s no technical reason that I’m aware of that would preclude engineering a scanning sensor into a conventional digital SLR camera body—with image quality that would put to shame anything seen today with a standard Bayer Pattern sensor. Certainly 32 megapixels would not be out of the question, but even 12 or 16 would produce images with far higher quality than a standard sensor.

Ice, Rock and Life

While far from the best shot from my Norway trip, the image below shows the unusual rendering of glacial ice, bedrock, and living plants taken together using my modified Canon EOS 5D-IR and the 85mm f/2.8 PC-Micro Nikkor.

The intense blue glacial ice renders more like red-hot lava than frozen water. Bedrock becomes gray, brown and black, living plants become light blue, and waterfalls render as white (normally water renders as black, but air bubbles change that).

The living plants, pressing their luck ever closer to the unyielding and implacable ice, show the remarkable determination of life to colonize bedrock in the face of potential destruction.

Zeiss ZF lens line expanded

I’m not a huge fan of manual focus lenses, my eyes being less accurate than a good autofocus system. However, the expanding product line of Zeiss ZF lenses (Nikon “F” mount) deserves some attention from those with a compatible working style. Canon users might find the ZF line interesting too, because they can be used with an adapter on an EOS body (5D, 1D/1Ds line, etc) from places like cameraquest.com.

Of particular interest are the newly-announced Distagon T* 25mm f/2.8 and the Distagon T* 35mm f/2. Why you ask? Because my recent experience in Norway using the Nikon 85mm f/2.8 PC-Micro-Nikkor lens produced some gorgeous results in infrared on my Canon EOS 5D-IR, even at the full 12.4mm of shift. The only complaint with the Nikon 85mm is that its focusing is too sensitive, with seemingly minor focusadjustments being critical for top performance, yet requiring careful attention to achieve.

Perhaps these Zeiss offerings will offer similar performance in infrared, albeit with no shift capability but with smooth and fine focus addjustment. There do appear to be other excellent choices within the Nikon lens line, but I don't yet have enough experience with them to be confident of their performance. And except for a few rare and synergistic combinations (varying with camera model), manual focus is mandatory for achieving top infrared performance.

Back from Norway

I’m back from a wonderful trip to Norway—watch this blog for a trip followup. All Pro Reviews and software purchased during my absence have now been sent email response.

Off to Norway

As noted a few days ago, this site will go dormant until September 28 or so (perhaps a day or two later after jet-lag wears off). This blog will also go “silent” during that time.

Today is the last day to click that “Buy Now” button for paid reviews or software, as I won’t be able to respond to purchases from September 19-27.

Shooting with the new Fujifilm S3 Pro-UVIR

Hot off the presses, and after a lot of hard work is my comparison of the brand-spankin' new Fuji S3 Pro-UVIR with the Nikon D70-IR and the Canon EOS 5D-IR. Read the whole article, and see for yourself how it compares to a regular DSLR converted for infrared use.

On a shooting expedition

As described two days ago, I will soon have the pleasure of joining Bjorn Rorslett of naturfotograf.com for a full 7 days of shooting in beautiful Norway. A family event precedes that such that this site will go dormant from September 14 - 27, and it will take a few days to catch up beginning on September 28th.

Please note that if you have an interest in any diglloyd.com paid articles, now is the time to click that “Buy Now” button, as I won’t be able to respond to purchases from September 19-27 (or from September 14-17). This blog will also go “silent” during that time.

Site updates

This site is now a mix of styles because newer content is switching over to CSS style sheets. CSS styles were used before also, but not very well, and they were mixed with regular HTML.

A helpful reader of this blog gave me considerable guidance in using CSS correctly—you know who you are—thank you!

Expect to see a steady stream of improvements, but converting old content takes time, so a fair amount of it will likely remain the way it is today.

Misleading product description for SanDisk card reader

A reader reports purchasing a SanDisk Extreme FireWire CompactFlash Card Reader from B&H Photo Video (one of the stores I regularly use with nary a problem), but not receiving any “Hard Case” as listed in the “Item Includes” tab. And on the SanDisk site, there are other significant changes from the original product description.

Determining shutter actuations on a digital SLR

Today I discovered a way to learn the number of actuations on a digital SLR. Some people have recommended using exiftool (see example output), but that might be intimidating for some. As a perl script, it works on Mac, Windows, Linux, etc—provided that you have Perl installed (see the exiftool documentation).

I have found the method described below works for the Nikon D2X, Nikon D200, and Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II. The Canon EOS 5D has a similar sounding “Image Number” as the current working image number, which not reflect the number of actuations (it can be reset each time the card is formatted, or wrap arond at 9999).

I have also verified that using the D200 menus to reset the image numbers via “Shooting/Display => File No. Sequence => Reset” does not change the “aux:ImageNumber” value (see below).

To see the actuations, use Photoshop CS2’s “File => File Info...” command and inspect the “Advanced => http://ns.adobe.com/exif/1.0/aux/” content:

Nikon D200-IR (infrared conversion) has arrived

I just received my Nikon D200-IR and will be reporting on it as I gain some experience.

But it’s not everyday that one is able to shoot a magnificent insect like a Praying Mantis in infrared, more aptly termed a Preying Mantis, taking down hummingbirds with its formidable forelegs—and knowing how speedy hummingbirds are, we should all be thankful that this predator doesn’t grow to several feet long!

I shot quickly, using the built-in flash of the Nikon D200 and the not-so-great-for-macro 18-200/f3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR. A Nikon D2x would have been an exercise in frustration, making the shot very difficult without a flash. Built-in flash is a feature sadly lacking on the “Pro” cameras like the Nikon D2X, Canon EOS 5D and 1Ds Mark II—I certainly am not inclined to carry the D2X “brick” with a 1+ pound flash. When will Canon and Nikon wake up and realize that even pro cameras can use a pop-up flash too? Even the US$30,000 Hasselblad H2D-30 includes a pop-up flash, and much of the time all I am looking for is fill flash up to about 15 feet—perfect for a pop-up flash.

3-way comparative review of Nikon D79-IR, Canon EOS 5D-IR and Fuji S3 Pro-UVIR coming in the next few days

If you’ve been following this blog, you know I have a strong interest in infrared photography.

Within the next three days, I’ll be posting an exclusive review of the new Fuji S3 Pro-UVIR. It will be a free article, though I might make a version with high-resolution images (6-megapixel) available for a fee (bandwidth costs money and so do cameras—be grateful). The D200-IR did not arrive in time for this comparison, but it will be covered in due time, and in more detail with the 5D-IR and D70-IR.

Photography in Norway

I will soon have the pleasure of joining Bjorn Rorslett of naturfotograf.com for a full 7 days of shooting in beautiful Norway.

I’ve corresponded with Bjorn for a number of years now (via email), and not only is he a walking encyclopia of Nikon technical information, he’s a very fine nature photographer and scientist to boot. If you haven’t already checked out his site, it would be worth your time.

Please note that if you have an interest in any diglloyd.com paid articles, now is the time to click that “Buy Now” button, as I won’t be able to respond to purchases from September 19-27 (or from September 14-17). This blog will also go “silent” during that time.

iMac Developer Note

The new Apple iMacs look interesting, though I’d recommend sticking to a Mac Pro for serious digital photographers (for expandability and better performance). Maximum memory of 2GB is a very, very serious limitation. Of course you can read all the marketing stuff, but as a consummate nerd, I prefer the iMac Developer Note.

Apple’s tech note is self-contradictory; the iMac can be ordered with 3GB of memory, consisting of a 1GB module and a 2GB module, but the tech note states:

Additional RAM must be installed in pairs of equal sizes.

But following links to a more detailed Tech Note on memory states that the RAM slots can be 2GB—doesn’t that mean 4GB is possible? It also states:

However, because the memory in the two slots is configured as a contiguous array of memory, both SO-DIMMs must be the same size and type for the interleaving function to be used to improve performance.

In other words, you can order your iMac with 3GB, but it might be a little slower than with 2GB (and Apple will charge you an arm and a leg for it). I’ll find out if 2 X 2GB is possible. As usual, you might want to order the minimum, and buy 3rd-party memory, such as from satech.com. Please see the Recommended Products and Vendors page.

With a Mac Pro , not only do you get 4 cores instead of twice (twice the processing power), you get up to 4 internal hard drives (if nothing else for a fast backup or RAID mirror), more flexible RAM expansion up to 16GB.

See also diglloyd Mac Pro and MacBook Pro Experience Report.

This site is an Apple affiliate, meaning it gets a commission if you buy through our link. Please see the Recommended Products and Vendors, and Clickables pages.

Nikon D200 battery life problem

Something is very wrong with my Nikon D200 battery life. The picture below tells all, 17 shots using 93% of the battery. This was a freshly-charged battery just a few days ago, and this is not the first time this has happened. If you know what might be going on, please email me.

I notice that the screen also has a single-pixel red vertical line on the left, which is new (and abnormal). This is a 6-week-old Nikon D200. My first Nikon D200 had trouble, and now another?!!! This makes me very unhappy, given that I’m leaving in one week for a photographic trip to Norway. Perhaps it will be an EOS trip instead.

Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 problems

I use Macromedia DreamWeaver 8 on Mac OS X to edit this site. Full featured, but rife with bugs, and lately it has been acting up with a blank display as shown below, making it impossible to edit the page except as source code. If you know what might be going on, please email me. The markup validates, and web browsers are perfectly happy with the pages. My Digital Infrared article is one page that is having severe problems; scroll down about 3/4 of the way in DreamWeaver 8 and it starts drawing a blank or partial page.

 

Golden Gate Bridge Construction Infrared

Except for a remarkably strong curvature of field, the 24-70/f2.8L is rather crisp in infrared (on my Canon EOS 5D). The actual-pixels crop below was shot handheld in infrared (1/250 sec @ f2.8), and holds up with excellent detail. The only sharpening was “2” in Digital Photo Professional.

A larger crop [view] has been downsized (about 38% of the original).

Though curvature of field is pronounced on my particular 24-70/f2.8L in infrared, the lens is very, very crisp. I have yet to determine if the lens is “out of whack”, or if this is just an infrared phenomenon. Since I don’t currently have a color EOS digital body (just infrared), I can’t say for sure. But it came back from Canon with the statement that the lens had been adjusted to be “as sharp as it possibly can be”.

Sometime soon I hope to borrow an EOS color body so I can verify its behavior in visible light. I am not persuaded that Canon fixed the lens, as I see other evidence of problems which I don’t see with other lenses (sharper on one side than the other). This is not the first time I would have had to send a lens in twice to Canon (the 1st time it was a different 24-70/f2.8L!).

diglloydTools — Hardware Stress Test for PowerPC or Intel

Barefeats.com has been testing memory temperature (See September 1st entry) in the new Mac Pro. I’ve written a new testing tool that will maximally stress the machine.

If you’re planning on buying extra memory, particularly non-Apple memory, running a stress test is a good way to check if the new memory is going to work under heavy load. You simply cannot stress the machine with normal applications that way you can with diglloydTools. If there’s going to be a memory or system failure due to heat, diglloydTools will provoke it. Save yourself the time and aggravation of sporadic problems, and learn up front whether that new memory works under heavy load, or not.

diglloydTools (which also includes a compute-speed test), is now available. Additional features are planned for future versions.

See also my previous blog entries on the PowerMac Quad and Mac Pro (newest first):

• A tale of two Quads
• More on Mac Pro memory
• MacPro memory prices at satech.com
• Memory speed on the new MacPro
• How much memory to buy
• The 3GHz MacPro
• More on the new Apple MacPro
• Why I won’t be buying a MacPro for at least 9 months.

Clueless Technical Support at NETGEAR

I’ve used Netgear routers for a number of years, and they have worked reliably for me, except for a recent problem which is such a blatant bug that it’s clear they never bothered to test the feature. I submitted a tech support case along with an example of the problem and their response can be summed up as “Please waste your time calling our 2nd level technical support as we are too clueless to just look at the case you submitted, and by asking you to call again, we hope to discourage you enough for you to go away and not bother us”.

Sorry, Netgear, I don’t have time to wait on hold, then waste my time training your support staff so they can (maybe) issue a fix six months from now (and I already explained the problem in detail to your level 1 support). But I will take the time to inform other potential buyers of your products about your incompetence.

The router, the RP614v4 is otherwise a very good performer. It has the feature of being able to email logs on a regular basis, which include all the hacker-attack information you will see the minute you set up any server on the Internet (Al Gore, you should have fixed these problems when you first invented it). Because of the bug, the email arrives and the message displays as blank (in Apple Mac OS X Mail at least).

Here is an example of a malformed email with the message headers shown in red. Note that there are headers, then message content, then more headers! In addition, the “To” header and the “Content-Type” header are concatenated into a single line. I’ve added the color, for clarity:

Return-Path: <lloyd@llc4.com>
Received: from RP614v4 (192.168.1.2) by lloydchambers.com with SMTP (Eudora
Internet Mail Server X 3.2.8) for <lloyd@llc4.com>;
Sat, 2 Sep 2006 19:59:32 -0700
From: lloyd@llc4.com
Subject: NETGEAR Security Log[E0:08:9C]
Reply-To: lloyd@llc4.com
Sender: root@RP614v4.llc4.com
To: lloyd@llc4.comContent-Type: text/plain@lloydchambers.com; charset=us-ascii
Friday, 01 Sep 2006 20:00:01 [Log Cleared]
Friday,01 Sep 2006 20:25:37 [TCP SYN Flood][Deny access policy matched, dropping packet]
Friday,01 Sep 2006 22:57:28 [TCP Stealth FIN Port Scan][Deny access policy matched, dropping packet]
Saturday,02 Sep 2006 01:23:52 [UDP Echo Chargen][Deny access policy matched, dropping packet]
...portions omitted...
Saturday,02 Sep 2006 10:17:38 [TCP SYN Flood][Deny access policy matched, dropping packet]
Saturday,02 Sep 2006 10:17:38 [HOST Attack: TCP Stealth FIN Port Scan]
[Deny access policy matched, dropping packet]
Date: Sat, 2 Sep 2006 19:59:32 -0700
Message-ID: <1054870124-36407666@lloydchambers.com>

The Netgear support folks could just take a look at this and fix the problem. But they prefer to waste their customer’s time by insisting on another phone call. They actually closed the case because I didn’t call them! Other than this problem the router has performed well so far, but avoid the “v3” version; it is buggy and slow.

I’ve added more material to the diglloyd Digital Infrared article, including a glossary with links, a discussion of the infrared cameras I currently use, and notes on converting a camera to infrared.

Infrared Comparison Coming Soon

I’ve been hard at work on a new article on digital infrared cameras. Stay tuned for some interesting and very useful information.

In the meantime, checkout my Digital Infrared article and consider my talk at Keeble & Shucat on October 25th (if you come to the San Francisco Bay Area). Wedding and portrait photographers as well as landscape photographers should attend.

Feedback—I Want to Hear from You!!!

I know I have many “lurkers” out there—please email when you get a chance, letting me know what you like or dislike about this blog or the diglloyd.com web site. I value all feedback, especially feedback on “dissatisfiers”.

Cycling Blog

If you’re a cyclist, check out my cycling blog. I haven’t decided whether to pull it under the diglloyd umbrella yet, but I have two reviews planned already.