Photo&Cameras

LaptopMag has a review of the Olympus Stylus 770 SW and writes, “Photos taken with the Stylus 770 SW were better than what the Stylus 720 SW produced. Our test shots were only slightly undersaturated, and the colors were accurate. Noise at ISO 200 and 400 wasn’t an issue on our tests. When we bumped the ISO up to 800 or 1600, however, quality suffered, and the sharpness dropped considerably. … If you’re looking for a svelte but tough digital camera that can go everywhere–and we mean everywhere, including underwater and in the snow–the Olympus Stylus 770 SW is definitely worth a look.”

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The specification of Ricoh Caplio GX100 reads like a dream wishlist for the discerning photographer. Wide-angle 24-72mm zoom lens? Check. Adobe DNG RAW format? Check. 10 megapixels, removable electronic viewfinder, optical anti-shake, full manual controls? Check, check, check and check! So the Ricoh GX100 certainly has a lot to offer on paper, but can this compact digital camera live up to its billing? Find out now by reading our in-depth Ricoh GX100 review.

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Click photo for more images of Kodak’s High-Sensitivity Technology.

Kodak has upped the ante in the camera-maker competition to improve low-light performance. The company announced a new technology that it claims increases sensor sensitivity two to four times (1 to 2 stops) and can be used with both CCD and CMOS chips. The new High Sensitivity Pattern technology consists of a sensor filter array and in-camera image-processing algorithms.

The High Sensitivity Pattern filter takes the place of the Bayer filter that is commonly located on top of the sensor in a digital camera to allow it to capture color images. Bayer filters place a red, green, or blue filter over each pixel to make it capture specific wavelengths of light. Image processing algorithms used by the camera then infer the correct color for each pixel on the basis of surrounding pixel color information.

The High Sensitivity filter also uses red, green, and blue filters over some pixels in order to capture color information, but leaves other pixels free of a color filter to increase their sensitivity. These panchromatic pixels collect light at all visible wavelengths to output a luminance (brightness) signal, while color-filtered pixels output chrominance (color) information and some luminance information at a lower level. Just as with a Bayer filter, algorithms designed to process the data from a High Sensitivity filter system combine the information gathered at each pixel to produce an image with accurate color.

Because the High Sensitivity filter allows the sensor to collect more luminance information, adequate image detail can be captured at lower light levels. It becomes less necessary to boost the sensor’s signal amplification in order to produce an acceptably bright image, which inevitably increases the level of noise as well. As a result, the clarity and detail of high-ISO images improves. This improved high-ISO performance gives photographers (and automatic exposure systems) the option of using higher shutter speeds at lower light levels to keep images sharp.

Kodak has shown three High Sensitivity filter array patterns, each optimized for a different application. The company says the first sensor using the new technology is planned for introduction in early 2008. To read an interview with the High Sensitivity Pattern’s inventors, go to Kodak’s tech blog, A Thousand Nerds.

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Let’s Go Digital has a review of the Nikon Coolpix P5000 and writes, “The power of the Nikon Coolpix P5000 is found in the camera itself. The camera will feel comfortable for most photographers, and that makes it worth it. You have to settle for a few shortcomings, but if you can live with that, you truly have a great camera. The Nikon Coolpix P5000 is in my opinion one of the nicest compact cameras available right now, it is really well built. Of course there is always something left to hope for, and the camera is not perfect. A wide-angle lens and RAW format are on my wish list. If Nikon were to fulfill half of my wish list I would be completely satisfied. I recommend it! “

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В© Bruce Davidson/Magnum Photos Click photo to see more images from Bruce Davidson’s Central Park series.

In the early ’90s, Magnum photographer Bruce Davidson suggested a project on Central Park to the National Geographic editors he’d been working with in recent years. They hadn’t done a piece on the park in decades, so they agreed, but insisted Davidson shoot in color, a thorn in the predominantly black-and-white photographer’s side.

“But I was a good boy and I exposed about 500 rolls of Kodachrome,” Davidson says. “And they hated it.” Upon hearing that National Geographic had decided to give the Central Park story to another photographer, Davidson says he “went right back into the park and worked in black and white for three more years.”

More than a decade later, that project has been turned into a full exhibition, currently part of Madrid’s 2007 PHotoEspaña festival. It was also on view in New York City as part of the Magnum Festival, the agency’s 60th anniversary celebration.

The show’s master prints created by Davidson’s long-time go-to printer John Delaney are a welcome rebirth of the monograph published by Aperture in 1995. A very small selection from that Central Park book was presented at the Aperture Gallery at that time, but since then it had languished in Davidson’s personal collection — until this year when he revisited it while putting together a forecasted retrospective show.

“This project has been dormant so long and it’s just coming out of the closet now,” Davidson mused at the recent opening in Madrid. Davidson has also recently brought another dormant series out of the archive: his circus images. In Madrid he showed off his early copy of Circus (Steidl), which includes images from circuses around the world and reaches back to Davidson’s early days as a photographer.

Central Park is a kaleidoscopic survey of the Manhattan landmark, utilizing square, 35mm, and panoramic images to capture everything from a whited-out great lawn to the homeless men and birdfeeders who call the park home. Davidson worked with Hasselblad, “every lens Canon makes,” and especially the Noblex 120 Panoramic, to capture the “movement” that designer Frederick Law Olmsted envisioned for the park.

“Too many bums” was National Geographic’s purported complaint with the color series Davidson first submitted to them — but the present incarnation hovers between rough reality and grandiose beauty in a way that often leaves the viewer with a sensation of the magical.

The images are also marked by Davidson’s painstaking care for shape and perspective. In one beautiful panorama, an entwined couple sprawls across a rock face overlooking a waterfall, their bodies curving gracefully to mirror the river’s path.

“I look at a rose not for its color, but for its shape,” Davidson explains. “The shape of things in Central Park became important to me; I didn’t need the color.”

Anyone who sees this show is likely to agree.

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Thom Hogan has laid down a challenge to the camera manufacturers by listing his must-have features for the ultimate digital compact. You might also want to read my previous posts, Is the Sigma DP1 the Ultimate Compact Camera? and Is the Ricoh GX100 the Ultimate Compact Camera?

“Personally, I’m sick and tired of all this mediocre me-too camera design. Not a single compact digital camera meets my requirements for such a product, and I think that most serious and professional photographers would agree with me on that. Rather than just sit and rant about the onslaught of me-too compact digital cameras, though, I decided to do something about it.”

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Paul LeFevre Click photo for more images of the Pentax Optio W30 field test.

The Pentax Optio W30 is an update to Pentax’s popular Optio W20 underwater-capable camera.

This 7.1-megapixel compact (street: $265) features a 3X optical zoom (38-114mm 35mm equivalent), 24 picture modes, movie recording at 640×480 pixels and 30fps with sound, and greatly improved underwater abilities over its predecessor.

Where the Pentax Optio W20 was rated to 1.5 meters (approx. 5 ft.) for 30 minutes underwater, the W30 can go down to 3 meters (approx. 10 ft.) for up to 2 hours. The extended underwater time and depth greatly improve the camera’s usefulness for snorkeling and diving. Another improvement over the W20 is that all of the camera’s watertight access covers lock automatically on closing, so there’s less to check and forget before heading into the water.

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What’s Hot

• Underwater rating to three meters (approx 10 ft.) for up to two hours
• Brighter LCD screen with improved anti-reflection coating
• Good image quality, wealth of shooting modes
• Smooth, VGA-resolution 30fps movies

What’s Not

• Smooth body hard to hold onto underwater
• No optical viewfinder
• Underwater shooting mode not very useful

The compact (4.2 x 2.1 x .93 inchs/107.5mm x 54mm x 23.5mm) body easily fits in a shirt pocket, and feels rugged without a lot of weight (160g with battery and SD card, 5.6oz.). The brushed-silver finish is attractive, but can be a bit slippery underwater – a rubberized, raised handgrip would be a welcome addition. The camera sinks if let go underwater, so it’s a good idea to use the included wrist strap when swimming with it.

In real-world use, the camera is just plain fun – as soon as you get over the feeling that you’re doing something wrong taking a camera with you into the water! Control buttons are big enough to use easily, and the 2.5″ LCD screen is visible underwater in anything but the brightest direct sunlight (goggles or a mask help a lot!). Underwater images came out sharp and satisfying in Auto or Program picture mode, with good color balance, but the dedicated underwater mode simply adds a blue appearance to the image and otherwise acts as Program mode. I found the color to be too blue in this mode, and much preferred the normal color balance underwater (though underwater mode does have its artistic uses – see the gallery!).

Movies shot with the camera were smooth and sharp, and the camera’s zoom can be used in movie mode. Just as with still shots, underwater movies looked better in normal movie mode than in the special underwater movie mode, which gave the same too-blue result.

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Image Trends has launched a series of software plug-ins designed to enhance portraits. The first two programs available, ShineOff and PearlyWhites, are Photoshop-compatible filters that automatically remove shine from skin and whiten and brighten teeth. Both plug-ins can be used to process single images or combined with other plug-ins in Photoshop actions used for batch processing.

According to Image Trends, ShineOff removes shine from facial skin while leaving the luster of lips and eyes intact, and PearlyWhites whitens and brightens both teeth and eye whites without affecting other areas. Photoshop’s History Brush and Fade tools can be used to localize and control the application of ShineOff as well. PearlyWhites can be run multiple times on one image to increase its whitening and brightening effects.

Each plug-in costs $49.95, and free trial versions that watermark images are also available on
the Image Trends Web site
. The programs are currently available for Windows only, but Image Trends says that Mac versions will be available soon.

The company has also made available a $29.95 Mac version of its previously released Fisheye-Hemi plug-in, which corrects optical distortion in images taken with fisheye lenses.

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© Igor Spilenok Click photo for more images from Russia’s the Valley of the Geysers.

Kamchatka is Russia’s final frontier, a land of big bears, large salmon resources, and fiery volcanoes. Now I am in its heart — the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, one of the
zapovedniks
in Russia’s expansive system of 101 strictly protected areas. I arrive, as do all staff and visitors, by helicopter, following an hour-and-a-half ride skimming the mountaintops from Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka’s capital and only sizable city. My vehicle is a Russian cargo helicopter, which has been brightly painted blue and orange to conceal its age.

Kronotsky Reserve is accessible only in good weather, June through September. I am here in mid-June, in time to see the Valley of the Geysers come to life. In late April and May, the nearly two-dozen large geysers, hundreds of steaming thermal springs, and boiling mud-pots in this valley melted off the deep blanket of snow. Even now, snow covers the mountains surrounding the valley, but green shoots and spring blossoms are visible in the steamy valley below. Brown bears gather here in force in springtime. For the bears, it provides an early respite from Kamchatka’s long winter. Green grasses attract the bears from other parts of the Reserve where the snow will remain until summer. Females treat their young cubs to fresh vegetation, and males woo other females to begin the mating cycle anew.

I glimpse a mother bear leading two cubs across the opposite slope of the valley. I have crossed paths with dozens of bears here in my two years working as a volunteer in the Valley of the Geysers — one of the major attractions of Kamchatka and the section of Kronotsky Nature Reserve I help to protect. In summer, when dozens of tourists are flown into the Valley each day for brief excursions, I serve as a buffer between them and the bears. While my job is to protect the bears and their habitat from human pressures, more often than not I end up protecting the people from the bears.

The Kamchatka brown bear is the second largest in the world, after the Alaskan Kodiak bear, but the Russian population is not as well managed. Poaching, poor monitoring, and insufficient capacity for enforcing protected areas threaten the population, which hovers around 10,000. In addition, over-fishing threatens the local salmon population, which is the bears’ main food source. One-quarter of all wild Pacific salmon come from Kamchatka, meaning that depletion of Kamchatka’s fish resources could have consequences for more than Kamchatka’s bears.

Volcanic mountains and geysers dominate the valley’s landscape. Yet the geysers were not discovered until April 1941. Russian hydrologist Tatiana Ustinova and her Itelmen guide Anisifor Krupenin were exploring the unmapped interior of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, where a federal nature preserve had been created seven years earlier. As storm clouds gathered, they briefly stopped to rest in a narrow canyon before returning to camp. Suddenly, they were sprayed with hot water bursting from an opening in the snow across the stream. They had discovered the first geyser on Kamchatka, and indeed in all of Russia. Subsequent expeditions found more than 20 large geysers and other unique natural phenomena, such as bubbling mud-pots. The seven-kilometer-square area now known as the Valley of the Geysers was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.

Some of the geysers emit steam constantly. Others, like the one Ustinova first encountered, erupt periodically, showering the landscape and unwary visitors with hot, sulfuric water. The steam is framed by steep hillsides and an azure sky. The bears and I have found a beautiful, wild place. We hope it will remain so. With my pictures, I hope to show the world the beauty of this bear filled valley and evoke in them the desire to conserve it.

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Vnunet has a review of the Pentax Optio A30 and writes, “with higher ISO settings image noise is often an issue and certainly here there’s plenty of that in all but the brightest of light. The reason for much of this disappointing performance is the 10-megapixel sensor. While that many dots may sound alluring, the sensor is not physically large enough to have to draw in enough light to prevent the resulting image noise. … Pentax’s reputation for making solid, feature-heavy, attractive cameras while keeping the cost down remains in place with this device – it’s a snip at the price, but it’s not as accomplished as some seemingly less well-equipped models.”

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