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The Hollywood Distagon at f/2: A Single Daffodil and the Contax Zeiss 28mm on the Sony A7RV
April 28, 2026
Stand Up And Dance
Like A Lunatic from Sean Pecknold on Vimeo. It’s not often that I run across something that is so incredibly good that I say to myself “Damn, I wish I had done that.” This is one of those times, and one of those creations.
Read moreIntroducing the Lumix GX7
Panasonic today announced the New LUMIX DMC-GX7 DSLM (Digital Single Lens Mirrorless) A Premium Flat Body Camera with a Host of Creative Functions for Photo Enthusiasts and Artisans NEWARK, NJ (August 1, 2013) – Panasonic is pleased to announce a new addition of LUMIX G Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (DSLM) Camera, the DMC-GX7, featuring high photographic performance and a sleek design which incorporates a tiltable LVF (Live View Finder). Dressed in magnesium alloy full diecast frame in black and silver the new LUMIX GX7 allows photographers to change their viewing perspective with a newly integrated 90-degree tiltable LVF. The new
Read moreFuji’s Latest X-Mount Updates
FujiFilm has been on a rampage of late, breathing new found fire into what was formerly a “stately” and rather “conservative” organization. Traditionally, the Fuji products have always been good solid professional performers. I’ve owned several, always first class. Many of these Fuji designed and built products have been marketed by others. Hasselblad’s “H” System being one example. These quality products have not always been backed with the first class marketing and promotion support if they were branded directly with the Fuji brand. The message has been historically one of product introduction, sales primarily by indirect distribution through marketing
Read moreThe Petzval Portrait Lens
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lomography/the-lomography-petzval-portrait-lens Here is a Kickstarter project some of you may be as interested in as I am. While the cheap seats are already taken at this party, the remaining offering is still a hundred bucks less than the $499 normal retail price. I love using older lenses because of the unique look and drawing signature. This lens should be no exception, and already mount converted to modern camera mounts. Can’t wait to see what people start producing with these new “old” lenses! [ratings]
Read moreFAA Grounding The Drones
St. Paul MN based Fly Boys Aerial Cinematography‘s drone fleet was grounded by the FAA last week for flying without a proper FAA permit. Asked for comment, Fly Boys response was the FAA doesn’t anticipate issuing commercial permits for UAVs until 2015. What are we supposed to do? This could be the first in what is heating up to be quite a controversy pitting American’s rights to personal freedom and freedom of the press against the rights to privacy and bureaucratic red tape all due to an ineffective law improperly applied. The situation at hand is called around the
Read moreThe Many Lives Of William Klein
William Klein has lived many lives. One of the world’s most influential photographers, he pioneered the art of street photography and created some of the most iconic fashion images of the 20th century. William has also made over twenty films, including the first ever documentary about Muhammad Ali and a brilliant satire of the fashion world, Who Are You Polly Magoo? Polly Magoo would cost Klein his major source of income, his contract for many years shooting still fashion images for Vogue. Classic William Klein, doing it his own way following his own path through life. With a major
Read moreAthletic Power of Quadcopters
In a robot lab at TEDGlobal, Raffaello D’Andrea demos his flying quadcopters: robots that think like athletes, solving physical problems with algorithms that help them learn. In a series of nifty demos, D’Andrea show drones that play catch, balance and make decisions together — and watch out for an I-want-this-now demo of Kinect-controlled quads. I find the implications of this for robotics technology astounding. How soon can I have my own Phantom Drone that works like these babies? Probably sooner than we may think. I want to hookup my camera, start the recorder, and just tell the Phantom
Read moreBastille Day
Bastille Day from TheCameraForum on Vimeo. A day with my Fuji X-E1. My lovely wife and life partner, Suzanne, and I were married on July 14th, Bastille Day. We didn’t plan it this way, it was pure coincidence but a very pleasant one. Where ever we happen to be on July 14, we just seek out Bastille Day celebrants to share our special day with. Since it is a French holiday, the food is always great, the celebration beautiful, and always people to see and be seen with. The French have such a great sense of style! This year
Read moreTextures & Patterns
As a Graphic Artist I frequently need to manipulate photographs. To aid me in my creative endeavors I take photographs of textures and patterns. Frequently people will ask me what I am taking photos of because I seem to be pointing my camera the wrong way. Here’s some recent photos I took at a winery. Definitely not your normal fare. How do they serve me? Recently I was designing a book cover for a series of stories about Texas. The author wanted a Texas flag of sorts and I created Texas Flag on a board
Read morePlatinum Palladium Printing
Platinum Palladium Printing with Leica M Monochrom from Luís Oliveira Santos on Vimeo. Footage, edition and film direction by LUÍS OLIVEIRA SANTOS Manuel Gomes Teixeira, photographer and Platinum Palladium printer, usually uses traditional methods with photographic film in medium and large format cameras. Invited by the exclusive distributor of Leica cameras in Portugal, he tested the Leica “M” Monochrom. Manuel found the high quality files show a rich tonal range and adapt very well to Platinum printing. I have yet to actually test print any images from a Leica M Monochrom myself, but friends who have all report it is
Read moreVideo essay: What is Neorealism?
What is neorealism? from kogonada on Vimeo. As a cinema experiment: would you get if you pitted the director of The Bicycle Thieves against the producer of Gone with the Wind, and turned them both loose on the SAME raw movie material? History does have a rare answer to show us. Every cut in making a film is a form of judgment, whether it takes place on the set or in the editing suite during post processing. Nothing in film making is done by accident. A scene cut defines what matters and what doesn’t in the director’s or editor’s
Read moreThe Secrets of Animation Revealed!
animation tutorial part. 1 AKA “the secret of animation” from giovanni braggio on Vimeo. Giovanni produced this short character animation tutorial for every level that explains clearly the secret for a great acting performance. LET THE COMPUTER DO IT! This was his final project for the professional course in 3d character animation at the Animation Workshop, Viborg (DK). It took 4 weeks from pre to post production. The music in the background is Kool & Klean – Volume 3 ( THE ALBUM 2012 ) _THE SMOOTHJAZZ LOFT_ website: www.klashtorni.com [ratings]
Read moreSignal & Noise
Zack Arias, just another crazy old goat. Like myself folks, he feels that a rangefinder mirrorless experience is the best of photographic life. He’s also either plagued by the voice of a departed Bresson spirit, or he could be onto something enlightened with his internal Signal vs. Noise debate in the video above. Signal vs. Noise? Your presentation of the concept is an aide to focusing on important things . Great piece of work, Zack. You also have a musician wife? Her addition to this video was stellar and spot on. [ratings]
Read moreSebastião Salgado: Genesis
Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado has spent much of the past nine years trekking to the farthest reaches of the globe, to the last wild places on earth to take the pictures for his new photography book, Genesis (Taschen; 520 pages), a window into the primordial corners of creation. Read more: http://lightbox.time.com Of the myriad works Sebastião Salgado has produced in his acclaimed photography career, three long-term projects stand out: Workers (1993), documenting the vanishing way of life of manual laborers across the world; Migrations (2000), a tribute to mass migration driven by hunger, natural disasters, environmental degradation, or demographic fears, disasters, and pressure; and this
Read morePutting The “L” In Los Angeles
Picking up cues from Apple Computer’s retail theme, Leica brings it’s Brand to retailing with this first grand experiment. From the outside, the new Leica Los Angeles store looks much like one of the many other upscale boutique stores that surround it. Do not let that first impression fool you. It’s not. Once past the 700 lb. silver plated Leica sculpture guarding the entrance, you will find yourself in another world. The Leica Zone. Not The Twilight Zone exactly, but not so very far from it if your cup of tea is the finest of photographic art and the appliances used to
Read moreFujinon XF 14mm f/2.8 R First Report
Last June, FujiFilm issued their lens development “roadmap” (see chart below) for the two XF mount cameras at the time, the XPro-1 and X-E1. I purchased my X-E1 with the highly regarded and most excellent 35mm f/1.4, deciding to place my bet on Fuji evolving this camera system. There was no optimized RAW processing support for the Fuji X-Trans sensor at that time, though support was promised from several sources. I have used a 21mm focal length lens for years in my rangefinder work, and have come to depend upon having it. I’m just one of those weird ducks that sees the
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