Monday, August 20, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Brief review of Pro-Optic 85mm f/1.4 Telephoto Manual Focus Lens | by Bryan Hudson
Received my Pro-Optic 85mm f/1.4 lens today from Adorama with a Nikon mount for my D7000. This is a Korean manufactured lens that is sold other other brand names such as Sanyang and Bower (at B&H Photo)
For the money, this is a very good lens. On a DX (crop) sensor the 35mm equivalent focal length is 135mm. While this is portrait lens intended for studio use, it works well outdoors.
The main caveat is this: At the widest aperture f/1.4, in bright light, you will see softness and a slight purple or green fringe around bright objects, which something called "Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration." Only the very best lenses perform well at the widest aperture. Stopping down to f/4 or smaller eliminates the color fringing, while giving up some depth of field. This lens is not tack sharp at smaller apertures, but images look very, very good and can be enhanced in Aperure/Lightroom/Photoshop. With this wide aperture lens, the "bokeh," or the appearance of the out-of-focus background, is beautiful.
It is manual-only focus, so you will need to use your DSLR focus assistance. Exposure is Aperture priority only. Since the lens has no electronics, you must set up lens preset in your camera so it will accurately recognize the lens aperture and adjust exposure accordingly and provide useful EXIF data. You can also go full manual, since auto exposure is not always accurate.
The lens is heavy because of the all-metal construction and large glass elements. It feels very sturdy and seems to be well made, but time will tell.
At this price, I think this a no-brainer purchase. Again, I don't know how the lens will hold up, so get a warranty.
Price $279.00-$320.00
Bryan Hudson
http://inspirationimages.zenfolio.com/
For the money, this is a very good lens. On a DX (crop) sensor the 35mm equivalent focal length is 135mm. While this is portrait lens intended for studio use, it works well outdoors.
The main caveat is this: At the widest aperture f/1.4, in bright light, you will see softness and a slight purple or green fringe around bright objects, which something called "Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration." Only the very best lenses perform well at the widest aperture. Stopping down to f/4 or smaller eliminates the color fringing, while giving up some depth of field. This lens is not tack sharp at smaller apertures, but images look very, very good and can be enhanced in Aperure/Lightroom/Photoshop. With this wide aperture lens, the "bokeh," or the appearance of the out-of-focus background, is beautiful.
It is manual-only focus, so you will need to use your DSLR focus assistance. Exposure is Aperture priority only. Since the lens has no electronics, you must set up lens preset in your camera so it will accurately recognize the lens aperture and adjust exposure accordingly and provide useful EXIF data. You can also go full manual, since auto exposure is not always accurate.
The lens is heavy because of the all-metal construction and large glass elements. It feels very sturdy and seems to be well made, but time will tell.
At this price, I think this a no-brainer purchase. Again, I don't know how the lens will hold up, so get a warranty.
Price $279.00-$320.00
Bryan Hudson
http://inspirationimages.zenfolio.com/
iPhoto for iPad Hands On: Pretty and a Little Stupid? (Ditto!)
This is a disaster of an app, especially when compared to the desktop iPhoto, which is a very good application. Silly interface. Icons only. Apple should have named the iPad version differently since it is a different app. ~ B. Hudson
http://gizmodo.com/5891670/iphoto-for-ipad-hands-on-pretty-and-a-little-stupid
http://gizmodo.com/5891670/iphoto-for-ipad-hands-on-pretty-and-a-little-stupid
Monday, August 6, 2012
Article: Logitech launches TV Cam HD for living room video chats: built-in Skype, 720p, $200
Logitech launches TV Cam HD for living room video chats: built-in Skype, 720p, $200
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/03/logitech-skype-tv-cam-hd/
http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/03/logitech-skype-tv-cam-hd/
Sent from my iPad
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Simple digital signage solution for your church
Multiple HDTV screens can be connected from computer output using VGA or HDMI splitter/signal amplifier. Computers must be connected to the Internet. Display announcements on all screens using an app such as Plainview full screen web browser.
Create and upload a web page to playback MP4 encoded video at 1280 x 720 (to fit HDTV aspect ratio. To update: upload new video (with same name) to server to replace old one. Screens automatically update on refresh.
Here's a sample Quicktime/MP4 embed code to use:
<object width="1280" height="720" classid="clsid:02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B"
codebase="http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab">
<param name="src" value="http://www.newcovenant.org/announce/test.mp4">
<param name="controller" value="false">
<param name="autoplay" value="true">
<embed src="http://www.newcovenant.org/announce/test.mp4"
width="1280" height="720"
controller="false" autoplay="true"
loop="true"
cache="false"
TYPE="video/mp4"
pluginspage="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/"
></object>
Friday, August 3, 2012
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