The Day Film (Kodak) Died?

Sad news! In this recent article from "www.ephotozine.com" Kodak announced that it will be selling off the film division (and related businesses) that made it a "Blue Chip" company in the first place (see link below).
 
Kodak To Sell Film And Paper Division

I guess this is their "official" recognition that the golden days of film are over. Truly a sad day for all of us film lovers.It's is perhaps timely that there have been many announcements lately (in advance of Photokina) indicating that digital photography technology may finally almost be able to replace what film can do, almost!

Still, Kodak is selling it, not closing it down. There is the distinct possibility that Kodak will sell the film division to another company that will continue to produce the fine products they are known for and maybe with a little capitol and complete access to all their assets expand the business.

Hey, if you;re gonna dream, dream big - right?

I have always been a big Kodak fan but I have been wanting to experiment more with some of Fuji's pro offerings. I guess now might be a good time, after I stock up on Portra & TriX.

Nikon Coolpix S800c - Android Camera, Really?

The lines between camera phones and cameras blurred even more with this recent article from Consumer Reports on Nikon's announcement regarding the new Coolpix S800c, the first ever Andriod powered camera. See the link below for the complete article.

Nikon Coolpix S800c is the first Android camera

Now not only can you upload photos directly to Facebook but imagine the neat apps that will undoubtedly become available for download. No longer will we be limited to the features that come with the camera as Android programmers discover an entire new market to flood with apps.

This innovative approach to digital camera software has the potential to once again revolutionize photography.

Stone Harbor's Protector

Stone Harbor's Protector, a photo by wizowel on Flickr.

Where ever I go there always seem to be interesting pictures to take. I just had to capture this one.

Anyone know what the little flag is for?

For those who don't know it is a sign that I don't want to be here in winter.

Pentax To Announce New K-3 Full Frame DSLR

Rumor reported on "petapixel.com" (see link below) indicates that we may finally see my dream camera from Pentax next year.

They are not the only ones talking about the rumored new "flagship" of the Pentax line which is undoubtedly intended to replace the now discontinued K-5. The K-3 however, is supposed to have the new Sony "full frame" sensor and come in at 24 MP potentially making this one serious contender in the Pro-DSLR market.

Pentax has always had a knack for being a little different so it will be interesting to see just what "goodies" this camera debuts with. In any case, assuming I don't have to take out a second mortgage to buy it this could finally be the digital camera I have been waiting for.

For the rest of the story see the link below.


Pentax To Announce the K-3 Full Frame DSLR At Photokina


Update:   I happened to notice this post and realize that two Photokina's have come and gone and still no K-3! Since I wrote this of course Pentax has been bought by Ricoh, released the K-5II's, the K-01, the X-5, the Q and the Q-10, and the MX-1 so they haven't exactly been idle. Rumors still abound about a full frame DSLR and just this past week an interview with John Carson, Sr. Manager of Sales & Marketing for Pentax, indicated that they are studying the market for such a camera - a definite maybe!

Drive-by Photography!

Have you ever driven by something that caught your eye and you said, “I wish I had a camera with me.” Well the easy way to solve that problem is to have a camera with you. I did the other day when I was driving past the United States Sports Academy in Mobile, Alabama, and noticed the sculpture shown in the photo above.

This one was shot with the Fuji FinePix Real 3D WD camera. That’s not normally the camera I carry around for photo ops but it happened to be with me and did the job nicely. You should see the 3D version of this shot! Too bad I can’t really post it on the blog.

Anyway, this brings me to my point. You never know when you will run across a photo op so whenever possible I try to always have a camera with me.  There are a number of compact film and digital cameras that can easily fit in a purse or pocket. You have to be careful with film cameras of course because at certain times of the year, at least where I live, it can get pretty hot, especially if you go off and leave it in a parked car. Even digital cameras suffer from intense heat that can build up in a closed car on a hot summer day.

Sports Photography is not easy

You just show up at the sporting event of your choice and take some pictures - right? No, not really! Sports photography is challenging, as much and perhaps more so than any other kind of photography.  The great shots people have come to expect where the athlete is seen sharp & clear at his peak moment against the blurry background requires not only a great deal of skill but some significant investment in equipment as well.

The photo above showing the lineman drills of my son’s high school football team was taken with the Nikon P300 set on auto and later cropped in Picasa. It’s not a great shot but it was the only one of several taken at the time that was even worth showing.

The good thing about using digital cameras for sports photography is that it’s easy and cheap to take a lot of photos and of course there’s the instant feedback that let you know whether you have a winner or not. With film every shot costs and you don’t know what you have until later when you process the film.

That said, this football season I will shoot some digital but I will still be shooting some film too!

Another Photo Contest

Every now and then you have to step out and do something different so I decided to do a couple things I “never” do. Just for a change of pace I used Picasa to create the picture above from a color digital photo taken with the Nikon P-300. And, if that’s not radical enough I submitted it in a photo contest (another thing I almost never do) being held by the Louisiana Renaissance Festival. As you may have guessed the photo was taken at the festival last year.

Picasa allowed me to take what was actually a pretty poor photo and significantly improve the uneven lighting to the point where it was promising. The sepia tone and vignetting effects add to the mystery & charm of the composition by focusing attention of the subjects, the Queen and Baron.

As for the contest, that outcome remains to be seen.