In photography news this week was the announcement that Leica introduced their most recent camera, the Q3 “Monochrom,” a black-and-white only digital camera. Leica is the most prestigious camera brand in the world, and although I never used one, I know several people who have, including at least one photographer who had a Monochrom (Leica’s…
Continue reading →
Today’s featured camera is one that I had never seen in the field until someone actually gave me this one earlier this summer. Nikon’s Nikonos series of underwater cameras are marvels of over-engineering. It is heavy. The knobs, switches and doors are all built like bank vaults. The viewfinder is huge enough that you can…
Continue reading →
Another film camera that came across my desk recently is the Olympus OM-4 T. This camera came along at the peak of film photography, first being sold in 1983. I’ve always like the style of Olympus cameras, and their lineup of Zuiko lenses was pretty impressive in that period. Of course, camera makers’ lenses were…
Continue reading →
When I was a young teenager, I was influenced by a lot of magazines. I bought and eventually subscribed to Flying, Stereo Review, Popular Photography, Modern Photography, and Omni, and often picked up Scientific American and National Geographic from news stands. My parents knew that subscriptions to these magazines would make great birthday and Christmas gifts…
Continue reading →
Reading through the photography news of the month, I came across several reviews and recommendations for a new camera, the Sony RX1R III. As my readers know, I am all about cameras and lenses, so sure, I thought, I’d love to learn about this new Sony. The RX1 III is a fixed-lens, 60 megapixel, 36x24mm-sized…
Continue reading →
If you have been reading my pieces about photography and journalism for any amount of time, you know that I write a lot about how technology flourishes, then flounders, then, sometimes, disappears. It’s interesting to observe the organic, often non-linear, way technologies can evolve. A couple of examples of this are film photography, which looked…
Continue reading →
The Most Interesting Accessory You Will Never Use I recently had lunch with a fellow photographer, someone I have known since 1985. We talked about everything, but, as is true about most photographers, we mostly talked about photography. At the end of lunch, he handed me a box that look like it had just appeared…
Continue reading →
My readers know that I love a good used digital camera. Why? I love the idea of taking something that was once valuable, then discarded, and giving it new life. I love the idea of recycling. I also love the idea that I make better pictures (hopefully pictures that my readers enjoy) not because I…
Continue reading →
When I was 16 years old, my father and I watched Super Bowl XIII, January 21, 1979. My dad was a chronic TV watcher, so as soon as NBC’s coverage started, the TV was on, and, because my dad was hard of hearing, cranked up loud enough to rattle the windows. I believe that during…
Continue reading →
I recently learned of a fun hack photographers can perform on the Sony DCS-F828 digital camera of 2002 vintage. I happen to have a sort-of-working F828 in my photo closet, so I thought I’d try it out. The fact that I just learned about it doesn’t mean it’s new. It only means that I stumbled…
Continue reading →The Ada Cougars’ recently enjoyed pep rallies in advance of their playoff football games. Both pep rallies were hosted by Doc’s Food Truck Park, which is fun and says that Doc’s is really engaging with the community. The stage and a sound system are lit by couple of street lights, various LED lights on food…
Continue reading →There has been a lot of talk lately about point-and-shoot cameras being repopularized by the Gen Z crowd. The photography press says influencers on popular social media sites are buying them up on the used market, then using them to create content that they then hashtag #Digicam. The only working point-and-shoot camera I still own…
Continue reading →Prior to the Olympics this summer, several news agencies decided to issue new cameras and lenses to their photographers, some of whom would take them to Paris to cover the Games. Some of those photographer posted this news, often that their newspapers or agencies were buying them new Sony equipment. Almost immediately, Sony users chimed…
Continue reading →As I write this, the photography press has been up in arms again about, as you might be able to guess, Artificial Intelligence, or AI. And while there are legitimate concerns about the misuse of anything complex enough to damage the human condition, I feel that AI will soon move from the “next big thing”…
Continue reading →I’ve been taking pictures for a living for a long time. The apex of technology when I started in this field were cameras like the Nikon F2, the Canon F-1, the Hasselblad 500 series, and the Leica M and R series. It was a very interesting time in the evolution of photography. The film technology…
Continue reading →