No, this is not a review of iLife ‘09, or iPhoto. There are already plenty out there. 

Instead I want you, me, us, to think about how that face detection thing can change the way we work. I played with it a bit and while it is not perfect (according to iPhoto my girl friend looks like a guy as soon as she wears a hat…) it shows promises and it is a first step in the automated meta-tagging world. 

As a photographer, I tag all my pictures with at least 3-4 tags: the location, the subject, the dominant color (if any) and the activity (if any). This is a tedious and time wasting process that is probably going to go away in a few years. Lets see how.

Location

Probably the easiest tag to apply to a picture is its location, even more so when it is linked to a GPS coordinate. The possible level of detail here is incredible, once the system knows the approximate location, it can check in the address book if its close to one of your relative house, the internet for a store or important land mark, etc…

Subject

While not perfect, iPhoto face detection works well enough to allow us to see that it is not a gimmick and that more development is going to be done in this field. Imagine if it could recognize pets, houses, bird species… A lot of metadata could be automatically guessed and submitted to the photographer for approval. This would be a big time saver and I am half expecting Aperture 3 (or 4?) to have this feature.

By the way, I did some serious testing to see if iPhoto could recognize cats face and it does not. If is limited to humans… 

Dominant color

If you ever had to create a picture book, you know how useful it is to have all your pictures classified by main color. Again, this is not a new technology, stock photo sites have been using this for years.

Activity

By activity I mean: travel, sports, cooking, etc.. I dont think we will see this kind of automatic meta-tagging soon, but there are ways to make the job easier for us. For example, if from one picture to the next the background and location is the same, the system could suggest the same location as the previous pictures.

Conclusion

This is just the beginning. Automatic meta-tagging is coming and anyone who ever had to tag pictures after a long weekend shooting should be happy.

Aperture team, are you reading?

Next weekend, I am on my third trip to Manathan. While I have seen the city a few times before, this is the first time I will go there with a single goal: taking pictures. I had non photographer friends with me in my previous visits which created some tension every time I asked for a “quick stop” to take a picture. They were very patient but after my sixth stop in 200 meters in Soho I noticed some frustration in their eyes…

That is why this time I am going with 2 other photographer friends so we can progress in the city at “photographer speed” without anyone complaining!

The question is: what should I bring?

Since I am expecting us to walk the whole day, I want to stay as light as possible while keeping some flexibility. Of course, my trusty tripod will be in my bag and while I could enjoy my girlfriend tripod lighter weight, I want to shoot videos so a fluid head is a must.

Now the big question: which lenses to bring? While the 70-200mm f/4 L IS is an obvious choice, I am torn between the 24-70mm f/2.8L and the 17-40mm f/4L. The first choice gives a larger zoom range but it lacks the super wide angle that is so convenient in architecture photography. One of my favorite picture from NY is the one below, made (you guess it) at 17mm. Can you guess one which street conner I was?

That is why I am probably going to leave the 24-70 at home. As an added bonus, the 17-40 is much lighter too!

Regarding accessories, since they dont take much room or weight I try to always carry them with me where ever I go. You just never know when a ND filter might prove useful! As a safety measure, I always carry a spare pair of sox and a small flash light. You never know when they can be handy!

Everything fits nicely in my Lowepro Slingshot 200 with some room left maybe for a 50mm f1.4 for some nice night video, or a lunch! 

Where to go?

Now that the bag is full, we have to plan our phototrip. Having already been in Manathan, we can dodge the most obvious tourist traps (Empire State, I am pointing at you) and explore “new” places. 

I think it is important, before going to a shoot, to have already planned a few shots so you dont wander around without a goal. After talking to my friend, it was established that we wanted a high level view of the city that could be printed on a 4×6 (feet) canvas. I know this scream “Empire State building” again but since we cant bring a tripod there we are going to go to the next best thing: the Rockefeller building.  Rumors say that tripods are welcomed there, will confirm once I am back!

The second objective is to get some good pictures inside the Grand Central station. Then again, nothing that should be too hard to do, unless there are some anti terrorist zealots who think that camera are dangerous…

I would also like to take an original picture of the Flatiron building. It has been shot so many times, finding a new interesting angle/composition is going to be a challenge!

Finally, there is the Brooklyn bridge. Same thing as the Flatiron: going to try to be original, wish me luck!

So four objectives in two days, I dont see how our plan can fail! And everything else is just going to be a bonus. If some of you have suggestions, please post them in the comments.

We read this question at least once a week in any photography forum. While there are a lot of possible answers, the first question should be “What do I want to shoot?”. It is only once you know what is the kind of subject that interests you that you can pick up the perfect lens.

So to help you clarify your thoughts on the subject I made a list of the most useful lens, grouped by categories of subject/style. Note: most of these lenses are on the expensive side since they are specialized lenses mostly targeted at pro.

General

If the only thing you want to do is walk around and take pictures, flexibility is key so you definitely need a zoom lens. While some people would argue that the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L is the perfect walking lens, I find it a bit too short and I rather recommend the excellent Canon 24-105L f/4 IS. Indoor or outside, this lens has the reach and width to get great shots.

Suggestions

• 24-70mm f/2.8L
• 24-105L f/4 IS

Portrait

Generally speaking, portraits look best when the background is blurry. While the 50 mm f/1.8 might do a nice job, its short focal range means that you have to be close to the subject which could distract them. This is why lenses such as the 85mm f/1.8 (or 85mm f1.2L) or 135mm f/2L are preferred. While a lot of people suggest a zoom (24-70 or 70-200), I personally think it is better to have a fixed focal length in a controlled environment since since the image quality is better, the lenses cheaper and you can always zoom with your feet.

Suggestions

• 50 mm f/1.8
• 85mm f/1.8
• 85mm f/1.2L
• 135mm f/2L

Wildlife

While the full frame sensor of the 5D might not be suited for wildlife photography because of its shorter reach compared to cropped sensors, its video mode might interest people who want to film the behaviors of animals. Depending of the kind of animal you are expecting to encounter, you can pick either the 300Lf4IS or the 400mm f/5.6L. While the 300mm is good for anything bigger than a dog or not easily scared, the 400mm is the minimum required reach for small birds. Both of these lenses have incredible image quality and focusing speed.

Suggestions

• 400mm f/5.6L

Architecture

When you shoot a building, it is rare that you have a lot of room in front of you to position yourself, generally the farther you can go is on the other side of the street. That is why wide angles are popular among architecture photographers. While the first lens that come to mind for such a task is the 17-40mm f/4L or the more expensive 16-35mm f/2.8L, if you are really into architecture, you have to take a look at the tilt-shift lens, such as the TS-E 24mm f/3.5L or the TS-E 45mm f/2.8. Tilt-shift lenses allow you to do more than just correct the perspective, by shifting the lens you can create a mosaic of pictures that you can later on combine for a perfect panorama. This is why even at 45mm, you can take pictures of buildings right in front of you.

Suggestion

• 17-40mm f/4L
• 16-35mm f/2.8L
• TS-E 24mm f/3.5L
• TS-E 45mm f/2.8

Landscape

When people think about landscape, the first thing that comes to their mind is wide-angle. Well, they are right. Lenses such as the 16-35mm f/2.8L and 17-40mm f/4L are classical landscape lenses. But limiting yourself to a wide angle would be a terrible mistake! Every serious landscape photographer carries in his bad a… 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS lens too! Surprised? You should not be. having a long focal length is the only way to create a perspective compressing effect that looks so cool when shooting mountains, or to take a sunset pictures with the sun taking half of the frame.

Suggestions

• 16-35mm f/2.8L
• 17-40mm f/4L
• 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS

Macro

The line up of macro lenses is not that impressive, only 3 models are available from Canon for the 5D. The 100mm f/2.8 Macro having the most flexibility. While the 180mm f3.5L Macro is incredible to shoot bugs, it has limited uses outside of the macro world. An interesting alternative to macro lenses, if you are shooting still life, is to use a TS-E 90mm f/2.8tilt-shift lens. While the macro effect might not there, this is the preferred lens of food and gem photographers since you can tilt the plane of focus to have the whole picture in focus.

A cheaper alternative is to use extension tubes. While I have never been able to take a good macro shot with these without using a tripod, they offer the best bang for the buck and are easy to carry around.

Suggestions

• 100mm f/2.8 Macro
• 180mm f3.5L Macro
• MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5X Macro
• TS-E 90mm f/2.8
• Extension Tube Set

Sport

It is hard for me to advice in this category without knowing which sport you want to shoot. The general line of thought is that you need wide aperture and a zoom unless you have complete control over your position relative to the subject. In this regard, the 70-200mm f/2.8L is a great chose for most activities. Dont mind the IS. In sport the action is going on so fast that IS would never help you to stop it down.

Suggestions

• 70-200mm f/2.8L

Wedding

Wedding photography equipment is pretty standardize: 24-70mm f/2.8L and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS. These are the two lenses you will ever need. But if you are interested in weeding photography, you probably already know that.

Suggestions

• 24-70mm f/2.8L
• 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

Conclusion

I hope this article helped you to organize your thoughts about the subject. If I missed an obvious pick, please leave your suggestion in the comments.

Hudson, from the cinema5D forum made an interesting discovery while reading the Canon 5DMrkII white paper (yep, some people really read these things). Look at page 14 the in the middle of the page you will see this:

If you read the whole thread you will see that they have tried to contact Canon to have some explanations. Canon reply was quite sketchy and would probably not hold very long in court.

Hence the rumors of class action for false advertisement. It seems like some people dont understand the meaning of the word control. Going this route would probably be the easiest way for Canon 5DMrkII owners to get a firmware update that would allow real manual control.

In case you are reading this Canon, control means that I could pick the ISO, aperture and Shutter speed that we want. Actually, if you give us aperture and ISO we can live without the shutter speed.

So now is time for action guys! If you live in the US contact one of these ambulance chaser lawyer, if you are from the rest of the world (Google Analytics tells me that you are 65% of my visitors) click on the Digg link to bring more people to the cause or join the cinema5D forum and sign the petition.

If you want to add some music to your clip, go take a look at ccMixter. All songs/remix are available under the creative common attribution-noncommercial  license which means they are free if:

• you are not making a commercial use of the song
• you identify the source. 

Before using these sound clips, read the license and make sure you are making the right choice for your project.

The problem

I was doing some test recording with my macro, for a small test project I had in mind, when I noticed the image flickering when I was focusing in and out. At first I thought it was just my eye but the issue was still there when I looked at the video playback.

Not everyone seems to have this issue (but  I am not the only one), which make the clip unusable. 

The Solution

While asking around I was suggested (by Matthew Bennett from the Cinema5D forum) to twist the lens a little bit (like if you were going to remove it) to disconnect the exposure contact and tada! It works. I was so caught in the problem that I forgot the most obvious solution. Here is a video of the “proof”, now I just need to redo all my initial takes…

DISCLAIMER: these parameters were not discovered by me, I found them somewhere on the net and never wrote the URL. I will update the post if I ever find the URL again and give due credits.

Here is a quick tip on how to achieve a cross process look in Aperture without buying an expensive plugin (I am looking at your Silver Fx!).

What is cross processing? Because a picture is worth a thousand word, here are the before and after images.

Neat hein?

The result is very easy to achieve in Aperture. To do so, in the Level panel,

• select the Red channel and set the 3 values (B,G,W) to : 0,21, 0,53 and 0,92
• select the Green channel and set the 3 values (B,G,W) to : 0, 0,42 and 1
• select the Blue channel and set the 3 values (B,G,W) to : 0, 0,44 and 0,94

You can then save this as a preset for later use by clicking on the little gear on the top right of the panel and clicking on save.

Now, just dont over use this technique because it can grow old very quickly, like over cooked HDR… Oh and it tends to destroy skin color too so be careful!

This post is the first of 3 describing and linking to gear used by cinemaphotographer to make their videos. In this first post, we are going to review the gear available to beginners aka low budget movie makers. The second article will review the gear available to enthusiast while the last one will target those with professional goals. These classifications are not as much related to the budget as the level of dedication of the user. We have divided the gear in three sections: Camera,  lens and accessories, Software and Computer Hardware. When possible, we have given two alternatives for each piece of gear: a low cost and a higher cost version. The low cost version might be something that could be sold or traded for an upgrade while the higher cost one is good enough to even satisfy a pro.

Camera, lens and accessories

Body

Right now, when people are talking about cinemaphotography,  there are thinking about one of these two alternatives: the Nikon D90 or the Canon 5DMarkII. Unless you are totally new to photography, you probably already have a few lenses from one of these two brands so the choice has already been made for you (unless you are ready to switch allegiance). While we can hardly call the Canon 5DMarkII a beginner or low budget camera, since it is the only Canon alternative, we have to put it here.

Suggestions:

• Nikon D90 SLR Digital Camera (Camera Body)
• Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP (Body Only)

Lenses

At this stage, you only need two lenses and you probably even own them: a Nifty 50 and a wide to medium angle lens. By Nifty 50 we regroup all the 50mm lenses with aperture of f1.4 or f1.8. On Nikon this lenses give you an EFL of 75mm that might be too long for indoor shooting so you might want to move directly to a normal prime lens, such as the 35mmf/1.8 for a few more bucks.

Note: The Canon 50mmf1.8 should not be considered for filming since it does not have a focus ring.

Note2: We did some comparison between the Canon 50f1.4 and the Zeiss Planar 1.7. The Zeiss compares favorably to the Canon for film making and should be considered as a cheaper alternative as outlined in our review.

Suggestions:

• Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM
• Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM
• Zeiss Planar 1.7 T*
• Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
• Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G
• Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor
• Nikon 35mm f/2D AF

The second lens has to be a zoom playing in the 20-50+mm effective focal length (EFL). There are many alternatives for these at various quality levels and price point. The zoom might not have the nice aperture of the prime, but it will allow you to play with the field of view and give you more flexibility when composing your frame. This lens will stay with you for as long as you are going to shoot which is why it is a good idea to invest in quality glass. But if you are low on money, you can pick a used popular model that you could later sale at almost no lost.

While IS (image stabilization) is definitely a big plus, if  you are planing to spend most of your time shooting from a tripod your money would be better spent in a higher quality lens. On the other hand, if you are thinking about going hand held from time to time, the IS really pays off as displayed in this video comparison of the effect of IS at 70mm and 200mm EFL.

Suggestions:

• Canon 17-40mm f/4L USM
• Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
• Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
• Any suggestions for Nikon users?

Filters

Dont jump right away to the next section! Filters are a critical part of the cinemaphotographer arsenal. If you don’t understand why, go take a look at this video from Bruce. At this stage, a circular polarizing filter and a square ND2 filter are more than enough. If you plan to shoot in bright sunlight, you can go with a stronger ND filter. While Bruce suggest to get the big 4×6 filters, I think it is more reasonable to start with the smaller ones and stay away from “made from real glass” filters. They are just too expensive. That is why I like the ones made by Cokin, they are much cheaper and still good quality. Make sure you pick the size that fits with your lenses!

Suggestions:

• B+W 77mm Circular Polarizer Multi Coated
• Cokin Neutral Density Filter Kit
• Cokin Filter Holder

Tripod

Finally, get yourself a tripod.  As with anything related to photography, tripods and heads can get VERY expensive very quickly.  Dont under estimate the effect a good tripod has on image quality. Pick a cheap heavy one and you will never bring it with you, take something made out of plastic and it will die after two weekends. A tripods is probably the pieces of gear that is going to last you the longest and should be seen as an investment, so get something that will last!

There are many good tripods on the market and probably anything you pay over 150$ will give you good results. There are a few things that can make a tripod stands out of the crowd like: having a weight hook, vibration reduction, removable central column, horizontal central column positioning, etc. Personally, I use the Bogen / Manfrotto 190CXPRO3 3-Section Carbon Fiber Tripod Legs (Black) . I love it and I see myself using this thing for a few more years.

Head

While ball heads are great for photography, when filming you are better off with a head that offers some friction to ensure smooth panning. In my mind, nothing beats the Bogen / Manfrotto 501HDV Fluid Video Head in term of quality per dollars. It is the equivalent of the 50mmf/1.8 of the head world.

Software

Since I don’t really know what exists on the PC side, I will just pretend there is nothing and let some PC reader contact me for the specifics. Or simply buy a Mac. Seriously, the Mac has some unique software that make the whole editing experience so much better (and cheaper, seriously!). As a Mac user, you most probably already have all you need to start editing your shots: iLife. While the newest version that is about to come out has some incredible features, even iLife 08 is enough for the needs of a beginner.

Computer hardware and storage

External HD and backing up

Video editing requires your system to have a secondary hard drive to store your assets/projects. Well, you are not “required to” but if you mix you clips data with the OS partition you you will experience some serious slow down. So lets just say that you have to bite the bullet (again) and get a secondary internal HD. I prefer internal HD because they are the cheapest fastest solution you can get. Do not backup anything on this drive, it is solely a scratch disk / asset vault.

Now lets talk about backup. If you value any of your work, you need to back it up. Unfortunately for us, video takes a lot of HD space so backing up on disk media is out of the question. We could go with another internal drive but I prefer to have an external enclosure for backup so I can bring it at my parents house when I am out for a long period of time.  You can go with the classical HD enclosure or pay a little (ok, big) extra to get a Drobo. While the Drobo is not perfect, contrary to what their marketing department is trying to make you believe, it offers some very interesting features for its price point. Before buying one,  make sure you read my post about its limitation (coming soon).

Finally, dont forget that a backup is only a backup if its replicating data  living somewhere else. As soon as your data lives on only a single drive you are exposed to losing everything!

Suggestions:

• WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10,000 RPM SATA Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD3000GLFS
• WD 500GB internal
• Drobo USB 2.0 and FireWire 800
• LaCie 1 TB FireWire 400/USB 2.0/eSATA
• LaCie 1 TB Firewire800/Firewire400/USB 2.0 with RAID

Monitor

Lets not go into any excesses here, your current monitor is probably going to be just fine. If you really want a secondary screen accept only a 24″ since it is the minimum size to display 1080p at native resolution. (Well, my 23″ ACD does too but it is out of production)

System

I guess you already have a computer, but in case you are thinking about switching, this one is easy: any recent Apple system (exception: Mac mini) will play with iMovie, Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro just fine. So just pick the one you want, my suggestions going of course with the bigger models. Also, note that the Mac Books dont have a FW port anymore. Also, make sure to upgrade the RAM to at least 2 gigs, 4 being much better.

Conclusion

After having spent (already) a small fortune, you are now equipped to produce your first movie. You already have all you need, the next levels only add more bells and whistles.

In case you missed it, Vimeo Plus is now available for everyone, not just United Statians! Rejoice! Also, they changed the plan to be:

• 5GB of upload space per week (10x what you get with the free account)
• 5000 free HD embed plays with purchase (up from 1000)
• The ability to control which domains can embed in HD
• 25fps/PAL support for HD (up from 24fps)
• Make your videos private on Vimeo.com while still able to embed them on your site
• One-button upgrading of your existing videos to the latest high-quality format without using additional upload space

Of course some will complain that YouTube offers free HD hosting. True, but well, you know about YouTube…

B&H currently has a promotion which allows you to get a free 2gig CF card. Well, after the mail in rebate (30$). I know, 2gig is not much and its probably why they are giving it away…  Anyways, I would order one if I was in the US, you can never have enough memory card!

A nice use of multiple memory cards is to separate content. Let say you shoot/film in the morning in one location and then move somewhere else to do another job. If you cant unload the card on location, I advice to switch to another card to minimize the risks of losing the data. Who never accidentally deleted ALL the pictures on their cards? Of course, you have to be careful not to lose the first card too!

Link: Lexar 2GB Professional 133x CompactFlash Card – FREE after $30.00 rebate