Saturday, August 20, 2016

Simulated shallow depth-of-field

I've been saying that one of the next steps for phone cameras would be simulated shallow depth-of-field for blurry backgrounds. And here it is, a review of the Huawei-Leica phone. Good stuff.
[Update: there are even iPhone apps for this.]
The next important step would be an extra lens, for tele- and portrait-photography. (I think this will be easier than making a good zoom lens in the tiny space available.) My wish is for a 100mm-equivalent lens. This would be a good portrait lens, and give a bit of reach, unlike the 70mm which is so common on Normal zoom lenses, 70mm is just a longish normal, not a tele. (In my view it's the downfall of the last two generations of the otherwise great Sony RX100 camera, they shortened the zoom to 70mm.)


Thursday, August 18, 2016

Great camera offer

The much-praised Olympus OM-10 is currently for sale at a great price, including kit zoom.

(Update: Ken spotted this seems to be the mark 1, not the more current mark 2. I'm not up on the differences, perhaps a mark 2 is worth the $200 premium. I think they are both very good value for money.)


"I’m so glad that I don’t have to choose between performance and portability anymore." (From the article above.)

From our ol' photographer friend EmptySpaces:
"I have had this camera (mark 1) for a year now and love it more all the time. I believe that, other than some reconfiguration of the dials/switches, the big upgrades to the mark ii version ares 5-axis stabilization (vs 3-axis on the original), the addition of a couple custom slots on the dial, and a big upgrade in EVF [electronic view-finder] resolution. Plus some smaller upgrades, too, I'm sure. Same sensor, same rear screen, same battery life, though. The 3-axis IBIS works awesome."

Sunday, August 14, 2016

The purpose of literature

It is said that in the minds of academia, the purpose of literature, fiction, is to teach us more about ourselves.
I think that's like saying that fine arts painting has the purpose of teaching us about nature or architecture.

Fiction can certainly explain our minds about man. It just seems to me that many in academia thinks it can do so in an explainable way, as if all the lessons can be literal and logical and be disected, and have final, single explanations. I think that fiction and art expands our minds on a higher and more complex level.