Sigma design

New Sigma lenses for M4/3 and Sony. These are not fast lenses. Nor expensive though. But dang, what cool design!
(They do have manual focus, surprisingly.) 

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BTW, here's a thoughtful article for the new photographer.

MJ on Cheap Criticism

Cheap Criticism, article.
...hating or criticizing everything was safe because it meant you don't have to take a stand. Liking something means you are opening yourself up; if nothing is good enough for you it's another way of saying you're superior to everything. Very smug, very snug.

(Damn that's good.)

Underwater art

[Thanks to Aniko]

Photo by Anatoly Beloshchin.

Graphic Novels and Series

If you miss ya comics, Ctein (on The Online Photographer of all places) has made an article with recommendations. Those of them I know, I agree with.

I find this truly strange: from I was seven til I was... mmm, in my early forties, I was reading comics all the time. For most of that time, the one weekly thing I always did was my trek to the comics book store. But something happened during the noughties, my comics started to stack up, I didn't get around to reading them.
When the iPad came, I hoped it could revive my interest. I still have the General Interest, I still think comics is just about the ultimate story-telling and communications medium, I mean it is simply the combination of text and pictures, with those the sky is the limit. But for some reasons I just don't finish the stories or series I begin.

Maybe the problem is that most comics are "unlimited series", and require Addiction rather than mere Interest to continue following. If a good series is just six issues (and most good stories can be told in that length), I'm more likely to complete it. (And such was the case of the one digital comic I did finish, the Batman story wonderfully drawn by Greg Capullo.)

Writer Andy Ihnatko suggests that comics are made for young people, not guys in their forties (he has also been losing interest, if I recall right). But: I don't *want* to grow out of them! Also, we are not talking about a genre, we are talking about a medium. Comics no more have to be about superheroes than movies have to be action movies. So I don't know. Maybe there currently just aren't the equivalent of the excellent writers who kept my interest alive as an adult, Neal Gaiman, Frank Miller, Alan Moore?

Imagining Ho-Hum C.E.S. as an Action Movie

Imagining Ho-Hum C.E.S. as an Action Movie, article by David Pogue.
C.E.S.’s organizers publish a daily magazine during the show that profiles new products announced there. Here are some actual examples: “Braven Expands Bluetooth Speaker Line.” “Armpocket Unveils Smartphone Cases.” “Bits Ltd. Expands Line of Surge Protectors.”

Altered Images - "Happy Birthday"

"The Lightweight Photographer"

The Lightweight Photographer, photo blog about compact cameras and quality.

Canon full-frame cameras

Both these cameras have amazing low-light quality. The less expensive 6D is even slightly better! You can get well-usable images at 25,000 ISO! This is two stops more than last generation, it's outstanding. (The newest Nikons are about the same, I believe. Hang them both for not having in-body stabilization though.)

I think this guy in the video review makes good points I agree with: The 6D doesn't have sports-shooter speed autofocus and is slightly less pro-rugged, but it's 200 grams lighter, it's currently over a thousand dollars less and has the same image quality!



(It's also the most bland-looking camera ever. It seems like Canon is determined to make it look like there are never any changes in their cameras! The new Nikons are kewler looking, at least a notch. There are some lines built into them.)

Update:

 Ken said...
It would be interesting to take some photos with the various cameras, blow them up to A3 prints and see if anyone can actually pick the difference.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...
At low ISO, it is often seen that people can't tell the difference even when a (good) pocket camera is involved, even on A3 prints (12x16"). Over five years ago I made perfect A3 prints from Canon compact cameras. (They may even have been A2 prints.)

But in very low light, the full-frame cameras blow away the small ones.
Though I'd bet it'd be difficult to tell the difference between the various full-frame models and brands in prints.

(Also with full frame, the depth of field is much narrower, which can be good or bad according to situation and desires.)

Western prawn stars

I can't believe that many porn stars still look like this. For the life of me, I can't see the attraction. I don't think there's an inch of natural skin to be seen.

Below, examples of prawn acting.
(Seems you have to be signed into YouTube to watch it. (But there's no actual prawn in it.))

Doonesbury characters

A big chart of the characters in Doonesbury and their connections. PDF file.

Below is a JPG, but you need the file above to be able to read it.

... This is obviously for Doonesbury fans, but I think pretty much anybody who like satirical cartoons should read Doonesbury, particularly in collections. It is not for really casual readers, but it pays off in spades, while often subtle, the humor is sometimes of the highest class.
(BTW, the newest collection in Kindle format, is high-res and in color, grand for use on iPad or Kindle Fire HD.)

BTW, I have written to the Kindle team and suggested an extra kink in the programming for Kindle comic strip books. They've made it so you can see a strip in full screen by double tapping on it. This is great for middle-aged eyes, and the scanning is really high quality. But then you have to close it and double tap on the next strip to go forward. I've asked them to enable simply tapping on the right of a full-screen strip in order to go to the next strip, this seems to me to be the most helpful and natural way to read them.

Paint Explosions

Raindrops

These seem to be by Chandan V.
Never seen anything quite like these, wonder what his methods are. (Like Helicon software for deeper depth of field, perhaps? Especially the second one here would seem impossible without that.)