The Laughing Gnostic

Here's a highly unusual article about David Bowie. Sort of good fun.
"Bowie (born 1947 as David Robert Jones) is seen by some as a sort of 'Renaissance Man' whose professed 'universality' is an attempt to show the landmarks of evolution by reassembling the fragmentary pieces of our society; and in this, he resembles many occultists. But unlike most occultists, Bowie has considerable wealth, critical acclaim, penetrating intelligence, and enduring good looks; he seems set to go on to even greater heights and achievements. What next, godhead? There is a Faustian/Mephistophelean element here. How else to explain the absolute zenith of this man's worldly trajectory? In fact, there are people who are convinced that his success wouldn't be possible without some kind of otherworldly assist.* I do not share this opinion. It is my conviction that Bowie's work has been seriously underestimated, and cannot be reduced to a series of single topics.
Nevertheless, it can't be ignored that Bowie has constructed his public persona from the various parts of the puzzle that are at the roots of modern occultism."

BTW, I discovered something interesting by accident: some pages, like this one, have a code which prohibits you from selecting/copying any text. But it seems that this can be circumvented by using the highly usuable Readable App. (I find now that I can copy text from the page normally in Firefox, I couldn't in Safari.) (Here's another page/site I can't select the text at in Safari.)

THE 2.0 DIGITAL CAMERA

THE 2.0 DIGITAL CAMERA, article.
"I wonder why Nikon, Canon and Leica just keep on putting a digital sensor into film-camera bodies they designed in the Fifties. And why at Leica ... can not try and invent something like they did in 1925 when the 2.0 film camera was introduced, the Model A.
IMHO Micro 4/3 can really be considered as the Third-Millennium Leica (whereas M8 and M9 can not)."

LA Sheriff vs photographer (updated twice)

Update: OK, I have to admit I can also see the opposite viewpoint here. If the officer has been told, and has no reason to disbelieve (and why would he?), that photographs are used for scouting before terrorist attacks, then he sincerely believes that he is protecting the public. If you listen to him, while he's out of line when threatening the guy, he really is listening to what the photographer has to say, and trying to understand him. I respect him for that.

----------------

LA Sheriff vs photographer, video.
I guess a badge beefs up an ego.

Neeray says:
Fear and inferiority feeling combined with a uniform and some officially given power is a very contagious disease, worse than any influenza ...
Anyway, Merry Christmas!

And points to this English newspaper article...
Grant Smith, who has 25 years experience documenting buildings by Richard Rogers and Norman Foster, was stopped by a squad of seven officers who pulled up in three cars and a riot van and searched his belongings under section 44 of the Terrorism Act, which allows police to stop and search anyone without need for suspicion in a designated area.

The funny thing about police that while they often do a good job and are very nice, sometimes their fear cause them to do total overkill. Seven men to search a peaceful photographer?!

M4/3rds forum

Our friend Amin from the Serious Compacts blog has made a Micro Four Thirds forum, and kicks it off with a contest. Excellent. I plan to participate.

Is there a Santa

"I'm tired and confused... is there a Santa or isn't there?"

"The best camera is the one you have with you"

[Thanks to Joe]

"The best camera is the one you have with you", article/video. (Unusually, the video is a bit down the page. The last half of it promotes a new app for sharing iPhone photos.)

The title is an old maxim, and one that Mike Johnston teaches, although he also confesses that he often fails to live up the implication of the saying, meaning "always have some kind of camera with you, even if the quality is not optimal".

I have a camera in my Motorola Razr, but when I tried it, I just couldn't figure out how to get the pictures transferred to my Mac, so I don't use it. What I do now is that I always bring my Canon pocket camera if I'm going anywhere in daylight. A little bigger, but it has a zoom, and the quality is great.

M9 articles (updated thrice)

Articles about the new connoisseur-camera Leica M9: an English photo journalists tests it.
And M Reichman tries it as landscape/hiking camera.
In general it's fair to say that apart from the very high price (with a lens or two it approaches $10k), the M9 is the digital Leica everybody has been dreaming of for ten years.
[Update: here's another review by Jason Schneider, who is the author of many books about cameras.]

Hehe, just looked up the very fast (lets in a lot of light for low-light shooting) wide-wide-angle Leica 24mm lens. An amazing piece of engineering it is. And $6,000 too! If that don't make your balls pull up...
The friggin' lens hood is $240! :-)

The famous but controversial Ken Rockwell writes:
The Leica 35mm f/1.4 ASPH is made exactly like every other Leica M lens, which is superbly. This is why Leica has the problem of some men buying these lenses as if they were jewelry, instead of tools.
In any case, this lens is made to last far beyond any of our life times. It will be taking pictures longer than I will.
I know: I've bought other lenses made like this that were bought 50 years ago by guys who never thought that the lenses they were buying to take photos of their kids would be inherited by those same kids and still used long after they were dead.
This of course brings us back to the jewelry problem: Leica lenses really are heirloom-grade, so the glitter boys give Leica cameras a bad name.

Are the collectors unfortunate for Leica? I can see how they may make some think that Leica gear is not serious tools. But on the other hand, maybe Leica would not survive solely on the tiny market of photographers who can afford their gear and also uses it to photograph? I'd not be surprised if collectors are essential to Leica's survival, particularly in a time where if you go by numbers only (megapixels and so on), Leica does not appear to be good value for money.

Me, I dunno. I like top-grade shit, but... well, it's a bit anachronistic, innit? Why have a rangefinder instead of AF these days? And why the BS cover on the bottom, which was unhandy even on film cameras, and serves no purpose at all on a digital camera.

Doug said:

"A camera in the hand is worth two really gourmet ones back at the flat"

-famed English photographer Randolph Hughes

Very funny, and very true. And I'll bet virtually nobody can tell pictures apart from a $9000 Leica and a $500 Nikon.

Chuck, a spy story

Chuck, a hapless geeks who gets involved in high-stakes spy ventures with guns and hot chicks (very hot).
Considering the lack of a budget for special fx and big sceneries, it's very well done, and often very funny. Recommended.

Gary Fong Lightsphere II

I'm considering getting the Gary Fong Lightsphere II.
I don't shoot flash often, but I'm pretty sure I'll want to have a good diffuser next time I do, so maybe I'll order this so I don't have to wait for delivery when the time comes.
(Here's a review of the Lightsphere.)



Admittedly, $49 (for the most basic version) is a bit expensive for what it is and does, so there are very cheap home-made options.

You know what I'm just realizing... one of the reasons I don't often use Flash is just because I don't have a diffuser! Just for one thing, I often photograph objects and stuff for this blog, but I'm torn between barely-adequate indoor lighting and harsh direct-flash. If I had a good flash sitting on my Canon 5D, with a good diffuser, this would be perfect for it! I'll do it, by gum.

The Largest Car in The World

[Thanks to Tommy]

Sweet Dreams compilation

Marilyn twists a classic:



Man, that's some nightmare imagery. But that pretty much goes with his territory, I guess.
(And what a big pig!)

Funny, I notice how nobody manages to sing "made of this" so it does not sound like "made of these".

Marilyn wanted to be a rock star, but he's not handsome and manly, more of an ugly, nerdy-looking little fucker, so wisely he went the opposite way: making himself look as androgenic and ugly as possible. It worked for him.


And different: Eurythmics' original version:



I dunno, I think I prefer Marilyn's version. The Eurythmics' one is very "poppy", especially considering the very dark lyrics.


And a drum/bass/chipmunks remix for real fans:

The GF1 in the Himalayas

[Thanks to Luke]

The GF1 in the Himalayas, field test of the Panasonic GF1.
"I covered the camera in sweat. I hit it against rocks (unintentionally). The air was often dusty and this dust, by the end of the trip, had worked its way into every nook of the GF1. And yet it performed flawlessly."
-


It was just yesterday I thought about how a camera in front of the face is surely more offensive to people: it's like a half-mechanical predatory beast with a big glass eye, staring at them.
And this is what Craig Mod reports regarding that:
About halfway through the trip I realized something strange was happening — the people I photographed were looking me in the eyes. Indeed, they could see my eyes! I had spent so long traveling with a DSLR strapped to my face that I had forgotten about true eye contact.
For better or worse, a camera without a viewfinder is less intimidating. You are no longer half-human half-camera. You're all human with a tiny play thing in your hand. The GF1 is so compact I don't think people take it seriously. Which is wonderful if you want candid, real photographs. Subjects focus on being human rather than being a subject.
-

Craig critizes the camera for a low-light performance which is mediocre. And I agree. It is a pity, since the reason for a big sensor in a small camera is mainly high-ISO performance (all cameras today do well at 100 and 200 ISO). Unlike Craig, I'd say that the GF1 does quite well until around 800 ISO. But still, to be comparable to DSLRs, it should be doing Quite Well at 1600, which it is not. Let's hope the future brings some developments there.