Moab Black and White
February 12, 2009 | Doug
Here are some of the images I captured at the Moab, Utah workshop run by GetDPI at which I was a guest instructor for Capture One processing. These were shot with a Phase One P21 digital back which has been modified for infrared capture. The raw files were processed (of course) in Capture One, and enhanced in Photoshop.
Capture Integration is the leading expert in the world on modifying medium format digital backs for infrared photography. If you are interested in purchasing a used or new infrared digital back or if you would like to have your digital back modified for infrared please contact us. Having shot everything from Kodak 35mm HIE to 120 Ilford SFx and 120 Macophot 820IR (halo and non-halo variants) and a modified Canon 20D, modified Olympus E-10, I can say definitively that this medium format digital is SEVERAL steps more awesome than any film or dSLR infrared option.
Thanks to GetDPI.com (see more pictures from the workshop participants at their forum thread on the topic) for inviting me to participate. Also thanks to Carol Highsmith who was able to loan me this digital back (our infrared backs were not available for those dates). You can see more of her amazing body of work at CarolHighsmithAmerica.com.
After the Jump More of my B+W Images from this Workshop
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Losing my Leica Virginity
February 12, 2009 | Doug
Leica is a treasured and storied name in photography, having an illustrious past and a following akin to religious fanatical or Apple fans. I made it over a decade in photography without holding a single Leica camera in my hands. During this trip to Moab I had the privilege of shooting a Leica M8 Mark II which was a loan arranged by Guy Mancuso compliments of Leica itself. Let’s be clear: my usual shooting kit consists of gear totaling around $60,000, so I am no stranger to high-end gear, but shooting the M8 still felt like I was stealing breath from the devil. The prestige and aura surrounding the name “Leica” would be difficult for any non-photographer to understand.
I loved losing my Leica virginity and look forward to the private indoctrination ceremony whereby masked Leicaphiles brand you with a Red dot (the Leica trademark). Here are some of the images I took from around of only four natural double-arches in the world (where one arch ends with the beginning of another arch).
More of My Leica Images from the M8
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What the Font on the iPhone
February 11, 2009 | Doug
What the Font is a website that lets you take a screen grab of text and identify the font used.
They now have an iPhone app you can use to take a picture of a magazine, book, etc and identify the font used.
If this doesn’t excite you then you are not as big a design geek as I am.
http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2009/02/11/whatthefont-comes-to-iphone/
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Digi Clean – How To Video
February 8, 2009 | Atlanta, Tips & Tech
When your CCD gets dirty on your Phase One digital back, usually you will utilize a blower bulb to expel any minor particles. If your CCD requires a more thorough cleaning I might recommend using Digi Clean.
Note that we recommend using only the “Solution B” which is an alcohol for the vast majority of cleaning. If you use Solution A which is a soap you will have to clean with Solution B several times to remove Solution A. So Solution A should only be used when the sensor has some form of (non abrasive) guck on it rather than just some stubborn dust.
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Focal Length Equivalent Calculator
February 3, 2009 | Tech Features, Tips & Tech
A normal lens is a normal lens is a normal lens… except when it’s not. When using film, the size of the film determines what a normal, long, and wide lens are. An 80mm lens is long when using 35mm film, normal when using 120 film, and short when using 4×5 film. Using a digital back is no different. A P45+ or P25+ is roughly 3mm smaller on each side than 645 film.But if you’re used to 35mm or large format, then you may have a hard time adjusting. This calculator is designed for people who know one lens system really well (e.g. large format lenses for 4×5 film), and want a quick way to find out what the equivalent lens is when using a Phase One digital back. Simply enter a number into the blue under the system you know, and all equivalent lens for each system will appear in the yellow. Below is a screenshot of the calculator displaying the equivalent of each system of an 80mm lens using 120 (i.e. 645) film. Download Calculator (Excel Format)
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Release Notes
- July 14, 2008 – Added P65+- October 14, 2008 – Added Leica S2
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C1 4.6.1
February 3, 2009 | Tips & Tech
Capture One 4.6.1 was released last week with improvements to processing of P65+ files.We’ve had several customers with hard-to-pin-down issues with 4.6.1 which were solved by fully uninstalling and then reinstalling 4.6. In particular several users had their processing queues freeze mid-processing.Since 4.6.1 only addresses P65+ issues we recommend customers continue to use Capture One 4.6 which can be found on the Software Archive at PhaseOne.com.
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