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SONY DSC-H1 SUPERZOOM



Sony has come out with a great 5 megapixel "superzoom" camera that is arguably the best competition to the Canon S2 IS (see the post below). The image stabilized 12x zoom lens is the equivalent of 36-432mm in 35mm terms. The camera received high marks in the August 2005 issue of Popular Photography. The Pop Photo review has not yet appeared online.

DP Review gave the DSC-H1 a HIGHLY RECOMMEDED rating, their highest. The full review is well worth reading. The Canon S2 IS review is here.

Megapixel. net also has reviews of the S2 IS and the DSC-H1.

So which is better superzoom, the Sony or the Canon? Read the reviews and see what you think.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - PIKA, TUNDRA, COLORADO


Pika, Tundra, Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This pika was busy collecting "hay" for the winter. There were several constantly scurrying about collecting food. At an elevation of over 12,000 feet, there is snow cover for 8 months out of the year. They only have 4 months to collect enough food to last through the coming winter. They are about the size of a human fist. This one seemed to have a preference for the yellow flowers in the area. Located close to Trail Ridge Road, several people had gathered to watch. The most frequent cooment was "They're so cute!"

Canon 20D, 100-400mm zoom lens at 400mm.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - RED ROCK LAKE, INDIAN PEAKS


Red Rocks Lake and Indian Peaks. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.


Many of the rocks in Red Rocks Lake really do have a reddish tint, hence the name. It is popular for both fishing and photography. A lot of water lilies bloom in the summer. The Indian Peaks, named for tribes native to Colorado, form the backdrop.

Canon 20, 17-40mm lens at 38mm.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - DEAD TREE AT NIGHT, MORAINE PARK


Dead Tree at Night, Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This is the same tree in the middle of Moraine Park as the one in a prior post, but from a different angle and later in the evening. I positioned the camera so the stars and Jupiter would appear at strategic locations among the dead branches. Once the composition was determined, the photo presented some technical challenges.

There is a short window of time when the sky is dark enough for the stars to show, but not so dark as to lose the deep blue color. I also wanted to avoid too much streaking of the stars due to the rotation of the earth, so this limited the length of time the shutter would be open.

I stopped down a little from wide open to avoid "coma" at the edges of the frame. Coma is an optical distortion at the edges of the frame of virtually all wide angle lenses when used wide open. I also needed just enough depth of field so both the stars and the tree appear sharp. If I stopped down too much, the shutter speed would be too long and star trails would be the result.

Canon 20D. 17-40mm lens at 17mm. Aperture: f/5. Shutter speed: 30 seconds.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - FALL RIVER, HORSESHOE PARK


Fall River, Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Mt. Chapin is reflected in a calm stretch of the Fall River at the west end of Horseshoe Park. This spot is just west of the Alluvial Fan and on the south side of the road.

Canon 20D. 17-40mm lens at 17mm. Aperture: f/16. Shutter: 1/60 second.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - FISHING, BIG THOMPSON RIVER


Fishing, Big thompson River, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This stretch of the Big Thompson River flows through Moraine Park. My plan was to do a landscape photo. When I found this family fishing at my preferred location, incorporated them into the photo.

Canon 20D, 28-135mm lens at 80mm.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - DUSK, MORAINE PARK


Long's Peak at Dusk from Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

The sun had set and the last rays of light painted the clouds around Long's Peak. A dead tree in Moraine Park provided a frame.

Canon 20D, 17-40mm lens at 17mm. Aperture: f/16, Shutter speed: 1 second.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - RABBIT, HORSESHOE PARK


Young Rabbit, Horseshoe Park, Rocky Mountain National Park.
Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This rabbit was hiding in the grass not far the Alluvial Fan in Horseshoe Park.

Canon 20D, 100-400mm lens at 400mm. ISO 400. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/60.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - ROCKY MOUNTAIN SUNSET


Sunset, Rocky Mountain National Park. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This photo was taken from Rock Cut on Trail Ridge Road, just 12 minutes after the marmot photo in the last post. Canon 20D camera, 100-400mm lens at 210mm.

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - MARMOT


Marmot, Trail Ridge Road, Colorado. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

This marmot was laying on a rock not far from the highway at "Rock Cut" on Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Rock Cut has a parking lot, viewing area along the road, restrooms, and a hiking trail to a scenic lookout. It is a restricted area so you can only walk, hike, and photograph from the parking lot, viewing area and the hiking trail. There are other places on Trail Ridge Road where you are allowed to wander the tundra. Elevation at this point was slightly above 12,000 feet. Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved highway in the United States.

Some younger marmots had been eating and playing most of the day among the grasses, flowers and talus rocks, but they all disappeared about 7:30 PM. There were also pikas and golden mantled ground squirrels gathering food. When the young marmots left, so did most of the people. A few die hard photographers, hikers, and painters were left. This marmot came out just before sunset.

Photographed with a Canon 20D and 100-400mm lens at a focal length of 400mm (the equivalent of 640mm in 35mm film terms).

 
PHOTO OF THE DAY - RED ROCK LAKE


Red Rock Lake, Colorado. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

Red Rock Lake is west of Ward, Colorado in the Brainard Lake Recreation Area. This photo was taken at mid-morning with a Canon 20D camera at a focal length of 21mm.

 
LEARN MORE ABOUT LENSES


Downtown Columbus, Ohio at 15mm (24mm in 35mm film terms).
Canon 20D with a 10-22mm wide angle lens.

To learn more about lenses and focal lengths, go here and here.


Downtown Columbus at 185mm (296mm in 35mm film terms).
Canon 20D with a 70-300mm telephoto lens.

 
KONICA - MINOLTA 7D REVIEW


Konica - Minolta Maxxum 7D Digital SLR

Mike Johnston wrote a "Rave" review of the Konica-Minolta 7D at the Luminous Landscape website. If you have Minolta lenses for a Maxxum film body and have been thinking about getting a digital SLR, you should read this review.

There is also a review at DP Review where the K-M 7D received a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, the site's highest.

Pop Photo magazine compared this camera to several similar digital cameras. I published a summary here.

Personally, I would put a lot of weight on the reviews by Johnston and at DP Review. If you already have the lenses and you want to go digital, this is a great way to do it.

 
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - JULY 4, 1776


Fireworks over Yukon, Oklahoma. Photo copyright (c) Jim Doty, Jr.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

From the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776. Written by Thomas Jefferson (1762-1826). 3rd US President (1801-09).




To see an engraving of the original and George Washington's personal printed copy, go here.

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. —Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain [George III] is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


SOURCE: Indiana University School of Law—Bloomington

 
KODAK DISCONTINUES BLACK AND WHITE PRINTING PAPER

Kodak recently announced that they will discontinue the manufacture of black and white printing papers. This is a sad day for photography. There is nothing quite like the luscious look of an exquisite black and white photo that has been printed well on black and white paper.

I think John Sexton said it best in a recent newsletter. John Sexton does stunning black and white photography. His website is being developed here (no pun intended) and you can view some of his work here.

His comments follow.

*** *** ***

"A SAD DAY FOR PHOTOGRAPHY...EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY DISCONTINUES ALL BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER

Many readers of my email newsletter will already be aware of the news I am including below. However, I wanted to make sure that any and all photographers on my email list had heard the sad news about Kodak's recent decision concerning traditional black and white silver halide imaging.

On Wednesday, June 15, in Rochester, New York, Eastman Kodak Company, announced it would discontinue the production of all black and white photographic papers. Kodak cited "significant declines in market usage of papers designed for Black-and-White printing" as the reason for the decision. As you might imagine, this was a day of great sadness that I, along with many other photographers, will never forget.

As many of you know, I have used Kodak photographic films and papers for many years. Over the past few years, my primary printing paper preference has been Kodak Polymax Fine Art paper. I mourn its discontinuance, along with the rest of Kodak's black and white papers, and realize it will mean inevitable changes in my own photographic printmaking. I did want to assure those who have prints on order with me that I have a sufficient supply of paper to complete all existing print orders with the paper on which they were initially printed. While there are still a few other photographic papers of excellent quality available from some manufacturers, for my own personal needs I found Polymax Fine Art to be the best choice for much of my imagery. As you might imagine, I have already begun to anticipate possible alternatives.

Here are some links to news stories about Kodak's recent announcement:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050615/kodak_paper.html?.v=4

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8AO836O1.htm? campaign_id=apn_home_down

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8231657/

I wish I could say that an outpouring of letters, emails, and phone calls to Eastman Kodak might change their decision, but according to friends who work at Kodak, this is a virtual impossibility. That being said, I want to encourage all readers of this email newsletter, along with anyone with whom you might share this information, to write letters to both Daniel Carp and Antonio Perez of Eastman Kodak Company.

By writing to these individuals, I believe your thoughts should reach the most prominent people in decision making positions at Kodak. I am told that letters will be far more effective than phone calls or emails in communicating your reactions about Kodak's decision. Their respective mailing addresses are:

Daniel A. Carp Chairman
Eastman Kodak Company
343 State Street Rochester, NY
14650-0228

Antonio M. Perez
Chief Executive Officer and President
Eastman Kodak Company
343 State Street Rochester, NY
14650-0231

As I noted, I suspect there is little chance for Kodak to change direction on this decision. However, Kodak still manufactures silver halide films, as well as photographic chemicals. I believe it is imperative for the management of Kodak to realize that much greater advance warning is necessary for professional photographers and photographic enthusiasts, such as us, to plan and adjust our working methods. By choice, I have used Kodak Professional black and white films exclusively for many years. The reason for this is its impeccable quality control. To date, I have seen absolutely no deterioration in their film quality. However, I am concerned that changes could be made which might compromise the quality and consistency of their products, and I would not want to be put in a situation to have such limited lead time, if and when Kodak decides to discontinue essential products or entire product lines in the future.

I do hope that photographic manufacturers, such as Agfa, Forte, Ilford, Kentmere, and Oriental, will continue to produce fiber-base papers of high quality well into the future. To date I have never seen a black and white print from the digital domain that rivals the sensuous and tactile qualities of a well-crafted black and white silver print. Perhaps there is a company on the horizon that will see the need for an on-going truly archival photographic medium, and rise to the occasion to manufacture high quality black and white silver papers for decades to come. Let's hope so! Moreover, let's support any company that undertakes such a noble endeavor.

I hope that my next email newsletter will contain more positive news and information. I still love working in the traditional silver halide darkroom. I find there to be a therapeutic aspect to making prints by hand in the darkroom - gently "massaging" the light onto the paper, and handling those prints through the photographic chemistry. I've said many times in workshops and lectures that two or three minutes in the developer goes by much more quickly for me than fifteen or twenty seconds watching the icon of a wristwatch spin on my computer monitor. Long live silver!!!

John

CONTACT US WITH QUESTIONS, OR COMMENTS:
John Sexton
291 Los Agrinemsors
Carmel Valley, CA 93924
Voice: 831-659-3130
Fax: 831-659-5509
mailto:info@johnsexton.com
www.johnsexton.com
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Copyright © 2005 John Sexton. All rights reserved."