Those of you that used the older 17-70 will most likely enjoy this new version as well as it’s now more of an EX lens although no EX branding on it. The build quality is very high and it’s bit heavy and feels very solid. It’s like a bigger brother to the current 18-50 2.8 EX – same materials but a bit longer and fatter. Both lenses can produce stunning captures.

Full size version

Full size version

Full size version

(another, ISO400 with OS on) View big. (notice that focus is slightly behind)

Full size version

The quality produced by this lens is quite extraorinary, to be a none EX lens and a zoom.

Full size version (look at his chest!, that’s where focus is)

Full size version

Final verdict will as you might understand comes later when I have the “real deal” to play with but what’s seen so far is pretty amazing. Good stuff! Just take a look at this last picture of the trees, detail is not bad and I’m told that it might give up to four full stops of stability. I did get some 1/10s shots that I might show later using ISo3200 (very dark environment) and they looked very nice! :) Me like.

(above taken by Linn with DP2)

I thought I was smart – and the setup looked advanced enough but in the computer I realized that this type of paper and light coming from the side isn’t working. That was yesterday, so yesterday! Today I tried another way.

(Above taken with iPhone)

By using my own computer as a light table and light from a big window I got a shadow free result. If you want to try you can make a white image and use it in the screen saver.

Still, it’s hard to get the “white” feeling that rice paper has – the second picture was easier as it didn’t have as “fine” light details as the first one. If you have any good idea about how to do a better job, please tell me. And Yes, I tried many different exposures and it’s pretty easy to go over the edge so to speak. I can give you the raw if you want to have a go. :)

(in Sigma Photo Pro)

Perhaps the last one is even too white and I’m not sure it’s even in perfect focus. hehe. I photoshoped the wrong version. grr

Linn doing her thing, actually, she’s painting the front of our wedding invitation card. Jaij! She’s a really talented painter in case you didn’t know.. maybe I’ll post some of her works.. :)

Raw Developer is my preferred tool when dealing with images that I think of in terms of black and white and the SD14 is my preferred camera. Last week I had one of my studio classes (that’s when we did the milk thingi) I took some shots when preparing the light – also because I wanted to test a lens that I’ll come back to later.  Raw Developer has lots of interesting settings to play with – today I played with the curve tool and “lightness” channel. Recommended!

This whole post is Bob’s fault and can be viewed as full size (some saved at 200%)

And some in color: (Photo of Dad is ISo200 with noise reduction turned off)

Last shot has been saved at 200% size – Have a look!
OBS! Noise reduction is turned off.. (on all above images)

As many of you know, I’m a full blood lover of Sigmas smaller cameras – the DP1 (24mm) and DP2 (42mm) – Cameras known for their extremely nice optics and fantastic sensor.

Now, the DP1s was introduced not long ago and for me it was a disappointment as it didn’t get the TRUE II that we love from the DP2 – and it also lacked those cool color modes that many of us discovered as fun and useful. And the last part, with heavy use of both DP1 and DP2 you soon realize that different buttons doing different things on two similar looking cameras is very frustrating. And the DP1s didn’t change any of this. Dp1s did get a better coating and therefore getting better coloristics.

Now, The DP1x comes with answers! Both the TRUE II processor as well as a new AF algorithm, providing high speed auto focusing. In addition, the user interface has been unified with the DP2 series by changing the Set Up Menu and adopting the QS (Quick Set) button. Finally both cameras can be handled without making life hard! In addition to the addition there is a new power save mode that enabled a greater number of pictures be taken on a single charge.

Back of both DP2s and DP1x:

The DP2s has all the goodies from the DP1x added and both cameras can do ISO50 all the way up to ISO3200 in RAW mode and finally Sigma has introduced a new very welcome slider in Sigma Photo Pro 4, a noise reduction slider! This will greatly enhance photo processing in the future for all of Sigmas cameras. At least we hope they will enable the slider for all and not only TRUE II equipped models.

Sigma!
Still there is no monochrome WB mode! Why you say, there is a black and white mode? Yes, up to ISO800 and only when using JPEG. Now, true black and white artists uses RAW only – and seeing the world in black and white when you want black and white result is MUCH better then the current noisier color view when shooting in bad lit situations. So, PLEASE Sigma – add monochrome white balance mode! It’s so simple and yet sophisticated and will truly help a lot of photographers to further enjoy your amazing cameras!

Please Please Please!

:)

Full size: Coffee and milk (ISo200) | Moon above house | Big snow (ISO100)

Then, SD14 + 17-70 and 50mm 1.4 (ISO400). Oil paint shots are both ISO50

Full size: Dad, the man. (ISO400) | Mom, the women. (ISO400) | Tools of art F5 (ISO50)

And some more DP2

Above as full size

And finally some SD14 + 50mm 1.4

Farmer as full size

All images can be found as full size at flickr.com/rytterfalk

Kazuto Yamaki, Coo Sigma Corp. Photo Carl Rytterfalk, Photokina 2004

Interview made by Dpreview.com.

From an interview made yesterday with Sigma COO Kazuto Yamaki, Yamaki said “Sigma plans to make a mirrorless, interchangeable lens camera with one of its Foveon sensors, the company’s Chief Operating Officer has told dpreview.com”

Now, that’s cool and something that many of us has been wishing for since the release of the DP1 – and perhaps even more so when competition became harder. Jealousy. ;)  Now, he then continue the interview by talking about the new FLD glass that they have developed in cooperation with Hoya. This is all good folks, Sigma is really trying hard to satisfy it’s current SA user base. :) Now, I need one of those Tilt and Shifts too! And a really fast wide angle alternative, preferably a high end prime. A 12mm 1.4? Yes.

In the end another classic statement was made and this is perhaps why I’m staying with Sigma, I Quote  ‘They are working very hard to try to make the best ever Foveon sensor for high end cameras.’

MmMmmm, that’s such sweet words to my ears. Hopefully some fruit is out in a not too distant future! Future IS bright :D  And, Thanks Ted Johnson for the heads up! And for your Leica X1 vs DP2 comparison. If you wish to share it, please do so as a comment. :)

The Nikon has been shot at F10, the Sigma at F8. Nikon with ISO200 and Sigma at ISO100. (ISO200 is standard on the D90). Also, notice that the Sigma is slightly closer. Nikon is set at 66mm and Sigma at 50mm. So the Sigma’s at maximum zoom level (which normally is a disadvantage).

Sigma on the left, Nikon on the right.

You can’t click the above shot to zoom in, but the other two shots below.  Notice that the Sigma has no extra sharpening applied. Just standard from SPP3. Nikon is sharpened normally in Lightroom 3.

Sigma with 4.6MP | Nikon at 12,3MP (here at 100% crop - click for full)

At 200% crop | Sigma processed using Sigma Photo Pro, Nikon using LR3 (click for full)

Conclusion?  Those 4.6MP’s are truly insane!

New comments added in GREEN further down!

The SD15 has taken a very long time to find it’s way out and during the long wait many of us has asked Sigma for some specific changes to be made from a SD14 point of view.We already knew that they wouldn’t use their next generation sensor but instead use the current SD and DP sensor but with the new image processing engine seen in DP2. And with magic image quality seen by todays cameras we can be certain of seeing improved magic!

So, here’s the main news, and I’ll try to comment a little on each

SD card
The SD15 adopts the SD card (compatible with SDHC) which is also used with the DP series of Sigma cameras, improving convenience to users of both camera systems.

My comment: This is actually something I wished for, SD’s are growing in size and speed and are now available as 30GB with 30mb/s and there is no real reason to stay with CF. Also New mac’s comes with SD reader built in. :D Saving speed should be similar to that of the DP2 and if that’s the case then 21 images will be cleared in about 21 x 2.6s = 54s. In reality my guess is that you will never notice a full buffer. Why? Because camera saves images when you’re shooting too. So this is all great news! :)

21 frames can be captured continuously in RAW mode
The SD15 is equipped with DDR II buffer memory which is twice as large in capacity as the SD14’s buffer. The camera’s high-speed image processing circuits are capable of handling the large data files generated by the high-resolution 14 megapixel sensor. The SD15 features a continuous shooting speed of 3 frames per second with up to 21 RAW Images that can be captured in continuous shooting mode.

My comment: 21 frames is a HUGE improvement from todays 6 images – and if it really can do 3fps – which was never really true with the SD14 which was closer to 2.3 – then I think we have a winner! I’d love to have 5fps but it seams like I can’t get everything. :) Oh. btw, the Nikon D3 and the SD15 now has the same amount of internal memory.

77-Segment AE Sensor
The SD15 features a new 77-segment AE sensor which allows advanced AE algorithms, improving exposure accuracy. Exact control and collaboration with the AF point ensures the camera exposes accurately even in difficult lighting conditions.

My comment: I’ve shot with lots of different cameras over the years and one thing that the Sigma does great is metering. And with this improved 77-segment AE sensor I’m sure it gets even better.  The Canon 7D has 63 segments and well, perhaps it doesn’t say much but it’s definitely a step up from 8-segments in the SD14!

Large, highly visible 3.0” TFT color LCD Monitor
The SD15 camera features a 3.0 inch TFT color LCD monitor. This 460,000 pixel resolution LCD monitor benefits from a wide viewing angle, making it easy to check focusing and composition. It is possible to review the captured images with a Contact-Sheet View (nine thumbnail images), Single-Image View or Zoomed-In View (it is possible to select the magnified area by using the 4-way controller). While reviewing images, it is possible to display the detailed shooting information such as shutter speed and F-value by pressing the INFO button.

My comment: 460,000 is a definite step up from 150,000 that the SD14 has. 3″ is also a an improvement from todays 2,5″ – I’m sure everything will look a lot better on this screen. But where is the Live view? They know how to do this as they already made DP’s with it. hmmrpf.

New, intuitive user interface
The improved user interface provides faster and more convenient operation of the camera. The Quick Set button activates the display of the most commonly used camera functions such as Color Mode, White Balance, Image Quality and Image Size on one screen. The 4-Way Controller ensures faster operation of these features. The FUNC button enables functions such as Flash Mode and Synchro Mode.

My comment: Well, this is all good, but has to be operated I guess. Will get back to this.

Improved Auto Bracketing function
In addition to the usual three frame bracketing, five frame bracketing has now been added to the Auto Bracketing function. It allows users to get a more detailed and accurate exposure.

My comment. Yes, this is exciting news and something I’ve been wishing for a long time! Together with a 21 image buffer I can already see those nice HDR panoramas coming to life. But why stop at 5 frames when you have a buffer of 21? I’d like to see 7 and 9. :) Not sure if I’ll ever need that many but it’s nice to get that perfect rolloff when doing HDR photography.

Dedicated rechargeable battery with a large capacity
The dedicated BP-21 Lithium-ion battery is supplied as standard with the SD15. It is possible to shoot approximately 500 images on one full charge. The battery takes about 120 minutes to fully charge with the supplied BC-21 Battery Charger. The optional AC Adapter SAC-4 enables the Sigma SD15 to obtain power from the main supply.

My comment: If you can get 500 shots from a single battery, then that’s great news! We should of course only compare to Sigmas here becuase if we compare to Nikon then we still have a long way to go. I wonder how many shots we’re able to squeezes with the additional battery pack?. :) My Vertical grip / battery pack is always on and I’m not sure If I can get 500 images with two batteries on the SD14

Article continued..

TRUE II image processing engine
The SD15 incorporates the “TRUE (Three-layer Responsive Ultimate Engine) II” image processing engine which improves the processing speed and overall image quality. The unique image-processing algorithm provides high resolution power and reproduces high definition images with richly graduated tones.

My comment: This is the same engine seen in the DP2, and the DP2 has delivered very nice image qualities – even surpassing the SD14 in many cases (perhaps I should study this closer?!). Pretty amazing what you can do with data from the same sensor. Also, speed is of importance! Especially in an SLR type of camera.

ISO50 available
It is possible to select ISO sensitivity value from 100 to 1600. When the camera is in the extended mode, ISO 50 and ISO 3200 can be selected.

My comment: If you haven’t had a chance to enjoy the Silky smooth ISO50 taken with the DP2 then you really need to check these out. This is all good but what I also want is a monochrome white balance mode to be selected (or that I can select) when using higher ISO. Please Sigma, add this! It’s sooo helpful. You can select monochrome picture mode if you’re shooting JPEG’s – which I never do – but that mode is disabled if you go above ISO800 on the DP2. Now, this might be different on the SD15 but I doubt it.

Why? Carl, Why? I feel much more keen on higher ISO’s if I see the final image on LCD in monochrome white balance (WB means you can still go back to color if wanted in SPP4) – I get uncomfortable seeing less than perfect white balance or noise or whatever on the LCD. Especially when shooting musicians with a heavy change in light and colors and dark alleys at night with really really bad street light as main light source or even in a dark church trying to shoot a wedding without a flash and using high ISO. Please Sigma! This is important to me. :´(

Also – I want AutoISO – All the way (50-3200) and with full manual control so that I can decide what my lowest shutter should be, or what thumb rule it should follow. (like using a 70-200 and when using 70mm, then 1/80s is my lowest, but if I zoom in to 200mm then 1/200s is my lowest. etc)..

AFE（Analog Front End)
AFE (Analog Front End) converts the color data, which full-color capture systems record, to a digital signal. This enables the camera to reproduce high definition and richly colored images.

My comment: This sounds very cool, AFE!! Have no real clue yet about what it does but it sounds good. I seems like it will produce very good, rich colored images. :)

Bright viewfinder image by the incorporation of a pentaprism
The SD15 features a pentaprism viewfinder with 98% (vertical and horizontal) coverage, 0.9x magnification and an 18mm eye point. A diopter adjustment is also equipped which can be adjusted from -3 to +1.5 dpt.

My comment: On paper same as SD14.. Was hoping for something bigger here – not that todays is bad in any ways but hey, I want it round too, as Nikon F90.

Two motor systems for the prevention of camera shake
Two motor systems are driven by the mirror-drive and shutter charge which lowers the vibration of the mirror movement, preventing camera shake.

My comment: I was searching old SD14 information PDF’s etc to find out if this is same as on the SD14 but this looks like something new. And as you might know the SD14 has a VERY SILENT shutter already! It’s a joy to use on weddings in churches etc (especially compared to Canons and Nikons that sound more like machine guns) – Lower vibrations are always welcome and I know this was a real problem back with the SD9/10. Not so much with the SD14.

SIGMA Photo Pro 4.0 (supplied)
The supplied image processing software of “Sigma Photo Pro 4.0” converts RAW data quickly and easily. Incorporation of a new noise reduction algorithm reduces Chroma and Luminance noise when processing X3F files taken at ISO400 or more. It is possible to adjust the level of reduction for noise just by moving the slider in the control pallet. This software is compatible with multi core CPU’s, ensuring high speed image processing. It also incorporates functions such as Loupe, slideshow, Printing, JPEG conversion and batch white balance settings.

My comment: YES, finally I can adjust noise reduction to my own liking! I also hope that it’s as fast as it sounds. On the Mac, SPP has been a really slow beast and has often been beat by the windows counterpart even running side by side on a Mac running windows in VMWare. I have high hopes for this enhanced version! –

Also as a side note – the function to extract JPEG’s from the raw actually means that you’re always shooting RAW + JPEG when RAW is selected. This is true with the SD14 too but even more so with this new SPP4 as it gets easier to extract the jpg from the RAW file.

Plus, Right now we’re in the middle of the coldest winter in about two hundred years in Sweden and cold means bad battery performance. And bad Carl performance. I hate being out in the cold taking pictures. China where are you? My city in China is Kunming, and they have the hottest winter in many many years. Instead of the normal 10C they now have more than 23!

Finally, with the announcement of EX OS lenses we’re in for an exciting spring / summer and I feel that my up’n’ coming weddings must have the SD15 to work and I badly want all those new lenses. Linn?? :D

SD15 special site : www.SIGMA-SD.com/sd15
SD15 product page : www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/camera/sd15/index.htm

Now, I wanted to make a little test – I was at the dentist this morning and in the waiting room I painted this colorful tree image – first using sketchbook and later using brushes. I used three painting tools – the pen, the brush and a spray. Pen for outlines, brush for background and spray for the foggy effect. And the way that oil brush thing works is very different from app to app. Also I noticed that it’s nearly impossible to make dots in Brushes, you have to make the dot as a tiny line in order to make it work. In Sketchbook it’s very easy. I tried to show that by adding some stars and some, not sure, mosquito looking things on the right side of the foremost tree.

Conclusion..
Sketchbook:
Gives more realism, better brushes and more sensitive to small touches. You feel and it looks like you’re actually doing something on paper.  Preferable a iPhone 3Gs should be used as it gives you more layers and bigger canvas. (I only have the old 3G model). It’s sometimes tricky to zoom in, as either the menu opens or you by mistake draw a line. Easy to fix but still irritating. This is never a problem in Brushes.

Brushes:
It feels faster, but after testing both beside each other I don’t think it is. Gives me the feeling of doing everything with a marker pen (although with more options). If you work longer with a painting you get a much better result (duh!) and you can create stunning visuals. Too bad resolution on working canvas is so low, you zoom in and everything becomes pixelated fast. The good, you can resize on the mac later with the “re-paint” function and make movies such as above. Very very cool.

Part 1 of this article..

I’ve been a long time fan of using iPhone as a painting / sketching device and I tried several software and got sort of stuck using SketchBook app which I love. Now, I’ve seen these cool videos online showing people doing speed paint – and I also saw the iPad doing some cool stuff using Brushes app, so I got it, and me like. Almost to the fully. Being an old time sketchbooker, here’s my brushes vs sketchbook impressions.

Now, as a painting tool, Brushes is good. It’s very fast and reacts instantly and directly to every touch but it never really feels like paint – not the same way as Sketchbook does. Sketchbook on the other hand is slightly slower and a little less responsive (before trying brushes I didn’t know it was “less responsive”) – probably because of the higher resolution of the “paper” but also down to the more advanced brushes. Now what brushes does is that it records all strokes made and they can later be replayed on your Mac – and your painting can be repainted on a bigger, more high resolution canvas and also saved as a quicktime movie of nearly any resolution wanted.

Above sketches are all made using Sketchbook. (except the movie, which is Brushes)

Also, in sketchbook it feels like you have a pressure sensitive pen or brush because it changes slightly with your speed of drawing and I feel I have control over a light touch and a heavy one. In brushes all strokes are precisely the same.

But, being able to make both a movie of your works AND being able to later reply that on a bigger canvas with more pixels gives the edge to brushes. THAT I want with sketchbook!

Link to Brushes homepage
Link to AutoDesk Sketchbook homepage

I visited Church the other day, was there on a photo session and just wanted to share one of the shots. Above is taken using the SD14 using ISO400 plus a lens at 31mm.

What’s interesting about this picture is that white balance I selected was fluorescent – and that gave me very good colors in Sigma photo pro. Shutter speed was 1/10th of a second. Pretty alive if you ask me! :) The blue came out too strong (from outside light) so blue has been desaturated some. If I selected auto white balance or any other more “correct” white balance then colors became more muted and perhaps a bit more correct too. boring.

Wondering where I’ve been hiding? Well, truth is that I’m planning my wedding. Plus lots of things to do. :) So if anyone wanna come to my wedding the 26/6 2010, please send me an email so I know.. Make sure to bring your camera! :D

Oh, and above shot(s) is taken a few hours ago with my young photo students. I promised them to have fun with milk one day, and today was that day. This is a series of shots put together to one. I’m not sure what we wanted, but milky was maybe the word. The guy on the pictures is Danny, he’s a musicians and was on his way to play with his band but we asked him very kindly (and I gave him cash for coffee) and he did smell a little sweet after. :D

Photo taken by Martin Carlsson using a Canon 5D Mark2

Me and my friend Martin Carlsson had one of our nerdy meetings yesterday. We didn’t have a real plan, more then go out for a session but weather was really as dull as it gets and none of us felt really happy about it so Martin came up with this truly excellent idea to try out some extreme macro using the reversed lens technique.

I thought the idea was brilliant, especially in mind that I had my trusty 70mm macro that probably would become like a microscope and what if I turned my 120-300 bigma around? Would that make me see atoms for real? I was pretty sure I would so we made a setup with my Quadra, a bunch of lenses and a VISA card. Mostly because people know what it looks like.

Now, here’s a shot with the Sigma 70mm Macro NOT reversed. You get pretty close by doing nothing, just using it as it’s supposed to be used. This is as close as you get. (and don’t you dare try using those numbers!!!)

Now I reversed it but to my surprise nothing much happened. I didn’t get any closer. hmm. I ran out getting myself a bigger gun. My 70-200mm 2.8 lens. I swong it around and it gave me less then the 70mm, at least at 200m. 70mm looked closer. So I figured that my assumption of more mm was wrong. So I got myself my 17-70. At least I could try and see if wider meant closer.

Sure enough, soon I was traveling over the VISA cards surface and maan was it a beauty. I never thought a piece of plastic could look this beautiful. Close to the same feeling looking at Avatar in 3D for the first time. :D

So if 17mm meant closer what was my next step? The 12-24 (which Martin now tried in the background) was a bit tricky because of the round frontal lens. But I did have something even wider – my 10-20!

Now, the 17mm was difficult enough to control. Every breath and dare I say heart beat effected my steadiness greatly and things didn’t get easier with the 10-20 at 10mm. It was really tricky, to give you a feeling for how shallow depth of field is I tried to catch the top of one of those small letters on the card.. See how background fades away! Nice bokeh too! :D

It was EASY to miss, either you got the top, bottom or just a big blur. All depending on who touched the table or walked the floor or if a big bird flew outside my window.

Now, what’s next? All above shots has been taken wide open. I had no idea how to change aperture on a lens that wasn’t mounted but Martin had an idea. By changing the Aperture while mounted he then pressed the “aperture test button” and while holding the button he gently released the lens and oala – aperture was still at wanted f-stop! Now things got even more interesting!

How about Linns face at f8 – f32?

Or why not some fine salt? (not sea salt or anything huge like that)

Or the landscape of a swedish 20kr bill? And yes, the black part of the image was me not holding the reversed lens perfectly aligned. It wasn’t that easy!

And finally Martin started staring into a good old light bulb – as if the quadras flashes and strong LED wasn’t enough disturbing. I’m pretty sure Martin took some better shots with his 5D but here’s my only sharp one. Or at least, a bit sharp. Lamp never stood really still and it was terribly hard to take a decent shot.

But I got pretty close! :)

Alright, if you have your own shots to share, then please do! (it’s easy to do when you post a comment).

How many photos can one take of a bridge, I asked myself. It was freezing, some time after 8:00 and the strong snowy wind never took a breather. Lucky me I had lots of clothes and a warm car to return to in case I had a near death experience. Oh, and Martin was there too, another photographer using the little DP1, the PEN and a Canon 5D M2. My bag was filled with three lenses and a trusty SD14. Oh, four lenses.. The fourth being the one I’ve used most of the time. A very nice zoom lens that I will get back to later.

Above shot only to demonstrate what things looked like for us. Shot taken with the new lens using ISO800 to get a fast(er) shutter speed. (1/60s)

We had decided to go out this morning a couple of days earlier we saw on the weather report that it would be very cold. Maybe down to below -20C we had hoped to get frosty trees in morning sunlight but instead we got cloudy, windy and around -12C (10,4 F). And the beautiful frost was nowhere to be found except in it’s more boring form. Oh, yes. We got real star shaped snow flakes on the lens, over and over and over again! :D

And that bridge, Tjörnbron as it’s called here.

I played around a bit with WB to see what could be made, but it never really looked warm and cozy did it?

Above is 12-24. Color from picture to picture has a slight different tone change and I think it’s because clouds where sometimes not as thick and sky had this yellow / magenta tint – and sometimes it was just very very gray. We hoped to get a clear sky, and it felt like there was a possibility a couple of times but it ever happened. Instead we got these shots that could have been soo much more fun – but well. :) Still OK I think.

Here’s some other shots.

View full size. Taken with the other lens..

Above: just some shots taken with the new lens. Also higher ISO is used on the BW version. ISO800+

Below: Shutter speed demonstration. :) What does ISO100 look like compared to ISO1000+? Shutter speed color: 1/25s, the black and white version: 1/800s. Oh, and below you also see a 100% crop of each example.

And now, give it up for the mighty Sigma 12-24mm!!! (and the Cokin ND4 filter, and well, the holder is included as well!!) :) Why use a ND filter a day like this you might as.. Well, answer is two things: For fun and to get less “in air” snow. These shots has around 2s of shutter speed and therefore snow isn’t visible the same way.

Over and out. Hope you enjoyed my boring day shots. :D Not easy to be creative a day like this but we had fun. At least with the driving part. Hand brake corners!!!

All above shots can be viewed full size in this flickr set. Should be viewed full size if you wanna see snow in it’s full glory.

Happy New Year 2010!! Well, I’m late, I know. But I just came back from celebrating the new year up at my big sisters place in Brålanda. It’s so far away from everything and Internet hasn’t reached them just yet.. (not). I’m not too often up at her place, it’s a 100km drive (that’s the only good excuse I have not to go there more often and I know she reads this)..

Ah, and you might wonder why I have no splendid pictures of cool firecrackers – Well, it all comes down to luck and really, really bad timing. In Brålanda (a small town of what seams to me to be around 10 people) people have firecrackers but they all live randomly around my tripods position and none of them had ANY understanding of photography or photographers. They could have said: – I’ll let another rocket up right now, and I’ll wait for your signal Carl. But no, they just let them up a little here and there and always in the wrong direction from where I stood with my 20-30s exposure.

Oh well, there is always another one coming!

Now, all these shots has been taken with my Sigma SD14 – some of them using the 120-300 and others using a new lens that I will get back to in a while. (all wider shots). 90% has been developed using SPP with minor adjustments using LR3 before flickry upload. The rest (two shots) has been developed using Silkypix.

Flickr gallery with all shots in full size.

(All above shots except the bird has been shot using the other lens..)

Now, the new year started with lots and lots of snow. We had to stay one extra day because of it. Below you’ll find “extra day with snow and my sisters family”, pictures.


Above shot taken in high speed inside car – zooming out with speed (ever tried that??) trying to get a stable shot.

This guy was driving on a road and he really had no clue where the road was and ended up in the ditch. We stopped and helped. We’re sooo good. :D (Linn helped too) – and YES I do know that car is in focus and not the guys eyes! :P

Not sure how to make a correct white balance when it’s taken when it’s really dark and really cold. This shot is hand held at ISO400 and 1/10s and is mysteriously sharp. hmmm… :)

(Last one is a 100% crop of the picture before that – Snow gives the shot a almost painted effect that I like). :)

Listen to: Autumn depression

Our family has this Christmas gathering right now and my little sister who has this beautiful voice has made her very first own song and recorded it by herself. She’s playing all instruments and singing all voices. :P Please enjoy!

(picture above is painted by me just now using my favorite iPhone app sketch book.)

This video is made for Linn to show on her last day at work for colleges. But I think it might be fun for you to see it as it shows how I work a bit. :)

And here’s a picture of Linn, in case you don’t know what she looks like. She’s the shorter of them two.

I must admit, I’m still in love with how SD14 handles monochrome white balance. It’s so rich! I had three classes to photograph today and I selected a few pictures to show. Everything is shot using SD14 + 18-50 2.8 or 12-24 except the very last shot shown. ISO is set between 100 and 800. Elinchom Quadra used in some way(s) in every shot. Some shots has been perspective corrected (bw group shots) – every development is made in Sigma Photo pro. Some shots has two other shots combined inside (No, Linn has no twin sister).

Why so many black and white? The heavy yellow light made it hard to get what I wanted + that I needed to go higher with ISO as I wanted a natural light and not “flashy” as I got yesterday (see group shot from yesterday and compare with todays). Yesterdays problem was that it was way to dark outside to have any use into the scene. Today was very dark too so I put them in the window.. hehe.

In above shot I used the 12-24, and it’s not very sharp wide open so I had to use a smaller aperture – I experimented with different ones but didn’t want to go above 1s exposure. So I ended up using ISO800. But as you know, using the monochrome mode that’s never a problem. I wanted F11, but was only able to get 6.3. Worked well.

Above: I sort of wanted a serious overall look so I asked them to look .. ehh.. cool? They tried.  This particular class was pretty small so I didn’t need to go as wide as the one before so I used 18-50 – picture is wider in reality but perspective corrected to get straight lines. Do you notice any other changes made? – and 18-50 is faster and sharper than the 12-24 so I was able to do this one at ISO100 and. Jaij!

We also had lots of fun in a small studio, a bit too small for groups like above. :) Shot using the Quadra as main light from right and above. Worked out pretty good.

Below, just some extras…

This last one was shot using the DP2 and light was two 1200(w?) tungsten lights. Pretty cool but didn’t allow for magic shutter speeds – but very easy to work with, did realize how fun it was to model with it. So easy. :)

Back at Schillerska, this time taking pictures of Linn’s Chinese classes. Will go back tomorrow to take some more. Here’s a few. These has been taken with long shutter speed (2-3s) and El Quadra.. There is still lots of strong yellow light and I’ll try to shield them some tomorrow using something big protective thingi. mm.. need more assistants. :) Developed using SPP and post-developed using Lightroom.  Doing develops this late isn’t always a recommended thing.  Hope I like it in the morning too.

One problem is the huge color temperature difference between room light and flash. Perhaps I need to get some gels.

Original processed full size
Download Original RAW (Both images)

Today I had my last photo class for this term,  I brought my SD14 and the trusty 18-50 2.8. It’s a bit short to be a perfect studio lens, I often find myself a tad too close. :) I think the 24-70 might be better suited but what the 18-50 really has is a GREAT crispiness, very sharp and nice to handle. Most of the time spot on.

Also, the Japanese version of Silkypix for Mac is released (Thanks Gen!) and it’s a joy to be able to work without starting VMWare. :D – the old .dat trick works great if your Japanese is as bad as mine. Also, I now have another 30 days of fun. ;)

It’s now much faster, and most everything is better but the real-time preview when hovering on different WB’s etc is now history. Perhaps a windows only thing. Too bad.

These photos now has been developed in Silkypix and then saved as TIFF and post-processed using Lightroom 3b (that’s where I upload to flickr) – I also painted the background on each shot with a slight color of blue, different tint every time I think. hehe.. Oh well.. Only for fun.

View BIG version..

And for everyone with unanswered emails – I’m about to go though everything and you’ll have your answer soon. If you think I’ll forget, please mail again. :)

Now I’m currently waiting for an SPP upgrade and a Mac version of Silkypix. Life’s too slow!!!! Oh and the SD15. ;)

Now, I’ve been visiting them to help my way and I consider them all close friends. I hardly showed them a camera before mostly because I don’t want anyone to think that I’ve been there because of a shot – but today I just couldn’t hold myself and I went there and took a few pictures. No one had any objections..

I brought the SD14 coupled with the 12-24mm lens and I had my friend Bengt assisting me with my quadra. I tried hard to recreate the light that I felt was in the room to begin with – and often going above 2s exposures. tricky. :)

Also all shots has first been developed using Sigma Photo Pro and then post-processed in Lightroom 3 – mostly adding vignetting and some contrast adjustments.

2 världar and Broshan (names of above guys) is about to release a new album called Hollywood and asked me if I could take their cover shot. Bob and Olga was staying at my place at the time so we decided to have some fun together. With me and Bob dealing with the camera, Olga took the job of running around with the light, light in this case is my beloved Elinchrom Quadra. It was difficult to find a good spot that was dark enough because we were limited by time – (we had about 30min). Actually we took what was closest at hand, beside the very parking lot that we were at. :) But it worked out great! Olga did a great job of light painting. (above shot is taken with a Nikon D700)

I also went to Brålanda taking this shot of one of my students there – this time using a small LED lamp that someone lent me. and then ending the whole thing with a flash from the Quadra. Above shot is developed using the latest version of Silkypix pro for Foveon. And that shot is a 30s exposure taken with the SD14. Heavily cropped too..

UPDATE: Some of these shots has now been redeveloped using Lightroom 3 beta. Just wanted to try the flickr upload function, not sure these looks any better, but contains lots more black. Previous upload was developed using Raw Developer. They’re all in full size available in my flickr account.

The other week, two of my photography students wanted to play with a home built disco strobe. A 50W light connected to a big wooden box with a car battery inside along with a mix of cables.. We turned off all light, put the camera on bulb mode (a students Nikon D60) and started shooting using a trigger.

One guy standing with the strobe controlling speed of strobe and direction – another holding something to shield the light some (barn doors), a third to hold the trigger as long as something happened in front of camera and the rest standing around waiting for their turn.

We did this for about 45minutes, continues flashing light – it was a very strange feeling to turn on the “real” light after and you could feel how much your brain had worked. Felt very very tired!. :) Almost the same feeling as going of a boat after a windy day..

So these shots of nothing serious – Jimmy, the owner of the camera uploaded some of the shots on my FTP – but unfortunately only those of me. ;)

I often discuss work with them, they’re two brilliant artists with a rare eye combined with great technical skills.

Now, during their visit in our home they showed me some photos they’ve taken for Schwarzkopf German Hairdressing Awards – photos were taken back in February but they weren’t allowed to show them in public due to the rules of the competition. But I could have a peak.

Fluid females. Photos taken with the Sigma SD14.

I remember that my first feeling was, oh, such nice light – perfectly lit and great focus on hair. Cool expressions from models, dead cool! Soon I had too look again, something was wrong, (right) and I saw that one of them must’v had some body paint or something. Looking even closer I saw some drops hanging in mid air from one of the girls cheek and I soon realized that it was liquid. I don’t know if Olga perhaps told me before I fully understood but oh how cool I thought it was. Is! If a jaw can drop, this was it!

Now I begged them to tell me how, and we talked for hours about how these shots saw the light of day and I was totally inspired! I’ve been waiting for them to be able to publish them somehow and not only that, here’s an article with a “how to” guide so you can – at least try – your own liquid person!

A huge thank you to Olga Vasilkova and Bob Van Ooik for sharing their work and this article on how they created magic!

“how to” liquid Females article.
V-Studio international. The blog.

Download the original output from Final Cut – 1280×720 – less compressed than youtube version and more smooth in playback.

So how do I like the 5D Mark II compared to what I’m used too? Well, first of all – it’s a great tool! It’s easy to work with even if I’m missing some buttons – as a movie camera it’s great! After a day or two you feel that you have it all under more or less control and you can start to relax. It’s such a nice feeling to be able to go up to ISO6400 (or even higher) and still feel OK – and in really bad light too!

But, as a still camera even in good light I don’t like the output as much. I can’t get “that” from it – and I’m not that impressed with the 21mp resolution. Strange feeling zooming in to these large files and feel like like there should be more. Never feel perfectly satisfied. Oh well. The burden we three layer lovers have to bare.

But when light is bad, and ISO goes up then it leaves my Sigmas in the dust – you can take brilliant shots in ISO3200 (didn’t try much higher, only with video) and I always felt secure without extra light or the need of a flash. So would I like to own one myself? For sure! I can easily imagine myself doing weddings filming and taking pictures at the same time. At least try. :) Especially inside church where I today feel a bit bound by Sigmas bad light performance. But why is Canons shutter so loud?? aaaaa

I haven’t worked much with Sigma Photo Pro (SPP) in a long time, mostly because Silkypix has come out and some recent shoots had to be developed quickly and at those times Lightroom comes in handy. But tonight I gave SPP a chance to show it’s true self – These are developments exported as 16bit tiffs and post processed in Photoshop using Nik Viveza. It’s fair as Lightroom has tools very similar to what’s possible in Viveza.

You find Lightroom 3 beta versions here.

View this shot as full size too..

And this one. :)

Dp1 – Original

In one of our trips we went to the small island, Åstol. It has 200 inhabitants and is very beautiful. These shots I took with DP1 and DP2 – used Sigmas polarizer and Cokin ND graduated filter. And of course a tripod. :) Weather was really boring, cloudy and cold. Pretty windy too.

So, looong shutter speeds as I used maximum aperture for all nature shots. (1-4s) Why? To make water look cool! :D ISO50 and 100 used. Oh, and Adobe Lightroom 3 has developed all shots.

DP1

DP1 – View original

DP1

DP1 – Full size Original (Bob and Olga is sitting somewhere in this shot!)

DP2 – Full size Original

DP2 – Full size Original

Åstol seen from Google Earth.

Tuesday evening Bob van Ooik, Olga and Anastasia Vasilkova showed up – on Linns birthday. They stayed a couple of days and we had no real plans more than having a great time. They followed me to my photography classes for young people, and my new film making class. And not only that, we also took a cover photo for a music album – a local rapper that I’ve shot in the past – and we painted with light – you know long exposure and then try to make things look nice running around with the light when it’s dark outside. Really cool. :D But I can’t really show that just yet.

This shot is taken with Sigma DP1 and by Linn. The rest above is taken with the Nikon D700.

We also went to the ocean where we played with my Elinchrom Quadra. Bob brought his D700 (perhaps it belongs to both?) and I enjoyed playing with it a lot. It’s fun with full 35mm and the possibility to shoot when it’s really really bad light. Oh, and it’s so fast too! :D

Olga painting my students while I’m taking a 30s shot.

Above shots are taken at one of my classes, all taken with the D700 – at ISO ranging around 4000-6400. Pretty amazing really. They would probably look better too if I was used to dealing with Nikon raw and if I used other software then Lightroom. :)

If you want to visit Bob and Olgas homepage click here!

Canon 1D Mark IV video example by Vincent Laforet..
If you can’t play, go here to his smugmug page or his blog.

Nikon D3s video example Video example from Vincent Munier..

Impressive, isn’t it? Consider that both these cams can go all the way up to ISO102400, which is really insane! Compared to RAW footage possible with a RED, above shots still looks good but somewhat video. Did you notice how Canon footage look Canon? A special brownish tone to skin and enviroment that’s always there in low lit situations. Still impressive. :)

Red one footage: Right click and save as!
(HD720, h264 around 500MB size, but well worth looking at) – Oh, the Mysterious-X is on it’s way too – the next generation sensor from RED that will be even more impressive. Starting at a clean ISO800. You surely need lots of ND’s to do outdoor footage with any depth. You can follow some of that here.

Now, looking at all these mighty riders in shiny armor – when do we see the Foveon sensor do film? (except DP) It would probably not be able to go as high ISO wise but colors and definition will surely be in another league. Especially if it will be able to record in some type of RAW format. Should be possible if you consider what RED team has been able to do.

I still enjoy the possibilities provided by the DP1 and DP2 – and it shows that it’s possible. But still, resolution is way too low. :(

Sigma DP1 – my Sigma AML-1 lens adapter review (sorry, nothing new to share).

I’m sorry for not being very clear when speaking. I hardly hear myself sometimes. grr.

Silkypix Original

EDIT: Now LINKS ARE FIXED FOR REAL! Man that was tricky. :D Now you can switch between shots easily.
Raw file for download here!

It’s quite a big difference if you click between. Especially at skin tones / skin contrast and the blue thingi. In Silkypix you have so many options – and it’s easy to loose yourself in all possibilities. The blue has been desaturated using the special color wheel and lightened and all green tones has been moved towards a greyish saturation as well as little magenta.  Also noise reduction has been reduced quite a lot as blue has a tendency to bleed. Why I have no idea, something with the noise reduction in Silkypix. Raw Developer has a better solution I think.

To be fair, SPP (Sigma Photo Pro) is made with more or less one click. Nothing really changed. I use florescent WB with a warmer touch using color wheel. Other than that it’s “out of the box”.

Picture taken with Sigma 18-50ex macro.

Original

As some of you noticed we like mushrooms, and fall in Sweden is like candy store for kids. These mushrooms are called Trattkantareller in Swedish and Cantharellus tubaeformis in Latin. Now you know. And we will dry them and use them during the cold and inhuman Swedish wintertime. See above shot at original size.

Here follows some shots that been on flickr for some time, but without me saying much. These are a bit Strobist as you can see how I did most of them. :) Btw, Everything in this post is developed using Silkypix. I actually learned more on how to use Silkypix since I developed these but they’ll do for now.