Shooting Four Thirds

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Technology preview?

Submitted by Mithandir on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 01:03

With photokina 2010 near and rumours abounding about an E-3 succesor coming, I thought it might be good to take a look at some of the technology that's going to be talked a lot about in the upcoming months. Now I'm not saying any of this tech will make it in the E-3 succesor, but I feel it would be godo to make sure everybody knows what's being said. So here goes: a laymen's guide to the tech we don't have (yet).

The world as a bad lens: atmospheric distortion

Submitted by Mithandir on Wed, 06/23/2010 - 13:00

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In a forum thread somewhere, somebody asked about resolution in distant focus and that tickled me into writing this article on the influence of the environment on long tele work. I have taken several pictures of distant blobs at long focal lengths, so clearly I am the undisputed expert and my words should be taken as gospel (and if you believe that, I have several renowned landmarks for immediate sale as well).

Disclaimer: I'm not a scientist. Also, some of the science in this post has been simplified.

Ultra-quick panoramas

Submitted by Mithandir on Thu, 03/25/2010 - 05:58

Your rating: None Average: 4.7 (3 votes)

In digital photography a panorama is an image that was made up by combining several smaller images. Usually these images are a horizontal sequence, but they can be made vertically as well or even combining multiple rows. The process of glueing them together is called "stitching" and is done in special software. While this may seem like a lot of work, it really is not. This article shows you how to make stunning panoramas in minutes, without the need for bulky tripods or expensive tools.

Updated: Recycle time of the FL36R with different batteries

Submitted by Mithandir on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 12:07

Your rating: None Average: 4.9 (7 votes)

Update: Phase 2 concluded. During testing for phase 2 it became clear that the original tests for the eneloops was faulty, and that test has been redone, yielding radically different results.

Introducing macro

Submitted by Mithandir on Thu, 03/11/2010 - 09:19

Your rating: None Average: 4.8 (6 votes)

Where so far this guide has focussed on some of the rather technical aspects of photography, we're now moving on to a specific technique: macro. Macro photography is the rather confusingly named practice of taking pictures of really small things. Popular subjects are insects and flowers, but anything that is either really small or has a lot of small detail will do. The way this is achieved is by getting very close to the subject and the defining aspect of macro photography is therefor very short focussing distances.

Multi-image layouts in 4:3

Submitted by Mithandir on Mon, 03/08/2010 - 00:09

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When laying out photo books or posters, it's sometimes tricky to find a good layout that works. Here's some examples, both with gaps between the images as without.

Basic Filters

Submitted by Mithandir on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 10:04

beginner

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One of the first things a beginning photographer looks at after deciding to become more serious about taking pictures is filters. Filters change the light before it hits your sensor which allows for a great many of special and useful effects. However, if you're just getting started it can be a bit dounting to understand what each does and why you need it.

Power use of the E-3

Submitted by Mithandir on Mon, 03/01/2010 - 09:56

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About a year ago I tested the power usage of the E-510, which was interesting to me because I was planning a trip to africa at the time where every drop of battery juice counted. Hawing switched to the E-3 since, I've decided to run the same tests for the heavier camera.

While perhaps a bit esoteric for some, knowing how much power your camera actually uses in different configurations can be essential in stuations where you need to get the most out of your battery. Minimizing power usage can also speed up focussing with some lenses.

Introducing RAW

Submitted by Mithandir on Thu, 02/18/2010 - 10:27

beginner

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In digital photography a RAW image file contains a direct data dump from the sensor without any processing performed on it (other than lossless compression). A JPEG image is a development of this RAW data. This is true even when you shoot in JPEG, except there the conversion is done by the camera. A RAW image is often called a digital negative, and the process of converting it to a normal image format (say jpeg) is called developing it.

White Balance

Submitted by Mithandir on Tue, 02/16/2010 - 03:31

beginner

Your rating: None Average: 4.5 (4 votes)

When we see an object, its apparant colour is a combination of the colour of the object and the colour of the light it is reflecting. If you shine yellow light on a white object, it will look yellow. Or rather, it looks yellow for a camera. The human brain is very good at compensating for light colour changes so that white remains, roughly, white (as long as the colour of the light is not too intense). Because of this mental trickery, you probably don't realise just how big a difference there is between different light sources.

About shooting43

Shooting43.com is a resource for photographers using the four thirds system developed by Olympus, Panasonic and others. Our goal is to help people get the best out of their gear, not to have endless arguments about what brand of camera is better.

Recent blog posts

Technology preview?

Title	Updated	By
An introduction to photography	28 weeks ago	Mithandir

Title	Rating
Metering and Exposure Compensation	5
Hidden in the EXIF	5
Understanding Exposure Values (EV)	5
To be continued ....	5
Depth of Field	5
Shooting Modes	5
Updated: Recycle time of the FL36R with different batteries	4.857145
Introducing macro	4.833335
Depth of Field Calculator	4.75
Ultra-quick panoramas	4.666665

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