Comments on: Thursday News Updates

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:47:26 +0000

Al,
Check out this link for the TrekPod Go. It says it has a list of $99 http://www.pitchengine.com/free-release.php?id=29110

By: readyphotosite

readyphotosite — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:11:02 +0000

I think in-camera HDR makes sense for those who just starts experimenting with the technique.

By: Al Martinez

Al Martinez — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:27:16 +0000

You might want to check the price of the Trek Tech Go. The price stated on their website is $229.00

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:16:40 +0000

Actually your HDR request is fulfilled with the new Nikon D300s. I read in a magazine today that it has the feature that you are looking for. I think it takes 3 bracketed shots and overlays them in-camera.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:34:21 +0000

The pace of incorporation of HDR technologies into the workflow of photographers has proceeded at a blistering pace when considering that it is yet to be applied to many problems in academia. I do not fault any Japanese company for taking a long time incorporating technologies that came out less than a dozen years ago in mainstream Western journals.
You are preaching to the choir about confusing tonemapping with HDR. I own and have read ‘HDRI: Acquisition, Display, & IBL by Reinhard et al. If you have software that does allow adjustments to the actual HDR file creation process (Qtpsfgui is the only one I know that does), then you will realize that for a camera maker to incorporate HDR creation they will have to standardize on one set of parameters, which means lots of testing, or else give users the same options that are currently present in a community-built open source project (not likely!). Qtpsfgui is built for experimenting with HDR techniques that are documented in optics/computing journals, so it is likely a little too flexible and technical than is desired by most working photographers.

Finally, I don’t think anyone expected a revolution in the D3s; it is just an incremental upgrade. I think focus confirmation system improvements will be the next essential technology moving forward – I’d say either next year or 2011.

By: jeff

jeff — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:40:16 +0000

Matt, you make some great points but here’s a couple of counter-points. First, it really wouldn’t use that much battery power in the grand scheme of things. Nikon already includes a host of other post-processing options from the menu system so I don’t suspect it would be that much of a drain. Especially on a camera that utilizes the EN-EL4 battery. Second, I didn’t mention anything about tonemapping. You are making the same mistake that most do, which is to associate the post-processing (tonemapping) with the HDR process. What most people consider HDR is not a RAW HDR file but one that has been tonemapped into an 8 or 16-bit space. I was referring to the creation of a RAW file that would include an even greater dynamic range than my RAW camera files possess now. There are even plenty of HDR formats available that could be used as a container for the HDR file. Third, I’m not saying it’s coming but I think this is the type of engineering that I want in a new DSLR. Something that actually improves or expands my image making ability, not my videography. But hey, that’s just me.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:12:03 +0000

Honestly Jeff, in-camera HDR is a pretty pointless thing. Yes, it may save a few seconds of computer work, but at what cost? I’ll attempt to elaborate:
1) File size – I assume you want creation of an HDR in addition to the raw files. If you are bracketing all shots as HDR, you’ve just halved your memory card capacity
2) Battery – creation of an HDR file requires processing power. Your battery life takes an unknown hit.
3) Settings are “Baked-In” to HDR. Creation of the HDR is governed by several parameters (6 profiles are available in Qtpsfgui) including a weighting function and response curve; your software may vary
4) Different HDR file formats are capable of achieving different compression factors and dynamic ranges – sporadic bloggers will howl in protest if their pet format is not implemented
5) No ghosting or offset controls; there is no way you could effectively do this in-camera either, even on a VGA screen

Jeepers! I’m not a software engineer; I’m sure one of those could come up with at least a half-dozen other reasons that it is a truly terrible idea. Pentax K-7 uses some Mickey Mouse tone-mapping to make images look “HDR”, but does not output an actual HDR file.

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