Presenting your best shots, get a XEED

In recent years the performance of digital cameras has jumped forward to the point that just about everyone agrees that digital is better than film, however one element of digital photography that still seems to be playing catch up is the presentation of photos to audiences. Anyone remember the days of the slide projector?

With digital cameras reaching resolutions of 15 to 20 megapixels where are the presentation and display technologies? Canon’s incredible XEED projectors offer 1920 x 1200 resolution in the incredible and pricey XEED WUX10 model, and the SX7 and SX80 models offer 1400 x 1500 resolution, but 1.5MP or 2MP is tiny in comparison to the resolution of your camera. We still wondering how long it is until projectors reach 6MP or more! However the colour and quality of image from the Canon XEED projectors is simply awesome, probably no surprise that the Royal Photographic Society have standardised on XEED projectors for exhibitions of digital work.

Canon USA have recently announced updates to the USA models of the XEED WUX10 and SX80 projector. In the USA they use the REALiS brand instead of XEED, and there’s a Mark II D version of both the SX80 and WUX10 projectors. Featuring a new DICOM Simulation image mode setting, the REALiS WUX10 Mark II D can be calibrated to the DICOM14 standard- a grayscale display standard used by virtually every medical professional that utilizes images within the medical education industry. Will the European models get the upgrade, and will it affect their ability as awesome photographic presentation devices? Who knows, we can only wait and find out.

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C and C1/C2/C3 custom modes tip

The original EOS 5D introduced the C mode to Canon DSLR cameras, and recent models such as the EOS 40D, EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II have included Custom modes, but few people use them to full effect.

There’s a small ‘wrinkle’ with the C modes as they currently stand. The C mode registration takes a snapshot of the camera configuration including custom functions and actually quite a lot of other things.

First a common story of C mode usage is that of a wedding photographer who shoots a wedding in a church. Before entering the church for the ceremony he needs to set the camera to get shots of the guests and bride arriving so he sets the camera for a ‘hopefully’ brightly lit outdoor scene. At this point store the settings to a C mode. Now he enters the church to find it’s lit by candles at the brides request and the stained glass window is blocking more light then an ND16 filter and turning it all a weird colour temperature. So indoors he needs a whole different low light setup which he sets on his camera in the normal way. So once the ceremony is over he’s walking backwards through the church door, and simply switches to the stored C mode once he’s outside to carry on shooting with his outdoor bright light setup.

If the tog had stored Av mode in his C mode then the camera will also store the aperture. Of course he can change it in the normal way, but if he is organising the formal groups and the camera powers down it will revert to the stored aperture once he touches the shutter, not the last aperture he was using so now all the groups are shot at f/2.8 instead of f/16! The best fix is to set the camera power down timer to off or at least say 15 minutes before storing the C modes. This setting is stored as part of the C mode registration. Now in C mode the camera won’t power down, or will do so after 15 minutes, and he can make changes as needed without it sleeping. However use another mode and the camera reverts to it’s battery miser ways and powers down after just one minute.

There is more you can do, a colleague bought an EOS 40D to shoot some indoor martial arts. It was fast, recommended for the job and fitted the budget. Only issue was that it seemed too slow and delivered poor results in the hands of the inexperienced photographer. He talked with a knowledgeable photographer about camera settings. The ‘knowledgeable one’ made several changes to the camera setting with high speed continuous shooting, AI servo A, small JPEG (for a website only), Tv mode, ISO auto and stored them in C1. Then the same settings with a custom function set to also allow safety shift in Tv/Av mode and this stored in C2. Now the martial arts photographer can quickly call back the wisdom of the ‘knowledgeable one’ directly on the mode dial.

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Manual movie exposure – EOS 5D Mark II – a quick tip

It’s amazing to think that the EOS 5D Mark II is still making waves like a tsunami this long after launch, but that’s really because it is just a very capable camera.

We’ve talked about the movie mode quite a lot, but looking back through the posts, there’s something we haven’t mentioned and it might just trip you up…

If you want to get manual movie exposure, you need to put the camera into M mode. Seems logical enough. However, there is a stumbling block – in the Live View/Movie mode settings, you need to make sure you select: Still+movie –> Movie display. If you choose Stills+movie –> exposure simulation, then even in Manual shooting mode, the camera will carry out the exposure adjustments for movies. 

It’s one of those quirks that could trip you up if you’re not looking for it.  So now you know!

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The Photographer’s Ephemeris

Just occasionally, you find something really useful. If you only found this blog today, then today is your lucky day because this’ll be the second really useful thing you’ve found!

As photographers, light is pretty darned important. Without it, we wouldn’t have anything to photograph (and we’d keep walking into things, but that’s another story). Knowing where the light is and what time it’ll be around can really help improve your photography, especially if you shoot landscapes. 

For years I’ve had a sunrise compass, a little device that tells me where the sun will rise and set depending on the month. It’s great when I’m in the field. But maybe I’m lazy, maybe it’s too awkward or maybe I can’t be bothered, but it never comes out when I’m planning a landscape shoot at home. 

I do use PhotoCalc on the iPhone and I love it for all the sunrise/sunset and twilight data it gives me. But it doesn’t tell me where the sun is going to come up or go down exactly. This is where the Photographer’s Ephemeris comes in. 

TPE (as I’ll call it from now on) is a small application that runs on on Adobe Air (does anyone else think that sounds quite funny?!) and as such can be used by Mac and PC users alike…and there is a Linux version in BETA. What it does is combine various bits of information into one place – sunrise/sunset/twilight/moonrise/moonset time, the direction of sunrise/sunset/moonrise and moonset, and a topographic map from google maps.

This means you can choose any date and select any location in the world and be told clear as day where the sun will rise and set. Since it’s google maps, you can choose a map view, satellite view, hybrid view or terrain view. 

Let’s for example say we wanted to plan a landscape shoot around that most photographed of mountains, Buachaille Etive Mor, on Saturday 18th July 2009. We simply select the date, find the location and place a marker there. The lines then extend out from the point showing where the sun will come up and go down. 

 So, I think you’ll agree this is a fantastic tool for any photographer, especially those working with natural light in the landscape. And do you know the best part about it? 

IT’S FREE! 

I’d have happily paid money for an app like this, and if Stephen Trainor, the photographer who has developed it can get it on to an iPhone, I’d happily part with cash for it, as I’m sure many others would too. 

What are you waiting for? Go and download it! 

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Canon announce new Selphy CP780 printer

Yesterday, Canon announced a new Selphy printer. For those of you not familiar with the Selphy range, I grant you they are more used by compact camera photographers than SLR photographers, but discount them as ‘basic’ at your peril. 

While you may feel it’s not for you, a little question: How many images do you currently print? I guess the answer for most is “Not many”. Now, if you shot film, you probably have shoe-boxes full of prints lying under the bed. It’s a fact of digital life that images these days usually end up on a computer never seeing the light of day (well, that is unless you use our photo gallery!) and a Selphy dye-sublimation printer is a good way to avoid this sad state of affairs.

For the last two years I’ve had a Selphy ES-1 which I use to print out 6×4″ pictures that I can keep in a frame for those ‘memory’ pictures. They’re not the cheapest to run, but it’s not expensive either and it’s a good, quick way to output small images to give to family and friends to remind them of happy times. 

Output is very fast, with a print coming out in around 1minute and the quality is great – and you can touch them without smudging as they have a coating applied to protect them. This latest CP780 even has an optional battery pack so you can print images wherever you are with no fuss. They’re even small enough to take with you to family get-togethers if you wanted to. 

So, although we’re more concerned with the SLR world of EOS, it’s always worth keeping an eye on what the consumers are doing as they sometimes have some good products at their disposal that we ignore for being too simple. 

Canon Press Release follows:

Introducing the SELPHY CP780: the ultra-compact, ultra-easy photo lab

United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, 10 June 2009.  Canon today

refreshes its SELPHY compact photo printer line-up with the launch of the

SELPHY CP780. Replacing the SELPHY CP760, the new ultra-compact printer

significantly improves on the printing speeds of its predecessor.

Designed for fun, affordable family printing, it provides a user-friendly

way to produce superb, lab-quality photo prints in under a minute.

Available in pink, blue, silver or white – the SELPHY CP780 also offers

fully portable printing with an optional battery pack.

Easier than ever

For ultimate ease of use, the SELPHY CP780 incorporates a user-friendly

interface, plus large buttons with a straightforward layout – allowing

anyone to start making prints effortlessly.  The large 2.5” TFT colour LCD

screen offers detailed image preview when printing straight from memory

card, with easy-to-understand instructions and menu support for 7

languages.

The SELPHY CP780 incorporates three memory card slots.  These allow direct,

computer-free printing from a wide variety of popular memory cards (The

following cards can be used without an adaptor: CompactFlash, Microdrive,

SD, miniSD, SDHC, miniSDHC, MMC, MMCplus,HD MMCplus, MMCmobile, RS-MMC,

Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo).

PictBridge compatibility means users can also print directly from most

models of digital camera. With an optional Bluetooth adaptor, prints can be

made from mobile phones and other wireless devices.

The SELPHY CP780 includes updated, easy-to-use software – SELPHY Photo

Print – which now includes audio guidance, so when users are printing from

a computer a voice provides spoken instructions.  This is particularly

ideal for children, or those new to printing.

Fast lab-quality prints that last

In as little as 47 seconds, the SELPHY CP780 prints to

a variety of different sized media, including standard postcard size or

wide photo prints, credit cards or miniature stickers.  Plus, with its fast

boot-up, there’s no waiting around for the printer to warm up – so your

photos are in your hand in seconds.

Dye sublimation technology delivers smooth, glossy results, giving finished

prints the quality, look and feel of traditional lab prints.  A special

over-coating covers the prints to protect them from spills and splashes.

Prints will retain their quality for up to 100 years  (100 year figure

based on accelerated tests. For further information see specifications)

when stored in an album.

The SELPHY CP780’s range of clever image enhancement technologies ensures

photos look their best – features such as Auto Image Correction and Auto

Red-Eye Correction automatically optimising every image.

Pricing and availability:

The SELPHY CP780 is available from mid June 2009 priced at £129.00 /

€149.00 RRP inc. VAT. 

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