Cameras

For most photographers, Photoshop is one of, if not the primary tool used to make adjustments to digital photos. It’s their darkroom, allowing creativity and correction for mistakes made in, or uncontrollable situations while shooting. Additionally, it can be used to black and white, sepia and other color conversions, selective color, blemish removal and removing red eye. With every release of Photoshop, more tools are available, making the toolbox grow and the editing abilities near endless. That’s not to say every filter and every option should always be used, there are some things that are just a crime in Photoshop.

Saving over your originals is one of the things I’ve always been conscious of not doing, but in talking with other photographers, they apparently do it on a regular basis. Perhaps it comes from a bad habit formed from writing long papers in school and always hitting cmd (ctrl for you Windows folks) + S while writing that translated over to Photoshop for saving while in progress. No matter what, you should never save over your original files!

Upsizing your files is never a good idea, no matter what! Upsizing is a term used when you resize an photo (Image > Image size) to a dimension larger then it was originally shot in, usually for printing. Some printers set a minimum suggested size for larger prints, one that exceeds that of most digital cameras. What I mean is, a Printer might be looking for a preferred digital photo that is 6000 9000 @ 300 DPI for what it would consider an amazing print. By the math, that’s a 54MP camera would be needed! The reality is, most DSLRs on the market 10mp and higher are more than capable of producing stunning 20 30 prints provided the exposure was done well and the ISO isnt’ too high. Don’t ever upsize your photos, all you’ll get is a monstrous file that has no more real data in it, but looks more pixelated.

HDR‘ing photos to death. High Dynamic Range is a wonderful thing, however it’s often over-done and leaves less than pleasing results. If you totally lose the highlight and / or shadow detail, have a glowing effect around any part of the image or it starts to look more like a painting, you are probably abusing the HDR functionality in Photoshop. There is a time and place for HDR, but the over-kill that is showing up on the Internet is not the best use of it.

Photo by Toni_V

Using the erase tool instead of masking is one of the biggest mistakes photographers make while editing. Most photographers have learned to manipulate Photoshop, originally a graphic design tool, and learned on their own how it works. The erase tool makes sense, it simply erases. Utilizing masks takes a bit of understanding but is far more flexible and does far less damage.

Not utilizing smart filters leaves your original file in tact, and editable. Utilizing them in your work-flow is simple and easy to do. Select the layer you want to apply to and go to Filters > Smart Filters and it will convert the layer into a smart object.

Shortcuts in Photoshop are huge time savers and learning them, even the most basic ones, will drastically speed up your work-flow. Most all menu systems in Photoshop tell you the shortcut when you select it with the cursor, but a complete list of all versions of Photoshop (excluding the newly released CS5) can be found here.

Photo by Andrew*

Grayscale is not the best B&W conversion tool available in Photoshop. Many new users of Photoshop convert color photos to black and white via the Image > Mode > Grayscale option. This result is muddy and has no real tonal quality to it. There are far better ways, actions and plugins to help convert your color photos to black and white that will create stunning photos, not muddy, dull and boring black and whites.

Photoshop is an intense program that I honestly don’t think anyone ever masters. That’s not to say you can’t use it to the best of your ability, learn a few things and avoid damaging your images or outputting poor quality work. For me, Photoshop is an ongoing learning process and I’m guilty of making most of these mistakes at least once over the last 12 years or so. Learn, progress, improve and move on.

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If you’ve been able to get your hands on one of these, consider yourself lucky. After driving to most every electronic store I knew of and still not being able to get a hands-on feel for this new camera, I decided to take the plunge and make my order on Amazon. Now, after using it on a recent excursion to Ireland, I wonder why I ever hesitated. Hold on for a quick dive into the micro 4/3rds camera experience. (Scattered around are some sample images minor adjustments done in LR.)

Since deciding to become a “pro” photographer specializing in weddings and portraits some years back, I have always been keenly aware of industry developments in the photographic field. Primarily I kept my ear to the ground to what the big players like Canon and Nikon were doing. I made the financial commitment to Nikon, but both were leading the pack in new developments. Somehow, amidst all the hustle and bustle, I had been ignoring the 4/3rds movement that was starting by the likes of Olympus and Panasonic. I had come across various announcements and brushed them off for another low-end product that couldn’t compete with my high-end gear. But, as a frequent traveler, who also likes packing light, my wife and I have been in the market for a more compact camera, but we’re also spoiled with our DSLRs. I felt I was between a rock and a hard place. I couldn’t bear the thought of pushing the shutter release button, then counting to 10 as my perfect composure fell apart before my eyes and then seeing my camera finally flash. Then looking at the final image in all its grainy glory and wishing I had lugged my heavy D700 and lens assortment along just for that missed shot.

Enter the . Before our recent excursion to Ireland, my brother was debating on whether to buy one of my older Nikon bodies (D200) or spring for one of the new micro 4/3rds mirror-less cameras. I gave him my two cents but he went for the Panasonic and brought it along. Fortunately for me, this meant I had less gear to lug around. For those not familiar with this type of camera, a little explanation is in order.

What’s 4/3rds?

The is the third camera in Panasonic’s Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. This latest model in the Lumix range from Panasonic is said to be the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens system camera with a built-in flash capability. Although the Panasonic Lumix GF1 is small, it still offers many advanced features such as its extensive advanced settings and high definition video recording capability. They achieve its small size with one simple trick remove the mirror used to bounce the image up into the viewfinder. The sensor size for the Four Thirds bodies is stuck somewhere between the minuscule point and shoot sensors and the larger APS-C sensors. It is, in fact, the same size sensor that Olympus uses in their larger 4/3 DSLR line. Since sensor size is often a major factor in image noise, this sensor should compare closer to a DSLR than your typical compact cameras, but with lenses much smaller than a beefy full frame camera. Same goes for depth of field. It will perform better than a compact (shallower depth of field possible) but not as well as a full frame DSLR. So if the promises are to be believed, this new standard should equate to smaller and lighter cameras, along with smaller and cheaper lenses that perform nearly as well as your typical SLR. I know. I was skeptical too.

The 20mm Lens

I can say however, after using the viewfinder-less camera for over a week, shooting in all types of situations, I have a new friend in cameras. The GF1 was released in September of 2009. Panasonic gave two options for lenses, a standard 14-45mm kit lens or the now cult classic 20mm 1.7 “pancake” lens. The latter is the lens I’d recommend. It makes the camera small enough to slip into your pocket, but versatile enough to shoot in the most demanding light situations. Having a normal range prime (a 40mm equivalent on a DSLR) will take you back to the days when photographers had to move their feet to get a great composition instead of just rotating a zoom ring. It really makes photography fun. I couldn’t agree more with the in-depth review given by DP Review, “The Lumix G 20mm F1.7 ASPH is a lens that we’ve been looking forward to seeing for real ever since Panasonic first showed a mock-up back at Photokina ‘08. The good news is that it’s been well worth the wait the 20mm is an excellent lens, especially considering its tiny size. It does well in all aspects of our studio tests, and produces fine images in a wide range of situations while also focusing quickly, silently and decisively. On compact Micro Four Thirds bodies such as the E-P1 and GF1, it offers impressive image quality and low-light capability in a package significantly smaller and more discreet than any DSLR system. The last few years have seen Panasonic rapidly improving its cameras; the 20mm F1.7 sees the company flexing its muscles in the field of lens design and showing it means business here too. We’re unashamed fans of fast primes, and it’s great to see Panasonic providing one relatively early in the development of Micro Four Thirds.” The guys over at DP Review have also given an incredible review of the GF1 body here if you need some technical comparisons.

I was surprised to hear this reviewer from Wired say he’s also willing to leave his trusty DSLR behind. This excellent review notes that you can also use your legacy lenses with an adapter if you’re willing to give up automatic focusing. Adapters are available for almost all lens mounts to be used on any micro 4/3 body, so that Canon “L” glass can still be useful, even if you aren’t lugging around your 5D Mark II.

So with that background, here are a few of my personal impressions.

Things I liked:

• Size. I like carrying this around and I don’t scare people off when I pull it out.

• Historgram and Live info before you take the shot. The f-stop and shutter settings are uniquely displayed live on the screen. As one reviewer put it, “Some are bothered by the lack of a built in viewfinder, but I find the different perspective refreshing and adds some unique capabilities you don’t get with an SLR like a live histogram, full brightness depth of field preview, live black and white and crop. For some reason it just feels like a creative tool instead of another piece of electronics.”

• Dedicated movie button. This is just a convenience god-send. No more switching dials or digging into menus to capture a short clip on the spot, or forgetting you are in movie mode when you try and take a picture for that matter.

• Did I mention size

Things I didn’t like:

• No viewfinder. In bright sun this will be an issue. The optional electronic viewfinder seems to be lacking in resolution.

• So far, very limited lens choices. The Pancake 20mm lens is gold though. Large aperture lenses and primes are lacking.

• Movie mode, although nice that it is HD quality, had focusing issues. Better to focus the camera and then leave it in manual to avoid focus searching (unless your subject is moving around a lot).

Summary:
I’ll be buying a micro 4/3 camera as soon as my budget allows it. Perhaps by then there will be even more models to choose from. In the mean time, if you’re in the market, take a look at what’s available. Olympus just released the for $599. It is the lowest cost Micro Four Thirds camera currently available and comes in many stylish colors!

To see other articles by Chas, click the author link below.

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Today Patrick Dean from Neutralday.com reviews the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V.

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V is a 10.2 megapixel compact digital camera that promises to appeal to tech-friendly photographers thanks to a number of very cool features. For starters the HX5V brings a backlit sensor design aimed at improving low light performance, and pairs that with a versatile 10x zoom lens. Next, like a number of recent Sony digital cameras, the HX5V offers photographers several useful shooting modes like Handheld Twilight mode and Anti-motion Blur each of which combine up to 6 rapid fire shots to either reduce image noise or motion blur. Then there’s the iSweep Panorama feature that makes panoramas as easy as pressing the shutter and “sweeping” your intended scene with the camera.

What about video? Well, the HX5V takes HD video (1080i), and provides an HDMI out to let you view both movies and stills on your big screen HDTV. Finally the HX5V will likely be most noted for one additional feature, built in GPS. GPS of course allows the HX5V to “geotag” your photos, data that the photographer can use later to sort photos by location, or to view on Google maps. In short the HX5V is quite a versatile compact camera, though one geared more to the casual photographer than the enthusiast. Let’s go over the highlights.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V Highlights

10.2 megapixel “Exmor R” CMOS image sensor: This backlit designed sensor moves the circuitry that normally covers a typical compact’s sensor to the rear of it, theoretically improving its light gathering capabilities

10x zoom “G” Lens 4.25-42.5mm (25-250mm 35mm film equivalent): 10 elements in 7 groups including 4 aspheric elements make for an impressive compact lens, but one hampered by lack of aperture range (basically f/3.5 and f/8.0).

3 Inch LCD Display: The large display is nice enough and works well even in bright light, but lags the competition with a resolution of 230K.

10 FPS Continuous Shooting: In burst mode the HX5V fires of 10 shots in one second, impressive for sure, but it takes almost 10 seconds to then write all those files to memory.

1080i AVCHD Movie Mode: The HX5V allows users to choose between AVCHD (better quality) or MP4 (easier to edit) formats for video. In addition to 1080i at 60fps, the HX5V also shoots 720p at 30fps, and 640 480 at 30fps. The HX5V also records stereo sound.

Integrated GPS and Compass: The HX5V can tag photos with longitude, latitude, and altitude, and also provides a useful compass. The GPS can be turned off to mitigate privacy concerns if desired.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V in the Hands

The HX5V is a handsome little number with a matte black finish and wrap around dark chrome bezel. It’s compact, but not all that thin, still the HX5V easily fits in a front pants pocket, though I’d recommend against its placement in a shirt pocket. Build quality is quite good, the HX5V is expensive for a compact, but it feels up to the price tag. There’s a good deal of “badging” covering the surface of the camera, but it mostly works aesthetically, in looks and build the HX5V largely satisfies.

As far as handling and ergonomic issues are concerned, the HX5V faces the same space challenges that most compacts do, and naturally some things tend to be less than ideal. For the HX5V, the issue is with the lens placement, it’s quite close to the left side of the camera, leaving little room for the left hand to grip during two-handed operation. The second issue is the placement of the stereo speakers. We’re of course grateful to have stereo when many other cameras skimp with mono, but they’re just instantly covered by any normal two-handed position on the camera. Outside those two issues, the HX5V gets things mostly right with a small but useful grip, and effective button and multi-selector placement.

Using the Sony Cyber-shot HX5V

Thanks to a clean and simple interface, the HX5V comes off feeling very approachable. The HX5V does without a good many physical controls, and as such may not appeal to enthusiasts (it’s limited aperture range, and lack of RAW shooting also won’t appeal to those photographers) but the HX5V does thankfully make it super easy to make changes via the interface, the options are well laid out, and even spelled out (literally) so the HX5V is one of those cameras that doesn’t require much manual time.

Actually shooting with the camera is pretty satisfying. You can simply set the HX5V to Intelligent Auto and let the camera do all of the thinking, it does an effective job at picking out the appropriate scene mode, detects faces, and even sorts out when you’re trying macro work (which the lens is very capable at handling at very close distances). In addition to Intelligent Auto, the HX5V provides 11 mostly automated scene modes for shots in specific environments, while also providing a Program mode and Manual mode for photographers who like to handle some of their shooting options. The real interesting options are the previously mentioned Handheld Twilight, Anti-Motion Blur, and iSweep Panorama shooting modes that actually work as advertised.

The first two allow photographers to get shots that would be very tough for your average compact, and iSweep panorama will have you scratching your head as to why this hasn’t been put on every camera, it’s just too easy. Also despite these modes involving the combination of multiple shots, they work seamlessly, and there’s only a short delay for processing. One more shooting mode before moving on, Backlight Correction HDR for subjects that are strongly backlit and at risk for underexposure. This mode combines 2 exposures and combines them instantly in-camera, the results again will have you wanting a similar feature on every camera, it works that well.

Overall camera performance is mostly impressive, the camera boots up pretty quickly and focus speeds are amongst the best in the compacts that we’ve tested this year. The HX5V can fire 10 fps (for one second) if desired, but as we pointed out above that does come with a lengthy write to card time. The lens moves through its range in about 1.5 seconds, though it can be a tricky to move it to “just the right point”. There’s a small delay in the transition to playback, but for the most part the HX5V rarely comes off as sluggish.

Post capture, the HX5V offers some typical playback options, an unobstructed view of your image, or the option of adding shooting information, GPS coordinates, and a histogram. Using the zoom lever provides a magnified view or going the other way, thumbnail and calendar views. Surprisingly the HX5V doesn’t provide very thorough in-camera editing options, you can do some cropping, rotating, and sharpening, but no fun digital filters are provided. The HX5V does provide a nice slideshow option however, where one can even upload their own music file if desired. The slideshow looks amazing on an HDTV, complete with “Ken Burns” effects. An included HDMI adapter makes the hookup easy.

Lastly there’s that GPS feature to discuss. From what we can tell the GPS is only working when the camera is turned on, which makes sense but does create a small problem. If one takes a picture straight away, the HX5V hasn’t had enough time to find its position and thus you don’t get the appropriate or most accurate (note the “pin” in the water above) geotag data. So for best results, the HX5V should be turned on and given a couple of minutes to acquire the optimal signal. The camera let’s you know how well connected it is, and the better the connection the more accurate results are. Our results were very good, and thanks to the HX5V, I’m hooked on geotagging.

The camera does include software for viewing your tracking results, but I opted for using iLife and Aperture 3’s “Places” feature which Google maps your results inside the application, in addition to allowing for image searches based on location. I suspect that the GPS feature does eat into battery life, we never got the Sony claimed 310 shots per charge, but it’s a sacrifice worth making for the fun GPS data.

Image and Video Quality

Perhaps I was taken in a bit too much by the hype, but I was disappointed by the image quality offered by the backlit 10.2 megapixel sensor. It is on the high side of average, but I’m not finding big advantages in overall IQ or low light image quality relative to other compacts. But the HX5V does take a very appealing picture that has a “something about it” quality that grows on you, and in the end makes lovely small to medium sized prints. Technically, exposures are pretty good, with a tendency towards overexposure. Lens aberrations and distortion are well controlled, likely through in-camera trickery, but that’s fine with us. Pixel peeping will reveal very heavy-handed noise reduction and a tendency to oversharpen. Low light performance is better than average, but not Canon Powershot S90 good. Our opinion is that in-camera noise reduction plays a larger role than sensor technology, but the HX5V does a really good job at maintaining saturation even at its highest ISO 3200 setting.

On the video side of things, the HX5V provides very satisfying results especially in the AVCHD 1080i mode. Movie recording couldn’t be easier, the HX5V offers a dedicated movie record button that can be implemented at any time, and optical zooming works while filming (quietly enough to be used as well). Playback on an HDTV looks great, but there can be some lens distortion issues (in-camera tricks not working in video?), and low light video generally looks underexposed.

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V Verdict

In most regards the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX5V scores high marks where it needs to. It’s a nice looking camera, packed with actually useful special features, several of which are bound to spoil users when compared to other camera’s so-called special features. We’ll admit to not being sold on Sony’s backlit sensor technology, but that shouldn’t be taken to mean the HX5V doesn’t take a pretty picture, it certainly does. Factor in high quality HD video, the 10 fps continuous shooting, fast autofocusing, and super-fun geotagging, and the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V easily ranks as one of our favorites for the year. No question it comes “Highly Recommended”.

Get the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V

• Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX5V at B&H Photo Video

Additional Image Samples

Patrick Dean is the editor of the photography news and review website, Neutralday.com. He’s always looking for more fans at Facebook.com/neutralday and followers at twitter.com/neutralday.

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