autofocus « WordPress.com Tag Feed

New Way to Focus

Lane — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 14:58:31 +0000

All day yesterday I was learning how to use my new D300. I read most of the manual and scanned a whole bunch of web sites and forums for the best tips and tricks. This morning I came along an interesting way to set up the camera for autofocus.

I typically shoot in AF-C mode, which means that the "A"uto"F"ocus servo is "C"ontinuously focusing so I can track my subject matter. This article is designed for those situations where you use AF-C.

Most cameras use the shutter release to autofocus the image. I'm sure you're familiar with holding down the shutter release half-way and hearing the motor spin around to find the focus. There are two scenarios where this tecnique can get you into trouble.

First, imagine the situation where you're a little anxious and have jumped past the magic half-way point and captured an image that wasn't quite using the focus you wanted.

Second, imagine that you have successfully composed your shot and focused your image with the half-way technique but that branch in the foreground moves into your focus point just as you release the image.

This article walks you through some steps to configure the D300 so that you can prevent these scenarios.

Camera Setup

First you need to create a custom setting bank so that these options can be easily turned on and off. You'll then change the values of several autofocus settings.

Turn on your camera and bring up the Menu screen
Navigate to the Custom Setting Menu (third menu down)
Select "Rename"
Select "B" (or another setting bank if you are already using B)
Use the text entry screen to name the Setting Bank. I suggest "AF-ON focusing"
Go back to the Custom setting bank screen
Select "B". The Custom Setting Menu now shows that you are using the "B" Custom setting bank.
In the Custom Setting menu, set the following options
1. a1 AF-C priority selection => Release (this is set by default)
2. a3 Dynamic AF Area => 21 (you may prefer to use 9 or 15, feel free to experiment)
3. a4 Focus tracking with lock on => off
4. a5 AF activation => AF-ON only

Workflow

Now that your camera is set up for AF-ON focusing, here is a scenario describing the workflow.

It is Sunday morning and you've wandered down to your hometown's Farmer's Market for some fresh produce and some candid shots. You're images are going to contain both mobile and stationary objects so you're going to want your camera to be able to react to these changes. However, you need to be careful that the object of your image remains as the focus point.

Before heading down, set up your camera.

Set your Focus mode selector to AF-C mode (three-stage dial on the front of the camera)
Set your AF-Area mode selector to Dynamic area (three-stage dial near the view finder, middle option)
Set your Setting Bank in the menus to "B AF-ON focusing"
Set other camera settings as you prefer (Shutter priority mode, ISO 200, RAW, etc.)

When you are ready to shoot:

Compose your image
Select your focus point with the multi selector
Press and hold the AF-ON button (back of the camera, pretty much exactly where your thumb is)
This focuses the image on your focus point
Release the AF-ON button
Your focus is now locked
(optional) Recompose the image, retaining your focus.
Use the shutter release to capture your image.
Note that the camera did not attempt to refocus at the half-way point.

Conclusion

I hope that you find this information useful and that you are able to capture clear and crisp images with this setup.

This style of shooting may not be for everyone, nor for every situation. I wouldn't use this setup for landscape photography on a tripod, nor portrait or macro photography.

(Additional info, based on comments) I don't plan on using this technique for landscape photography because I am used to using manual focus. That said, this behavior is based on my history with my D70 where I didn't have 51 focus points to choose from. As I learn more about my D300 I may utilize the AF-ON focusing for these situations where I would normally be manually focusing.

I found these settings on the DPReview forums written by Ray Soares.

Auto-Focus Vs Manual-Focus ?

spillay — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:52:18 +0000

If you are anything like me, you might be wondering... why would anyone want to "manual-focus" when all cameras these days have the auto-focus function? Well, apparently, there are good reasons!!! This post found on the blog-site of Digital Photography School has some excellent explanations. Please do read it if you get a chance :) .

El enfoque automático o autofocus

fotonovata — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 08:11:18 +0000

El enfoque automático o autofocus es un mecanismo que enfoca el objetivo de forma automática. Es la forma más sencilla de tirar fotos y el mecanismo habitual en las camaras digitales compactas.

Testing SLR Autofocus

steinhilber — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 12:18:59 +0000

http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart

clipped from regex.info

This post describes an autofocus test chart I've developed, why I think
it's better than others I've seen, and how to use it to test the autofocus
of your camera and lens:

NEC Network and Compact Projectors

kroyalusa — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 18:51:16 +0000

NEC's Network able 901W and it's NEW Compact NP61 are HUGE at InFoComm!

The back of this baby is the charm, with all sorts of ports and wireless (below left in image)
And yes, you can get it without the wireless.

The 901W's key points are Widescreen, Wireless, and Windows Vista network able. The price tag is a reasonable $1,299. I love the NEC approach to make projectors as easy to network as printers, and to use them throughout a campus as display projectors. Whether it's alerts or changes to the cafeteria menu, controlling all installed projectors from a central location is an techno-administrators dream, as well as good management at the highest admin levels. This is a big selling point.

THE NP61, INTRODUCED AT INFOCOMM IS SOMETHING NEW AND COMPACT FROM NEC that will make presentations easier for the mobile user, but may also become as necessary a purchase as a laptop for university students. It weighs in at 3.5 pounds, has auto focus and auto keystone -- how brilliant is that. You can actually pick this DLP projector up and it automatically adjusts the image -- perfectly -- to wherever you project. Thank goodness, finally help for us keystone impaired projector users.

The NP61 is small, so to give you a reference point I placed my pen on top of it (below).

From the back you can see how it displays an image. All of NEC's projectors were brilliant under not the best show floor lighting.

Woodland Photography Pt 1: Tamron AF 70-300mm

ajoy muralidhar — Sat, 24 May 2008 12:19:16 +0000

Early Spring is a great time to be out in the woods, especially on a sunny day – the trees may still be bare, but the forest floor is bursting with life… the under-story plants, shrubs and smaller trees rush through their flowering and leafing cycles quickly, to take advantage of the unrestricted sunlight – in a few weeks, once the trees leaf out, the canopy blocks off most of the light, and the small bushes go into the “quiet survival mode” until Fall when they get their chance in the sun again!

I’ve been out with the Sony Alpha 700 and the Tamron 70-300mm f/4-5.6. The choice of lens for woodland photography may seem surprising, but I find that the Tamron is very useful – the extended zoom range (the 70-300mm is equivalent to 105-450mm) on the Sony Alpha provides an useful stand-off distance so one can zoom in on an intresting flower or bud from a distance of at least 5 feet away without having to brave the underbrush and wicked looking brambles – the woods around here are chock full of wild raspberries and dog rose brambles. This also has the advantage of not blocking the light.

Besides, the Tamron 70-300mm is also a 1:3.9 macro, and since can focus down to 5 feet at the extended end of the zoom range, it does a great job. Moreover, I marvel at the fact that the Sony’s built in anti-shake allows me to handhold the 450mm equivalent lens. I would never have been able to do that with my manual Olympus bodies or even the auto focus Minolta 800si.

By the way, I purchased my Tamron lens about 8 years ago, back in June 2000 - I know they still make this lens, but I am not sure how the build quality has changed, or if it is still made made in Japan. I've always been very pleased with the Tamron, and even more so now.... with it's super-zoom length of 450mm f/5.6 and equivalent when mounted on the Sony Alpha 700, it's a formidable piece of optical engineering, and very cheap at the price. This is a true "cheap awesome lens".

Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm
Tamron AF 70-300mm	Tamron AF 70-300mm

Tamron AF 70-300mm

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 and Tamron AF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens. I used a Polarizer.

olympus/zuiko by Ajoy Muralidhar is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
text and images © 2008 ajoy muralidhar. all names, websites, brands and technical data referenced are the copyright or trademark of their respective owners. thank you for visiting olympus/zuiko.

Canon 1D MKIII vs Nikon D3 Autofocus Showdown!

hfortysixit — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:53:29 +0000

Canon 1D MKIII vs Nikon D3 Autofocus Showdown!

If you have heard the autofocus in the 1D MKIII has been troublesome since the day it came out. But the lastest firmware has shown a 9% improvement. From the latest test from the nice people at ProPhoto says Canon 1D MKIII out performs the Nikon D3. Read the rest of the review HERE!

Wisteria in Bloom - backroads of Montgomery County, MD

ajoy muralidhar — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:53:07 +0000

The sheer prodigality and variety of blooms in this part of the country amazes me - Spring in Maryland and Virginia is a cornucopia of beautiful blooms in succession and just when the dogwoods were peaking and the redbuds leafing out, I suddenly started seeing cascades of lavender-purple flowers tumbling over fences, drooping over country roadways - most of these are hard to photograph, since it's hard to pull over in the heavy traffic conditions.

Even when one is able to find a good spot close enough to park and walk over, the lighting may be just plain bad. The subtle colors of the wisteria require just a bit of warming sun to bring out the purple, otherwise the flowers come out looking overly blue. The best time is morning or late afternoon light, when there is a tinge of red present...

The best way to ensure that the lighting is okay is to mark your spots, preferably where one can park safely for a few minutes and return at a later time when the sun is just right. However, one can get lucky, as I did a couple of days ago on my way back from work. I spotted these magnificent specimens on Glenview Road and on Travilah road in Gaithersburg, MD. I had the Sony Alpha with the Sony 18-200 and a polarizer, and the zoom range of the Sony lens allowed me take these without leaving the car.

Wisteria in April	Wisteria in April
Wisteria in April	Wisteria in April

Wisteria in April

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700; Sony 18-200mm f/2.5-f/6.3 lens; Polarizer.

Autofocus

calauza — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:04:22 +0000

Modurile de focalizare explicate:

AUTO / SINGLE / CONTINUOUS / MANUAL

Flowering Dogwoods and Wild Mustard - Carroll County

ajoy muralidhar — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:42:54 +0000

Mid-April is the time for flowering dogwoods and vast expanses of wild mustard growing in the fields all over Carroll County... later in the year, these fields will be planted with Soya beans or Corn, but for now, they are just a golden mass of flowers, gently swaying in the slightest breeze. The dogwoods are something to look forward to, as they appear just as the Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias are fading, and they are much more durable blossoms. April is also the time of heavy rainfall here in Maryland, and delicate blossoms like the cherry don't hold up well. Here are some of the pictures I took in Gaithersburg, and along Rte 27 north of Mount Airy, on the road to Westminster, MD. Mostly flowering dogwoods and fields of mustard blossoms - and a few redbuds.

Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Redbud	Redbud
Redbud	Dogwood and Mustard
Dogwood and Mustard	Dogwood and Mustard
Pin Oak flower	Birch flower

Dogwood and Mustard

Redbud

Dogwood and Mustard

Thistle

Dogwood and Mustard

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 and Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Zoom lens. I used a Polarizer. Close-up of Pink dogwood photographed with a Sigma 50mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 lens with Tiffen 812 warming filter

Virginia Beaches: Historic Colonial Beach, VA

ajoy muralidhar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:45:08 +0000

Colonial Beach is a little town on the Virginia side of the Potomac River, about 60 miles south of DC... it's the second longest beach in Virginia (Virginia Beach is the longest). The town was founded in 1892, and served as get away for the residents of DC in the early years of the 20th century, especially in the years before the Great Depression. It was a favorite holiday spot, and it grew and thrived until the coming of automobiles and other transportation – vistors preferred to come on day trips, rather than leisurely vacations as before, and this led to the waterfront hotels closing down.

The town limped along, losing population and businesses until the 2000's. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Hurricane Isabel pretty much destroyed the little waterfront town in 2003. The residents are a resilient bunch – they picked up the pieces and rebuilt again. The housing boom brought some prosperity, with developers taking interest in the town. However with the current bust in housing, the city may see some hard times again, but I hope it will recover easily.

The beach is a great place for a family visit.. it's clean, and with good amenities – parking, restrooms, restaurants, beach shops etc are all located very conveniently, and there is even a Days Inn located right on the beach for overnight and weekend stays. Nancy's Ice Cream is closeby, and I recommend the Chocolate Ice Cream soft cones.

This past Saturday 4/19 was beautiful, bright and warm in the 80's so we drove down to Fredericksburg on I-95 and then east on Rte 3 until we got to Rte 205. We followed Rte 205 all the way to Colonial Beach, it's easy to follow the signs. My daughter Sunayana had been asking to go to the beach since it started turning warmer, and we could not have asked for a better day to be at the waterfront.

I took the Sony Alpha 700, and after some deliberation, I took the Sony 18-200mm lens as it's the perfect all-occasion lens, and fitted with a Tiffen Polarizer, perfect for beach and water photography. I took along some other AF and manual lenses, and never got around to using them. We got there in the late afternoon, and found parking under a large Willow oak just a hundred feet from the water.

The Sony 18-200mm SAL18200 is a pretty versatile lens, especially when you want to travel light and are reasonably sure of good light levels. It's equivalent to 27-300mm in the 35mm format, and the huge zoom ration it affords pretty much covers any situation. The lens is a bit slow at the fully extended part of its zoom range (It ranges from f/3.5 at the wide end and f6.3 at the 200mm focal length), but on a bright day, it doesnt matter at all, since we're generally shooting at much smaller apertures (f11 to f13) with polarizer.

Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA
Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA
Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA
Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA
Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA
Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA
Colonial Beach, VA	Colonial Beach, VA

Colonial Beach, VA

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700 DSLR and a Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 lens and Circular Polarizer. I used the landscape setting and Auto ISO, with Sunny White Balance.

Handphone Impian Nokia 6220 Classic, Tercanggih, Terlengkap

sofyanhadi — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:18:57 +0000

Handphone ini pada saat ditulis belum masuk ke Indonesia. Dari informasi dari web GSMArena HP ini baru akan keluar di Q3 2008. Detail spesifikasinya dapat diakses di alamat http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_6220_classic-2256.php. Spesifikasi selengkapnya saya ambil dari website http://www.gsmarena.com sebagai berikut :

General	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 2100
	Announced	2008, February
	Status	Coming soon. Exp. release 2008, Q3
Size	Dimensions	108 x 47 x 15 mm, 66 cc
Size	Weight	90 g
Display	Type	TFT, 16M colors
	Size	240 x 320 pixels, 2.2 inches
		- Downloadable wallpapers, screensavers
Ringtones	Type	Polyphonic, MP3, AAC
	Customization	Download
	Vibration	Yes
Memory	Phonebook	Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
	Call records	Detailed, max 30 days
	Card slot	microSD (TransFlash)
		- 120 MB of user memory - 128 MB SDRAM memory - ARM 11 369 MHz processor
Data	GPRS	Class 11
	HSCSD	Yes, 43.2 kbps
	EDGE	Class 32, 296 / 177.6 kbits
	3G	HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps
	WLAN	No
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
	Infrared port	No
	USB	Yes, v2.0 microUSB
Features	OS	Symbian OS 9.3, S60 rel. 3.2
	Messaging	SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
	Games	Yes + Downloadable
	Colors
	Camera	5 MP, 2592х1944 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps), Xenon flash; secondary videocall camera
		- Built-in GPS receiver - A-GPS function - Java MIDP 2.0 - FM stereo radio with RDS - Push to talk - MP3/AAC/MPEG4 player - Office applications - TV-out - Voice memo - T9 - Built-in handsfree
Battery		Standard battery, Li-Ion 900 mAh (BP-5M)
	Stand-by	Up to 250 h
	Talk time	Up to 3 h 30 min

Terus terang saya hanya sekedar melihat spesifikasi HP ini, menurut saya merupakan HP impian, karena hampir semua kebutuhan saya bisa terpenuhi. Ukuran cukup kecil dengan berat yang hanya 90 gram. Processor nya sama dengan Nokia 6120 Classic 369 MHz, tetapi memory internalnya lebih besar. OS Symbian yang dibenamnkan menjadikan HP ini menjadi sengat mumpuni karena bisa diinstall bermacam-macam aplikasi, dan tentu saja dengan memory yang cukup besar aktifitas multitaskingnya akan lebih nyaman.

Fitur yang cukup menarik adalah kameranya yang sudah autofocus dengan resolusi 5 MPixel untuk foto dan resolusi VGA untuk video. Sehingga kualitasnya fotonya pasti bagus, jadi tidak perlu lagi bawa kamera digital kalau pergi-pergi.

Fungsi internal GPS yang dibenamkan beserta fasilitas akses data kecepatan tinggi HSDPA yang bisa sampai 3,6 Mbps, saya kira cukup mumpuni untuk mengakses aplikasi-aplikasi GPS yang langsung bisa download peta dari internat seperti GMaps dan Nokia Maps.

Selain itu fitur yang saat ini jarang ada adalah adanya TV-out, sehingga kita bisa melihat foto dan video di layar TV dengan mudah.

Kelebihan/Keunggulan :

Fitur lengkap, Symbian base, 5 Megapixel Kamera, Autofocus, Video Resolusi tinggi, Memory besar, Fungsi GPS, TV Out dan Office Application

Kelemahan :

Tidak ada InfraRed, Belum WiFi

Baca juga di website resminya di http://www.nokia.co.id/A4879679

Harganya berapa ya kira-kira dengan fitur komplit seperti ini...

HP Elite Autofocus Webcam

edsonw — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 04:58:36 +0000

Com a entrada de novos gadgets no mercado como, monitores LCD, players, câmeras digitais. As webcams foram deixadas um pouco de lado, não que elas não tenham sido lançadas, claro que foram, porém não foi dada tanta atenção a elas. Mas a HP agora se puxou e apresentou uma nova webcam com um design muito bacana, fora sua parte técnica, que é show para uma webcam.

Seu nome é HP Elite Autofocus Webcam, tem uma resolução de 3 megapixels, com ela podemos gravar vídeos em até 30 frames por segundo numa resolução de 640×480, ou 1600×1200 pixels com 5 frames por segundo. Como o próprio nome já diz ela possui foco automático.

Incorpora ainda um microfone estéreo, ainda vem com um software para realizar vídeo conferencias e colocar efeitos especiais nas imagens capturadas.

De momento, foi apenas anunciada e ainda não se tem conhecimento sobre valores.

Technorati : Autofocus, Elite, HP, LCD, Webcam, gadgets, megapixels

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington DC

ajoy muralidhar — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 17:26:12 +0000

Ever since the first signs of Spring, I've been out with my cameras, not wishing to lose any of the magic of the Great Annual Awakening of Nature. Maryland's topography is so varied that even though it is such a small state, Spring arrives early in the southern part of the State, especially around Chesapeake Bay and the lower Potomac - almost a full month before it arrives at the Northern regions - near the Pennsylvania border. The rolling hills and valleys of Carroll county are decidedly cooler than DC and the annual cherry flowering takes place almost a week after the Tidal basin flowering

This year (2008) the the Cherry Blossom Festival kicked off on Saturday, March 29 - the flowers began blooming a couple of days before that, and on the 29th, it was close to approaching the peak - and it was 50 degree weather the next few days are likely to be cold and rainy, and we'll lose a lot of the blossoms. I'm hoping that the flowers last until next weekend. The Festival itself runs until April 13th - but I'm afraid the flowers may be all gone by then. Here are the flowers.. as usual, it was a family trip, but we got separated looking for parking, and never caught up with the other car (which, incidentally, had our picnic lunch). My group ended up snacking at the refreshment stall behind the Jefferson Monument. I was able to walk around a bit under the trees, and here are the pictures. The crowd was very heavy on Saturday.

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival
2008 Cherry Blossom Festival	2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

2008 Cherry Blossom Festival

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700, Sony 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 SAL18200 lens at Landscape setting and Auto ISO. I used a polarizer. The Shutter speeds ranged from 1/320 second in the Sun down to 1/50 second in the shade Here are the rest of the pictures.

HP Elite Autofocus Webcam

desface — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:00:15 +0000

Con un diseño un tanto futurista hp ha presentado la nueva web cam HP Elite Autofocus Webcam, pero que su aspecto no te engañe por que con ese aspecto esta web cam te puede ofrecer unas prrestaciones mas que interesante entre llas una resolucion maxima de 3 megapixeles aun que esta disminuye si la ponemos en modo video.

Con la HP Elite Autofocus Webcam podemos obtener una resolución de 640 x 480 píxeles y obtener 30 frames por segundo o hasta 1600 x 1200 píxeles a 5 frames por segundo claro que teniendo encuenta las velocidades de coneccion a las que tenemos acceso la mayoría de nosotros esto es mas que suficiente.

Es compatible con todos los programas de mensajería instantánea como Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Skype, viene dotada de un mirofono estereo, una tapa que permite y un boton que permite activarla/ desactivarla fácilmente y ademas incorpora un software que permite mantener video conferencias y editar las fotos que nos tomamos con ella

Pero por ahora no sesave su fecha de puesta en venta ni su precio

fuente:engadget.com

HP Elite Autofocus Webcam

desface — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 14:00:15 +0000

Pero por ahora no sesave su fecha de puesta en venta ni su precio

fuente:engadget.com

Sony Ericsson K800i

h3l3na — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 11:46:39 +0000

The new Sony Ericsson K800i mobile phone is a fantastic Cyber-shot™ digital camera and feature-packed 3G handset all rolled into one.
Wherever you go with your K800i you’ll have an amazing 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus built-in xenon flash and image and video stabilizer function ready for any moment.

With the K800i it’s almost impossible to take a bad picture. The built-in xenon flash unit gives you real photographic light where lighting conditions are not optimal. It also eliminates red eye and the stabilizer function compensates for any small movement of your hand when you’re taking a picture and shooting video.

The camera includes BestPic a unique feature that lets you capture several images in quick succession with one press of the camera key. Simply pick out the best and delete the rest.

Share your pictures with friends and family straight away using Bluetooth or multimedia messaging or you can blog it - take a photo add text and send it to your blog site. The site is created the first time you blog a photo and in return get a text message with the web address and log in data.

Printing directly from your K800i couldn't be easier. There’s no need for a computer or photo-editing software. Just connect the phone to a PictBridge compatible printer choose a picture and then print.

The K800i has a fully fledged digital music player so you can hear your favourite music tracks wherever you go; and even features built in 3G technology which takes mobile web browsing photo blogging multimedia downloading and video calling to new levels.

A front-facing camera means that you can conduct video calls

Fantastic photos can be taken with a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and built-in Xenon flash

Get the picture you want. BestPic™ takes 4; you pick the best!

Get real photographic light whatever the conditions with xenon flash

Eliminate blurry images thanks to the camera stabiliser function

Share your photos instantly using Bluetooth™

Or blog it! Take a photo add text and send it to your blog site.

Connect to a Pictbridge-compliant printer for easy print of your photos

Multi-tasking is easy – Be on a call and search the web simultaneously

Specifications

SAR : TBC.
Talk Time : Up to 7 hours.
Standby Time : Up to 350 hours.
Weight : 115 g.
Dimensions : 105 x 47 x 22 mm.
Organiser.
WAP 2.0/xHTML.
USB port (fast PC synchronisation).
Joystick, volume and dedicated camera keys.
MP3.
Games.
E-mail client.
General packet radio service (GPRS class 10) compatible.
Java™ compatible.
Ringtone composer & download.
Geometric, compact and stylish.
Total internal memory of 64MB.
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) compatible.
HSCSD.
Multimedia player: stream, download and play multimedia files, MP3 & MPEG4.
Vibrating alert.
Two-way video calling capability.
Memory Stick Micro (M2).
Instant Messaging Service (IMS) Compatible.
TrackID music recognition.
Picture blogging.
Bluetooth™.
3.2 megapixel camera (2048 x 1536 pixels) with autofocus & Xenon flash.
Tri-band.
Short message service (SMS) Compatible.
Image viewer.
RDS FM Radio.
Infrared port.
Video call VGA camera.
T9 Predictive text input.
Picture editor.
Transfer photos directly to compatible printer via Bluetooth or USB.
Synch ML.
256K TFT colour display (240 x 320 pixels).
72 Polyphonic ringtones.

More Landscape Photography: Meyer Farm in Carroll County, MD

ajoy muralidhar — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:14:52 +0000

These were taken on Bachman's Valley Road - the old Meyer Farmhouse. The owners are in the process of restoring the buildings as much as possible, but it's going to take a long time. The Farm is over a 100 years old, and all the barns and outbuildings are in fairly good condition, but the exterior could use some preservative and paint. I took these pictures on the way back from Union Mills. The light was tricky, overcast, but with patches of sun shining through.

Meyer's Farm

Photographed with a Sony Alpha 700, Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7

Fuglefotografen på rette sted på rette tid - Art Wolfe: kondorer

azfotos — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:41:58 +0000

Foruden tålmodighed og dygtighed som fuglefotograf handler det også om at være på rette sted på rette tid for at opnå de rigtig gode fuglebilleder. Naturligvis kan vi ofte være heldige at støde ind i en god chance for at tage et godt fuglebillede, men først og fremmest gælder det om at være ude de rigtige steder under de rette vejrmæssige og fuglemæssige betingelser.

Derfor viser jeg her en interessant video for fuglefotografen, idet den viser den verdenskendte naturfotograf Art Wolfe i gang med at fotografere kondorer i Patagonien i Sydamerika. Og er der noget, der synes oplagt, så er der tale om, at Art Wolfe er på rette sted under de rette fuglemæssige betingelser her i Torres del Paine, Chile. Giv dig tid til at nyde suget som fuglefotograf:

Desuden er der mere om Art Wolfes udstyr og tips til at bruge autofokus til disse kondoroptagelser.

Se videoen med Art Wolfe i høj eller lav opløsning:
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Her ser vi Art Wolfe bruge sine Canon autofocus linse til at indfange de flyvende kondorer på denne spektakulære klippetop i Torres del Paine i Chile. Og på siden her er der yderligere specifikationer til Art Wolfes fuglefotografering.

Jeg vil senere vende tilbage til flere videoer med Art Wolfe og andre dygtige naturfotografer - til glæde og inspiration for danske fuglefotografer.
Søren Breiting, A-Z Fotos

Landscape Photography: Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 and Sony Alpha 700 at Union Mills, MD

ajoy muralidhar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:25:21 +0000

A few days ago, I had my Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 lens mounted on the Alpha for some family pictures. (The lens is a 75mm equivalent on the A700, and thus serves as a very fast medium telephoto lens ideal for framing ‘head and shoulders’ shots, especially effective indoors for Available Light photography. I'll be posting some of the "candid" portraits in another post soon). Anyway, I was out in Carroll County, and driving up on Rte 97 north when I came upon the Union Mills Homestead and Grist Mill.

I’ve documented my use of the Minolta 50mm f1/7 as a landscape lens on my 35mm AF Minolta Dynax 800si elsewhere on this blog since I’ve had great fun with the Minolta 50mm lens in Colorado and other locations. Now that the Minolta is an effective 75mm, its still great for landscape and building photography, especially for capturing architectural detail – it’s a challenge if there isn’t much room, though.

I would recommend a 28mm or 35mm lens on the Sony Alpha for close-up architectural work. For old farmhouses and general scenery where you can step back far enough, the 50mm (75mm) is a fine choice, especially in low light conditions.

These photographs were taken at Union Mills Homestead, just off MD Rte 97 in Carroll County. Union Mills dates back to the 1790's and has many stories to tell... being on the way to Gettysburg, it saw its share of Union and Confederate activity. You can read all about Union Mills Homestead here. I got to the site late in the afternoon - it was clearing up after a storm, and the post rain sunlight coming through the clearing clouds was bright and clean. Everything had a just-washed clean look.

Union Mills Homestead	Union Mills Homestead
Union Mills Homestead	Union Mills Homestead
Union Mills Homestead	Union Mills Homestead
Union Mills Homestead	Across the Road from Union Mills
Across the Road from Union Mills	Union Mills Homestead

Union Mills Homestead

Photographed with the Sony Alpha 700 and Minolta AF 50mm f/1.7 lens, ISO 200, Skylight filter under a sunny/cloudy/post-rain situation