PhotographyBanzai.com

The Pentax WG-2 has a special macro configuration that allows some unique images. In addition to the lens being capable of a 1cm macro mode, the camera comes with 6 while LED lights that surround the front element of the lens. This allows these extreme close ups to have sufficient light.  Here is a picture of the camera’s lens and macro lights: The white circles surrounding the lens glass are the LED lights. This function can be turned on or off at will. Getting a photo of your own eye isn’t the easiest thing to do. Especially with large cameras that are more capable of doing that from a technical standpoint. DSLRs are heavy and macro lenses on DSLRs are not always the best at auto-focus. With the WG-2, it’s pretty simple. Get the lens as close to your eye as possible and take a picture. There is some trial and error involved, but keepers are easily possible. Results are very impressive considering the equipment being used. Here are a few examples: The best photo of the set...

Around September, I made the decision to switch to a system that supports full-frame imaging sensors. I currently have all of my previous gear on consignment, so I’ve only been able to get a few things to hold my photography over until it is liquidated.  Me and the camera. I was hoping that consignment would be quick and painless, but it looks like it will take a long time to get most things sold off. While I could handle everything myself by selling online, I don’t particularly like the risk and other issues that come with it. Look for the Nikon D7000 through my links: KEH (180 day warranty for most gear) , eBay , B&H , and  Amazon As an affiliate of these shops, I earn from qualifying purchases!  I was able to pick up a few tools in the new system that I could use to get started with. More specifically a Nikon D7000 and a 50mm f1.8g lens. Half of it is thanks to a friend that offered up his D7000 for a good price. So far, I’m liking it. The taller grip makes holding...

Yesterday I went to a cosplay meetup that my friend organized. It was located at Edwards Apple Orchard Cosplay in Poplar Grove, IL. If you frequent this website or my Youtube channel, you probably know I’m in the process of switching out my DSLR equipment. Right now I only have the Pentax Optio WG-II, so I used that. Here are a few highlights from the meetup: You can see more images here. This camera is, at times, more challenging to use than a DSLR. The inherent limitations of a small camera require a certain level of care to produce a decent result. I think that I was capable of extracting about 70% of the camera’s technical capability, but I did make quite a few mistakes throughout the photo taking sessions. Most importantly, the camera needs ample time to gain proper focus before I recompose the frame. Even with a small aperture lens and small sensor, this was an issue.  The telephoto end of the camera seems a lot more difficult to use properly. With the maximum apert...

I recently consigned my last DSLR camera body. While I am still hanging onto some lenses for a potential local sale, I wanted to move forward with selling as much of my equipment as possible. I do have a very old digicam that I mostly used in 2006, but I thought something low cost, yet new, would be a good idea. The Optio WG-II line just dropped in price at my local camera shop, so while I was there, I picked up a solid black unit.  This of this article as basic overview of the camera before I’m able to do something more extensive with better equipment. Taking quality product shots and video for a detailed review isn’t really possible at the moment. Using it with one hand modification. Being taken seriously with a small camera. Get a second battery (especially with small digicams). How to hold a small camera. Optical fisheye effect with the WG-II (not the digital filter). As you can tell… I’m pretty enthusiastic about it so far. Of course, the results are not of a DSLR level, but ...

I’ve been doing research to figure out what type of process I will need to use when I change camera systems. Sadly, Nikon and others like Canon are fixated on using their own proprietary RAW formats, so that means any new cameras that use a special format will not work with my current post processing steps. Even to the point in the past where some of the companies encrypted parts of the data in their RAW file formats. Talk about not being consumer/user orientated… Adobe’s policy is to only support the current version of Photoshop when it comes to proprietary RAW formats, so that means my license of Photoshop CS5 will be useless when it comes to RAW files from something like a Nikon D600 that I am considering. I haven’t had that problem since the Pentax K-7 days because they offered DNG RAW output. I don’t think I’ve ever (intentionally) used PEF in my K-7/K-5 cameras. My potential idea is to use the free Adobe DNG RAW conversion application once that is updated, so I can avoid using...

I went to a convention in Indiana called Ramencon. I was planning on staying two nights, but decided to check out on Saturday morning instead. I was still able to get a good deal of images on Saturday afternoon, which was nice. Facebook (“like” the main page so you can tag yourself): General Photos Lollipop Chainsaw Photos Magi Photos A few highlight photos:  You can see my related cvfta.blogspot.com article here for a different discussion about Ramencon and convention photography in general. As I’m trying to sell of my equipment, I only took a minimal kit. I brought the K-5 and K-01 with the 31mm and 24mm lenses along with my Sigma flash. I ended up only using the K-5, 31mm lens, and flash for the whole convention. Using that combination isn’t new to me, but I feel that I was able to get a lot more variety than I’ve normally been able to achieve with it. I first started off with just the camera and lens, but eventually decided that flash would be safer from a quality standp...

Canon announced their new 6D full-frame camera body. You can see all of the detailed specifications here . You can see my article on the Nikon D600 here where I basically gave it a very positive outlook. While compromises were made with the D600, it still has enough from a value standpoint to be really appealing. The Canon 6D on the other hand has a suggested retail price of $2099 US, which is the same as the Nikon, however… Viewfinder coverage of 97% (D600 = 100%) Shutter speed maximum of 1/4000th (D600 is the same) Flash sync maximum of 1/180th (D600 = 1/200th max) While not an issue in practice, the 6D sensor has around 4 mega-pixels less than the D600. The 6D has a single SD card slot and the D600 has two. The 6D has wifi and GPS internally (nice, but this is a camera. I’d rather see the money go into a better viewfinder or something) AF system: 11 points Center: cross-type at f/5.6; vertical line-sensitive at f/2.8. Upper and lower AF points: vertical line-sensitive AF at f/5.6...

As I’m sure most of the people who read this site know, the Nikon D600 was announced recently. The simple fact you need to know is that it is an enthusiast level full-frame camera. Not only that, but the starting price of $2099 in the USA is the lowest a full-frame (FF) camera has been offered for from release (technically, the Sony A850 that bombed was $2000?). This camera is interesting enough to me that I felt compelled to write an opinion article on it. (stock image from nikonusa.com) What can we expect from a low cost full frame? We can expect a change in the entire game. The other companies will most likely follow suit and that should really change the landscape of digital photography. While there are, of course, used full-frame DSLR cameras below that price point, it still doesn’t open the gate like a new product can. I think 2013 will be the year that we see a wider audience have access to FF sized imaging sensor cameras, which I think is a great step. We are moving ba...

The decision to use JPEG format or RAW is a never ending debate and there truly isn’t a right answer. However, I thought I’d add my 2 cents to the topic. There are situations where one format works better, which I go into a bit in the linked Youtube video. I’ll also include a summary below. RAW: Lossless format (all data from the sensor is stored in the file. Ability to store 16-bits per channel (usually 12 or 14 bits of actual sensor data) for around 280 trillion colors. White balance is easily modified in post processing. (of course, if there are multiple light sources with different color temperatures neither format can easily be “fixed”) General level of post control is high, and in turn some features in the camera are not available in RAW. That means for photos you intend to send directly to a final place, JPEG might be better. Larger files than JPEGs. Dynamic range due to more bits per channel and recovery potential is higher. JPEG: Lossey format that discards data to compres...

Pentax USA just recently offered a few rebates on their cameras and lenses. While I won’t go into the issues regarding fluctuating lens prices here (making the rebates utterly pointless), I will say a few of the camera bodies did see some decent price reductions. The Pentax 645D is only $8,799.95 now, a $1200 price reduction (It just so happens the 55mm f2.8 lens is $1200…). My guess is that they will be announcing a replacement this month at Photokina. 645D I had the pleasure of using one for a short time a few years ago. I was generally impressed with the camera, but even at that time saw a few issues that should have been better considering the level that camera is at. The thing was slow and didn’t have all of the features a normal 35mm SLR would have. Keep in mind the 645D was more targeted to this side of the market than it was to those ludicrously expensive medium format back and systems. While I’m not currently financially capable of owning one of these, it would be a gre...