Bad weather, good photos?

Birches in the Schönramer Filz • Fuji S5pro @ ISO100, AF-D Nikkor 1.8/50 @ f/4, 1/640s

The sun poked through the clouds for a moment and illuminated these birches in the Schönramer Filz (a moor area near Schönram that is being re-naturated after its appearance was changed dramatically due to peat cutting in the middle of the 20th century). The dark clouds gave a strong contrast to the white birches in the foreground. Clearly one of my favorite shots for this year. :-)

And I'm beginning to understand why! Choice of framing & simplicity: except for the trunk in the foreground, there's nothing that distracts my eye. Main subject: its about the sunlight birches. Depth & perspective: the birch in the front together with the pine bushes and the two smaller birches in the background allows the viewer to evaluate the size relation of things. And the rule of thirds for the background and sky. Now, I just have to remember to think of all these when I want to take a photo. Simple, hu? ;-)

I'm using the Lightbox for Blogger script by Thomas Büdinger for a while now when I want to show single pictures in my blog. I hope you like it! Thanks to Thomas for providing the script. His websites contains more useful scripts for Blogger, check it out.

Fujifilm S5 pro resolution

First - forgive me the lousy formatting of this article. I'm really not good editing the HTML in blogposts and try to stick to the WYSIWYG editor of blogger.com most of the time.

People keep asking about the resolution of the Fuji S5pro. Fuji sells it as a 12mpx camera, but its sensor only has 6 million so called "S-Pixels" and another 6 million so called "R-Pixels". The extra R-Pixels are ONLY there to increase the dynamic range (they kick in in the highlight areas and are less sensitive). But thats only the first speciality about Fuji's sensor (which is called "SuperCCD SR pro" in the S5pro). The second one is the layout of the "light buckets", and their shape. The pixels are not lined up vertically and horizontally, but diagonally, and they're not squares, but octagons.

Now, whats the benefit of that? The pixels are larger in this layout (less noise), and the total resolution that these 6 million pixels can resolve is actually higher. In order to really gain the extra resolution, the raw sensor data has to be blown up into a larger version to fit into the normal vertical and horizontal alignment of a "normal" image file (which of course doesn't consist of interleaved pixels that are aligned diagonally).

So what happens? The image data is blown up to 12 megapixels, and it appears soft and unsharp (a part of the softness is also due to the strong antialiasing filter in front of the sensor). Thats not an error or a mistake - 12mpx is above the resolution of the SuperCCD (this sensor does exist in Fuji's p&s cameras, too, just not in the "SR" version with the extra dynamic range).

So what is the resolution limit of the S5pro? The folks that really know what they're talking about say that it is somewhere in the range of 8 to 9 megapixels.

I've prepared some example images to illustrate this with a real world example. I took a photo in the forest in the evening, from the tripod, using mirror-up and a cable release for the shutter to ensure maximum sharpness (I counted to three after the mirror release and then released the shutter, which roughly translates into something like 1.5 seconds of mirror prerelease - should be enough). I used the AF-D 1.8/50 Nikkor, which is the sharpest lens that I have. This is a 1 second exposure at aperture 8, the camera was set to ISO100. I'd say that the distance to the trees shown in the crop was somewhere in the range of 5 to 10 meters, I can't really say for sure anymore.

I stored the raw sensor data and imported it into Adobe Lightroom. I set ALL sharpening controls in Lightroom to ZERO and exported three versions of the image. Output sharpening was turned off, too. The first image (at the top) is a 400x400 crop of the full resolution 12mpx file. The second image is a same-sized crop, but this time from an ~8mpx export (3500 pixels on the long side). The third image is again a crop of the same size, but this time from a 6mpx export (3000 pixels on the long side).

Now, judge for yourself. For me, acceptable sharpness is reached in the 8mpx version. Just remember that this is completely unsharpened raw sensor data when you compare the three images and that you're seeing the actual 100% crop (400x400 pixels) right here in the post (unless your browser somehow scales the images). Adding a little bit of sharpening makes the 8mpx version really "tack sharp".

Blue Layers

Blue Layers • Fuji S5pro @ ISO100, AF-D Nikkor 1.8/50 @ f/8, 1/500s

So many photos, so little time... today, Burghausen was in the tight grip of an all-day long fog that would not lift its veil from the city - but in the mountains, the sun was shining, blue sky & clear until dusk. I took a nice hike to the "Zwiesel" (1782m), a comfortable climb starting in Jochberg (above Weißbach at the Deutsche Alpenstraße at about 850m above sea level, to a mountain with spectacular sights over all the peaks & mountain groups around and into the Chiemgau as well - one of my favorite mountains when I need to get out and don't know where to go.

I took far too many photos again! I'm hoping to collect them into a web album soon, and until that happens I picked this particular shot (and it is a strong edit, indeed, I added lots of contrast and desaturated it a lot) to share with you. A slight haze stayed in the valleys all day and above, in the backlight, multiple layers of blue where stacked one after the other.

Highlight Recovery vs S/N ratio

Another Fuji S5pro experience: the technique sometimes called "ETTR" (which stands for "expose to the right" - the article at Luminous Landscape explains the concept nicely IMHO) is much easier thanks to the extra headroom in the highlights.

I was thinking about "expose to the right" and its key benefit, a better signal to noise ratio, and it occurred to me that the Fuji approach to better highlights is actually more useful when you compare it to Active D-Lighting (and it seems to me that Nikon's ADL is is quite similar to Canon's Highlight Priority Mode, while I must admit I'm not very familiar with Canon's technique other than from the description in a german article I read so please correct me if I'm wrong), at least from the S/N ratio perspective...

The important thing is - both ADL and HPM actually underexpose, and then bring up the shadows. And this competes with the ETTR technique where you're trying to maximise the signal to noise ratio. Because you know... lurking in the shadows are the enemies of the digital photographer: noise and banding/striping (which was a very familiar problem for me with the D70s). Of course, digital photos have a lot of detail in the shadows that can easily brought up a notch (or two), and modern cameras have fantastic high ISO performance but still, in the darker parts is simply less information, and more distortion of image data.

Showtime for Fuji's SuperCCD sensor - with its secondary R-Pixels it records extra highlight detail, which means I can expose much more "normally" without caring for blown out highlights too much, and in return have a better overall signal to noise ratio. "Expose to the right" has become a good notch easier for me.

And btw., its just so that since Nikon's old D-Lighting was already there and not very popular, a lot of people seem to mix it up with Active D-Lighting now... thats why there's such a stirup about Canon's HPM while Nikon's ADL doesn't receive the same attention... un-wise marketing decision from Nikon perhaps, who knows). And btw.² its not "D-Lightning" in the Nikon world.... Google finds 50k+ entries for that typo. LOL!

Mallorquin Landscapes & Scenery in September

I've uploaded a set of photos from our stay on the island of Majorca - after the photos from the market in Sineu and the visit to the capital, Palma, here's the real stuff - photos from our trekking tours and excursions that show the landscapes and scenery of the island.


Mallorquin Vista • Fuji S5pro, AF-S VR Nikkor 18-200

Because the Picasa Web Albums scaling algorhythms simply suck I decided that I have enough of this and provide the photos on my own web space as a Simpleviewer gallery (as used in the "Year One" gallery). It requires flash, but in return its a nice presentation and the images are sharp and clear not only in landscape, but also in portrait orientation.

I don't know whats wrong with Picasa Web, but all the photos in portrait orientation all look soft and fuzzy (and I tested this on two different monitors, with various sharpening settings), and its a bit useless IMHO to spend a good time refining the photos to have them appear like that in the web album.

In the future I want to host more of the timeless "theme" galleries with Simpleviewer on my own webspace and use Picasa Web for the recent activity... if I only had more time! :-)

Fare thee well, D70s

She's gone. Today I sold my trusty old D70s - at our small local photography fair. Lots of hobbyists there who would sell their used stuff, and a couple of dealers that also bought used stuff. Well, I was hesitating to sell the camera of course since it was my first DSLR...

But while talking to one of the dealers (who in the end wouldn't buy used Nikon stuff because he's mostly into Canon) I told him just that, and he replied something like "well, how about your first computer? do you still have it, and if so, do you still use it? does it serve you well?" - and that was it. The guy was so damn right (and a Canon user! *gg*).

I have a newer and (IMHO much) better camera now, and I don't see myself using the old camera anymore, anyway... so, I went to one of the other dealers and told him about my camera, he had a short look at it, passed me about the money I expected *gg* and then a handshake, and that was it. Strange how we attach our emotions to a dead and dumb device like a camera, isn't it?

Autumn Impressions

Branch & Lake • Fuji S5 pro with Nikkor 18-200VR

Hidden in the woods near Adlgaß, below the rocks of the "Dunkelwand" (dark wall) is a small alpine lake called "Frillensee". Its one of our favourite places ever since I first "discovered" it (making a small detour on the way back from the "Gamsknogel", I added some impressions of a similar tour done this year to a small webalbum, too).

Last saturday, when the fog hindered the sun yet again to reach our home town Burghausen, we went there for an extended walk with the dog, enjoying the mild autumn sun and the wild and vivid colors of the foliage and the trees. I've collected the favourites in this webalbum ...dang, how can one resist to take photo after photo in this wonderful autumn vibe?

Lightroom Preset: Sharpen like the Rawshooter Default

EDIT: this is an old OLD post. The preset was made for the old (2003) process version of Lightroom. It will be completely over the top for the newer (2010, 2012) process versions introduced with Lightroom 3 (if it works at all, that is, since sharpening has changed).

When I first switched from Rawshooter to Lightroom (and I've not exactly been an early adopter of Lightroom since I've always used only the free version of Rawshooter) I found that LR by default produced much softer images (and cursed at Adobe because they bought the, at that time IMHO superior, technique of RS from the market -- and well, if you compare the speed of LR with RS, the winner is still clear... LR is like a three-legged senile turtle, and I think we'll never know what Adobe has done to the fast engine that the bought with the acquisition of Pixmantec... sigh!).

Compared to Lightroom, the default sharpening in Rawshooter was much stronger (when both of RS's sliders Sharpen and Detail Extraction where at "0" it was actually a quite strong sharpening already). I compared the results of RS and LR side by side and created a preset for LR that would be as close as possible to what I was used to from RS. I've created this preset quite a while ago (its based on a Nikon D70s raw file), and since I find myself using it rather often as a starting point I thought I might as well share it with the public - and here it is. :-)

As a "bonus" I've included another preset called "Extra Crisp" and its sole purpose is maximum detail extraction. I'm using it for shots I made with the AF-S 18-200VR Nikkor at the long end (where the lens is know to be a bit soft, especially when used wide open). This is what it looks like:


("Des Kaisers blaue Kleider", taken from my "Mountains" web album)

[to install the presets, unzip the archive somewhere, start Lightroom, right-click in the Presets sidebar and select "Import", then browse to the directory where you unzipped the files]

Market in Sineu - Auto-ISO experiences

While taking a stroll over the Wednesday market in Sineu (Majorca), I made a lot of photos without looking through the viewfinder (and not using liveview either), but simply by pointing the camera somewhere and releasing the shutter, sometimes from waist level or somewhere... once I got used to taking photos like that, it was like a rush. This was great fun!

I had the 12-24 DX Nikkor mounted all the time, and the camera was set to Auto-ISO, limiting it to ISO800 with the longest time set to 1/40s - in theory, this should be enough for a steady shot at the "long" end of the lens (24mm x 1.5 crop = 36 and 1/36 means 1/40 second). But unfortunately, thats just the theory. :-) Some of the pictures are still blurry because of camera shake - in the pushing and pulling of the crowds and with the very spontaneuous shots, 1/40s was still too long. If I'm in a similar situation I would most likely set the camera to continuous shooting mode and capture two or three images each to reduce the probability of camera shake.

And on the old trusty D70s, turning on Auto-ISO meant the camera would always utilize the full ISO range of 200-1600... and at ISO1600, the D70 is very very noisy already, so this was never a very desirable option for me (because you don't see the ISO in the viewfinder either). On the S5pro (and most of the more recent Nikon models) however, I can limit the Auto-ISO range. I'm using the range of 100-800 most of the time because the camera produces very usable results in that range. ISO800 is already somewhat noisy, but thanks to the fact that I can see the ISO in the viewfinder I can set some exposure compensation which in turn lowers the ISO first - very handy!

So very handy indeed that I never even turn it off after I tried it for a while now. I just check if the longest time fits the lens that I'm using and thats it. Another nice feature that takes some worry out of photography.

Boyd Norton: The Art of Outdoor Photography

I've reached a point where I think I'm pretty much in control and understand the underlying technique and the basics of photography, the relation of focal length, aperture, ISO, shutter speed, etc. - its a good point to start shooting good photos, but... how do you do that, actually? Looking at great photos from other photographers (here's one I recently discovered: Charles Kramer - simply WOW) is a good start, sure, but the real secret to a good photo is not visible very often because not everyone shares their EXIF data with us. :-)

I decided that I need help, and the easiest is to read a good book. And I think that with Boyd Norton's writing in "The Art of Outdoor Photography", I found a good book. I won't go into the details here, but I want to pick one thing that got me thinking. The book was clearly written in the analogue days, its very roll film centric, and digital photography is not mentioned a lot. One chapter is about evaluating film and how to deal with the differences in color, resolution, sensitivity, and whatnot.

Whats so remarkable about this? It sheds a completely different light on the (IMHO) stupid struggle for neutral balanced photos in the digital domain. We care a great damn lot about the correct white balance, about correct colors, sharpness, and whatnot. Compare that to film. When you decided to shoot Velvia, your photos had wild colors. Period (Boyd Norton explains that he uses Velvia on foggy and dull days to give the pictures a color-wise punch).

The medium "film" used to be a part of the art of photography, but since we replaced it with digital data (that can be altered and manipulated much more than film after the shutter was released), we replaced it mostly by randomness.

I can't really draw a conclusion at this point, but I've come to peace with myself and my edits in a new way thanks to that chapter in the book. Digital data is our medium, and when we decide to "develop" our photos in a specific way in our own digital darkroom, its just like that. We shouldn't be in doubt so much whether we really did the right thing. That doesn't mean we shouldn't take the advice of others, but maybe we shouldn't care such a damn lot about the best white balance setting. :-)

And by the way: the book also shows us how much easier a lot of things are in the digital domain - for example, we use bracketing for HDR in 1EV steps, and not to fine tune exposure in 0.3EV steps...

The wonderful world of Fuji highlight recovery

OK, so whats this shot on the right? A photo with hopelessly blown out highlights. No chance for recovery, ever. This was a strong backlight situation.

But in this situation, there are two things that saved the shot: the first is shooting raw (something you should always do for the shots that really matter as I wrote before).

But the other thing is the sheer "magic" of the Fuji sensor: the first shot on the right shows what a normal camera would do - in the Fuji sensor world, it only shows the "S" Pixels (we could say "S" like "standard") and they behave as expected when you deliberately over-expose such a scene by 0.7 stops as I did (the above shot was extracted from the raw image by saving only the S-Pixels with a clever little raw conversion utility called "s7raw").

The second image on the right shows what the Fuji sensor is able to capture. The "R" pixels ("R" like "recovery", perhaps) contain extra information in the highlight areas - there where all hope would be lost, otherwise.

I can't praise this technique enough because it addresses the #1 problem with digital photography: normal digital sensors don't have an exposure latitude in the highlights - the Fuji sensor has! It makes things so much easier for me because the number of situations where I really have to try damn hard to get the best exposure (with the D70s) has reduced by about 70%. Less struggling with the dynamic range is simply more joy with photography.

Another thing is how damn good the Fuji JPEG engine is in these situations: it combines the S- and R-Pixels so nicely that it is really hard to beat the result. Nevertheless, the image shown here was hand-processed carefully in Lightroom (and btw., this also clearly shows that Lightroom and thus ACR can handle Fuji's RAF files perfectly well, to stop an old myth).

Raindrops on floating foliage

Raindrops on floating foliage • Fuji S5pro with AF-Nikkor 50/1.8D

Holy cattle, how time flies! I'm still sorting, rating and preparing my photos from the Majorca vacation and in the meantime, autumn has arrived with all its majestic colors (and rainy days, errrrm) so its time to go out and start collection all these terrific colors!

This shot was taken in the Schönramer Filz, a renatured moor area with a great many photo opportunities (and a lot of fun for the dog, too because it smells like squirrels or what-do-I-know everywhere if I interpreted the behaviour of the little rascal correctly).

And half an hour later it started to rain.

Test your Color IQ

I found this Hue Discrimination Test through The Online Photographer. I had a score of 8 in the test, how about you? :-)

Sensor size naming scheme

It puzzles me to no end that consumers still accept the absurd and cryptic sensor size naming scheme for compact cameras. Canon's Powershot G10 has a " 1/1,7 inch" sensor for example. Well, its called an "imperial fraction designation" and it dates back to the 50ies of the past millennium - any questions? (well, of course: the first would be: "How the freaking hell do you pronounce that?!")

Even though we europeans mostly use the metric system (1 inch is 2.54 centimeters), when converted into the metric domain, this naming scheme still remains simply utmost and total crap: a sensor size of "1/4.318 cm" just doesn't make sense either. And what size is that, actually?

Well, first, because its a fraction, the smaller the number behind the slash, the larger the sensor is. Check. But: the actual diagonal length of the cameras sensor is only about 2/3 of that size - because the naming scheme goes back to some ancient TV camera tube system! How crazy is that?

And why is it so hard to declare the actual sensor size? Because people would notice how darn many pixels are squeezed on such a tiny array, and how darn idiotic it is to take part in the megapixel race, thats why. So camera vendors searched for a naming scheme that would be the most effective camouflage for their "not even half the size of the nail of your small finger" sensors.

The Nikon P50 of my girlfriend has a sensor if 1/2.5" - this is something like 6 x 4.5 millimeters (a really rough estimation). MILLIMETERS! And they crammed 8 megapixel on it. Its no surprise that photos from ISO400 on look noisy like shit, isn't it?

I so wish that the industry would drop that naming scheme for a clear and comprehensible system. Its not that hard to say that the sensor is 6 x 4.5 mm or something. And you can even pronounce it without getting a knot in your tongue AND your brain.