Glad you like that photo--I love it too. It's my desktop picture. Thanks a lot, Brad, for the suggestions for improvement. Petra made this photo and she does have some cheap or free photo editing software. I'll be sure and ask her to work on this photo.

Yeah, I concur, great photo. They're all good. I want to go there. Of course I'd probably spend my time with the cheese, talking to it, riding bikes with it, because there is no thalette in my life right now.

What a great place. Reminds me a bit of South Jersey, LBI around Loveladies, eh Rico? But the sky seems so much... I don't know... lower? In the land of yabor.

I live pretty close to the coast. Five minutes from our "beach" such as it is. It's more a tidal estuary type of landscape, though, protected harbors, islands, so no need for barrier dunes. Quite lovely, but in a totally different way. I'll see if I can't snap some photos.

Dunes make great ashtrays.

LOL. Good one. And I'm sure that's true as well.

Looking forward to pictures of South Jersey or wherever the hell Baiter Central is located. I think it's near the Bat Cave. Next time I get out to Ocean Shores, Washington, I'll do the same. Maybe brothel has a few. He and the family go out there frequently.

I'm no Ansel Adams by any means. He would sweat the details of grayscale to a degree perhaps never seen before. And I'm pretty sure I've got the grass too dark. But this is just a quickie Photoshop edit that I think gives the character for how black-and-white can compliment a subject matter such as dune grass. I think I thought of Ansel as soon as I saw that photo. If that sky could be popped up in contrast and show a couple of those clouds better, then you're really be talkin'. But that's where darkroom works really comes in handy. But a darkened sky with those clouds then looking fluffy white would be the thing.

The giant photography expo Photokina is being held this week in Cologne Germany.

There is a lot of interesting new stuff coming out. The new Micro FourThirds cameras look promising as they are very compact and in the case of the Panasonic G series are totally silent as it does not have a mirror box or shutter. No moving parts with an Electronic Viewfinder.

One feature creeping into DSLR's is video recording. Some people are all up in arms against this saying things like if I wanted video I would get a video camera well naturally these people are morons. I say bring it on what a fantastic thing to expand the creative process.

I suggest smithz and yabor meet up in Cologne. Easy on the beer.

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I suggest smithz and yabor meet up in Cologne. Easy on the beer.

Hehe, i'm trying to cut down my beer-intake a bit these days.
Photokina is exciting, really. But i don't see the advantage of going to a show like that anymore. I get the news before they are presented on the show. Thanks to Internet.

One camera that made me think "want to try" is the new Samsung HZ1. Sounds too good to be true. Right now i don't know anything about the Image Quality, but the specs are my cup of tea.

I think it's about time that decent video recording is possible with DSLRs. There's no technical reason not to do so, so i'm all for it. I absolutely agree with the term "morons", which describes people who argue like you mentioned.

Anyway, my main interest are the more compact Cameras. Of course they can't compete with DSLRs IQ-Wise, but hey... that's the deal.

If i remember correctly, Yabor is living a healthy life without beer? :-) (But lots of Tobacco )

This message has been edited. Last edited by: smithz,

One feature creeping into DSLR's is video recording. Some people are all up in arms against this saying things like if I wanted video I would get a video camera well naturally these people are morons.

Agreed. I find that feature to be one of the ones I use most. I think there's a bit of snobbishness involved in that attitude. On the other hand, I think some people are rightly worried about their "serious" photography cameras being dumbed down. But Casablanca or Citizen Kane aren't dumb. Video is no more inherently dumb than still shots.

Smithz the new Micro FourThirds might eventually become just what you are looking for. They can make the cameras really small with interchangeable lenses as there is no shutter or mirror box.

Sigma has also announced the DP2 follow of the DP1. The DP2 has a fixed 40mm f2.8 lens the DP1 has a 28 f4. These are very compact cameras with APS-C sensor the same sensor in the Sigma DSLR flagship SD14. The Foveon sensor should be giving the best video quality of any sensor. High end video cameras use 3CCD configuration the Foveon sensor is 3 CMOS sensors in one. The Foveon sensor scales better for video too. It is a sham Sigma has not taken advantage of this.

Panasonic has also given a teaser of their G series Micro FourThirds HD camera that has FullHD video and stereo sound.

What I am personally interested in is the Pentax DA15 f4 LTD super wide angle lens.

That Samsung does look like a sweet camera. And I think that little blurb underneath the camera is right. Face-detection is one of thos semi-useful features, if that.

I wonder if "High Definition" simply refers to the camera software's ability to throw away pixels top and bottom so as to crop to the HD widescreen format? Or does the CCD array (or whatever the technology) have the HD aspect ratio?

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I wonder if "High Definition" simply refers to the camera software's ability to throw away pixels top and bottom so as to crop to the HD widescreen format? Or does the CCD array (or whatever the technology) have the HD aspect ratio?

Well, i think it will throw away pixels which is fine because there are more than enough for HD Video (1280x720). If the camera had a true 16:9 (or any other wide format) CCD this would be mentioned as a highlight i guess.
I also read that this cam will offer true manual modes. Face-Detection is something i never use, i'm not the target audience. The only thing that worries me if there will be any timelapse-mode included (a feature i love about the Ricohs).

Rico, the DP2 looks interesting and the micro four thirds too. The future is exciting, i'm just not sure if interchangeable lenses are still my taste. It depends on the situation, but on my SLR i had many lenses, but most of the time i used the 50mm 1:1.4 and never bothered about my other lenses. Less hassle.
Well, and i also find it strange that the DP2 obviously doesn't offer any videomode (or it is not mentioned).

Another interesting thing is the new sensor from Fuji which may cure one of the main problems (at least for me) of compact sensors: Lousy dynamic range.
Here
Let's hope Fuji can create a decent camera with this sensor. I'm not a big fan of Fujis Camera-Design, but the sensors are really good.

So, my "reload-clicking" on dpreview will reach silly dimensions for the next days.

BN as smithz said the HD is for the video capture which is designated by the 720 which makes the capture in 720p. There are other cameras that are doing FullHD that is 1080p. I think Casio has a new effort with full HD.

BN you might want to look at FullHD video cams that also do stills. They are pretty compact also. They write to SD media cards. Samsung has a couple of good ones. There is a $200 one by a maker called Aiptek or something like that.

I know the feeling smithz DPreview loves this for their viewer count.

It is good to see Fuji keeping at it. Kodak also has some great things going on behind the scenes with high dynamic range small sensors. Hopefully they will show some it this Photokina. Kodak actually might have a camera targeted for your sensibilities.

My Pentax K20D has time lapse. It also has a continuous shooting mode that takes over a hundred images in a row that can be made into a small video. It ties the camera up for over 2 minutes as they are all written to the media card. Straight video would have been better as the image would be written as you shoot.

It is silly nobody has made a FourThirds compact like the Sigma. Especially Panasonic and Leica since Panasonic is making the actual sensors.

The biggest announcement is the new Leica S series format. That is one killer machine. A whole set of lenses. I am certain you would need to sell the house to buy into it.

Rico, one thing I've been on the lookout for is a relatively inexpensive 8 GIG SD card for my camera. I've got a 4 GIG one, and that's okay. That actually stores a decent amount of video. But I'd like the flexibility of having more room. I've been keeping my eye on local sales, but haven't seen any really good sales.

Anyway, my main interest are the more compact Cameras. Of course they can't compete with DSLRs IQ-Wise, but hey... that's the deal.

I'm seriously thinking about picking up one of the Canon SD1000's like I had before if they ever do a serious upgrade of it, smithz. The photos were of very good quality, and the camera itself was so small that I found myself taking it everywhere. You could literally shove it in your front jeans pocket and it wasn't a nuisance. As small as my Canon 570 IS is, I can't put it in my pocket. And a camera that doesn't get used is as good as worthless.

BN I have used this Kingston 8GB card without any issues. I think I paid about $80 for mine a year ago. NewEgg has them for $20 with a $5 mail in rebate. There are 16GB cards now too. You might want to check them also. It might be cheaper getting one of those than say two 8GB cards.

What ever brand you do choose make sure they are class 6. That is the highest through put for SDHC.

Thanks, Rico. That's just the kind of deal I'm looking for.

Oh, another exciting new product from Fuji is the 3D-Camera. If i read correctly, the images can be viewed in true 3D on the LCD of the Cam, how cool is that? I want one now! I'm an old 3D Enthusiast, i did shoot 3D with my SLR using a beam-splitter. Photos can be viewed with special Viewers. But this whole technique is a little cumbersome. The digital style could simplify this a lot.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0809/08092209fujifilm3D.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/photokina2008/Fujifilm/

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I'm an old 3D Enthusiast, i did shoot 3D with my SLR using a beam-splitter.

Holy crap. That makes you like King of Geeks or something. That's pretty amazing. Anyone who can legitimately use "beam-splitter" in a sentence is pretty cool. LOL.

Thanks! Can you edit my Profile and change my Status to "King of Geeks"? I can't right now. King of Geeks... LOL. <cringe> ... That's the beam-splitter.

Where is my flux-compensator right now?

OMG smithz that Fuji 3D camera is insane.

I don't know how I missed it.

Can you edit my Profile and change my Status to "King of Geeks"?

Let me know if you're cereal (serious), smithz. That would be a good name for you, although we might have to make Rico "Caesar of Geeks" or something just to keep him happy. He's pretty geeky too. Way geeky, in fact. I might be able to do that for you, but I'm just a demi-god around here. Thalo has the real God-like powers. I can make it rain but he can part the ocean.

3D has always been one of those fun gee-whiz things…and also one of those things good only in small doses. I've never experienced much of 3D where I wasn't soon getting eye fatigue. But maybe new technology is changing that. I don't know. Remember those early 3D-ish holographic-like plastic laminated cards and such that were sort of slotted with vertical lines? You'd tilt the care a little to one side and you'd see one picture. You'd tilt it the other way and another picture would appear. I always like stuff like that. I look at the hologram on my VISA card when I get bored.

I remember the flux-compensator. Or was it the flux capacitor? Yeah, from Back to the Future.

I am not sure how to do that either but I think we should call smithz ÜberGeek.