道風山上

道風山：一個以傳統中國方式傳揚基督教的教會。其建築、陳設、及藝術品都以揉合了中國傳統及基督教兩者特式，雖未算是世上獨一，但在香港可算是獨一無二。

只是草草地走了一轉，全用 DA21/3.2 及 K20D jpeg，Bright Mode 拍攝。

21mm 的 snap

於我而言，攝影的真義是我雙眼的延續：每一天、每一分、每一秒我都在看。snap shot 就是要在千千萬萬日常所看見的影像擷取精髓，以表達我的所見所思。這，才是攝影。

DA21/3.2 LTD 似乎是專為這目的而設的。平常不過的視角，讓攝影師可以有最快的反應，不加思索而拍下了心中所感受的影像。不能 zoom 嗎？那倒是一個優點。不能zoom代表不用去想那一個焦段。只要習慣了鏡頭的視角（21mm 的視角倒是很易習慣），反應可算是即時的。至於在瞬間抓拍而不失構圖及清晰，那只需一點練習便可以了。

附圖在後製時加了一點暗角，這很符合照片沉鬱的感覺。近期的相片我都喜歡加上這效果，不知是否與自己的心情有關。

肥皂泡之樂

以 K20D 及 FA77/1.8 拍的小孩生活照。

拍照時相機處於點測光模式，沒察覺，所以曝光過度得厲害。但過度曝光又好像別有韻味...

PS 從此文起，此網誌將會以中文撰寫。

K20D at 64 candle light memorial night

Updated Firmware

Just updated the K20D firmware, not much difference can be noticed so far.

Snap with DA14

With the wide angle-of-view of the DA14, I don't usually snap with it. However, in some circumstances such as congested city, it's good to have the extra coverage for snap.

On the other hand, the DA14 is a very good performer. You probable know it's a sharp lens, and you probably know it's excellent distortion control... but I think it's also very good in color and contrast reproduction. See the metallic color of the bike, and the rich color of the wooden doors.

Snap

Hey lady, should you wanted to feel if there was rain, please take off your glove first... LOL

Ten Thousand Buddha Temple

The weather is bad, so just focus on the interesting buddha sculptures there.

By DA14/2.8:

By FA77/1.8:

By FA77/1.8

Flower Show 2009, Hong Kong (with Vivitar Series 1 105/2.5 Macro)

Some shots with my Vivitar 105/2.5 Macro at the Flower Show. The lens is very old, the sharpness in great, but the pics are noticable light in color and low in contrast. These problems are easy to fix with digital, but the biggest issue is the poor performance in flare control.... I need a better macro lens for more serious works.

My first submission to online stock photo site

Ok, the photos from K20D was passed.

While the old 6MP istD is not technically good enough for stock photos, the K20D do a good job for that. Remember, the stock photo request a 48MB file, which is good enough to print a full page newspaper, on art paper.... I really think the file from K20D is as good as the old slides, if not better.

Why 6MP in Pentax istD is not good enough?

Recently I tried to upload some images to a stock photo site. The site is very picky in the technical details (I am glad that they are so), and they require the uncompressed file size to be no less than 48MB, that means the long side should be >5000 pixels (assume a 3:2 aspect ratio).

I enlarge some images from istD + DA16-45 @f/8 accordingly. The resultant image is too soft and been rejected by the stock photo site. See the 100% crop below (click image to enlarge):



I admit the image was shot with jpeg mode and not best from istD, but the RAW file don't give me much room either.

Then I try another image from K20D + FA/77@f/4 (also shot in jpeg mode, and also need a little bit enlarging in PS to meet the 48MB requirement). I am still awaiting the response from the site, but the 100% is much sharper (click image to enlarge):



Cross my finger....

p.s. I will give the istD one more chance and find some RAW file and do the same up-sizing... but I don't think it will look good....

I love FA77/1.8

The FA77 is small, light, and amazing quality!! The color is nice, it's sharp, and the bokeh is very good. I just love it!

A few shots from Hokkaido

Oh, the trip was 6 months ago... just start again to post some photos from the trip... I am so lazy. No excuse for myself :(

All photos by K20D,

with DA14/2.8

with FA77/1.8

with FA43/1.9

with DA14/2.8

Some more IR photos with istD

Further to the test before, here's are more try-out of IR photos with istD. With the better IR sensitive, I am able to shot at a lower ISO level (ISO800 in this test), and I am satisfy with the results.

I am in the process to get the correct focus at close-up photos with my Vivitar Series 1 105mm f.2,5 macro lens. Hope I can get some interesting macro / close-up IR photos later.

IR photos on Pentax istD

Learnt that the CCD in the istDs lets more IR light to lass through it's IR-filter, I took our my old istD, charge the battery and do a few test shot just outside my bedroom window.

As expected, the istD has the same exposure compensation factor - in my case of 850nm filter, it needs 13-stops. Although it sounds not a big difference to the 16-stops required by my K20D, it's a big difference in actual operation. At ISO-1600, a 13-stops compensation under the winter sunlight means a ISO1600, f/8, 2s; but with 16-stops compensation means ISO1600, f/8, 16s - a quite noticeable operation difference.

On the other hand, I can't find any bandings in these istD test photos. Sounds good, but it's not conclusive yet and more test will be needed.

Some more on IR photos

I posted some IR photos to my facebook page, and one of my friend was enticed and begin searching for more info about IR photography, and he find THIS PAGE (in Chinese).

According to this Taiwan guy, he gets good result with his istDS + 720nm IR filter; and he use his DS solely for the purpose of IR photos. He is bold enough to remove the internal IR pass filter inside his DS on his own, and replace it with an 720nm IR filter....

One of the major problem with IR photos (on digital) is the ultra low sensitive and hence long exposure time even under bright sunlight. This is because the internal IR filter was used to filter most of the IR light reaching the CCD / CMOS, and left only a very small portion for exposure. If you remove the internal IR pass filter, you can get a 'normal' exposure time. (The 720nm IR filter, as the guy replaced it for the original internal IR pass filter, merely filter off visible light spectrum and make sure the photo is not 'ordinary'.

The guy also said that we need to block the VF during exposure. Maybe that's the reason I get bandings / flares in my IR photos. More test is needed. I am also planning to try using my istD for IR. Or maybe I can get a 720nm filter too...

PS. I am a clumsy DIY man, and surely I cannot manage the complicated DIY job. ;(

Banding in IR photos

More tryout with IR photos, and I find that the K20D is not very suitable for this purpose. The huge 16-stop exposure compensation is one reason (and that's because the strong IR-cut filter in front of the CMOS); but the main problem is random banding appears on the picture.

The banding in the following image is not the worse one. At worst, the whole picture is not visible. However, the picture sometimes appears clean without banding..... Since it appears randomly, you cannot avoid it.

Also try the IR filter on my friend's istDs, banding is still there, but not that serious. The exposure compensation factor with IR filter for istDs is 13-stops, much better than on K20D. Maybe I should test my istD with IR.....

Infra Red photos

Ever since I started photography many years ago, I was always fascinated by the surreal effect of IR photos. I never tried IR photo thou because of the unexpected effect of IR photos would be very hard to manage with films.

With digital, I though it would be easier to try IR photos, and I just get a cheapy Made-in-China IR filter to try this new area of photography.

I was wrong about "digital-is-easy" thing.

On almost all digital camera, there is a infra-red filter in front of the sensor (CMOS or CCD) because the IR gets into sensor will create unexpected color pollution to the photos. Leica M8 had made this mistake and been complained of pink-tinted white color. The IR pass filter used on the K20D is quite effective, combining with the IR filter, the ND factor is a whopping 16-stops!! I have to resort to a min ISO-1600 under bright sunlight scene.

The logistic is also quite clumsy, and reminded me of dark-room works in the old days. Here's what need to be done:

1) Use a tripod. (even at ISO1600 and bright sunlight, it takes 30s and f/8 to make a correct exposure)
2) Frame your picture WITHOUT the IR filter (the IR filter is totally dark and you can't see anything in viewfinder after you put it on)
3) Focus WITHOUT IR filter
4) Put on the IR filter
5) Use manual on the camera, and set the aperture/shutter according to previous exposure tests.
6) Shift the focus to the IR focus mark on lens, if any. Too bad most lens today doesn't not have the IR focusing mark, so I need to GUESS. Gee......
7) When back home, tune the curve and level of the pic. Change to monochrome or change WB...

All in all, it's very fun. Obviously, the end-result is not good enough. But I enjoy it.

Old Film Photo

With my new Macbook and Aperture, I am now re-organizing my old photos into one single library, so I have a chance to remember my old photos again.

Attached photos was taken before DSLRs were invented. Though it's years ago, I can still remember the set-ups for this photo - in the old days, films are expensive, and I press the shutter with care.

Camera: Pentax Z1
Lens: Pentax FA 70-200/4-5.6 Power Zoom
Film: Fujifilm RDP
Filter: B&W Soft Focus

Oh, I like the old days!!

Apple Aperture

I am now trying to use Aperture on my new Macbook to organize my photos. After a few weeks' usage, I really like the program's simple interface; powerful editing / organization functions; and many many plug-ins are available. I can upload photos (together with notes and captions) to a number of social sites including Picasa, facebook, blog, gmail etc all in Aperture. So just one program can solve most of my photo organizing / uploading need. Cool.

However, I have a few complain about Aperture:
1) It's doesn't work very well with the Pentax EXIF - it can't read the lense's model name. Adobe's Lightroom, on the contrary, can read the full name of Pentax lense without problem.
2) The RAW interface of Aperture doesn't not have a quick preset of cloudy, sun... etc to choose. It just have the color-temp. slider to work on.

Overall, I rate the program at 85/100.