Adventures of a Quantum Cowboy

Birds, a bench, and a bum near the Santa Monica pier.

The most recent addition to my photographic arsenal is the Blackberry Pearl 8130 smartphone.  Obviously it lacks anything close to power and creative flexibility of my SLRs, but it *is* notably portable and generally always on me, something I can’t say about my significantly less easily portable SLRs.

You can read the full CNET review of the phone if you’d like, but the essentials are that it’s a 2 MP camera with 5x zoom and a small flash unit that allows for limited user control of white balance, quality setting, and color effect.

My general impression is that it’s a fairly decent camera for what it’s designed to do… that is to say: spontaneous shots meant to document or for odd creativity.  The low resolution means large scenes tend to get this sort of smeared effect, which can be kind of cool.  For example in the photo at left, slight overexposure of the background has grayed out the sky, and this combined with the los-res smearing and the ’sepia’ effect, the image is given a very apocalyptic feel.  Detail on any one part of the image is quite low, but the overall impression is actually strongly delivered in my opinion.  While it runs counter to my usual style of trying to capture detail, I must concede that this could be a source of new experimentation for me.

Extreme contrast test, walking from Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach early evening.

Color fidelity is in general quite poor, and I think most of the color ones I have taken could do with a bit of sat boost.  However, I should point out that I have until now only tried the camera out in situations for which I have already admitted that the device is not designed - large scenes with a moderate to large amount of detail.  This is what I usually like to take when doing city and street shots, so I’m not really surprised that this is the bulk of what I have.  Sometime in the near future, I would like to try usign the Blackberry camera on photographs where there is a single point of focus, one which is quite close up and filling the frame.  I suspect that these will turn out much better and more interesting.

Good photography depends only partially on equipment.  Cheap and low-key stuff can turn out good photographs, you just need to bear in mind the different aspects of what you are using.  Apparent shortcomings can be turned into very creative advantages in the right hands.  Sure, if you want to do a particular kind of photography, you may need special equipment; you won’t get very far trying to photograph birds without a decent telephoto, for example.  But good composition and creativity are qualities that are completely independent of equipment.  The important thing for a photographer to remember is that, regardless of your equipment, don’t fight what you’ve got; see where the natural intersection is between the equipment you have and where you are, and go for it!

Any photographer these days could use massive and redundant data storage… and for a limited time, the noted quality driver maker SeaGate is practically giving it away.  I just snagged the 500GB FreeAgent external drive with automated backup software on sale for $99.00!!!  Can we say, “w00t”?

I debated long and hard about which telephoto to get for my upcoming trip to New Zealand, and ended up choosing the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. The fairly long reach and the definite added bonus of the Image Stabilizer were prime factors in making the decision.

The close runner up was the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM, which besides being an Canon signature L-series white telephoto (the top of the line pro-grade), had constant aperture, superb clarity, and a non-rotating front piece (ring-type USM) as well. Surprisingly, this excellent piece of work was in a comparable price range to the 70-300 IS, which is a consumer-grade lens. The opportunity to purchase an L-series lens was difficult to pass up, but I sacrificed the superior build quality and slightly better image quality for the lighter weight, longer reach, and the IS feature, which is a huge advantage for wildlife and airshows and allows slower shutter speeds. For reference, a great debate about these lenses can be found on the Canon Digital Photography Forums. There is a nifty lens comparison tool which I used as well.

Other lenses I considered but eventually discarded before the final showdown were much less expensive:

Canon 75-300mm f/4.5-5.6 III USM (*not* recommended at all)
Canon 100-300mm f/4.5-5.6 USM (pretty decent, but the IS seduced me)
Sigma 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 APO DG Macro (neat macro feature and good optics, but LOUD and SLOW autofocus)

The last two are decent lenses and should be considered if you are relatively new to SLR photography and/or on a budget and are looking for a telephoto in this range.

I purchased from King Photo Supply in Lancaster, CA for $650.00. This is more than what I could have gotten it for online, but several factors made me buy in person:

1. I could test out the lens on my camera against other lenses… important, especially for spending this much.
2. The personal advice and information from the experienced shop guys (who mostly know me by now) is invaluable.
3. It’s good to support good locally-owned camera shops, especially if you’re in the middle of nowhere like me, because otherwise someday the big online giants will put them out of business and you’ll be stuck squinting at online pictures and trusting only user reviews for your pricey equipment.

So that’s a wrap on this post. Look out for some nice telephoto shots from New Zealand when I return in January. Happy Holidays everyone!

I saw that the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi bodies had gone down in price, and so on a whim I bought one to replace the one I lost in the waterfall back in July. Definitely keeping the Elan though, film has it’s own wonderful feel.

Picked up an HP Scanjet G3010 for around $100. It’s not the most professional scanner in the world, but it easily gets me the resolution I had with the XTi in about 20 seconds per 4×6 print (3600×2400 pixels, scanned at 600dpi). The max is a 4200dpi scan! Though that max setting takes more RAM and time than I care to use… and seriously, a 4200ppi image? For what, like a 20 ft print? Oh well, will try out the new toy soon.

So, fell down a waterfall last weekend… took a few bruises and cuts but no major damage to me. The camera it turns out is not so robust; long story short, the EF-S 18-55mm, the XTi body, a 2GB CF card, and a battery are being chalked up as total losses right now.

I debated replacing the XTi, but came to the conclusion that this is an opportunity to branch out. Thanks to digital, I was able to take hundreds of dud pictures in a row at no expense while I was learning how to use the myriad functions on an SLR camera. Now that I know a bit more about exposure and photography in general, I think I feel more comfortable diving into the real craft of photography… not to mention that semi-pro film SLRs with lots of advanced features are about half the price of even entry-level digital SLRs.

Long story short, in the mail is my new primary kit:
Canon EOS Elan 7ne 35mm film SLR
Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM

I also ordered UV and polarizer filters, as well as a new tripod and several highly reviewed films to try out:

Kodak High Definition 200, for general use.
Fujicolor Superia 100, for landscapes and nature.
Kodak Portra 160NC, for portraiture and people.

I will still be posting digital images, though obviously the workflow has changed somewhat. There is a pro lab in Lancaster that I will be using to get high-def scans of the negatives, or if nothing else I can always use film mailers to the major pro labs.

I’m thinking about selling the two lenses for my XTi and replacing them with a single Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC.

Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
Retail new: $139.00
Used 7 months, excellent condition.

Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC (for Canon mount)
Retail new: $149.00
Used 7 months, excellent condition.

Email me with an offer if interested, quantumcowboy@gmail.com

I know, I know. No photos in awhile. Sorry. I’ve been doing a lot of overtime trying to get stuff together for a technical review at Langley this upcoming week, and of course everyone wants everything yesterday. So, long story short, there really hasn’t been much time for photography the last two weeks. I’m about halfway done post-processing the airshow pictures, and everything else I have mentioned hasn’t even been touched. Oof.

I’ll be in Seattle this week on training, but in the evenings I plan on working some photos, so hopefully there will be some by the end of the week.

Claudia has borrowed my 18-55mm for Hawaii, so I do not have a short lens for my XTi, but the good news is that I recently acquired a Pentax ME Super with a 50mm prime f/2.0 from my dad. Circa 1979 and shoots film. It’s incredibly lightweight and fairly simple to operate, though I’m going to be guessing at exposure a lot… that’s my weak point so maybe this is a good thing for my learning process. Outstanding reviews for this thing, especially for street photography. Seattle, here I come with my first film camera!

On the list to buy as funds permit:

Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM lens: the wide f-stop provides a narrow depth of field and nice bokeh that is reportedly excellent for portraiture, and this combined with the small size and light weight makes it a positively reviewed lens for street photography. It is close to the 50mm f/1.2L USM, except that its about 1/4 the price of the luxury series… and do I really need that extra 0.2 f-stop? Granted, the L-series lenses seem to have a lot of plusses over the normal EF and EF-S lenses (e.g. build quality, glass quality, etc), but I really can’t afford it and probably wouldn’t notice the image difference at this stage anyway.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens: for all the fun macro stuff, this seems to be a medium price, good quality pick.

Canon Rebel K2 film SLR camera body: At $134 new and about $40 on Ebay, this is almost too good to pass up. Though digital will probably remain primary, this could become an interesting side adventure. Currently the high bidder! The best part… it fits all my XTi lenses, as they both have the EF mount.

Anyone know anything about these items?

There she is, the Canon Rebel XT Digital SLR Camera. With easy to use advanced features, over 60 optical lens attachments, and a (relatively) low cost, this fine piece of engineering is much-loved standard in the amateur photography world. And boy I certainly can’t wait to get one. I can’t afford it now, but I’m saving…

The base camera is about $800.00, and with an additional telescopic lens, an additional macro lens, tripod, extra battery, and case I’m probably looking at at least $1,500.00 to $2,000.00. Oof. But I figure I’ve really liked photography for awhile and have been meaning to get more into it, and besides it will go well with the hiking I plan on doing. I’ve ordered “101 Hikes in Southern California” as well as “Backpacking California” from Amazon, and they should arrive sometime soon. I’m planning on doing a day hike through Placerita Canyon this Saturday, so be on the lookout for an essay/review and some photos this weekend.

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At August 25, 2006 4:25 PM, –Valente said…

Dude, very nice camera!

I picked up a Canon EOS 20D last December, and I absolutely love it. I’m sure you’ll be very pleased with the quality that these cameras provide.

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At August 25, 2006 5:15 PM, Nalin said…

Yeah my dad until recently worked for HP, which does a lot of collaborative work with Canon (seamless digital camera to High Quality photo print), so he was able to list a number of reasons that Canon was the best. I’m glad to hear that its not entirely company loyalty! There’s a couple of guys at work who are really into backpacking, which I would like to get into. I think Em is interested too… if you want to try out that new camera on some gorgeous California mountains and backcountry, let me know!

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At August 26, 2006 7:35 PM, –Valente said…

Oh hells yeah, I’m down for some backpacking sometime.

Definitely going to have to get together when the work/school schedule isn’t killing us all.