Shot with , processed using

After a thorough cleaning, I decided to take a little stab at shooting interior decoration. The photograph is from our bedroom and I used the bedside table lamps to create a warm atmosphere. The ambient interior lighting was combined with the sunny autumn scene outside. I shot two exposures on a tripod, for the interior lighting 0.4 seconds at f/9.0 andr for the outside lighting 1/40 seconds at f/9.0. I didn’t want an artificial HDR look, and didn’t want to stitch the exposures manually in Photoshop either, so I tried (for the first time) the enfuse tool which is part of the PanoTools package.

For a quick test, I have to say, the output is very much to my liking. The only serious flaw in the image is the two narrow field of view, shot at 18mm using the Tamron 18-250/3.5-6.3. A sigma 10-20/4-5.6 or Pentax 12-24/4 would have served a lot better.

A Pentax 645D prototype with 31Mp Kodak CCD sensor

A poster in a german photography form fanned the flames in the Pro Pentax rumour mill with a post that claims a Pentax salesperson in the Photokina 2008 Pentax booth had stated that the Pentax 645D would be released in the Spring of next year. Following the announcement of a Larger-Than-FF Leica S2 and rumours of Nikon MX, marketed as “Something BIG´´, this rumour has a fertile soil in Pentax users wanting to see Pentax make a move in the Pro market.

An article, translated from Japan also hints that the 645D is a larger priority for Pentax than 35mm digital format at the moment, and states that two new APS-C bodies can be expected from Pentax in the summer of next year. Pentax also aims to improve the quality of the APS-C images to match that of FF.

Pentax has demonstrated the new Pentax K-m camera on their Photokina 2008 booth that has been “blinged up´´ with Swarovski crystals. A pentax spokesperson declined to name a price for the camera and instead said photographers longing for the bling version should give them a call.

A similiar pink theme seems to be shown in the Pentax Japan home page.

Yesterday I shot a set of pictures for the home page of Hannu Pahajoki who is a candidate in a municipal election. Here’s a portraittaken of Hannu by the party, which I assume is used in their own advertisements. That particular picture had me tearing off my hair and reminds of all the stereotypes of a stuffed old politician (which my father is not . So we needed something a little more youthful and refreshing.

The Lutakko area and surroundings of the hightech Innova building in Jyväskylä, with the autumn colours and a traditional red brick industrial buildings, served as an excellent surroundings to present my father, who teaches building branch (construction) in a vocational school, in a more youthful setting. I attached the Sigma 24-60/2.8, ordered very cheap from the US, to my trusty Pentax K10D. The Sigma has not seen a lot of action yet, but this time the lens presented it’s best qualities in the great autumn light. I’m very satisfied with the pictures.
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Shot with PENTAX K10D, processed using K10D Ver 1.30

While driving home yesterday, I had an idea during a break to attach the camera to the backseat with the safety belt. Having it on a tripod, it was surprisingly sturdy. I have a faint recollection of having seen this before, so I don’t want any credit for originality.

Having the camera at manual focus and 2 second timer mode allowed me to reach to press the shutter release without appearing on the image. The most interesting pictures were recorded on a freeway with good lighting on the sides. And man, that windshield is dirty!

Computer generated imagery of the Samsung’s planned Hybrid Camera

Shortly after the announcements of the new µ4/3-system, which is an EVIL (Electronic Viewfinder, Interchangeable Lens) system, Samsung announced to be working on an APS-C sensor size based hybrid system of their own. The new interchangeable lens ‘Hybrid’ digital camera system is to be released in Spring 2010, and is intentended to allow Samsung to gain a strong foothold in a new, developing market instead of fighting the slow war for marketshare in the already entrenched DSLR world.

Initial reaction to the first µ4/3-body, the Panasonic G1, was lackluster as the body was deemed too DSLR-like and large. It appears Samsung has taken heed, as can be seen in the new computer generated concept image that features a decidedly retro pocket camera type of body. It remains to be seen, if the large objectives attached on the camera is a sign of things to come, or if Samsung can find a way to put the superb miniature Pentax pancake lenses on the new camera.

Shot with PENTAX K10D, processed using K10D Ver 1.30
ISO200, 1/125s, f/8.0 at 250.00mm (aperture priority (semi-auto))

(I noticed the thumbnail generation of the blog software seems to eat away the colour in the image (and no, the image is not in aRGB colorspace). I’ll need to tweak the software and add a way to examine the larger image.)

Because of being busy with other things, the camera has stayed on the shelf for a while. I’ve felt bad about not photographing more, but if I don’t feel like, and there’s nothing in particular that would demand being photographed, then why should I feel guilty? But now, autumn and the colours and fantastic light it has brought with it forced me to take a camera with me on a little tour on the streets of my home town.

This photograph is from the yard of the old Orimattila spinning mill, now converted to a shopping mall with lots of small boutiques. The image was processed in Aperture (I have three days left of the trial version, I should write a bigger piece on the software before the trial period expires) only to straighten it to fit my view of the scene. The shallowish depth of field was obtained by the only way the nice walkabout glass Tamron 18-250/3.5-6.3 offers: by using the longest possible focal length, 250mm. I don’t know if I have my goals too low, but for the huge focal length range of the objective, I quite like the sharpness of the Tamron.

Following various photography forums, it has become apparent that people have many widely held misunderstandings regarding the co-operation and ownership between Hoya, Tokina, Pentax and to some extent Tamron.

The reason that so many people get confused about the relations between these companies is simple: the companies have co-operated with each other on lens design and manufacturing. Here are a few misconceptions that seem to surface regularily:
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The Pentax K-m product brochure (in German) and an info leaflet have been made available at the Pentax Germany website. They also give out the official specifications of the camera. The dimensions of the camera are (as already stated) 122,5 x 91,5 x 67,5 mm, and the weight (without battery and lens) is 575g.
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Click for larger view

Perhaps the most interesting change in the roadmap is the new DA Super Telephoto marked at the 300mm mark, for which no other specification is yet given.