Aspects of Aspect Ratios
"I never, ever crop...except when I want to." —Frank DiPerna, about 1983 Sorry I didn't pull "featured comments" for Kirk yesterday. I was feeling unaccountably out of sorts, and probably would have mucked up the conversation. I've never shot square,...
Kirk’s Take (Kirk Tuck #4)
They stole our choice of aspect ratios. Now we’re getting them back By Kirk Tuck When I started taking photographs, back in 1978, I picked up a 35mm camera because that's what matched my budget and, I thought, my needs....
OM Goodness
We—and by we I mean "a bunch of us"—have been asking for it for years. How many times have you read it on forums and photo site comments sections? "I'm waiting for a digital FM3a." "Why can't they just give...
Tripod Technology: The Epilogue (Part IV)
You'll recall that we previously followed our hero (me) over hill, over dale, and through the woods on a search for the perfectly adequate tripod, in a series of posts called "Tripod Technology." In Part I, back in June of...
Burning Our Bridges
By Ctein Are we losing the ability to scan film? I like my digital prints from film much better than my darkroom prints (dye transfer notwithstanding). To those of you who still like darkroom printing of film, I think that's...
Which Cameras Do the Best Skin Tones?
Is there any cloud-mind consensus out there as to which DSLRs do skin tones the best? Any portrait or wedding pros care to speak up about this? Just askin'. Mike Send this post to a friend Please help support TOP...
Lytro Launches
Talk about buzz. The biggest photo news on the planet at the moment is the announced launch of the Lytro "light field" camera for early 2012. Articles in the mainstream press are blooming like kudzu, and the Lytro website is...
The Lucky Photographer
One well-armed photographer! That's about $200,000 worth of cameras and lenses, give or take. It's also about 1% of all the Leica S2's in the United States. The occasion was a photo expedition to take pictures of fall foliage in...
Why Would a Digital Camera Have a B&W-Only Sensor?
This is a question that comes up periodically, so I thought I'd answer it, so that I can point future questioners to this page. First of all, it's not a technical issue. People who are technical and practical have a...
Tip for Micro 4/3 Shooters
Incidentally, Carl had a tip for Micro 4/3 shooters: the B+W 46mm Screw-In Folding Rubber Lens Hood #900, a rubber lens hood for normal lenses, works with both the Panasonic Lumix 20mm ƒ/1.7 (40mm equivalent) and the Panasonic 14mm ƒ/2.5...
Gimmicks We Don’t Like
I was going to do a post called "Gimmicks We Like," but then I realized we don't like any gimmicks. Mike, Curmudgeon-in-Training Send this post to a friend Please help support TOP by patronizing our sponsors B&H Photo and Amazon...
Does Equipment Matter? (Indigestion)
This morning, B&H announced some rebates on Canon Rebels. And I found myself composing a sardonic little notice to the effect that 96% of photographers could probably do everything they needed or wanted to do just fine with a Rebel,...
