Mar
11
2010

Corel Paint Shop Pro Version 3: Resurrection?

Last year I wrote RIP: Corel PaintShop Pro on this blog and made the following comments:

Unfortunately, After Corel took over Paint Shop Pro - they appear to have applied their vaunted Corel Reverse Midas Touch [think PhotoPaint, Picture Publisher and Word Perfect franchises]. Right now, Paint Shop Pro V2 is in a contest with Microsoft Vista for most bloated, slowest and unreliable software. Microsoft Vista wins the fatty title hands down, its nip tuck on slowest, but Corel cops the fragility title hands and program down again and again easily.


Well I am a sucker for punishment and downloaded the full trial version of the new Corel Paint Shop Pro Version 3 in order to see if Corel had managed to fix anything. Here are my observation based on running:
Windows 7 on 2.1GHz Dual Core machine with 4GB of RAM and 500GB HDisk with 80% freespace
Testing was done with no other program running but Paint Shop Pro V3 and then Adobe Photoshop CS3

Here are the results:

Measure Corel PshopPro V3 Photoshop CS3
Install 30min 24min
Memory Used 476MB 386MB
Start up 11sec 9sec
Load 16MB Image 5sec 4sec
Curves Correction 1sec <1sec
Impressionist Plugin 21sec 24sec
Duplicate Layer 1sec <1sec
Convert to B+W 4sec <1sec
Rotate 1sec <1sec
Blur Gaussian 20 10sec <1sec
Sharpen 3sec 3sec
Unsharp mask 20 13sec 2sec
Save As JPG Max 11sec 8sec
Size of Final JPG 51MB 48MB

The bottom line is that Photoshop is distinctly faster than Corel Paint Shop Pro version 3, uses less memory and of course provides a wider feature set; but at $715 at Amazon for CS3 Extended versus Corel PaintShop Pro V3 at $100 - there is certainly a value trade off.

But the biggest news by far is that Windows 7-like, Version 3 of PaintShop Pro seems to have eliminated all the crashes I was experiencing in Version 2. In three days of fairly intensive testing, Version 3 has crashed only once [ditto for Photoshop CS3]. Big improvement.

Equally important for end users is the dramatic improvement in response time - still not in Photoshop territory [only one command , the Impressionist plugin, was slightly faster than in Photoshop CS3]. But this is a marked improvement on being 50-70% slower than Photoshop in our previous tests.

The size of the program is about 20% bigger than Photoshop CS3 - I don’t have comparisons with Version 2 of PaintShop Pro. So whats-new improvements like multi-photo editing a la Lightroom, Seam Carver, and direct video editing [about 20% of my web still images come from HD video image captures] will have to carry the day. And the active Learning Center plus Express lab simplify learning and using Paint Shop Pro V3.

I am looking for a simple and fast Photo Editor to compliment Photoshop - sort of like the handy, light Panasonic 10x zoom camera that goes with me everywhere while I reserve the Canaon SLR for major shoots. But I will wait one more version of Paint Shop Pro to see if they can improve the response time even further and add more to the Express Lab and multi-photo features. But clearly, Corel Paint Shop Pro version 3 is like Windows 7 [and SP1], on the road to redemption.

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By admin | Posted in software | Comments (0)
Mar
01
2010

When is a Picture More than Just a Picture?

Is this just a Photo?

Toronto Winter City Festival - Angel of the Apocalypse Exhibit by the Flaming Lotus Girls

I have been blithely producing this series of Olympic Plugin articles without asking a very relevant question - when is a picture more than just a picture? By that I mean in the process of doing photo-taking and photo-finishing a simple image can become a crafted production nothing like the moment in 1/50th of a second in time it is intended to capture. This is even more true using one or more of the currently recommended Olympic Plugins [and there a lot more Olympic Plugin reviews on tap in the next few weeks]. So while doing the articles I have had lingering thoughts about what makes up a true, real and legitimate picture.

Toronto Close-up from Angel of the Apocalypse Exhibit by the Flaming Lotus Girls

Here is the essential question. When, in the process of taking a picture with the aid of props, zoom lenses, and blitz flash attachments among other things, does the image change from a moment in time to a carefully crafted statement of what was seen? If a picture is worth a thousand words, is a carefully photo-finished or ‘hand crafted’ image production worth a million words [or dollars]? Or is a picture still a picture up until the moment it leaves the camera[or SD card] and is taken into Photoshop [or your favorite image/photo editing program] and then cropped, color corrected, sharpened, and/or smoothed to meet your remembrances of what it looked like when you took the image?

Another Close-up from Angel of the Apocalypse Exhibit at Toronto Winter City Festival

Or does an image not cross the line from photo to statement until one adds a new layer or a completely different image element into a composition? Say splice on a second viewpoint for a panorama view. Or cutout a portion of an image and then recombine and re-merge the pure elements into a “tighter” view of the scene. This is deliberate distortion of the reality of the scene; therefore this must be a true, realistic image changed to a statement about what was seen and felt. And is one required to make the statements explicit - so no none could be deceived into thinking that this “altered” image was in fact a true rendering of reality?

Redline from Angel of the Apocalypse Exhibit at Toronto Winter City Festival

Now to my surprise, I discovered yesterday that the people at Popular Photography and the New York Times David Pogue have been tending the same garden. I have always thought of photography as a moment in time - a slice of life. To me Photography is to video/movies as a poem is to a novel. And then the obvious became apparent. Photography is inevitability a statement about what one values. Indeed capturing a value to be perhaps shared with others or at other times.

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By admin | Posted in design, stillcamera, trends | Comments (0)
Feb
28
2010

Winter Olympics - Savviest Media Coverage

The Vancouver Winter Olympic Games have been a delight despite the warm weather. And the coverage in the Press around the world has been a lot more than I expected given that it is Winter events that just do not have traction in much of the warmer climes. What really surprised was the mixed coverage and usage of social media such as Twitter, Facebook and various blogging commentaries and forums. However, on the use of media such as video, graphis, and image slideshows the world media

So a perusal of the various websites covering the games found a cornucopia of great media coverage and how-to articles available describing the Game events and resultsa. Anybody interested in finding out how and why and maybe some of the physics and science behind an event has a wealth of articles to choose from. Here is our ranking of the top five Winter Olympic Coverage site for their use of Web media.

5th Place - Google Earth 3D Map of the Games
gooearth
Use of Google Earth and its special viewing files of the Olympic venues requires a free download of the Google Earth program if users don’t already have it downloaded. But Google Earth [and Google Mars for that matter] are well worth the while because they give such wonderful views of places and cities throughout the World. And Google has pulled out the stops for a great look see at Vancouver and the great BC countryside.

4th Place - HowStuffWorks How the Luge Works

HowStuffWorks is a website devoted to explaining how things work with pictures and explanations. This coverage of the Luge Event is typically thorough [although the map of the Whistler Luge Track is strangely missing given that maps of the luge runs in Torino 2006 and Salt Lake City 2002 tracks are shown]. After reading this article I have a much better feel for the equipment, speed and danger of luge racing.

3rd Place Bronze - NBC/NSF Science of the Winter Olympics

The NSF-National Science Foundation worked with NBC to put out a 16 part series of videos describing the science of some of the more popular Olympic events. What is novel is that they look not just at the physics but also the biochemistry and fluid dynamics that turn out to be crucial for the many different sports. These are wonderful learning exercises that I wish I would have had for my Science classes in grade or junior high school. Not only are they very instructive but also they are very motivational. Imagine seeing a sport up close and then getting the basic science behind the event. What a motivator for understanding and/or participation. The illustration at times is uneven, but the overall quality is high.

2nd Place Silver - NYTimes Tie - Inside the Action and Interactive Action
nytsports
The New York Times has set a standard for coverage of the Games that just blows away the competition for savvy use of graphics, video and blogs. They are consistently a level above the sports media - using video window in video, graphics, direct illustration on video and competitor’s own dubbed commentary to add great insights into the intricacies of the sports. I looked at a number of sites including TheStar, GlobeandMail, ESPN, CTVOlympics, NBCOlympics, BBC/Sports, LeMonde/Sports, LATimes, DerSpeigel, among others - and none offered the range of sports or the insights of the written and video coverage that could match the NYTimes.

1st Place Gold - NYTimes - Fractions of a Second: An Olympic Musical
nytmusic
Edward Tufte who is to communication graphics as Josef Albers is to Color Theory or J.K.Rowling is to childhood fiction - I suspect Tufte would give his seal approval to this musical graphic that shows in sing song tunes how close the finishes were in a number of the Olympic events [you must visit the site for the benefit of audio playback - its better than a blink of the eye]. The musical tones tell the story in sonorous fashion of just how close the finishes were. This is a gold medal triumph of Web media “illustration”.

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By admin | Posted in design, trends | Comments (0)
Feb
25
2010

Apple iPad: Missing the Media Community

The Apple iPad has been called a big iPod iTouch - and with good reason. iPad supports a big, full touch screen operations with a high resolution color screen which is readable in ambient light - think outdoors

on a sunny day. The iPad will certainly be a good game machine and a better book reader than Kindle if its oudoor performance and 10 hour battery life stand and deliver. But the iPad, despite all its Jobsian pizzazz, leaves the media and graphics community wanting.

The bulk of Apple’s strength on the PC and notepad computing is among graphic artists and media-savvy people. But here the iPad has some notable missing links. The creative community is going 16:9 and iPad does not quite fit. A small nuisance you say but then the iPad omits, in a Jobsian hissy fit, the most popular container for media, Flash. Woah! Whats going on?  And finally, the iPad OS still does not deliver multitasking - so presentations have to be self contained , non-Flash, and without quickly accessible backdrop apps. And there is no Wifi Direct support for exchanging files in a flash. In fact, with 3G support exclusively given to AT&T [the last of the major US carriers committed to 4G/LTE expansion of network bandwidth], doing online shows will also be at risk.

In sum, iPad is a Kindle killer that can run games and photos/video blazingly fast but even a little short there because of no_Flash and the weak net connections. iPad is also missing no convenient way to quickly transfer media between iPad and notepads, other iPads and other media carriers. Hmmm. Maybe those upcoming MacBooks and other Apple notepads will be as loaded as Steve Jobs promised in a post iPad pronouncement - they will need to be.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Feb
24
2010

Olympic Plugins: AutoFx Free Dreamy and Mosaic

The Winter Olympic games have been quite exciting and picturesque - inspiring this series of Olympic Plugins reviews that highlight some of the best free and for fee plugins available. The improvement in plugins capabilities over the past 3-4 years have been quite dramatic.  Here are two from the AutoFX that are both free and quite compelling. Users can not only get a free plugin but also a feel for the AutoFX standalone style of plugin - where autoFX allows users to openstandalone plugin program and apply various effects - [but not concurrently, one image at a time].

Dreamy Photo Plugin

The Dreamy plugin goes beyond Photoshop’s Blur | Surface Blur
Some users may note that the Dreamy Plugin produces results similar to Photoshop’s Blur | Surface Blur filter - and as the example below shows that is true. But look at the Dreamy Photo interface shown above users have  for zoom offset that is unavailable in Surface Blur. Also there are controls for ghosting and Tint Color in the Dreamy Plugin which are quite helpful. But the eseence of the plugin is to apply a softness that is shape and edge savvy as seen below.

Soft Focus styling
Notice three things in the use of the Dreamy plugin. First, I have warmed up the image a bit by using the the Tint Color  option with an orange red hue. Second I have ised the Ghosting option which places as a light ghost image at the outside edge of the figure skaters. This is more useful than the directional ghosting using say the drop shadow option avilable in the layer Fx styling functions. Finally using the Blur and Blend options I am able to achieve a better dream finish which adds to the mode projected by the figure skaters. I found this was achieved a lot faster than the many tries used in Photoshop’s <strong>Blur | Surface Blur</strong>  filter.

In sum for free, the Dreamy Photo plugin accomplishes a lot of tasks quickly that would require several steps in Photoshop. Its this type of productivity that a photo finisher really appreciates.

Mosaic Plugin

In the past, this reviewer has scoffed at painting and design plugins - because they often get abused. Arbitrarily applied with little value add to the image other than novelty. Mosaic is a classic example. And the screenshot above is just such a marginal case. There is not a compelling case for using Mosaic in this photo of a Freestyle Aerialist at the Olympics.

But now consider the before and after shot below of the pair skaters shot from above.

In contrast here the Mosaic plugin works well. First the shot is taken from above directly down on the skaters for a mosaic floor viewpoint. Second, the Mosaic look gives the feeling of a Moment in Time captured forever. Last but not least, one can visualize an Etruscan or Finish manor house with this floor piece to greet guests who enter the sun room or sauna bath. Very fine indeed.

Summary

These are the two biggest freebies up at the autoFX site - but they are certainly worth the download. This is particularly true if you plan to buy other autoFX filters and want to get a feel for how well the filters work and how easy[or hard] they are to get used to. Be forewarned - some of the other for-fee plugins have even more controls than shown here

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By admin | Posted in plugins, software | Comments (0)
Feb
21
2010

Olympic Plugins: Redfield Free Plugins

Redfield is one of those small plugin companies like Flaming Pear and Mehdi that have offered a lot of value to photo finishers in 3 ways. First, they have a number of free plugins [more on that just below] which provide good value to users. Second, all of their plugins are available in a fully functioning demo version which allows potential users to try out the real plugin getting a clear idea of how well it fits their needs. Last, but not least the plugins are modestly priced [well under $100] given the often superb performances they deliver.

So in this review , some of the free Redfield plugins are on display. Starting with Craquelure:

This plugin allows users to apply textured background to an image that reflects some or none of the existing background.  Craquelure works best in images where users are able to mask out the foreground figure and apply the plugin into the isolated background. See the results here.

I like this plugin because the transformations it allows are quite diverse while  the Opacity, Refraction, and Rotation controls allow for users to conjure some great textured effects.

The Lattice Composer is another free Redfield plugin that is useful when giving an overall look to an image with lattice lines and hue changes. Here is the Lattice Composer’s interface which gives an idea of all the control users can apply:

Note the use  of hue change and the directional control of the lattice lines.

Here is the same basic settings applied with one notable difference: the skier has been masked out of the image so the plugin is applied to the background. The intention is to give “another world” look to ski-jumping:

The effect just heightens an image already suggesting a nether world of competition.

Redfield has at least half a dozen more free plugins and some very useful pay-for ones as well which shall be featured in this Olympic Plugins series of reviews.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Feb
20
2010

Olympic Plugins: Edges and Frames

The last step in PhotoFinishing is to add a frame to your image - and this can be an extraordinarily dangerous business. I have seen too many very good shots diminished by overstated metal/wooden frames and mattes. And in the digital world , the ability to do great harm to a good image seems to be  enhanced with sophisticated photo finishing programs with layering  like Corel Painter or Paintshop Pro and especially Adobe Photoshop.

That is why I like the crop of new plugins like onOne’s PhotoFrame 4.5 - $260US and Auto FX’s Photo Graphic Edges - $250US.They allow you to do two things very quickly: 1)tryout a very broad range of frames and edges[literally hundreds in all sorts of styles] very quickly and 2)customize the fit, width, coloring and opacity of those digital frames - again very quickly. True you can do it yourself in Painter or Photoshop using layers and brushes and sophisticated resizings/actions. But that is the problem - one becomes so invested in getting that grunge frame looking exactly right - one is not willing to walk away from it when it deflates the image it is supposed to enhance.  So perhaps the biggest advantage is that Frame/Edge plugins allow a photofinisher an opportunity to see quickly how a framing will work [- or not] for a particular image.

Examples of Frames

Enter onOne’s PhotoFrame 4.5 for example.
onOne Photoframe Design Interface
One can quickly see how good [or bad] a frame will look on your image. Err on the sides  of  simplicity and expression. The frame should not be ostentatious and drawing attention away from the main image. It also shoul help to express the feeling you want to convey with the image.  Here are some examples.

Using onOne’s PhotoFrame

Frames allow photo finishers to direct attention and add an emotional suggestion or hint to a photo. The first example of the Chinese gold medal figure skating pairs in practice, uses a line frame [the image on the right] to hint at the tentative nature of the practice skate with incomplete thin lines around:

Frame emphasizes tentative nature of practice

In contrast the second image uses a bold frame for ski-jumping. The Whistler area has such  beautiful panoramas and the ski-jumping event for most observers is like being launched into a new new world . This is the reasoning behind the use of the special artists frame:

Frame accentuates soaring into anew world view

autoFX Photo Graphic Edges examples

I really like the design interface for PGE-PhotoGraphic Edges. Its easy to navigates and gives users control over a lot of the frame/edge settings such as border, color, width of border etc. Here we use a grunge Edge to suggest that the downhill racers could easily go splat with a high speed tumble:

And here is an example of the before and after splat look:

Unfortunately our subsequent experience with autoFx PGE plugin was quite erratic. On the same Windows XP 2.0GHz 3GB RAM machine that PhotoFrame 4.5 performed flawlessly on, PGE produced quite a number of crashes like this:

PGE Designer Crashes Many Times

This is too bad because the filters and edges in PGE are very promising and the design interface very approachable.

Summary

Adding frames to your photo can be done either in software primarily as outlined here or using the glass, matte and framing crafts of Frame Store. i have always had troubles with the glass, even acid treated glass on photo images, so I tend to favor the software approach. But - as seen here, make sure the frame works for you image - working to convey the over all impression intended.

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By admin | Posted in design, plugins | Comments (0)
Feb
18
2010

The Apple vs Adobe Squabble

Steve Jobs has been dissing Adobe’s Flash for the past 2-3 years for reasons public but still fundamentally unknown. Since the launch of the iPhone in 2008 Flash has been programma non grata on Apple iPods and iPhones.  Various reasons have been supplied including not fast enough, buggy, and drains power. The legitimacy of these claims is under question.

With the launch of the iPad without Flash [which is used on 98% of all browser, and for 70% of all video browsing on the Web], Steve Jobs has seen fit to tell the Wall Street Journal that running Flash on the iPad  sucks the battery life out of the iPad from 10hours to 1.5hours; hence the reason for his ban on Flash.

But our own tests on an old PowerPC powered Mac and a new MacBook tell a slightly different story. On the old PowerPC Mac there have been no bugs, no speed differential versus Apple’s Quicktime for video display  and no “battery drain” problem. Admittedly this is an older version of the Flash Player so test were done on a new MacBook with the Leopard and then Snow Leopard OS. The results show Snow Leopard running slower[surprise!] but no bugs in either version of the OS. Unfortunately there was no battery life test[who could guess what complaint Steve would come up with next]. The same Flash files were then run on  a Windows XP  and the Windows 7 laptops.  The Flash player version is 10.0 [because 10.1 was beta it was not used].

In the case of Windows XP Flash’s speed was faster than in Windows 7 but from time to time sprouted non-fatal error messages. Windows 7’s Flash Players results were no error messages but slower run times. As for battery drain, the tests showed no notable difference between Adobe Flash vs Apple Quicktime vs Windows Media Player for battery usage while playing full screen movies [not the same ones unfortunately].

Independent confirmation of the idea that Adobe Flash runs fast enough is provided by this report in Wired in which Google Android based mobile phone which is notably slower than iPhone CPU runs Flash with no problems. Now in the commentary below the Wired article all sorts of mis-information flourishes- Google can now search Flash files, Flash does indeed run slower on Snow Leopard and especially in Safari but seems fine in Firefox using Flash Player 9.

Conclusions

Steve Jobs is having another hissy fit with Adobe. This has happened before with the intro of Aperture and Final Cut Pro - competitors to Adobe Lightroom/Photoshp and Premiere respectively. Its one of those masculine, zerosum conflicts where both side get scarred and then who cares? Google. Because their Android OS runs Flash just fine in Android for smartphones and Netbooks. And both of those will be competing with iPhone and iPad come this Spring and Google will be armed with Flash - the current best multimedia container in the world for numbers of users, features, and efficiency of storage. Hmm sound like a big giveaway by Apple.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Feb
11
2010

Canons Nextgen Compact Camera

When I did my recent review of 3 NextGen Compact Cameras I could not help wondering where were Canon and Nikon. Well Canon has answered in no uncertain terms with its new Powershot line up. The top of the line Powershot SX210 IS is particularly impressive staking NextGen highs for MPixels and optical zoom:

Canon Powershot SX210 IS - $350, 14MPixel, 14x zoom, 217 grams with battery and SD card

These are top of the line basic specs just under Samsung’s 15x zoom and leading all the NextGen compact cameras for megaPixels captured at 14.5. But Canon has packed a lot of other features into this slim and light compact. The Powershot delivers 720P video and bevy of camera shooting controls including manual, shutter priority and aperture priority.

In addition , the camera provides ISO 80 to 1600 settings, 4 automated focus methods, plus White Balance Color Control of  high value. Like the other NextGen cameras the Powershot takes advantage of its on board image chip to provide Smart Shutter capabilities which include Smile, Wink Self-timer, Face Detection,Self-timer, Low Light, Color Accent, Color Swap, Fisheye Effect, Miniature Effect, Beach, Foliage, Snow, Fireworks, Stitch Assist. Lets examine just three of these.

How many times have you gone to the beach and found the shots not just a bit overexposed and/or color shifted on a perfectly sunny day. This is because of the glare  caused by  diffuse light reflections off the sand. Beach Smart Shutter corrects for these exposure shifts. But in dark lighting conditions, the camera has a Low Light mode that allows taking low-noise and sharper images. Finally, the camera supplies a circular Fisheye mode which adds fun and utility to cramped shots - where you want to catch the full spectrum of what is happening.

The Powershot has some nifty extras as well - a macro mode allowing images within 5cm about 2 inches to be taken - coupled with the 28mm wide angle or Fisheye mode - this makes for some creative macro image taking opportunities.  In a similar fashion, the movie mode allows recording 1280 x 720p movies with stereo sounds with HDMI output so you can show on TV or You Tube your movie productions. In sum, the Canon Powershot, also available in mid-March, goes onto my list of  now 4 NextGen Compact Cameras to try out this Spring.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Feb
04
2010

NYTimes David Pogue’s Best Compact Cameras under $300

NYTimes David Pogue has a great sense for value - and this year’s choices for the best compact camera for under $300 are as usual quite good. As seen in this very helpful chart, 10MPixel or better storage and some prices well under $300 rule the roost.  Many of David’s recommended cameras have 10x zoom, several have HD video and many use SD cards and some have 24mm wide angle but only one has the choice of manual/aperture priority/shutter priority shooting.  My point - for $50 more users can get compact cameras with all of these features plus light weight and thin size, advanced image exposure, improved auto-focus, plus a neat collection of individual attractions like advanced burst mode exposures or GPS/Compass recording and display capabilities. So do read David’s best, but also take a glance at the top of the line compacts for $350.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Jan
31
2010

3 Next-generation Compact Cameras

As a photo-artist I really appreciate always having a camera with me. Rather than taking a bulky, heavy SLR everywhere I have reverted back to compact cameras because they are certainly delivering on thin, light, wide zoom-range and gobs of features. They are also bound and determined not to provide a view finder - to my chagrin.

But the LED viewing/composing screens on the back are getting ever better. And now that HD video is on board so is multiple fast exposures. And most cameras provide at least 10MPixels and 10x zoom so there is a lot to like as portability with lots of picture taking power becomes ever better. And the new compact cameras are a real leg up on using smartphones with their tiny sensors and cramped, coke bottle lensing. So here are three compact cameras, two of which were at the CES 2010 show which show very great promise for the price:

1)Sony Cybershot HX5V/B - $350, 10MPixels, 10x zoom, 171grams

To these capabilities Sony has added a rich set of goodies including HD video clips at 1920 x 1080p using either AVCHD or storage efficient MP4 recording format, four anti-blur functions, and GPS capabilities - the camera records not just the time and date when the picture was taken but also its location and direction of shooting with an on board compass - orienteering people take note.

My 3 favorite new goodies are burst mode of 10 frames per second so you never miss that action shot. The Sony people have taken this capability a step further with the Panorama Sweep Mode. Press the shutter and sweep - then the camera does the rest, continuously shooting images and in one second stitching them together. Second, the camera takes face recognition to a new level with anti-blink detection and Smile recognition. Now all you have to do is coax the subject to relax and enjoy their portrait. Third, there is Transfer jet Technology which allows transferring up to 10 files by just touching two devices together. Most of the major camera makers are on board - Canon, Casio, Eastman Kodak, Hitachi Ltd, JVC-Kenwood Holdings, KDDI, NEC, Nikon, NTT docomo, Olympus, Panasonic, Pioneer, Samsung, Seiko Epson, Sharp, SoftBank Mobile, Sony, and Toshiba. The speed is about 35 MB second and the demo was impressive; but I am from Missouri on this, the Motion Detection,  and in camera Photo editing functions. You and I will have to wait until mid March this year to test out these features. But boy I wish the Sony SLRs could get some of these smarts. Oh and perhaps most important of all, the Cybershot HX5 supports industry standard SD/SDHC cards.

2)Samsung HZ35W - $350??, 12MPixels, 15xzoom, 245grams with battery and SC/SDHC card

Like the Sony Cybershot, the Samsung HZ35W has video but at 720P and 30fps with HDMI or USB connector and H.264 compression. It also has GPS capabilities and takes them a couple steps further than Sony. There is in-camera software for displaying saved images on a map interface so that users can in effect use the camera as a record of when and how pictures were taken - and as a live GPS compass.

Meanwhile The 3″ AMOLED screen [much better visibility in direct sunlight] not only shows GEO tags and maps but also delivers truer colors while reducing battery drain. The 15x zoom is tops in this compact camera field with equivalent of a 24-360mm SLR range.

Finally, the Samsung provides greater camera control - with manual mode, aperture priority and shutter priority as well as a choice of ISO 80-3200, shutter 16sec- 1/2000sec, and f3.2 to f9.8. This is coupled with 2 auto-focus corrections and 8 major picture taking modes. The one problem is that Samung has not decided on a price for the cameras debut at the end of March 2010 - the lower bound is the $280 price of Samsung TL105.

To this camera buff the great zoom and camera control options make the HZ35W a real contender depending on how that AMOLED screen performs and the final pricing.

3)Casio EXILIM EX-FH100 - $350, 10x zoom, 10MPixel, 181grams without battery

The CASIO EX-FH100 looks a lot like the Sony Cybershot in its key specs. However it does not have the Cybershot’s GPS feature and can only do HD at 1280 x 720p at 30 fps [ but also can do a range of small sizes from 640 x 480 at 120fps to 224 x 64 1000fps]. And its high speed exposure capability is carried into the still image taking where the camera can take 30 shots at 9MPixels shooting from 2fps to 30fps [user selected]. Given that the camera already has two auto focus correction systems, the sharpness of the image is enhanced by Best Shot Option that automatically selects the best image from burst exposures depending on what shooting mode is chosen.

The Casio EX-FH100 uses its burst mode operation coupled with its fast image processor to merge with the flash combining two or more images into one evenly lighted shot. Likewise the camera does auto-HDR combinations of 3 images shot at user selected ev intervals to get the best possible highlight and shadow areas combined into one image. This smart burst-shot technology is combined with a back illuminated CMOS sensor to provide a total 10 Best Shot modes of operation.

Having used the Casio EX-FH1 for the past two years, I am anxious to tryout the EX-FH100 in mid-March when the camera goes on sale. My contacts say that the Best Shot modes, new camera raw format, and 9MPixels [versus 5MPixels for the my EX-FH1] makes for outstanding image taking. I am anxious to confirm that.

Summary

Although these three cameras each have very similar basic profile [and for me that is light, thin, and fit in a shirt pocket], each has its own special attractions. I will definitely be at the camera stores in March and April to give readers an update on the performance of each of these compact cameras. I am from Missouri, so I have to see for myself how well these cameras perform before I give the final review on what appears to be 3 great mobile cameras.

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By admin | Posted in hardware, trends | Comments (0)
Jan
28
2010

Comments on Apples iPad

The comments on Apple’s iPad are starting to really roll in the best I have found so far is by New York Times David Pogue:

* Like the iPhone, the iPad is really a vessel, a tool, a 1.5-pound sack of potential. It may become many things.

This catches the overall theme of many gadget observers. The offering is not complete but as an eReader it beats the Kindle hands down and as a media viewer it has many advantages but the distinct liability of not supporting Adobe’s Flash . But I get ahead of others:
NYTimes - Three reasons why the iPad will kill the Kindle [but not the Kindle bookstore]
Engadget - many writers at Engadget reach a consensus:  iPad as delivered is distinctly flawed
Guardian - bloggers around the world bash the iPad - and then provides links
CNET -iPad unites Apple’s media and mobile ambitions
Cnet again - Apple’s iPad touches a nerve in Redmond.
PCWorld -  10 big  mistakes in the iPad
Clearly iPad is not seen as an unbridled second coming success - rather its seen as fledgling with possibilities. Or not a Microsoft Vista more like the first iPhone. Lets see how fast iPad triangulates towards what the market readers/leaders want.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Jan
24
2010

Photofinishing Resources


Evocowire is the strange name of a website crammed with photofinishing resources and tutorials. Most of the resources like the actions shown in the picture above are for PhotoShop - sets of actions, brushes, and templates abound on the site - and they are topnotch. But there are also resources for Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Illustrator and a few other graphics software programs. As well, Evocowire has tutorials and news. It appears the site is new but judging from the standards so far, I hope this website really prospers.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Jan
23
2010

Online PhotoFinishing


Online Photo-Editing sites have been covered by thePhotoFinishes.com before; but not a free online PhotoFinishing site. Befunky changes that - it is devoted to taking your photos and transforming them into works of art using special effects like Cartoonizer, Oil Painting, Inkify, Old Photo, Charcoal, Impressionist, and my favorite - PopArt. Then add some goodies. Its free to try and if you register, you can save and/or share your works. $50/year you get the full range of special effects, support for giant images, plus no befunky.com watermark in the lower right corner. For $250/year you can sell your works of befunkey-ized art.

Befunky is easy to try yourself - navigate to befunky.com and upload an image and for free, you can be the next Andy Warhol. There are some downsides - only one effect can be applied to an image [no combining effects] - but there are 2 or 3 user customized settings to each effect. Also there is no way to mask or create layers for more “finished” photo effects [take a look at www.fotoflexer.com for these capabilities plus a new set of special effects]. Befunky won’t make a badly composed shot look good, but will save a good shot slightly off focus, color shifted or in need of a little cropping and styling. Try it, you may like it a lot.

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By admin | Posted in trends, video | Comments (0)
Jan
14
2010

Color Concerto - Try 27 Best Color Websites Live

One of the advantages of the Web 2.0 RIA revolution is that Flash and JavaScript websites are not only getting more features but also much faster in performance. Color Wheels and Color Chooser websites have gotten very sophisticated. Going to my old wheel favorite Color Scheme Designer I could not find it - it has a new and faster edition. But then I discovered I had lost all my color bookmarks. So I decided to collect all may favorites together in a series of live websites links so they are convenient for me and for Picthat readers. These are all live websites, so you can try them out directly. And when you find colorful site that catches your fancy - just click on the link or right mouse click to go directly to the color site in its own browser window:


5 Color Theory Websites


6 Color Wheel Tools


7 Color Chooser from Images Tools


5 Quirky Color Tools


5 Color Testing Tools
Finally all in one place for convenient decision which is best for current task and then go! If you have a favorite you don’t see here - just add a comment.

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By admin | Posted in color corrections, design, trends | Comments (4)
Jan
06
2010

CES Citings: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV

After its annoucement in October 2009,  Canon EOS 1D Mark IV went underground with the ability to acquire one severely taxed. So Canon may be taking advanatge of CES - Consumer Electronics Show 2010 in Las Vegas to relaunch the camera with its imminent greater availability.  Canon is locked in a battle with Nikon’s D3S at $5000 retail for lead in the Pro camera high ISO, fast+accurate autofocus contest [for stills, both cameras offer video capture but not with auto-focus].

The specs for the Canon 1D Mark IV are impressive:
>ISO 50 to 102,400 with sharp, noise free up to ISO 6400
>45 autofocus sensors with fast dual processor   rendering
>1080P video at 24, 28, 30fps using .MOV file storage
>3″ 920,000 pixel LCD panel
>Wifi connectivity as option

But the lack of cameras for preview is evidenced by no final review at popular camera websites like  DPreview.
So here is the Canon promo:

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Jan
06
2010

CES Citing: Ski, Scuba, Swimming Goggles

Liquid Image has ski, scuba, and swimming goggles which take still pictures[2200 images on one battery charge] and video images at 720 x 480 [2 hours worth on one battery charge ]. The google will be available this summer at $149US without the 16GB SD card. So plan on $200+ expenditure with taxes. There are mode and snap/click controls on the goggle’s bands and dispaly of the goggles state on the goggle windows at the sides. The scuba version is an update from an earlier model - see here for details.

Talk about still and video cameras appearing in new modes - here is a natural for sports enthusiasts. Beats taking the mobile phone to the slopes.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Jan
06
2010

CES Becomes PhotoKina?

The CES Electronic Gadget show in Las Vegas has started to win back big annoucements in the photo world. Normally photo buffs would have to wait for PhotoKina for the really heavyweight photo announcements. But how do you like this for heft:

Leica announces $31,000 body-only S2-P


Stay tuned for more camera goodies from CES.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Jan
01
2010

Web 2.0 GUI Better than Desktop

With the full flower of RIA-Rich Internet Applications [think DHTML and Flash tecnologies] Web GUI is starting match those available on the desktop - be that Windows 7 with its Aero goodies or Apple Snow Leopard with its refined look and often copied navigational features. Here is an example from Adobe PDFs - the electronic container of choice for illustrators and artists. Let me show you a PDF on the Web as powered by Issuu.com:

Here is another example. Now just below is a screenshot of a Windows desktop displaying the same PDF in the desktop Acrobat 8.10 reader using the default features:

What Issuu.com has done in refining PDF’s presentation on the Web is to improve on the presentation side with nicer navigational and control features. Even if one looks at Acrobat.com and notes whats Adobe has made available there, the comparison is in favor of Issuu.com - here is a screen shot of the same PDF at Acrobat.com:


Now some will argue that drag and drop, multi-touch with gestures, and vector or bitmap drawing are still not available on the Web. But that is changing. SVG for vector drawing is available from Firefox and Opera; and will be part of the HTML 5 spec which also brings bitmap drawing to the Web. Gestures has been a part of Opera for a longtime while most popular JavaScript frameworks deliver drag and drop capabilities that are fairly simple to program.

Here are the two leading RIA technologies that photofinishers and designer will want to follow closely. Flash/Flex/Air from Adobe got a big win with the release of the NYTimes offline/online Digital Paper Reader[ see here for details]. This technology demonstrates the power of Flash media delivery and offline operations.
Web 2.0 DHTML=HTML+CSS+JavaScript is the other RIA leader. Apple, Firefox, Google and Opera are all pushing browser technology so fast that Microsoft Internet Explorer is being left way behind. Also the HTML5 stanadrd as seen above has pushed the state of the browser art.
Microsoft Silverlight is tragically flawed with its proprietary extensions, “Must run best in Windows” philosophy, and the incomplete cross platform and cross browser support.

In sum, be aware of what is rapidly being made available in the RIA arena - Web 2.0 and Cloud Computing is coming to the design and photo worlds.

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By admin | Posted in trends | Comments (0)
Dec
19
2009

PacMan

Another Example of “free” widgets - this one from Google. They have 2000 of these.

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By admin | Posted in design, software, trends | Comments (0)