Computational Photography Technology

MIT Media Lab researchers have created a high speed  camera system that can capture images at a rate of one trillion frames per second.  This high speed camera system can capture  light traveling through objects. There are a multitude of scientific and artistic uses for a system such as this. For more on the MIT Media Lab visit their site http://www.media.mit.edu/.

” I’ve loved more cameras than women, but I love women more than cameras.”

I’ve been working out some theories on the most practical way to upgrade technology. Cameras, computer hardware, and software technology move at an alarming rate. The question is: when does it make financial and practical sense to upgrade? There are considerations of implementation and cost involved. Here I will outline these considerations and my theories and strategies.
Moore’s Law describes a long-term trend in computer hardware where capacity of circuitry doubles every 24 months. These same principles can be applied to almost all technologies, though the timing is different for every technology and situation. Technology upgrade theory is all about cost, implementation, and gain. Developing a good strategy is dependent on the nature of the technology and that must be studied carefully.

Know the Technology and know the habits and schedules of the manufacturers of that technology.
Example #1 Adobe is on an 18Month upgrade cycle: they allow you to skip versions and still get upgrade pricing: and their upgrades are usually major.
Example #2 Nikon usually upgrades the flagship models six-nine months before the top prosumer models. The top of the line prosumer cameras usually have many of the desirable features of the Flagship model at 40% of the price. Nikon is notoriously slow in getting their announced cameras to market. more »

high dynamic range imaging (HDRI or just HDR) is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest areas of an image than current standard digital imaging techniques or photographic methods.

Magic Lantern  has developed  firmware fad-on that will enable HDR video on Canon T2i (550D)  T3i (600D) and 60D HD DSLR Cameras an it’s FREE!  We’ve been expecting HDR Video Cameras  to become the norm for years and this is a big leap in that direction.  So much effort is going into 3D camera development that HDR isn’t getting it’s fair due.  This firmware ad-on solution will likely turn a lot of heads and start a movement in the industry toward HDR video cameras development & design.

The firmware ad-on does not overwrite Canons camera firmware, it ads on to it.  The Free firmware ad-on can be downloaded here  http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Release_2011Dec22

HDR imaging is a technique that combines images with a range of exposures to provide higher range of detail from shadow to highlight. Photographers were doing this manually long before digital imaging, but digital solutions make it much easier and feasible, even for video.  HDR Video has been accomplished by using multiple cameras in the past, but I’m not aware of any mainstream solutions like Magic Lantern’s firmware will provide.  The firmware switches exposure between frames and creates two videos which can later be edited  back together to to create a single High Dynamic Range Video.  Many advanced still photographers are accomplished HDR technicians.  The thought of combining 30FPS Video is mind boggling but today’s computational imaging hardware and software is capable of such mind boggling feats.

Magic Lantern’s first firmware add-on enhanced the sound and video capabilities of the Canon 5D Mark II.  Sadly, the HDR Video firmware ad-on will not support the 5D Mark II or the 7D.   Below is a video outlining the capabilities of the Canon 5D Firmware add-on. This video explains how the firmware ad-on works.

MIT Media Lab researchers have created a high speed  camera system that can capture images at a rate of one trillion frames per second.  This high speed camera system can capture  light traveling through objects. There are a multitude of scientific and artistic uses for a system such as this. For more on the MIT Media Lab visit their site http://www.media.mit.edu/.