Computational Photography Technology

Eye-Fi makes 2GB SD cards that transmit images to a wireless router or an Internet hot spot. The Explore model will also tag images with GPS information from the wireless connection point, though I haven’t gotten this to work on my router. The cards also save images just like a regular SD card.
All this is set up through a very simple online application called the Eye-Fi Manager. Images can be saved locally and posted automatically on sharing sites like Flickr and SmugMug. The system is simple to use for anyone adept at using wireless connections (SSID & Key). The size of this wireless transmitter is a miracle of miniaturization.

At first I was unsure of how this would benefit my operation, as I shoot RAW files which are large and don’t transmit quickly. The system is really designed to work with JPEG files and it transmits them at acceptable speeds. Because my pro Canon cameras have two card slots that can be set to record different file types, I’ve found Eye-Fi to be exceptionally useful. I have my first card set to record RAW and the Eye-Fi set to record and transmit compressed small JPEG. I’m simultaneously getting a large preview on my computer and in a SmugMug gallery without doing anything.

I recently made a series of abstract images in Corning NY. When I was in range of a wireless connection, I simply left the camera on and let Eye-Fi upload Small JPEGs to SmugMug . I was then able to show my days’ images online in a SmugMug gallery without ever taking time to download, RAW process, and upload. Later, I downloaded the RAW images all at once.

I plan to set up a projector at a party and have the images project instantly as I make them. I’m sure you can think of other interesting things to do with Eye-Fi. Feel free to post your ideas and comments here. There’s just nothing like instant gratification!

The editors of PDN found the Foto-Tech blog and asked me to contribute a few articles for their July Gear Guide. I’m honored to have my content included with the excellent articles by previous guest contributes including: John Paul Caponigro, Andrew Darlow, and Michael Reichmann-The Luminous Landscape.

My first article for the PDN Gear Guide is here:

I did a “head to head” nesting shootout using ImagePrint’s popular RIP against the new Version 1.1 of ImageNest from BlueCubit. See Previous Post

In this 24” wide example; ImageNest used only 30 inches of paper as compared to the ImagePrint Rip’s 35 Inches; saving a 5” x 24” piece of paper. I think that’s a pretty substantial difference. I also noticed that the images line up much better for cutting.

ImageNest has added features that Version 1 users requested:
>EPS, PDF, and PostScript support make this a ImageNest V1.1 a useful tool in the design world. I’m hoping the next version will have support for DNG files. DNG files contain RAW file information, XMP adjustment data, and a “corrected” Jpeg. It will really be fantastic, if ImageNest can use that corrected Jpeg to print contact sheets, proofs, etc.
>The duplicate feature allows you to make as many copies of an image as you want, then you can scale them as needed. This was possible in version one, but it wasn’t intuitive.
>There’s been a lot of under the hood work, including new algorithms that nest images more efficiently.
>Roll paper users are really going to save a lot of paper by using ImageNest. I did a series of head to head nesting test using the ImagePrint RIP and ImageNest. ImageNest consistently arranged the images in a more efficient layout. There is also a Roll Length optimizer that saves even more paper.
I’ve really enjoyed playing with ImageNest; it’s fun to print when you can do all the layout on the fly in a simple intuative interface. I’m really looking forward to the DNG support they are working on. They have a free trial at BlueCubit.com

I recently spec’ed out a Mac Pro system for a Digital Video project I’m working on. This $4,900 configuration is what I would recommend for most photographers. I’m posting this prior to building the system because I want to get some feedback on my plan before I put it together. I’m a big Mac fan even though I run mainly PC’s; Mac hardware is really easy to configure because the choices are limited. On the inside a Mac Pro tower looks a whole lot like a Windows Server, which is what I use for workstations. Now that Apple is using Intel processors, a Mac can do a good job of running Windows as well as OSX.
Here’s How I spec’ed out this system. I’ll just order a basic tower from Apple because they charge so much for Ram and Hard drive upgrades. I’m ordering the lowest standard configuration for every component except the processor and video card. I’ll add Ramm and Hard drives later from NewEgg.com. Read more…

Prepare to be humbled!

The Seitz 6X17 is a 160 megapixel camera and every pixel is real, not interpolated data. It’s a scanning camera and does not use the Bayer Filter Pattern associated with most modern camera sensors. Betterlight is another manufacturer of scanning backs and they have an excellent explanation of how scanning backs work. Seitz makes some of the most fascinating photographic equipment: from Web LiveCams to 360 Pano Cameras their stuff is cool. There website is fill of interesting photographic examples of what their products work.

This is the RoundShot D3 360 Camera. It spins around while scanning. This system uses only a slice of the lens so horizontal distortion is reduced.

This is the Tablet Control System. If you read my previous post on tethered tablet shooting, then you should appreciate what this control system adds to workflow.

I’ve worked with rented Betterlight scanning backs a couple of times, but have yet to own one; maybe for my 40th birthday. This stuff is not cheap, but you could be the only kid on your block with a 160 megapixel camera!