rain, spiders and other bugs in HD @100Mbit

Posted in photography on January 22nd, 2012 by Pawel



most first half of the video is shot @50Mbit that I thought was enough for my purposes. The second half is shot @100Mbit! The difference is huge! I’m surprised that my hacked GH1 has no problems with such high bit rate.


here is my “professional” setup with pink dolly, and lots of sticky tape :-)

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low tide fun

Posted in photography on November 20th, 2011 by Pawel


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weeeeee

Posted in photography on October 23rd, 2011 by Pawel

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spring colours

Posted in photography on October 11th, 2011 by Pawel
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SD15 + lightroom workflow

Posted in photography on October 6th, 2011 by Pawel



At the time I write this none of the Adobe products can properly read SD15 raw files. Luckily they support DP1s which is more or less the same hardware (AFE etc). With a fair bit of help from Roland and Arvo I came up with a way to convert SD15 files to a special DP1s format. By “special” I mean modified in a way that preserves highlights and gives good results in ACR. Most likely SPP will not read it properly. The current solution is set up for the daylight white balance (or similar).

here is a package that contains all you need:
http://nopixels.net/uploads/SD15_LR_hack.zip
you can use it to convert a single file or a whole folder:

>SD15_process_single.bat "c:\path\to\file\SDIM0343.X3F"
>SD15_process_folder.bat "c:\path\to_folder"

Files converted that way have a whole bunch of information missing (like lens, iso etc) as I primarily focused on getting the image part working. I might fix it one day but I just hope that meantime we get proper support from Adobe and this is only intermediate solution.

I also built a profile based on converted file (using Macbeth chart and Adobe DNG Profile Editor). With the above method I only update RAW data and the color transformation matrices in the file are left from DP1s. They are close as the hardware is very similar but not exactly the same. The profile makes sure that all the colors are spot on.

here is the profile created for my SD15:
http://nopixels.net/uploads/SIGMA DP1S sd15 hack 002.dcp

and examples (left SD15 in lightroom, right hacked and profiled SD15 in lightroom):

More samples and history of this workflow:
http://nopixels.net/sd15-struggle
disclaimer:
While I make every effort to deliver high quality products, I do not guarantee that my products are free from defects. My software is provided “as is,” and you use the software at your own risk.

I make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied.

Under no circumstances shall I be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if I have been advised of the possibility of such damages.

These exclusions and limitations may not apply in all jurisdictions. You may have additional rights and some of these limitations may not apply to you.

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Aliens

Posted in photography on July 18th, 2011 by Pawel

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weeeee

Posted in photography on July 12th, 2011 by Pawel

manual focus and a swing… wrong combination

(btw weird halo around the legs is natural)

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pentax SMC 50mm 1.7

Posted in photography on May 22nd, 2011 by Pawel

I bought this lens on eBay a while ago for around $20 and had it just sitting on a shelf collecting dust. Finally time came for some DIY and after some modifications it fits my Sigma mount quite well. The first very pleasant surprise was to just look through the camera’s viewfinder, the picture is bright and clear. But quite often what we see through the viewfinder is not the same that ends up on a photo so I didn’t have high hopes (it is $20 lens, it cannot compare to my $1000 ones, right?). I didn’t want to waste time on usual boring tests, the weather was awesome so I just went outside and had some fun.
The lens is stunning! The sharpness, bokeh, even lens flare, everything. Wide open is unbelievably sharp, bokeh is simply beautiful. Just see for yourself. All pictures shot at f1.7.

bokeh:


lens flare:


sharpness:

The only problem is that it has a greenish colour cast. That could have been an issue in late 70 when the lens was actually manufactured but not now in digital era. I think it is my favorite lens at the moment, just love the results. I shoot using manual focus quite often anyway as it removes the need for re-framing the shot (check this post), the lens flare on glass without all the coats looks really cool and this bokeh is just unbeatable. And it is so sharp even wide open that it is hard to believe.


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playing with 5D mkII and mushrooms

Posted in photography on May 9th, 2011 by Pawel

Being Sigma user I quite often dream about switching to a camera with a larger sensor. Every now and then I look at some older photos shot on film and the DOF is just so much nicer there. So i took 5D mkII for a spin for a weekend. I was sure I would fell in love with it but at the and I have rather mixed feelings.
The camera is a pleasure to use and I took many more photos that I would have with my SD14. It is just too easy! But to be honest I expected better image quality. The amount of noise in the shadows is just staggering. Quite likely I didn’t use the camera in the most optimal way but still, ISO 100 even underexposured one f-stop should be noiseless.

On the other hand quite often Sigma users are raving about ‘film like’ quality of their photos, the best colors and so on. I was able to get the same look I’m used to from my Sigma with very simple corrections in lightroom. Cannot complain about 5D colors at all.






(click any image for more and larger photos)

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croatia 1996

Posted in photography on March 22nd, 2011 by Pawel

many many years ago in europe…

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last rays

Posted in bushwalking, photography on March 1st, 2011 by Pawel

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desert

Posted in photography on February 7th, 2011 by Pawel

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twilight

Posted in photography on February 2nd, 2011 by Pawel

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innocence

Posted in photography on January 28th, 2011 by Pawel

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storm is coming

Posted in photography on January 20th, 2011 by Pawel

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central coast #2

Posted in photography on January 19th, 2011 by Pawel

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central coast #1

Posted in bushwalking, photography on January 17th, 2011 by Pawel

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bubbles!

Posted in family, photography on January 1st, 2011 by Pawel


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(very) blue mountains

Posted in bushwalking, photography on January 1st, 2011 by Pawel


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hanya blue

Posted in photography on December 19th, 2010 by Pawel



some fun on a dark rainy day with a 500W work light.

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coastal formations

Posted in photography on December 14th, 2010 by Pawel

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alien

Posted in photography on November 29th, 2010 by Pawel

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when it rains… moss is even nicer :-)

Posted in photography on October 11th, 2010 by Pawel



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moss+torch=macro

Posted in photography on October 10th, 2010 by Pawel





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7

Posted in bushwalking, photography on September 27th, 2010 by Pawel

7 minut o 7 z 7 dni na 7 kontynencie.

Tutaj pełne 720p do ściągnięcia:

http://polas.net/filmiki/10-09-01-siodmy.mp4

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