cuspconcepts

A blog dedicated to photography, video and post-production!

[mygraphoflife-blog]

My Photography Workflow!

My life on a graph #3

#mygraphoflife 

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Pre-Wedding shoot of a South Indian Couple at Clarks Exotica Bangalore

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Pairing a Fujifilm x100s with a Canon 580EXII flash

Quick Notes: 

You can pair the Fujifilm x100s with a Canon 580EXII with the following settings. (This is what worked for me)

Fujifilm x100s settings:

Shutter speed 1/125th sec

Aperture at F2.0

ISO 200

Exposure at 0

Disable silent mode

Disable burst mode

Choose 'external flash - third party flash' in flash settings

Canon 580EXII settings are as follows:

Vertical bounce

CFn 01 to value 1 to disable sleep mode

Set power to 1/16th

Note: You can use only optical viewfinder with this setup since the EVF can't see a thing. 

This setup works with wireless remote flash triggers too. I used a Cowboy wireless trigger. 

I didnt find any details about this online so I thought I'd share my notes. 

Hope this helps someone out there.

Cheers

[cuspconcepts]

Affordable Cameras that perform exceptionally well at High ISO

There are so many new cameras being released every month nowadays. And as some of you know I love to learn about the new technology (if any) in these cameras and see if the specs on paper really help in real life. 

Thanks to DPReview.com, now we can compare the pictures from most of the popular cameras which are available in the market before we buy them. 

Some assumptions:

All the pictures that DPReview displays while comparing the High ISO RAW images from cameras are shot at an aperture of F8.0

Lenses vary (we know that the cameras are sharpest at F8.0 but some of them rock at wider apertures too)

No Post-processing or in-camera noise reduction

Analysis is purely based on the resolution and noise in the shadow areas. Simulating the camera's performance in Low-light.

All the pictures shot at ISO 3200 (honestly, I end up shooting at ISO 3200 almost 70% of the time)

It's entirely a subjective analysis

All the pictures were imported into Lightroom with no presets (they are as RAW as they can be) meaning Straight out of the camera. 

Megapixels don't matter in this regard

Here is a screenshot of how the comparison was done. Please not the resolution of the image below is not the best, has lost a ton of detail while compressing the screenshot to JPG. 

But what you'll notice the selection rectangle in the shadow area. 

I'd taken Fujifilm X100S as the main camera against which I compared all the other cameras (I mean ALL the cameras) because X100S is just too good at High ISO. 

Here are the cameras which in my view are great in low-light straight out of the camera. 

1. Fujifilm x100s - A Compact Mirrorless Camera (Read more on DPReview.com)

2. Canon Powershot G1x - A Compact Camera (Read more on DPReview)

3. Canon 6D (DSLR) - (Read more on DPReview.com)

4. Fujifilm X-E1, X-M1 and the X-pro1 (both have the same sensors) (Read more on DPReview.com)

5. Olympus OM-D EM5 - A Mirrorless Micro- Four Thirds (Read more on DPReview.com)

I was really surprised with what I found. All the cameras mentioned above are either less than or a little over $1000. Extremely affordable. Extremely portable. 

And yes, none of the high-end cameras like the Canon 5D MKII, MKIII, Nikon D4, D600, D800E came even close to the how these cameras performed at ISO 3200.

Obviously, the lenses make all the difference but for now these are the tools available to analyse cameras and they have always been 100% correct for me.

If you don't agree with this list, nobody is stopping you from pushing back the envelope and take your own decision based on your analysis.  

Have an awesome Friday! :)

[cuspconcepts]

My First 100% Fujifilm X100s Traditional Indian Wedding

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A whole new breed of KickAss Cameras

The choices you have for a Semi-professional camera are plenty but the ones that have taken a leap forward in technology are a few. Neither Canon nor Nikon are one of them. 

The interesting thing is the all-time stars of photo technology are leading this revolution instead of leaning back and thinking about retiring. Appreciate that attitude. 

Make way for the new breed of 'Fixed Lens Mirrorless Compact Cameras'. 

Now why are they Kick-Ass?

They have a super high quality fast lens. Some of them have a 28mm F1.8 or a 35mm F2.0 which are popular because of that great angle of view

This lens is fixed so makes it way more compact

These lens have 9 diaphragm blades to give beautiful bokeh. 

They have a Large CMOS sensor, an APS-C size sensor in a compact body

Bump up the image quality of the sensor by almost 30% by incorporating a re-engineered color filter array (Bayer Pattern) with a highly random pattern, eliminating the need for an optical low-pass filter (OLPF). These filters are used in conventional systems to inhibit moiré at the expense of resolution. 

Hybrid Autofocus using both Phase detection and Contrast Detection. Phase detection was initially available only when you look through the optical viewfinder of the camera. Shooting in Live View mode used Contract detection to focus on a subject. Now the benefits of both are clubbed into the sensor. 

Electronic View Finder (EVF), so now you get to see a lot more information through the EVF.

Super silent shooting. Since there is no Mirror Lock-up mechanism, the shutter is very silent. Allows you to be stealthy like never before.

Now here are the Kick-Ass cameras that are currently available in the market in the order of Kick-Ass-ness!

Fujifilm X100s (Has all the tech mentioned above with dials for ISO, Aperture, EV)

Nikon Coolpix A and the Sony RX1 (Full Frame sensor with Carl Zeiss 35mm lens)

You have to read this review why by Zack Arias. 'A Camera walks into a Bar'

Happy Tuesday!

[cuspconcepts]

GPU Acceleration - Godsent!

I wanted to title this blog as "How to save money and yet have a huge performance improvement while upgrading a PC for Video Editing!" and I thought it was a rather long title, well you can judge how excited I am to share these findings with all of you.  :)

Quick Summary: Increase the video conversion/rendering times by more than 60% by just upgrading the GPU (or Graphics Card) on an existing PC

This blog is specific to (you might've guessed) to professional video editing.

These are the key computer components that remained constant while I conducted a few performance tests:

Core i7-2600 with 4 Cores and 8 Threads

Intel Z68 chipset on the motherboard which can switch between onboard and discrete graphics card depending on the need

Two Seagate SataIII HDDs in RAID-0

16GB DDR3 RAM

Zotac NVidia Geforce GTX 550ti with 192 CUDA cores and 900Mhz processor

I used Xilisoft's Video Converter Ultimate 6 for the tests. This software uses the GPU to accelerate video conversion. (Which can be enabled or disabled, useful for benchmarking)

The video that was used was a 1080P AVI file and save/downscale it to a 720P AVI file. 

Here are the test results. (Fascinating!!) 

Performance improvement (comparing conversion times) by using GPU vs CPU is 57.97%. 

A GPU which is half the price of the CPU made such a huge difference in conversion times was the start for me to go crazy. (I was awake till 4am in the morning trying out all combinations)

I also tested Z68's majorly promoted feature of using Sandybridge's onboard GPU and discrete GPU depending on the requirement.

Asus P8Z68 Pro-V/Gen 3 motherboard uses something called Lucid's Virtu which utilizes the feature mentioned above.

   Performance Improvement with GPU (only discrete graphics card) vs Virtu was almost 45.45%

Now, Sony Vegas Pro 11 uses GPU acceleration to render videos as well. And this a blessing in disguise for professional video editing guys. This means that with the 60% performance boost and reduction in time-lines translates to not leaving the PC running for hours and sometimes days.

A few important things I learnt in the past few days:

NVidia CUDA is better than ATI Radeon with respect to final video quality (though some say that ATI is quicker, but why sacrifice the quality)

GPU sucks >110 watts while a CPU uses just <100 watts of power

Hence you need a PSU (SMPS, PC's power supply) with a rating of 600 watts or more

Consider GPUs with a good cooling system like ASUS GPUs have more efficient and more silent cooling systems

There is no point getting a fancy CPU with many cores and threads and instead invest that money on a better GPU or multiple GPUs

Here are some of the super sexy graphics cards! (Warning: There will be some drooling involved)

  Just so you know, if you dream of bumping up the performance you can actually use more than 1 GPU and still use them as one big processing unit. It's possbile by using something called SLI (NVidia) or Crossfire (ATi). Also, you need to have a motherboard which supports this configuration. (This also means that you need more power on the PSU)

Here is a picture of a SLI setup. Just imagine the performance! :D (Drooling again)

Another important thing to remember is that the power sockets on the GPUs vary from NVidia to ATi. Also, the no. of sockets also vary. Basically these power the cooling systems on the GPUs.

  Anyway, they provide these cables to connect the GPUs to older PSUs.

Hope this blog helps you! It really opened my eyes to so many things. I had to write this blog because these are a few things that I didn't find on the internet easily. 

PS. The GPU doesn't really make any difference in performance while using Photoshop CS5 that's when you need to choose a super fast CPU. Except probably while you use the 3D features in Photoshop. 

Here are the links to some important resources.

Sony Vegas 11 and GPU acceleration 

Xilisoft's use of CUDA and ATi features

I better go have my dinner!

Happy Weekend Everybody! :D

Hope I saved some money for somebody out-there. :)

- Phalgun

[cuspconcepts]

Computer for a Professional Photographer

As a professional photographer majority of us use Photoshop, Lightroom or Aperture. 

While doing an analysis for my new computer I've realized that there is no information on the internet to help with the best configuration for a computer which would help a professional photographer specifically.

For simplicity, I'm focusing on Adobe Photoshop and related products only.

Let's first look at the processes that are typically involved:

Copy the RAW images from the camera on to the computer's hard-drive (HDD) using Adobe Bridge or Lightroom

Browse through the RAW files to shortlist the best ones

Open one or more RAW files in a software like Camera RAW that comes with Photoshop, where you can make the preliminary edits (non-destructive) 

After the preliminary edits on the RAW files, open them in Photoshop for further edits

The Photoshop file can have color curves, B&W edits as layers and finally save the file as PSD or a JPG

Convert 100s of RAW images to Full resolution JPGs to share with the clients

The following operations take place inside the PC when we carry out the processes mentioned above:

Write big files (RAW images are around 20-30MB per file) to the HDD

Read the big files from the HDD

Opening RAW images in Photoshop copies the files to the RAM and then the remaining to the 'Scratch Disk' similar to caching (which is RAM and HDD intensive)

Working in Photoshop requires CPU usage (Layers, color correcting, sharpening, etc)

Saving the Photoshop file uses both the CPU and the HDD

So basically the following components decide the perfomance of Photoshop and Bridge:

A fast HDD setup for fast read and write

Loads of RAM so that all the files that are being worked on in Photoshop can be accommodated easily

A fast Processor with multiple cores and multiple threads

A fast Scratch disk which should preferably be a separate disk than the one where the OS and the working folder is located. This is where Photoshop caches it's data.

A decent Graphics card to help in the smooth operation (cropping, re-sizing, warping, 3D effects, etc.)

 Here is the configuration that you must consider:

An array of HDDs setup in RAID-0 (2,3 or 4 HDDs) improves read and write considerably esp. for large files (if the motherboard and the HDDs are in SATA III, then its awesome) 

Put as much RAM as possible that the motherboard can support

A high-end CPU like a Core i7 (high as of the date this post was written which is Feb 2012) have found that AMDs are not bad too but Intel's are the best

A Solid State Disk (SSD) for a Scratch Disk (remember to choose this in Photoshop Preferences)

A decent Graphics Card (not a low-end for sure)

Here are some stats from some experiments I did with the suggested setup (convert 50 RAW files to full resolution JPGs):

RAID setup is 30% faster than a single HDD

8GB RAM improves performance by double than having 4GB RAM

Multicore (Quad core and above) processor improves (lessens) conversion times, time to save files by 30-50% depending on the type of processor

SSD as a scratch disk helps but marginally

Will update this post if I come across any more performance improvements. 

Hope this helps those who are in a desperate need of such information.

You can put the blame on me for upgrading your PC :D

Happy Clicking! 

- Phalgun

[cuspconcepts]

Did You Know: Sepia Toning is Named After the Common Cuttlefish Michael Zhang, petapixel.com

Here’s your inter­est­ing photo fact of the day: did you know that sepia ton­ing (when B&W pho­tos are given that dis­tinc­tive warm tone) is named after the Com­mon Cut­tle­fish? The sci­en­tif­ic name of the species is Sepia offic­i­nalis…

The origin of the word Sepia Toning in photography.

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Why is the DSLR more superior than a Point & Shoot camera

Ask this question to the 100s' and 1000s' of professional photographers out there and majority of them would just say "Oh! Because the sensor is huge!". That's right! But that's only one of the reasons. 

I've been asking this question to myself so that I can give a smart answer when someone asks me that question again. Well I'd like to share my notes with all of you. 

Sensor: All of us know by now that the size of the sensor is important. Bigger the size more data that is captured per sq.cm (also know as pixel density). From the image below, you can compare the area of the sensors from various cameras. E.g. Canon T3i/600D has an area of 329 sq.mm while a compact camera like Canon Ixus has 25 sq.mm that's more than 10 times the size.

Lenses: A DSLR body is just half the story, choice of lens makes up for the remaining half. You get to choose different kinds of lenses depending on the requirement. For portraits the most common lens used is the 50mm and for wildlife photography it's 100-400mm. Also, like in Canon you can choose from a luxury line of "L" lenses which have great glass (very less lens barrel distortion and chromatic abberations) and are weather proof.  

RAW: In all DSLRs you can shoot images in RAW meaning in an uncompressed format. The images are not down-converted or compressed to a JPG. JPGs are the most popular format for sharing online and hence they have to be compressed to make the file size light but at the same time sacrificing the quality of the image (pixel data is lost).

Dynamic Range: Since DSLRs have a bigger sensor, it can capture much more details in both the shadow and bright (highlight) areas in an image.  Here is a link to see how it is used by DPreview.com to compare cameras in their reviews.

Fast Auto-focus: Typically, there are more than 7 vertical and horizontal points on the sensor which assist in focusing in a DSLR. Hence focusing on a subject is very fast.

Shooting in Low Light: DSLRs can shoot in low-light just because they are capable of shooting at high ISOs. A DSLR can shoot at ISO 800 and output great pictures with great quality while a Compact Camera's picture taken at the same ISO rating would be mighty noisy. (Also the right lens would help in shooting in low light)

DPI: "Dots per inch" is very important in printing. It's basically the pixel data that is captured per sq.inch. The minimum that is required for professional quality images is 300dpi while for viewing images online/computer 72dpi would be enough. DSLRs shoot at 240-300dpi. This can be pushed all the way to 600dpi on some Olympus DSLRs. 

Depth-of-field: DOF is a measure of what is in focus. How much of it is in focus before and after the subject. If you hold your thumb up close to your face and try to focus on the thumb everything in the background gets blurred right, that's an example of DOF. People who appreciate "Optics" in physics would love this! This optical effect allows us to either separate the subject from the background or ensure everything in front and at the back of the subject is in focus. (Mostly achieved by varying the aperture) 

Hope this helps people who are considering to buy a DSLR and those who are curious to know the real difference.

Also read 5 PLACES WHERE A POINT & SHOOT CAN KICK A DSLR’S ASS! :P

Happy Wednesday!

- Phalgun    

[cuspconcepts]

Tip: Stabilizing multiple clips on Sony Vegas Pro 10

Simple tip on stabilizing media in Sony Vegas Pro 10.

Today I learnt a very valuable lesson and thought of sharing it with others as well.

If you want to stabilize multiple video clips on the timeline in Sony Vegas Pro 10/11 in one shot, here are the simple steps:

Do not select individual clips > Right click > Stabilize Media; each and every time for each and every clip. Follow step 2 instead!

Select the clips you want to stabilize in the "Project Media" tab that you see on the left side/section where you get to see all the clips that have been used in the project. And Right click > Stabilize! Voila! 

Saves a lot of time, if you know what settings to use for all the clips.

The "Stabilize media" settings I use, which has worked well is as follows:

Profile: General Footage and medium analysis 

Change only the following parameters (Pan/Tilt - 15 and Roll: 15)

This helps in avoiding that weird bouncy/vertical compression issue in the final video that normally occurs due to over stabilization and also it's fast.

Hope it helps!

Happy Monday! :D 

[cuspconcepts]

Benefits of using the Technicolor 'CineStyle' Picture profile on HD-DSLRs

Last month we shot a wedding completely on DSLRs and it was our first. 

From then on I have been on a look out for any kind of knowledge related to this. 

And thanks to www.CreativeLive.com, there was a Video workshop by Gale Tattersal, if you are wondering who that is, well he is the brain behind shooting the season finale of 'House' on a 5D MKII. 

The workshop was fascinating. And one of the major take-aways for me was the Technicolor Cinestyle picture profile for Canon DSLRs. It's a picture profile specifically created for shooting cinema. 

The major issues that this picture profile solves are:

It increases/widens the dynamic range (This helps in Post-processing BIG-TIME; because you are not loosing out the data in the highlight and shadow area)

It is designed in collaboration with Canon and leverages all the capabilities of the Canon chipset

Makes the video so much more flexibile for color-grading and other post-production work-flows 

Now, the important thing about this cine-style profile is that, it doesn't end at just using this profile to shoot video. 

During Post-processing you have to use a S-Curve in the colour-curves or if you use Final Cut Pro, then you can just download the LUT Colour Curve.

I'm so excited to shoot the next wedding using this. :D 

For more details on Technicolor Cinestyle, you can click on the link below.

http://www.technicolor.com/en/hi/cinema/filmmaking/digital-printer-lights/cinestyle 

If you are interested to view Gale Tattersal's HD-DSLR Video Workshop, click on the link below.

http://www.creativelive.com/courses/hddslr-filmmaking-gale-tattersall

Hope this helps.

Happy Tuesday!

- Phalgun

[cuspconcepts]

Merlin Steadicam| Learning from Day 1

The name is so apt for the 'Merlin Steadicam'. It really is Magic! Kudos to the inventor of the Steadicam Mr. Garrett Brown.

It allows videographers to shoot seamless footage.

Yeah, agreed it's a bit expensive, twice the cost than that offered by it's cheaper (in every way; build, handling, etc.) competitors.  

I received it yesterday.

It comes in a fancy case. Opened it with a lot of excitement and enthusiasm.

First look: OVERWHELMED! Big time!

I knew that there was a major learning curve involved; but it had to start someday.

Set it up pretty quickly, as instructed by the manual. Familiarized myself with the parts (reminded me of Machine Drawing in Engg) and then came the toughest part.

It's all about balancing the camera you have. The settings for some of the cameras can be found at http://www.merlincookbook.com/ but then finally you'll have to get your hands dirty. 

It DOES NOT work out-of-the-box. So, it requires a lot of patience and a never-give-up-even-if-Osama-is-alive attitude!

If you have followed the manual correctly and setup the camera on the stage using the right hole and the right weights on the middle and lower spars; you are 75% there.

Next step is simple. Follow these steps:

Step 1: When you hold the gimble, see which direction the camera is tilting. 

Step 2: If the camera is tilting too much either to the front or to the back, then increase or decrease the arc length (slowly, checking if it is making any difference)

Once completing this you go to Step 3 for fine tuning

Step 3: After step 2, if the camera is tilting to the left or the right then use the blue fine tuning micrometer adjustment trims you find under the stage. This needs some effort too.

After Step 3 you should have a straight upright steadicam + camera.

Ok, I had the whole thing setup (90% there).

Now the challenges you face while using it.

It can be and SHOULD be used only for moving shots. Eg: Following the subject while walking or can be used to pan smoothly.

Move with the Steadicam slowly. Because it gets into a 'Rocking Boat' mode (starts oscillating).  

The wrist will hurt like crazy even after using for just a few minutes. Use sparingly.

Plan your shots. Plan your trajectory. 

You cannot zoom, focus, change any of the settings mid-way. It has to be preset. (obviously) 

Set the balance of the camera after you have put all the accessories; battery, tape, mic, etc. because even a closed or open LCD viewfinder makes a lot of difference (to the Center-of-Gravity and hence the balance)

This brings you close to 95%. Requires a lot of practice and research. 

I'm currently shooting with Sony FX-7 its around 2.5 kgs including the weights it's weighing about 5 kgs. Status of the Right Wrist: DEAD (can't even lift a pen)!

The vest costs another Rs.80k. I think we can manage with it for now.

Hope this helps (because this is the information I wish I found on the internet)

Happy Tuesday! :D

[cuspconcepts]

Mobile Phone Cameras - A Paradigm shift?

Any wise photographer would agree that it wouldn’t matter what you use to frame a picture; it could be a DSLR, a compact point and shoot or a mobile phone camera.

I love shooting with my phone as well. Yesterday, I was just thinking about how popular iPhonography is becoming and suddenly a ‘thought’ hit me. A huge paradigm shift in the mind of a consumer who has used cameras for so many years. Before I get into this, would want to share some interesting trends.

If you check the specs for the iPhone camera or the Nokia N8. The sensor specifications is way better than majority of the P&S cameras in the market right now.

Here is another trend (courtesy Flickr.com http://www.flickr.com/cameras/)

  Now, getting back to the point; the thought that hit me was that 'all these phone cameras are of fixed focal length'. There is no optical zoom. Yup! If you go back 20 years. We all had that film camera from Kodak which had a fixed focal length. We just focus and click. That was how it was done for a very long time.

In the past 5 years, all the major brands have released cameras with ridiculous zoom, 10x, 24x, 36x and onwards. That’s not a camera anymore; it’s a freakin’ ‘Galilean’ telescope!

And now people have settled for a camera with a fixed focal length, ain’t it a huge paradigm shift. (Or should I say a reversal)

And some of the mobile cameras don’t even come with auto-focus, they have fixed focus; meaning whatever you shoot, everything till infinity would be in focus.

When Flip video was introduced, people went crazy. Everybody in the US had one. It was so easy to use, just one big red button to press to record and stop recording, it was so small that it would fit in your pocket along with your car keys and mobile phone. It became so popular, didn’t need any wires at all, neither for charging it nor for transferring the files to the laptop. And guess what! It had a fixed focal length lens!! It shot in HD, it was a breeze to upload video files to YouTube. But Cisco bought the company and killed it as well (that’s a different story). RIP Flip Mino!

It really brings a smile to my face that people are finding their creative side, and this mostly driven by (the limitations in) technology.

Always love to see those mobile uploads on Facebook. Keep ‘em coming!

Happy Wednesday Everybody! :D

[cuspconcepts]

8 ways to differentiate Photographers and 'Ducks'

Here are 8 factors that differentiates a real photographer from a person who just owns a camera (I'll be referring to this person as 'duck' in this post). 

A photographer clicks a picture when he notices something creative that appeals to his eye, it's a spontaneous reaction. Where as a duck is not spontaneous, comes with a pre-visualised set of shots that he/she wants to capture, sometimes copy a famous style/technique.

A photographer not only knows how to use the camera but knows when to use the camera. When to use which setting is key to capturing the right picture. Anybody can click a picture at Yosemite but none would be as good as Ansel Adams'.

A photographer makes a picture, like how an artist makes a painting. A duck merely takes a picture.

A photographer has a vision, a long term project. A duck has a very short-sighted vision, once he/she learns all the technical details as well as the compositions that exist in the world of photography, thinks that he/she has mastered the art.

A photographer is happy with every picture he clicks. A duck is happy only when he/she gets good feedback from others. 

A photographer never feels embarrassed while taking pictures, no awkward feelings. A duck would be mighty embarrassed to pull out the camera wondering what would people think, etc. 

A photographer is happy to share his/her knowledge, after all the knowledge is free. A duck thinks the techniques, etc. are proprietary and will share only if paid for. 

A photographer learns from his mistakes, accepts criticism and feedback. A duck will most probably take feedback in a bad way.  

This is a picture of dew drops on a spider web. 

And here is a picture clicked by a duck.

Goodnight everybody! :)

[cuspconcepts]

A peek into a Photographer's mind

I bet some of you are wondering; What are the thought processes in a photographer's mind? How do they know what to shoot, how to shoot and when to shoot? I think this post will hopefully help you the next time you have a camera in your hand.

Look for the basic design elements around you. Space, Line, Color, Shape, Texture, Form and Contrast.

If you don't find any of the design elements, then try optics, try varying depth of field or go wide angle or choose a different vantage point.

Even after following Steps 1 and 2 if you are not happy with the picture composition then manually manipulate the subject/s to suit your creative vision.

If none of the steps mentioned above work, then look at it from a post-processing perspective. Can it be converted into an artwork.  

 I'm in a very make-it-simple mood today. Happy Tuesday :)