Thursday February 18
 
11:27
 
Are your photos worth $5000 to you?

I was looking though the photos I’ve taken since getting the D90 in Lightroom.

Most of my photos are “memories” type photos – ie, photos of family, friends, etc.

As a result, a lot of them are indoors, in bars, in the evening, etc so I always knew I use high ISO a lot, but looking in Lightroom I was astounded to see just how many shots I had at ISO 3200 and ISO 6400. Thousands.

It got me thinking. OK – a D3S is a lot of money at about $5000.
But later in life, what is going to be more important to me?
Looking back at grainy D90 ISO 3200/6400 photos and thinking “I saved $5000″, or looking back at ISO 3200/6400 photos which are almost perfect (in terms of noise)?
In that context – saving our memories – isn’t $5000 worth it?

Heck, I look back at my pre-DSLR photos and wish I’d bought a DSLR sooner. It’s irrelevant to me now that I “saved money” by waiting until they became affordable.

I’m really beginning to think that maybe blowing $5000 on a D3S isn’t such a bad idea…

Wednesday January 27
 
18:01
 
Korean music

일본에와서3년이나됐는데도아직도내가자주듣는음악은한국음악이다
Even though I haven’t lived in Korea for 3+ years, even now most of the music I listen to is Korean. The latest Jaurim EP is superb (“제목 없는 음반”).

I most listen to:

1. Delispice 델리 스파이스
2. Humming Urban Stereo 허밍 어반 스테레오
3. 3rd Line Butterfly 3호선 버터플라이
4. Rollercoaster 롤러코스터
5. Rainy Sun 레이니썬
6. Nell 넬
7. You-me 유미
8. Casker 캐스커
9. Lucid Fall 루시드폴
10. Cherry Filter 체리필터
11. Jaurim 자우림
12. Loveholic 러브홀릭
13. Jadu 자두

Know them? #1, #2, #4, #7, #10, #11, #12 and #13 should be known to most Koreans - the rest, probably not. If you like Portishead, you must listen to #5. The last 4 I only like a subset of their music.

Thursday December 17
 
19:29
 
Autofocus accuracy & shallow depth of field

After publishing my Tamron f2.8 VC samples, I’ve been asked a number of times directly about focus accuracy, with some people wondering whether they have focus problems because they get variation between shots.

Since this question keeps coming up, I’ve written a page on the issue: Autofocus accuracy & shallow depth of field. Hope it helps people understand camera sensor limitations with f2.8 lenses!

Thursday December 17
 
18:20
 
I’m a double flasher

One of the reasons I bought the D90 was to experiment with wireless flash. I already had an SB-600, but what you can do with one wireless flash is limited.

Yesterday I bought an SB-900 – the more powerful big brother of the SB-600. I’ve not had time to use it yet, but with two wireless flashes, it should be fun.

What’s the point of having multiple flashes? How does it improve image quality? Why is Nikon wireless flash good? Have a play with this demo from Nikon and you’ll see.

Monday December 14
 
11:07
 
Scaredy Cat

Not the best photos, but I do like the last one. Nikon D90 with Tamrom 17-50 F2.8 VC, early evening in the streets of Tokyo.

Really I should PP these to adjust for the different warmths of light – it’s caused by the first two including the lamp in the frame and the last two just pointing into the shadows.