Scanning by camera

There was a discussion recently on a forum I visit about using your camera to scan film originals, because (good) scanners are not as available as they used to be. It all got very complicated and detailed, using medium format large sensor cameras and so forth. But it got me thinking and wondering how my Nikon D700 would perform.
I photographed two negatives, one a 6x4.5 black and white (which I had actually neglected to scan when I did have an Imacon high-end scanner) and a 35mm color neg. I used as my light source a light box (fluorescent tubes), which really you should not do because of the limited colour spectrum, and set the white balance to auto. The results were surprising, surprisingly good, that is. The B&W fared better, because, I suppose, of the larger sized original and no colour problems. Whereas the colour neg with it's orange mask was a mess once I inverted it to get a positive. It took a heck of a lot of meddling around in photoshop to get anything reasonable. But I'm left with the impression that if you had medium format transparencies in your archive that you wanted to have files of, it is not impossible to get reasonable quality by using your camera. (Just don't use a lightbox).
Here are the images:

My constant companion

Today, I had to bring my old dog, Pips, to the vet to be put to sleep. In honour of her, here are two pictures. She always seemed to be laughing at me.

Nikon J1 and V1

It is only a few months since Nikon released the new CX format J1 and V1 cameras and already Alamy has accepted them into it's recommended camera list. These are, for Nikon, a major step forward. They have a completely new size of sensor, CX, joining it's DX and FX formats. The size is smaller than the micro four thirds sensor, but apparently gives comparable image quality. It is an interchangeable lens system with four lenses initially available. They are extremely small, the J1 being 106mm x 61mm x 30 mm and the V1, with it's electronic viewfinder, slightly taller. That's about the same size as the Olympus EPL-1, before you add it's (optional extra) EVF.
The fact that they got onto Alamy's recommended camera list so fast must mean that a considerable number of contributors are using these and passing QC with no bother. It certainly heralds a major move towards smaller cameras with DSLR capabilities by the major manufacturers, a very welcome move. In the 1990's I possessed a beautiful Contax G2 35mm film
camera with it's range of Zeiss lenses. It was fully automatic. I found the image quality of it to be the equivalent of the 6x4.5 medium format and since I sold it to enter the digital field, I have been dreaming of a replacement. This Nikon 1 system may well be it. Although, on second thoughts, I want Zeiss auto lenses.
Read the DPreview.com review here.

UPDATE: 5th April - I've just been checking Alamy's Recommended Camera List to see if Canon's G1x has appeared on it yet, and imagine, to my surprise, Alamy has removed the Nikon J1 and V1 from it. This has to mean that, as more uploads came in from contributors who are using these cameras, there have been enough rejections to make the QC people change their mind. Don't quite know what to make of it - very interesting!

Keywording Images

Because it happened to me today, I thought that this would be worthwhile mentioning. I was looking for a few images that I had property releases for, to add them, when in the new version of Manage Images I clicked on "Images - On sale, more details required". Four images appeared and it transpired I had no details in the Essential and Main Keywords sections. They had been annotated long ago in the Old Manage Images days. Human error of course, but I believe that those images would not have appeared in searches. A minor cautionary tale, but it might be worth checking out those categories in Manage Images.

Magnum Photo Agency

Two years after the apocalypse that was called the Second World War ended, Magnum Photos was founded. The world's most prestigious photographic agency was formed by four photographers - Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour - who had been very much scarred by the conflict and were motivated both by a sense of relief that the world had somehow survived and the curiosity to see what was still there. They created Magnum in 1947 to reflect their independent natures as both people and photographers - the idiosyncratic mix of reporter and artist that continues to define Magnum, emphasizing not only what is seen but also the way one sees it.
Arguably the greatest influence on photojournalism in the 20th century, Magnum continues it's work today. To view it's latest news and pictures visit http://www.magnumphotos.com/. On that home page there is a facility to sign up to Magnum's regular newsletters which always include a portfolio of fifty images by a specific photographer. I can highly recommend it.
Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger and David "Chim" Seymour - these have always been heroes of mine.

Fantastic ND filter

In my little studio I use a twenty year old Bowens Traveller 3000G flash unit. A power pack and three heads. Unfortunately, the lowest I can go per head is 1000 joules, which can be a right nuisance at times when you have to use diffusers to reduce the strength, thereby impairing the effect you wanted the lighting to give.

I receive regular emails from suppliers of equipment and bits and pieces that I have bought from previously, as everyone does. I always like to check them, just in case. One such email came from 7dayshop.com which I use for paper and inks, with an offer of a variable neutral density filter with a range of ND2(ND0.3) to ND1000(ND3.0) at a very cheap price.
 Having used filters extensively during my professional career as an architectural photographer, I know just how damaging they can be to the quality of an image. Nowadays, apart from polarising, Photoshop can emulate the effect of most filters, and of course, now that we're pixel-peeping, I don't like to put anything between the lens and subject. However, this filter, which is not branded, was so cheap I thought I would give it a go and if it wasn't any good, just chuck it away. Surprise, surprise, the tests I did showed no degradation and no colour shift. I am now delightfully playing around with my lights like never before, using this filter to allow me to stick to the lens' "sweet spot" as much as I want to.

Valentine's Day

Just because of the day that's in it, here's a schmaltzy picture to celebrate. Caption: A red heart shaped box of chocolates on a silky background for Valentine's Day. Apart from the obvious keywords, how about:  schmaltz, schmaltzy, kitsch, sentimental, mawkish, slushy.