First of all: my entry into visualization using Flash in my last article was less than perfect. Mainly because I didn’t shoot every image in my sequence with the same aperture. Meaning that the background changed because the depth of field change.
So, I’ve made a new ISO-test of the 5D Mk II. Slightly better. At least the aperture stayed at 5.6 at all ISO values. The flash file is big, and I’ve not made any kind of download indicator. So when you click the link you need some patience while the page load.
But what about that aperture stuff? Did you say depth of field? Yes. When you change that thing called aperture on your camera things happen to your image. To put it short: a low value, like 1.4 gives more blur in your image. A high value, like 22 gives less blur. The detail that you focus on will stay sharp, but the amount of detail around that point change.
Huh? Exactly. This is easier to show with an image. Or, actually several images. In an animation like the ISO-experiment. Where you can click the row of f-numbers at the bottom and see the image change. And it’s the same as with the ISO-animation. When you click the link you have to wait a while for the page to load.
But hey! I can also adjust something called “shutter speed”. Yes, in addition to ISO and aperture the shutter speed adjust the amount of light you will let in at the CMOS- or CCD-chip. And the effect on the image? A long shutter speed gives motion blur. And if you are shooting without a tripod or something to support your camera a long shutter speed mostly means a completely blurred image.
To show the difference that the shutter speed makes I did the test again. With a train moving in the image. So now you can see the effect of both the shutter speed and the aperture. And you know what? When you click the link you need patience. Let the page load…
These are zipped archives of the images. And please let me know in the comments if you use these images. They’re licensed under a creative commons license.
People keeps asking about test images to show the low light performance of my new Canon 5D Mark II. So far I find it pretty amazing. The image above is a comparison of my old 400D at iso 1600 and the new 5D at iso 1600. Both images shot in RAW and converted with Canon DPP.
Because the 5D looks so good at iso 1600 I also did the same with the 5D at iso 6400.
In addition to this I have put together a flash animation that shows you the same image at different ISO values. You can click the image to browse through the different values, or choose directly with the buttons.
The example embedded here is small and doesn’t really show the images very well. If you have some patience and wait for the loading, I have also published a bigger version. And no, I’ve not made any fancy “loading-animation”. You just have to wait for the page to finish. And I know: Not very smart to let the camera change the aperture. Apart from the fact that it gives a nice demonstration of how the depth of field change…
So I decided to simply tear it apart and put it together in front of my video camera. Three minutes and fifty seconds later. And there you are. A nice tutorial on how this was put together.
The title says something about why this blog has been dead silent for the last weeks. Lots of interesting stuff happening. That gives me interesting stuff to write about. But if it’s too much exiting stuff happening I don’t have time to write… Catch 22?
Whatever. It has come to the point where my trusted readers start sending me email wondering if I’m OK. So I simply wanted to tell you that I am completely fine. Unfortunately I haven’t even had time to announce my public presentations lately. The last one was Mediaforum in Strømstad.
Image: Lawrence Lessig is one of the persons interviewed in the movie I mention at the bottom of this article.
Last week I also had a quick trip to Stockholm. In addition to some meetings I attended a debate about rights management at the royal institute of technology. It wasn’t really a debate, because the panel in general agreed on most issues. But it turned out to be an interesting discussion about youth culture, sharing, creativity, privacy, freedom of speech, business models and the modern media world. I hope to get back with more from that debate.
After the discussion I was fortunate enough to have dinner with the panelists and some other very interesting people. Pirates, politicians, university people and content producers. One of them was Henrik Molkte. Together with others he is responsible for an excellent documentary about remix culture and copyright law: Good Copy, Bad Copy. It’s worth the hour. Watch it on the website or download it through BitTorrent and enjoy on your favourite device.
Unfortunately I have busy days ahead as well, but hang in there. I’ll not stop sharing interesting stuff here at eirikso.com.
Clay Shirky, Here comes everybody. I’m only half way through, but this book is essential. A very nice analysis of how the crowds of the internet turns into well organized groups that can solve tasks that traditional organisations can’t solve.
Dan Roam, The back of the napkin. A very nice book on how to use visuals to explain complex stuff.
Garr Reynolds, Presentation Zen. Currently the best book about presentation skills out there. Period.
1. The 5D MKII camera produces the best stills in low light that I’ve ever seen - what you can see with you eye in the worst light (such as sodium-vapor street lights at 3 a.m. in Brooklyn) - this camera can capture.
2. It produces the best video in low light that I’ve ever seen - at 1080p. A top commercial film editor who who regularly edits RED camera footage - and has seen the raw footage from the 5D MKII - says the 5D MKII is “far superior to the RED camera” in terms of low light performance…
Check out the images in his article. They’re taken from the video he produced with the camera.
Had to replace some ink jet cartridges today. Canon, I love your products. But this?
Shame on you.
I don’t need half a kilo of packaging and manuals for each cartridge. This is ridiculous. Maybe you missed it, but companies try to show that they are environmentally friendly now. You know? Trying to be nice to our planet?
Then, one hour later I get this message from Twitter:
from Twitter
subject Six Apart is now following you on Twitter!
Hi, eirikso.
Six Apart (sixapart) is now following your updates on Twitter.
Check out Six Apart’s profile here:
http://twitter.com/sixapart
You may follow Six Apart as well by clicking on the “follow” button.
Best,
Twitter
Sixapart makes Movable Type. The biggest Wordpress competitor.
Look for people talking about your brand on the internet and follow them! But you should also follow people that talk about your competitor.
Volapük is one of the many attempts of making a universal, easy to learn language. It was created by Johann Martin Schleyer in 1879-1880. And abandoned in the early 1900’s. According to Wikipedia there are now an estimated 20-30 Volapük speakers in the world. If that’s correct, this is pretty amazing:
This is Eirik Solheim's prize winning experiment. I use this page to share information about media, marketing, technology, photography and stuff I find important. I have been running this page since 2003. And since I started using Statcounter in 2005 more than 1.8 million people have visited my site.
Eirikso on the web: Follow me on Twitter - My images on Flickr - And images on SmugMug - Videos on YouTube
