Why Ultraman is cool

For those of you who don't know about Ultraman (shame on you!), it's a Japanese TV series that started in 1966, featuring an ever-growing number of 'global super police' who can, at a whim, change into giant protectors of the earth. And by giant, I mean as big as Godzilla.

Now, this series had (and still does have) typically Japanese superhero series production values. As in, the heroes and villains battle in model cities while wearing painted rubber suits. It also has traditional kids' show social values. It promotes self-belief, knowing your limitations, reliance on friends and respect for others.

This is why this poster, promoting the latest Ultraman film (Ultraman Saga) is perfectly appropriate for the series. Because it's not just a poster; it's a public safety warning. The headline reads, "It's an earthquake! Make sure you are safe before anything else!". The subhead says, "Make sure you have prepared your furniture so it does not fall over, fall down or move". And at the bottom? Ten vital points about how to act in times of an earthquake. The poster was created in conjunction with the Tokyo Fire Department.

See, this is why Ultraman is cool. Because not only do he and his buddies save the earth, not only do he and his buddies have time to promote their latest adventures, oh no, they also have time to try and save your skin in an earthquake, too! My hero!

Late CP+ post: Hands-on with the Pentax K-01

I fully expected to hate the K-01 when I hit the Pentax stand at CP+. After all, it was not exactly a looker in the initial press shots. In fact, my initial impressions were, "Oh dear. Pentax is going down with this one". I honestly thought it was that big a mistake.

However, having seen it in the metal, I was blown away. It was the surprise of the show for me. Despite my initial thoughts, it is gorgeous in real life and even better, feels brilliant to hold. Say what you like about Marc Newson, if this is his idea of a camera, he knows his stuff.

As you can see from the hands-on video below, the buttons and controls are sparse but well laid out, and in my half-Asian hands, all controls felt brilliant to the touch. Plus, the aluminium chassis gives a true solidity that no plastic camera can match. It just feels 'right', which is always a good sign.

Even the super-thin, 40mm f/2.8 lens looks OK! And let's not forget the K-01's ability to use any K-mount glass in existence. Legacy glass users rejoice!

I really applaud Pentax for going out on a limb with this camera, and as long as people can get past the initial looks (and if the image quality matches the exterior design) Pentax deserves to sell truckloads of these.

Queuing - a Japanese pastime

You know you've got the most popular models at the show when people are willing to queue for an hour just to get a moment's hands-on time with your new hotness. In contrast, when I walked past earlier, Olympus had a 45-minute wait time for hands on with their OM-D, and Fujifilm had a 30 minute wait for their X-Pro 1.

Given the paucity of time I had at the show, I had to pass on both the latter two (thankfully, I'd already had hands on with the D4 and D800 at Nikon's HQ as part of my Nikon Asia launch junket), so can't report on those, but hopefully will get time with both very soon. Although given my comments on the X-Pro 1, I'm not sure about that one...


Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're getting coverage. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. Here's yet another part of it. I will and have been posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

The coolest thing on the whole Canon CP+ 2012 stand

When you come across a great idea, you want to shout it from the rooftops. This is one of those times.

To whit, Canon Japan introduced their Photopresso system last year, whereby you could publish your own photo books via a special Canon website. You simply upload your photos (any image, including scanned drawings or paintings, is cool), pay your money, and get beautifully bound books sent out to you. Totally customised, totally unique, and a brilliant gift for your friends.

Yes, I know you can get photo books from other companies, but these are just cooler, at least to me: They look better, are unique in style, and are so very Japanese. I love them.

They do cost a bit (starter price for a 40-page book is 1700 Yen - about AU$20 - and they go up from there to 5700 Yen - about AU$65 - for a 100-page book), but they are a great gift idea, and something I'd like Canon to introduce in Australia.

Pleeeeeaaaasse Canon Aus? Pleeeeeaaasse?

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've had coverage already on this blog, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Just because I want to...

Drooooool...



Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Canon and Tamron's IS systems up close and personal

Following on from my earlier post, one of great things about CP+ is the number of cutaways and technical demonstrations available. For a camera geek wanting to learn how things work, it's a joy.

Take image stabilisation, for example. For most people, the IS system in their current lenses (or bodies if you're a Pentax user) is a modern marvel that just happens to help them take better photos. You only miss IS when it's gone, and for me, at least, I don't really think about it when I'm shooting. There are other things on my mind.

But let's take a look for a moment at how a modern stabilisation system works. Basically, as you might be able to tell from the picture above, the way most work at the moment is by suspending one lens element (always towards the back of the lens) in a ring of piezoelectric motors, controlled by a system of gyroscopic sensor chips and control chips (like the ones in the front-most element above). The rearmost element in Canon's set-up is the actual power ring that moves the whole lot. 

As you can see from the video I shot at the Tamron stand below, what happens when a vibration hits the lens is as follows: The sensor chip/s (highlighted with a blue square in the video) pick up the vibration and tell the controller chips what direction the vibration is coming from and with what g-force. The controllers then tell the piezoelectric motor ring (below left) to move the floating lens element (left) a corresponding amount the other way to compensate. That's it, really. Not much to it, but it's taken years for us to get to the level we are at now. 

The fact we can squeeze all that into a modern lens is a marvel to me. Hope you find it as cool/enlightening.

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Lens porn

There are just certain things all camera geeks want to do when it comes to photography gear, and one of them is to peek inside. You want to know how things work. How bits interlock. How the focusing mechanism works. How the optical stabiliser works (more on that later).

Sadly, the only way you can normally do that is either go to the factory and see the thing made, take apart your own gear (potentially very expensive) or see one of these cutaway models. And even these are rare. So when the chance came up at the Canon stand at CP+ to see how three of their superb L-series super telephotos worked, I couldn't say no. Included are shots of the 600mm f/4 (above), 500mm f/4 and 400mm f/2.8 (below).

As you can see, the construction is virtually identical in each one. The same number of lens elements, the same groupings. The same autofocus and stabilisation mechanism placements. The only difference is size. And you wonder why these super telephotos weigh so much!


Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Canon 1DX first hands-on impressions

There are many cameras in this world that scream, 'Look at me!'. The Canon 1DX, however, is not one of them. At least, not to the average observer.

While the rest of the CP+ crowd went about their orderly queuing business (more on that later), waiting for just a few minutes with the D800, D4, Fujifilm X-Pro 1 or Olympus OM-D, the Canon 1DX sat alone, unloved and easily within reach. No queues. No waiting. Just hands on time.

Which is what I got. Now, it has to be said that I've never been too impressed with Canon's 1D series in general when it comes to ergonomics. The portrait grip has always struck me as either too shallow, too rounded or lacking depth when it comes to the index finger groove. Despite their lower-end models having spectacular ergonomics (especially for a left-eyed person like me), the 1D series has always lacked a little something. Especially when compared with the D3, which, along with the 5D Mk II, remains one of the best cameras I've ever used, ergonomically.

So I was hoping that Canon had learned their lesson and improved on this. Sadly only a little. The 1Dx is still a LOT better than the 1D Mk IV (which, ergonomics aside, was a woeful camera and rightfully replaced early), but it's still not great. The portrait grip is still too fat and lacks depth. The index finger grip is, again, not as deep as it needs to be. And the weight balance is not that great, either. Certainly in comparison to the D4, which improves significantly on the D3 by way of placing more of its weight at the bottom of the camera, balancing things out wonderfully.

The twin joysticks are useful, it must be said, and the rest of the button placement is still OK. It's not quite up there with the D3/4, but it's usable. I can see why many pros still use 1Ds.

However, the main reason to use this camera is the spectacular photos it takes. Now, the usual caveats apply here. No, you can't tell just by looking at the screen. And no, I didn't get to take an shots home this time. Canon, like all manufacturers at CP+, had sealed up the card covers with black gaffer tape to prevent such a thing from happening. And yes, the test camera was fitted with a 50mm f/1.2. But the test shots it took were AMAZING. I had never seen such clarity, colour or depth of field before in my life. The subjects were pin sharp and the bokeh jaw dropping. I actually gasped in disbelief at the shots it took. The Nikon D3s I had around my neck at the time, admittedly with only a 24-70mm f/2.8, could not come close, even comparison-shooting the Canon at the same aperture and ISO.

This is not to say the pictures the 1DX takes are without issue. Looking at the A2 pictures Canon had on the stand, some colour rendition issues and slight shadow noise were evident, even at ISO1600. That said, the fact Canon can now match Nikon's best in low light is amazing in itself. And the dilemma is now thus: Do you buy a camera that could possibly beat a D4 for image quality, but live with the ergonomics, or do you live with possibly slightly inferior images, and go for something that is usable all the time?

That's something only a true cross test (and your own personal preferences) can work out. Trust me when I say I want to get these two side by side as quickly as possible to find out.


Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. They've already got coverage, but they were going to anyway, as who would go to a camera show and not cover Nikon? I have and will be posting about other stuff from the show (like the post above) so please don't think their buying my plane ticket in any way influences my coverage. 

Quick post - the guts of a D800

Ever wondered what the electronic heart of the Nikon D800 looks like? Well, have a look. :) 

The sensor - some say it has 36.3 effective megapixels. And they'd be right. Good job, them. 

The sensor unit - the CMOS chip above plus the electronic gubbins required to make get all the information from the sensor to the...

...EXPEED 3 processor. Basically a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Chip) core with separate image processor, accessory controller and memory I/F. 

Finally, we have the Multicam 3500FX AF sensor. This is what makes sure you get fast, accurate focusing and tracking in 3D. Laaarvly. 

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. Here's part of it. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Nikon's polished, bare frame D4 and D800 magnesium alloy bodies are the sex (And look like the Terminator. Kind of. Don't judge me).

The polished D4 body above is easily the sexist thing on the Nikon stand (apart from the bare frame D800 - which you can find after the break, along with another angle of the D4 body). Don't you just want one?! Ok, so maybe the full camera is nicer, but in terms of an objet d'art...

By the way, my girlfriend though the D4 body looked like a coffee machine. See if you can figure out how... ;)

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. Here's part of it. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Biggest disappointment of the show? That'd be the Fujifilm X-Pro 1

I went in all excited to see the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 today. It's considered sexy, and its new X-Trans sensor and unique filter array means it supposedly does away with moire and outresolves a full-frame like a 5D Mark II. I came away disappointed beyond belief.

Let me explain:

Fujifilm had hung about 10 A1 pictures taken by the X-Pro around the X-Pro 1's booth section. Every picture I saw was fuzzy. Every. Single. One. There was a complete lack of detail in elements like distant human faces (which became a blocky blur, like a 16-bit game character), and complex areas like the metal cables on a bridge were all out of shape. And it didn't matter whether it was distant or close, the lack of detail remained the same. People, objects, everything. Edge details were even worse. Now, every lens has edge fall-off, but this was noticeable.

The colours were also off. And by that I mean each one had a label explaining which Fujifilm film they were supposed to imitate. None of them came close to matching the colours of the originals. Now, I admit I'm not an expert in old film, but I know what Velvia looks like, and for example, what they had on this booth was NOT Velvia.

The worst thing is I don't know if this was due to the optics or the filter. But either way, Fujifilm need to get this right. Fujifilm used to have a reputation for their optics. If this is the best they can do for the X-Pro 1, they need to go back to the drawing board. I hope they can improve. I hate to see a company that has done so well do so badly.

Oh, and yes, I did contemplate that Fujifilm had screwed up the processing. Or the printing. But given this is Japan's biggest camera show, I doubt it.

Anyway, biggest disappointment of the show? Hayup...

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Because I love it

Two more shots of the OM-D. And yes, it's better in silver. And the optional rectangular lens hood is the best ever invention. 

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

This what the inside of an OM-D looks like

An Olympus OM-D, today

It's CP+ time, people! Yay! I'll be posting lots of photos and info over the next few hours, so stay tuned!

First up, it's one of the stars of the show, the Olympus OM-D. And what have they done to it?! They've taken a laser to it, that's what. Or at least, that's what I like to think.

It's a cut away, obviously, but it shows a lot of detail and what goes into the lens and body mechanisms. It's a brilliant little camera and I can't wait to try it for real.

Disclosure: I travelled to Japan as part of a Nikon Asia tour for the D4 and D800 launch. So yes, they're going to get coverage at some point. They would even if they didn't pay for the trip. I will be posting about other cool stuff, too, and my coverage will not favour Nikon in any way, shape or form over another brand. Seriously. 

Apple’s education ‘revolution’, and why it will work (at least in Australia)

There was a lot of hubbub on Twitter and various tech-related websites when Apple’s new iBooks 2 came out. The majority of comments and tweets suggested Apple priced itself out of the market and at 2-3GB, the books were too large to fit enough on one iPad. Others commented on the lack of universality – people with cheaper/different equipment can’t use it, so it will fail. Minor comments involved durability – kids break things – and shareability – you can’t lend an e-book to a friend.  

Now, being a qualified secondary school teacher, as well as a journalist, I have some experience in these matters, so I will answer these criticisms and suggest why I think Apple has got this right (at least for the secondary market).

The first criticism is pricing. Even at US$15 or so per book, people say the cost of an iPad will prevent schools from rolling them out to students. Now, I am only speaking for Australia, but in Victoria, where I live, every government school is spending many thousands rolling out netbooks or cheap 15-inch Lenovo laptops to students in Year 7. The idea is these kids keep the laptops until they break or become obsolete. This is probably going to be around the standard three year mark.

So, if Victorian schools are able to roll out cheap laptops to students, why can’t they replace them with iPads? Especially, if as some commentators suggested, Apple keeps selling the iPad 2 at a lower cost (say $350-400) when the iPad 3 comes out? Given the cost of some textbooks in high school, I can safely tell you a student in a world of cheap iPads and $15 books is going to spend less money over three years than one with a laptop and physical books.

As for how many books they can fit, again, this is mostly a non-issue – for secondary students, at least: I cannot speak for primary or tertiary students. Students in Australian secondary schools study, at most, six subjects per semester. The average size of Apple’s new multitouch e-books is around 2-3GB. Times that by six and you have a full iPad (16GB model), sure, but that simply means there’s no room for other time wasting apps. That’s a GOOD thing from a teacher’s perspective. And books can be deleted each semester to load new ones on. Some subjects don’t use a textbook either, so the space issue becomes even less relevant.

In terms of universality, I can also see this being a non-issue, albeit only if all students get an iPad. But see my point above regarding wholesale rollouts for that. And given how the music industry developed, I would not discount the possibility of cheaper, rival systems. Amazon, for one, surely has a vested interest here.

Finally, durability and shareability. Kids do break things. But generally, they only break them at their weakest point(s). The only regularly-occurring damage I have seen to laptops is when hinges break, or when kids remove keys. And this happens a lot. iPads have neither of these issues. So if you provide each student with a decent case, I doubt you’ll see many more failures than you do with laptops. The only possible issue is screen breakage, which will happen, because the cost of replacing a hinge is rather less than replacing a screen.

As for shareability, I do not know many students who lend each other textbooks, even now. Certainly not in school. And let’s not forget, an iPad is a projectable device. So if students forget them, a single device can be shown to the whole class.

I don’t doubt there will be other issues that arise, and as I said, my opinion is just for the Australian (and specifically, Victorian) secondary school system. But given Apple’s history, I would be very surprised if they failed on this one.

Run Roo Run!

I hate this game. It takes up huge amounts of my life. The only reason I keep playing it because, due to its easiness, the experience I have with platformers, and the low numbers of players on Game Centre initially, I played it through a few times and ended up in the top 50. Now I'm currently in the top five. How's about that?!

Anyway, seeing as there are not real any major tips out there for it, I thought I'd write my own.

Number one: Jump. Jump like crazy. Jump like your crazy grandma is chasing you over a hurdles course. Jumping is one of the fastest methods of getting through any level. There are times when it's faster to simply move normally, but most of the time, if you figure out how to jump as many times as you can in a level, you'll gain speed.

Number two: Wait. There are plenty of times when your instinct, especially in a game like this, suggests you start the level straight away. Big mistake, particularly in the later levels. Wait a second and analyse the course. Look at the timing of the clouds, spikes or umbrellas. You can save literally half a second or more on some levels by simply getting your timing right. The other big one is waiting for all the tyre swings to come back towards you at the start of every level. You'd be amazed how the times drop if you do this.

Number three: Cheat. Now, I know this sounds bad, but it's simply gaining time by looking at where you don't have to follow the level layout. The following are levels where it's easy to do this:

Extreme 11-2: If you get your timing just right, you can avoid touching the third handle and jump straight from the tyre to the fourth. This saves more than half a second.

Level 13-10. Don't bother with the spring. Just jump straight over the first barber pole (roundabout in the game - god knows why, it's so inaccurate) and wait for the second to turn you back around. You save two seconds by doing this.

Level 19-4: Jump straight into the first hole from below. I was surprised when this first happened, as it was just blind luck: I had no idea I could even do this, and was simply jumping along, trying to save time, when I went straight up the first hole. None of this grabbing onto the first hook. It saved me around half a second or more.

Number four: Know your enemy. Certain obstacles need to be approached in a certain way. Tips are as follows:

Tyres: Depending on the level, the point at which you hit them (beginning, middle, end of the tyre) makes a profound difference to your exit speed. It varies per level, so practise is the only way.

Fans: The airstreams above fans need to be hit almost invariably at the top of your jump to save time. The angle of your jump and the timing of your exit also has a large effect on your exit speed.

Oil: Generally speaking, the more time you spend on it, the better. The only exception is level 19-15, where it is much faster to jump pretty much as soon as you hit the oil. Therefore, try and jump at the last moment in all other levels. It will gain you valuable hundredths or even tenths.

Barrels: These depend on high entry speed for fast rolling. Try and jump into them or be forced in by cannons etc. as this will speed up your rolls dramatically.

Number four: Practise. There is no substitute for it, and only by many hours of playing will you get to know where you can jump, where not to jump, and where to hit all the tyres etc.

Have fun!