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 | | Friday, January 16, 2009 | | Only for professionals? | I have a friend who loves camera gear. He has a recent DSLR and several professional series fast zoom lenses. All quiet beautiful, big, impressive and expensive. I asked him if he had ever thought of using a 50mm prime lens.
“My skill isn’t high enough to handle a prime 50mm lens. They are only for professionals,” he replied. “That’s why I have three zoom lenses, much easier to handle.”
As a youth I was introduced to photography by my uncle who had (if my memory serves me right) a Nikon SLR and 3 prime lenses - 28mm, 50mm, and a 120mm. They served him well for many years. I ended up being a Canon guy, as it was a Canon AE1 that I inherited from my dad that he seldom used. It came with the standard issue 50mm 1.8. As a youth, with little money to buy more lenses (let alone film and processing), I shot only with the 50mm, only dreaming of owning a “big zoom” one day.
 After a few years I bought my first zoom, a 4.5-5.6 70-200mm Canon zoom lens. I proudly hung my big new gun over my shoulder, often clipping on a large black lens shade to enhance its prowess. But to my dismay I was dogged by the slowness of the lens. With my 50mm I was hand holding down to 1/15 of a second and getting great shots. I missed the shallow depth of field and the small size. The zoom lens was big and heavy, pictures were often blurry and under exposed. People ran for cover when I pulled it out. On the outside, I loved the manliness and respect that came with the big black zoom. Not to say it wasn’t great for a bright day outside. But on the inside, I was frustrated with its trade-offs.
After college I started assisting local professional photographers part-time. Two in particular - one a commercial photographer, his forte was corporate and editorial portraits. The other, a talented wedding photographer who fell in love with every wedding she went to. They both had a lot of gear - medium and 35 mm format - but between the two of them, not one zoom lens.
So what’s my point? I guess my point is you don’t need $1500 zoom lenses to take good pictures. And second, a cheap zoom lens will help you take worse pictures.
A fixed prime lens, such as a 50mm 1.8 or a 28mm 2.8, will actually give you more freedom not less. Slow shutter speeds, shallow depths of fields, fast focusing, small in size, light in weight, bright viewfinder, and sharp, sharp images. If you want to zoom just step forward, step back.
Recent lens technology has made zoom lenses lighter, smaller, cheaper and in most cases better than zooms of the past. Image stabilization has greatly lowered acceptable hand holding shutter speeds. But image stabilization also helps prime lenses, taking us to recently unheard handholding shutter speeds – 1/15, 1/8, even ¼ of a second! If you love photography try and pick up a 50mm, 35mm, or 28mm prime lens. You will love the freedom, size, and image quality it will give you.
Something has gone awry when the consensus thinks only masters can handle a prime lens. Quite the opposite!
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| Saturday, December 20, 2008 | | Winston Churchill By Yousef Karsh | 
This photo, taken almost 90 years ago, remains one of the most famous portraits ever taken. The story goes that Karsh wanted Churchill to remove his cigar from his mouth but Churchill did not want to. Reaching forward to appear as if he was going to adjust Churchill's collar, Karsh suddenly pulled the cigar from Churchill's mouth and snapped the picture.
Cheeky fellow, that Karsh, considering WW2 was raging and Churchill was leader of the then world power, Great Britain. But the end result is truly a mesmerizing portrait.
Here's a question. From what angle did Karsh take the photo? Yes, from waist level. From where does an archer shoot his arrow? Eye level. From where does a deer hunter fire his rifle? Eye level. No wonder Clint Eastwood shot from the hip. Nobody saw it coming. They could not look away from those steely blue eyes! When the photographer holds a camera up to his face and points it at another person something happens, and in most cases it is not good. It often makes the subject uneasy. Maybe after some time he will relax, and overcome this intimidating lens pointing at him. Maybe not.
When you shoot from waist level, you can look face-to-face with your subject. There is no camera in the way. You can briefly look down to frame your subject then look up and carry on your conversation and fire away at just the right moment. Not to say there are not many amazing portraits taken from eye level, but shooting from the hip will in most cases be less intimidating for your subject.
Flipbac and relax. (Cheesy, I know, but it I could not resist).Send comments to: comments@flipbac.com
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| Thursday, December 18, 2008 | | Have your say. | Until we get the add comment / view comments options sorted out please send your comments to: comments@flipbac.comLet us know if you would like it to be posted. | |
| Sunday, December 14, 2008 | | Head games. |  Have you ever taken a painting and drawing class? Who has heard their instructor say ‘draw what you see and not what you think you see!’? After your first class you realize this is much easier said than done.
Many art students will draw a ‘still life’ that contains common items such as a
chair, a table, maybe some fruit, flowers etc. Here is when our mind
starts to deceive us - our minds already have pictures of tables,
chairs, fruit and flowers. As a novice we often start drawing the
images in our minds and not the objects in front of us. We don’t see the negative space, the converging lines, the shadow, the light, etc. We attempt to draw some image in our head of what we think a chair should look like. And the end result? Poor. We are not drawing what we see.
So what has this to do with photography? Many people are asking “isn’t it weird to see the image upside down when using the Flipbac?”
Maybe for the first few minutes. But after that you will actually see much better. Things that you may have overlooked with stand out like a sore thumb: a sign, wires crossing the scene, distracting reflections, disheveled clothing, crooked glasses. All of these things might be quite acceptable, but the point is, the upside down image will force you to see these things. It will take the familiarity you have with the setting and you will start to see what is in front of you and not what is in your head. Your composition will improve. Photographers who have used medium format cameras with waist level viewers will readily agree that even though they shoot fewer images their hit rate, their “keepers” are much higher. Why?
With these cameras, the photographer composes the photo by holding the camera at waist level and looking at a reflected upside down image. They naturally concentrate more on the composition and the result is better composed photos.
There are still many other facets that make a great photo, but I have found that the reflected “upside down” image has slowed me down and I look harder at the scene. My pictures become more than just snap shots and often have a better design. It prevents my mind playing games and I start truly seeing what is in front of me.
I'm interested to hear your thoughts on this subject. Send comments to comments@flipbac.com | |
| Saturday, November 22, 2008 | | The search for the Holy Grail. | |
Why isn’t the Flipbac removable?
We developed the Flipbac over a period of 2 years. We had
several designs and mounting methods – both mechanical and with adhesives. We
also built and field tested several prototypes, most notable was one with a
slotted track that allowed the Flipbac to be removed.
So why didn’t we further develop this removable function?
The first issue with the removable function was it always
increased the total thickness of the Flipbac. It went from 5 mm to 7-8 mm. All of
a sudden it made the camera too thick and bulky to fit in most camera bags.
Secondly, it was unattractive and had a wiggly or
unstable feel on the camera.
Thirdly, it didn’t bother us that the Flipbac remained on the camera. We
honestly never found it a hindrance. If we wanted to directly look at the LCD
we just opened the Flipbac a little further. When we did want to use the
Flipbac it was there, on the camera. We didn’t have to fumble through our camera
bag, put it
on and take the shot. In other words, we could take the shot before the moment
was gone.
Also, we enjoyed the protection the Flipbac gave the LCD. Often my
camera was without its case in my pocket or shoulder bag and to date my
camera’s LCD has suffered no damage.
So in the end we consciously decided to make the Flipbac as
thin as possible and build it to the same finish and quality as leading Japanese
cameras. We wanted the Flipbac to appear as if it was part of the camera
and not some
goofy gadget stuck to the back.
We haven’t given up on the removable function though. We
continue to look for methods that don’t increase the thickness or complexity.
Cameras and camera gear are strange objects. As many of us
have owned many cameras, we soon learn that the perfect camera doesn’t exist.
Cameras continue to improve but so do our expectations.
The search for the Holy Grail continues.
Any thoughts? Send your comments to: comments@flipbac.com
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| Tuesday, November 04, 2008 | | Shoot from the hip... | 
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| Tuesday, November 04, 2008 | | What to expect. | We plan to invite trade professionals and accomplished amateurs to be
guest bloggers as the months go by. It will be more of
a photography forum versus a gear/technology forum.
We will first draw on viewpoints from professionals who
until recently used waist level medium format gear but are now using digital
cameras. They will discuss photographic philosophies and how they go about
reaching their photographic goals. How
they look at things and previsualize their assignments.
The goal of this blog is to help you be
a photographer who is not burdened by the gear but one that is more intuitive
and free. We feel image quality is important but image content is
king.
Flipbac, relax, and enjoy the coming entries. If you have any comments please email us at: info@flipbac.com
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| Monday, September 22, 2008 | | Almost! | |
For many years I have enjoyed using medium format cameras that let me shoot from “the hip.” The Rolleiflex TLR camera and the Hasselblad 500 are historic cameras that let the user view the lens image from a camera held at the waist height and other positions. When I look back at my photographs, my favorite ones, my best ones, most often have been taken from the waist level position. These photos are candid and relaxed, often because my subject did not know the photograph was being taken.
When I bought my first digital camera seven years ago and noticed the large LCD (liquid crystal display) screen on the back, I immediately thought of an angle viewer: A simple mirror that hinged on both an X and Y axis that would easily let me view the digital camera rear LCD screen in different positions other than in front of my face.
Some time later I made a prototype and started to use it at social occasions and to show it to some trusted professional photographers. Whether novice or professional, all liked the idea immediately and could see its practical and ease of use.
However those early years many digital cameras had flipout screens ( early Canon G series, Olympus C 8080, etc). But as time passed camera bodies became smaller, and LCD screens became bigger - all to the demise of the beloved flipout screen.
Noting this change in the market we decided to give it a go. It has been a long road from the first prototype to now. As simple as it looks, there were many details that took a long time to get just right. Many months were spent testing the friction, finding the perfect adhesive tape, slimming the profile, etc. Many favors called for, hours of help and advice given by family and friends.
So now it is almost here! By mid October we look forward to being "open for business". We look forward to offering the Flipbac Angle Viewer for you to try.
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