| I've used a number of different types and brands of cameras over the years, including
a Nikon F-80, but have for now settled on an Olympus
Camedia C-4000, that combines the functionality of a system camera (everything can be
configured) with reasonably high resolution and picture quality, as well as a very good
"super" macro, that allows me to photograph very close up with surprising
detail. Actually the super macro was a key reason for choosing this specific camera. That
it's smaller/lighter than a system camera is of course also a plus, even though it's bulky
compared to most other digicams. With a 128 megabyte memory card I can shoot approx. 50
photos at the highest resolution (2288 by 1712) and highest JPEG quality.(with almost no
visible artefacts, even when scaling up). I also tend to photograph with all "special
effects" (contrast, sharpening and color saturation) turned down, as that has proven
to be best for archiving and later processing. E.g. if I will scale photos up or down
there's no point in having sharpening on the original, etc. Also, Photoshop, ThumbsPlus
and other tools are better at handling sharpening etc than the camera. Digicams still have
much lower resolution than ISO 100 film, but that's in my opinion compensated by the
convenience (take many photos on chance, immediate access from a PC, easy to archive on CD
or DVD, easy to transfer to friends and relatives (if I had any...), etc). I have no need
for paper copies (except for hand-picked "blow-ups"), so I would otherwise have
scanned the photos in anyway. As a test I developed some pictures to paper at 50 by 70 cm.
At that magnification pictures got a bit blurry, but were still quite OK for poster use. I
was afraid the pixels would show up, but it seems the developer adds a certain amount of
defocus to get rid of them. I've started using the Olympus SDK to make applications for taking photos
from a PC. My initial goal was to simplify macro photography through time-lapse
photography. The SDK can be accessed from Visual C++ or Visual
Basic. I currently use Visual Basic for this.
Sabsik Software's Cam2Com (free, but if
you have a C-4000/C-4100 you're asked to donate) handles most needed configuration, and
time-lapse (fairly slow though), and can even profile the connected camera for exact
features. It is based on the Olympus SDK.
ThumbsPlus is my favorite tool for managing and
manipulating photos. It serves as both an image archive and image editor. It also has a
very powerful batch job function that allows me to process many pictures (scaling,
sharpening, rotating, you name it) simultaneously. It can also generate web pages (picture
indices), contact sheets etc. I can definitely recommend it.
Below is an example of how macro pictures taken with the C-4000 can look like. It's
taken with the C-4000 (handheld and super macro) at high noon in the Botanic Garden in
Lund.
Here are some other photographs (taken with Nikon F-80 and
Olympus C-4000). Of course they are all in lower resolution than the originals, and I have
many more than these. You may use these pictures for personal use. If you are interested
in digital originals I can provide such for a fee. |
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