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Nikon D90

So - IT happened - Digital SLRs can now shoot HD Quality video - and the repercussions this will have on our industry are going to be pretty fascinating to watch in the upcoming years. While most newspaper photogaphers will be thrilled not to have to carry both SLR and video camera systems to perform their new duties, sports photographers may find that these cameras create serious headaches for them going into venues with broadcasters who own exclusive rights to the video content being broadcast from that very venue.  These will be very interesting times that will lead to some very precedent setting debate.

I had a very strong feeling that this was coming down the pipeline and mentioned it in several previous articles over the past few years, including  the “Cloud is Falling” article that I wrote a few months ago.  I should mention that never had I heard anything coming out of either a Canon or Nikon rep about video - it was kept TIGHTLY under wraps - until Nikon revealed the Nikon D90 yesterday.   The buzz about this upcoming announcement was circulating amongst a few people “in the know” at the Olympics - I hadn’t heard any solid information on the details of this camera but did know something was coming out  - and I was expecting it to be announced at Photokina in about a month from now.  The rumour going around was that one or more manufacturers might be releasing a camera that could shoot both video and still images - but not simultaneously.  This first amateur camera can neither autofocus, nor simultaneously shoot stills and video.   That - my guess is  - will be what the professional cameras will do - and soon. (more…)

Well, I just got done copying the files from my trusty 17″ MackBook Pro and 3 External Hard Drives over to my server overnight… and here are the facts:

In Beijing, with a total of 6 cameras, I shot: 28,444 files for a total of a whopping 480 Gigabytes of Images!  That’s INSANE!  Even I am shocked.

So I looked into at what Sports Illustrated shot during the Olympics with their ten staff photographers there - SI shot over 300,000 images of which their staff kept 17,000.   One of their editors took that down to 1046 “super selects” and then their director of photography Steve Fine, edited his selection down to 135 images.  That means their “best of” turned out to be 0.045% of what they shot.

These numbers may - and should - look crazy to most of you.  But truth be told - it’s what happens when you have cameras that now shoot bursts at 10 frames per second - and when you’re likely firing not one - but two or three cameras at once (via remotes.)  In fact mon ami Bill Frakes had more than 18 cameras firing at once each time someone crossed the finish line at the Athletics (Track & Field) venue for example-  so imagine the volume coming out of the track venue.  Hallucinating.

With simple arithmetic, it looks like I shot just a little under what the SI shooters did - but there is one important distinction:  I saw many of them editing their images live on the back of their cameras.  In other words - they would look at every series of images after they’d shot them (either during events or in between each rotation for example) and delete the poor or out of focus images - this to make sure that a “bad” one didn’t make it into the magazine - as someone else would end up editing their images.  I on the other hand - never deleted a single frame - and that’s because I would be the only one editing my take each day (and not have to explain myself for missing a key frame to any editor.)  I don’t believe in deleting images on the back of the camera myself - I’ve deleted quite a few keepers out of “sleep deprivation” or just by rushing in the past, and in fact missed more moments that happened right in front of me because I was “chimping” (term used for looking at back of one’s camera, and jumping up and down and howling like an ape, when one finds a good image, often showing it off to the person to the left or right of you.)  So I keep everything.  Given that those guys tended to mount a few more remote cameras thanI did - I’m sure it evens out things a bit further. (more…)