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Photofocus Episode 100

Special Guest: Frederick Van Johnson (www.frederickvan.com or www.fvj.me/plus)

Show notes by Bruce Clarke ()

Discussion – Kodak Files for Bankruptcy

The big news this week was that Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Scott and Frederick reminisce about the days of film and all that Kodak did for the photography industry. Scott remembers his Kodak rep Mike and the great relationship he had with him. Scott and Frederick both had one of the first digital cameras – the DCS 420 and they discuss how the advent of digital changed the photography industry and affected Kodak. In the 90’s, the big bosses at Kodak down played the importance of digital and in 1999 they decided not to make their own digital camera body which resulted in them being left in the dust. Scott thinks they could have taken that existing relationship they had with photographers and used it to sell and promote Kodak digital cameras. Scott thinks that the only thing they have left is their name and their patent portfolio but doesn’t think that will be enough for them to survive and that their name and patents will be sold off to someone else. Both Frederick and Scott are saddened by this news since Kodak played a large role in their photography careers.

Discussion – Nikon D4 and the Canon 1DX

Scott doesn’t think these new cameras are revolutionary but are both evolutionary. The price on both the D4 and the 1DX are significantly more expensive than their predecessors. Scott thinks Canon is still ahead when it comes to video but Nikon is still leading the way when it comes to low-light performance.

Listener Questions

This week we kick things off with a question about the Canon 100-400 Push-pull telephoto lens:

Question One – Canon 100-400 Push-Pull Lens

Terryl Woods from Malibu California wrote to us about the Canon 100-400mm push-pull lens and wonders why it’s so controversial and what the problems are with it?

Scott: It’s a fairly old lens and was one of the first big zooms Canon sold. Instead of twisting it, you push and pull it. One of the biggest problems is that the push pull mechanism would bring dust into the camera. Since it’s older technology it’s also not one of the sharper lenses in the zoom range.

Question Two – Figuring Out the Focal Length

John Harginhand is trying to figure out the focal length of his zoom lenses but is having a hard time figuring the effective focal length from the EXIF data.

Frederick: He should be able to get that in the EXIF data. In Lightroom, when he clicks on the image, it should tell him in the inspector exactly which focal length he was at. He’ll find it in the Library mode under meta-data. The camera will record it when you press the shutter.

Scott: The data is there. You just have to figure out where it is using the program you are running for your photo editing.

Question Three – Editing Photos

Ryan Corum in Washington DC writes: I’ve always been taught to take as many photos as you can to ensure you’re getting the best shot and even then you can make it better in post but I’ve read that professional photographers don’t edit 99% of their shots. I find this hard to believe. How often do you edit your shots?

Scott: If it’s photojournalists, then they don’t edit their shots. If it’s for me, I don’t let anything reach a client that has been edited. I try to get it as close in camera so we never spend more than 2 minutes editing a photo. Spend time editing if you have the time and you enjoy it.

Frederick: Editing will be different for everyone. The metric is time and how much time you want to spend on an image. Most professionals will try to turn images over more quickly since time is money whereas a hobbyist might have more time to spend editing a single photograph. You can even outsource your editing to companies.

Wrap Up

We want themes and questions from you. Be sure to visit the blog at PhotoFocus.com for articles, how-to’s, videos and more. E-mail us at [email protected]follow us on Twitter. Don’t just take pictures – make pictures.

Frederick Van Johnson is at

Show notes by

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