Microsoft Releases RAW support (kindof)

Microsoft Camera Codec Pack (16.0.0652.0621)

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=26829
7/26/2011


**UPDATE** 
DID NOT WORK WITH MY 60D RAW FILES!
WHAT A CROCK.






This may be a day late and a dollar short for many, but for me it came right on time. It was very irritating to me to begin shooting RAW only to find that the Microsoft Windows Image Viewer did not support simply viewing my raw files. I mean really, what gives. It is my understanding that it was supported in XP, and maybe windows 2000. Nevertheless, the new codec pack allows you to actually have thumbnails in explorer of your raw files. That's all I wanted.


The edit functionality is a bit Microsoft-like in the fact that when you want to perform an edit, they convert and save a different file to .jpg, and thus you can use their native built in edit functions. What this means for me, and hopefully you, is that you will still want to edit your photos with something a little more robust like Photoshop, maybe even Picasa, or God forbid the photo software your camera came with.


I am glad to see this. I would like to think my e-mail(s) to Microsoft had an influence on this. Maybe it did; probably not, but maybe. 

I finally made the leap

I finally dove into the exciting world of the SLR camera. Awesome world it is. At the advice of my wife I spent a little money and bought a 60D. I know it isn't the 5D Mark II that I wanted, but it is a good start. Plus where I want the most zoom I can get for the art I typically shoot, having the conversion factor of 1.6 to 1 on the full frame lens that I bought should maybe be a little advantage. Yeah, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself until I can convince someone that I am worthy of one; Whether that be God, who has blessed my family mightily, or Canon who has given great advice, or National Geographic, or another super awesome company who happens to have one lying around...

Anywho, I will be posting a whole lot more photos in the future. My freakin cheeks hurt from smiling so much more these last few weeks than I have in a long time.

Posting Art

I still like my DeviantArt account, and the community, but many didn't like the name, or didn't care to visit.
http://cyberpriest.deviantart.com/
Only 2,320 page views in 2 years isn't great. Plus many stole but none paid, especially overseas.

So, I moved a lot of them to an album on my FaceBook page.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1191388138833.2029614.1052257001
Let me know what you think.

Awesome timing on the blog. Wow, almost two years. I am so into this.

Ok, life got hard for a while, then it completely changed. Now, I am back in.

Let us begin:

While at a family function, my well battered SX100 took a nasty fall onto the lens while in the hands of my daughter. While sad at my camera's demise, a little polish, and some super-glue made it possible for her to inherit and still use said SX100IS camera. One hell of a little trooper this camera is. Bravo Canon. I loved it so much I decided to upgrade to the SX120IS.

Now I am a little sad.

See, with the SX100IS I was able to use the firmware from the Canon Hack Development Kit. I loved it. It was awesome. It added everything I could have ever wanted from that little guy.

Now here I sit with a similar camera with less features and what seems to be more issues in medium light.

Sadness.

I just checked the CHDK blog http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK. SX110, in the money. SX120, SX130, SOL. Still in beta. Man, I wish I was a programmer. I will probably give it a go before the day is out. I want my Histogram, dang it. So, off I go to review the sites, many in German, to see if I can't just brick this little thing.

--Update-- CHDK on SX120IS did not work.

Anywho, earlier this year I had intended to purchase a Canon Rebel T2i. But life stuff happens, and I was unable to. It was a matter of priorities. Stupid priorities.

Other nice ones I took

Ok, I had a bunch of links here at one time. But now, I have discovered DeviantArt.com. So, now if you want to see some of the awesome photos that Christina and I are creating these days, you should visit http://cyberpriest.deviantart.com. I am really proud of most of these images. So, please check them out and let me know what you think.
Here is the link directly to the gallery.
Oh, you can also have prints, posters, mugs, mouse pads, and a whole lot more printed / shipped directly from the site. Check it out.

Older picture, but one of my favorites

I called this image Tranquility. I took this with my older Kodak camera a few years ago. If you enjoy this image as much as I do, please feel free to donate, or at least give me credit. Thanks. I have a MUCH larger copy of this image should someone decide they want it as their background or something. Just comment here or e-mail me.

A bug

I saw a really weird bug today, and I couldn't resist taking a few photos before I tampered with the log he was occupying. You should really see the other photos I shot. The third one I uploaded was interesting to me because I captured what I was seeing in this bug's wings, a faint sparkle.

Bug1
Bug2
Bug3

Digital Camera issue

I recently purchased a Canon PowerShot SX 100IS. So far I am thrilled to have such a camera. My old 3 megapixel camera was simply not able to do what I needed it to do. It has a nice 10x zoom, and the picture color is outstanding. When I first bought this camera I did not realize how much I would enjoy photography. But now there are two things I really don't like about the camera. The first is the fact that you can’t zoom while shooting video. It is like they crippled this feature on purpose. I can zoom in with the camera, and then start recording, but I can’t change the zoom while it is recording. I hope they correct this in a future firmware release or something.
However, my second problem is a little complicated. I found that once in a while there is considerable fuzz, or snow, that degrades my pictures and makes them appear grainy or snowy. The issue is amplified in low light. Originally my boss thought it could be related to a color setting. But after a little research, and a little education from him and the Internet, the issue was related to the ISO setting. I found the term ISO noise on several websites.

In an effort to prove this point he let me borrow his Canon Digital Rebel SLR camera for a day. Now that camera performs beautifully in any light. However, I decided to contact Canon's technical support with my issue to see what they would say. Much to my surprise, their response was one of the better support responses I have ever received:

Thank you for contacting Canon product support. We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you. I am sorry to hear of any difficulties with the image quality on your PowerShot SX100 IS.

Unfortunately, it is unclear as to what the issue is you are experiencing. Some of these troubleshooting steps and suggestions listed below you may have already tried, however I have gone ahead and listed the steps incase there is something that might help.

To obtain sharp, accurate images, the shutter button must be pressed halfway to allow the camera to meter and focus. When focus has been achieved, the camera may beep or show a light indicator next to the viewfinder. At that point, the shutter should be depressed fully to take the picture.

There are basically two reasons why you may have grain or blurring in your images:

1. The subject is out of focus.

2. The camera is not being held still enough for the shutter speed.

It may be difficult to auto focus on subjects in particular conditions such as the following:

1. Very low-contrast subjects.

2. Overlapping nearby and distant objects.

3. Very bright subjects in the center.

4. Subjects moving very fast.

5. When taking pictures out of the camera's focusing range.

Camera shaking will produce an overlapping or blurred image. For clearer images, hold the camera firmly not to cause camera shaking. Here are some tips for taking better photos with less camera shaking:

1. For maximum stability, hold the camera firmly well over the grip and keep your right elbow lightly pressed against your body.

2. Support the lens or the camera body with your left hand from below.

3. Look into the optical viewfinder as if pressing your forehead to the camera.

4. Do not stand straight, but with one foot stepping forward for taking better balance of your body. (This suggestion really help my shots!)

5. Lean against the wall.

6. Put the camera on a fixed object like a table.

7. Use a tripod.

Move the zoom control towards wide-angle. If you move the zoom control towards tele-angle, camera-shaking will easily occur. Faster shutter speeds will produce better images. Slower shutter speeds may produce more camera-shaking.

Here is a link to the Canon Learning Station online, you might be able to located some information that might help:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=MultiMiscPageAct&key=Learning_Station&fcategoryid=2533

If this is not the case, and most of your images are out of focus, you may need to send this camera in for service.

If this doesn't answer your question, please contact me again with the more details so we will able to further assist you with your Canon SX100 IS.

Thank you for choosing Canon.

Sincerely,

Deva

Technical Support Representative

Special Note: Certain issues are very difficult to resolve via email.

If your question remains unanswered after you have received this email, you may call our special toll-free number for email customers with unresolved issues and speak to a technician by dialing 1-866-261-9362, Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight ET, and Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET (excluding holidays).

If you prefer to continue to communicate via email, reply to this message and we will respond as quickly as possible.


While these tips helped, they did not really explain why I would be seeing what I was seeing. I didn't have blur, I had snow. So I did a little more research online. From what I was reading, the image stabilization works by detecting movement while the camera is taking the picture, and it bumps up the ISO setting in an attempt to reduce the blur caused by said movement.
In addition to this, I know that the camera is not fantastic in low light. Canon makes an add-on flash for my camera. Unfortunately it is roughly $90 on Newegg.com. As sad as I am to admit this, $90 is out of my price range at this time. I would be curious to hear from some experts, or educated amateurs like me, about the Canon HF-DC1 flash before I save enough cans or get enough revenue from my websites to buy one.
Hi-Ho Comment Away,
CP

Bloggity-blog bloggie blog blog blog

So, yeah.

As much as I want to take this seriously, I find that I take too many other things too seriously to include this, in all seriousness. So, what should I put here. Well, you will soon see that I will have links to my personal website; as well as tips on computers, digital cameras, and probably some general rants.

Speaking of rants, I just heard that Jessica Simpson went Country... Man, one scene in Dukes of Hazard and her whore, I mean whole life changed. Weird. I guess I would go country too if I could make a ton of money at it. Speaking of which, please donate today as I am poor and not doing this for my health.