The Full Frame

Many of you are probably thinking/asking how many megapixels are required for a 4×6 print? or a 8×10? or a 24×36?

Here is a small table of the minimum sizes (at 300dpi) high quality:

Here is a small table of the minimum sizes (at 150dpi) bare minimum:

As you can see, actual pixel count is fairly demanding for a “high quality” print. High quality meaning what is actually observed by the camera and not made up by some computer program. Typically computers are used with a algorithm called a Bayer Interpolation that will blend and “guess” the colors to make up missing information between colors and pixels when someone tries to enlarge them, so it is possible to get an OK looking 8×10 from a 5 MP camera, or an OK looking 24×36 from a 22MP camera. So keep in mind that if you are producing any of these sizes with less than the Megapixels listed your print is more a test of the quality of your computer software than it is your camera!

Also keep in mind that imaging sensors will see only one color and one intensity per pixel. So 1 px will see red at lets say a value of 210 (1 to 255 intensity, 16 Bit color). In order to record the real color emitted in real life you need at least 3 of these. Yes, just like your TV or anything else the camera will blend the 3 colors to create the real “observed” color. What is the caveat for this? Digital cameras (non-Foveon) only really “see” 1/3 of the claimed Megapixel value that they advertise (because they are using 3 pixels to record each “real” color) so that fancy 10 MP camera you own in reality only can record 3.3 MP worth of actual real life image, just enough for a high quality 5×7, the rest is blended and made up by computer software. This makes a strong case for the reason why REAL professional photographers still use film for all of their important work. This is because film CAN record a real color at each “pixel” which is still higher than digital (roughly 88 real megapixels for a 35mm piece of film).

Word is that Hulu, the popular free video streaming site that delivers juicy syndicated goodness to millions of viewers daily, will likely switch over to a paid-only subscription service in 2010. Dates are unclear at this point but Hulu’s partner’s (News Corp.) exec Robert Murdock states:

“Are we looking at it with a view of adding subscription services in there and pay-per-view movies? Yes, we are looking at that. No decision has been taken yet.”

My personal favorite shows include: Family Guy, American Dad, King of the Hill, Simpsons, Naruto and a handful of others. Currently Hulu will only air these series’ past half-dozen or so episodes which really makes Hulu a bit boring for me after a while. I can remember in 2007 when Hulu didn’t have either the ads that currently plague every episode or the episode restriction that is currently in effect. After a while everyone saw the ads coming, but does Hulu really expect people to pony up a probable $10+ a month for something that will likely still have ads and likely still have episode restrictions? They should take a clue from the media distribution currently used by Microsoft’s Zune where a user pays $14.99 a month for unlimited, unrestricted access to every song on the planet, and every month you get to download 10 songs and keep them without DRM (digital rights management). That my friends is value. It’s a wonder why more people that actually like music don’t own Zunes. Hulu, get a clue, bait and switch won’t work on this generation when we can BitTorrent an entire season in hours or netflix and copy virtually anything we want INCLUDING movies.

What do you think?

Our new protocol was just listed on ClinicalTrials.gov http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01012830

Outlook is good, we anticipate recruitment, analysis, and publication to occur swiftly and efficiently.

HupA, an alkaloid initially identified from the Chinese herbal medicine Huperia serrata, is a potent reversible acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) inhibitor with additional unique properties including NMDA-receptor antagonist properties, neuroprotective and antioxidant effects. In animal studies, HupA was shown to possess greater inhibitory, longer-lasting, and more selective effects on AChE activity than donepezil. In clinical studies HupA improved memory, mood, and activities of daily living in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia. Adverse effects have been reported at a very low rate in all the clinical trials, and are mainly cholinergic, such as dizziness, nausea, gastrointestinal symptoms, headaches and depressed heart rate. Thus, HupA is an attractive option which may have beneficial effects not only on cognitive but also functional domains of schizophrenia.

I came across Ken Rockwell’s site looking for reviews of a Zeiss 50mm 1.4 that I was contemplating buying and stumbled again upon his article explaining the “Seven Levels of Photographers,” a pretty clever satire that’s roughly a cross between the Buddhist cycles of reincarnation and Dante’s Inferno’s seven circles of hell. Rockwell encourages photographers to focus on creating pictures instead of focusing primarily on what type of equipment they have.

After reading the article, I had a bit of fun reminiscing of my progress through the “seven levels.”

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/7.htm

My past mentor, National Geographic photographer Don Doll S.J., used to tell me exactly the same thing in as many words.

Showing up with the 70-200mm 2.8 IS USM  or a 50mm 1.0L or a Leica won’t make you a better photographer if you don’t know what to do with them and if you aren’t creative.

Granted I, like many people, didn’t start out as a splendid photographer (continue reading…)

The title is named aptly for my original post on photo.net dated April 9th, 2004.

http://photo.net/film-and-processing-forum/007wWb

I’m proud to say after all these years it is the first search result when someone types in “Konica Impressa”

That type of thing means a lot to me. The fact that my sample pictures and insight have probably helped thousands of people all over the world in the past five years since that post was originally made.

I really hate to admit, but in the past 7 years since i first began in photography I still don’t have a concise portfolio anywhere…

I have hundreds of pictures in unique albums, hundreds of memories of friends, and pets, and sports…

And yet if someone asks me, “Can I see your portfolio?” I’m at a loss… Not because (continue reading…)

After getting it out of the box the first thing that came to mind was: perfection.

All the welds look amazing, there is not one flaw in the craftsmanship of this item.

Overall it weighs about 7 lbs by my guess.

Here are a few pics to tantalize. I will install this when the weather gets better here. Granted the real test won’t be till I get a 95+ degree track day in as of right now I would feel comfortable paying much more than this radiator sells for. Truly is a work of art, from the welds, to the material, to the size and build.

Just sitting there it screams performance!

In comparison to the stock radiator:

• Thicker
• Less fin density (fins spaced apart farther)
• All-aluminum construction
• Better performing

This is a griffin source design. Griffin makes very high performance radiators for circle track and NASCAR applications. http://www.griffinrad.com/

Click on Pic to view other pictures.

FEED 4.77 final drive review:

Getting the parts required for this has taken me around 3-4 months.

I bought the FEED gear used from Murix, great guy. He said it took him 3 months to get from Japan new.

$600

Can be bought new from http://www.mazdaparts.com for $677 plus probably $50 in shipping

http://www.mazdaparts.com/ProductDet…000-1156400947

or http://www.japanparts.com for $726

Then I had to get the Mazda bearing Kit, which are the two bearings for the main pinion, the two bearings for the axles, the three oil seals, and the crush washer.

Diff bearings- 011827350A (2ea) MSRP-56.80ea Website-45.44ea
Axle seals- P04327238A (2ea) MSRP-8.25ea Website-6.60ea
Pinion seal- RA0327165A MSRP-21.50 Website-17.20
Pinion Crush spacer- R00427171A MSRP-10.00 Website-8.00
Pinion bearing #1- 060427220 MSRP-35.45 Website-28.36
Pinion bearing #2- R00127210 MSRP-61.20 Website-48.96

$202 (continue reading…)

Kind of pricey, but it promises to alleviate a bunch of overheating issues. Overall I am confident that this piece will live up to its price tag. Quality is excellent, shipping was great, and the phone service was prompt and friendly.

Install took about 1.5 hours, I went ahead and changed the coolant while I was at it. All the bolts on the water pump were 12mm, with 10mm bolts for the water pump pulley. Spillage wasn’t too bad when I had already drained the fluid out, soaked a rag that I placed underneath the opening, but no massive floods.

I would rate this install at slightly harder than the agency power pulley install, since you are dealing with spilling liquids.

Everything went smoothly, except, when you are replacing the new water pump, dont put the pulley on before the pump is in the car, if the pulley is in place you wont be able to slide a bolt into place.

Order by calling Mazmart directly:
1-800-221-5156

Magnecor Competiton KV85 wires & RX7 Spark Plugs for RX8
RX7 Plugs: They are NGK BUR-7EQ leading and BUR-9EQ trailing. They are the standard RX7 plug with a copper center element.

For the longer lasting platinum tipped plugs Just add a “P” to the end of each of the part numbers for the plugs, “BUR-7EQP”

You will need a washer to install the plugs in an RX8 due to the fact that previous plug housing reach in the RX7s and before has been 21mm. The RX8′s housing changed this to 19mm on the trailing side. The RX7 plugs are too long and the will press against the inside of the housing when tightened. Over several heating cycles this pressure will cause the housing to deform and give you low compression. You should start with a 3mm large washer, you should be able to find them at any autoparts store, or may be able to find them at places like Home Depot, Lowe’s, etc.