I don't use 35mm cameras of any kind,
for anything.
This is not a game. It's my
business. I can't afford to use anything except the best and
the most reliable equipment... no
matter what it costs.
The best cameras make the best pictures.
Always have... Always will.
This is my art. This is what I was
born to do.
These cameras are my tools.
They enable me to produce the sharpest, most vibrantly colored, high
definition pictures possible.
Noblex Pro Panoramic
I use the fantastic, medium format,
Noblex, Panoramic, camera.
www.kamera-werk-dresden.de
It is unlike any other camera that you've
ever seen. It produces true panoramic pictures that are gorgeous,
with no vertical distortion. People's heads are normally shaped
instead of being egg-shaped, as they are in every single "Fisheye" lens
shot. The whole front lens turret rotates during the
exposure, recording a 150- degree picture, similar to what you can see,
left to right, with your own peripheral vision. This produces a
huge, medium format negative that is more than twice as long as usual.
This is not a "fisheye lens", so common
with 35mm cameras. The "fisheye" lens creates a round image where
everything is distorted and curved. My Noblex Panoramic camera is
not digital. It uses Fuji, NPH, ASA 400,
medium format film. In one picture, I can
shoot exactly what your eyes can see, left to right, as you stare
straight ahead.
I don't need to stitch several different pictures together in some
time-consuming process. 1 shot. I simply scan the processed negatives to the size TIFF files needed for
prints. The bigger the print, the bigger the file.
I don't charge extra for the use of this
camera. If the venue is pretty enough, it will be very impressive.
Each one of my web pages has a sample panoramic shot at the bottom of
the page.
Hasselblad
H1
Lens, camera body and film or digital
"Backs"
This is the legendary, medium format,
Hasselblad H1 camera.
www.hasselbladusa.com
On October 3, 1962, a basic Hasselblad 500c
was used in outer space, during the Apollo missions, by Wally Schirra.
He bought it at a camera shop in Houston to take with him on his "trip".
That Hasselblad was used
to record some of the most important pictures ever taken.
In 1969, Neil Armstrong used 12
beautiful, motorized, Hasselblad 500EL cameras to shoot the lunar
surface, as they walked on the moon! All of those cameras were left there, for some reason. "Hey, Neil.
Leave those rocks behind. Grab the Hassy's and let's go
home." Only the film "Backs" were brought back to
Mother Earth.
They used a flat glass plate, marked with
the famous "crosses" seen in all of the lunar shots, to keep the
very flexible film
surface flat during exposure in the zero gravity, hot and cold, extreme
environment. The film could have warped or bowed during the trip,
creating out of focus pictures.
The containers that hold the film are
attached to the back of the Hasselblad body. They are called
"Backs". Each "Back" holds enough film for 30 different
pictures. After 30 pictures have been taken, the film Back has to
be taken off and replaced or the film, itself, can be removed and
replaced. Under some circumstances, it is much faster to replace
film Backs than it is to replace individual rolls of film. Those
Backs are then unloaded and reloaded with film, when there is more time.
4 years later, I bought my own
Hasselblad 500c cameras. The rest is history. The
superior quality of the Carl Zeiss lenses and metal bodies, the
individual lens shutters that sync the exposure with the flash at any
shutter speed, the perfect size and the Hasselblad reputation for
working in extreme conditions, all come together in the final,
Hasselblad
images.
Nothing beats a Hasselblad image.
NASA could have used any camera in the
world. Since 1962, they have only used Hasselblads.
Today, I use the amazing Hasselblad H1
cameras. These are the same cameras used on TV, in all of the
Americas Top Model type of reality shows. They, too, could use any
camera in the world. They, too, choose Hasselblad.
Many of my ad agencies specify
Hasselblad as their required camera. If you don't use Hasselblad,
you don't get the gig.
My Hasselblads allow me the option of shooting digitally or
with film. However, I have not used film for more than 3 years.
Instead, I use the industry leader in Digital Recorders.
I use the P25, 22 million pixel Back and the P45, 39 million pixel
Back, from Phase One. These are the most expensive digital
recorders in the world. They are the industry standard and they,
too, are specified by many of my clients.
www.phaseone.com
22 million, Phase One, full-frame, 9-micron, CCD pixels combine to give me high-definition, 25mb
(P25) or 45mb (P45) RAW
files that are totally lossless, with a 12-stop range in exposure
controls at 16 bit depth.
I can count the muscles in your eyes with
this bad boy. I can make huge, sharp, 20x24 prints right out of
the camera. A print that size, from a 35mm camera, would look soft
and oddly colored because the 35mm camera can't record the same amount
of digital data with fewer pixels.
The final quality of the pictures produced
with this 22 million pixel Phase One, P25 "Back" exceeds the quality of the best medium
format film.
Pictures shot with the P25 and P45
digital Backs look better than pictures taken with any medium format
film.
Hasselblad does have it's own digital version of
this H1 camera. Their digital Back is attached to the camera body
and it can't be removed to be cleaned or replaced. I like the quality of the
removable Phase One, P25 and P45 Digital
recorders more than the quality of the fixed Hasselblad digital recorders. Also, word has it
that the Phase One, Capture One Pro conversion software is a lot easier
to use than the Hasselblad software.
Unfortunately, Hasselblad has
more or less locked us out of their next generation of Hasselblad cameras.
Hasselblad will no longer allow these removable digital Backs to be
attached to their camera bodies.
Phase One has just released their newest
digital Back, the P65+. It now uses
60 million, Sensor+ CCD pixels to record
the pictures. I'll be able to count flowers from a half mile away.
This new full-frame system will record
an incredible, 180mb, 8 bit, RAW file. In the camera! At 1
frame per second!
But, it can't be mounted onto the Hasselblad
camera body. So, Phase
One has gone to Mamiya for their 645 camera platform.
I am really not pleased but there is no choice. Mamiya will
have Zeiss glass in their lenses, so it will be very sharp.
However, I will now have to invest in a new Mamiya
645 camera system when I buy my new Phase One, P65+, 60 million pixel Backs.
I will need two of everything, for backups. Unfortunately, they run about
$80,000.00 for a camera/back set.
Like I said before. This
profession is very expensive if you want to walk in the tall grass, with
the big dogs.
I shoot all of my images as either 25mb or 45mb
RAW files. All of my Special Events, some commercial work and
some aerials
are shot with the 22 million pixel system. All of my ads, architecturals,
industrials, medicals and some aerials are shot with the 39 million pixels system.
The 39 million pixel files are larger.
They take longer to post-process and to convert from RAW to JPEG and
TIFF files. They also take longer in Photoshop to open and to
process. That costs more money than the typical event customer
wants to spend in "post". The commercial clients can see the value
of the added resolutions, so they get the very best images.
I use SanDisc Extreme IV 2GB, 4GB and 8GB Compact Flash
cards. These are the fastest and the most reliable cards made.
I have never had a card "error out" on me.
My RAW files are personally converted to JPEG and TIFF
files, using Phase One, Capture One Pro, in the image sizes and
resolutions needed to meet the needs of my clients' jobs.
I personally Photoshop every single image before my clients receive
their first image files.
This is my art, my gift and my
pleasure.
