New Feature for D200s

Hey Kevin, that sounds like a deal @ $39.95, but I bet if the chart does all the apertures for all the lenses for distances from closest focus to infinity and also does the hyperfocal calculations it would need to fold up a few times to fit in your wallet and/or have pretty small print. Alternatively, it might take a few kilobytes of memory and a handful of cpu cylces (both of which are nearly free) and the salient results could be displayed in a field on one of the displays which would allow you to glance at the results rather than having to hunt and peck through rows and columns (and then fold up the paper and put it back in your wallet). We could do a lot of things on paper, but we there's a reason we try to do less and less of it - it's dead data. When we turn dead data into useful information we are going in the right direction. I know you were just adding humor (which is in precious short supply around here), so I appreciate the chuckle - I just wanted to emphasize that Nikon and we Nikon users could be benefiting from just a bit of creative thinking that might actually cost less than pure technological innovation. Yada
  • yes, there is probably a limit to all this: so we might not necessarily need a display to remind us the lens cap is on, but even that could be a user configurable option :)
I have a tiny slip of paper in my wallet: a DOF chart. I suppose
you could bring all the might of modern computer power to bear, or
you could have a tiny (2x4cm) piece of paper.

In fact, for the price of a significant piece of software, say
$39.95, I'll send you a photocopy of my DOF chart.

--
Tuktu Sijuktei
'Please tell me if the lens cap is on.'
 
Maybe the camera could from the lens info based on a given apeture set the lens for you. After all it can move the focus ring wherever it wants. Since there are no marks on lenses anymore it would be hard to set even if the camera figured it out for you and displayed it.

This would really be good for landscapes.

--
Jerry Faircloth
http://www.pbase.com/nikonsrme/gallery_images
Gallery: 'The Studio', Mount Dora, FL
 
Nikon D200 calculates DoF based on pixel size and focusing distance. This data is coded into NEF.

--
Julia
 
if the program is already written, it's just a matter of displaying the info; it would of course be handy to know the DOF focus area before setting the aperture and taking the picture, not just when reviewing the image
Nikon D200 calculates DoF based on pixel size and focusing
distance. This data is coded into NEF.

--
Julia
 
imagine we all will start checking focusing accuracy using data right out of the camera, and compare which lens focuses better. :)

--
Julia
 
Jerry, very good idea! Yada
Maybe the camera could from the lens info based on a given apeture
set the lens for you. After all it can move the focus ring
wherever it wants. Since there are no marks on lenses anymore it
would be hard to set even if the camera figured it out for you and
displayed it.

This would really be good for landscapes.

--
Jerry Faircloth
http://www.pbase.com/nikonsrme/gallery_images
Gallery: 'The Studio', Mount Dora, FL
 
wow, the applications just keep growing; this is yet another very good idea; think how many threads we've had about unit to unit lens variation; this would shift some power to the buyer; you could go into your retail store and say "yep, this one I'd pay a little more for" and "nope, I'm sure I'd like to pass on that one."

Plus, if the lens and camera checked themselves for being properly in focus they would have less erroneous submissions of equipment and presumably happier customers (unless too many units self-rejected)

I think this one thread has produced enough ideas that Nikon could just snag them all and introduce them together as an entire new generation of smart architecture cameras. Maybe we could get some attaboys or attagirls for some Nikon employee who has been urging Nikon mgmt to read this forum saying "I think we should pay attention to them even though they seem a little testy and whiney on the banding thing"; now that person could say - "check this out: they've gone constructively creative on us"

All kidding aside (well almost), it seems like a number of useful features are very close at hand including DOF calculation and hypefocal calculation; in-spec/out-of-spec or % of spec self-diagnosis would be very cool also
imagine we all will start checking focusing accuracy using data
right out of the camera, and compare which lens focuses better. :)

--
Julia
 
Yeah - the times are changing. My gripe about DOF not being marked is moot, since aperture itself isn't marked on G lenses and can't be read from the lens on cameras that don't use the aperture ring.

I remember when they first started putting data into the viewfinder, so you could see what you had without taking the camera from your eye. Looks like that wasn't an added feature - it was the beginning of a transition.

Ken Plotkin
 
wow, the applications just keep growing; this is yet another very
good idea; think how many threads we've had about unit to unit lens
variation; this would shift some power to the buyer; you could go
into your retail store and say "yep, this one I'd pay a little more
for" and "nope, I'm sure I'd like to pass on that one."

Plus, if the lens and camera checked themselves for being properly
in focus they would have less erroneous submissions of equipment
and presumably happier customers (unless too many units
self-rejected)
the right thing would be auto-calibration of focusing and self-diagnostics.

but first and foremost I want an option to display non-white-balanced histogram.

--
Julia
 
he's talking about software in the camera to do the calculation.
it could pull lens information from any of the chipped lenses and
camera information from the camera.

the generic point is: its about time the camera makers started
leveraging the computing power they are building into the bodies to
enhance the photography tasks and experience -- not just try to
reproduce what the old film bodies used to do.

histograms are great. effects like B&W, Sepia and multi-exposure
overlay are cute -- but its time for manufacturers to start
thinking ahead. ...dav
Well, Nikon, Canon, and SKaM do use focusing distance to privide "hints" to the flash exposure compensation.

But all in all, I think it's gone in exactly the opposite direction. Canon used to have a neat feature where they used info they could get from the lens to do neat things. They took focal length and aperture, and could set a lens to the hyperfocal distance, or look at the min and max focus distances from the multiple focus zones, and compute set the lens to an aperture and focus point to include everything in the DOF. But they've dropped DOF mode from current cameras.

--
Detroit Reds Wings - Original Six Hockey with Motown Style!
Thirty-nine, thirteen, and five. Watch your back, Dallas!

Detroit Pistons - Number 1 in the NBA!
Forty-two and nine, we're gonna stomp some Texan!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
the right thing would be auto-calibration of focusing and
self-diagnostics.
Agreed.
but first and foremost I want an option to display
non-white-balanced histogram.
We've "sort of" got that, now, with Nikon playing with the red, green, and blue gains on the amplifiers to do WB, the histogram displayed by the cameras should be what the converters are seeing. Or so goes the theory, I haven't checked it to see if it's translated into practice.

--
Detroit Reds Wings - Original Six Hockey with Motown Style!
Thirty-nine, thirteen, and five. Watch your back, Dallas!

Detroit Pistons - Number 1 in the NBA!
Forty-two and nine, we're gonna stomp some Texan!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
but first and foremost I want an option to display
non-white-balanced histogram.
We've "sort of" got that, now, with Nikon playing with the red,
green, and blue gains on the amplifiers to do WB, the histogram
displayed by the cameras should be what the converters are seeing.
Or so goes the theory, I haven't checked it to see if it's
translated into practice.
please do. IMHO converters are seeing different distribution from what camera lcd displays

--
Julia
 
yes and no. there was a time back in the 80's when manufacturers had these cool new general purpose ASICs and they were all coming up with cool things to do with them. that period died a mostly justified death (few of the features went much beyond gimmicks).

but now 'real' computing power can be made available on this platform and its only a matter of time before a body grabs another 20% market share by including a UI, DB, and opening up the API to VARs. i can think of 2 killer apps and that's WITHOUT the manufacturer exposing internals (such as Matrix Metering parameters)...dav

--
don't wait for technology -- it won't wait for you
 
"und", as in arbeiten und lernen
I thought of that, too. Even tried to make SKiM work. ;)

But in the end, with Sony's recent rootkit episode, and their continual attempt to sell the world on proprietary standards like Memory Stick, SKaM just seemed the most appropriate...

--
Detroit Reds Wings - Original Six Hockey with Motown Style!
Thirty-nine, thirteen, and five. Watch your back, Dallas!

Detroit Pistons - Number 1 in the NBA!
Forty-two and nine, we're gonna stomp some Texan!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
"und", as in arbeiten und lernen
Over in the Olympus forum, we have the people actually making stuff for 4/3...

Sigma, Leica, Oly, Panasonic.

SLOP!

The two big camera alliances: SKuM and SLOP....

--
Detroit Reds Wings - Original Six Hockey with Motown Style!
Thirty-nine, thirteen, and five. Watch your back, Dallas!

Detroit Pistons - Number 1 in the NBA!
Forty-two and nine, we're gonna stomp some Texan!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 
smog , litter , overpopulation , pollution

does Kodak fit into the picture?

--
Julia
 
meat-ball? klopsbraten?

klop makes some nice combinations too. knocking into the heads...

--
Julia
 
smog , litter , overpopulation , pollution

does Kodak fit into the picture?
Well, maybe the pollution part. They're a big chemical company...

But they wouldn't be part of the 4/3 SLOP, because they're just a component supplier to Oly. They were just "handy" when Oly needed someone to make a "joint" announcement with, when Oly started the 4/3 system. Customers do that kind of thing to suppliers contstantly (I know, I used to work for Ford). "Hey, since we're buying $20 million in sensors from you this year, you wouldn't mind making a little press announcement with us about the 4/3 system, would you?"

Sanyo is another supplier (E-1 mechanical systems, and probably E-300 and E-500, too) and Tamron is supposedly in there, too.

--
Detroit Reds Wings - Original Six Hockey with Motown Style!
Thirty-nine, thirteen, and five. Watch your back, Dallas!

Detroit Pistons - Number 1 in the NBA!
Forty-two and nine, we're gonna stomp some Texan!

Ciao!

Joe

http://www.swissarmyfork.com
 

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