Full Frame Digital Cameras and the Megapixel Race

So, when I first got into this money pit called photography I get myself a Canon 450d (xsi). It really does more then I need right now except for the form factor. Now that I carry it all the time I find that it is too small of a camera body to be comfortable in my hand. So, I am looking for a replacement. The problem is that I want some newer camera, with a sensor cleaner and a big bright LCD display on the back. For canon, that means a 50d or 5d mark ii. However, while the 50d is reasonably priced I think they have just gone too far with 'selling megapixels'. Take a look at this data [original data from The Digital Picture] to see what I am talking about:

Model FOVCF Pixel Size Megapixels

Canon XSi / 450D 1.6x 5.2µm 12.2

Canon 50D 1.6x 4.7µm 15.1

Canon 40D 1.6x 5.7µm 10.1

Canon 5D Mark II 1.0x 6.4µm 21.1

Canon 5D 1.0x 8.2µm 12.8

Now you can see what has been happening with the newer cameras, the per pixel size has been decreasing rapidly. The only thing this means to me is more noise and less saturated colors. I don't need that. At 12.2 MP my XSI already is already good enough to print out 12"x18" with no trouble at all. I am sure it can go much higher, 20" or even 30", but I print at Costco Photo and I can't print larger then 12"x18" and still pick them up in the store.

So, I am stuck with either getting a cropped sensor 50D, which has crossed the 5 micro meter barrier or a full frame 5D Mark II which costs $2600 street right now. I am sure the price will come down on it, but not for a while. The 5D Mark II is still flying off the shelves and they can't keep them in stock. So, I am looking at about 6 months before the normal Canon price drop (or used ones show up).

The 50d has only 90% of the pixel size of my current 450d and only 82% of the 40d is replaces. I see people already complaining about the colors captured by the 50d. So, I am kind of stuck. I feel like I should just wait for the megapixel wars to get over and the manufactures to get back to competing on the quality of the captured images. Both the original 5d, around $1499 used, and the 40d, around $900 new, have great images, great noise levels and colors. But, they both lack some of the modern features I want.

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New iMac with the ATI 4850 Graphics Card

So, the day Apple announced the new iMacs I ordered one. I customized it a bit, off of their web site by upgrading it to a 3 Ghz Core 2 duo and upgrading the graphics card to something I can use for gaming and Aperture. The problem is, as soon as I did that the ship date went from 24 hours to 4-6 weeks! Man, I hate waiting. Anyway, as best as I can figure out, the problem lies in the fact that they do not have drivers for the ATI 4850 in the kernel yet, so we have to wait for the next version of OSX to get released. That version will be 10.5.7. I have seen steady releases of 10.5.7 to developers, almost every week. So, no doubt it will be ready soon. My order status still shows April 14th, 2009 as the ship date; happy tax day it will be!
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Sunsets and Mohawks

It was a nice warm evening out on Alki beach in Seattle. I wish I had a flash then, but it turned out nice with the colors in the sky and all.

It was taken with a canon 450d(XSi) and I think my 'nifty fifty'(50mm f1.8 prime lens). The original is hanging in the Gutenberg, but I will sell you a full size copy of the above is you want.

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Earth Hour a Real Bust.

[Photo by Ellen Banner of the Seattle Times, until I can get mine up]

So, a friend and I went up to Kerry Park here in Seattle to take some before and after pictures of Seattle. Big let down. If you don't know, Earth Hours is where cities around the world turn off their lights from 8:30-9:30PM local time. Also, if you don't know, Kerry Park is the spot to take pictures of Seattle, you have the Space Needle and Mt. Rainier in background (during the day). It is where all those famous postcard pictures are taken of Seattle. Anyway, at 8:30 the Space Needle went dark, that was about it. I think the Wa-Mu tower was dark, but I think they started that way as it looked dark when we got there around 8PM. Pretty lame attempt at Earth Hour for a city that is suppose to be really green.

Besides, I froze my butt off up there standing by my tripod that hour we were there....

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Welcome

Welcome to "A to the 420K".

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