World's Largest telephoto Lens

No kidding and it must be crazy....A telephoto lens weighing 256 kg (564 pounds) ,weighs almost more than two or three average men.

And just imagine how to transport the lens to shoot wild life in the jungle.

Zeiss announced that they have created the world’s largest telephoto lens, a 1700mm f/4 . It was developed for long-distance wildlife photography.

Never before has the world of photography seen such a lens. This supertele lens provides 21x magnification. In search of the highest imaginable image quality the client decided for 6x6 medium format and the Hasselblad 203 FE as the best camera he is aware of.

At 1700 mm focal length and a speed of f/4 this lens put requirements on optical glass, lens assembly and quality assurance methods, never before encountered in photo lens manufacture.
This 256 kg behemoth also required Carl Zeiss to develop totally new ways of operating a telephoto lens, including servo controlled aiming and focusing.

Drawing from its expertise in satellite and space optics as well as semiconductor fabrication lenses Carl Zeiss was happy to accept the challenge.

I wonder how good the image quality is? And how much this custom-made lens cost

Photo contrast between Beijing and Chengde

A family friend of mine returned from a holiday trip to China told me that Chengde is a place that attracted them most compared to Beijing and Tianchen the package tour they took recently. I agree with their views.

This bring back my memory to the holiday trip I made with my family ...

After a four to five hour drive on the expressway across the mountainous region north of Beijing, we arrived at a city called Chengde. It is a small plain surrounded by the Yanshan range.

And coming in from a noisy, dusty and congested Beijing, we would feel immediately the pleasant contrast in Chengde with its serenity, slow pace, blue skies and cooling mountain air.
It is no wonder why the emperors in Qing Dynasty liked to spend their holiday in this city Chengde.

Chengde boasts of the biggest imperial palace garden called Bishu Shanchuang at the foot of Yanshan, which is twice the size of the Yihe Yuan summer palace in Beijing. The long name in Chinese simply means "a mountain resort to escape from the summer heat"

Those pine tree that line the pathways and decorate the open space have aged to become even more majestic now.One can almost hear the strains of pipa and gucheng floating through the courts and gardens.

As tourists, me and my family took some pictures during this China tour and also covered Beijing and Chengde . All the pictures were taken with a Canon Powershot S60 compact camera.

Google unveiled the latest updates to its Picasa photo organizer, and those included a new feature called Picasa Web Albums.

This lets you post and share your photos online for free with just one click. You can show the world (or just your friends and family) what kinds of pictures you've been taking. And best of all, you can even download your friends' online photos right back to Picasa.

Picasa also now works with Google Earth, so travelers can associate photos with locations and view those shots on the globe.

Michael Herf, Picasa engineer, posted more information about the updated Picasa on the Official Google Blog:

We've also fixed a whole bunch of things in Picasa. Folders finally work as you'd expect, so people who've kept their photos meticulously organized in folders and subfolders can see them displayed the same way in Picasa. And we've added a shiny new feature to photo-editing: Save. Your Picasa edits can now be preserved when using other programs. The save feature is even undoable, so you never lose your original files.

And there's more -- you can import into any folder you like, make time-lapse sequences into movies, search by color, create a screensaver with beautiful visual effects, and even re-arrange Picasa's buttons. The latest version of Picasa with the web uploading feature will be required to use web albums, so current Picasa users would have to upgrade.

There will be two levels of Picasa storage available. Users will have 250MB open to them for free, which Google estimates will hold about 1,000 wallpaper-sized photos at 1600 pixels each. Google also plans to sell an annual subscription for $25 for an upgraded storage option. That will add 6GB to the storage, which should hold about 25,000 photos.

Leica M8 the first digital M series

Leica introduced the first digital M series M8 Digital Rangefinder camera and will be available in the shops end of November 2006. I think many of the Leica users will bring back their memories of the past of Leica M3 anolog model rangefinder camera.

It was almost fifty-two years since Leica introduced the first M series camera (the M3) they have introduced what is without doubt a milestone model, the first digital M series.

The M8 has a ten megapixel CCD (with special offset microlenses to reduce vignetting) which produces a 1.3x FOV crop, it is built around the same sold metal design which has become the M series trademark with a solid brass top and base and a magnesium alloy cast main section.

This camera has been built from the ground up as a digital rangefinder but without compromising the size, quality or usability of the M series design.

This professional-standard digital camera "Made in Germany" uses an image sensor specially developed for the requirements of the Leica M system. Almost all Leica M system lenses made since 1954 are also suitable for digital photography, thanks to their high performance level.

The combination of lenses, sensor and high-performance picture editing generates outstanding picture quality with a resolution of 10.3 million pixels.

Detail of the review done by phil Askey and Simon Joinson can be read in http://www.dpreview.com/articles/leicam8/

5 Tips to improving Digital camera photography

By: Kimberly Shannon

Whether you are using your digital camera for recreational use or are considering a venture into the world of professional photography, you will find it helpful to know some important tips to improving the overall quality of each picture that you take.

1) If you are taking a picture of a person or your favorite pet, make sure that you place the camera at the subject’s eye level. If you are photographing a child sitting down or your new puppy lying on the ground, you will need to stoop down to their level. This does not mean that the subject has to be staring into the camera directly because just being at their eye level will create an inviting image.

2) Avoid taking a photograph with a lot of activity in the background. Instead, a plain background will bring more attention to your subject and less to what is going on around it. When you look through the viewfinder, also take a moment to scan the surrounding area in an effort to make sure there are no distracting factors in the background.

3) Did you know that using your digital camera’s flash outdoors can greatly enhance the quality of your image? If you are taking photographs on a sunny day, especially, shadows are often very problematic and can be reduced or eliminated altogether with the use of the flash.

4) When taking photos with your digital camera, move as close to your subject as possible. You can use the zoom feature if you are unable to get as close as you would prefer because your goal should be to fill the entire picture with your subject. If you get too close, however, the photo may end up blurry. If you are in doubt, take several pictures just to make sure you get the perfect one.

5) Get creative with your digital camera pictures. Take both horizontal and vertical photos. Most people simply point and click and never give another thought to the option of taking vertical photos, which can greatly enhance an image of tall subjects. From office buildings to landmarks, vertical photos are often the best way to capture every single detail of your subject in one single image.

While you are taking photos, no matter your location, take special care to notice the lighting. Cloudy days often provide optimal photo opportunities, but you will need to be aware of much more than just the weather pattern. If you are using your digital camera indoors, consider the lighting and try to avoid anything that may cause a glare in the photo. Afterall, the brightest thing in your photo should be the subject.

Article Source: http://www.content.onlypunjab.com
Kimberly Shannon enjoys photography, researching her hobbies, and has many digital camera adventures. Receive her digital camera tips by sending a blank email to: digitaltipweekly@aweber.com

How to Be a Great Photographer

Take one camera (digital or analog) and film as needed. Put film into camera (if necessary). Snap shutter. Before snapping shutter, point camera at a subject that will give the viewer a meaningful aesthetic experience.

For someone who has no idea of what a camera is, learning how to carry out the first part of the prescription should take anywhere from a week to a month. However, the second part will take from a few years to forever. It’s this part that I want to discuss.

There are several approaches to developing as a photographer.

1. Do nothing
A lot of people use their camera to record family celebrations and vacations and are content with the outcome.

2. Study web pages that have tips for better photographs
These will often help to tighten up your pictures. If you want to get a few ideas in a few minutes, this is the place to look.

3. Get your photographs critiqued at an appropriate website
This is a good way to learn how others respond to your pictures. But be careful. Not all criticism is equal. Some of your evaluators may be experienced professionals and others beginners. If you are going to rely on this method, it is important that you learn enough to evaluate the evaluators (see point 4).

4. Study the work of acknowledged great artists
By taking this route you can learn what elements contribute to a fine photograph. This takes time and study. Don’t simply look at a few photos but read art criticism to find out what professional educators think and why.
One drawback here is that you won’t be able to see how your work measures up. If you plan to take this route and also join a critique website (see point 3), you will be in a position to know which criticism to ignore and which to pay attention to.

5. Join a photography club
Clubs often have lectures, workshops, and juried shows. This can be a good hands-on learning experience.

6. Take a class (online or in person)
There are all sorts of classes. If you choose one that has assignments and feedback, you can be guided through the fundamentals by an experienced photographer.

7. Get a coach
At this point I have to say a few words about the difference between a competent photographer and a person who uses photography as an art form. The competent photographer will be able to produce pleasing postcard- or calendar-quality pictures that look like postcard and calendar pictures. The artist will be able to take photographs that represent his or her vision of the world. If you are after the former and not the latter, you should choose among methods 1 through 6. A good coach should help you develop your unique way of seeing.

8. Go to an art school
This, for people who have the time and the money, is by far the best. I studied at the San Francisco Art Institute. Here’s how it worked. I went to a photography class two or three times a week. At every class meeting each student pinned 20-30 photographs to the wall and, under the supervision of an accomplished professional, we criticized our own and one another’s work.

We also took photography history classes as well as courses in other fields of art. Mine were film, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. There were frequent guest lecturers. We never learned any rules. In fact, rules were never mentioned. But through a combination of years of exposure to all types of art, classical through contemporary, and having to produce 50-60 new photographs every week, we eventually learned what art was about.

There are many ways to improve your photography. Before you make your choice you should decide on your goal. If you have little time and just want to tidy up your pictures a bit, read the tips pages. On the other extreme, if your goal is to be an artist, there is nothing close to attending art school. Most people fall between these extremes.

Edward Ginsberg is currently writing a book to help the beginning photographer find true happiness as he embarks on the road to creativity. Ed’s photos can be seen on his website, http://www.line17.com, where he also offers a free tutorial.

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

My Visit to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

By Y Cheong

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall which is located in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.

I took some of these historical photos of the former president of Taiwan which were shown in the hall. The photos bring back historical memories of this great Chinese leader.





















About Chiang Kai-shek:

The following political biography of Chiang Kai-shek is directly quoted from the Online Encarta Concise Encyclopedia. "Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975), Chinese statesman and military leader, who was a pivotal figure in the history of modern China. Chiang was born in Fenghua, Zhejiang Province.

While studying in Japan, Chiang joined Sun Yat-sen's United Revolutionary League, forerunner of the Kuomintang (KMT), which opposed the reigning Qing dynasty. When the 1911 uprising broke out in China, Chiang took part in the overthrow of the imperial government and the establishment of the Republic of China (1912).

In 1927 Chiang ended the KMT's alliance with the Communists and ordered their liquidation. After he had unified China under his own leadership, Chiang in the early and mid-1930s launched a new series of campaigns against the Communists led by Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai.

This policy forced the Communists on their Long March in 1934. Simultaneously, Chiang resisted Japanese forces, which had invaded Manchuria in 1931. Full-scale war with Japan (1937-1945), a phase of World War II, broke out.




In 1942 Chiang became the supreme commander of the Allied forces in the China theater. When the Japanese were finally expelled in 1945, civil war erupted again between the Communists and the Kuomintang.

In 1947 the Communist army conducted a general offensive, scoring a series of victories. When the commander of the Beijing-Tianjin region surrendered to the Communists in early 1949, the Kuomintang forces collapsed. After this surrender the Communists rapidly won control of the entire country, and Chiang removed to the island of Taiwan.

Under Chiang's leadership, Taiwan began to modernize its economy, and the island became highly competitive in foreign trade. He also broadened his political base by including natives of Taiwan in his government.














In the early 1970s Chiang's government suffered serious setbacks when both Japan and the United States began to improve relations with the Chinese Communist government." 1

1 Political biography of Chiang Kai-shek directly quoted from the Online Encarta Concise Encyclopedia.