Picture | "Dandelion in a field of buttercups"

I figured if I don’t find the time to write any meaningful articles, I could at least post a new picture every now and then. Well, here is one, taken on a hiking trip in the black forest recently.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 + Tokina 135mm f/2.8 PK

Photograph Dandelion in a field of buttercups by Felix L. Esser on 500px

News Roundup (Weeks 32 and 33, 2014)

What’s been hot the past two weeks: MIT researchers recreate sound from minute vibrations caught on video, Panasonic patents a super fast 12mm f/1.2 lens for Micro Four Thirds and what is probably the very first timelapse video of Pyongyang, North Korea.

August 6, 2014

Scientists from the MIT have devised a way to use the minute vibrations of objects captured on video to recreate the sound in a scene – and apparently it works even through soundproof glass.
Read more on io9

Leica is perparing a new Summicron-S 100mm f/2 lens for its S medium format DSLR system, which we can expect to be shown off at photokina in September.
Read more at Leica Rumors

August 8, 2014

Rare pictures of the Ukrainian town of Pripyat before the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Read more at io9

August 10, 2014

Mitakon (or MX Camera or Zhongyi or however the company is called) has presented an updated ‘PRO’ version of its Speedmaster 50mm f/0.95 lens for full frame E-mount cameras.
Read more at Mirrorless Rumors

August 11, 2014

The lates financial report from Olympus claims rising mirrorless camera sales despite ever shrinking compact camera sales, plus a new M.Zuiko Pro lens roadmap.
Read more at 43rumors

New York police officers have finally received a lesson about photographers’ rights.
Read more at Imaging Resource

Panasonic patents a super fast 12mm f/1.2 lens for Micro Four Thirds, and Fujifilm patents a new hybrid phase detection AF technology.
Read more at Imaging Resource

The Raspberry Pi has had a 5 megapixel camera module for a while, now comes a DIY digital camera kit based on it, and it even sports interchangeable lenses.
Read more at Imaging Resource

Microsoft researchers have created an algorithm that condenses hour-long first person action cam footage into a coherent hyperlapse video clip.
Read more at Imaging Resource

August 12, 2014

Just what Canon EOS DSLR users have been waiting for: a vacuum cleaner ‘lens’ that sucks the dust out of your camera (and off the mirror and sensor.)
Read more at Digital Trends

This is probably the first-ever timelapse video of North Korea’s capital Pyongyang, created by the same man who brought us the mesmerizing Barcelona GO! video.
Read more at Imaging Resource

Optalysys is developing a computer that works with lasers and optical sensors to process data.
Read more at Image Sensors World

Manchester United bans tablets (as a means of photographing and taking videos) from their matches. I couldn’t agree more.
Read more at PetaPixel

August 13, 2014

Don’t like the weather outside? Just change it in post-production with this clever new algorithm developed at Brown University, R.I.
Read more at Digital Trends

August 14, 2014

ESA has created a disposable space camera whose sole purpose is to photograph its own disintegration upon re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. This brings “single serving” to new heights.
Read more at DIY Photography

August 15, 2014

Marcus DeSieno takes electron microscope scans of parasites, transfers them onto ferrotype plates and then prints them at a size of four feet. This is the stuff of nightmares. (But also quite awesome.)
Read more at Imaging Resource

And now for something completely different.

This is just for funsies: how to “clean” your Canon 5D Mk II and 24-105mm lens. A word of caution: don’t try this at home.
Read more at Canon Watch

News Roundup (Week 29, 2014)


Due to a vacation a huge workload in the past weeks, I didn’t get around to do the weekly news roundup that I promised. So this week’s roundup will also take into account news from the weeks after my previous roundup.

June 26, 2014

Researchers at the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, are exploring a chemical iris for smartphone cameras. Read more at Digital Trends

June 28, 2014

During its WWDC Keynote this year, Apple announced the death of iPhoto and Aperture, both of which will be replaced by the new Photos app for iOS and OS X. Read more at Digital Trends

June 30, 2014

Here’s an interesting patent by Canon, showing a Foveon-like five layer sensor with UV and IR sensitivity. Could it revolutionize portrait photography? Read more at Imaging Resource

July 1, 2014

Mr Miyazaki did it again: the new MS-Optical Perar 24mm f/4 for Leica M is hardly larger than a body cap. Read more at Imaging Resource

July 4, 2014

Peak Design has developed a new camera strap called ‘Slide,’ and a new hand strap called ‘Clutch.’ If you ask me, they’re ingenious. Read more at Digital Trends

July 7, 2014

In my last news roundup, I mentioned Sony’s new curved sensor. Here’s the alleged first image taken with it. Read more at Digital Trends

July 8, 2014

Sony thinks you want a smartphone with a front-facing flash, so you can take better ‘selfies.’ Read more at Digital Trends

July 9/10, 2014

Two New York drone operators get arrested for allegedly flying too close to a police chopper. As it turns out, police had no reason to detain them. What does this mean for drone use? Read more at Digital Trends

July 14, 2014

The FAA says realtors may no longer take commercial drone footage of objects they intend to sell. More bad news for drone users? Read more at Digital Trends

July 15, 2014

Photoshop Express can now edit raw files, making it easier than ever to perform simple edits on the go. Read more at Imaging Resource

July 16, 2014

An older video, but still pretty awesome: an Earthrise captured in HD by the Japanese lunar orbiter. Read more at Digital Trends

And in this video, you can learn how the photos of NASA’s lunar orbiter mission have been restored inside an abandoned McDonlad’s. Read more at Imaging Resource

July 17, 2014

Wowzers! Blackmagic significantly cuts the price of its Micro Four Thirds Pocket Cinema Camera. Read more at Digital Trends
Interested in the BMPCC? Buy it from B&H Photo and help support efix:photography!

July 18, 2014

Just what the world needed. A toaster that burns your ‘selfie’ on your breakfast toast. Read more at Digital Trends

An epic timelapse/stop motion video of Barcelona, Spain, and how it was made. Read more at Imaging Resource

News Roundup (Week 25, 2014)

Sony's new curved sensor could be a small revolution to photography.

One thing that I decided to do in order to have new content on this site frequently is a weekly roundup of news from the world of photography and technology. Since I’ll be leaving for a week-long vacation tomorrow, this week’s roundup is coming in a bit earlier.

June 16, 2014

Sony has recently presented its new curved sensor technology at a symposium in Hawaii. The technology could mean a huge leap forward in image quality for both digital cameras and smartphones.
Read more at Digital Trends.

“Jennifer in Paradise” was the first-ever color photograph to be “photoshopped.” Here’s the story behind it.
Read more at Imaging Resource.

June 17, 2014

Canon releases a new 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens for its EOS M mirrorless system, but only in some parts of the world.
Read more at The Phoblographer.

DxOMark has tested the sensor of the new Sony A7S, and the results are quite clear. As was to be expected, the A7S is the new king of low light. At lower ISO settings, though, it is being outperformed both by its brethren, the A7 and A7R, as well as the Nikon Df and D800E.
Read more at The Phoblographer.

In order to take great photos, you don’t need expensive high-end gear. The iPhone Photography Awards winners 2014 show that photography is more about a creative vision than the latest and greatest DSLR.
Read more at Digital Trends.

Not that I really care, but this is quite amusing: Kanye West bashes Annie Leibovitz for not photographic his wedding, claims he needed to work four days on one picture to make it look like one of her’s.
Read more at Digital Trends.

June 18, 2014

Adobe announces a couple of new products and updates to its Creative Cloud software suite. Also, the photographers’ deal including Lightroom and Photoshop CC gets extended indefinitely.
Read more at The Phoblographer.

The mystery man behind a series of photobooth portraits spanning three decades from the 1930s to the 1960s has finally been identified.
Read more at Imaging Resource.

Canon has patented a strange camera with a circular array of lenses, and according to the translated patent description it is capable of light field photography and more.
Read more at The Phoblographer.

Amazon finally unveils its first smartphone, the Amazon Fire Phone. Read all about it over at Digital Trends.

A portrait of my wife

Panasonic G1 + Revuenon 50/1.4 + Rokinon flash

When my wife got her new haircut recently, she wanted me to take her picture. I took one with her phone, then decided to get my camera to take a “proper” one. It just so happened that I had the 50mm lens of my Pentax adapted to my G1, so I quickly grabbed the flash. I wanted some shallow d-o-f, so I set the aperture to f2.8. I dialed down the flash intensity and bounced it from the ceiling. This was the first and only shot I took. The b&w conversion was done manually in Lightroom, so as to emphasize the texture in her hair and eyes and the color of her lips, but have the skin in her face look as gentle and even as possible.