Monday, April 28, 2008

Pentax Lenses: None Better

photographyFifth in a series that gently explains digital photography and makes helpful recommendations.

Buying a camera not only commits you to a body, but to an entire system of lenses and accessories. Pentax is often criticized as not having the same scope in their lens catalogue as Canon and Nikon. But in this article I'm going to show that the Pentax range is in fact distinctly superior to the competition. I should clarify here the type of photographer I'm addressing: not the sports fanatic with £10,000 to spend, not the fashion photographer whose camera never leaves a tripod, but rather the rest of us: street photographers, low light lovers, those who like intimate portraits, family photos, macro work and landscape photography, even birders and wildlife fans. For semi-pro shooters Pentax offers some singular pieces of glass in a system that provides significant advantages over the competition.

Read on for the details. To see some amazing photos, browse the Pentax Photo Gallery.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Oldest Recorded Sound + Antarctic Ocean In Real Time

Here are two audio goodies for you. The first is the oldest known recorded sound, found by audio historian David Giovannoni. It was made using a phonautograph, invented in Paris by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville. This device worked by scraping patterns onto paper covered in oil lamp soot. Giovannoni discovered the resulting etchings in the French patent office, had them scanned, and then reconstituted the documents at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.