Flight From Callahan County

ON1 Photo RAW 2022 I had been looking forward to the December 20th update to ON1 Photo RAW 2022. Improvements and fixes were promised, including tweaking of the sky replacement tool. ON1 Photo RAW has been my primary start-to-finish raw file converter and editor for over a year now. However, several weeks ago Photo RAW began to crash on my 2017 iMac. ON1 support provided me with instructions for the time-consuming uninstall-and-reinstall process to get it working again. However, they could not replicate my crashes with the sample files and logs I sent them. Support indicated because ON1 is a small company, they could not spend more time trying to solve my problem. What I discovered was the digital asset manager I had been using -- Photo Supreme -- altered the Firmware cell in the EXIF data to read "Photo Supreme..." in JPG and TIF images. When ON1 encounters one of these JPG images, it shuts down. Using the Batch processor in ACDSee Photo Studio for Mac 8, I have been able to...

 Just figure me as an oddball. I don't subscribe to the Olympus micro four thirds trinity of prime lenses: 17mm f1.2 PRO, 25mm f1.2 PRO and 45mm f1.2 PRO, even though I desire the beautiful depth of field achieved with primes. These fast, weather-sealed, expensive lenses produce images with feathery bokeh and cover the slightly-wide, normal and portrait ranges. But the high prices and angles of view are not quite right for my needs. Plus packing all three of these glass-heavy lenses is less than ideal for traveling. Despite the steep price, I purchased the Olympus M.Zuiko 25mm f/1.2 PRO -- the normal view -- soon after it was released, replacing my slower M.Zuiko 25mm f1.8.  The f1.2 PRO works well on my Olympus E-M1 III camera and my Olympus PEN-F if a third-party grip is attached for better balance. The field of view of the Oly 25mm Pro is 47-degrees, arguably close to that of a human eye. By the time of this purchase, I had established the f-stop of 1.4 as the fastest neede...

 I'm amused by the online discussion about OM Digital Solutions twin announcements this month -- a new brand name for its cameras and lenses and its first lens with that name. Numerous Olympus users are blowing second-guess smoke (nothing new there) over the merits of these two decisions by the new company formed by the venture capital company that acquired Olympus. So, allow me to stoke the fire a bit, too. The lens cap with the replacement branding for Olympus -- OM System First, OM Digital Solutions scheduled an hour-long live-stream program to reveal the name chosen to replace Olympus for its brand of cameras and lenses and to unveil its first lens. Selection of OM System as the new brand name was brilliant. The name links with the work of designer Yohihisa Maitani, who created the Olympus OM System, an innovative and extremely-successful line of smaller and lighter full-frame 35mm film cameras and accessories to compete with Nikon and Canon.  The program itself was a fail...

A few days ago I acquired the new OM Digital Solutions M.Zuiko Digital ED 8-25mm f4.0 PRO lens, replacing three lenses in my micro four thirds kit. (I had to shop around before I finally found a source with the 8-25mm in stock.) This is the first lens marketed by OM Digital Solutions, the name chosen by JIP which purchased Olympus Imaging in January of this year. Priced at just under $1,100 USD, the lens retains the traditional Olympus branding. I have yet to take the 8-25mm on a trip, but I have been well pleased with images captured in my local area. Since its release in late 2016, my travel lens of choice has been the Olympus M.Zuiko 12-100mm f4.0 IS PRO, currently selling for just below $1,300 USD. It has been on my camera on every long-distance adventure, shooting both indoor and outdoor scenes. Unfortunately, architectural and other ultra-wide situations required a lens change, a poor option when traveling with other people or in a tour group. The M.Zuiko 8-25mm f4.0 PRO (left) a...

I buy lens caps by the two- or three-pack because I lose so many. They fall off the lens while stored in the camera bag. They fall off while stored on the shelf. They fall off – and then down through the drain grate – while walking down the street. They fall off – and then roll into a bottomless canyon – while hiking through the mountains. They fall off – and then into the ocean – while on a whale-watching tour. Lens caps should be sold by the bag like cookies. Not only do I lose lens caps, I break them. If a lens cap falls onto rock, concrete or asphalt, the plastic shatters or cracks. If the plastic survives the plummet, the locking mechanism is damaged. Part of my problem may be related to my choice of camera system. I switched to Olympus micro four thirds cameras soon after they were introduced by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008 because of the smaller size and weight. The kit-lens zooms and the early primes came with clip-on lens caps. When I attached thir...