<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[CameraMentor]]></title><description><![CDATA[Articles]]></description><link>http://www.cameramentor.com/</link><copyright><![CDATA[Copyright CameraMentor]]></copyright><generator>sNews CMS</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Old Magazines + Perl + GraphicsMagick + ExifTool + FlickrUpload = Coolness]]></title><description><![CDATA[  I have a collection of old "Kodakery" magazines from the 1920's that I want to use on a website I'm building.  I have a flatbed scanner, the Perl programming language, and an Internet connection.  Using these, I can scan the pages, trim them, adjust levels, set Exif metadata in the resulting images, and then upload them to Flickr, all in one step.  I am including my Perl code for anyone who wants to do this as well.  

  Needed:  

  Perl (Linux, Mac, or Windows.  My example is for Linux)
Perl Modules (GraphicsMagick, ExifTool, and FlickrUpload)  

  The tools are all free, as is Perl.  No reason any of this should cost anything.
  
    Crop(geometry=> '1580x2200+1581');    

  I have a number of replacement variables that I then set in my code, which tells the Perl script where the scans are located and what they are called.  It also contains the information that you want to use for titling the resulting new images, inserting appropriate metadata, and so on.  You will want to replace all of that with your own information for whatever you're scanning.  
  
  # To be modified as needed...
my $scandir = "/home/bmattock/Photos/Kodakery/1925";
my $scandate = "Scan-081109-";
my $title = "Kodakery";
my $description = "'A Magazine for Amateur Photographers'";
my $cover_date = "December, 1925";
my $expanded_description = "Kodakery was a monthly magazine published by   Eastman Kodak   from September, 1913 through 1932.";
my $year = "1925";
my $month = "12";
my $day = "01";
my $hour = "00";
my $min = "00";
my $sec = "00";
my $Make = "Epson";
my $Model = "Perfection 4490";
my $PageName = "Reflective";
my $Copyright = "Eastman Kodak Company";
# End of to be modified as needed...    

  I also make use of the Flickr Upload Perl module to insert the Flickr Tags, which are particularly hard to with the metadata.  Supposedly, there is a way to set the images' metadata so that Flickr picks up the 'Keywords' attribute and sets the Flickr Tags appropriately, but I've had nothing but trouble with it.  This walks around that problem.  

  
  
# One more to be modified as needed...
my $tags = "Eastman Kodak, Eastman, Kodak, Kodakery, magazine, historic, photography, amateur, Rochester, New York, $year, $monthname, $Make, $Model";    

  You will also need to apply for your own Flickr API information.    

  
  my $auth_token		= "big long number and letter string";
my $key			= "big long number and letter string"; 
my $secret			= "shorter number and letter string";    

  It's free, you can get it here:   ]]></description><pubDate>Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:28:20 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.cameramentor.com/home/old-magazines-perl-graphicsmagick-exiftool-flickrupload-coolness/</link><guid>http://www.cameramentor.com/home/old-magazines-perl-graphicsmagick-exiftool-flickrupload-coolness/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Kodak is Back, Baby]]></title><description><![CDATA[                ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:24:26 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.cameramentor.com/home/kodak-is-back-baby/</link><guid>http://www.cameramentor.com/home/kodak-is-back-baby/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Exif and You]]></title><description><![CDATA[  Let's talk about Exif.  Exif (not EXIF nor exif) is the name for the data about a photograph that is stored in a digital photograph file.  This is called 'metadata' because it is data about data.  You normally don't see the metadata, you look at the photograph, but some programs see it, or at least a subset of it.  For example, your operating system, like Windows or Mac or Linux, might have access to some of the metadata when you look at a photograph's properties.  Things like when the photograph was taken, when it was last edited, what the file name is, and so on.  Some photo editing or viewing software has even more capability in this regard.  
  
There is a huge amount of data that can be stored on a digital photograph as metadata, and not all of it is stored the same way by different camera manufacturers - although there are some basic standards.
  
  Some of the information may be useful to know - like shutter speed, aperture, ISO value, time and date, and other information.  Some may be less useful to you, like proprietary data relating to white balance settings, program values, and so on.  But it is there for you if you want it.  
  
One of the best tools to view (and optionally change) Exif data is called 'ExifTool' by Phil Harvey.  He has very kindly made this program available to the public at no charge and you can find it here:  

    ExifTool by Phil Harvey    

  It is available for Windows, Mac, and UNIX/Linux.  You can run it from the command line, or you can script it inside of a programming language like Perl.  
  
ExifTool reads your designated file(s) and returns the metadata about that file.  Let's take an example:  
  
Here is the photo:  
  
        
  
It is stored on Flickr, which does read some of the Exif metadata and make it available, like so:  
  
    
Camera:  	Pentax *ist DS
Exposure: 	0.011 sec (1/90)
Aperture: 	f/5.6
Focal Length: 	105 mm
ISO Speed: 	200
Exposure Bias: 	0/10 EV
Flash: 	Flash did not fire

Orientation: 	Horizontal (normal)
X-Resolution: 	72 dpi
Y-Resolution: 	72 dpi
Software: 	GIMP 2.4.5
Date and Time: 	2008:10:11 22:57:39
Exposure Program: 	Aperture priority
Date and Time (Original): 	2008:10:11 14:25:15
Date and Time (Digitized): 	2008:10:11 14:25:15
Metering Mode: 	Center Weighted Average
User Comment: 	Color Cruise and Island Festival, Grand Ledge, Michigan. October 11, 2008
Sensing Method: 	One-chip colour area sensor
CFA Pattern: 	RED GREEN GREEN BLUE
Focal Length In 35mm Film: 	157
Sharpness: 	Hard
Subject Distance Range: 	Distant
Latitude: 	N 42° 45.623' 0"
Longitude: 	W 84° 45.534' 0"
Altitude: 	251.8
Geodetic Survey Datum Used: 	WGS-84
Compression: 	JPEG
Caption/Abstract: 	Color Cruise and Island Festival, Grand Ledge, Michigan. October 11, 2008
      

  But that's not ALL the metadata!  ExifTool can tell us even more about the metadata that was stored on this photograph:  

      
ExifTool Version Number         : 7.00
File Name                       : imgp0655b.jpg
Directory                       : ./2008/10/11
File Size                       : 1113 kB
File Modification Date/Time     : 2008:10:11 23:23:57
File Type                       : JPEG
MIME Type                       : image/jpeg
JFIF Version                    : 1.1
Comment                         : Color Cruise and Island Festival, Grand Ledge, Michigan.  October 11, 2008
Exif Byte Order                 : Little-endian (Intel)
Make                            : PENTAX Corporation
Camera Model Name               : PENTAX *ist DS
Orientation                     : Horizontal (normal)
X Resolution                    : 72
Y Resolution                    : 72
Resolution Unit                 : inches
Software                        : GIMP 2.4.5
Modify Date                     : 2008:10:11 22:57:39
Exposure Time                   : 1/90
F Number                        : 5.6
Exposure Program                : Aperture-priority AE
ISO                             : 200
Date/Time Original              : 2008:10:11 14:25:15
Create Date                     : 2008:10:11 14:25:15
Exposure Compensation           : 0
Metering Mode                   : Center-weighted average
Flash                           : Off
Focal Length                    : 105.0mm
Warning                         : Unrecognized MakerNotes
User Comment                    : Color Cruise and Island Festival, Grand Ledge, Michigan.  October 11, 2008
Sensing Method                  : One-chip color area
File Source                     : Digital Camera
Scene Type                      : Directly photographed
CFA Pattern                     : [Red,Green][Green,Blue]
Custom Rendered                 : Normal
Exposure Mode                   : Auto
White Balance                   : Auto
Focal Length In 35mm Format     : 157mm
Scene Capture Type              : Standard
Contrast                        : Normal
Saturation                      : Normal
Sharpness                       : Hard
Subject Distance Range          : Distant
GPS Version ID                  : 2.0.0.0
GPS Latitude Ref                : North
GPS Longitude Ref               : West
GPS Altitude Ref                : Above Sea Level
GPS Altitude                    : 251.8 m
GPS Map Datum                   : WGS-84
Compression                     : JPEG (old-style)
Thumbnail Offset                : 1058
Thumbnail Length                : 9146
Caption-Abstract                : Color Cruise and Island Festival, Grand Ledge, Michigan.  October 11, 2008
Image Width                     : 3040
Image Height                    : 2022
Encoding Process                : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample                 : 8
Color Components                : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling            : YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)
Aperture                        : 5.6
GPS Latitude                    : 42 deg 45' 37.41" N
GPS Longitude                   : 84 deg 45' 32.03" W
GPS Position                    : 42 deg 45' 37.41" N, 84 deg 45' 32.03" W
Image Size                      : 3040x2022
Scale Factor To 35mm Equivalent : 1.5
Shutter Speed                   : 1/90
Thumbnail Image                 : (Binary data 9146 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Circle Of Confusion             : 0.020 mm
Focal Length                    : 105.0mm (35mm equivalent: 157.0mm)
Hyperfocal Distance             : 97.97 m
Light Value                     : 10.5
      

  Is it all useful information?  Well, no, probably not.  I mean, who cares that   "Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling"   is set to   "YCbCr4:2:0 (2 2)?"    I know I sure don't.  
  
But I do like the fact that I can tell what the shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal length of my lens, and other values were.  Combined with the GPS data (I carry a GPS logger and merge that data with my photo's own metadata later), I have access to a wide range of information that can make me a better photographer, and help me to find images later on (by inserting keywords and such - more on that later).  
  
You can even add Exif data to a photograph that never had any to begin with; for example, a scanned photograph or film negative or slide.  This can be done manually, but if you're keen to do this sort of thing, it is probably better to do it with a script or program to automate the drudge work.  

  
Here are some useful links to resources to learn more about Exif:  

  Wikipedia Exif Article    
  EXIF.org - The Exif Standards Body    
  ExifTool, by Phil Harvey    ]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:15:05 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.cameramentor.com/digital-camera-geek-stuff/exif-and-you/</link><guid>http://www.cameramentor.com/digital-camera-geek-stuff/exif-and-you/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Petters Group CEO Arrested]]></title><description><![CDATA[    Petters Group CEO Arrested in Fraud Investigation  
  
  
  Associated Press
Petters Group CEO arrested in fraud investigation
By AMY FORLITI 10.03.08, 1:08 PM ET
MINNEAPOLIS -
  
  Petters Group Worldwide founder Tom Petters was arrested Friday on federal counts of fraud, money laundering and other charges.
  
  The U.S. Attorney's Office said Petters was charged Thursday in federal court in Minneapolis with mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
  
  Federal agents searched Petters Worldwide headquarters last week. A search warrant unsealed later included an FBI affidavit alleging the 51-year-old Petters was involved in schemes to defraud investors of as much as $100 million.
    

  And why is this important?  Petters Group owns Polaroid.  I think the chances of Polaroid making a comeback are somewhat lower now.  I'm just saying.  

  Update: Chapter 11 Looms:  
  
  Petters case triggers two more Chapter 11s    

    Petter's Arrest Won't Change Polaroid's Plans    ]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:53:17 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.cameramentor.com/news/petters-group-ceo-arrested/</link><guid>http://www.cameramentor.com/news/petters-group-ceo-arrested/</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fujifilm Releases Medium Format Folding Camera]]></title><description><![CDATA[How cool is this?

  
  
  

Fujifilm releases folding camera details

  Link to Amateur Photographer Webpage  

  
Tuesday 30th September 2008
Fuji rollfilm

Fujifilm has released further details of its medium format folding camera, which will be sold outside Japan as the 'Voigtländer Bessa III'.

We now know that the camera will be equipped with a mechanism for 'switching between two film formats, 6x7cm and 6x6cm'.

The camera will come with an 80mm f/3.5 lens (made from six elements in four groups) and will be powered by a CR2 (3V) lithium battery.

The camera – known in Japan as the GF670 – was developed in conjunction with Cosina, which will handle sales outside Japan.

'The GF670 is a highly portable, folding bellows camera that allows extremely high-quality images to be taken using a high-performance lens unit,' stated a sign on display at the Photokina show in Cologne, Germany.

Further announcements on the release of the camera will be made soon, according to Fujifilm.

The company first announced plans to develop such a camera at the Photo Marketing show in the United States earlier this year.
  ]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2008 11:46:55 +0000</pubDate><link>http://www.cameramentor.com/news/fujifilm-releases-medium-format-folding-camera/</link><guid>http://www.cameramentor.com/news/fujifilm-releases-medium-format-folding-camera/</guid></item></channel></rss>