"Frankencamera"

"Frankencamera"

Sunday, January 3, 2010

New Mexican Dog
2004

Digital photography is a large part of my creative process, so when I saw this story on NPR, I took notice. The "Frankencamera," as they have dubbed it, takes photos with a high dynamic range, essentially mimicking our own ability to adjust to a given light source and, therefore, see detail whether in light or shade. From what I can tell, it does this on the software end of things by combining a series of images into a composite that takes the best information from each.

What I thought I'd share, however, is that I used to own a Fuji camera that achieved the same result through hardware, interlacing the CCD with receptors of varied sensitivities, not unlike our own eyes. Unfortunately, the camera had other durability problems — both mine and my mom's had the same fatal flaw — so I eventually switched to Canon (SD1100 IS at the moment). I don't know whether or not Fuji has addressed the issue in subsequent models (they probably have since they offered free repairs), but I know I never got better color. I've posted some of those photos here, favoring ones that feature fine gradations of color. While not the original files from the camera, nothing was done to them in Photoshop besides resizing.

For more technical information on Fuji's latest model of the CCD, I found this article on their site. I haven't used this particular version, but it appears to operate under the same principles.

Temple of Dendur
2005

The Lorimer Stop
2004

Frozen Gates
2005

Central Park Tangle
2005

Mainland Homecoming
2003

⊡ 9:00:00 PM