If you think that your rangefinder lenses are small, you ain't seen nothing yet! In Japan, a dedicated lens maker Mr. Miyazaki set-up his own company called MS-Optical to create astoundingly small lenses for rangefinders. He gained fame a few years back with his first product - the Perar 35mm lens, which really looks more like a body mount cap than a lens!

Now he has pushed the boundaries further with a new lens - the Perar 28mm f/4 lens, which is even smaller than his debut product! What's really amazing is that all his lenses are handmade by him in limited numbers, which explains their rarity and scarcity. They are popular for delivering good performance in an ultra-compact package.

You can order the lens from here.

Pentax has launched a new mirrorless interchangeable lens camera - the Pentax K-01 (pronounced "kay-zero-one"). It utilizes contrast detection because of the absence of a mirror, which will probably be detrimental for its focusing speed. However, unlike most EVIL (electronic viewfinder interchangeable lens) cameras, the 16MP K-01 is nearly as thick as the flagship Pentax K5. Which begs the question - why design an EVIL camera when you cannot capitalize on its key advantage, i.e a compact size? With an APS-C sensor, the Sony NEX cameras are much more compact, even though the Pentax can accept the range of Pentax K-mount lenses. The K-01 is the work of famed designer Marc Newson (whom I'm a fan of), but the design of this Pentax just leaves me in the cold with its odd blend of design cues.

Sorry Pentax - I love your K5 and K7, and I think your Q is something special and unique. But the K-01 looks like the work of some bad boardroom decisions.

Wishing all Chinese readers a Happy Lunar New Year!

Smoke Dragon - Shot with EOS 5D Mk II…

Today marks the beginning of the Lunar Year of the Dragon, so it’s probably apt to wish all the Chinese around the world a Happy Lunar New Year with this abstract image of a dragon!

Photoshop and the perception of beauty

A tongue-in-cheek look at how Photoshop is reshaping the beauty industry and photography... who needs cosmetics when you've got Fotoshop!



Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Watch photography

What do you need to capture great watch photographs? Surprisingly little in terms of equipment! I used a DSLR with a macro lens (you can use a tilt-shift lens if you have one), and only two lights for this photograph. In fact, the watch was mostly lit with only one light for most of the time, and I only had to add in one more additional light for the movement (the mechanical bits of gears and levers in the watch) to make it pop.

A great watch photo should show the surfaces for what they are... chrome should be matt or glossy wet, leather should look deep and glossy, brushed surface should look crisp and sharp. Surfaces should have gradient lighting instead of looking flat, and overall the image must have dimensionality and depth to the watch. I spent more than a day lighting and shooting the watch, making more than two hundred exposures before spending many more hours in front of my computer to make everything come together and work as a final image. As Steve Jobs would say, if you have to do it, make sure it's insanely good!

10 Traits of Steve Jobs That Can Make You a Better Street Photographer

How can Steve Jobs help you become a better street photographer? In more ways than you can imagine! Click here to discover!

Reuters Best Photos of 2011

The boys at Reuters risk life and death covering groundbreaking news around the world. These are their best works for the year of 2011, and the images show just why Reuters photojournalists deserve their stellar reputation. Click on the following link to view...

Reuters Best Photos of 2011

New Year Resolution

Well we've come to the end of the year again, and every new year brings forth new hopes and aspirations. If you feel that you've not done much this year, do not despair... just make sure that you plan well for the following year!

Many times, we may feel bored with photography and start to entertain the idea of buying more equipment to satisfy our insatiable craving for the terrible gear acquisition syndrome (GAS). Instead, why not direct your energy and budget towards books and education? Reading the right books can help advance your techniques and abilities much further than getting another (often unnecessary) piece of equipment.

And of course, the new year brings with it the opportunity to set new goals for yourself. I feel it's a great idea to set a monthly target for the new year, so every month you can look forward to learning or trying out new things in photography. For me, the goal could look like this...

January - Learn Adobe Lightroom
February - Try outdoor fill flash in daylight
March - Shoot portraits of people around me
April - Try time lapse photography
May - Learn how to isolate hair from background in Photoshop
June - Check out color management
July - Do up a photo essay on a favourite topic
August - Explore light painting techniques
September - Shoot with medium format film
October - Shoot studio still life
November - Experiment with photo compositing
December -  Consolidate works for the year into iPad portfolio

The goals could be simple, or perhaps stretch across a few months if its complex, but you set your own pace and interests. Print out a copy and stick it on your wall! And while you may not hit all the targets, it provides a structure and starting place to get you motivated to try something new every month. At the end of the year, you can look back and have a nice little portfolio to chart your improvement through the year.

Get started on your new year photographic resolution today, and feel free to share yours here!