in this issue
The Voice Behind The Lens
CONTAX TVS DIGITAL
A STREET PHOTOGRAPHER'S
REVIEW
By Michael Dubiner
The often delayed and much awaited release of the
prosumer Contax TVS Digital, five megapixel compact
camera is finally over. Originally due out in November
1992 and rumored to be released imminently ever since,
the camera is still thinly available. This as a review
of it's features and functioning as it relates to its
use as a Street Photography camera. As far as I know
this is the first Street Photographer's review of this
much anticipated camera
I will omit most of the specs and product pictures of
the camera as these can be found at
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0209/02092903contaxt
vsdigital.asp,http://www.contaxcameras.com/index2.htm l
and other sites. The images shown above are the front
and rear of the camera in it's home designed case which
allows the camera to hang from my neck (for reasons
which I will discuss below).
I will discuss the qualities I think are essential
for a portable Street camera and give you my opinion on
how the Contax TVS Digital stacks up to those
requirements. The discussion below is not in any
particular order of importance. At the end of the
article, I will also review some of the additional
features of the camera and give you my other comments
and opinions on the TVS Digital.
A "pocketable" camera has always been important to me
because I need to take it everywhere. Now that I have
made the digital plunge, I want the qualities I have
available in small film cameras such as the Contax T3
and the like in a small digital camera. I also want the
camera to be relatively unobtrusive. In other words, not
particularly noticeable; a camera that does not shout;
"I am taking your picture". I do not expect any prosumer
camera to replace my main digital camera, the
elephantine Nikon D1X. However, when I want to put a
camera in my pocket or fanny pack or will not have
enough room to store it at my destination (a restaurant
table for example) size is a very important issue to me.
The Contax TVS Digital is certainly "pocketable". It
is slightly larger than the Contax T3, the film cousin
of this camera, and the Olympus C 50, my last pocket
digital camera. However, it is significantly smaller
than the non-pocketable Canon PowerShot G2, a wonderful
camera I owned and gave to my wife because, while
smaller than an SLR, it would need pockets larger than a
giant's to contain it's girth
Find
out more....
Quick Links...
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Helyn,
Pixiport has added a newsfeed. If you would
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Our exclusive writers on Pixiport bring to us
in this issue, Michael Dubiner review on the
Contax camera, this is the first review on this
camera. Mario Pischedda review from art magazine
Ziqqurat, Carol Tipping brings us another great
how to on her Caterpillar Portal and our internet
art journalist Ken Windsor brings us more great
art from around the world.
As always our writers and artists would love to
hear from you. Feedback is important to all. So
please let them hear from you.
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The Annunciation-Carol
Tipping
 Combine
photographs, digital painting and Photoshop filter
to make an effective rendering of a Florentine old
master. - with Carol Tipping.
Adobe Photoshop. (Painter 7 for Perspective
Guide.) Alternative Software: Must support
brushes. It is not only interesting to digitally
re-create a favourite masterpiece, but also you
gain insight into the mind of the artist and the
subject. Tackling any theme can be difficult, but
enlightening, as you get to grips with the
emotional context of the image - as important, as
the actual technique.
1. Make a rough painting of all the elements in
the picture. This gives you a base on to which you
can overlay photos, painting and filters to build
up the image. (The most difficult part of
reproducing a painting like this is the
perspective. In Painter 7 a new perspective guide
is incorporated, which you can turn on and off.)
Use the Airbrush for painting.
2. Open a photograph of a suitable model,
select the top half of the figure and move it over
onto the painting. Re-scale and rotate the figure.
Edit Free Transform, Scale/Rotate to fit the
painting. Change the blending mode of this new
layer from Normal to Hard Light, which gives the
photo a better appearance with the painting. You
may want to use the Eraser Tool to clean up the
edges of this layer. You could alternatively use
the airbrush to paint into the layer so that it
has a better blend into the background.
Read
on... »
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Images To Inspire The Imagination
Ken Windsor's Internet Art Journalist
My aim is to give credit to some great work
being shown on the internet, but in doing so the
mere act of bypassing the home page can rob
Photographers and artists of income generated by
site hits, recorded only by visits to the home
page. So, I know you will bear with me if you
sometimes have to go on a longer journey to see
the actual images, as of course we in no way wish
to deprive site owners of the benefits derived
from actually creating their sites.
Whenever I watch a game of Ice Hockey on the
television I always get the impression that it is
a mean hard game. This is also the impression I
get from the images of RACHEL THULL. The
photography is rather good - but it was the
drawings that really caught my eye - strong "in
your face" images.
http://www.indyart.com/index.html
BILL HALL also likes to draw his inspiration
from the sporting world, but in his case the
result is much more a feeling of movement and
speed. http://www.billhall.com/index.htm
Full
Story »
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Call To Artists
Listings for Art Photographers,
events,exhibitons,grants,juried
exhibits,opportunities for artists.
April 15, 2003 The Boca Raton Museum of Art
announces a Call for Entries for the 52nd Annual
All Florida Exhibition. All artists residing in
the State of Florida are invited to submit entries
for the 52nd Annual All Florida Juried Competition
and Exhibition to be held at the Boca Raton Museum
of Art from June 18 through August 17, 2003. This
year's Juror is Joseph Jacobs, Curator of American
Art from The Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey.
The Juror will select original works from the
following mediums: painting, drawing, prints,
sculpture, photography, video, computer generated
images, and site-specific installations. Monetary
awards will be distributed for one Best-In-Show
and three Merit winners. Entry fees are $30 for up
to three slides. Eligibility requirements,
application requests and other information can be
obtained by calling Jeanne Mautoni at (561)
392.2500, ext. 222. Applications are also
available at http://www.bocamuseum.org
May 1, 2003 The Mount Dora Center for the Arts
invites artists of any media to submit portfolios
for review for our 2004 Gallery Exhibit Season.
Individual and group exhibition proposals may be
submitted for consideration. Criteria: 10 slides
preferred, (photos and digital media on disks or
cds acceptable), an artist's statement, resume and
SASE. Submissions should be sent to the Mount Dora
Center for the Arts, 138 East Fifth Avenue, Mount
Dora, Florida, 32757, Attention: Carole Warshaw,
Gallery Manager, and must be postmarked on or
before May 1, 2003. Artists may expect
notification of acceptance on or before May 31,
2003. Ms Warshaw is available to answer questions
from 10am to 3pm, Tuesdays through Fridays, at
(352) 383-0880.
May 1, 2003 Anhinga Press announces the Anhinga
Prize for Poetry. First or Second books are
eligible. Judge is Naomi Shihah Nye. Winner
receives $2,000 and publication. Guidelines are
available on the web at www.anhinga.org or by
mailing a SASE to Anhinga Press, P.O. Box 10595,
Tallahassee, FL 32302.
More
Events... »
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Mario Pischedda-Ziqqurat Review
 Art In
Movement Mario Pischedda is a "modern artist,
meaning that his anxiety brings him, as a nomad of
forms, words and ideas, from one genre to the
other. He goes from critical enlightment to the
photo/optic shot- he likes to define his pictures
"shot at impression"- born from the instinctive
gesture of the primitive mind that only looks
without knowing
Mario suffers and practices consciously in his
works and performances the fascination for the
"unseen" provocative elements of any experiment,
of any sarcastic joke, of quoting others as a
replication of the past that anyway could not but
change and rejuvenate the original.
For Mario the artist should deny himself in
order to exist, and must melt with the art's user.
The artist should be able to cancel his self, and
prepare just the setting in which the user plays
the main role.
More
on this review... »
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