Max Hodges Blog

Picking a firm from Sortfolio to redesign Signal vs. Noise

2010-02-18T11:26:00.002+09:00

37Signals as decided to hire a designer from it's own Sortfolio Pro member accounts to redesign it's blog.
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2164-picking-a-firm-from-sortfolio-to-redesign-signal-vs-noise

Apparently Oliver Reichenstein finds this outrageous, in twitter posts documented here:
http://www.webstandardistas.com/2010/02/twitter-is-watching.php

I don't really see the problem. 37Signals is also paying the winner $8,500, a fair amount of money for a blog redesign. True, it takes $99 to compete, but some raffles and door prizes require a entry fee, and some photography contests charge admission fees. What's the big deal? I recently paid hundreds of dollars to be considered for an Audie award for an audio production I produced. Or one last example, a friend of mine applied for a job at a game design firm as a sound designer. They gave him a test: to design all the sound for a short in-game video which had all the audio muted. It took him a week--thus costing him more than $99 in lost client work--but he got the job.

True, 37Signals might overlook some great design talent by only looking at the people who are paying to compete, but that's their decision and I don't see anything really wrong with it. There are just too many members and they need some way to sort out the signal from the noise. Just as a package design contest charges an entry fee because they couldn't otherwise afford to review the avalanche of submissions.

Think about what's at stake: 37Signals boasts millions of users. By winning the bid to design for this well-known and respected company, your design credit has a chance at some very good exposure. Plus you get $8,500.

How is this any worse than the business model at http://99designs.com/? As a designer registered at 99designs, you have to actually DESIGN work for prospective clients, and you only get paid if they select your design from among countless others. Makes the 37Signals offer sound like a much better deal to me. With the 37signals promotion, you pay $99 to have your portfolio considered. With 99designs you actually have to design the project first, on your own time;time which may be valued at way more than $99.

I think 37signals are free to do business however they want, and I personally don't see the outrage here.

Hard Candy

2009-12-29T19:06:00.000+09:00

[finally] uploaded a set of shots I took back in October
http://www.maxhodges.com/sets/hardcandy/

Patrick Macias on Two Types of Otaku

2009-12-10T15:17:00.001+09:00

Posted an outtake from a studio recording session with Patrick Macias about the two main types of Otaku: http://bit.ly/4GH6hx

Response to Colony Drop post on Akihabara

2009-12-10T12:53:00.002+09:00

Sean at Colony Drop wrote this terrifically uninformed hack job on Akihabara over on a blog called ColonyDrop:
http://is.gd/5hqZP

My thoughts on his piece below:

Sean,
I see that you dislike Akihabara, but your attack piece amounts to little more than uninformed opinion.

>Akihabara embraced personal computer enthusiasts in the early 1990s

Technically the area started attracting computer nerds a bit earlier. In 1976 NEC launched its low-cost TK-80 microcomputer assembly kit for hobbyists (considered Japan's first home computer), and they opened a Bit-INN Service Center that same year on the seventh floor of the Radio Kaikan building in Akihabara to provide technical support to customers.

You seems to be really hung up on discrediting the place as simply a haven for smut and sex (although you can only cite a single venue for sex, which no longer exists...)

It’s the sex and pornography that keeps Akihabara going
...the sex comes in other forms as well...
...arguing against the implicit sexual undertones of the maid cafe phenomenon is simply naive.
...in a country where actual sex for money is commonly offered in many forms.
ready to spend serious money on their own sexual fulfillment
2D sexual fulfillment

Well, maids can be are pretty damn sexy, but if you've spent any time at all in maid cafes you'd know they have about as much to do with sex as your typical Denny's restaurant...

Seems to me the only person obsession with sex here is you yourself. I'm reminded of this brilliant statement by Stephen Fry regarding the Catholic church's same obsession:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUOUMqyimhA#t=8m17s

The truth is that Akihabara is a unique part of Tokyo, a place unlike any other city in the world, with an interesting past and a varied and vibrant culture which encompasses all sorts of hobbies from model cars and planes, DIY electronics, audiophile systems, to video games, and of course anime and manga.

To deny that Akihabara is neither a subcultural hotspot, or that it even has a subculture, sounds like evidence that you've never been more than an outsider looking in on the place.

There is no doubt that the people who regularly enjoy Akihabara tend to have similar hobbies and interests, styles of dress, patterns of behavior, and they share an in-group jargon...all the elements which define the very nature of a subculture.

H&M Magazine, Maryna Linchuk by Terry Richardson

2009-11-24T17:25:00.000+09:00

http://fashiongonerogue.com/2009/11/hm-magazine-maryna-linchuk-by-terry-richardson/

Storyboard Composer

2009-11-18T11:16:00.004+09:00

This really blows my mind: Storyboard Composer is the worlds first mobile story boarding application.

http://www.cinemek.com/storyboard/index.php

Helios

2009-11-18T11:14:00.002+09:00

An iPhone/iPod Touch application that graphically predicts the path of the sun from dusk to dawn, on any given day, in any given place.

http://www.chemicalwedding.tv/helios.html

Komamura ViewCamera Converter for DSLR

2009-08-21T16:27:00.004+09:00

Convert your Horseman, Nikon, or Canon DSLR camera into a View Camera with Komamura's View Camera Converter

details here http://www.komamura.co.jp/digital/VCCpro/index.html

English Press Release here
http://www.komamura.co.jp/e/press/PR090817vccpro.pdf

Pirelli 2010 Calendar Preview NSFW

2009-08-18T00:17:00.007+09:00

Eniko Mihalik, Rosie Huntington Whiteley, Catherine McNeil, Abbey Lee Kershaw, Daisy Lowe, Gracie Carvalho, Marloes Horst, Lily Cole, Ana Beatriz Barros, Miranda Kerr, and Georgina Stojiljkovic all appear nude in the 2010 Pirelli Calendar as shot by Terry Richardson, though this is a preview.

http://www.fashionising.com/pictures/s--Pirelli-2010-Calendar-Preview-NSFW-3181-1.html

"It's not who you know, it's who you blow."
--Terry Richardson

Chris Jordan Interview

2009-08-17T01:10:00.002+09:00

Digital photographic artist Chris Jordan interview on Bill Moyers Journal

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/08072009/watch3.html

Olympus E-P1

2009-08-11T23:48:00.005+09:00

Olympus E-P1 Micro Four Thirds camera is the world's smallest 12.3-mexapixel interchangeable lens system camera, video and audio recorder in one.

From dpreview:
When Olympus launched the legendary Pen series of cameras in 1959, this bold and revolutionary achievement rewrote the history of photography. Designed by renowned style guru Yoshihisa Maitani, the Pen represented the perfect marriage of simplicity, style and performance. Five decades later the Olympus passion for innovation is still setting the pace.

With the release of the E-P1, the digital era’s next generation Olympus Pen has arrived: mirrors are no longer a necessary component for digital cameras with interchangeable lenses. The first groundbreaking Olympus Micro Four Thirds model impresses with its incredibly small size, retro style, and ease of use – without giving up any of the benefits of D-SLR quality.

more here:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0906/09061601olympusep1.asp

and here:
http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1461

TrueGrain

2009-08-11T18:00:00.003+09:00

TrueGrain is a creative tool for accurately recapturing the aesthetics of black and white film with digital imagery.

TrueGrain takes the form of a stand-alone image processing utility that imposes the physical characteristics of a real-world film stock onto a digital image. The synthesis is done through measured and sampled data gathered from the actual film and development process being reproduced.
The library of film stocks TrueGrain implements are detailed here: http://grubbasoftware.com/filmlibrary.html

A single TrueGrain license costs US$300.

The inspiration came from necessity. Recently, we realized we could no longer get the films we were accustomed to. The majority of black and white films have gone out of production and entire manufacturers have left the film business. We decided the only way we could continue to achieve the look we got from film was by processing digital images. We went on a film hunt on eBay and bought just about everything we could find. Between that and the films we already had stockpiled, we had a good basis for TrueGrain’s “digital grain library.”

details: http://grubbasoftware.com/index.html

Escalator Ride to Kaiyodo

2009-08-10T21:41:00.002+09:00

Escalator Ride to Kaiyodo by whiterabbitpress

My first 'chiptune' 8-bit track. Composed entirely of Nintendo Gameboy samples, this will be used for a short segment in my upcoming "Tokyo Realtime: Akihabara" audio tour.

In my tour this will have Voice Over (VO) but here I'd muted the VO track.

Details to emerge here:
http://www.tokyorealtime.com

Snap Pictures in the Dark with Electrophysics AstroScope

2009-07-20T19:53:00.002+09:00

US company Electrophysics has two adapters which can make your Canon or Nikon dSLR snap pictures in the dark. Such an application is not new and was previously implemented in surveillance and video cameras for recording footages in the dark. But the AstroScope 9350-series adapters are specially designed to be used with dSLRs.

Electrophysics AstroScope is an advanced night vision module that incorporates a state-of-the-art image intensifier that transforms dark scenes into bright, highresolution images. The AstroScope 9350EOS-P is specifically designed for Canon EOS-type cameras and mounts between the camera body and Canon EOS lenses using the standard Canon bayonet. AstroScope incorporates a high quality optic designed specifically for today’s digital SLR cameras and delivers full frame images with little or no vignetting.

These night vision systems fit between the camera body and the lens. There is a central intensifier unit (CIU) which illuminates the scene dramatically even if there is only a weak light source. What is special is that these adapters maintain the electrical connections required for image stabilizer operation and autofocus by the optics.

http://www.electrophysics.com/night-vision/

Sony Announces PCM-M10 Digital Field Recorder

2009-07-20T19:34:00.007+09:00

July 20th, 2009 – Sony today launched its latest digital field recorder, the PCM-M10. Will a retail price around $399, the PCM-D1 will go head-to-head with similarly sized and priced recorders including the Marantz PMD620, Tascam DR-1, and Zoom H4n.

The Sony PCM-D10 will be the cheapest flash-based recorder from Sony capable of recording 96kHz/24-bit stereo audio using either the internal electret condenser mics or an external mic or line input. The recorder has 4GB of built in memory and a MicroSD/Memory Stick Micro slot. This is the first time any Sony recorder has accepted any form of flash media other than Sony's proprietary Memory Stick format.

The new recorder is 96 kHz/24-bit capable with electret condenser stereo microphones, 4 GB of internal flash memory and a microSD/Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) Slot*.

Key features include:
-a built-in speaker
-cross-memory recording
-digital pitch control
-digital limiter
-low-cut filter
-track mark functions
-a 5-second pre-recording buffer; and,
-A-B repeat capability

The PCM-M10 comes supplied with Sound Forge Audio Studio Recorder Edition software.

more details and video here:
http://www.soundonsound.com/news?NewsID=11803

NAKED TOKYO: FRIDAY June 26th

2009-06-23T10:33:00.003+09:00

Come join me and friends for a group exhibition in Roppongi's SuperDeluxe this Friday.

The Naked Tokyo exhibition presents the work of an international group of photographers focusing on self-portraiture, sex, eroticism, and anonymous nudity.

41 Photographers
50 Photos
One Night Only!

Start Time: Friday, June 26, 2009 at 6:30pm
End Time: Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 2:00am
Location: SuperDeluxe in Roppongi
Street: B1F 3.1.25 Nishi Azabu, Minato-ku,

Phone: 0354120515
Email: nakedtokyo@gmail.com

Naked Tokyoでは、セルフポートレイト・セックス・エロティシズム・ヌードに焦点を置いた国内外の写真家の作品展を開催いたします。
４１人の写真家
一夜限り

June 26th (Friday) from 18:30 @ SuperDeluxe in Roppongi.
1000 yen entry fee

http://www.super-deluxe.com/2009/06/26/
http://www.nakedtokyo.com/

Photo (C) Max Hodges, from NAKED TOKYO Exhibition in Shibuya, December 2008

Immersions: Porn by Robbie Coopers

2009-06-22T10:30:00.001+09:00

SprintCam

2009-06-22T10:26:00.000+09:00

Click the link to see it larger

I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

Ryoji Ikeda’s ‘+/- [the infinite between 0 and 1]’: An Interpretation

2009-06-08T21:34:00.008+09:00

Ryoji Ikeda: +/- [the infinite between 0 and 1] is the first major retrospective of Ikeda’s work, presented by the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) and runs until June 21st 2009. The exhibition includes new commissions, large-scale audiovisual projections, sound, and Ikeda’s abstract celluloid landscapes.

Click here for a nicely formatted version of this article as a PDF file.

Ikeda has quickly earned himself an international reputation as a leading electronic composer and sound artist. His work is hailed by critics as the most radical and innovative examples of contemporary electronic music, earning him a Golden Nica prize in the Digital Music category at Prix Ars Electronica in 2001—one of the most important yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music.

Although best known for his sound installations, Ikeda has extended his activities and compositions into the visual arts, and these activities have caught the attention of MOT’s chief curator Yuko Hasegawa. “Previously, we have held exhibitions of veteran and midcareer artists as solo shows,” says Hasegawa, “but we really want to focus on the younger generation and represent them in solo shows.”

Ikeda has been intensely active in sound art through concerts, installations and recordings since 1995. Described as an ‘ultra-minimalist’, Ikeda employs cutting-edge computer technology to develop a unique set of methods for sound engineering and composition. His works feature computed, mathematically pure ‘microsonic’ tones, frequencies and noise that sometimes exists at the edge of perception.

These intense, exhilarating sounds are integrated in audiovisual installations, projected at cinematic scale in his concerts, in which each pixel is precisely calculated by mathematical principle. The vast scale of the projection heightens and intensifies the viewer’s perception and immersion in a world of pure objectivity. Acoustics and sublime imagery—derived from pure mathematics and from astronomy, genetics and other real-world data—are employed to create an experience of time that and be sped up, slowed down and frozen for analysis. Space too is like a field that can be traversed at high-speed, or sliced up for scrutiny.

Time and space, the vast universe of precision numeric data representation, and the limits of human perception are explored with precisely correlated and synchronized audio and video rhythms that sound and image fuse and become indistinguishable—resulting in a synaestheia-like experience.

Although usually described as an electronic composer, this retrospective demonstrates Ikeda’s talent as a visual artist too with large-scale photographic work and a 35mm x 10m abstract celluloid landscape known as data.film [nº1-a].

“My intention is always polarized by concepts of the ‘beautiful and the sublime’”, writes Ikeda, “To me, beauty is crystal, rationality, precision, simplicity, elegance, delicacy. The sublime is infinity, infinitesimal, immensity, indescribable, ineffable. The purest beauty is the world of mathematics.”

Consider how these sentiments are expressed in a pair of Ikeda’s artworks shown in his ‘V≠L’ exhibition. The work was inspired by his dialogue with Harvard mathematician Benedict Gross and explores the idea that perhaps nothing in the universe is random. Consisting of two horizontal panels, one is etched with a prime number consisting of over 7.23 million digits; in counterpoint, the second panel presents a random number generated by computer algorithms, also consisting of over 7 million digits. From more than a few inches away, the panels appear as a random, concrete-like grey texture. But close-up they reveal a mind-boggling array of 0.8mm-high digits, daunting in their vastness and precision. For comparison, consider that the estimated number of atoms in the observable universe is a number only 80-digits long. Unlike the random sequence, this prime number is like a jewel, a mathematical diamond that can be contracted into the sum of two squares and expanded. Its endowed with special properties which make it vital to data security. But change a single digit and this whole, delicate, seven-million-two-hundred-thirty-five-thousand-seven-hundred-and-thirty-three unit long system of perfection becomes unstable and collapses.

Such expressions of point and counterpoint abound in +/- [the infinite between 0 and 1]. Other examples include the white-light of SXGA projectors within the perfect black room. The 10 screens itself a play on the nature of the number 10 as representing the both the on-and-off of binary logic. The notion of [+/–] polar-opposites are found in the contrast of signal vs. noise as individual instances of discrete data and moments in time are plucked from the vast oceans of endless random data. Light and sound is used to freeze certain moments in time like unique snowflakes, only to dissolve back into a sea of data on the next beat.

Review and description of Ikeda’s work tends to stop short of interpretation. Indeed, with regard to the meaning of Ikeda’s work, curator Hasegawa’s says that Ikeda’s art, “doesn’t have any particular symbolic meaning; it is nonsignifying. He just wants to create a kind of matrix, or give the idea of the universe and infinity, for the visitor to simply enjoy. You can read whatever you like into the work.”

But while Hasegawa seems to believe the exhibition amounts to little more than audiovisual eye-candy, this writer found many clear, masterfully crafted messages, and believes that taken collectively, Ikeda’s work has the same power and potential as any work of great art to be a catalyst for profound personal transformation.

Spoiler alert: if you’re planning to visit the exhibition, I suggest you experience it for yourself before reading further.

The flash of revelation happens once you make your way down to the basement where a second level of the exhibition has been constructed. Here a through-the-looking-glass counterpoint to the entire exhibition upstairs has been ingeniously constructed. This alternate exhibition is identical in size and layout, but whereas the former space was set in pitch black darkness, we now face a negative-image in the form of a pure white room, Great care is taken to make it work. The expansive floor is covered in delicate white felt, and visitors don fabric slippers so as to not scuff the floor with their shoes. The felt doubles as an acoustic absorption material, helping to create an anechoic-chamber-like silence in the room. The entire room is lit from above by a grid of large panels which produce a soft, uniform and continuous light source.

Instead of 10 video projections, we find ‘the irreducible [n_1-10]’: 10 static, black panels composed of a large—but finite—set of numbers. These numbers of so tiny, they are barely visible to the naked eye. Whereas before we explored the unbound vastness of space, the limitless expanse of discrete moments of time, and the infinite range and precision of data representation with god-like objectivity, now we arrive at the polar opposite: the single, here-and-now subjective experience of the only one true universe. Here all the hypothetical possibilities collapse into a single instance of the world having a specific form and state. Our subjective perception of this particular place, the one-and-only world in which we inhabit, is enriched and is much more reified by its contrast with the inverse, counterfactual world of pure objectivity[1].

The experience is supplemented by ‘matrix [5ch version]’, a 5-channel audio installation composed of five Meyer Sound Laboratories SB-1 parabolic long-throw sound beams. Exploiting the directional behavior of a parabolic reflecting surface, the SB-1 provides the ability to propagate precisely focused sound waves while maintaining a narrow beamwidth.

Listeners who traverse, and disrupt, the soundscape created by these 5 speakers, encounter a highly-subjective hearing of the work. There is no objective position, only one vastly entangled system as the act of observation itself disrupts the sound waves and the acoustics are highly dependant on the position and direction of the listener’s body, head and ears within the field. This further solidifies our conception of space as a uniquely subjective experience.

Venue details:
http://www.ryojiikeda.mot-art-museum.jp/

-----
[1] The ‘White Room’ mise-en-scene in the movie “The Matrix” plays an analogous role. The stark white, horizonless background, and anachronistic setting reinforce the emptiness and artificiality of the Matrix. By contrast, the subsequent transition, made without physically leaving the ‘white room’, to a scene on the outskirts of New York City, reinstates the theme of simulation versus reality in the film.

One is also reminded of the “white room” scene in “2001: A Space Odyssey”, in which Dave Bowman ages rapidly. Devoid of doors and windows, this room too plays counterpoint to the ordinary perception of space and time.

On Twitter

2009-05-29T19:18:00.001+09:00

Twitter is like a deranged search engine that just keeps spitting out a bunch of random inanities whether you submit a query or not.

Variations on a Theme as the Crux of Creativity

2009-05-25T17:51:00.006+09:00

Designer Andrew Lee and I had a discussion last Saturday night on the nature of musical creativity, and I was reminded of cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter's ideas on the topic. I'm attaching an essay I read back in high school entitled, "Variations on a Theme as the Crux of Creativity." I copied the pages from Amazon's Look-Inside-this-book feature, so before you get all huffy about copyright infringement, these pages are already freely available online over at Amazon. A few pages are missing unfortunately, but don't blame me--buy the book if you want more.

Hofstadter_Crux.pdf
from Metamagical Themas: Questing For The Essence Of Mind And Pattern

Douglas R. Hofstadter directs The Center for Research on Concepts and Cognition (aka the Fluid Analogies Research Group, or simply FARG) which is an interdisciplinary center for research in cognitive science. CRCC research focuses mainly on emergent computational models of creative analogical thinking and its subcognitive substrate -- namely, fluid concepts. Several computer programs modeling the interplay between concepts and perception in the course of analogy-making have been developed; these include the Copycat and Tabletop programs. The Letter Spirit project, modeling the perception and creation of style in the world of letterforms, has now resulted in a Letter Spirit program capable of designing and evaluating gridfonts.

The group also conducts research (mostly non-computational) in a number of other areas of cognitive science, including error-making, creative translation, scientific discovery, musical composition, the comprehension and invention of jokes, the nature of sexist language and default imagery, philosophy of mind, and foundations of artificial intelligence.

G-Technology G|SAFE RAID1 Storage Solution

2009-05-13T12:46:00.002+09:00

I've been using this G|SAFE 1 TB storage solution for several months and thought I'd post about it.

G-SAFE is a storage solution from G-Technology which safeguards your important digital photos, audio and video libraries by simultaneously writing to two independent hard disk drives providing instant back up of files as you save them. Unlike single drive backup systems, if a drive failure occurs your images are safe and accessible. G-SAFE features two removable drive modules for easy replacement of disk drives and off-site backup of data.

G-SAFE features high-speed FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 interfaces for universal connectivity to Mac's and PC's and two removable hard drives mated to a sophisticated hardware RAID 1 (mirroring) engine designed to ensure 24x7 data protection. A front panel LCD is used to configure and monitor the health of the system.

What's especially cool about this product is the easy way you can create backups of your data or offsite storage using a spare drive (G Technology provides a spare 1 TB drive for the unit for about $125). From the manual:

9. USING G-SAFE FOR OFFSITE DATA BACKUP
With the addition of a third drive module it is possible to add a greater level of protection by storing a copy of your data offsite. By rotating drive modules offsite at regular intervals you can always have a copy of your data safe and secure. The process is simple, however to avoid data loss be sure to follow these instructions carefully.

1. Turn off G-SAFE and remove the drive module you will take offsite using the provided key. (You can remove either drive)

2. Place the drive for offsite storage in the protective leather pouch (leather pouch is included with purchase of additional drive modules for G-SAFE)

3. Turn on G-SAFE (the alarm will sound and the display will indicate a MISSING drive)

Drive 1: OK
Drive 2: MISSING

4. Mute the alarm by pressing the “MUTE” button on the front panel.

5. Insert the target drive module while the unit is on. (This could be the drive module you had stored offsite)

6. G-SAFE will ask if you would like to rebuild the array. (In this case G-SAFE will rebuild from Drive 1 (top) to Drive 2 (bottom)

Rebuild Drv1->2?
ENT=Y ESC=N 0S

7. Push the ENT button to begin the process or ESC button to cancel (the process will automatically cancel in 10 seconds)

8. G-SAFE will now rebuild the data to the target drive.

Rebuilding...
Drv1 -> Drv2 00%

10. Once the rebuild is complete, the LCD panel will display the following message.

Drive 1: OK
Drive 2: OK

COUPON
I was able to get 10% discount of my purchase from G Technology using this coupon code:
FCPUG10OFF

3D infra-red cameras

2009-05-07T02:33:00.001+09:00

The secret behind Google's book scanning project

Google created some seriously nifty infrared camera technology that detects the three-dimensional shape and angle of book pages when the book is placed in the scanner. This information is transmitted to the OCR software, which adjusts for the distortions and allows the OCR software to read text more accurately. No more broken bindings, no more inefficient glass plates.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/may/04/google-gadgets

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/04/google_book_scanning_patent/

Fujifilm introduces F200EXR with Super CCD EXR

2009-02-25T17:25:00.004+09:00

I remember "inventing" this idea while talking to a friend a year ago:

Single sensor high Dynamic Range mode: which captures different exposures with two sets of sensor pixels, which, when combined, gives an excellent level of detail in highlights that would otherwise be lost.

Seems Fujifilm was ease-dropping:

Faced with a market driven by the demand for higher pixel counts, yet conscious that high concentrations of pixels on small sensors can produce diminishing quality returns, Fujifilm engineers had a radical rethink about sensor technology. Why not make a sensor that can flex its behaviour according to the scene to be photographed? Why not give full resolution when bright light allows, but use the pixels in a different way when the light is not ideal? The FinePix F200EXR offers 3 switchable modes in one sensor:

High Resolution mode, which deploys all twelve million pixels, and is designed to offer the finest detail of intricate subjects when light is full and even
High Sensitivity and Low Noise mode, which caps two adjacent pixels together to produce 6 million large photodiodes, which are big enough to absorb light in the darkest of conditions, to produce low-light shots of extraordinary quality with minimal noise and grain; and
Wide Dynamic Range mode, which captures different exposures with two sets of six million pixels, which, when combined, gives an excellent level of detail in highlights that would otherwise be lost.

more at dpreview

Canon puts new Japanese camera factory on hold

2008-12-20T15:17:00.003+09:00

Notice regarding delay in construction, start of operation of Nagasaki Canon

TOKYO, December 17, 2008—Canon Inc. announced today that it would delay the construction and start of operation of Nagasaki Canon Inc., the manufacturing base in Higashi Sonogi-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture, established in July this year.

Since 2000, demand for digital cameras has continued to increase rapidly. As demand is expected to continue growing in the future, Canon recognizes the need to expand its production capacity for both digital SLR and compact digital cameras.

Upon newly establishing Nagasaki Canon, original plans had called for starting construction in January 2009 and commencing operation in December 2009, carrying out production operations in collaboration with Oita Canon Inc., also located in Kyushu.

Recently, however, growth in demand for digital cameras has rapidly declined compared with original projections due to the global economic downturn triggered by the failure of major U.S. securities firms, which has necessitated a revision of earlier production plans. This serious drop in demand is expected to continue for a period of time. These factors led to the company's decision to delay the start of construction and operation of the new manufacturing site.

With regard to future construction and operation plans for Nagasaki Canon, Canon will watch market developments for the time being and announce a revised schedule once the timing has been determined.

This decision will have no impact on the hiring of individuals that have already received employment offers and are scheduled for hire from January 2009, including new graduates in April 2009. These individuals will undergo training at Oita Canon as originally planned and will be assigned work at Nagasaki Canon sometime following the start of operations at the new site.

The construction was originally announced in July and was to be called Nagasaki Canon Inc. The site is located in Hasami-cho, Higashi Sonogi-gun, Nagasaki Prefecture. The cost of setting up the 41,700 square meter facility would be 17.4 billion yen (US$198 million) with a completion date in 2010. Over 1,000 staff would be required to run the facility.