Noch gestern schwabbelte uns die Speckrolle des französischen Präsidenten aus der Zeitung entgegen, schon heute ist sie Geschichte. Gleiches passiert mit dem Achselschweiß einer Kanzlerin oder der Rolex eines Geschäftsführers. Dabei sind dies noch die harmloseren Beispiele für Bilder, die uns belügen. Denn sie kaschieren nur die Peinlichkeiten der Abgebildeten, nehmen aber nicht direkt politischen Einfluß. Anders sieht das schon bei manipulierten Bildern von Kriegsschauplätzen aus, oder Reportagefotos Prominenter, die plötzlich in völlig neuem Zusammenhang gezeigt werden, um die öffentliche Meinung zu beeinflussen. Sogleich fühlte sich der Spiegel verpflichtet, mal wieder über dieses Dilemma zu berichten. Eine sehr umfangreich recherchierte Seite zu Bildmanipulationen findet sich übrigens auf Rhetorik.ch. “Bilder, die lügen” heißt auch eine Ausstellung, die die Stiftung Haus der Geschichte ins Leben gerufen hat. Genauso empfehlenswert ist auch das dazu gehörende Buch “X für U“. Und wer sich lieber über die etwas reizenderen Möglichkeiten der Bildveränderung, sprich Retouche, informieren möchte, findet bei Glenn Feron einige beeindruckende Beispiele (unbedingt die “roll-over”-Effekte benutzen!).

OK, it was foreseeable in some way that Nikon will release a new camera generation as an answer to the new Canon 1Ds III. They must have been busy the last months. Though I am not a great fanboy of Nikon, the Nikon D3, unveiled today, is a great piece of digital SLR camera-work! It features a full-frame CMOS-sensor with 12.1 Megapixels resolution, a new 51-point AF-module, it shoots 9 pictures per second @ full resolution (and with AF, of course) and sports a 3″ LCD on the back! Said to be shipping in November for about 5.000 US$.
Well, I don´t want to be too sarcastic, but didn´t Nikon once said, we won´t need full-frame DSLRs and we should better buy their newly developed DX-lenses instead? Didn´t they once said, only CCD-sensors are able to produce high-quality photos with low noise? Do they think 12MP is enough to compete with the 21MP-monster from Canon? Your choice…
I´ve worked with the Nikon D2x for years and have to admit that this is a real gem (it´s like night & day compared to the Nikon D1 I used before). And so will be the new D3, I´m sure! Further infos here:

• Nikon press-release
• Preview from DPreview
• News from Mactechnews.de

Canon presented a couple of new cameras today from which the EOS 1Ds Mark 3 is the most exciting one. Though the predecessor with its 16MP-Sensor was unbeaten throughout the last years, the new Mark 3 version yet tops out the benchmark of DSLR-resolution: It sports a 21MP, full-frame CMOS-sensor producing an impressive 5616 x 3744 pixels! The 1Ds also ships with all the improvements the 1D brought when it showed up this spring. This is, for example the dual DIGIC III processors. Key features of the 1Ds Mark 3 are:

• 21 Megapixel, full frame sensor
• 5 fps, up to 56 frames
• Dual “DIGIC III” processors
• Highlight Tone Priority
• Auto focus system with 19 cross type sensors (26 assist points)
• Integrated Cleaning System
• 3.0” 230K pixel LCD with Live View mode
• Redesigned viewfinder now wider and brighter
• UDMA support for Compact Flash cards

Canon also presented a redesigned version of the EF 2.8 14mm L ultrawideangle lens, the semi-professional (or “prosumer”) camera EOS 40D with a IS-version of the EF-S 18-55mm and the Powershot G9 compact camera. I have to admit I am quite lucky they didn´t present the 5D sucessor after I bought one only a week ago Rumours say it might show up in early 2008, but time will tell. You´ll find more information ´bout the new products in the Canon press-release, on dpreview or on Mactechnews.de (in german).

After spotting the german top-model Heidi Klum on Spiegel, I got interested in the new Jordache campaign. Then one led to the other…

The similarity was obvious and resembled a perfect Helmut Newton attitude. So I googled for more information on the brand and this shooting and found a german blog claiming to know that the photos have been shot by Brett Ratner, the well-known director of Hollywood-Blockbusters like “Rush Hour (1-3)”. I couldn´t find any further evidence but figured out that he lately produced a documentary on the “god of photography” Helmut Newton, called “Helmut by June” (as you can imagine by the title, this was chronicled by Newton´s wife, June Newton aka Alice Springs). Now the pieces fall into place. Brett, are you a fan of Helmut by the way?