TawbaWare is home to software, photographs, and writings by Max Lyons.

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Most of the software here is designed for digital camera users, compatible with most current digital camera models. Here are the programs on this site:

• PTAssembler. Advanced image stitching/high-resolution mosaic creation program (My pictures created with PTAssembler). Updated July 2017
• TuFuse. Command line image fusion freeware for Exposure Blending, Focus Blending, and more. Updated Aug 2012
• TuFuse Pro. Graphical image fusion software, for Exposure Blending, Focus Blending. A professional, graphical version of TuFuse.
• Star Tracer. Star trail image creator. Improves, enhances and extends star-trail images. Updated Feb 2014
• Image Stacker. Create synthesized long-exposures by combining multiple images (great for star-trails and night photography).
• PixelZap. A program to remove "hot-pixels" from digital camera images.
• Thumber. A thumbnail extraction, image information, manipulation, web page creation "all-in-one" utility.
• ColorFix. Convert JPEG or TIFF images from one color space to another (particularly useful for Minolta Dimage 5 & 7 images).
• DigiSS. An interactive slide-show screen saver designed specifically for digital camera images.
• EXIFRead. A utility to view and extract EXIF information from digital camera pictures.
• NeatBatch. A "batch-processing" assistant for ABSoft's very popular image noise reduction software.
• Framer. A program to view multi-frame JPG files as "mini-movies."
• CamWork. A DOS utility to extract images from many popular digital cameras.
• HTMLR. A companion program for Thumber that creates HTML directory listings
• CRead. A very small, very fast command-line utility to extract and search for comments in JPG files.
• PTAPicker. Command line control point detection program for PTAssembler. Added May 2013

You can purchase a registration code for shareware programs using the Tawbaware Store.

Here are a few other bits and pieces (all freeware) that are not camera related:

• FileLister. Creates a text file listing of files located in multiple directories.
• MinUpTime. A "mini" on-screen display of system "up-time."
• Word Count. A tiny, command-line utility that counts characters, words and lines in files.
• HideWin. A tiny, windows app to hide windows (e.g. popup adds, message banners) from the screen.
• FileMonitor. A windows app to monitor file size and modification date of several files in real-time.

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My frequently updated "high resolution" image gallery, (latest updates here). RSS Feed Here. (2000-current)

My first "Gigapixel" Image -- 1 billion pixels in one image (November 2003)

My second "Gigapixel" Image (July 2004)

My less frequently updated "super high resolution" (1 gigapixel and higher) panoramic and high resolution gallery (2003-current)

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Buying a SLR camera is the easy part. Choosing lenses and other accessories is the hard part. Here are some lens and equipment tests that I've done as part of my never-ending quest to find the perfect gear!

Panoramic Tripod Heads

• Nodal Ninja 5/RD16 Review (June 2009)
• Pre-Production Nodal Ninja 5 Review (November 2007)
• KingPano review (September 2005)
• Nodal Ninja 1 review (January 2005)
• Panosaurus review (May 2004, updated November 2006)

Lenses

• Wide Angle Zoom lenses...revisited
• Canon 28-105 F3.5-4.5 vs. Canon 28-135 F3.5-5.6
• Canon 28-105 F3.5-4.5 vs. Canon 50 F1.8
• Sigma 24-70 F2.8 DG DF vs. Tokina 28-80 F2.8 AT-X Pro
• Sigma 15-30 F3.5-4.5 EX DG vs. Tokina 19-35 F3.5-4.5 AF 193

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Below are some links to some other miscellaneous items. Most of these are short pieces I've written about digital photography, software or some combination of the two:

• Hacking the Xiaomi Yi action camera. A few hacks turn this cheap action camera into a surpisingly capable photographic tool. Added August 2015
• The 400,ドル 96 megapixel panoramic camera. Also available in PDF Format
• How many megapixels does it take to beat film? Have a look and decide for yourself!
• Read how I create my high resolution images with this PTAssembler tutorial.
• Some illustrations and thoughts about the Film vs. Digital debate...are 6 megapixels enough?
• A couple of simple, home-made panoramic tripod heads for Nikon and Canon digital cameras.
• Why creating a panoramic image isn't as simple as careful alignment.
• Measuring the dynamic range of digital cameras.
• Reading the interesting data in the MakerNote tag of the Nikon 990.

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• Got something to say? Try posting a message in one of the discussion forums.
• For the technically minded, here are some links to other developers of software for digital cameras some information about me.