Kia ora tatou:

I guess most of us buy our memory cards on price. Well, why not? I mean they are all much of a muchness (that looks terrible in print).

Wrong.

I am asked from time to time which brand of cards they should be using. I know I have tended to stick to the big names (Sandisk and Lexar) and buy them from someone I can have a discussion with when/if they go wrong/fail. So far it has worked. But there is more to it than that.

Firstly, you need to consider write-speed, the time it takes your camera to write the file to the card. This will vary according to the make and model of camera. If you have a camera that takes 2 different forms of card (i.e Compact Flash and SD), then you find that performance varies.

Brand is another issue. One manufacturer’s 200x card may well differ from another’s. And don’t believe that a card with an advertised write speed of 30Mb/sec (e.g Sandisk Extreme III) will actually deliver that. The culprit here is not the card, it is the camera. As an example is my Canon 1DS MKIII.  A SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s Edition 8GB ($NZ180.00) has an actual write speed for RAW files of 17.966MB/sec, in other words a little more  than 1/2 the potential performance. A Sandisk Extreme 8.0Gb CF Ducati($325.00) has a write speed of 19.808MB/sec. Nearly twice the price, but not 2x the performance. Bang for the $$$, The former card represents better performance value. A Transcend Class 6 8GB SDHC card for the same camera has a write speed of 9.795MB/sec.

So how do I know all this? Because there is a cool site which has tested a whole array of cards with different cameras and published the data. You can access it here.

Read-speed is the time it takes to get the data off the card, and here the issues are the speed of your card-reader and the bus speed in your computer. If this matters, then buy a really good card reader. I recommend the Lexar Professional UDMA Reader. Quick and effective.

Lastly, how do you know that card you ordered online is the Real Deal? My friend SSG ordered one while overseas, A 16Gb Transcend. When he went to download it, it turned out to be only 8Gb in capacity. He was able to return it to the dealer who had sold it to him. Would it be that easy if he had ordered it from www.fornexttonothing.com? I wonder.

I note the Big Two are using holographic logos in their packaging. How reliable they are I am not certain.

Caveat emptor.

Kia ora tatou:

Well, it is finally here. The replacement for the 5D. Creatively named the 5D Mk II ( NOT!), it has a lot of very cool features that Canon users will appreciate, including:

• New 21.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with improved EOS Integrated Cleaning System (E.I.C.S.)
• New Full HD 1080 resolution movie recording
• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting
• High performance DIGIC 4 providing superb image quality
• Maximum 310 large JPEG images in a single burst with a UDMA card
• 3.0” VGA (920k dots) Clear View LCD
• ISO 100-6400 (expansion from 50 up to 25,600)
• 9 AF points + 6 Assist AF points

It is the 1080p video function that has me excited. It takes me back to the days when I first saw digital ( PhotoShop 1) and realised the winds of change had come to photography.

It is happening again. Moving and still image are drawing together and the implications for we p[photographers are huge.

Post to follow.

O, and they have also released a new 24/1.4L lens.

Now what will Nikon bring out?

Kia ora tatou:

If I told you your trusty Canon Powershot ( i.e. like my G7) could be made to shoot RAW, do HDR, motion detect, display the histogram and shoot from 64s to 1/32 000s, you wouldn’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me either!

Well, apparently you can. Read here and here.

And no, It isn’t April 1.

For those of you shooting Sony, the Big Boy’s Toy has arrived in the form of the Alpha 900, with a 24.5 Mp sensor, 100% viewfinder, ” newly-developed, body-integrated SteadyShot Inside unit which achieves an anti-shake effect equivalent to shutter speeds faster by 2.5 to 4 stops. This new unit provides stabilization for Sony, Minolta and Konica-Minolta wide angle, large-aperture lenses, which is difficult for lens-integrated systems.” O, and let’s not forget those gorgeous Carl Zeiss lenses! Read more…

All this for around $US3000. Kind of makes the $$$ they charge for a 1DS III look a bit inflated!

Lenses and filters- a primer

Kia ora tatou:

So which lenses should I buy?

I get asked this question a lot, so I thought it was time to do a rare/endangered species-gear post.

Let’s begin with lenses. I am not going to tell you which focal lengths you need. I have no idea, and anyway, you will find that the focal lengths you use will change over time, which is good. All focal lengths have their own characteristics and personalities. Like any good relationship, getting to know them takes time, understanding and perseverance.

In this post I am going to talk about quality for your dollar, or more crudely, bang for your buck. And there are a few things to take into consideration: (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

Never let it be said that I ignored those of you (misguided souls?) who espouse the cause of Nikon.

The Canon-Nikon race to release new models seems to me to be a bit like watching two racehorses at the starting gate and wondering which one will break first. Well, it was Canon. Now Nikon have released details of their 2 flagship cameras, the D300 and D3, the latter with a 12Mp full-frame sensor and a whole lot of cool features, including a 930 000 3″ LCD on the back and a built-in spirit level for those of us who have trouble getting our horizons level ( how cool is that?).

There are heaps of new and wondrous things.

You can read about it here.

There. I have done my gear posts for the year. Now back to core business…..

Ka kite ano

Kia ora tatou:

Apparently we Canon users are about to get a feast…if the rumours are to be believed!

First up, supposedly due for announcement any day now, is the Canon 40D, which will have a 10.1Mp sensor, Digic III engine, 3.0 LCD, built-in dust removal,improved shutter life (>100 000 shutter cycles, etc) and a new sRAw mode. Read more here

Then is the 5D2/6D.. supposedly 16 Mp, Digic III engine, etc etc.

No doubt many of you will be foaming at the mouth over the new 1Ds III. If you subscribe to the Grinz, you will have heard about it. Apparently the facts have been leaked on Amazon. here are a few mouth-watering things to lust after…

• 21.1-megapixels
• five-frame-per-second (fps) shooting rate for bursts of up to 56 Large/Fine (21-megapixel) JPEGS or 12 RAW images
• Dual “DIGIC III” Image Processors
• 14-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) conversion process. Able to recognize 16,384 colors per channel (four times the number of colors recognized by the EOS-1Ds Mark II Digital SLR camera’s 12-bit conversion capability)
• Live View
• a three-inch, 230,000-pixel wide-angle LCD display screen. The TFT color liquid-crystal monitor features seven user-settable brightness levels and a wide, 140-degree viewing angle, both horizontally and vertically.
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System-ie shake the dust off-wouldn’t that be great!

• the shutter of the EOS-1Ds Mark III Digital SLR camera carries a durability rating of 300,000

knowing how keen you all would be to see what one will look like, I hunted the Net and came up with this image…

Now would I lead you astray?

ka kite ano

Update:

Well, I wasn’t far away. Canon announced 3 new cameras yesterday: a Canon G9 ( 12Mp +RAW); the 40D (10Mp, 6.5fps) and the BIG BOYS’ TOY, the 1Ds Mk III.

Read about it here

Kia ora tatou:

If you wondered about customising your copy of Lightroom , seek no further.

Lightroom Extra offers a huge range of presets you can plug into the Develop module, along with templates, identity plates and more. It even has images to customise the panel ends.

I really like the pirate flag. I am not sure why…

Foir those of you creating larger Libraries, it is recommended that where possible, you split these into separate catalogs. It would appear that ticking the “write into xmp” in the catalog settings can slow LR down. The gurus also recommend you tick the “render standard previews” box wshen importing, to avoid putting your machine under pressure.

To find out more check the Adobe Lightroom forum.

Ka kite ano

The day started at the summit and then went downhill..

I checked in to Alaska Airlines at Sitka Airport at 0800, in plenty of time to get my boarding pass, to have breakfast and relax. Or so I thought.

As I loaded my luggage onto the ramp, I asked the Air Alaska people whether they did fragile. I am used (or becoming so) to Air New Zealand, who insist on putting everything in the hold. Why? What is in the case? On an impulse, I inflated the value of my gear. About $50k of camera equipment, I replied. Oh, we don’t insure electronics. You had better take it on the plane with you. I didn’t point out that I was about to put 16kg in the overhead locker. Are you sure? I asked. Absolutely. Please take it with you.

No Problem. (more…)

Kia ora tatou:

In case you haven’t caught up with the news, Adobe PhotoShop Lightroom is now shipping and in-store. You can either buy it in most good shops for $NZ395 or online for $US199, using your credit card. With the $NZ hovering around 70c to the $US, there is a small saving to be had by buying online. My informants tell me that it will increase to around $NZ500 at the end of March. If you purchased a copy of RawShooter Premium, you will be grinning. By now you should have received a complimentary copy, a result of the merger agreement between them and Adobe.

The full version is a big improvement on Beta 4, with upgraded printer functions (I haven’t had time to test these),colour labelling, expanded options to record individual presets, clone and healing tools, and lots more.

It is so good you have to ask yourself whether you really need PS….(let debate commence!) Users of CS3 beta will have noticed that Camera RAW and Bridge contain much of what is in Lightroom. To my eye the functionality is not quite as…integrated… as it is in Lightroom, which is a truly outstanding product.

I give it 4 stars out of 5…for now..

Ka kite ano

Kia ora tatou
I don’t know about you, but keeping track of memory cards can be a real issue. Apparently I am not alone- I have heard of one pro who has inadvertently put his through the wash several times with his trousers!( no, it isn’t me-yet!)

For some time I have looked for something that was weatherproof, easy to use (those dumb cases they give you when you buy a card are a real pain to open, especially if you’re wearing gloves!), and could be seen easily in long grass.
If you have ever tried to find a card that has dropped out of your hand, you will know just what I mean.
At last there is a gizmo that deals with all those issues!

Enter (stage left) the Gepe Card Safe, Tough as, easy to open, waterproof, and (if you choose the lurid green or red one), easy to spot in the shrubbery.
It’s like a micro pelican case, really. At the end of the day, you can wrap up your cards in their nice cosy protection and kiss them goodnight.
And no, before you ask, I haven’t sent it for a test drive in the washing machine!
Yet.

Ka kite

Good Morning. I have been away on the South Island’s West Coast for the last ten days, working on my next book, hence the gap in postings. They should become a bit more regular now.
While I was away, I kept bumping into people who wanted to know whether it was true that film still beat digital, that you needed at least 30 megapixels to beat 35mm film. To them digital was still the poor cousin.

Is it bollocks!

I remember hearing this 10 years ago, when digital first came out. I actually believed it myself, until I got a Canon 10D last year. My exhibition prints were clearer, sharper and had much finer grain (sorry, noise) than I could ever have got from film.
I was convinced and jumped right in. Would I go back to film? Not a chance.
I am going to put my neck out and say this: A 6Mp Digital SLR will deliver better prints than scanned 35mm film. Do I detect the sound of incoming….?

But don’t take my word for it. Michael Reichmann, whose wonderful Luminous Landscape site is in my bookmarks, has a brilliantly lucid explanation of why digital is better.
You can read about it here

Ka kite ano