Photography

Award Sounds at Photoshelter Collection

Alan — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:38:56 +0100

Compact Panasonic cameras for the DSLR user

Alan — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 20:02:31 +0100

Panasonic have recently released news and specifications of a few new cameras. Two caught my eye; the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 and the Panasonic DMC FX-150.

DMC FX-150

The DMC-FX150 is the cheaper of the two and still aimed at consumers. It features a built-in flash with F2.8 Leica 28-100mm lens at 35 mm equivalent. It's headline-grabbing feature is the 14.7 megapixels, although I'm not as convinced that's appropriate on a 1/1.7" sensor. It will be interesting to see the noise results. More interesting for me is that Panasonic have put RAW back into a compact camera, and it's not even aimed at pros. I don't believe that justifies the recommended retail price, assuming a standard consumer lens. Yet kudos to Panasonic for listening and bringing RAW back, even if they are charging a lot for it.

Lumix DMC-LX3

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX3 is the higher-end of the two, again featuring RAW capture. This time there's a F2.0 24mm Leica DC Vario-Summicron lens with a 24-60mm 35 mm equivalent range. Similarly, there's an on-board flash, but this time it pops up above the camera much like flashes on compacts from 15-20 years ago. This camera has a 10.1 megapixel 1/1.63 CCD sensor.

From Panasonic:

Boldly defying the trend to cram in the most pixels possible, Panasonic limited the LX3's large 1/1.63-inch CCD to 10.1 megapixels.

Thats an interesting phrase that immediately makes me question the sense of releasing a phrase about not cramming in pixels on one camera on the same day as releasing another camera largely based on a high pixel count. Panasonic's a commercial company so has to respond to the demands of marketeers and the megapixel-race is what counts for consumers. For pros, the lens may count for more and this camera is aimed more at DSLR users who want many of the DSLR features but in a compact and more convenient size.

The DMC-LX3 also features a joystick (right now, I can't think of another compact that has one), the facility to add lens filters with an additional adaptor or another adaptor to achieve 18mm wide-angle.

No doubt about it, the DMC-LX3 is the more interesting camera and so carries a higher price-tag. But look at the DMC-LX3 and you could get a small DSLR and basic lens for the price. However you wouldn't get a F2.0 lens and that counts for a lot. Before I buy, I'd like to see results of noise across a range of ISOs, especially on the DMC FX-150 where I can imagine 14.8 megapixels creating some issue.

Both cameras are very close to what I thought I'd be looking for in user requirements for a compact camera for a DSLR user

More detailed requirements for a compact camera for a DSLR user

Alan — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 20:15:55 +0100

I'm still figuring out what I want from a compact camera. I'm aware I want more control over shots than the standard point-and-shoot and that I do not need a lot of the gimmicky features that come with newer consumer cameras. I can't believe I forgot to mention the lens in the previous article on the subject. D'oh!

List of required features

These are my must-haves. If the camera can't do all of these, then it's immediately discounted

Capture images in RAW
6 megapixel + ( I don't need 10 megapixel or more especially as the density on that size of sensor appears to negate the advantages of the greater pixel count)
Dialable (i.e. not through a menu) control over aperture and shutter speed
Aperture-priority
Self-timer
Solid tripod mount thread
Auto-focus
Manual focus or easily-selectable focus zones
Focus lock
Auto-ISO
Manual ISO
Inbuilt Flash or easily-attachable and affordable remote flash (e.g. hotshoe)
Lenses that provide for a range from 18mm-150mm. (I guess that's roughly a 35mm equivalent of 25mm-200) - This is for general usage, so I'm not looking for a fixed length prime lens.
Able to turn digital zoom off...permanently
Compatible with OS X 10.4 and 10.5
Comfortable position for holding by hand with easily accessible buttons
Limited in-camera image noise reduction and/or the ability to turn off image noise reduction

Other required features

I need to figure out what values I'm happy to work with. Once I've done that, they'll end up in the list above. The reason I've separated them out is that I'm not sure what's acceptable to me and what's possible in this range of cameras.

Decent shutter speed range
Decent aperture range
Decent shot speed
Decent time to first shoot
Decent time to repeat shoot

Potential features

These are bonus features that may sway me between choosing one camera or another assuming that all the must-have features have been confirmed.

Metal body
Histogram view
Changeable lenses
Shutter-priority (I hardly ever use this, I'm more interested in controlling Depth of Field using aperture-priority)
Video
Video with sound recording
Video with external mic input
HD Video
White balance controls for video
Shutter speed/aperture controls for video
Video to be recorded in a standard that can be exported/imported easily into 3rd party applications. Proprietary video formats from the camera manufacturer will not be acceptable

Don't care about

These features are just noise to me. They may potentially detract and move me away from choosing a particular camera, e.g. if the main buttons are given over to direct printing as opposed to useful photography-related functions

Digital zoom
Audio Captioning
Wireless
Direct printing from camera
Direct emailing from camera
Image Editing on the camera
Video Editing

Some other thoughts

I was hoping that the Sigma DP-1 would be a suitable camera but I think that there are too many negatives for me, e.g. the fixed lens, timelags and other constraints would be compromising too far.

I've also read the specs on the Panasonic Lumix and FZ/TZ range. Some interesting cameras in that, but the compacts that have the right features, have a smaller sensor size. Just can't get one camera with all the features.

Canon powershots are just ugly in my opinion. They look like a throw-back to the early days of digital consumer camera design. Maybe they are.

From a perspective of image quality, I'd be better off buying a more useful all-in-one lens for my current DSLR and accepting the size of that body and lens package. I'd have to restrict myself to one lens. Carrying a package of that size should fit nicely in a stylish messenger bag or backpack. It would mean constraining my choice of shots by the choice of kit, but does allow for more flexibility than a compact when I need it. However taking a DSLR with a 18-200mm lens takes up space and is still a lot more conspicuous than a compact camera. There's a lot to be said for having a camera that fits in your coat pocket.

Hmmm, back to a bit more research first before I decide.

I notice that Thom Hogan has the compact challenge. Looks like I'm similar to that, although I'm happier to accept a more consumer-level camera for my purposes. I acknowledge that, for what I want to do with it, a prosumer camera should be sufficient. What I don't like is the gap between consumer megapixel-count-and-feature-point-madness and the size of a full pro solution.

Current Short-List

Canon Powershot G9

Ricoh GR Digital II

Any more I should be considering?

Why new?

I've read around and noticed that a few photographers are buying discontinued cameras as their spare. Some cameras exist from a year or two ago that have many of the features. It's an option. For me though, there are still some attributes of the newer cameras that appeal, e.g. speed to first shoot, speed of writing to the memory card, type of memory card, focussing accuracy, etc. I know the speed of my 4 year old Canon Ixus. It's dead slow and the focussing can be problematic.

What now?

Now I'm off to read through DPReview.com and a few other sites to gain a better understanding of what can work for me. My guess is it'll be down to deciding between a single lens DSLR set-up and a compact which doesn't meet all requirements.

A compact camera for DSLR user

Alan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:28:05 +0100

Despite using a DSLR on a regular basis, there are still times when it's not appropriate to take one out. For instance, I don't always want to handle a camera body plus paraphernalia around with me. I miss using the simple point-and-shoot of my old Canon Ixus. That's still working, but its speed lets it down compared to today's cameras. However, having been won over by the flexibility of DSLRs, I'm going to find it hard to get back. Over the next couple of months, I'm going to have to get a new camera.

What I'd like to see is a mid-compact camera, maybe even a bridge camera that has a sensor size larger than the usual compact camera sensor size, perhaps something approaching that found in DSLRs. I also want to be able to capture in RAW format. On-board flash is useful, but not necessary.

I accept that this camera will have different duties to my Nikon DSLR. It will be the holiday camera, or the one I can put in my pocket. If the girlfriend can be comfortable using it as well, that's a bonus.

So far, I like the look of the Sigma DP-1 Compact Digital Camera. It's simple, looks durable and seems to be getting decent reviews. I need to look into it more.

Edit: I'm now against the Sigma. Looks like too many issues for me. I've had more of a think about what I want and listed my thoughts again.

Upgrade to a D300?

Alan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:54:18 +0000

There are a number of reviews about Nikon's new DSLR releases of the D3 and the D300. I like the look of D300 a lot. It's a step up the model range and a generation newer than the prosumer D80 that I've been using. I'm surprised how much the technology has moved on in such a short time, I feel I shouldn't be surprised since technology is moving quicker every day, but I am.

Macworld has a nice, simple review of the D300 providing a very quick overview.

I use the Nikon D80 and I like it. There's little not to like for cameras in its class. The main problem I've got is that I'm not comfortable with the results of images from ISOs above ISO 400. So I've tended to use very slow ISOs and retain the highest quality possible. This bugged me so much that I hardly ever use the auto-ISO feature and instead set the ISO manually to ISO100 or ISO200.

Dust is something of an issue, involving having to clean the sensors at regular intervals. I've seen the dust cleaning solutions of other cameras, but I've yet to see anything worth changing for. That is until I read Luminous Landscape's comparison of features between Canon and Nikon. I like how the author introduces the differences without fanning any flames, but still provide enough objective and subjective information for readers to make their own decisions.

The two major items of information that caught my eye in the Luminous Landscape article were the:

improved noise-levels at high ISO. I couldn't believe the quality of the image at ISO5600. That's amazing for what I've seen in low light conditions. It would open up a whole raft of other possibilities and the auto-ISO feature becomes a real feature after all.
improved sensor cleaning. The D80 isn't brilliant coping with dust. It sounds like the sensor shaking on the D300 works well. For the first time, I'm reading positive reviews on sensor cleaning from a variety of sources (doesn't mean that other systems do not work, just that I haven't come across the reviews saying they do).

How about the D3?
Well, yes it's a better camera. With the price differential between the D3 and D300, it's aimed at a different purchaser. The D300 is at a more comfortable price point for the prosumer.

What does process mapping have to do with Music, Audio, Photography and Moviemaking?

Alan — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:49:53 +0000

The Short Answer

Everything

The Longer Answer

The longer answer is that every series of actions we perform can be thought of as a process. Understanding those processes will help us improve, even as individuals, whether we're concerned with Music, Audio, Photography, Moviemaking or what have you. I'll discuss each in turn and set the scene for forthcoming articles.

A Basic Process

Making a cup of tea is a process. It's a set of actions that have to be performed in sequence so that the end result, a cup of tea, is achieved. It's quite a complex process when you look at the detail and document it fully. But it's rare that it ever gets documented to that great a level. Occupational Therapists have a test for clients where they see if their client can make a cup of tea. Sometimes, the client forgets to heat the water, other times they forget to put the tea-bag (or other flavouring) in, or forget to put any water in and so on. The number of activities that we take for granted is astronomical yet we know by habit what the sequence of those activities is.

Every process can be mapped. It will take forever and may not be beneficial, but you can map any process. The trick is in deciding which processes to focus on.

Now back to the title, let's look at process mapping and the other facets of this website.

Music and Audio

Can you remember the first time that you compared your home-grown track against a commercial CD? It was quiet, probably very quiet. You may then have learned that you needed to get your tracks mastered. You may have also learned about dynamic compression and if you're still lucky, you treated it with awe as opposed to applying it everywhere and anywhere.

Mastering is a process. Some of the process steps are applying equalisation, manipulating stereo imaging, applying reverb and applying compression.

If you do this on the cheap at home rather than send tracks out to a mastering engineer, you're then into having to dither tracks yourself as well. Similar to the revelation you experienced with the quiet home-grown track, you'll have probably encountered that distortion resulting from when you reduce the bit-depth without dithering.

Where am I going with this?

There's a process in there. For every track, I follow the same process. Think about that. "For every track, I follow the same process."

If I can automate any tasks, I'll improve my situation greatly. Some of the benefits of automating regular tasks:

Save time
Reduce chance of error compared to manually performing the same tasks
Ability to process changes in batch
Ability to schedule changes
Ability to trigger changes based on events (e.g. inserting a card into a card reader)
Achieve consistency in results.

Learning

More important for me is that I can compare my process against that of others and learn from it. It may be that I learn I'm happier with my process than what others are doing, but at least I've decided on keeping my process. I'll go into that process in a bit more depth in a later article.

Music and Audio Recording

What are the steps to recording a track?

Choosing a suitable room, deciding where the musicians will stand, configuring portable acoustic treatments, laying out the microphones and cable, connecting to the recording equipment and so on. All fits into a process.

Look at most questions by recording newbies along the lines of "what's the best way of recording instrument x". They're looking for a description of the process, even though they may not know it. What the more advanced engineer knows is that the key to a lot of the questions is knowing the how the results from the basic processes sound and then figuring out a good solution from there. That solution may include changing the basic process to meet the client's artistic aims. The article on comparing how different pros recorded guitars provides great insight into this area (article is available to subscribers only at the time of writing this article, although I think it's released months after the publication date).

Photography

Digital Photography software is ripe with workflow. It's one of the few subject areas where I've really seen some real progress in workflow and implementing processes that can be used on a regular basis. Some make use of the operating system's specific automation features, e.g. OS X's automator andscript tools are great for this purpose.

Setting up a shoot is a process. Deciding on studio, lighting, props, models, camera bodies, lenses, positions, aperture, etc. All part of a process. On the other side, if you're hiring out studio space to photographers, you probably go through a process, including processing payment, booking and even the clear-up after the shoot. The more you know about your process, the more flexible you can be to client demands without undercharging them.

As a photographer, you shoot out in the field/on location, bring the images back to a computer. Do you:

Wrap-up

In the above text, there are a lot of questions. Largely rhetorical from my point of view. They're present to make us think about how we perform our activities. By analysing the process - or more plainly, just by thinking through the actions that we perform - we can improve how we work.

In the next few related articles, I'll pick up the specific topics and discuss them in more detail. I'll also publish my processes and workflows.

I've started a series on the Fundamentals of Process Mapping for a wider audience but still useful as background to this article.

A Handful of Good Photography Books

Alan — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 16:12:48 +0000

I don't like a lot of photography books, but there are a couple of gems out there.

The Rant

I find the majority of photography books way too simple. I can't think of another subject domain that has as many basic guides written for the adult reader. Even basic cookery books have more advanced content than the basic photography books. Yet photography is an area where there's a plethora of "how to use your new digital camera". The better ones explain more about aperture, shutterspeed, depth of field, etc which generally aren't foremost on the users' minds when they've got their compact camera out. I think it's to do with the fact that it has been a blossoming market for the last couple of years as people rediscover their old talents or discover photography for the first time, especially as small compact cameras have become a consumer standard. Add to that the fact that it's easy to grasp the basics, then you end up with a lot of books designed for the first-time user. Sadly many readers would do better with their camera manual rather than buying yet another basic book which covers much the same information.

The second type of book details photography software and how to use it. They don't always specify that on the front cover, but you quickly realise that case when you delve inside. If you're not used to the software, then you could be thinking that you've picked a book on the wrong subject. In a way, maybe you have in that case, but the gap shouldn't be as far as it seems. A problem with this type of book is that they quickly become out of date as the software is updated.

The third type is the photographer collection and albums. These are great for inspiration, but some fall short and end up being just a bunch of pictures. Fine in their own right, but provide little to learn from.

So where do you go from there?

I'd recommend looking in second-hand bookshops for a used photography book. If you can get the Adams' books mentioned below, then great, but they hardly ever appear second-hand. Even the large photography books from the 70s and 80s are still useful. The photo examples will appear tinted and/or faded compared to today's high-colour glossy images and a lot of the style will also be old compared to today. However a lot of the techniques for composition, use of depth-of-field, soft-focussing, etc, etc will still be valid. What they will miss out on is the advances in the digital era. However a lot that applies to film can be applied to digital, even a basic understanding of film-speed settings is relevant.

My guess is that decent bookshops are weighted towards the lower end of the market with:

50% "how to use your new digital camera"
10% hints, e.g of the type that have 101 ways to improve your camera technique and so on
10% "how to use your software"
20% collections
10% more advanced techniques. And there are only a few of those advanced techniques relevant to the improving user.

The books I like

So far, I've only found a handful of books I like.

I'd bought two of Martin Freeman's books without realising they were both by him. To be honest, I hadn't looked at the author's name, I picked the books based solely on a quick look at content.

The first book is Black and White: The Definitive Guide for Serious Digital Photographers

It's a bit heavy on the software side for my liking, but being pragmatic, I can't see a way that you can discuss this subject area without referring to the post-processing options now offered by software. It does assume a basic familiarity with Photoshop if you're going to follow the examples. I find that Lightroom is sufficient for the majority of my processing, so I had to bear in mind which features were and were not present in that application. Even so, I still found it a useful read. From the non-software point of view, the author provides good examples of what to look for when shooting. From the software perspective, the author discusses several methods for turning a colour photo to black and white, complete with the pros and cons of each. Despite it's size, the book is a very quick read, yet still full of information.

The other book is The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos and one of its best features for me is that it focusses on the thought that goes into getting the right image. The digital nature of modern photography takes second place. That's a good thing in my opinion. there are enough books about digital photography and how to use the software that what's been missing is one about why we use the cameras in the first place.

The author presents examples and analyses them. It's a great way to expand your knowledge about this critical area. Even taking a chapter at a time will result in plenty of new ideas for you to try.

Ansel Adams

It'd be difficult to talk about photography without mentioning Ansel Adams. Apart from creating classic images and being very influential in the field even after his death, he also wrote a number of books, most accessible of which are:

Your mileage will vary with these books depending on how much you're interested in the mechanics and internals of the camera, the processing routines used on negatives and the zones system. But wherever you come from, they provide a good grounding in photography and many of the features are still translatable into digital photography. I'd suggest you try to have a look at the content of each before buying or at least read some reviews.

Lightroom

I've been using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for a while now. The printed manual that comes with it is basic and shows the functions, but not why. Most of them are easy to understand if you understand the principles behind them. The electronic guide is more useful but still lacks. I bought The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers to further my understanding of the application rather than photography. It's a well-written book and I do recommend it if you use the software. My main gripe is that the book version I have is for Lightroom 1.0 whereas Lightroom 1.1 added many new features. Don't underestimate the number of features added in 1.1. It was a massive change. And now we're further on than that.

The book includes a code to download a substantial update to the book as a pdf from the publisher's site. It has to be substantial due to the number of changes in the application. It now makes it awkward to use and I'm left with the question, do I use the update or the hardcopy when I want to check something?

"Black and White: The Definitive Guide for Serious Digital Photographers (Digital Photography Expert)" (Michael Freeman)

"The Photographer's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Digital Photos" (Michael Freeman)

"The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers" (Martin Evening)

"The Negative (New Photo)" (Ansel Adams)

"The Camera (New Photo)" (Ansel Adams)

"The Print (New Photo)" (Ansel Adams)

blueMarine updated

Alan — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:59:43 +0000

It's been a while since I checked up on how blueMarine was doing. I liked what it was intending to do, but I had the feeling that it wasn't aiming in the direction that I was looking for. Looking at it now, it seems like it will be a good open-source replacement for the standard photo management part of iPhoto.

It won't replace iPhoto completely since that has a lot of iLife integration. However, I've never had cause to use any of that integration. I don't have a .mac account, it's just never appealed to me, seeming too restrictive for what I want. I much prefer taking best-of-breed components and integrating them. The benefits of each component's power usually outweighs the bundled, but limited approach.

blueMarine appears to be taking a route to start in the Digital Asset Management domain and add extra functionality by way of plug-ins. The last time I'd tried it, it wouldn't do anything for me that iPhoto didn't do. Anyway, I purchased Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom so I could finish my images as I wanted to see them. I'm now seriously toying with the idea of playing around with blueMarine a bit more even if only to submit a few errors (assuming I find any). From what I cn see, it's been a slow development, but I can't blame anyone since I didn't get involved. As with any open-source application, it'll only get somewhere if people want it to and if they (i.e. we) put effort into it. I'm also considering using a spare, but old desktop as the front-end for simple video editing. That would probably be on Ubuntu (maybe Ubuntu Studio, but not necessarily). blueMarine could be useful for that installation.

From blueMarine's site
blueMarine foundation is very similar to existing applications such as Adobe Lightroom or Apple Aperture: a photo browser, which can be explored in different ways (by folder, by calendar, by tags, by galleries). This is just a core upon which different modules can be plugged in. The aim of blueMarine is to fully support the photographic workflow, even before the photo shoot (for instance, trip planning supported by maps) and beyond print or archival. For instance, an ornithologist usually manages field notes about the bird observed and photographed: directly binding them to photos and maybe GPS positioning data is much better than keeping a separate Excel sheet

There's a good page on how to get involved.

And a good set of instructions for getting started

Crumpler Warm Shower Review

Alan — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:09:01 +0000

I thought it worth giving a review of the Crumpler Warm Shower now that I've owned and used it for a few weeks.

Simply, it's a rucksack/backpack that has compartments for camera kit, a laptop and other goodies as well.

It sits nicely on my back. The bag is padded with sufficient space to allow airflow. The straps are a step above the quality that I'm used to. One of the main points about all the Crumpler bags I've come across is the amount of small touches that make them nice to use. In this case, there are small clips to hold the remaining part of the shoulder strap and stop it flapping about.

What's missing for me is a strap around the waist. I knew that before I bought the bag, but thought I wouldn't notice it much. What it does mean is that you have to set the shoulder straps exactly right (i.e. both the same length). If one is a centimetre or two longer than the other, then the bag will rest lopsided. More so than any other bag I've used. However, get them level (easy enough to do) and it will sit straight.

When walking, the bottom of the bag will rub very lightly left-to-right across the lower bag. Not uncomfortable but after a short distance, the noise of the rubbing can become annoying.

I've recently been on a 3 hour flight to Spain. In the bag, I was able to comfortably put:

- Nikon D80 with attached 28-70mm lens

- 70-300mm lens

- MacBook

- Power adaptor for laptop

- Charger for D80 battery

- Phrase Book (my Spanish is not good enough to cope alone)

- Book

- Bottle of Water

- Passport, etc

- Various other little items

The bag fits within the Department of Transport's cabin luggage guidelines. Not all airlines allow passengers full size cabin baggage. I was fortunate, my carrier did.

The bag also fits under the seat. It's a tight fit and doesn't allow for much legroom afterwards but I was able to comfortably survive a 2-and-a-half hour flight.

On the outside, the bag looks good. It doesn't look like a camera bag, nor a laptop bag. It looks like a decent, fashionable backpack. It extends a bit too far from my back for my liking.

Inside, the bag is split into three main compartments. The lower part takes a SLR/DSLR body plus 2-3 lens. In my case it's the DLSR with lens, plus a blower and another lens. The dividers are securely velcroed, allowing you to change the shape of the individual compartments. It's great for storing the kit, but not very good for providing easy access to it. I like how I can put the camera it and carry it around. I don't like the rigmarole of getting the bag off my back, onto the floor (depends how muddy the floor is), open the compartment, struggle to get the camera out. It could be easier by storing the body and lens separately, but then I'd have to fit them together every time I wanted to take a photo.

The next compartment up stores pens, books, paper, gloves (for those cold tripod legs). It's an odd shape, with a flat back and a bulging front. I found that I could get a lot in here, more than I thought at first, but that it wasn't very easy to get things in and out quickly.

Between these two compartments, there's a divider that can be remove, as can the dividers for the camera compartment. This then allows the bag to be a more usual backpack.

On the outside, just above the camera compartment, there is another section with webbing. Good for holding media, card readers and other relatively flat items. You can actually store bulkier items in here, but they'd eat into the space in the main compartment, making that a more awkward shape.

Behind all the above compartments, running the length of the bag is a separate padded compartment for the laptop. This fits a MacBook perfectly.

With all the kit in as mentioned above, the bag comes to between 8kg and 9kg. That was enough to notice when carrying it by the sturdy handle. But put it on your back and it's a comfortable fit.

Security is becoming more of an issue. I don't like the fact that someone can open a bag on my back and I can't see anything about it. Imagine standing waiting to cross a road, backpacks can make a good target. Fortunately, the Crumpler bag has zip tags that are hidden from casual view. The zip lines are also hidden by the change in colour across the bag. All zips were easier to open if you knew where to look, but could still take some fumbling. It was a good compromise between access and security.

There are two side pockets, big enough for a small mp3 player, quick change for a memory card, chewing gum. There's not much room, not enough for a wallet. Unlike a lot of bags, there was no separate compartment for a drinks bottle.

Points I liked:

- The fit of the laptop

- The compartment and dividers for the camera kit

- The straps

- The overall design

- The comfort

- Cabin luggage sized

Points that could be improved:

- Access to the camera compartment

- The bulk sticking out the back

- A tripod holder

- A separate water bottle compartment

- Bigger side compartments

- Remove the mesh compartments and allow more usable space in the main compartment

- Addition of a waist-strap

Overall, a great bag for carrying equipment to a location. Even better if you use it as a laptop bag and only use the camera part every so often. Not so good for day-to-day camera bag when you need quick access to the camera.

More details of the bag at crumpler.co.uk

Tethered Shooting with Nikon D80 in Lightroom

Alan — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:18:33 +0000

It is possible to trigger the shutter from the computer and import the photo directly into Lightroom.

Background:

Once again I find that using a Nikon creates some issues when trying to use the camera in a tethered fashion with OS X. Mainly because I haven't bought the Nikon software to control the camera. I switched from using iPhoto to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom for managing and light editing of my images. It's one of the better moves I've made in my life. This works in OS X because of the Automator actions. No idea how it would work on a PC.

Solution:

1) Create a folder in your Pictures folder. I called mine ImportD80 so it's obvious to me.

2) Launch Lightroom and on the File Menu, click Auto Import Settings. Decide on what you want to do with the imported files here. Specifically ensure that the watched folder is the folder you selected above (ImportD80 for me).

3) Launch Automator (you'll find it in Applications).
Look for Image Capture in the left-hand pane. Drag Take Picture to the right-hand pane. Decide if you want to have the image deleted from the camera. Up to you, I do. Ensure that in Options that the action doesn't display otherwise it will interrupt you every time you take a photo.

4) Look for Finder in the left-hand pane. Drag Move Finder Items to the right underneath Take Picture. The two actions should connect with Files/Folders showing. Choose the folder you selected earlier (ImportD80 as earlier).

You should be able to use the workflow straight away. To make it more usable, we'll add it to the Dock.

5) Save the workflow as an application using the Save As command.

6) Drag the newly created application (you may have to find it in Applications or wherever you saved it) to the Dock and you can click it from there

7) Ensure that your camera's USB setting is set to PTP.

Why did I do it this way?

Simply I couldn't find any other way of doing it. I'd hoped that Image Capture would work but it just wouldn't put the files where I wanted them to go; they always went to Pictures despite what I had in my preferences and Device preferences.

I still don't like the idea of moving a file from camera to Pictures to Import D80 to wherever I've asked Lightroom to put it. Seems messy. It works. If I get fed up with it, I may look at it further or maybe it's time to spend some money and buy the Nikon software.

Again, this doesn't allow me to control the camera from the MacBook other than triggering the shutter.