Getting that syncing feeling

I can’t resist a gadget or a nifty technical solution. If it beeps and has lots of buttons then I’m pretty much already sold. A hefty, technical manual is a bonus although clearly, as a man, the very last thing I would ever do is read it. If it syncs information across multiple applications and various devices then I’m even happier.

Occasionally I have to remind myself that gadgets are supposed to make life simpler, not more complicated, and I sometimes have to take myself to one side for a quiet talking to when managing the syncing obsession threatens to overwhelm the prospect of actually getting some work done.

I’ve concluded that my Moleskine Diary/Notebook is probably all I really need to record appointments, addresses and memos but really, where’s the fun in that? The Moleskine is a classic and it’s nice to actually use a pen and paper occasionally but, despite extensive searching, I’ve not been able to locate its battery compartment and the USB port remains stubbornly hidden so I’ve been unable to sync it with anything at all. Very disappointing.

I’ve been using the WorldMate Live service for several months now and this sates my syncing hunger much more effectively. WorldMate Live is basically an online library into which you load your travel itineraries; flights, hotels, car hire etc. It makes the process of uploading information really straightforward. When I book a flight or hire a car online I’ll inevitably get a confirmation e-mail. I simply forward this to a generic WorldMate e-mail address and, providing the details are in a recognisable format, WorldMate automatically adds the itinerary to my account.

So, for example, I recently altered the date of a flight from Bangkok to Heathrow and received an e-ticket from the airline. I forwarded this to WorldMate, which picked up the details and completed the information, telling me the date and time of the flight, the terminal number, my reserved seat number, the fact that I’ll be flying on a Boeing 747, that I’ve requested the chicken tandoori meal option and that the man in the seat next to mine will be an retired chemistry teacher with a bladder condition that forces him to interrupt my sleep thirteen times during the night as he heads for the loo.

OK, one of the above was invented for comic effect. I’m actually a vegetarian.

Now here’s the really clever bit. Once WorldMate has the flight, hotel, car hire or meeting details it can sync them across multiple platforms. I use a BlackBerry , which has the free WorldMate client installed and this picks up the itinerary details from the web, setting alarms to remind me that I have a flight in six hours and that I really ought to have started packing by now. The BlackBerry syncs the itinerary details with my calendar, which automatically syncs with my Notebook computer’s calendar. That’s enough for me but if your syncing addiction is more advanced than mine then your local calendar can sync with something like Google’s online calendar, which your friends and relatives can sync with and pretty soon the whole world will know your travel plans. Just imagine how many people will come to meet you at the airport.

Am I being too lighthearted? I blame the festive season for the onset of this uncustomary jollity and know that you expect more sober musings from me so I’ll hunker down for the rest of the post.

The benefits of a service like WorldMate is that my only input is to forward the confirmation e-mail that I receive from the airline. Actually, I’ve set up automatic forwarding of any e-mails from Thai Airways, Eva Air, Asia Air and other airlines so I don’t even need to do that. Because the itineraries are automatically taken from what I guess is the central airline reservation database (Amadeus?), there’s no chance of me confusing dates, mixing up “am” and “pm” times or assuming that I’m departing from one airport when I should actually be checking-in across town.

The BlackBerry client also includes weather forecasts, currency conversions, time zones and, if you pay for the upgrade, flight schedules and live flight status updates. I assume the iPhone version is even groovier. It’s a solution that requires very little work on my behalf but which keeps my travel plans up to date and available to me wherever I am. If my plans change when I’m on the road then I alter the details on the BlackBerry, which feeds the changes back to the World Mate database.

Whilst we’re talking about gadgets and gizmos that simplify the process of managing information, are there any other nifty solutions that you’d recommend? There’s a special prize for the first person to tell me how to sync my WorldMate database with my Moleskine.

Independent User Review: Canon EOS 5D MKII

My good friend and fellow professional photographer Barry Mann is the proud new owner of a Canon EOS 5D MKII and has kindly given his first impressions of the new camera.

Barry runs a commercial and low-level aerial photography business in the UK and is also an accomplished travel photographer in his spare time (check out his images of Lesotho). He’s also, for the record, a thoroughly nice bloke.

Photographers who insist upon playing “mine’s bigger than yours” blanch when they see Barry turn up in his customised Mercedes van with its 22 metre mast on the roof.

As a working photographer, quality is crucial to Barry so I was keen to see how he felt the 5D MKII performed. Read on…

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Barry’s review of the Canon EOS 5D MKII

As the owner and user of two of the original Canon 5D cameras, I had been following the launch of the long awaited 5D Mk2 with great interest.  If Canon had the ability to improve upon the original with upgraded features, I for one was keen to get my hands on one, even more so after reading the initial pre-production model reviews.

Having decided to take the plunge and put my name on a waiting list, my new camera finally arrived last Friday.  A week later I’ve had a few opportunities to work with it and test out some of the key features.

Since I know a lot of people out there are desperate to know whether it is worth the hefty £2,300 price tag, here are my first impressions of the 5D Mk2

Look and feel

The 5D Mk2 feels more robust than the original, although size and weight are actually very similar, no doubt it’s the magnesium alloy coating which gives this feel.  One thing I have found strange though has been shooting without a battery grip.  I find with the 5D that this gives better balance and flexibility so I am looking forward to receiving this in due course.  I am not sure why this, along with spare batteries, could not have been made available at the same time the camera itself was shipped.  No doubt Canon’s desire to get their camera into the market place before Christmas played a part in this.

The 3” display on the back of camera is fantastic, providing crisp bright detailed images & an enhanced selection of information regarding the image.  An automatic light meter adjusts the brightness of the display based on the ambient lighting conditions and this is a great help in checking images in bright conditions.

Another noticeable improvement is the brightness of the viewfinder and the inclusion of the battery status and ISO speed within it is a definite plus.

Menus

Now very much like its bigger brother’s the menu system is easy to navigate and I have very quickly adjusted to the different menu screens and settings.

One addition I personally like is the ability to turn off the 1/3 increments in the ISO settings, allowing me to only use 100, 200, 400 etc, which saves time rather than scrolling through the intermediate ISO settings that I never use.

There are many other custom function enhancements and no doubt I will get a chance to test these in due course.

ISO Settings

Much has been said about the improved ISO settings of the 5D Mk2.  Having carried out some initial testing I can say that the noise levels at higher ISO settings are much improved.  Without the RAW converter in Lightroom being updated to include the 5D Mk2 Camera RAW files I have so far been limited to looking at the JPEG files but a quick comparison of these in low light conditions have been impressive.

If you look at the sample images, which incidentally have had no form of noise reduction at all, I think you are gaining around two stops.  Previously 800 would have been the limit I would use, but now I think 3200 looks like it could be acceptable.  Great for shooting without flash inside which I would imagine would be a great benefit to wedding photographers.

Would I use the higher expanded ISO settings?  Probably not, although I will have another look at them once the Camera RAW files are updated in Lightroom to include the 5D Mk2 and see what noise reduction software does to them.

Image size and quality

This was another of the big selling points for me.  A 21mp camera producing files large enough for provision straight to image libraries.  This will save the need for any upsizing of images and a quick conversion of some of those taken so far shows that it is giving 60mb tiff files well above 48-50mb required at the moment by image libraries.

As mentioned above, my initial reviews I have been of jpeg images as Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software just doesn’t do it for me.  I am quite happy to wait until Lightroom is upgraded to take a look at the RAW files.  JPEG images do appear quite contrasty even though I have been shooting in faithful mode, with no colour, sharpening or contrast adjustments in-camera.  This may of course be more down to the subjects and conditions though and as is the way with Canon DSLRs, images do appear a touch soft and require some sharpening.

A small selection of images captured with the 5D Mk2 can be seen below with additional images at http://www.barrymannphotography.com/5dmk2.html.

Automatic Sensor Cleaning

I thought this was one area that was going to be a vast improvement over the original 5D and it may yet prove to be but, having used the camera for a week, there are already dust spots which are not removed when the automatic sensor cleaning takes place.  Maybe I was expecting miracles here and I have to admit to it being rather windy when I was out shooting on a couple of days but as far as I am concerned the jury is definitely still out here.

Remote capture & Live View

I currently do a lot of remote shooting, using the Canon software to capture images directly on to my laptop, usually with the camera sat on top of a 22m mast!  Now I know this won’t be relevant to many people but the additional flexibility of the new Canon EOS Utility capture software puts it streets ahead of that provided with the original 5D.  Even with the increased file sizes, downloads from camera to computer are fast.

The Live View option is also an interesting addition, not high on my wish list but when it comes to architectural photography and even remote shooting, this could provide additional help in checking the focus of images from front to back.  I am certainly looking forward to testing this out in more detail and seeing how this works with Canon’s TSE lenses.

Autofocus

I haven’t noticed any initial problems with the focusing, although a thorough technical examination hasn’t been done yet.  I did manage a quick visit to the local railway station and tested it out on a couple of trains approaching at 90mph.  The results were good, tracking the approaching train pretty well, as you can see from the examples below.

Video

I have to admit that I would have bought the 5D Mk2 with or without the HD video capability and up until now haven’t really been too bothered about the extra feature.  Yes, I have seen the fantastic quality videos produced by Vincent Laforet, amongst others, but I am not a film maker I am a photographer.

Having said that, after having had a very quick dabble using the Live View movie mode, I am actually really excited by this feature, so much so I have already been thinking of ways in which it can be used and can’t wait to get out there and test it further.

Issues

Apart from the sensor cleaning mentioned above, only a couple of things and neither relate to the camera itself.

First, the fact that Canon was so desperate to get the camera to market that they did so before any accessories were available. So if you are planning a long shoot or using the Live view mode regularly this could present problems.  I am hoping it won’t be long before these are available though.

The second is the fact that Adobe are forcing users of CS3 to upgrade to CS4 by not updating the Camera RAW files in CS3 to include the 5D Mk2 RAW files.  Not a problem for me as I process all my images through Lightroom and as I understand it the upgraded version of Lightroom, version 2.2, is due out in December which will include the new 5D Mk2 files.  The problem is more for some of my clients who take the straight RAW files and process them in Photoshop.  They will be forced into upgrading or will have to accept jpeg files instead which are less flexible.

Conclusion

So would I recommend the camera to those who can afford it?  Well the answer is unequivocally yes I would.  After my brief period of usage the 5D Mk2 looks like it will take image capture to the next level and personally, I am looking forward to working with it in new and creative ways.

I would say however that the original 5D is still a great camera and I will continue to use mine alongside the new one.  No doubt there will be some fantastic deals on new and second hand 5D cameras out there as people trade up and these may well be worth considering.

Barry Mann

(This review is also available on Barry’s web site)

All text and images contained within this article are © Copyright Barry Mann Photography 2008 and may only be reproduced with permission.

Full technical specifications for the Canon EOS 5D MKII can be found on the Canon web site.

Photographer’s back-up strategy

Murphy’s Law states “If it can go wrong, it will“. Gough’s Law adds that “If it can go wrong, it will, and at the worst possible time“.

I shan’t labour the necessity of back-ups because most photographers are probably already acutely aware of the need to have some redundancy built-in to their workflow. However, if you’re not already on top of your back-ups then I hope this post might offer some pointers.

My own workflow has evolved over a number of years yet the crucial elements of my back-up strategy have remained constant. I know from experience that my workflow needs to include steps to create back-ups that are:

• Reliable
• Robust
• Regular

This post will discuss the particular workflow I use and I apologise to PC users as some of the solutions I talk about may be Mac only. If anybody knows PC-alternatives to the Mac solutions, please leave details in the comments.

Testing

Perhaps the best way to identify potential flaws in your own back-up system is to simulate a disaster and to temporarily lose your current back-up devices or media one-by-one and then see how quickly you can return to a normal working state without them. If you back-up to CD, what happens if you lose that CD? Do you have another source for those files? CDs are notoriously fragile and may well be the least robust storage method. What happens if you switch off an external hard-drive? Do you have another drive with those files in place? What happens if your computer grinds to a halt one morning? Do you have a replacement to hand or a means of quickly getting one? What about the files stored on the internal hard-drive? If that’s well and truly fried, which happens more often than you might imagine, how will you replace those files?

The problem with back-ups is that the first time we pay real attention to them might be when we’re trying to recover important files, by which time the opportunity to create some redundancy has long since passed. Unfortunately, the one and only thing we can be absolutely sure of is that every CD, DVD, hard drive and storage device will fail sooner or later, taking your treasured images with them if you haven’t planned for the inevitable.

Principles

When working out my back-up strategy, I wanted to achieve a set up that would give me lots of redundancy options for image files and also allow me to keep interruptions to an absolute minimum if a storage device failed. I needed to:

• Have geographically independent back-ups of my original RAW files, the equivalent of my “negatives”.
• Keep downtime to a minimum if a device holding my working (DNG) files was to fail
• Have online versions of image files, completely independent from my own operation
• Have complete, bootable copies of my computer operating system

Workflow

This is my workflow, step-by-step. The flowchart above will help you follow the process (opens in a new tab/window).

1. Shoot RAW
   My CF cards are numbered and used sequentially. I don’t format until the card is in the camera so that the RAW files remain intact for as long as possible. I use cards sequentially because it appeals to my sense of order but also so that I can identify persistently troublesome cards.
2. Back-up CF cards to 250Gb Hyperdrive Colorspace O in the field
   I stick my CF cards into the Hyperdrive almost as soon as they come out of the camera and leave it in my bag, backing-up one card as I fill the next. It’s a quick and easy way to create an immediate back-up when I’m working. The Hyperdrive has worked well but I find it a little clunky to navigate. If I was buying again I would probably go for a device without a screen display. I rarely view pictures on the Hyperdrive and some of the Jobo devices are smaller, lighter and would probably suit my needs more effectively.
3. Import to Lightroom, creating DNG files and backing-up RAW
   I use Lightroom’s Import dialogue to create DNG files and to back-up RAW files. Even this early on in my workflow I already have four copies of each file, three RAW and one DNG.
   I use Freecom Tough Drives when I’m travelling. They’re encased in tough rubber, have shock-resistant casing around the drive and come with a built-in USB connection.
   Back in the office, I have two LaCie 500Gb drives that are set up in a RAID 1 array. Wikipedia will explain RAID arrays better than I can but basically, RAID 1 works by mirroring one drive to the other. I see the pair as a single drive, reading from and writing to them as a single unit. However, if one fails then I can continue working on the other until the faulty drive is replaced, at which point the mirrored array is automatically re-built. Because I’m effectively using two hard-drives as one, software can read and write much more quickly as it has access to two spinning drives containing identical information. On a Firewire 800 daisy-chain connection, these drives are Billy Whizz!
4. Upload JPEGs to Photoshelter
   When I’ve finished processing files in Lightroom/Photoshop, I upload full-size, high-quality JPEGs to my Photoshelter account. There’s obviously a great advantage in having files off-site and Photoshelter have their own, geographically independent, back-ups in place. The other great advantage of Photoshelter is that I can grant my clients access to files from anywhere in the world and never need to have the physical files with me. I can even access the account through my BlackBerry and have given immediate access to hi-res files from the back of a taxi and, on one occasion, from a boat in the middle of a lake in Cumbria. This is what I like to call “leveraging the technology”.

   Photoshelter also lets me transfer files to my own ISP account using their own, high-bandwidth connection. I upload the JPEGs to Photoshelter, where I have a 1 terrabyte account, and then automatically forward copies to an archive on my own web service. Should Photoshelter ever do a Digital Railroad and shut-down in a matter of days, I won’t need to panic as I have duplicates of all those hi-res files already online.

5. Archive RAW files
   When I’ve finished processing, I’ll archive my original RAW files onto two DVDs, which are then stored in different locations.

Because the smaller external hard drives, including the 250Gb Hyperdrive will inevitably fill up one day, I treat those as temporary storage solutions and consider the following to be my permanent files:

• Original RAW - Duplicate DVDs
• DNG (with original RAW and metadata embedded) - RAID 1 drives
• Hi-res JPEGs (with embedded metadata) - Photoshelter and my ISP

Operating System and System Files

As well as making sure that your image files are backed-up in a robust manner, you’ll also want to make sure that you can recover from a system failure with the minimum of fuss. If your computer starts to choke then you need to have the digital equivalent of the Heimlich Manoeuver ready to put into action.

Apple’s Time Machine solution is terrific in my opinion. I’ve attached a 500Gb drive and this is devoted to Time Machine back-ups. It’s nearly filling up now but I have pretty much every version of every file I’ve worked on since Feb ‘08. The ability to go back in time and to recover old files has proved to be invaluable and given that Time Machine works effortlessly in the background, I’d recommend it to all Mac users.

Shirt Pocket’s SuperDuper software is just that: Super Duper. It gives you a fully-bootable backup of your Mac system. So, should the worst happen and you computer fails to boot properly or develops a software-induced fault, you simply plug-in your SuperDuper drive, hold down the [alt] key as the computer starts-up and it can be prompted to boot from the SuperDuper drive. Genius! There’s a free trial download available so get it, install and run it today. It might just save your life!

The other great advantage of SuperDuper is that is creates an easily accessible clone of your entire system. Because it will now work seamlessly with Time Machine, I have been able to partition a large LaCie Rugged Drive into three. One partition carries my SuperDuper backup, one carries my Time Machine backups and the third carries original versions of vital software, like Lightrom and Photoshop. I can carry this with me on trips and have a portable yet comprehensive back-up solution in my bag.

Expect the unexpected

With Murphy’s Law in mind, we know that every piece of kit we have is likely to fail at some time. Luckily, a little bit of planning can save an awful lot of hassle further down the line and I really recommend that you take a quick look at your back-up practices and try to identify potentially fragile areas. All of these solutions are inexpensive and reasonably quick to implement so there’s really no excuse for not doing having a robust system in place by Monday morning.

Lastly, check your insurance policy. Are your drives and CDs covered under your Home Insurance? Will your policy provide replacements or cover the cost of potentially expensive data recovery exercises. If you’re a professional and have a pro policy, will it reimburse you for any interruptions to your business caused by data loss? Will it cover the costs of replacement gear and pay you for your time as you set up a new system?

The subject of system and image back-ups is not, let’s be honest, the most rivetting one in the world and coming, as I do, from a world of Risk Assessments and Disaster Recovery exercises it’s not a topic that I want to dwell on. Yet, crucially, it’s something that can quickly be taken care of and the investment of a small amount of time and money now will, I promise, save you a whole load of time, expense and heartache further down the road. Now at least if you lose all your hard work you won’t be able to say that I didn’t warn you.

Tutorial: Adding GPS geodata to your image files with Lightroom and HoudahGeo

Geodata is location specific information that can help identify exactly where your images were taken. It is becoming increasingly important as image libraries and image buyers seek to identify specific locations and the inclusion of accurate geodata can enhance the perceived value of your images.

Especially important to travel photographers who shoot in a variety of locations in quick succession, geocoding is going to become a standard requirement in the very near future. Indeed, it already is for certain agencies.

This tutorial illustrates my own geocoding techniques involving a GPS device, Lightroom and a Mac application called HoudahGeo.

I also show how you can open up the hidden link between Lightroom and Google Maps and explain how to create a visual diary of your photo expeditions in Google Earth.

Geocoding Tutorial

Digital Railroad to shut up shop

I’m sorry to hear the news that Digital Railroad looks set to close.

I first heard about Digital Railroad in New York in 2005 and was fortunate to meet with founder Evan Nisselson briefly before he gave a promotional talk at the Apple Store there. He struck me as a guy who would lead the company onto great things and I admired their philosophy.

However, it seems curious to me how they could have spent tens of millions of dollars in investment capital so quickly and not managed to make the company profitable. But that’s all way above my pay grade.

The only consolation for Digital Railroad users is that Photoshelter, their main competitor, is offering a discounted membership for those left out in the cold if and when Digital Railroad closes.

Why do photographers need a web site?

Following on from the introduction to Mitchell Kanashkevich’s new blog (below), Andrew Gibson has written a list of 11 reasons every photographer needs a website or blog.

Andrew will be following up this article with more information about web sites that will be useful reading to any photographers who would like to create an online presence.

Andrew’s site: Magical Places Fine Art, has become another valuable resource, hosting articles and photographer interviews that I know you’ll find interesting.

Lightroom 2.1 brings performance improvements

Adobe have released version 2.1 of Lightroom and with it come a number of enhancements.

As well as support for several new cameras, including the Canon 100D (Rebel XS) and Canon 50D and a few bug fixes there are claimed improvements in performance in the Library and Develop modules.

Adobe claim to have fixed memory leaks and improved rendering speeds and from my first look I’d say that there are small but noticeable improvements. The brush and gradient tools did occasionally put glue in the works but rendering seems a little smoother now. I’ve also noticed that the number count for smart folders updates more quickly and accurately than in version 2.0

There are also improvements to keywording and importing version 1.4 catalogs will now see keywords imported accurately, something it would have been nice to have seen in version 2.0.

The improvements seem to be working and I haven’t noticed any problems with the upgrade so if you’re a Lightroom user, head over to the Adobe upgrade page.

Vincent Laforet offers first 5D MKII video

Vincent Laforet has posted a video shot exclusively with a prototype of the new Canon EOS 5D MKII.

He has nothing but praise for the camera’s video capabilities and suggests that the new 5D will be a “game changing” camera.

I don’t know, I love the idea of shooting video and Laforet gives us a glamorous offering but we all know that the 5D is more likely to be used to make wobbly recordings of new-born babies and kids’ birthday parties than it is to shoot a man in a helicopter at night wearing sunglasses and clutching a rather limp bunch of flowers.

Canon EOS 5D II and Powershot G10

In the race to be the first to bring you a picture of the new Canon EOS 5D MKII, I win. Almost. The 5D replacement specs are as follows:

21.1 Megapixel, full-frame CMOS
Full HD video at 1920 x 1080
DIGIC 4
3.9 fps
Live View
3” LCD
EOS Cleaning system

Check out the dpreview article on the new release. The EOS 5D II is expected to start shipping at the end of November and will be about £1500 in the UK I expect.

UPDATE
List price for the 5D MKII is $2699 in the US, that’s £1512 at today’s exchange rate.
List price for the 5D MKII is £2299 in the UK

Those figures again? £1512 in the US, £2299 in the UK.

Seriously? Who are they trying to kid? We are being stiffed. Stiffed, I tell you.

A United Airlines return flight from London to New York is £302 today. And when you get to NY you can do all your Christmas shopping, pick up your 5D and still have got a better deal than you’d get at home. And as you board the plane for the return flight you can shout “I DID THE MATH!”

Also, as correctly predicted by yours truly, Canon announce a 14.7 megapixel replacement to the G9 with the new G10. They didn’t call it a GX for some reason but my other predictions were eerily accurate.

That’s all the dork talk for now. There will be much said about these new models from Canon and the video function on the 5D is certainly interesting. The increase in pixels is, of course, attractive but so too are the reported improvements in noise handling and shadow detail. The sensor cleaning function in the 5D MKII is also a selling point although it’s becoming pretty standard issue these days.

So there you have it. It’s finally arrived and we can all get back to taking photographs and not suffering from any sort of gear envy at all. Can’t we?

Personally, I’m increasingly drawn to the Holga range, perhaps getting back to basics is the way to go.

Photoshop CS4 released on September 23rd

The British Journal of Photography is reporting that Adobe plan to release the CS4 version of Photoshop at Cologne’s Photokina trade fair on September 23rd.

Whilst we don’t yet know what new tricks CS4 will have up its sleeve, you might want to cast your eyes down this list to see what popular requests Photoshop users have been making.

My personal favourites are:

#452 The world is global now. Please fix your pricing. Thank you.

#400 Make my 2009 Photoshop faster than Photoshop 3.5.

#419 Remember when your applications were lightning fast? I miss that.

#516 Please stop forcing your PDF plug-ins into every orifice of OS X. Apple designed Preview for a reason. [expletive deleted] deal with it.

Whilst we might enjoy moaning about Photoshop and the uninvited extras that Adobe insist upon installing (Adobe Updater anyone?), we should probably remember that it’s been a killer app as far as digital photo manipulation is concerned. Where would we be now without layers and masks? Well, we’d be in Lightroom probably but you know what I’m saying.

Talking of Lightroom, I’m guessing that a Photoshop upgrade is less important to working photographers that it might have been just a couple of years ago. I know that Photoshop accounts for only about 5% of my workflow time now with Lightroom carrying the bulk of the burden. And just to round up that thought, I use Expression Media for my cataloguing needs as Lightroom, whatever else it may do, still isn’t a fully-featured DAM (Digital Asset management) application.

So, there’s much to look forward to at Photokina. News of what will be included in CS4 together with the long-awaited replacement to Canon’s 5D. Expectations of both will be high although rumours of the introduction of an “un-suck” filter in Photoshop are, sadly, unfounded.

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