Never fear though, I’ve rebounded, and as promised, here’s the skinny on the prints from Image Wizards.  First off, they aren’t kidding when they ship these prints.  I opted for the lower cost corrugated cardboard, but it was still packed in like a tank. After taking it out and selecting an appropriate place for display, I hung it for a while to make sure it worked in my selected location.  Not only does it work – it works beautifully!

As you can see, the ambient light catches it perfectly, and really draws the eye in.  For this particular print I chose the aluminum brushed satin finish, which is kind of like a matted version so it wouldn’t be too glossy as the print is of the stamens in a flower.  Something like a skyline might call for a more glossy sheen, but that’s really a matter of personal taste.

The aluminum composition really makes it stand out unlike any other print you’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a few, from other sponsors like Nations Photo Lab, and contributor Backlitbox).  As we photographers are always seeking to find a niche market, the folks at Image Wizards have found a perfect market themselves for a very unique product.  Not only is it a high quality print, but it’s built to last for all ages.  The mounting (I chose the frame to edge, or boxed mount, option) and hanging mechanisms are equally impressive too.  A double row of framing and a sturdy wire hanger mounted securely by screws make sure that once you hang it, there’s nothing to worry about as you know it’s not going anywhere.

The caveat to all this is that for a unique, high end print made on aluminum, the cost of entry is not cheap.  The 16×20″ print you see above runs about $200!  You can get estimates done for any custom size you like on their upload page (and yes, the upload process is pretty slick too – upload directly via your web browser)!  You do get what you pay for though, so if you really want to impress your own clients with some eye-popping prints, Image Wizards definitely has a unique look for you!  Check them out when you get a chance!

And for those of you wondering why you didn’t know about the contest last month – another one is underway now…only a little time left before the window closes on the December giveaway, so if you want to try for a chance to win a bunch of photography books, gear and such, stop by the Flickr thread and share your image there soon!

In keeping with the iBooks shelving design for it’s presentation, the layout fits nicely with the iPad style of reading, so they get top marks in my book just for keeping some semblance of consistency.  With gorgeous photography, insightful articles, and one of the most professionally-designed layouts I’ve yet to encounter, this really does set the bar extremely high for iPad publishers.  The best part about this magazine – it’s free!  There is value-added content if you wish to purchase it for the frugally receptive price of only $1.99, and I have a feeling this will become part of my newly designed digital approach to reading.

Truth be told, I’ve wanted to go to an exclusively digital method of photography reading for a while now, but the market is only recently becoming large enough to make authors and publishers receptive to digital publication.  For the longest time, the only digital magazine I enjoyed was that of Photography BB, having become such a fan that I volunteered to write for it. With a decidedly educational approach to the craft of photography, it is right up my alley.  The feature article has always taken us to some port of call from around the world, and the contributing author has given their own stylized narrative of their journey there.

TRVL Magazine differs in that there are no articles about social media, nothing about Lightroom, or anything about how to get creative or compose your images better.  Instead, each issue attempts to highlight a particular city or region of the world.  It’s wonderfully written, and the accompanying photographs are (as mentioned above), are always compelling.  I am now into my fourth issue of the digital magazine (can I call it an e-zine yet? Has that term become commonplace enough?)

For those of you considering making the move to digital reading over traditional print reading, if the time hasn’t come for you yet, it’s nearly here.  With things like slideshows of photos and videos for added content (sorry Kelby Media, but apparently you were not the first after all…), this is already got its own space on my iPad.  The other nice thing about how TRVL does it, is that they leave video content as an online experience, to help keep content loaded locally to a bare minimum (it’s about 50MB per issue).

Tap the thumbnail in the lower left corner to activate the slideshow

Since it doesn’t open in iBooks, but rather in its own proprietary envelope, there’s no need to organize it into your pre-existing system.  This was another nice feature as my current collections are already segregated out into three categories.  The other thing to note is that I’ve also grouped my iPad icons in order to minimize the number of screens to slide through…and the TRVL Magazine has it’s own space in my reading group. For the inquisitive, here’s how I’ve got my iBooks collections organized and where the TRVL App fits in my chart:

If you’d like to add it to yours, then go to the App Download Store on your iPad (yes, it’s iPad only) and get it now! Although, I should give you fair warning, if you do download and read these publications, your travel bug will bite hard for everywhere they write about, ranging from the Arctic Circle, to Lisbon Portugal, and worldwide locales to pursue whale watching!  I don’t know when I’ll be able to do that, but if the lottery strikes, you’ll all be the first to know!

*****

As a postcript, don’t forget – today is day 2 of the three-day giveaway bonanza to win a Drobo from the folks at Data Robotics!  Read yesterday’s post for the full scoop!

1. Follow me (@CBJason) and @Drobo (no need to unfollow and re-follow if you already are…)

2. RT the text message in the blog post:

RT I’ve registered to win a #Drobo with @CBJason at http://bit.ly/qdqg6Z

3. Share your best story about why you need a Drobo on the blog here (my blog) and on the Drobo Facebook page! (Note the embedded links… )

4.  Don’t forget to register with Drobo in case your name is picked – if you’re not registered, you can’t win!

5.  All entries must be submitted no later than midnight MDT on Wednesday!

This means you only have 3 days to enter – do it now before you forget.

*Special Contest Note*  You only have to re-tweet the message once – multiple tweets will not gain you more entries, and will likely annoy any followers you have.

Many thanks to the folks at Data Robotics for their exciting support.  If you’d like to learn more about what a Drobo is, and what it can do for you, here’s a couple useful resources to read through (and videos to watch) including one from my review here on the blog!  It’s a great data storage solution for people who don’t want to take the time to build out their own RAID solutions (i.e. photographers).  I own one myself (yes I bought it…), and have absolutely fallen in love with its ease of use.  Beyond the initial formatting time frame for a new disk, it’s been an absolute dream, and gives me the peace of mind knowing my data is protected!

My own Drobo Review

Drobo Website

So, why is this news?  Well, PSU Magazine isn’t news, but from the same folks that brought you PSU Magazine is an all-new digital magazine – and it’s not about Photoshop!  It’s taken on the subject of photography – specifically lighting, and tackling it all in one magazine.  I got a chance to sit down with it last night and really dig my teeth into it.  (And you can too for free, the first issue is free for all here).

Here’s my initial thoughts:

1.  Big:  It’s a big file, about a 350MB download.  Since it’s designed with the iPad in mind, I was a little surprised that the footprint was so large.  I guess it’s to be expected since it did have lots of imagery, and even video embedded in it, so there’s no way in getting around that for the first issue.  My advice though – decrease this size for future issues…the last thing someone wants from a digital magazine is for it to take up 10-20% of my iPad space over just a single year (250MB x 12 months = 3000 MB or 3GB)!

2.  Ads:  I get it, magazines need ads in order to be revenue producing.  And this is no exception – about 20% of the content is ad space.  A good portion of the ads though, are for off-shoots of the Kelby group.  Whether it’s Photoshop World, Kelby Training, or other ventures, a good 50% of the ad space was devoted to their own content promotion.  If I know about your magazine, odds are that I already know about your training, and I can’t help but know about Photoshop World.  While this one is free, if the same kind of ads start appearing in the paid subscription ones, I’d not be thrilled to be paying for them to advertise in their own product and services lines to me again.

3.  Content:  The be-all, end-all of the magazine is the quality of content right?  Right.  Okay, here’s the articles that grabbed me right off the bat:

Larry Becker’s DIY Corner – Easy to understand, well put together, and an immediate grasp of why this is helpful – it saves me money!  I like that!

5 Different Looks From a Single Softbox by Zack Arias – Hands down, the best article in this inaugural issue.  Showing how the same light source can achieve such drastically different looks all depending on position, angle, and posing.

Behind the Lens with  Joe McNally – I have to admit, that when people flock to a certain personality, I tend to run in the opposite direction, and the masses have been flocking to Joe McNally for a while now.  This is probably the one exception primarily because he is, undoubtedly, very talented behind the lens, and knows off-camera flash inside and out.  I tend to gravitate toward his content though, not because of his knowledge base, but because of his teaching style. So, an opportunity to read more of his instruction (and for free), was exciting.

But to be honest, the draw of this article wasn’t the text content, because I don’t think Joe even wrote it.  In fact, it was more just a bio and a couple of shots (which I’ve already seen in his other venues).  So, why did I like the piece?  For the video content!  For the first time, it’s nice to get a video in a digital magazine!  Pretty sweet to be able to tap the video thumbnail and watch the video right there in your hands!  And there were two of them! (Although why they were split into two, I have no idea – maybe the chance to show me the Kelby media ads twice?)

I was a tad disappointed there even though, because the videos were kind of “fluff-y”.  In ten minutes (3 minutes then 7 minutes):

• Question #1 – “If you only had one modifier, what would it be?”

• Answer – Something small light and cheap!

• Question #2 – “What would your next modifier be?”

• Answer: A small cheap 8′ lightstand

• Question #3 – “What’s the advantage of TTL?”

• Answer:  It automates measuring light for you.

• Question #4 – “What’s the tipping between small flash and studio strobes?”

• Answer:  The space you are shooting in, or for appearances on high profile jobs.

• Question #5 – “Where can people find out more about you?”

• Answer:  His blog, website, and social media

*****

Last but not least, the layout here does merit a tad bit of discussion.  First in that area, I liked how the magazine reads by flipping left to right, just like a regular magazine.  I also liked how you could tap an article in the TOC and it would go straight to that article.  The larger res photos on a double-tap were nice features too, as was the video inclusion (just don’t make the questions such softball ones again, take a page from Ibarionex approach when he interviewed Scott on  The Candid Frame).

While the ads were not my favorite part, one thing that I think was very cool was that when you tapped on them, a page opened up for the vendor website inside the magazine!  That’s pretty slick!

So,  the bottom line here (which I think we all are likely asking), is whether or not this is something worth buying.  The answer (surprise surprise), is “It depends…”

For me, the two key variables will be cost and content.

Content

With the exception of Zack’s article, these first pieces were light, brief articles that didn’t really wade hip-deep into much.  With the great equalizer of the web, where so many people are producing valuable content and rich learning experiences for a low cost (or even free), paying for the privilege of basic lighting info and photographer interviews with softball questions is not something I would be prone to doing.  Money is already tight.

Cost

So, what would I pay for this?  Probably – I like that you don’t have to get a full year subsscription, and can buy them on an individual basis.  Each one will go for  $3 (they are calling it $2.99 though, that sounds better to consumers…).  I just hope that you can preview the table of contents on future issues before buying.  Some people I like to read, and others, not as much.  There are features in my PSU magazine that get read instantly, and others I never even glance at.  I think it’s a little high, but understand there’s some overhead, although it’s not as much as you’d think…

Keep in mind, distribution cost used to be the biggest barrier to market and since distribution is free (for the most part anyway), the only real overhead anymore is bandwidth.  Of course, they could also have costs rolled in for contributing authors too, but I can’t speak to that.  Although, with that in mind – if Kelby Media asked me to write an article for their magazine, would I want to charge them for that?  Hmmmmm…….

Don’t get me wrong though – I really liked the stable of authors, and even know some of them personally (hey Mr. Groupp! ) And it is an impressive list for sure:  Zack Arias, Frank Doorhof, Erik Valind, Jeremy Cowart, Jim Schmelzer, Joe McNally, Tom Bol, and Jason Groupp are fantastic photogs and with great insights and experiences

What about you?  Have you read the magazine yet?  If not, at least get the free one here.  What are your thoughts?  What would you pay for this annually?  What would you pay per issue?  Did you like the articles?  Were they thought-provoking and inspiring?  Sound off below!

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of being the photographer for an annual charity drive for Ducks Unlimited.  Over the course of three hours, I captured about 300 images.  Naturally, some of the shots were before things started (sort of behind the scenes), others were of the attendees, and then others of the auction itself, including products, bidders, and (naturally) the auctioneer.  Afterward, I took the time to run some comparisons.  In order to get as close to a side-by-side comparison as possible, I imported to Lightroom in four different ways:

• Lightroom with 1:1 previews – from USB attached Drobo
• Lightroom with 1:1 previews – from local hard drive
• Lightroom with minimal previews – from USB attached Drobo
• Lightroom with minimal previews – from local hard drive

The initial import kind of told me some interesting information:

What does this tell me? Well, for starters, that the rendering of 1:1 previews really adds to the processing time for Lightroom. No surprise though, we already knew that, right? This data just kind of validates the theory. But from the Drobo versus the C drive, this tells me that the difference even with USB really is negligible. SO many people have expressed concerns over the data transfer rates for a cable-attached Drobo, the need for Firewire, SATA and all that jazz. When honestly, it looks like the difference isn’t all that significant at this level.

So, how did Photo Mechanic do?  Well, pretty well, considering.  In Photo Mechanic, it’s not “importing” photos, the software “ingests” them.  Probably just semantics, but the speed is marked, to say the least.  My ingest rates (there is no minimal thumbnail size – it’s always full size), was four minutes for both the Drobo and the C drive!  That’s right, four minutes! A 300 image import took literally 10% of the time it took Lightroom.

Making the first wave of picks and deletions using Photo Mechanic is a no-brainer for me anymore.  I will likely restrict PM to just doing initial imports and deletions though as the editing tools from Lightroom past the initial import/ingest stage are significant enough to merit making the move from PM to LR.  The savings in import time is enough that I finished my post production in less than half of the time it would normally have taken me.  In fact, the Ducks Unlimited event is now out the door, and in the hands of the Chairman!

So, take my advice, if you have the extra $150, consider adding this to your software arsenal – it’s going to save you tons of time in post production!  Oh wait, what’s that?  You don’t have that kind of money?  Well, no worries, there’s still time in this months’ Flickr giveaway to enter.  Just submit your “Speed” themed photo to the June Contest thread for your chance to win!  Thanks to the folks at Camera Bits for their generous contribution and to give me the time to kick the tires on this great software solution!

*****

One final reminder – the first 250 buyers of the DIY Legal Kit fulfillment has almost ended.  There’s literally only a couple left, and if you don’t take advantage of this awesome offer to get the kit at half off, they are expiring at the end of June, so it’s pretty much now or never!  Stop here to pick up the 6 page set of legal forms for a limited time at $15!

Hoodman Loupe

Hoodman Loupe

The whole purpose of the Hoodman Loupe is to block stray light from hitting your LCD.  In sunlight or hazy scenarios, it can often be challenging to view your screen, and even change settings if you own a newer camera.  Given it’s simple function, the review aspect of this really is a simple matter to determine, does it do the job it claims to do or not.

Not only did it completely block all ambient light with ease, the Hoodman Loupe also seemed to make the on-screen photo much more brilliant and crisp than I had remembered before using it.  That surprise was further mitigated by seeing how compact the Hoodman Loupe actually is – at roughly 2 inches long and an inch deep.  Not only did it perform adequately, but at this compact size, the Hoodman Loupe is an easy addition to your camera bag with the minimal footprint it takes up in space.

Most rubber or manufactured products attempt to make things slick of shiny and in so doing, the product becomes quite slippery and difficult to hold.  Not so with the Hoodman Loupe, as the rugged rubberized exterior was nicely made, and I was pleased to get an easy grip on it.  Although easy to hold when in use, I was not as thrilled with the ease of porting.  The short trap that they provide to carry it around your neck is much too short for me.  Now granted, I am 6’1”, but certainly no giant, and the size was just awkward for me.  While the quick release snap does attenuate it to a certain degree, the idea of keeping it tethered somehow is a little more reassuring (I have a penchant for losing small items when taken away from my body…LOL)  The accompanying carrying case was a nice addition, but did serve to really make it easier to carry…this seems to only serve as a storage container for when not in use so you can differentiate it from other gear in your bag.

I did recall after using this that a DIY solution was suggested by Larry Becker, of NAPP notoriety (he does the weekly NAPP News segments and writes his own blog at Larry’s Cheap Shots), and think his belt clip idea is both innovative and and highly functional.  If the folks at Hoodman made this accessory and slapped their brand on it, I’d be half inclined to purchase the entire kit from them directly.

It’s a fairly simple idea in total, and not much else to say other than – it works!  The sturdy construction, and compact nature of it is perfect for any photographer who wants to utilize their LCD.  For those of us with older cameras where shutter, aperture, ISO, and all other settings done via dials and the top viewer, it may not be as relevant, but for shooters using more recent gear like the Canon 50D, 60D, and 7D, the back screen is used much more to make these adjustments, so a device like the Hoodman Loupe could be a huge aid in making sure you’ve got your settings where you want them.  For $80, you almost can’t go wrong!  This is definitely the accessory you never thought you needed, but you really did!

Remember, this very Loupe is being given away at the end of the month, so for your chance to win this cool accessory, don’t forget to submit your BLOCK themed photo in the Flickr thread here.  Good luck to those who enter, and thanks again to the folks at Hoodman for their sponsorship and contribution!

I did have some notes to go back to Faxon (the owner): the back of the box had no hanging wire mechanism, which put me in an awkward position of having to nail a picture hanger into the box myself, and without knowing how it was wired up for electrical, made for a potentially damaging situation. The other thing I noticed is that a thin line of light was evident around the perimeter of the box on all four sides. As we discussed at length later, this was an unfortunate side effect of the production line, with no real professional way to mask this light spill (we both agreed that gaffers tape or electrical tape would just look rather amateurish).

Not long after that, I had an idea when noticing a piece of trim molding in my office was peeling…what if there was a thin piece of trim molding that surrounded the print…this could effectively black out the border thereby avoiding the light spillage. I relayed the thoughts to Faxon, and shortly before I left for my trip, he informed me that the 2^nd generation product was ready to ship and to send another photo in for production.

After sending in another image (a sunset over Folly Beach), I got the updated product literally 24 hours before my departure on vacation, and the end of the April contest series…so the review had to wait until now.

First off, let me say that I was (and am) very impressed with the professionalism that Faxon exhibited during the entire research and development process. Not only did he take constructive criticism well, but he also was quick to implement changes where improvements were desired, including not only a photo hanger on the back now, but also the trim molding to effectively eliminate the the white line of light around the border.  Take a look:

The image looks amazing and I was surprised even that it was one from my own portfolio! Give the image quality, back-lit intensity, and visual appeal from this product, I must heartily give it a two-thumbs up rating, even though it is likely still in development. While most products usually are, this one even more so as he continues to improve upon the original design to deliver a better quality product to his client base. For the cost of printing, it almost is a no-brainer to consider these as part of your portfolio of products to offer clients. I’ve seen two different landscapes, and Faxon has shown me displays of portrait work and architecture work as well that have really rocked my socks off!

It’s a great product that will only improve with time, and is something every photographer should have both in their own portfolio, and as a product offering to their clients. For more information, and to upload/order your own images for production, please visit www.backlitbox.com

For those interested in having product reviews done on your own product line, please feel free to email me, as always. I do also appreciate the many requests for reviews of various products from the readership here, and all it takes is a request to me for a review to begin the process of communication with respective vendors for review copies, so keep chiming in with these ideas – it’s your suggestions that keep the product reviews coming, so sound off in the comments with what you’d like me to review next! Until then, happy shooting!

However, until then a few nuggets here and there will have to do.  (I am trying to coordinate with friend-of-the-blog Kevin Mullins to have a go at a podcast and this would be a great subject for him as he’s an accomplished wedding, event, and photographer from across the pond.  Kevin, I promise we’ll find a date here soon!)

So, the nuggets for this week are facial features – because at the heart of the portrait photographer is bringing out the beauty in your subjects’ face!  Here’s a great set of tips for bringing out the best in your subjects!  When shooting subjects it helps to keep in mind the three basic facial positions:  full front, 3/4 pose, and profile positions:

For subjects with round or wide faces, it helps to raise the camera angle slightly so as to look down to them just a little bit.  This elongates things a little more and minimizes the width perception.  It also helps to approach them with a pose that has a 3/4 look rather than a full frontal look.

For subjects with a thin face, just the opposite holds true – have their full face looking toward you with the camera and try to keep the camera at eye level with your subject.  Going up or down below their eye level will only serve to elongate a thin face even more.

For subjects with a large nose, it can often help to have them also face the camera directly.  By doing this, their nose will point straight into the camera to help minimize its size, and lets viewers see the rest of their pretty face!

For subjects with a smaller nose, it’s time to shift back to the 3/4 look…this will bring more depth to their face and “enhance” things a little…

Other tips I’ve picked up that are not specifically related to facial positioning include things like:

• People Deep-Set Eyes – Point light into their eyes. Light coming too far from the sides will accentuate the depth.
• Glasses – Bounce the light off the ceiling where possible. If not, position the subject so that glasses are pointed away from the lights.
• Dark Hair – Make sure that the background provides enough contrast so hair doesn’t just blend into it. Hair lights or a light on the backdrop are extremely helpful. Also make sure the background doesn’t show through hair.
• Double Chin – A slightly higher camera angle will be more flattering than straight on. It also helps to have the subject leaning forward.
• Large ears – Use a ¾ face pose or a profile.

There you have it!  Great ways to capture portraiture, specifically when working with facial angles.  Special thanks go out to my good friend Evan Ashenhurst for sharing some of his portfolio for this article.  You can see more of his work on his website at:  Ashenhurst Photography

A final footnote – since I will undoubtedly get a few questions about which lenses are best to shoot portraiture with, my favorite is the nifty fifty actually.  Amazingly sharp and the 1.8 depth of field is to be envied among all glass.  If you’re in the market for a portrait lens, you’ll definitely want to check this bad boy out.  Here’s the Canon-mount, a steal for less than $150 retail!

The Aero-Master Tether Table

The Tether Table is a pretty straightforward device – it comes with the table itself, made out of T6 Aerospace Aluminum (whatever that is).  Regardless of what the official name is – this table is pretty solid – I have no doubts as to whether it might bend under the weight of a laptop.  What I found to be really nice is that it spins onto a tripod (sans head of course) quite nicely, and just as easily fits over the top of a light stand.  The stability is also pretty equal between the two once it’s locked down.

So, how does the table lock down?  There’s four little Allen screws that tie the female acceptor tube to the bottom of the table through the top.  Their design makes them lay seamlessly flat so no worries about your laptop getting off kilter.  Here’s a few sample shots to show you the design:

The other part that bears mentioning is the additonal kit item (not included normally with a Tether Table) is the Jerkstopper – a handy little device that attaches at both the laptop and camera end to avoid getting cables tugged out of your connection points.  They really help to keep equipment from falling, plugs or connectors from getting ripped or damaged, and the add-on value is well worth the $22!  Here’s the product shot from Tether Tools site to give you an idea…

The first problem I found was that it does require either a light stand or a tripod.  So, if your camera normally goes on a tripod (mine does) and you have an external flash that goes on the light stand (mine does), then either the flash has to become more of a portable device (enter the wireless trigger system), or you need to get another light stand.  I initially lucked out in that I am/was running the triggers through their paces for my good friend Kerry Garrison over at Blackbelt Lighting for an upcoming review this Friday, but the need for another light stand has become pretty clear to me.  When I am using two-light setups though, things could get complicated, but that’s a personal gear issue, nothing really to do with the Tether Table itself, so no harm no foul there.

The second problem I found was budgetary.  While the sturdy construction and clean polished look and feel are certainly features I can appreciate, being on a budget, the cost of entry to obtain a Tether Table of this caliber is a little pricey for my blood.  At $179 for the Table and another $22 for the Jerkstopper kit, we’re over $200 and while it’s not inconceivable, it’s certainly rich for the enthusiast blood.  For most professionals it is easily justified and likely something you can itemize in an invoice if needed.  So, not completely out of reach, but up there for sure.  Oh well, no one ever said photography was going to be cheap!

When all is said and done, I do think it’s a worthwhile investment.  These can be invaluable in a studio or on-location shoot where you need to be moving around in between shots.  The benefits of both the Tether Table and the companion Jerkstopper could be invaluable in a number of environments, including macro photography, food photography, portrait photography, and most product photography where a dedicated preview monitor would be super handy to have! To that end,  I will be sad to see it go, but alas, the Contest Series gets priority!  Thanks to the folks at Tether Tools for their generous contribution, and best of luck to all the participants!  (If you haven’t entered your photo yet, the theme is FLAT, and the contest link is both here and at the top of the page!)

Have you got an idea for a product review?  Is there something you’d like to see a test drive on?  Sound off in the comments and I’ll try my darndest to make things happen!  See you next time here on the blog.  (And don’t forget the Facebook page where the “Behind-the-Scenes” video is posted on using this very table!…”Likes” and comments there are always appreciated too!).

A while back I teased about a forthcoming lens review (nearly 3 months ago actually, in the Teaser Alert), and after several project shoots, the holidays, and scheduling delays, I am finally getting my act together to bring you the latest gear review…that of the Sigma 50-500mm.  As a word of caution, you should be forewarned that the Sigma line-up of lenses that I have reviewed has become quite extensive.  Right away this should tell you two things:

• Sigma has been quite generous with me in terms of making a variety of lenses available.  They likely are doing this for a number of reasons, but primarily because they know that I will give a fair, honest, and 9 times of out 10, a positive review of their equipment.
• I like Sigma lenses!  It should be no secret by now that I do like their lenses.  They are optically on par with what one would expect from lens manufacturers by todays standards.  Heck, sometimes I think the optical quality even exceeds that of the main brands out there (of course here I mean Canon and Nikon).  The price is almost always right on – sometimes the price tag is a little high for my taste, but the advantage that Sigma has is that they are what is considered a “third party lens”, and because of that designation, their pricing is a notch below comparable lenses made by either Canon or Nikon for equivalent glass.

So, when Sigma came calling (actually I called Sigma), with the 50-500, the game face was put on.  Right off the bat, here Sigma has been more than generous because I have now had this lens in my possession for nearly 3 months!  I’ve posted a few photos from this lens over the past three months, so you may see some repeated images here, but they serve the purpose of demonstrating the various settings that I have used to shoot and test this glass.  Having set the stage, let’s get started with the review.  In the past, I’ve talked about things in terms of Pros and Cons, listing first the things I like, then the things I was not as much a fan of.  While it has worked to a degree, I am trying to make things more uniform in the review section, so will start adhering to some more concise points and then indicating whether it is a pro or a con.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the

Sigma 50-500mm f4.5-6.3 Review

1.  Focal Range: The focal range is how lenses are most commonly identified, and this is the measure of how much “zoom” there is in the lens.  Here, the description says it all.  This lens ranges from a widest point of 50mm to an impressive “zoom” of 500mm.  On a crop sensor camera, that means you are looking at a range of 80 to 800mm!  By any standard, this is a pretty wide range, encompassing a difference of nearly 700mm in focal adjustments.  I am going to call this one a Pro.

2.  F-Stop Range: The f-stop range is the measure of the minimum (or maximum depending on your way of thinking) aperture the lens can handle at various lengths.  When dealing with a zoom lens, as you move further out, the elements have to compensate for the change in the length by increasing the size of the opening of the aperture, so you will see adjustments as the lens “zoom” increases.  The Sigma 50-500mm is dialed in to a minimum aperture opening of f4.5 to f6.3.  So, at the widest zoom of 50mm, the lowest aperture setting you can get is f4.5.  Likewise, if you zoom this all the way out to 500, the minimum aperture is f6.3.  So, don’t be misled by the numbers, shooting this lens at 500mm will not afford you the f4.5 that is capable at the widest setting any more than the f2.8 is available on a 70-200 at the longest zoom.  When you have zoom lenses, there is a compromise in aperture capabilities that must be met when zooming out, and such is the case here.  I did some experimenting at various focal lengths, and here are some apparent limits at different zooms:

Given the technology of aperture limitations in zooms, I would say that the Sigma is on par with what the expectations would be for this range. To build this lens for any lower aperture settings would make the lens both heavier and longer.  I don’t even want to think about what it would do to the price either!  It’s not the greatest in aperture abilities, but it’s no slouch either.  I’m going to have to thrown an “Even” flag on this.

3.  Noise: I brought in the noise consideration based on my first Sigma lens I ever purchased, the 70mm Macro (f2.8) which did not have HSM.  The inclusion of HSM in almost every lens since has been a Godsend.  This holds true for the 50-500mm as well.  It’s super quiet and has convinced me that I will never stray off the Hyper Sonic Motor (or USM on Canon glass, ever gain!  ‘Nuff said.  Pro

4.  Size/Weight: My last big lens I reviewed here was the 18-250.  It was a respectable weight, but this is by far the heaviest lens I’ve ever tested.  Weighing in at a shade upder 4.5 lbs (that’s 1970 grams for you Metric folks), it can cause some serious arm strain after extensive shooting.  I would recommend using either a monopod or a tripod for this lens whenever possible.  It also bears mentioning here that due to the weight of the lens, you want to support it in the provided collar.  Supporting the rig by the camera can result in some serious shear force, which can rip the lens right off the camera.  Other size considerations involve the length of the lens both fully closed and fully extended.  This will draw some eyes at either end…whether it be the short side (8.5″) or the long side (12″)!  Here’s a comparison shot with it next to several other lenses so you can get an idea of its relative size:

Another consideration to take into account about this size is the filter required.  For those interested in using the ND filters to protect front elements, you will need a 95mm filter to cover this – not a cheap thing to purchase by any means.  Ultimately the size/weight considerations really will depend on your personal ability to handle it effectively.  For me, most of the time it was not a factor, so I’ll acquiesce and call it a Pro.

5.  Build Quality: In line with expectations, the Sigma quality showed here.  Their now easily recognizable textured exterior exudes professionalism, and just feels good in your hands.  Given the weight of the lens, you don’t want to hold this gingerly, but at the same time, if the body took a slight bump from another lens in your bag, the “other lens” would likely bear the brunt of it.  No questions here.  It’s a Pro.

6.  OS/IS/VR: Due to the limited aperture range, and the weight, the presence of OS is invaluable.  Using the OS allows you to keep your aperture value low, allowing for bother faster manipulation and shorter shutter speeds, as well as some nice bokeh in the background when your distances are good.  What was extra nice about this is the ability to toggle between the vertical and horizontal planes to control vibration in different circumstances.  When I was on a monopod, I switched to OS 2 to help control vertical (or up and down) vibration.  When shooting handheld, I was on OS 1 most of the time, under the premise that my own face, body and camera holding helped to minimize the vertical and thus needed more help with horizontal.  When I was on a tripod, I turned it off per normal procedures for when using OS/IS/VR.  In my book, having versus not having OS/IS/VR is definitely a Pro.

7.  Cost: The average retail market for this lens is approximately $1500.  Given the focal range, the aperture range, and other considerations thus far, it seems to be pretty competitive.  The Canon lens with the longest zoom range is their 100-400 and that factors in at $1800.  Nikonians can salivate over their 80-400 for $1850.  Both price in over the Sigma lens, and it still gives an extra 110-150mm of variable range.  For my own personal budget, that’s a tougher call because while I would love to own this lens – I would have to sell something else to do so, and am not sure I want to dispose of anything else in my camera bag at the moment…the jury is out on this for me personally, but for those interested in purchasing any time soon:  Pro

8.  Image Quality: Image quality is always subjective to the viewer/shooter, so here I will just let everyone defer to their own tastes by sharing a few sample images taken over the last few months:

Kissing Squirrels

Chopper Series

Miscellany:

Other features that bear mentioning here include the locking mechanism and the focusing rings.  I thought about including the latter in the build quality, but decided to bring it in here for discussion.  First, the locking mechanism is a handy feature to have for keeping the lens locked in place to prevent lens creep.  The idea is a good one, but for this particular lens, it would not lock in the “zoomed” position, where I would have thought lens creep would be more of an impact, than in the “closed” position.  Having said that, from the lunar shots I did (as shown above), the fully extended lens did not experience much, if any, creep.  This could be because the lens was recently brought back from a service stop where knobs and buttons and toggles were all tightened and such.

This brings me to the focusing rings.  The rear focusing ring is the one used for fine tuning and the front ring is for zoom.  This was an adjustment for me as my other zoom lenses have these rings reversed (where the zoom is on the back ring and the focus is on the front ring).  it forced me to change my style of shooting a little, but since I was working off a lens-mounted setup most of the time rather than a camera-mounted setup, my shooting habits were already being adjusted anyway.  The last part is that the zoom ring did seem a bit tight to move.  Whether this is by design or because of the recent factory adjustments, I am not sure, but it was just a tad stiff to adjust.

Summary:

All in all, the Sigma 50-500mm is a great lens.  It stood up for the challenges of both wildlife and aerial photography, as well as lunar and even a portrait shot of the canine companion.  The compression it exhibits at the far end (which is characteristic of these long zooms) is to be expected, but I would probably not be using this for landscapes unless I was in a pinch and had no other lens with me.  Still, it could be done, depending on what kind of landscape you are trying to capture.  The zoom really had no noticable effect on image quality without going into some serious pixel peeping, and thus, meets or exceeds all criteria that I can think of.  I would definitely make a positive recommendation on this lens for either a wildlife or sports shooter where distance from subjects is often greater than 10-15 feet.  (The minimum focusing distance at 500mm is something like 6 feet!)

That does it for today – I hope you enjoyed the review and photo gallery from the Sigma 50-500.  Here’s the final results/scores I give the lens:

Have you shot with this lens?  Share your own thoughts in the comments or with me via email.  Likewise, if you have a lens you would be interested in having me review, feel free to drop me a line or share your requests through the comment area as well.  Special thanks to Sigma for giving me such an extended testing period to review the lens, and we’ll see you here again soon!  Happy shooting!

The Manfrotto 488RC2 Ballhead

As with all equipment, a lot of research and engineering goes into the design, and you really do get what you pay for if you invest your money wisely.  Here’ the 488RC2 was no exception.  I bought it new, and paid $130 for it.  Don’t let the sticker shock fool you – as there is a lot that goes into it.  Take a look at several of the components:

Quick Release Plate Receiver

Model Number Designation - 488RC2

360 Degree Markings

Pan/Lock Measurements

Locking Arm Open - Pin Up position

Mounting threads

As you can tell, I’ve taken shots here that show the full unit, the easily recognizable logo, the top of the quick release plate receiver, the 360 dial markings, the pan/lock directional arrows, the pin that snaps up to lock the arm open, the safety cotter pin that keeps it closed, as well as the design underneath that shows the wave pattern to ensure it grips tightly onto your legs.  There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that at 4130 retail, this is worth the investment.  But another part of the equation to be watchful for is warranty, service, and support.  I mentioned earlier that this unit has been in my gear bag for several years – the grand total is 5 years.  When you consider the R&D that has gone into this item, it is definitely structured well, and intended to keep in working form for a long time.  Given it’s heft, I also would have thought that it would still be under warranty coverage.  Such was not to be the case.

Check out the pin in photo number 8 – that is a spring-loaded pin and it actuates to both cock the locking mechanism open and closed.  This may not sound important, but if this spring-loaded pin were to say, pop out, the mechanism will no longer lock either open or closed – and your tripod quickly becomes useless:

Spring Loaded Pin

Now while I grant you that all the elements that went into this design are impressive, but of any component in this system, my thought was that if anything could be replaceable, and cost effectively, it would be the spring-loaded pin that goes in here.  After all, it’s just a spring, right?  Wrong.  Without that pin, the locking arm flops open and closed easily and it has no tension to keep it in either position.  The problem is that not only is this likely the most easy and cost effective item to replace, it’s also the most replaced!  When I first went to ask for a quote, I was informed they were out of stock, and it would be two weeks before they were in stock again.  This was a big deal, because without the ball head, the legs are useless.  And when one element goes wrong with the ballhead that renders the entire unit unusable, that is a problem.  I would have expected them to not be out of stock of these.  It’s the most commonly replaced item for a reason – it’s likely the only item that would or could fall out of the system from extensive use.  Cock that arm open and up flies the spring with all the tension behind it.  You’ve got to figure that at some point either the tension will be lost, or it will exert too much force and push the retaining pin straight out.

Sure enough, the latter happened to me while on a canoe trip back in August.  After trying to tighten things down with my own Allen wrench set, I realized it was something that had to be replaced by the folks at Manfrotto.  I wasn’t too concerned…after all, the entire unit was only $130 and this was easily the lightest component of the system.  A couple bucks, at most right?  Wrong again – $45!!!

That’s right, it was considered “out of warranty”, and the cost of the spring, the labor (5 minutes), and return shipping was $45!  (They return shipped it via UPS ground, at what you know were heavily discounted prices.)  So, $45 for what was in all likelihood a 50 cent part.  And the entire unit costs $130.  The one little spring was a full third of the entire unit price – and likely the cheapest component and quickest to replace.  Yet, it was still cheaper than buying an entirely new unit, so what was I to do?

This will give me a moment of pause moving forward though…the carbon fiber material these days is much more expensive, and there are more options available.  I have seen knives with lifetime warranties, so if I am going to shell out over $200 for something of this quality, I’d expect a warranty longer than 1 year.  With their stellar reputation in tripods, heads, and camera equipment, I was stunned that Manfrotto would “stick it” to people to this degree when it comes to service and support.

The ballhead is back though, and I am now back in business!  But let my experience be a warning to all others – be sure about your ballhead!

*****

On a lighter note – this being the first Friday of November, you can expect a newsletter to be coming out shortly.  I try to get things out about now, but time just got away from me, so if you sign up for the newsletter by Sunday, you should see it in your mailboxes on Monday!  It’ll be full of free promotional codes, discounted items, an extended article, and the Flickr photo favorites of October…with much much more!  All this is free for the premium subscribers, so make sure you register before Sunday to get the latest news from here at the blog!  Simply send in your email via the form on the sidebar, or at the Newsletter Subscription Page!

Have a great weekend everyone and we’ll see you back here next week for more photo goodness, including the next LDP podcast!  Happy shooting!

ETA:  The 488RC2 has officially been replaced with the 498RC2.  For the most part it appears to be the same, but probably with improvements in engineering and design:

• Sigma 8-16mm
• Sigma 4.5mm Circular Fisheye
• Sigma 50mm f1.4
• Sigma 10-20mm
• Sigma 18-250mm
• Sigma 70mm Macro

Having compiled quite the list of review lenses, I am happy to announce the latest addition to this review series (some day I hope to have reviewed every lens Sigma has! ) I give you the Sigma 70-200 f.28…

This lens is the comparable one to the Canon 70-200 f2.8, and while I’ve not had a chance to test the Canon equivalent, there are some optical similarities.  I won’t go so far as to compare it to my own Canon 70-200 f4.0 simply because there are enough differences that it would be an apples to oranges comparison.  So, here I’ll just share my own thoughts and shots on and from the lens for everyone to consider.  Here is everything from soup to nuts:

The (Alphabet) Soup

This is the 70-200 F2.8 EX DG OS HSM lens – quite a mouthful, but all of these features are important.  The EX signifies that this lens has benefitted from the now signature finish of Sigma lenses.  It’s smooth but rugged, and hard to really explain, but denotes quality and professionalism while being also understated – it means business.  I’ve raved about the finish that Sigma puts on their lenses and this one is no exception.  Top Notch!  The DG?  That means it’s optimized for Digital use.  To quote Sigma,

“These are large-aperture lenses with wide angles and short minimum focusing distances. With an abundance of peripheral illumination, they are ideal lenses for Digital SLR Cameras whilst retaining suitability for traditional 35mm SLRs.”

In other words, the f2.8 means the aperture is designed for the width and opening, optimizing the amount of light that comes in, and minimizing barrel distortion.  The end result of all this means you spend less time in post fixing things.  A definite plus in my book!

OS is the now easily recognizable label of optical stabilization.  These lenses have built in mechanisms that counter your movement to allow for shooting at slower shutter speeds.  Slower shutter speeds, wide open apertures all means you can shoot and get quality results in lower light!  I’ll go into more details on their OS features later though.

HSM refers to the Hyper Sonic Motor, which means nearly whisper quiet movement as the lens picks up on the AF points.  Less noise means less distraction.  This is good regardless of whether you are shooting portraits, wildlife, or street photography.  Remember, it’s not about the photographer, it’s about the photo, and the HSM is an added bonus to help achieve that end goal!

The Nuts

All the acronyms in the world won’t tell you a thing about lens performance though, and neither will my blathering about this or that, so let’s just get to the nuts.  I went out with the lens to take some test shots and basically get a feel for the optical quality throughout the lens.  I took some at short range (70mm), some in the middle (ranging from 120-150mm), and some at the long end (200mm).  Shot groups also were mixed between simple test shots (a street) to portraits, and landscapes to get an idea of the focal range.  Here’s said shots!

The 70mm shots

70mm Portrait

70mm Roadway

70mm Landscape

Dog Portrait @ 70mm

Mid-range Shots

Mid-Range Roadway

Mid-Range Landscape

Mid-Range Park

Long Range Shots

200mm Portrait

Long Range Landscape

Long Range Landscape (180mm)

Here, you can get an idea of both the optical quality and range of the optics as well as an idea of how it would perform in a variety of functions.  I should also note that I have done literally no post production work in these at all.  The only sharpening that was applied was on output sharpening from Lightroom, and that was set “For Screen” by default on all my images.  In other words, nothing has been tweaked.  Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of the optics overall.

Pros ~

I absolutely love the bokeh on this lens at long range.  It compresses subjects nicely for portraiture, and throws the background nicely out of focus with some great treatment due to the optics.  These shots were taken in afternoon light, and the sun was coming in and out of the scene – which could change the settings quickly.  We were shooting on a monopod, and with IS on so the minor changes in shutter speed (these were aperture priority shots) didn’t really affect us.  The f2.8 end came out nicely too, which was as expected though – that’s the whole reason for the f2.8  My excitement was primarily lent toward the bokeh at the long end which came out to about f4.5  Not too shabby!

I also was a huge fan of the OS – optical stabilization.  It had two settings…OS 1 for shooting handheld, which counters both vertical and horizontal axis movement, and if you are shooting on a monopod (which is common with heavier glass), you can switch to OS 2, which turns off the one axis (horizontal I think).  This allowed me to take some pretty decent shots at a hockey game a few weeks ago.  You may recall seeing a gallery of those shots here on the blog.  I was toggling between the OS1 and OS2 for that series so some shots did come out better than others – the ones with OS2 were the sharper in the set!

Another advantage here is that the collar for tripod or monopod mounting is included.  I had to shell out an additional $50 for my Canon when I bought the f4, so seeing it included here was a happy surprise.   I hate to go on and on here, but there was one other feature that bears mentioning and that is the smooth rotation I was getting from the lens as I worked it through the focal range.  Either this was brand new, or had just been serviced because it was about the smoothest glass I’d seen from Sigma yet…and given the laundry list up top, that’s saying something!

And finally, the last big notch in favor of it, is – of course – the price.  Coming it at $1700 this lens is certainly not cheap.  However the savings is still there as it offers a s$200 over the Canon equivalent which comes in at at $1900!  For the cost conscious (and who isn’t these days), that $200 can go toward many other accouterments in your shopping cart!  And from what I can tell, the image quality is pretty darn good.  (I got my prices from B&H Photo – the Sigma one is here and the Canon one is here)

Cons ~

This was much heavier and bigger than I anticipated.  It was longer than my own 70-200 from Canon.  Now I grant you my own is only an f4.0 and does not have the OS (or IS if you prefer – for the strict Canonistas out there).  But I was a little surprised.  I think that’s why my initial shots were a little oof – out of focus – because my arms just weren’t used to carrying the weight around.  Lesson learned though – when moving into the fast glass category, at least shoot with a monopod, arm strain is greatly reduced!

The other big con was battery drain.  All the time I could hear the OS kicking on and off as it would sense movement, even as I walked around.  This caused some noticeable drain on my battery and I found myself swapping out after about 3 hours of shooting.  Maybe this is typical of optically stabilized lenses and I am just not used to it, but the drain was something else that I had to take into account.  I did have a spare with me, so it wasn’t that big a deal – but I certainly could not have shot all day on only two batteries with this lens.

While the collar was included, I don’t believe the lens hood is.  Now the test unit I had did include a nice lens hood with the butterflies to avoid as much vignetting as possible, but that would likely add to the cost.  Based on prices seen on B&H though, that’s only in the neighborhood of $25 (Direct link to Sigma marketplace here).

The Decision:

I would loved to have held onto this lens a while longer, and truth be told, will probably end up buying it.  The Canon 70-200f4 may be working its last days in my bag, just because the faster glass and features are sure to see much more use from me.  Coming up tomorrow, the results of the October contest giveaway – and announcing the November giveaway…make sure you stop in for that!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you then!

#1 – Understand the data

I was out two weeks ago with this money (probably burning a hole in my pocket, and came across an HP monitor in none other than Best Buy.  The price was right ($249), as were the dimensions (23″).  I was looking at some of the other monitors, and none really filled the bill like this one did.  The only downside was that there was no USB port (or so I thought).  The salesman also pointed out the contrast ratio of 40,000:1!  Without thinking about it to much, I figured it certainly wouldn’t be a bad monitor – so why not give it a whirl!  After all, a 30 day return policy to the brick-and-mortar worked in my favor.  So, home it came for setup.  A few landmines awaited:

Size – While the dimensions of the monitor are always important, another consideration to take into account is the elevation or lift you get.  My old faithful Dell had a telescoping arm that elevated it nicely over my Drobo, and kept it right at eye level for me (or very near it to prevent me from hunching over too much and becoming Lurch!.  The HP 2310m had no such benefit and I then found myself shopping around for monitor stands.  Subtract another $40 for a decent quality stand (Allsop).

USB Ports – I neglected to consider that the HP had no USB ports.  I previously had 3 things coming off the old monitor – a printer, my mouse, and a dangler I could connect my card reader to easily.  So, some rewiring was in order.  But, this helped me clean up some cable management issues, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Contrast Ratio – If you take away nothing else from this post, consider this:  contrast ratios are meaningless!  That’s right, they are meaningless numbers, generated by each vendor to measure their own “belief” of what the expected performance could be of the monitor under the most extreme settings.   I got a hard knock here, recalling after some collaboration with the crew over in the NAPP forums (thanks to Andrew Rodney for the reminder).  As it turns out, pretty much anything past 1000:1 is meaningless under a calibrated workspace, because monitors just aren’t made to produce a useful contrast past this once calibrated.  Some of the really price ones from LaCie and Eizo do, but those are in the thousands of dollars range.  So, keeping true to my budget, I had to settle for consumer grade gear.  But, I wish I would have known that before buying, because the decision was made in haste and on bad information.  So, lesson learned – know the important data!  Contrast Ratio = 1000:1 or greater is fine!

#2 – Don’t Be Afraid to Settle

After finding out all these little caveats, I also got an email blast from Newegg, touting their Halloween deals, and of course, a monitor came up in the laundry list.  An ASUS 25″ for $230!  I was floored.  Two more inches of real estate, for $30 less!  So, I started digging into the reviews, forums, and consumer reports.  I’d purchased a few of their motherboards over the years and was happy with those.  A trip back to the NAPP forums did alert me to a few misgivings some had about the brand though, so I decided against returning the HP in exchange for the ASUS.  After all, it was only $30 difference in price, and would have possibly got me in a situation where I may not have been able to return the ASUS without getting an ugly restocking fee.  And besides, the low profile and lack of USB were also present there, so there wasn’t much to gain.  Then I saw the LG.

It was on display at Sam’s Club, and I’d seen these things in use in lots of retail settings, including warehouse environments, retail, and even doctor offices.  The seemed to be of  decent enough quality, although the contrast was  always way over cranked.  I could fix that with a calibration though, so checked the price:  $189!  A savings of $60 (figure in tax).  That would negate the $40 spent on the monitor stand and give me a little change back in the wallet.  Off to the web I went for more research.  Turns out this isn’t that bad a monitor.  I decided to go for the savings and returned the HP, bringing the LG home.  Now, all that was left was to set it up, and I was off to the races!

#3 – Calibrate it!

Last but not least, I set the LG up to calibrate.  After twenty minutes trying to dial in the color, contrast, and brightness, I was beginning to understand the differences between vendor makes and accuracy.  I’d heard of monitors that just wouldn’t calibrate and was suspecting that this was the case for the LG.  (The luminance was just way to low, and the colors would never fully align to center in my Gretag Macbeth colorimeter.  I finally gave up, and went to take the colorimeter off.  On doing so, I noticed that the ambient light filter was still on the puck that I had used to measure ambient light.  That explained it!  Sans filter, I placed the colorimeter back on the monitor, and within 5 minutes, had things dialed in pretty close to perfect.  My luminance is 0.5 off, the color is at 6500, and contrast is spot on dead center.  It’s got 30 days to satisfy me (and assuming nothing else goes on sale…)  So, word to the wise – when calibrating your monitor, remove the ambient light filter – it can save a lot of headache!

I’ve now moved the 19″ into the secondary position, the 23″ has become the primary, and the added benefit of the monitor stand has given me two new rows of surface area to store things like my thumb drives, media cards, businesss cards, and other bric-a-brac.  More storage in an increasingly cluttered life is a good thing!

So, watch that contrast, check to calibrate, and exercise caution in spending habits – especially if you can’t return things easily.

Thew New LG Monitor

Now it’s your turn – got any purchasing stories or tales to share where you learned something in the experience?  Sound off in the comments, let me know your thoughts on the above, or to share your own “war stories”.  Thanks for stopping in and we’ll be back tomorrow with more photo goodness.

P.S.  Another heads up reminder, that the November Newsletter will be coming out this Friday, so if you’ve not signed up – make sure you pick up a subscription for it either in the sidebar or here.  It’s free, and only available to subscribers!

Image Quality

Mpix, like many labs, requests that you send them photos in the sRGB color space.  While this is not necessarily a check against them, it does limit the capability for image quality during print because you are limited in the color range that can be printed.  Having said that caveat about the print process, I must say that the quality of the prints has not disappointed me at all.  The photos look identical to what I sent them both in color and tonal range.  So, they definitely get props here for a job well done!

Binding Quality

For this project, I wanted to limit expenses as hard cover books are significantly more expensive.  So, going with a soft cover route, the quality of the binding becomes more relevant because the last thing you want is to have the pages of your book fall out over time.  In the print world, I understand that the options with soft covers are limited to stapled and glued routes.

In general, glued bindings probably give a more professional appearance, as staples can be unsightly.  On the flip side, glue can soften and pages can fall out over time, whereas with stapled books, they are more likely to stay held together.  The folks at Mpix went with the stapled route, and I gotta say, the staples were not off-putting to me at all.  This may be different if I chose another cover image, but with a darker print as the cover, the staples worked out nicely.

Binding Bottom

Binding Top

Binding 3

Durability

You can kind of see a little wear and tear already along the edge of the fold, but I guess (in hindsight), with a soft cover, that’s to be expected.  Given the wear I am seeing though, the next time I may select a canvas cover or a lay-flat cover to provide a little more protection.  The pages on the inside of the book seem fine, and as long as I am not throwing it around like a frisbee, they are a good weight, and thickness.  Barring abuse and such, this should hold up well.

Value

Judging the value of a product is hard to do because while as a general rule, you tend to get what you pay for, other factors go into the equation.  Elements such as image quality, turn around time, and packaging all factor into the value.  Given the retail cost of this product of $39 through Mpix Pro (I put together an 8.5″ square book with 40 pages), I’d say it was pretty good.  When you factor in the cover and the back, and the insides of each, it’s actually 44 pages of printed images for $39.  Shipping, of course, is extra, so let’s say for easy math that it’s $50 for a 40 page book.  I’d say it’s very competitive at $1.25 per page.

Delivery

For delivery I looked at two things – how was the product packaged, and what was the time frame for said delivery.  With Mpix, I’ve always been impressed with their shrink-wrapping and air gaps to protect products from getting dinged and damaged during shipment, so kudos there.  They also get high marks for the fastest response time.  Within 5 days of submitting my order, I was in possession of the book.  Now granted, they are in Kansas, and I am in Colorado, so shipment here was probably easier than average, but since I also have gotten similar delivery in the past when I lived elsewhere (South Carolina and products sent to NY and PA), I’d say they get high marks for a good turnaround time.

Here’s the rest of the sample shots of the photo book:

Photo Book Cover

Front and Back Cover

Inside Cover

Center Fold

In the five categories, Mpix gets high marks in 4 of the five.  The one category that wasn’t really scored was binding – and this is a tough one to judge too, as the longevity over time is really what defines the durability of a binding.  Since I have only had the photo book now for a couple weeks, it’s kind of difficult to judge that category, but outside the cover deterioration from a lot of handling, can approximate that the interior pages will hold up well.

There’s more photo books to come from other vendors too, like Nations Photo Lab, and a few other online printers, so stay tuned for future reviews as well.  If you have your own favorite printer, by all means, sound off in the comments!  What do you like?  What criteria do you look for?  What don’t you like?  As always, I love to hear feedback, so feel free to chime in!  Until tomorrow – happy shooting!

Sigma 8-16mm

As I understand it, this is a rather unique lens in that it is the widest non-fisheye lens on the market, even wider than the previous widest one I own, the Canon 10-22.  It was quite interesting to compare these two lenses side by side.

What I Liked

1.  Optical Quality

The optical quality of this lens really is amazing given it’s wide angle nature.  I say this because wide angle lenses are typically prone to distortion, particularly around the edge of the lens, and especially at their widest points.  Now, shooting this on a Canon 40D, it is mounted for the APS-C sensor size, so am not sure this would work too well on a full frame camera.  The end range after you consider the 1.6 crop factor brings it up to 12.8-25mm.  With that in mind, I tried shooting wide open and was happily surprised at the minimal distortion on the edges:

Tree at sunset

Horizon Test

On the first shot, here I didn’t see any distortion actually from the branches of the trees, and the second shot the horizon didn’t really seem off-kilter much either.  However, these were a fair distance away from the lens itself, and while wide angle lenses aren’t intended for portrait work, I was curious as to what the results would be like if I pushed it to those ends:

Portrait Test

So, portrait work should probably not be done with this lens, but then again, as mentioned above, wide angle lenses really aren’t meant for that sort of work anyway.

2.  Weight - This weighed in at just a touch over a pound at 19 ounces.  Pretty light but also heavy enough to know you’ve got some nice balance to it, and it balanced well on the body of the 40D too, so I suspect it would also balance well on the rest of the Canon X0D lineup (e.g. 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, etc.)

3.  Finish – Like the rest of the Sigma line-up, the rubberized-metallic finish they apply to their lenses is present and it just speaks to the professionalism of the line-up as a whole.

4.  Range – The extra ten mm of range I got from the Sigma was more than I would have thought in a scene.  While I was shooting rather sloppily in terms of exact comparisons, when I had both lenses with me, I did get similarly composed scene for both teh 16mm end of teh Sigma and the 22mm end of the Canon, as was surprised how much of a difference 10mm was.  Take a look:

Canon Lens at 22

Sigma Lens at 18

Like I said, it was a bit of sloppy photography on my part for not making the scenes truly identical in terms of exposure values, but the underlying scene is rather telling.  First, though, it would probably help to explain why I I chose to compare at the longest end of the zoom range.  The way I understand the physics, there is less distortion at the longest point of a zoom, and I wanted to just compare scenic differences, so by using the long end, was able to effectively eliminate that as a comparison point (both lenses have that, and it’s to be expected).

Here, rather the 8-16mm shows a significantly wider scene than the 10-22.  This can be a point both in its favor and against it depending on your purpose.  In it’s favor, if you need to capture at the long end of the zoom, it’s still going to require fewer shots than the 10-22 counterpart from Canon for panorama images.  As a downside, it does mean you can’t get as close to the scene that the 10-22 can.

Now granted, when using a wide angle lens, you probably are not wanting to get all that close to begin with, but here I thought the images made for a good juxtaposition with one another, and it’s where the real differences lie in the range of the two lenses, because the different between 8 and 10 is not as significant as the one between 16 and 22.  At the long end, the Sigma still keeps you very wide at 25mm when counting for the crop factor, while the Canon lens takes you a bit past the 35mm range.  In wide angle photography, 10mm of “wideness” can be a difference-maker.

5.  Price – The Sigma retails at $700.  The Canon, $770.  So, it’s $70 cheaper, and has a wider end than Canon, and dare I say less distortion at that end.  Hmmm, not much of a decision here.  Had this lens been available when I was I was in the market, I suspect it would have gotten the nod.  Now I realize that some subscribe to the theory that a body works best when mirrored with a lens from the same manufacturer, and while that may have been true in the days of yesteryear, the differences have dropped significantly in recent years.  Today, I would submit that the difference is negligible, and sometimes even non-existent.  Of course, that’s something that will be subjective depending on your shooting needs and preferences.

For me though, the answer is a resounding yes!

***

It definitely a high quality lens, and I would even venture to say there is relatively less distortion at the short end of the Sigma than the Canon at its shortest, but did not get out enough to test things to that level of minutia.  While it’s not something I can justify for myself at this point, that is only because I already own a similarly ranged lens, if I was in the market and did not own a lens, the Sigma would be a tempting lens to consider.  For the nature photographer who is looking for a super wide – this lens will not disappoint.

For those looking to purchase the lens – you can get it direct from B&H here.

To that end, it’s to our advantage to control the light as much as possible.  An entire sub-industry has grown over the years catering toward controlling the light in your photos too.  Everything from grid spots, to gels, strobes, reflectors, and so much more – we could spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on various light modifiers.

We’re not going to break the bank today though as we take a closer look at a certain kind of light modifier called a Flash Bender, from the folks over at Expo Imaging.  Pricing for individual ones range from $30 to $40, or you can get the entire three-piece set for only $104, we’re certainly not spending exorbitant amounts of money.  The question really is more of what they can do.

Taking a page from their own description on their website (which you can find here:  Rogue Flashbenders), these devices:

“FlashBenders represent a new approach to controlling light. FlashBenders are positionable.  You can bend a FlashBender into almost any position, and it will assume that shape, staying in position until you reform it.”

To see if these shape-changing devices really can deliver on controlling the light, I turned to my trusty, not-so-rusty model train for a little demo shoot, just to see what I could do with them.  First up, I took a couple shots with a bare flash attached (580 EXII) and pointing full on the subject.  The results were predictable:

Bright, shiny highlights, and some pretty nasty glare, right?  But, like I said, to be expected from a full on-camera flash.  Having set the barometer now, I decided to move to where I knew the light would be better.  Off-camera.  I started working with the light and found a good angle (around 45 degrees, camera right), then attached one of these benders and made a snoot out of it (a snoot is a circular funnel that restricts the light).  Things were starting to look up almost immediately with a full wide angle, mid width and then a tight snoot.  Take a look:

Nice!  These Flashbenders really easily got my harsh light that just doused a scene and wrangled it under control pretty quickly with just the strap of Velcro around the neck of the 580, and shaping it around the front in a circle.  It was time to start adding slight nuances to the shape of it to see just how much nuance I could get.  Here’s the result:

Now we’re talking!  About the only thing missing is a little bounce from the light as it shoots past the train to come back and fill the shadows a little.  I tried holding one out to camera left and got the final effect desired:

I could keep going with all the different options and shapes here, but it’s sufficient to say that I was highly impressed with the Flashbenders.  They fit the bill for me in three material ways:

1.  Cost – Hey, it’s the economy right?  Gotta keep costs down and at $104 for the trifecta, it’s almost a no brainer because you can get the Large Reflector, Small reflector, and the Bounce Card sizes in one sweet little package.

2.  Space/Construction – Not only are these pretty durably designed with the bendable metal plates or fingers wrapped securely in the nicely padded and sewn-stitched outer shells, but they pack well, laying flat in the bottom of your bag or curled up snugly to fit on the edge (I put mine next the the flash and barely knew they were in there!  Rock on!

3.  Functionality – What can I say?  They deliver and in a big way.  I used one to wrap the light tightly, then the bounce card to hand hold and create a little fill on the opposite side.  They serve their purpose, do so with space-saving design in mind, and at a cost that all but the most frugal photographer can afford!

These get my two-thumbs up seal of approval.  If you don’t have a set, you need to go out and get one.  If the full set is out of your reach, then at bare  minimum, you could probably get by with the largest one as it has the most range and flexibility.  It’s available through Expo Imaging direct, or if you want, you go through one of their many retail partners.  I tend to prefer B&H as NAPP members enjoy free 3-day shipping.  (If you want to go that route, here’s the link to the largest of the set at B&H if you like…)

There you have it, my two cents on these flash modifiers – probably one of the cheapest tools out there, but so functional and usable on so many different levels, it’s simply a must have in any photographer’s tool kit!  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday (Labor Day Weekend and all…) for more photography goodness!

P.S.  The September Newsletter went out this morning to all confirmed subscribers!  Like it?  Want more?  Send me a note with what you’d like to see!  Not getting it?  Want it?  Subscribe from the sidebar or from this direct page here!

We all have camera bags.  Whether you use a Point-and-Shoot, an SLR, or any other type of camera, you are putting it somewhere eventually that could be defined as a bag.  These bags are made in such a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and straps, it’s really amazing sometimes how many options there are for the photographer today.  But like it or not, if you have a camera – you are gonna need a bag!

If not for the camera, the accessories almost make bags a requirement, whether it’s media cards, batteries, lens pens, cloths, business cards, lenses, filters, flashes, or whatever – bags are needed no matter how light or heavy you want to go.  Just like bags, everyone has preferences too, whether it be for a shoulder bag, a backpack bag, a transport bag, a waterproof bag, or anything else, there are as many preferences as there are bags on the market.  In the past I have tried several types, ranging from shoulder-style packs, to backpacks, belt and harness systems, and everything in between.  The one style I hadn’t really needed before though, was the suitcase-style bag.

After reviewing the Think Tank Airport International though – not so sure I can live without this one.  Let’s take a look at the bag itself.  The overall bag itself stands at 14x8x21″.    It’s a beast, I tell you and I fit literally every item I own inside this bag (except the tripod).  Not only did I pack everything in there, but I also had room to spare.  Not too shabby when you consider my gear list:

While this may be a pittance compared to many ensembles for a professional photographer, I can assure you that it’s quite substantial for the enthusiast.  And it all fit inside the bag with room to spare!

While I did have room to spare, it really only is leaving room for more lenses or glass.  I wish there was a way to configure the dividers so I could pack something like a change of clothes into one corner.  For the recent trips I went on to NY and Anaheim (then NY again), I jerry-rigged it to do so, and stuffed a collapsible duffle in there too.  That way in the event of having to gate-check on a smaller flight, I could use the clothes as cushions and quickly switch the most important gear into an acceptable carry-on size for the smaller aircrafts.  (And, yes, I had to twice, for those that are going to ask if I needed to…)

Another of the other features that stood out for me was the exterior storage compartment.  This is meant for smaller items that you access more frequently like lens pens, CF cards, batteries, quick-release plates, and more.  I also managed to fit a lens hood for the 70mm Sigma Macro in there too:

There was even more to love as I was able to slide my Macbook Pro into the exterior sleeve of the bag for easy on-the-go storage and quick access.  They do make a little case to put your laptop into before sliding in, but I opted not to get that.

I believe you can insert the Laptop Artificial Intelligence in here, but, as mentioned, I did not opt for the additional bag as this was more than generous enough for Think Tank to send this item out for review.  For those that want the additional laptop sleeve, you can find it on Think Tank’s website here.  And here’s an additional product shot from the folks at Think Tank so you can get idea of its design:

Some of the other very-much appreciated features that the folks at Think Tank also thought to include were:

1.  The Extension Handle – Whoever invented this should be awarded the Nobel Prize or something, because travel has become so much easier with this functionality built into our baggage.  Having it for the ever-increasing weight of camera bags is an additional godsend that I don’t think I will ever be able to forgo again!

2.  The security lock – If you get to an event want want to lock down your main gear bag in one location then go lightweight while at a shoot, this security lock that is built into the back of the bag is brilliant!  The steel cable unlocks, then wraps around some permanent structure (like a bike rack or something) and you can combination lock it down once wrapped for additional peace of mind!

There is an additional lock by the side handle that you can attach the companion Laptop Sleeve to in order to keep everything together.  (Again, sheer brilliance of innocation, although I’d advise setting the combination for each of these to something different – makes it even safer and the added peace of mind is worth it!)

Each lock also has a key access for the special TSA agents to use their keys on for security inspections, so it is officially TSA-approved! (Just another of the many well-thought out features!)

3.  Serial Number – Think Tank has also thought to include a serial number so you can register the bag for easier recovery in the case of theft.  This metal plate is securely attached to the bag with steel grommets, then further secured with a rubberized seal, making it all but impossible to remove for anyone except the most determined thief!  (Photo not shown for obvious reasons…)

#4  Wheels – I know it almost goes without saying, but the wheels make this one of the easiest bags to transport, especially when traveling.  One would think me to be Captain Obvious given the name of the bag itself as the Airport International which in and of itself indicates the functionality as a travel bag, but without these beautiful little gems, it’s just a camera suitcase!

5.  Side Handles – As we often have to shift our bags around to be stored in various positions during travel, Think Tank has gone so far as to have a rugged handle sturdily sewn onto both the horizontal and vertical sides of the case, making it easier to insert “wheels first” (as flight attendendts will command you on their carriers), or as you prepare to lay it down flat to access the gear inside.

Note also that the vertical handle also has yet two more compartments…

A.  The clear plastic shield makes a great place to store your name for easier identification when traveling (there are lots of black carry-ons these days!).  I would not recommend putting a business card in there as advertising that you are carrying photography gear is not a good idea.

B.  A zipper slot makes for the perfect place to store your boarding passes.  Easy to stick in and retrieve for when the final call for your flight is announced at the gate and you’ve got to shut off your laptop from charging and dash to the gate!

Here, you can also see the additional security lock as I mentioned earlier.  Remember to program this to be different from the one that hides nicely behind the backside in its own zipper pouch and you are all set to travel pretty much anywhere a plane can take you!

*****

Final Thoughts:

Functionality – Bar none, the best bag I’ve had the pleasure of testing thus far.  The thought and innovation that went into this design and function is unparalleled.  If you travel a lot, this bag is simply a must-have on that basis alone.

Price – Not for the faint of heart, this bag comes in at a shade over $300 at $329, but is really worth its weight in gold.  If you want a bag that accomplishes what this one does, and with the design, function, and purpose, no other bag really can compare here.

Weight – As the gear we have is enough weight, adding weight just from the bag itself is something I have become very cognizant of, and when empty this shell is easily less than ten pounds.

Availability – I am a little disappointed that I cannot purchase their items through B&H, but I know there are regional stores and alternatives like Adorama, Mike’s Camera, and such that offer them.  I do get free shipping from B&H due to my NAPP membership though, so that’s just a personal preference more than anything else.

Bottom line – would I recommend this bag?  For a traveler – yes!

The question is – do you want a traveling bag?  Or is a backpack bag your preference.  Bags, just like haircuts, are based on personal and subjective choices including -  the type of photography, where you are going, how you are getting there, and how much gear you use, as well as your own shooting style.  If you travel a lot, this case is definitely for you.  For the street-style photographer, perhaps not the best choice.  For me, it has become my de facto bag that houses all my gear both when traveling and when storing.

Anyone else taken this bag through its paces?  Have additional thoughts on the bag?  Feel free to ask questions about other features if you are interested in the bag, I’ll be happy to reply either in the comments or through email!  Special thanks to Think Tank Photo for donating the bag for gear review…you can learn more about their entire product line from their website here:  www.thinktankphoto.com

Sigma 4.5mm f2.8 Circular Fisheye

As things start to settle down again, I’ve got a pile of reviews pending work, so this past weekend, while in bachelor status temporarily, I really knocked out a few projects, including getting caught up on some overdue reviews and blog writing.  Today, the first of these projects is the Sigma 4.5mm fisheye lens review.  This is a super cool lens, and has a lot of opportunities for creative exploration.  I took the typical test shots indoors to get a feel for where it’s strengths and weaknesses are, how it focuses, and then took to the streets.

Right off, I should qualify that this is a circular polarizer – so the photos themselves will be circular in nature with black surrounding the entire frame.  This is an expected and widely known behavior for circular fisheyes, but it did throw me at first when I saw it in the viewfinder, so just to kind of prepare you – the black surrounding elements are part of the composition – there’s just no two ways about it as that is the nature of the circular fisheye.  The other thing I should note is that I did shoot this on a crop sensor camera.  For most lenses this is not a problem, but as you go wider and wider, more barrel distortion will come into play on the edges, and here specifically, you can even begin to see the edge of the barrel depending on how you compose your scenes.

My photo assistant on this shoot was the venerable pet, Maggie.  She waited patiently as I took a few of the typical shots you expect to see, including some of the budding tulips:

She even waited as I did the typical portrait-style work that will come with this sort of experimentation:

As for the barrel distortion issue, take a look at these three samples as I tried doing a little exploration around a playground in the park with some bracketed exposures:

See the barrel?  The important thing to note here as that there are two key elements at play.  First, I was letting in more light, and the more light you let into the lens, the more visible the inside of that barrel will be on longer exposures.  If your subject is the night sky, that’s one thing, but here where there is a decent amount of contrast variation between the sky and the composition of the subject, it’s more evident.  The other factor at play here is that I happened to place the focusing point in camera on one that actually lined up with the edge of the barrel.  If I had chosen a different focal point, it could have easily been blurred out of focus and not been as easily noticed.

I do suspect that this would be less of an issue on a full frame sensor, but cannot confirm that.

On the note of focusing, this does drop all the way down to 2.8, so it’s pretty fast glass.  It’s also got a super close focusing distance at just a shade over 5 inches, which gives a unique opportunity to get center subjects in focus and throw the distortion into play with the background.  This gave me an opportunity to try some architectural shots as well as a few additional ones that I would not have been able to attain in a slower lens.  So, that’s a good thing!

It did have a little bit of trouble focusing at times, but I suspect it’s because the point was  the lens itself!  The HSM handled nicely though, and I would highly recommend Sigma for its HS-quality alone.  Comparing it both in terms of battery drain, noise quality, and quickness of focusing, the difference is quite marked.

Here’s just a few more shots to show you some of the creative approaches you can  take with a circular fisheye:

So, what’s the bottom line?  Well, it’s $1500 retail, and because of how this lens behaves, it serves a specific purpose.  If your projects meet that work flow, it’s a must have lens because I don’t know of another one that comes close to this wide with this level of IQ.  Many people don’t like fisheye lenses because their cost is relatively high compared to the creative use of it.  While this is a good point from a business perspective,  I think it’s an advantage because the nature of the lens forces you to become more aware of how scenes look and to pay more attention to your composition.  Using this lens with any regularity will make you more creative, you’ll get better shots, and in the long run, become a better photographer.  In my mind, that’s always a good thing!

You can find the Sigma lens at your favorite distributor.  Mine is B&H, so here’s a direct link to their product page there:  Sigma 4.5mm f2.8.  Thanks also go out to Sigma for the loaner lens – it was a lot of fun to review and I got some great images from it too now.  Since it’s not due back for another few weeks, I may play some more with her, so keep your eyes open for some more test shots either here or on my Flickr Page.  Speaking of Flickr pages, don’t forget the May contest is open for entries and you can win a copy of PTGui Pano Software!  (The Sigma 4.5 lens and a wide contest….too bad I can’t enter!   )

Happy shooting all, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

P.S.  These were all pretty much raw from camera, and processed through Lightroom 3 Beta 2

Enjoy!

Well, today, I am going to give a little nod to a Windows-only program, called Printkey.  Specifically titled PrintKey2000, and under specific note that this is a freeware program (meaning it is not supported – to use at your own risk.)  While I have never had problems with it, the mentality of “let the buyer beware” should always be a consideration when downloading applications, especially freeware.

Those in Apple-land know that there are keyboard shortcuts to do a screen capture of either your entire viewing area, or a specific window, and these can either be copied to the clipboard memory for inserting in an application like Photoshop, or saved outright to your desktop.  While in Windows you can always use the Printscreen and ALT+Printscreen to copy either a full screen or active window to your clipboard, the ability to save directly to your desktop does not exist natively.  Instead, you have to capture the screen to memory, paste into an image editor, and save out as a JPG if you want to use it.  What PrintKey does is fill that void of directly saving to the desktop.  This is especially handy if capturing things for posting in a blog, in creating documentation, and other useful learning resource outlets.

To use Printkey, simply download the free application from here, run the executable, and let the program start in your system tray.  The entire packaged zip file is half a megabyte, so the footprint is super for those that are space conscious.  Here’s a capture of the software itself in action (don’t ask me how I got it – that took a few minutes to figure out!  LOL):

While there are many features wrapped up in this handy little application, the ones I use most often are the Save, Rectangle, Print, and then the dialog screen at the bottom of the screen (click the image above to see a larger view).  These should be pretty straightforward to those who are familiar with the concepts, but here we go regardless:

• Save – saves the current capture to an image file…you can specify whatever format you prefer (jpg gif, etc.)
• Rectangle – gives you a + sign that you can drag and drop around a custom area for capturing only part of your desktop
• Print – sends the captured image to your printer…(hope that was explanatory enough)

The last one is the bottm details area…I am talking about this little section here:

It’s very handy because it will tell you the dimensions of the image, how large the file is in terms of storage space on your computer, and how much free memory is left out of the total memory.  While some many not need all this info, the geek in me likes to have this!

So, there you have it, Printkey2000 in action.  I feel that I should also mention another really good counterpart and that is the program, SnagIt from the folks over at TechSmith.  With that handy application, you can not only capture images on both Windows and Mac, but you can edit them on the fly, including inserting text, arrows to call out an area, and other fun stuff.  Alas, it’s not free though – 30 day trial is allowed before you gotta cough up the $50! (Which for me is not worth it for something like this.  I have some friends that use other applications too, especially for video screen captures on both Mac and Windows platforms which include names like IShowU, Camtasia, and much more.  Here though, was just a little scoop on a little known application for the Windows crowd out there.

Got your own favorite little unknown program?  Have you used PrintKey?  Like it, love it or hate it?  Sound off in the comments as new little handy utilities are always welcome.  Happy shooting all and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

One last thing all – don’t forget the Height themed contest for the month of February – get your photos in while the gettin’ is good!  Deadline is a week from Friday!

So, let me tell you what makes this camera strap unique.  First off, it’s unique design has a built in “stop” so that you just let your camera slide down to that point and it just hangs there, conveniently out of the way, but immediately accessible when you want to bring it up for capturing a shot.  This strap is the perfect accessory for going on photo walks whether in an urban environment, wildlife, or other setting.  The fact that your camera is hanging out of the way makes it much easier to do things like climb rock walls, interact with others (getting signed model releases, passing out business cards, etc.), or anything else that you may need both your hands for.

Another nice feature set on this is that the front of the strap has a Velcro section where you can throw a cell phone in (probably not an iPhone though), and a zipper section where you can store things like spare memory cards, business cards, and other accessory items (I was able to fit a spare battery in there…)

There was an awkward adjustment for just a little bit, getting used to a camera not only dangling from this strap, but also dangling upsidedown!  It was a very short adjustment though, and I quickly adapted to the nature of how it works.  What was super cool for my setup is that I was able to utilize my quick release place as the “hook” for the clip, so if I wanted to quickly go from shooting on the go, to setting it in a tripod, it was simply a matter of releasing the clip, mounting in the tripod and lining up the shot.

These straps come in a variety of sizes, with one even offering dual straps for a two-camera setup (I know a few guys that do this, with one body holding a long lens and the other holding a wide angle…ready for anything!).  The size I ended up getting was the RS-5 (medium), and it fit my 6’1″ just about perfectly.  Choose the option that works best for your frame and gear setup, but this is definitely a purchase worth getting, especially if you go on a lot of photo walks.

Got any of your own gear predilections or preferences?  Want me to review something you’ve not seen here yet?  Do you own a Rapid R Strap?  Like it, love it or hate it?  Sound off with your own thoughts in the comments.  In the meantime, keep on shooting as we have another contest underway for a free 16×20 canvas print of any picture you have in your gallery from the talented Rich Charpentier!  Check out his printing services and you’ll be glad you did!  The contest page on Flickr is here, and is also linked in the content menus at the top of every page (the theme this month is Height).  Happy shooting and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

Rather than spend time wading through that sea, I thought everyone might be interested in one option – that of the digital download.  Various outfits like Mpix, Smugmug, Shutterfly, and others offer a range of services for printing and fulfillment where digital prints are selected online, then printed and mailed to the purchaser, or even just downloaded to the buyer directly for them to print on their own.  This last option of letting the client download their own pictures is something that more people are turning to, and even here there are many options.

One that I’ve been testing the waters with is a WordPress plugin called WP eStore.  It’s got some pretty handy features, and if you are okay with touching just a pinch of the coding, it can actually work pretty well.  I can see how this could easily translate to sales of digital downloads of pictures, as well as e-books (which is the type I am going to start selling).  It’s got a pretty intuitive interface, but does have a little bit of code to it within the plugin itself.  With both free and paid versions there are also various levels of support, and the guy that developed this is very helpful with any questions I’ve had.

The left sidebar of WordPress has an entire widget dedicated to the configuration and I’ve shared a screen shot of the interface here:

I’d go into more details with screen captures but since the eStore is active and there is certain information that you have to include (like source file paths and such), that would be a little too transparent for here.  But as you can see from the widget, there are many options available to you for digital downloads including adding discounts, organizing into categories, and even maintaining customer lists if you want to send promotional emails.  All in all, it’s a very cool little plugin, and as I get more work done on various e-Books  this utility will no doubt come in handy for both the blog and for the reader.

Speaking of the reader experience, that end is pretty easy too – all you have to do is click the shopping cart button to add an item to your cart, and you can check out with Paypal.  Once checked out, the buyer gets a dedicated private link to download the item in question.  No fuss, no muss – instant download, which I think is a super nice feature.  The same would hold true for anyone interested in offering photo downloads too.  You can see the eStore plugin in action right here on my Store link from the navigation menu at the top of the page.  For more detailed information, or to download either the free or paid version for your own use, check out Amin’s work on his site here: .

Anyway, there’s my thoughts on the option of digital sales for photography products and services – the eStore plugin for WordPress.  Easy enough to install, great support, and pretty much hands-free once everything is set up and configured.

As always, mileage may vary, and different options are out there for different needs.  If anyone knows of other products, services, or options for online print sales, feel free to share them here as it’s always fun to learn about new things from one another!  Happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here again tomorrow to wrap up the week!

P.S.  Don’t forget, only one week left in the January Circles-themed Flickr Giveaway.  get your photos in soon for a chance to win a copy of Photomatix Pro from the folks over at HDR Soft!

In any case, here is the long-awaited review of the Epodisc from the folks at Expo Imaging:

First – what is the Expodisc?  It’s simply a disc that defracts light as it passes through your lens in order to determine the proper white balance setting for your images.  Why is this a good thing?  It’s a good thing because light doesn’t always fall into the specific categories designed by your vendor.  It’s not always daylight, tungsten, florescent, etc.  These vendor pre-sets can get you close, but if you want spot on white balance settings in camera, this is definitely the way to go!  Here’s the short video I had put together a while back on how it works:

[display podcast]

Do I like the Expo Disc?  Absolutely – and if I were in an environment where lighting conditions change often, or it was tricky to determine (say those lights in gyms with the green phosphorous), these utilities are a godsend.  Landscape environments can also be tricky when you are dealing with things like snow, shade and sunny areas at the same time, and portraiture can be tricky too – say you have a bride’s wedding dress, the whites of the eyes, and the teeth for sample areas – which do you set?  Use the ExpoDisc and it will be spot on every time!

Thanks again to the folks at Expo Imaging for lending me the review units of the Ray Flash and the Expo Disc. It was a pleasure, and for those interested in learning more about their products, please visit their website here.

Happy shooting everyone – be sure you get your shots in, because there’s limited time left in the Circles contest for a lucky participant. Here’s the Flickr thread – keep on posting and keep on shooting!  We’ll see you back here again tomorrow!

It’s still clearly is not accurate enough to rely on 100 percent of the time as a stakes clearly will be made that require human correction.  however it can aid in getting most of the content puts together for the purposes of blog posts, article writing, and book writing.

one of the biggest problems was in getting the software to recognize the term “blog”, “web log”, and the letter E.  a dish rally it also had problems with punctuation from time to to time.  The software also is better able to capitalize sentences when you remembered to state that you need a “.It  ” at the end of a sentence.  The other problem is that the software had specifically related to word press is the phrase, “new paragraph” which will automatically add an additional blank line between paragraphs.  This was rather it easily overcome though, by having my hands near the keyboard.

two of the programs that I am looking to review stand here on the blog include “dragon naturally speaking”, and “Mac speech dictate”.  Requests are currently In with both companies to see if they have demo versions of their software for review purposes .  When I hear back from them I will let you know what their responses are.

if you have any recommendations, suggestions, or ideas for how to improve blog posting efficiency through programs like these please feel free to e-mail me here on the log, or in via the comments below.  My apologies in advance for the grammatical punctuation, and other errors that are evident in this blog post, but I did not want to over-edit the content so you could see this state of speech recognition software.

as we move into the new year I am looking forward to reviewing an ever-expansive set of applications, accessories, and hardware here on the blog.  If you have ideas for specific types of applications, accessories, and hardware please feel free to e-mail me as always at my e-mail address: Jason @ canonblogger .com .  Thanks for tuning in and we will see you back here again tomorrow.

YouTube:

Thoughts

Price: It’s free! Nothing beats free in my book, and with the competitive landscape of technology, this is pretty hard to beat.

Quality: The thumbnail does not look right, but that’s a minor nit…on playback it seems pretty good.

Ease of use: Another pro here as well…it was easy (and quick) to upload. It took less than a minute to upload, and adding the video details was also easy. You do need a Google account to do this though, but since that is also free, the downside here is hard to find.

Accessibility: It was VERY easy to find the embed code to copy/paste into the blog. And YouTube/Google is pretty recognizable as far as things go, so it’s going to be hard to compete here. But, let’s look at the other services…

Limitations: The only one I can find is that you are limited to videos under 10 minutes. You can do HD quality, up to 2GB per video (so no data size limit), with no waiting in line for video conversion or anything like that. At first I thought 10 minute limit was, well…limiting, but after looking at the other two services, not as much.

Vimeo:

Review of Video Hosting from Jason Anderson on Vimeo.

Price: It’s free…kind of. You can go the free route, but there are downsides which I will go into shortly.

Quality: It seems on par with YouTube in terms of video quality,

Ease of use: Also on par with YouTube, and the dialogs are very similar, so kind of a 6 of one, half dozen of the other sort of comparison here.

Accessibility: Vimeo videos are just as accessible as YouTube ones are, anyone can see them if you set them up the same, so kind of an interesting dichotomy here…

Limitations: Your limitations with Vimeo are that you can only upload 500MB of data per week.  This may sound like a lot, but when it comes to video, that could get eaten up pretty quick. I didn’t see a length limit on Vimeo, but could be wrong here. Another limitation on the free account is that you have to wait in line for your videos to get uploaded. I uploaded the video 20 minutes ago, and still have another 40 minutes to wait before it will start the conversion for me. If you upgrade your free account to the Vimeo Plus one, you can get 5 GB of content, HD quality, no ads, and for $60/year or $10/month. Not too pricey, but again, in a competitive economy, it’s something to consider…

Animoto:

Not reviewable – as it turns out, Animoto only allows 30 second videos for free – everything else is a paid service. The price is cheaper than Vimeo for the service at $30 per year, and it does seem to have no limitations on video length or things of that nature, but the fact that you can only do a 30 second video on their free service seems rather lame. I realize that we need to be quick and to the point with our content, but 30 seconds? Really? This one gets a major thumbs down from me for this and on that basis would not recommend it.

Self-Hosting

In the interests of being as broad in the review process as possible, I thought it would help to also include the self-hosted option as one worth considering. There are some caveats to this though, as services and limitations would vary from one hosting service to another. I use Dreamhost, and I like their hosting, so figured it would be worth showing that here.(You can sign up from the link or from using the promo code CBPROMO to save 50% on sign-up!)

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Price: Free…kind of. You do have to pay the hosting company for hosting your website, but as far as I know ISP’s typically do not charge additional fees for specific types of content.

Quality: Perfect! Since you are uploading the original video, there is no degradation in video quality – but that being the case, you are solely responsible for quality control…fair warning.

Ease of Use: Again, it depends on your host. For me and the blog, it’s pretty straightforward as I am using a self-installed version of WordPress and I am familiar enough with the functions and formats to handle it, but if you don’t want to be bothered with uploading a video via FTP, then referencing that source URL in your WordPress or website with HTML and all that, it could be challenging.

Accessibility: I hate to beat a dead horse, but it also will be a function of your host, and what format you choose to upload your videos. I uploaded the raw Quicktime video, so it will be dependent on people having Quicktime on their computer. There should be a conversion utility (I think it’s called jwplayer) that converts the .mov format to flash for easier viewing on the web, but this may need to be installed in your version. It is free, but could be a limitation as Flash viewers are more common.

Limitations: You are only limited by your own comfort level here – if you don’t want to deal with all the nitty gritty details, then this could be problematic. For those that enjoy managing all their own content, this could be ideal though, it really just depends where on the spectrum you are. For me, I am okay dealing with it, but if I had my choice between fussing over the details and using a service like YouTube to host it for me so I can go back out and shoot more, record more, and research more content, I’d choose the latter.

*****

So, that’s the top three reviewed for your consideration. If I had to vote on one, I would say YouTube gets the nod. Ease of use, lack of expense, and visibility is just unbeatable. But, keep in mind, that’s just my thoughts. What are yours? Anyone have any particular favorites or preferences for video hosting? Any I missed? Benefits and downsides? Sound off in the comments!

In other blog news, don’t forget, the post from Saturday (yes, I made a Saturday post!) allows you to embed your own photos to the comments! Share your own thoughts on the best photos of 2009 – they do have to be online (embedded via URL) but it’s a great way to share your favorites with the community at large.

Finally, time is ticking away on the December Giveaway. Over $400 in prizes including books, prints, paper, and software are up for grabs so make sure you get your “Giving” themed photo to the Flickr thread before the end of the year!