Tag Archives: hardware
Hardware Review: Think Tank Airport International V2.0
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!
Hardware Review: Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye (Circular)
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.
The Perils of Polarizers
Happy Monday all! My apologies at the absence on Friday – it seems some gremlins absconded with all my time on Thursday, so in the absence of any halfway decent content, decided to make it a legitimate “no blog” day heading into the weekend. But, a new week is here, and I’ve got a cool topic to cover briefly with you…that being: Polarizing Filters Polarizing filters can be a godsend – they can really bring out blues in a sky, or minimize reflections in windows, and can really help to improve the quality of your work. At the same time, … Continue reading
The long-awaited Drobo review
I’d been waiting for the time to put together all the videos, audio, and pictures for this review for a while and I’ve finally caught up on other projects so am getting this out for the listening and reading audiences to enjoy! For those that subscribe and read via RSS, sorry because this is a video-heavy post and you’re just going to have to visit the blog to get the content today! Trust me though, it’s worth it as I take a look at how the Drobo performs in a real world environment with hot swapping drives, and the perils … Continue reading
Hardware Review: Expodisc
It’s been a while since I’ve done a hardware review, and I realized that when the folks at Expo Imaging had sent me the Rayflash to review, I had also received an Expodisc. I know I recorded the video for it, but for some reason it never got published, as the two were meant to be posted back to back. 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 … Continue reading
Hardware Review: Western Digital Passport Drive
For those of you on Twitter (and following me), you know that over the weekend, my iPhoto library on the Mac was either corrupted, or somehow compromised in its integrity, because when I went to add in a few snapshots to it for sharing with the Twitter-verse, it crashed on me. Believe it or not, I was not worried, because I had a back-up copy of all my snapshots on my Western Digital Hard Drive. I blogged about this puppy before, in showing you how to add a second drive to your laptop in 10 easy steps. Well, not only … Continue reading
Let Me Light the Way
It’s kind of funny how things go in circles. As a regular reader of the Strobist website (as I am sure many of you are), I found it interesting that David was covering the RayFlash from ExpoImaging and comparing it to other styles of ringflahses over the last couple of days. The reason for my interest – today I am actually going to share with you some thoughts on the RayFlash specifically.
The Nifty Fifty from Sigma
After a couple weeks there of some touch-and-go blogging, rest assured, things are back into high gear this week. Today the trusty hardware review returns, and regular content is on the horizons for sure. Thanks for all the patience of those who have stuck around during some down time. Today, we’ll be taking at the Sigma 50mm lens, f1.4.
Post #501: Hardware Review – Thinktank Photo Multimedia Bag
As you may recall from the video announcement on Friday’s post #500 – the giveaway product for September includes the newest bag system from Thinktank Photo. You read that right, it’s a bag system! Totaling $320 in value retail the bags include the following:
Canon 550EX Review/Eulogy
Hardware Review/Eulogy – The Canon 550 EX Ah, how I loved thee, the Canon 550 EX, with your 3 flash modes, ETTL, Manual and Multi mode. You were especially wonderful because of how well the ETTL worked in conjunction with the Canon bodies. Your typical standard hotshoe fit every Canon SLR from the first days of DSLR’s (I think)), and you worked beautifully both as a slave and as a master via the toggle just below the button panel. Another especially nice feature you had was the variable power settings when in manual, where I was able to adjust you … Continue reading
Full Review: Apple iPod Touch 2G
Having had the Touch now for about a week, I’ve had a fair amount of time to look at all the features, bells, whistles, and nuances of it to give a more thorough review. As this review begins, you surely must be asking, “How does this relate to photography?” An excellent question, so let me begin with the benefits relating to photography: Photo Albums – this is a great way to take a portable portfolio with you where ever you go. Say you are in a grocery store, restaurant, or somewhere and a discussion starts about any good photographers. “Funny … Continue reading
Wacom Bamboo Fun: Hardware Review
The good folks at Wacom were kind enough to donate a Bamboo Fun to me for review on the blog a while back. In order to really get a full handle on it though, I wanted to use it within the context of my at-home work flow. You see, I’m not a newcomer to tablets, as at work and through previous experience, I’ve grown quite accustomed to their usage. I’ve had to instruct people on how to use, configure the basics, and such on their computers. as well as used them in many of their varying sizes (most recently being … Continue reading
Rocket Man!
Cleaning your gear is a maintenance ritual each of us must develop that suits our own style and behaviors. For me it’s lists…logical lists that I formulate after thinking about what makes sense to me, so I can do things the same way every time. For me it’s all about consistency and repeatability. While this same technique is something I recommend for others, it may not always be the best course of action if you don’t like that kind of rigidity. However, regardless of what styles or approaches you use to clean your gear (and I’ve talked about my approach … Continue reading
The Un-review Software
This week I am going to talk about the lack of software in the weekly software review. That’s right – the lack of it! You may be sitting there wondering which software item I am going to talk about, promote, or diss in some way shape or form, but instead of that, I actually want to talk about the general trending of software, hardware, and system resources. Why? Because we demand a lot from our computers these days. Think about it – we want our computers to do many things from surfing the internet, to designing graphics, office functions, building … Continue reading
Hardware review: Sigma 10-20mm
The review you’ve all been waiting for – the one to compete with my Canon 10-22mm review from a few weeks back! Well, there is no clear and decisive winner, so the wind is probably taken out of all the sails of those who were waiting for some smack-down talk. The reason? Some aspects I like better on the Sigma, and some on the Canon version of this lens. So, I’ll refrain from declaring a “winner”, and just give you the lowdown on this lens, what I like, and what I don’t. So, without further ado:
Write it down!
Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday folks – for those of you that Twitter and have me on follow, you’ll know that we had our cars taken out from under our noses (literally while we slept) early Tuesday morning. By the time I woke up and got dressed for work (at 6) they were gone… Suffice to say, the wind has kind of been taken out of my sails here, and after an entire day of dealing with police reports, insurance claims, DNA testing (yes, they took DNA from us), finger printing, and pretty much feeling like our … Continue reading
Hardware Review: Sigma 18-250
// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ google_ad_client = "pub-3565134799530909"; /* 468x60, created 2/25/10 */ google_ad_slot = "7247311792"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60; // ]]> First off, my apologies at the sudden absence on Friday – it was a day off, but not so much as a podcast recording that should have taken 30-45 minutes took 2 hours so my plans for the day were pretty much canned after that. But anyway, on to the subject of today’s post: The Sigma 18-250mm lens review! You read that right – Sigma has a lens that covers the range … Continue reading
Sigma Lightstand – Hardware Review
This week’s hardware review is the Sigma Lightstand. Specifically, the Impact 8 foot Air Cushion Lightstand. While you may think that this is something that wouldn’t garner much discussion – I actually have found this to be a very handy tool. “Tool?”, you ask. Yes, a tool. Sure, it’s primary function is to hold lights, but look at the variety even there – I’ve used it for small flashes (like my 550 EX II), studio strobes from Smith Victor, and water bags. Lest you do a double take, that’s right, I used it along with a makeshift boom (arm that … Continue reading
The 70-200L f4.0
In keeping with the last few weeks of hardware reviews, I am taking a look in my own bag one more time to bring you this weeks’ hardware review: the 70-200mm L lens from Canon. Canon has several variants on this lens, with different minimal apertures both with and without Image Stabilization (IS). So, in the interests of full disclosure, this is a non-IS lens, and the aperture range is the standard one, 4.0 to 5.6. So, with that distinction being made, we’re off and running: The “L” distinction is one that bears discussion right off – Canon only gives … Continue reading
The Sigma 70mm Macro
Next up in my gear bag is the Sigma 70mm Macro lens. This is one sweet lens. With an aperture that goes down to f2.8 this is legally classified as “fast glass”. It’s got some super nice bokeh, and has an impressive range for it’s sweet spot – ranging from roughly f2.0 – f11. Seriously, it’s tack sharp through that entire range. It’s got the characteristic touch and handling of all Sigma lenses with its brushed matte black coating. Other features include the manual on/off switch for auto-focus, which is typical for most lenses these days, but one thing I … Continue reading
Where oh Where can You Go? (GPS Units)
Many of us as photographers are also gadget hounds, and the ability to accessorize our cameras with the latest and greatest gadgets and doohickeys is both a boon and a curse. It’s a boon because we have so many options available to us, and it is a curse for the same reason – because we have so many options available to us. A perfect example of this is the development of GPS attachments. GPS (Global positioning system) units allow us to add the longitudinal and latitudinal information to the meta data of our digital images. This can help us locate … Continue reading
The Canon 10-22mm Lens Review
Happy Monday to all! Today is an exciting day here at the blog, because a new schedule of sorts is going to start, both to make reading more enjoyable, and to make writing more planned and easily executed. The reason behind the new flow is due to many listener questions asking a wide variety of questions, ranging from hardware questions to software questions, technical questions, work flow questions and the like. So, in the interests of providing answers to each of the wide subject matter areas, here’s the new schedule: Monday: Hardware – I’ll take a look at hardware components, … Continue reading
The cost of doing business…
Recently I was participating in a thread in one of the photo communities that I enjoy, and the subject of the cost of doing business came up. I decided to take a serious look into the costs associated with being an event or wedding photographer. Turns out, the costs associated that I could determine made me appreciate even more the fact that I am a hobbyist/enthusiast and not a pro – I couldn’t survive on this salary and with that kind of workload! Anyway, I thought I’d share the results of my calculations here, and hear what others have to … Continue reading
Thursday Thoughts v2.0
As I jump back in the saddle of topical discussions, I am going to actually share an experience I had with the readership today. You’ll notice the title of the post today includes a v2.0 – why is that? Well, because there are many versions of many things out there, and as photographers one of the things that is easy to lose sight of is the versioning of our firmware. See, cameras, like any other device in todays technologically advanced world, can have flaws that are discovered after it is released to the public. Most of the time the bigger … Continue reading
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