nickonkenShoptalk

Tech Tip: Photo Mechanic

We've been using Photo Mechanic for a fair amount of time now, and integrating it into the DAM process in a couple ways. I wish I could say their brand and user interface was visually appealing like any mac or adobe products, but this is a case where function overrules design even though the product would be so much better it were designed well. Maybe everything I like about the program is the sacrifice of a visually appealing interface. Ok, so that said what do I like about it?

1. The Image Display Speed: The speed at which it displays RAW photos, and any photos for that matter is faster than any program I've seen out there. Bridge, Lightroom, Aperture, and Capture One all have to generate preview files, which sometimes can be painful in waiting time just to view an image.
2. The Editing Speed: I like to make edits fast, and most of the above mentioned are so slow when moving from image to image. You can fly through hundreds of RAW images making tags with a 1-5 numbered key stroke.
3. Easy File Browsing: You can click through the drive tiers on the left side of the window. Super easy to open image folders.
4. Meta Data Application: You can create an IPTC stationary and apply it easily to a batch of images.
5. Star & Label Rating toggles: You can toggle star ratings and label ratings on and off so you only see those rated images and it's super fast and easy. Makes it easy to drag and drop to Photoshop actions and/or copy and move files to different folders.

The overall speed is the biggest advantage with this program is the overall speed of everything. That's why it trumps the rest of them. Naturally its only a piece of the process.

Back the F*#% Up!

The last few months has been quite a growth spurt in the new New York office. Relocating here was a big jump, but even more so setting up a proper digital asset management system. Its a work in progress at this point. I got a big kick in the ass this weekend, when I found out my good friend Fred Egan had his house burn to the ground. Luckily his office was left in tact and he was able to recover his photography equipment and images, but I think it's a good in my face warning that it could happen to anyone, including me at any time.

I've hired Jeff Holt, to come in and help me build, set up an IT infrastructure, and implement a back up system both on site and off site. The above sketch is a general outline of what we have in progress of set up and it's still evolving. It's very intricate. Designing an IT infrastructure is very custom to what you have an how much you have to spend, but after this great awakening with Fred, it's pushing me even more to get things in order, especially an off-site backup.

The main idea is to have a mirrored backup that is onsite and that are equal sizes, then to have the same data mirrored off site somewhere. Hard drives go bad completely at random, so a constant mirroring of data on-site is a necessity. In talking with an Apple IT consultant friend of mine, he swears by tape drive backups because they last at least 30 years. Backing up on to secondary hard drives is great if you have a method of spinning them up once a year to keep the liquid bearings from drying up. If you let them go 3-5 years, they dry and the HD is toast. They're meant to stay in use.

The trick is to build a system that is expandable and accessible. Obviously if you're serious about being a photographer, the more you shoot, the more your digital assets are going to grow. Now a days with the digital sensors getting larger and larger the RAW images take up quite a bit of space. I am also constantly needing to access images for portfolio uses, projects, books, website, blog posts etc. so having a system where you can easily access everything easily takes quite a bit of design.

The system I have set up is 2 x 8 bay enclosures in a J-Bod(individual drives) setup with 1TB drives in each bay totaling 16TB. Each bay from one enclosure is mirrored to the parallel bay in the second enclosure for the redundant onsite data. These are the archive drives where jobs are dropped once they are finished and archived. We have a 2 bay enclosure with a RAID 0 that acts as a production drive for jobs that are in progress. The archived jobs will then be backed up onto tape and sent offsite. This system is hovering $10K.

Creating a system that is customized to fit your needs and budget can be pretty tricky and techie. Jeff has set up a few consulting packages to design the right system for you if you need it. His packages go from over the phone consulting to in-house setup. For more info send him an email: Jeff Holt

Another part of backing up is HAVING insurance. Unfortunately for our friend Fred, he had no insurance which resulted in a total loss. Irresponsible? Maybe so, but shit happens. I know I go through life thinking these things will probably never happen to me, and knock on wood they don't, but this is a sure realization that they can happen to anyone any time. I know what it's like to be strapped for cash and not finding the funds to pay for insurance premiums, but this is definitely a hard reminder. Our friend Jory Cordy has set up a donation page if you feel so inclined to help Fred out as he lost his living possessions.

In regards to insurance, one thing to be careful of is that a lot of renters/home owners insurances won't cover your gear if it's for business use and it values over a certain amount. It's good to have separate policies. I have a basic renters policy with Liberty Mutual, and a Business policy with The Hartford Agency. http://www.thehartford.com Business insurance gives you liability coverage and and inland marine coverage on your gear world wide. The premium for the business insurance varies on where you live and how much gear value you want covered. It IS essential!

What camera do I get?

I'm starting to get asked this question all the time, so I figured I'd throw down a post about it. The first debate is Canon Vs. Nikon, and to tell you the truth at this point in the game it doesn't really matter. They're both great brands and cameras. Nikon has definitely been catching up to Canon and giving them a run for their money. I prefer Canon for a few reasons. The colors I get from the sensor, and the fact that I've been shooting Canon since I started. When I started a few years ago, Canon was the frontrunner in the digital world. They were the only brand that had a full frame sensor, not to mention the image quality was far superior and larger to Nikon, so I got invested. Once you start buying lenses for one brand, they are compatible and interchangeable with any camera within that brand. Recently the game has changed in quality, and Nikon has been releasing camera bodies that compete with Canon. I still prefer the color tones of the Canon DIGIC processors. The reality is that if you have either you are good to go. I don't really even consider any other brand a player in the market. Obviously since I know and shoot canon, thats what I'll be recommending.

Remember, lenses are as important or more important than the camera body. The quality of the image that is projected onto the camera's sensor is what your image will be so if you have great optics you will have great quality images. I love fixed lenses, but for people starting out I usually recommend a few zooms to cover a wide focal range.

That said, you need to ask yourself a couple questions. A:  How serious are you about taking photos? Do you want to just have fun, and take better memory photos, or do you want to eventually shoot on a pro level? B: How much money can you spend? 

Scenario 1:
If your answer to A is just wanting to have fun and taking better memory, then you won't need to spend as much to jump into an DSLR.

Here are my recos for this answer depending on your budget. The Canon Rebel is a great series for this scenario for someone who doesn't need or want to invest in a photography career.
A: $1000ish: Canon Rebel series(approx $750) + a 50mm f1.4(approx $350)
B: $1500ish: Canon Rebel series +
C: $2000ish: Canon Rebel series(approx $750) + 24-70mm f2.8L (approx $1300)

Scenario 2:
If your answer to A is wanting to try out photography with the potential of doing it as a career then you'll want to step it up a little. I would recommend saving up your money to invest more in the beginning then having to rebuy a prosumer body down the road.

The Canon 50D and 5D series cameras are great for this scenario. Purchasing the right one will depend on your budget. Obviously the 5DMKII(my review of the camera) will be the best choice, but is going to be more expensive. The 50D has a cropped sensor so your focal lengths will be multiplied by 1.6. That is the trade off for not spending as much on the body. The crop is something you just have to get used to and work with if you don't want to spend the money to jump to the 5D series.
A: $2000ish: Canon 50D(approx $1400) + 50mm f1.4 (approx $350)
B: $2700ish: Canon 50D(approx $1400) + 24-70mm f2.8L (Approx $1300)
C: $4500ish: Canon 50D(approx $1400) + 24-70mm f2.8L (Approx $1300) + 70-200mm F2.8L IS(approx $1700) these two lenses cover a great range.
C: $6000ish: Canon 50D(approx $1400) + 24-70mm f2.8L (Approx $1300) + 70-200mm F2.8L IS + 16-35mm F2.8L(approx $1500) even fuller range.
D: $3500ish: Canon 5D (approx $2700) + 50mm f1.4(appxo $350)
E: $4000ish: Canon 5D (approx $2700) + 24-70mm f2.8L (Approx $1300)
F: $6000ish: Canon 5D (approx $2700) + 24-70mm f2.8L (Approx $1300) + 70-200mm F2.8L IS(approx $1700) these two lenses cover a great range.
G: $6500ish (my fave lenses): Canon 5D (approx $2700) + 20mm f2.8L(approx $450) + 35mm f1.4L(approx $1400) + 70-200mm f2.8L IS(approx $1700)
H: $7500ish: Canon 5D (approx $2700) + 24-70mm f2.8L (Approx $1300) + 70-200mm F2.8L IS(approx $1700) + 16-35mm F2.8L(approx $1500) even fuller range.

Please note that these are just guestimated figures. It will depend on where you buy your gear for more precise prices. I usually buy everything from BH Photo. I also shoot on the 1Ds MKIII series camera. There's plenty more money to be spent in areas other than just a camera an lenses, such as computers, compact flash cards, additional HD storage, etc. These lens configuration also pertain to the imagery that I like to shoot. There are many options depending on what you are wanting to shoot for yourself. The sensors in all the Canon cameras are pretty great and you won't go wrong with them.

If you're a semi-pro/pro (non photojournalist/sports photog) then the 5DMKII is a great camera if you don't have the funds for a 1Ds MKIII, however the 1DsMKIII takes the crop and is pretty awesome. The auto focus system is way better, along with the more rugged body.

The biggest thing to remember is that good equipment is just the entry to good photography. It's all about your eye and your vision. Just because you have a Mont Blanc $10,000 pen doesn't mean you're a writer. In the same respect, having good gear doesn't make you a photographer. It come down to final product that you are outputting.

5D MKII Review

I just picked up a 5D MKII last week, and I thought I'd take a minute and write down a few snippits of what I like about the 5D, and what I don't like about it. I bought this camera to primarily serve as a backup camera and to make use of the video aspect. The 1Ds MKIII will still be my primary camera. I'm reviewing this c amera in the respect that I would normally go out and shoot. So my review won't be too techy.

So what DO I like about it?
•The color and image quality are great, and as good or better as my 1Ds MKIII. I think there's a little more range, but the images look great.
•The screen is huge and crystal clear. Images look beautiful on it!
•The GUI has a little bit better graphics
•The video straight out of the camera is pretty amazing. Still learning how to maniuplate it. (Laforet has some great posts on this) it's pretty spectacular.
•the ISO in the normal range reaches 6400 and can be expanded to 25,600
•3 sizes of RAW files-Great if you're shooting things that don't need to be at the 21mp size

What DON'T I like about it?
•The focus compared to the 1D/1Ds series cameras sucks. The focus points are really small so it makes it harder to focus. If you've got an 20/30/40/50D or old 5D camera, you probably won't really notice a difference. I think this is where the price point comes in and you jump to the higher end Pro cameras.
•To open the 5DMKII files in Capture One you have to have the newest version which is only supported by Mac OSX leopord.
•The body feels light. Compared to the 1DsMKIII, it feels like a toy. Feels weird to grip, but I will have to get a battery grip to balance this out. (this doesn't really matter though)
•Shutter sound is not as beefy.

Overall, the 5D MKII is a steal. To get into a full frame great camera for $2700 is dirt cheap! Basically disposible.

Here's a couple recent shots:

 

1Ds MKIII First Shoot

So, my first shoot with the 1Ds MKIII was Actress Tiffany Dupont from the ABC tv show Greek: http://www.nickonken.com/Stories/TiffanyDupont/ Someone asked for a review of the camera, and I can tell you thus far I dig it. What's not to like right? (except for the fact that about 1000 images equals about 28GB of HD space) Do note that the comments below are in comparison to my now backup camera the 1Ds MKII.

A few random comments about it:
The shutter has a lovely harder crunch than the 1Ds MKII. The 3 inch screen is fantastic although the color of the images on the screen aren't too attractive. They look amazing on the computer though. There are a few buttons that are a bit different than the MKII, but that you can just get used to using. The controls are more like the 5D and you don't have to hold down an extra button to scroll through photos. Definitely nice. I don't shoot tethered much at all, but from what I hear the USB connection used with a mac is a bit of an issue. It's really slow. The sync cord plug is a little loose, so you need a piece of tape to hold it in. A little ghetto if you ask me. The ability to shoot small RAW is fantastic for shoots that you'll never need to go huge with and want to save your HD space. The self cleaning sensor. Fantastic. When you turn on the camera a nice little "sensor cleaning" splash comes up. It's a nice feeling since my MKII is dirtier than a third world country. The battery supposedly last 4000 shots which I'd believe since I shot about 1000 on this shoot and the battery bar went down about quarter. The higher ISO's are pretty clean.

That's it for now. Probably more to come.

1D MKII for Sale

Well, it's about time. The 1Ds MKIII finally came in, so I don't need to carry my 1D MKII any more as a backup. Therefore I'm going to sell it. I haven't used it in probably a over year. I'm selling it for $1700. Click here for the tech specs.  If you're interested, email me.

1Ds MKIII!

Alrighty! The news we've all been waiting for... the 1Ds MKIII! I'm so stoked that it's here and going to be available soon! Looks like the estimated release date is December 10th.

Check out the review and specs on dpreview...

The New Apple Keyboard

I came down to San Diego to visit my friends SaraFrance.com and FredEgan.com. We celebrated my birthday at one of my favorite sushi restaurants, RA Sushi. They gave me the new Apple Keyboard as a birthday gift, and a wonderful one at that. Talk about geeking out over a computer keyboard at a nice sushi restaurant.

This keyboard might just trump the Kensington keyboard that I blogged about quite a while ago. It's about time that Apple came out with a really sleek thin keyed keyboard. This thing is about as thin as an iPod Nano. It even comes with an exposé and dashboard button, as well as iTunes control buttons that you can skip to the next song, play or pause when you're in any program. It's wonderful!

Addicted to the Crackberry...

I love this device. I must say, I'm addicted to Crackberry. I'm in New York on meetings this week, and I've been putting it to it's full use. It's great for me to Google map every meeting location as well as type emails on the go. I can read documents that my agent sends and get them real time, without having to scavenger for an internet connection.

So I thought...

Yesterday morning I woke up, ready to hit the pavement, and my crackberry wasn't bringing in any incoming mail. Strange I thought, then I tried accessing Google maps. No dice. I started freaking out, pulling the battery off and kept resetting it in hopes that I could get it back online. Nothing. Finally about mid-day it started working again. I thought I was alone..

Then I read this morning's New York Times article explaining that over five million users were without Blackberry data service. Guess Crackberry Anonymous is bigger than I thought.

It generates thoughts of how dependant we are on internet and technology.

Read the New York Times article here

I love technology. Not as much as you, you see. Always and Forever. Always and Forever.

The Clicking Sound of Death

I woke up this morning, and 5 minutes into using my computer, one of my LaCie drives started making the "Clicking Sound of Death" I've been in the process of double backing everything, but this is a solid reminder to get on it. I think the drive is toast. Moral of the story is, Don't be lazy. Back Up consistently!