There are many cool features to talk about here.  Let’s look at them one at a time. The first and most obvious of new features is the display on the front of the drive.  This is called the “Smart display custom e-label”, and it is a very cool new feature.  Those who are familiar with the newest line of My Book Elite 1TB, 1.5TB & 2TB and My Book Studio 1TB, 1.5TB & 2TB recently introduced for the desktop will be familiar with this new feature.  It allows you to both label the drive with a 12 character description and to monitor the status of the drive, including available space and security status… even when the drive is unplugged!  And this label lasts for up to 6 months without plugging the drive in.  The next time you plug it in, it recharges itself for up to another 6 months.  With the price of drives these days, I find that I often store client projects on a drive on a shelf for 6 months, a year, sometimes more.  With the e-label system, it is easy to see which projects you are storing.  And the WD SmartWare software that is included makes changing the label (among other things) really simple.

The next feature to discuss is interface/connectivity.  This drive is the Mac drive for a couple of reasons… most importantly being the connection options.  This drive has the option of both USB 2.0 and Firewire 800 connections directly on the drive, and Firewire 400 adapter to connect to machines without Firewire 800 connections.  This gives you just about every possible connection you could need to get to your data.  The included cables are short (15″ or less), but that is all that is needed to connect to your MacBook.

Security is the next great feature, and it ties right into the software that comes with the drive.  The WD SmartWare software mounts to the desktop the first time you connect to the drive.  Setup is easy through this very well designed application.  You can set up the drive, the label, the security and even backup options through this software.  Once you assign a password to the drive, the password is required every time you plug the drive into a Mac.  This is a great option and makes you feel good knowing that if someone acquires your drive, they will not be able to get to your data.

This screen shows the settings options for the drive.  As you can see, you simply type the label in, choose a normal or inverted display, and save the label settings.  From here, you can choose other options to set up including sleep timer, diagnostics, virtual CD and other options.  The software is clean and easy to understand.

The WD SmartWare software has built in backup software.  It analyzes your drives(s) and allows you to select which folders you wish to back up and restore.  The design is very graphical and seems very easy to grasp and understand.  With the limited time we have had this drive, there has not been the time needed to dig into the use of this application.  But we do intend to look more at it at a future date.

The next feature to talk about is performance.  We wanted to get a feel of just how fast this drive is for backup and use.  We did some basic speed tests around the FireWire 800 and USB connectors, and we compared it to another commercial, portable USB drive that we commonly use.  It was a simple test where we drug a folder full of 450 different 20 to 40MB RAW photos to the drives and tested the performance.  This folder was 11GB in size, and should represent a typical copy that photographers would go through in backing up their data.  The results were good and about as we would expect.

The testing was not “milspec” or overly thorough, but very real world.  We took this new WD My Passport 640GB drive and tested both of it’s connectors and then tested a year old 120GB external drive that has served us very well over the past year.  This is about as real world as we can get in this amount of time.  Yea, yea, not a fair comparison to an older drive, etc., but the numbers are still true and comparable.  And beyond these numbers, I think we are chasing too small of details.

The WD My Passport Studio drive is small, but large in storage.  It is versatile and comes with great software.  It has features offered on no other drives available today (e-label).  It comes with a 3 year warranty backed by one of the largest and most reputable drive manufacturers on the market today.  What else could you want in a drive to trust your valuable photos and video?

Available March 1st, 2010 at retail stores like Best Buy, and click the links here to see reviews of this product and purchase the 320GB, 500GB or 640GB My Passport Studio.

Score Card (scale of 1 to 5)

You can visit Western Digital’s website here.

• WPPI – http://www.wppionline.com
• ExpoAperture Discs – http://www.expoimaging.com
• DOFMaster.com – http://dofmaster.com
• Digital Pro Talk – http://digitalprotalk.com
• Digital Wakeup Call: http://digitalwakeupcall.com/
• David’s book
  • Captured by the Light: The Essential Guide to Creating Extraordinary Wedding Photography
  • $34.94 – Available on Amazon.com

Show Host

Kerry Garrison
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Tamron website: http://tamron.com

Think Tank Photo: http://thinktankphoto.com

Vanguard Website: http://www.vanguardworld.com

Cullmann Tripods: http://www.cullmann-foto.de
EWA Marine: http://www.ewa-marine.com/

We do know that this video is a little jumpy and we are working on fixing the rendering issue and will have a better version up as soon as possible.

Think Tank Photo

Long time readers of Camera Dojo probably know how much I like Think Tank Photo products and this year they have come out with a couple of new products like really caught my eye. The first is a new line of bags designed to have a cool retro look to them. While I have never personally been of fan of the “messenger” style of bag, I just have to have me some of these new ones. Nothing beats a product that is not only highly functional, but cool looking as well.

The second big announcement (literally) is a new roller designed specifically to haul your lighting equipment around. This is something I have really needed lately when doing on-location corporate headshots and family portraits.

You should easily be able to fit several lightstand, flash heads, soft boxes, umbrellas, and all of your assorted cables and modifiers all in a handy roller. While most certainly not capable of fitting in an overhead compartment it most certainly is handy for keeping your lighting gear together, organized, and protected.

Check out more of their products at http://thinktankphoto.com

ColorRight

ColorRight has been making white balance tools for several years and this year they have a few new products to help keep your colors in check. A new domed disk gathers light from 180 degrees making it far more accurate than the previous flat disc. Another disk is used in the scene as a reference for contrast and skin tones. Take a shot of the disc in the scene and using your white balance and color tools to dial in the settings for the rest of the pictures you take in the same lighting setup.

ColorRight Web Site: http://www.colorright.com

Vanguard

I raved about Vanguard’s products at last year’s PMA show and recently reviewed the Alta Pro 284CT tripod. This year they have some new stylish and extremely affordable messenger style bags as well as some ball heads. We will be doing a larger segment on all of the new Vanguard products this week during the rest of the show.

Vanguard Website: http://www.vanguardworld.com

Lensbaby

Oh Lensbaby, how doest I love thee, let me count the ways! This FrankenLens-looking thing below is the new Control Freak. When paired with the new fish-eye lens you get an INCREDIBLE macro lens that can actually focus on an object that is touching the glass of the lens, now THAT’S close!!

Lenbaby Website: http://lensbaby.com

Argraph

You know I am a gadget freak especially when it comes to products to use in the field for backups and image verification. Argraph’s new MemoryKicker offers more features than the Epson products at about half of the cost. We will certainly be taking a longer look at these products this week.

Argraph website: http://argraph.com

Stay Tuned!

PMA 2010 runs for the next few days to be sure and check back for video interviews, new product announcements, and other new info.

The Vanguard Alta Pro 284CT Tripod

I first saw the Vanguard Alta Pro line of tripods at PMA last year and decided right on the spot that I just had to have one. There was one feature of the Alto Pro tripods that stood out from the rest for me, that was the ability of the central rod to be able to rotate from 0 to 130 degrees  in order for you to be able to shoot straight down onto something or for better angles for macro photography. For me, this is highly useful for product photography.

Other features include advanced camera vibration and shock control, legs that adjust to 25, 50 and 80-degree angles, quarter-twist leg locks,  patented premium magnesium die-cast canopy and head, hexagon-shaped central column for extra stability, and non-slip, spiked rubber feet for changing terrains and a removable hook for hanging camera accessories. Alta Pro 284CT is carbon fiber making it very light weight.

Specifications

• Extended height(inch): 63
• Folded height(inch): 21
• Weight(lbs): 3.71
• Maximum loading capacity(lbs): 18
• Titled Loading Capacity(lbs): 15.4
• Number of Leg Sections: 4
• Leg Diameter(mm): 28

Another feature that I was looking for in a new tripod was the ability to spread the legs out to multiple angles in order to get the camera as close to the ground as possible. With the Alta Pro’s ability to rotate the center column over and spread the legs out up to 80 degrees, this gives you some of the most control of any tripod available. The ability to screw up the rubber feet to expose metal spikes should help the Alta Pro tripods stay put on uneven terrain. This should be a welcome feature for landscape photographers. On the bottom of central column is a metal loop that you can use to strap down to a sand bag to steady the tripod when using it in the wind. The Alta Pro tripods all come with a slinging bag (SB-100 Stone Bag). This can be used to store all your basic “keep handy” gear like lens caps, light meters, and turkey sandwiches, or you can fill it with rocks to help keep the tripod sturdy. When looking at the different models of the Alta Pro series, the model number gives you some clues to it’s specs. The first two number designate the diameter of the legs while the third digit tells you how many segments the legs have, hence the 284CT has 28mm legs and 4 segments.

Usage

There is a lot to like about the Vanguard Alta Pro 284CT, the construction is solid, it has a great set of features, and is easy to use. My last tripod had clunky brackets to release the legs where the 284CT uses a twist-lock that takes only 1/4 of a turn to lock or unlock.

The leg angle adjustment is solid and easy to use as well with a simple push button release. To swing the central column over you raise up the column and push a safety button to release it up into the neck. Once up, you release the Instant Swivel Stop-n-Lock (ISSL) System and the central post will be free to move around.

Keep in mind that the 284CT is not a complete tripod system, it is just the legs and the central column. In order to actually attach a camera, you have to have some kind of head on it.  Currently, my most used head is a Manfrotto 322RC2 ball head. This head requires a larger screw mount than comes standard on the 284CT. Fortunately, Vanguard thought this could be an issue. The 284CT comes with a little tool kit that allows you to remove  a larger screw mount from the top mount and attach it on top of the existing screw mount to allow for a wider variety of heads to be used. The small tool kit also has an Allen wrench and sockets for maintaining the legs.

Along with the stone bag, you also get a carrying bag for everything. I only wish the bag would have been a bit longer to accommodate having a head attached to it. Even so, its nice to have a bag with a carrying strap to help haul it around.

Results

Ok, so remember at the beginning I said that good tripod legs go for upwards of $400 or more, and sometimes, much more. And notice how much attention to detail Vanguard has put into the Alta Pro 284CT. The best part, is you can get all of this for only $299.95. Sure, that is still a heft chunk of change especially when you add in another $50 – $100 for a good ball head. Is an investment of close to $400 really worth it for something as simple as a tripod? That sounds like a simple question but as someone who has gone through a handful of tripods over the years, I can attest to the fact that it does. Let me give you a brief history of my tripods over the years.

My first tripod was a cheap $14 special that actually came free when I bought a Hi8 digital camera once. While initially fine indoors for product photography, it was very wobbly and wouldn’t hold up a heavier camera/lens combo. As I upgraded and the cameras and lenses got heavier, it simply wouldn’t cut it.

The next tripod was in the low-end of the pro spectrum. It extended much taller, was more sturdy, and could hold heavier gear. Over time, the movements got gritty, the legs got looser, and it just didn’t feel stable enough. This tripod still serves duty for my much lighter camcorder.

My last tripod was a nice Calumet. While for a while, it was nice to have a good tripod with a nice Manfrotto head on it, eventually it really began to fall apart. In recent days the clasps are held together with JB Weld, O-Rings have fallen off, and I have to tighten up the screws all the time.

The Vanguard Alta Pro 284CT is easily the most expensive tripod I have owned to date but the features it had, along with much better construction should allow it to last longer and hold up to my abuse, while at the same time giving me functionality I never had before.

Summary

So far, I am impressed with the Alta Pro 284CT. It has the features I was looking for, it is reasonable priced for the class of tripod it is in, and has a nice, professional feel to it. Its also much lighter than my previous tripod which will be very handy as I do travel quite a bit.

But who is Vanguard? I bet most of you have never heard of them before. For 24 years, Vanguard has been a leader in high-quality photo-video accessories (tripods, monopods, ball heads, camera bags and cases), hunting accessories (archery bow cases, gun cases and gun pods/shooting sticks) and sporting optics (binoculars and spotting scopes).

Score Card

Vanguard Website: http://www.vanguardworld.com

Lightroom 2.6.1 : Mac, Windows

Source: http://blogs.adobe.com/lightroomjournal/

Syl’s new book LIDLIPS Lessons I Didn’t Learn In Photo School is available on Amazon for only $13.45.

Be sure and check out Syl’s websites: http://pixsylated.com and  http://speedliting.com

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Kerry Garrison
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This podcast is also available on iTunes.

Crumpler is a company that has become known for trendy and cool bags for many different markets.  Crumpler has also been known for quality of build and durability.  Late last year, Crumpler introduced the latest in its Million Dollar Home line called the ‘8 Million Dollar Home’ to give a fashionable alternative to the typical, usually black, technical looking camera bag.

At $170 retail, this bag is not strictly just a camera bag, but fashionably carrying your camera gear is a task it seems to do quite well.  As I first received this bag, I spent much time looking at it, flipping it around, studying the stitching, the internals, the straps.

What I realized first that this is a quality built product.  I don’t care how rough you are on your gear bags, the 8 Million Dollar Home from Crumpler will stand up to your daily use as well or better than any bag I have ever used.  The shoulder strap is well padded.  The material is thick and durable.  This bag is built to last.

Next I tried to figure out the functionality of the bag.  Camera bags tend to come in all sizes and shapes these days from backpacks to fanny packs, from rollers to shoulders.  Most all of them are black and pretty typical looking.  No matter where you go, you walk in announcing that you are carrying a bag full of camera gear.  Now, this is not necessarily a bad thing, but not everyone wants to announce “photographer” with every entrance to a room.  This is the next area that this bag is very well designed.  It simply does not look like a camera bag.  It looks more like a trendy saddle bag.

The model I have is gray on the outside and a bright, neon green on the inside, trimmed with red accents.  The inside has a series of compartments that are fully configurable and there are plenty of extra dividers to allow you to make more than enough small compartments for your needs.  With velcro on the ends of the soft divider panels, locking them into place is easy.  I was able to get a 70-200mm and 2 other lenses in, plus my camera body with a lens on it, a flash, meter and lots of small accessories.  For me, this was plenty of room to load what I needed for a weekend casual trip or a light business shoot on the road.  And the bad was solid and protected enough to make me comfortable that my gear was safe.

One of the most unique features of the bag is the silent closure option. The 8 Million Dollar Home is secured on two corners by two large pieces of Velcro underneath the top of the large messenger flap that encloses your equipment.  An interesting, thoughtful twist is that you can choose to un-tuck a cover, place it over the Velcro, and close the flap with two clasp enclosures allowing for a silent opening and closing without the rip and tear commotion caused by the large, Velcro fasteners. A nice option when you need to get to your gear without disturbing those around you.

Inside, the bright green padded compartments can be configured in a seemingly infinite number of ways to accommodate a variety of gear.  You can even completely empty the inside of dividers and make it one large, open bag, if desired. There are also two large mesh compartments inside the flap and front compartment of the bag, one secured by a zipper and the other with a Velcro strap. There are also a couple of loops on the outside  on either side to perhaps secure a small tripod.

Overall, the bag looks cool, is quite light, and well padded. It will fit a reasonable amount of equipment.  It is fashionable and kind of fun to configure.  It is not everyone’s answer to the “everything-bag”, but is not intended to be.  I personally cannot think of a more comfortable way to tote my gear around for an afternoon of shooting.

The Crumpler 8 Million Dollar home can be found for $170.00 on Amazon.com.

Interested in seeing more of Crumpler’s products… here is a link to All of Crumpler’s products on Amazon.

Product Review Scorecard

Crumpler Website: http://www.crumplerbags.com

Roberto talks about composition and gives the following guidelines:

• Choose a selective focusing technique
• Placement and composition of your main subject
• Use converging lines
• Use repetitive elements
• Use Framing techniques

http://www.robertovalenzuelaphotography.com or follow Roberto on twitter at http://twitter.com/robertophoto

Roberto also mentioned the Magic Lantern Guides Camera Books that help your learn your camera and what the controls do.

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Kerry Garrison
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This podcast is also available on iTunes.

Marc Fuller’s Website:
http://marcfuller.com

Marc’s top 20 list of Wordpress plugins
http://marcfuller.com/2009/12/top-twenty-plugins-for-using-wordpress-as-a-website-cms/

Don’t forget about Marc’s Try-it, Like-it, Buy-it offer. With “Try it, Like it, Buy it” Marc will place on your server/host a full working demonstration installation of Kertesz II complete with functioning main page, blog page, contact, NextGen gallery etc..  Then you can explore it as much as they want.  If you like it and decide to use it, either as your entire site or as a complement to a Flash site, then you pay for it and Marc will support you in making it custom to your use – including placing it a new folder, importing your current blog (if you have one) etc. And then when ready to go live, revisit your hosting; doing page replacement if needed, WP tweaks, SEO adjustments, etc.  The price for all this remains at just $267.00 but not payable unless you decide they like it and want to use it and Marc’s services.

Show Host

Kerry Garrison
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Join the forum discussion on this post - (2) Posts

Elmsford NY – December 29, 2009 –

Two key version 5.0 capabilities are Rear Curtain Sync and Pre-Flash Boost. PocketWizard’s rear curtain sync allows the photographer to set the shutter speed at which rear curtain sync automatically engages while optimizing the timing of rear curtain sync to fire at the absolute end of the shutter opening. Pre-Flash Boost provides enhanced E-TTL performance when using flash diffusers, doing bounce flash, or at ranges just beyond the normal E-TTL capabilities. By increasing the pre-flash power, PocketWizard has offset the loss of light in these challenging E-TTL situations.

Another significant new feature is Automatic Camera Detection. The ControlTL system can now automatically detect exactly which camera is being used to optimize system performance precisely for that camera. For Canon 5D and 5D Mark II users, this means the system will set the High Speed Sync crossover point to 1/320th versus the default of 1/400th to compensate for those camera’s slower shutter mechanisms. Camera compatibility for the Canon 7D has been added as well as E-TTL flash compatibility for the Metz 58 AF-1 flash.

Several other new features and refinements have been made and complete details can be found at www.PocketWizard.com/downloads. Current MiniTT1 Transmitter and FlexTT5 Transceiver owners can upgrade to the new firmware for free via the recently revised PocketWizard Utility.

About PocketWizard and the MiniTTI and FlexTT5

The PocketWizard MiniTT1 Transmitter and FlexTT5 Transceiver for Canon allow photographers to wirelessly control single or multiple off-camera flash units. These radios interpret the flash and exposure data communicated through the camera’s hot shoe and digitally transmit the information through a reliable radio signal. Photographers can place E-TTL flashes connected to a dedicated FlexTT5 Transceiver for wireless E-TTL operation wherever they need to illuminate a scene, even out of sight or in bright sun. Any change in ISO, aperture, shutter speed and even flash compensation is automatically communicated and adjusted wirelessly. A ControlTL system for Nikon is in the works as well as compatibility with some studio lights. The ControlTL system is also compatible for standard triggering with all PocketWizard radios.

For More Information

For more information on firmware version 5.0, including all new features and refinements, please visit PocketWizard.com.

###

To enter to win a copy of Gary’s book, you need to follow these instructions:

Go to Gary’s blog site at: http://garyfong1.xanga.com/

You may need to go back a little bit, but you need to find the answer to the question “What animal makes a good pet”

Send your answer to contest@cameradojo.com with the subject “Gary Fong Contest”. We will pull several names on Jan 15th 2010.

Be sure and check out all of Gary’s products at http://garyfonginc.com/

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Kerry Garrison
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This podcast is also available on iTunes.

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts

This article is only going to be my first impressions of the lenses since I just got them and haven’t had a chance to use them in more diverse environments yet.

The Setup

For this initial use of the new lenses, I had a Canon 50D which has an APS-C lens so I don’t quite get the full effect of the FishEye lens, but still, it works quite well.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions weren’t ideal either since I had to brave 20 degree temps to walk around getting these shots (may not seem cold to some people, but I live in Southern California). With an overcast sky and snow on the ground, its not as if colors were popping as much as I would have liked, but you can’t beat a morning stroll through East Aurora New York in the morning, so off I went.

The Soft Focus Lens

Ok, this lens is NOT for everyone by any means, however, I absolutely love it! The soft focus lens diffuses the light coming into the lens by filtering through a series of small holes. The goal is not to create a completely defocused image, but to give it a softer quality. When I get home and get some more images, you will see how this can look with portraits. For now, I had limited subject matter to work with to demonstrate with.

The image here of the flower was the one shot I managed to snap off before throwing the camera in the suitcase and heading to the airport. While you can see plenty of detail, there is still a softness to it and the defocused background has a really beautiful look to it.

Here are some more shots with the soft focus lens:

Fish Eye Lens

A fish eye lens is another one of those lenses you don’t tend to keep on your camera much but when you need a REALLY wide angle, nothing can beat them. Since the Canon 50D does not have a full frame sensor you dont get a complete circular effect but the fish eye effect is still plainly visible. With some creative cropping and vignetting, you may not even realize a shot was taken with a fish eye.

Below is an example of a pre and post crop of the same image:

With a little cropping, the really distorted edges are far less noticeable.

Another thing you can do is use a fish eye to capture more of a scene than you could with a regular lens and then us Photoshop’s lens correction to straighten it out somewhat. The following images are before and after the lens correction was applied.

Here are some additional shots taken with the fish eye lens:

Summary

If you have a Lensbaby Composer or are thinking about getting one, the Fish Eye and Soft Focus lenses can be a terrific addition to your Optic Swap lens collection. Maybe they are even just the right excuse to go get a Composer now. For me, they are a very welcome addition to my collection and I cant wait to use them even more.

For more information, check out Lensbaby at http://www.lensbaby.com.

• Canon EOS 1D Mark IV
• Canon EOS 7D
• Canon PowerShot G11
• Canon PowerShot S90
• Leaf Aptus-II 5
• Mamiya DM22
• Mamiya DM28
• Mamiya DM33
• Mamiya DM56
• Mamiya M18
• Mamiya M22
• Mamiya M31
• Nikon D3s
• Olympus E-P2
• Panasonic DMC-FZ38
• Pentax K-x
• Sigma DP1s
• Sony A500
• Sony A550
• Sony A850

Release Notes:

• Camera Raw 5.6 and Lightroom 2.6 provide a fix for an issue affecting PowerPC customers using the final Lightroom 2.5, Camera Raw 5.5 and DNG Converter 5.5 updates on the Mac. The issue, introduced in the demosaic change to address sensors with unequal green response, has the potential to create artifacts in highlight areas when processing raw files from Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and various medium format digital camera backs.
• The Lightroom 3 beta has not been updated with this new camera support. If you’re working with one of these newer cameras and the Lightroom 3 beta, please use the DNG Converter 5.6 to convert proprietary formats to DNG files that can be used in the Lightroom 3 beta.

Download at: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/updates/