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The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites. This Episode The long awaited Canon 5d Mark III Canon 600 EX RT Canon WFT-E7A Canon GP-E2 Canon 1D X availability Nikon D700 Price Drop Adobe Photoshop Touch Awesome Camera Software Updates REVIEW : Think Tank Retrospective 5
The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites. This Episode
Canon News and Rumours Nikon Noise Management Flickr Redesign DxO Optics Pro Update Sigma 180/2.8 OIS Macro Lexar 1000x CF and 600x SDHC Cards Pocket Wizard Plus III Fuji X10 Firmware Update Results Introduction to Rangefinders and the Leica M9
I hate to think that I had been procrastinating editing some videos I shot for some friends, because I really had not been, although the work required a task that really bugs me. Despite my DSLR cameras being great for recording HD video, their audio capabilities are well, open for improvement. So I do what lots of videographers do. I let the camera mic run and also use external mics with an outboard audio recorder. My rig is very simple. Basically I use Sennheiser wireless lavaliers into a Zoom H4N field recorder and save the files as WAV format. This gives me very high quality audio that I can lay into my non-linear editor as an extra track beside the video with embedded audio from the DSLR. The Canon DSLRs also record audio through either the built-in mic or a frame mounted shotgun. I had tried the Beachtek box and while it works, I've had issues, and even though the Rode Videomic is very good, it's one mic and doesn't give nice stereo separation when shooting a two person standup.
I am using Final Cut Pro X which was recently updated by Apple to 10.0.3. This brought support for XML controls and that enabled the use of a tool I had looked at once in the days when I used Final Cut Studio. The tool is called PluralEyes and comes from Singular Software. You can download a trial of the product here. If you want a non-integrated audio track tool, they also do a tool called DualEyes.
FCP X purports to be able to sync multiple audio tracks together. It can. Mostly. With multiple retakes and inconsistent start times between audio and video, I have found that it works ok, but not perfect and not necessarily consistent. PluralEyes is a special purpose tool, that carries a price tag of $149 USD. So it's not like the free that's built in to FCP X. You should expect something really great for that kind of money, and my experience today says you get it.
I had eight separate videos to edit, each with multiple takes and audio files. So long as I kept them straight, PluralEyes did the job quickly and effectively. While it is a standalone app, it integrates very nicely into your FCP X workflow.
Here's the workflow I used today.
That's it. It's like working with a professional video / audio track from pro gear. PluralEyes saves a lot of time and makes life much easier. I have not discovered a down side, other than the license cost of the software, but for the hours it saved me, it's worth it. You can try the software for free before you buy which is very good of the manufacturer.
PluralEyes is available to work with Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, Sony VEGAS and Edius. The 30 Day trial is not impaired in any way that I discovered.
The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites. This Episode
Nikon News
Olympus News
Canon News
Photo News
DP Review of the Lumix GX-1
New Samsung SD Cards
Part One - Leica M9 Review
I am very pleased to announce that Rogers TV has completed the shooting of the first six episodes of Daytripper TV that will begin airing on Rogers Cable 10 Television the week of February 27th. The schedule is as follows; Tuesday 7pm - first airing of the week then the same show will air again: Wednesday 11am Thursday 7am Thursday 2pm Saturday 2pm Sunday 8pm
After the first six episodes air, they will enter rotation for another six weeks, by when we will have shot the next six episodes. I am very grateful to my co-host Bryan Weiss for his hard work and to the amazing team at Rogers TV who made this happen.
The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites. This Episode
News from Nikon Leica Financials Kodak Update Fuji News Canon News Olympus DSLR Facebook Lightbox REVIEW : Lastolite Ezybox
The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites. This Episode
Nikon's Q3 Financials Sony's Financials AVID Studio for iPad Fuji X Pro 1 Pricing Canon EOS Utility FINALLY OS X Lion Ready Lexar intros new CF cards Apple Updates FCP X New Lumix TS4 REVIEW : Metz 58 AF-2
Thanks for listening! The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites.
This Episode
More Canon 5D Mk III News on the Nikon D700 Lego Man goes to space Snapseed Kelby and the D4 Adobe CS6 policy change New smartphone sensors Leica guesses Really big lenses M43 lenses Nikon 1 reviews Conurus adapter TriGrip review
Full Disclosure : I am not employed by Nik Software. I do not receive any compensation from Nik Software. Nik Software does not have a clue who the heck I am, other than having accepted my money for their products.
I'm a known champion of Snapseed on the iPad. It just rocks. So imagine how excited I was to discover that as of January 12, 2012, that the amazing Snapseed is now available on the Mac.
Nik has done a really fine job of taking the gesture oriented iPad app and transposing it to the mouse/trackpad interaction model of the Macintosh. The software runs on OS X 10.6.6 or later and OS X 10.7.2 or later and the app size is about 28mb. You'll need a 64 bit CPU and Core 2 Duo or greater capability. Oh yeah, you'll also need $19.99 at the Mac App Store.
For those who have suffered without Snapseed, here's a short summary of what it brings to you.
Basic services include cropping, rotation, straightening and the ability to quickly select standard aspect ratios. You can also correct white balance, saturation, contrast and overall ambience. For those who have used Nik's most awesome plugins, Snapseed also features Nik's powerful control points so you can exercise highly selective control over what sections of your image get edited.
Once you've done the basics, you'll want to look at some of the extra options. None of these capabilities are trivial and you really want to get in there and play around, but for the short list you have Black&White, Vintage Film and Drama. Want that grunge look? Try out the Grunge functions. Have some buildings falling over? Try the Tilt and Shift (SO AMAZING BECAUSE IT'S SO SIMPLE) and fix them right up.
Want to pull out more detail? Nik has brought their Structure control over from their plugins and of course there is powerfully simple sharpening as well. Like that Bokeh look? Choose centre focus. Want to put a cool frame around your image? Try out Organic Frames.
Once you've finished your work, share your photos via email or on to Facebook or Flickr.
Oh yeah, it works with JPEGs, TIF, and RAW files! And it's under $20
The following images are from Nik's page on the App Store
Thanks for listening! The Photo Video Guy Podcast is created for photographic and videographic enthusiasts featuring news, reviews, tips and tricks and is the audio companion to thephotovideoguy.ca and thephotovideoguy.com web sites.
This Episode
Kodak Update Nikon Rumours Canon G1X Lightroom 4 Beta Canon Lens Rumour Fuji X Series Lenses REVIEW : Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 Book Recommendation : Photographer's Survival Guide
Is now available
I am very happy to announce that the nice folks at iTunes have accepted my podcast for distribution through the iTunes Store. The link to it is http://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast//id493184154 and hopes are that it will begin to reveal itself in searches by the 9th of January 2012. If you are so inclined, please subscribe. The intent is for weekly episodes and I will be happy to take questions via email or comment to the site from readers and listeners. Thanks to all for your support!
With CES imminent, expectations are high around announcements from the major vendors and with the success in 2011 of both the X100 (yuck) and the X10 (also yuck) Fuji is one of those major vendors. Smart marketers those Fujians, getting their press releases out BEFORE the avalanche of releases that is CES. And Fuji did not disappoint. Well except for me. Here's the text from the overlay release; and the links should be hot, unless I screwed up the post. FUJIFILM Corporation (President and CEO: Shigetaka Komori) is delighted to announce the new lineups of the FinePix digital camera series. The wide range of new FinePix lineups will provide customers even more convenient solution from capturing to sharing, professional to simple point and shoot, and satisfy and amaze all customers around the world with their exciting photography life.
The new cameras will be showcased at 2012 The International CES, Las Vegas, USA.
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That's a long list of cameras. I had prior info about the SuperZooms and they make sense given the success in the holiday season of Nikon's P500 and Canon's 40xs is. But, if I were a buyer for a camera store chain, I'd be filling the coffee mug with straight Lagavulin since it is clear that no one at Fuji has studied anything about the problems created by too much choice. Looking at the list, I think of Lowe bags. There are so many too choose from, buyers end up choosing none, or one that's not right. Harvard Business School has done numerous studies on this "Too Much Choice" issue but plainly manufacturers in the photo industry are not paying attention. Thus camera stores have buckets of inventory of products so close to each other from a single vendor that no one can readily tell them apart. You'll note that Leica does not make this mistake and you'll also note that there are no M lenses to be found and that Leica sees fit to raise prices because of demand.
What did Fuji not announce? Where is the X Pro, the interchangeable lens CDSLR/EVIL/Mirrorless/MILF that has been rumoured and of which photos already exist. If, as Trey Ratcliff proposes, the future is not the DSLR, then the X Pro fits that niche and certainly there is space above the X100 and below the M9 for serious enthusiasts. C'mon Fuji, get the lead out and get that new camera out. As for the rest of your announcements, I'm sure that they are all really fine products, but frankly I'm bored and underwhelmed. What is it the cool kids say? Oh yeah. Meh.
Yes, I know I am posting this on Christmas eve, and yes I know that the app is really an ad package for Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, and yes I know you'll get bored soon enough, but for a short time, you are going to go nuts dropping a car on stuff and blowing stuff up with a missile.
From JJ Abrams' team at Bad Robot comes Action Movie FX, a FREE iPhone app that let's you, well, blow stuff up. Fun? Wow!
Get the app at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/action-movie-fx/id489321253?mt=8
Do It!
You may have heard this story but I think it is so awesome, I want to share it with readers.
A user of a Canon 1000D lost his camera overboard into the ocean off Vancouver. Fourteen months later, a scuba diver discovered the camera while on a dive. Now this diver is a complete class act as he not only raised the camera, he pulled the SD card (a Sandisk Extreme III) from the camera, let it dry out and cleaned it and then tried to read the card. To his surprise there were photos on the card. So he loaded them up on Google in the hope that this might help identify the owner.
The Google folks helped out and the original owner was reunited with the camera and the pictures! That is just so cool!.
Awesome shout outs to the diver, to Google and to the nice folks at Sandisk whose product survived over a year's immersion in salt water and still was able to be used to recover the pictures.
Great news! There are now more issues of the awesome Light It magazine for the iPad now available with Issue 4 to follow by year end. For those who got excited by the superb first issue and then wondered what happened, there was a delay in getting the app approved by Apple, but that's all done now and the issues are available. At $2.99 an issue, I'm not sure there is a better and more beautifully constructed way to learn about lighting.
If you don't have the app, go get it. If you don't have an iPad, now you have a great reason to get one and to call it "education expense".
The Sony NEX-7 is very skinny on the ground given the horrible flooding in Thailand. My contact at Sony fears that stores won't be seeing new gear until February at the earliest. The folks at Leica explain the absence of pretty much every one of their M lenses on "market demand". Why? Because folks are buying newer mirror less cameras and Leica adapters to use M lenses.
No doubt about the quality of the Leica glass, but what happens when you put Leica glass on the hot new NEX-7? The people at Luminous Landscape have done it in a multi-part assessment. Follow the link to read the article 15 December, 2011 - NEX-7 vs. Leica M9 Resolution
Must be the season but a lot of people have been asking me where to get those glasses and mugs that look like lenses. There is the Nikon shot glass, and the Canon mugs that look like L series zooms.
The place to go is Photojojo's online store. Go check it out, they have some wicked cool and full geek on gear!
Nikon has released a firmware update for the J1 and V1 cameras in preparation for the release of the FT1 adapter. The FT1 allows the mounting of Nikon F mount lenses on the new small sensor cameras that despite the mcmarketing are not actually CDSLRs where C is compact. They are more like CARFs but that's a different rant.
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