Is it better? Reexamining the Canon EOS-M with the 2.0.2 firmware

I think that I've mentioned that I like this little camera. Construction is solid, control layout is decent, images are good out of both the 18-55 kit lens and the 22/2 pancake. Video is quite good with no AF noise (EF-M lenses are all STM type), although the built in microphones give you what you expect - utter crap. The camera fits the hand well is only marginally bigger than the Sony RX-100. But the camera as shipped had a real problem. It's autofocus performance could be described as slower than molasses flowing uphill in winter and that would have been charitable. Compounding negative speed, it tended to hunt back and forth in low light resulting in most reviewers desiring to see how well the device bounced. Consequently, Canon couldn't give the darn things away to the point that when the original kit came out with the 18-55 lens and the 90EX micro flash at around $900 it was laughed all the way back to the warehouse. Today that same kit, less than one year later still languishes on dealer shelves at $499 (sale price, reg $699) collecting dust, that's how bad a reputation the camera has. Canon has not helped by shipping only two EF-M lenses until the recent debut of the 11-22 zoom which is afflicted by the same slow lens speed as the default 18-55. Can anything change the tune for the little mirrorless Canon?

Canon this past week releases a major firmware update for the camera. While they chatter inanely about better foreign language support in the menus, those issues weren't stopping sales. The new firmware purports to significantly improve autofocus performance so I arranged with Chris Atkinson at Henry's in Newmarket to borrow their demo, upgrade the firmware and see what's new. The camera is very familiar, it's the SAME one I tried out over six months ago...

I fired a few frames with the default firmware, charged the battery and ran the firmware updater. It completed successfully.

So the big question. Is autofocus performance improved in terms of speed? Yes, it is better. Is it a lot better (as in NEX-5n better)? No, but it is Fuji X better. An NEX-5n or OM-D will still kick its butt around the corner and I won't even talk about the size of the can of whup-ass the RX100 would open on it. But it's better. Usable better. In good light outdoors, focus lag was not noticeable. Indoors, particularly with the 18-55 at the 55mm end (resulting in a max opening of f/5.6), there had better be mucho de contrast or the camera will hunt and then give up cold. AF performance on the 22mm f/2.0 is better overall.

The lenses are very sharp but as the barrels are REALLY narrow (like the Sony NEX barrels) and they are not brilliant optics when it comes to vignetting and distortion. Using the lens profile correction in Adobe Lightroom 5, the corners in shots taken with the 22/2 brightened up nearly 2 STOPS, which is not horrible but not very good either.

Since internally this is basically a T4i, it should be a lot better than it is. My daughter has a T4i and it's plenty quick to focus and does pretty well in crappy light. She uses it primarily for video and like the EOS-M the internal microphones make you yearn for manual audio controls or a sharp needle to destroy them forever. Good video with bad audio is bad.

The firmware update doesn't change the fact that you have to do most everything through the touchscreen. Touchscreens on my phone are ok, not ok on cameras. The update also didn't add a viewfinder so you still look like a dork holding the thing out in front of yourself like some lost tourist, with all the inherent stability loss that goes with hanging your arms out into space.

So what's the verdict?

I've attached a gallery of images that were shot as either RAW or JPEG in camera, imported to Lightroom 5 and given my basic workflow (less than 30 seconds spent per image). Using the lens profile correction is REQUIRED, but after that what comes out of the box is pretty darn good, certainly as sharp as anything else in this DSLM APS-C sensor space, with good contrast and typical Canon colour fidelity. If you've never experienced Sony autofocus you might be just fine with the enhanced AF brought about by the firmware update. It's not a good ambassador for the DSLM space though, with shoddy AF in poor light, a touchscreen dominated UI, small battery and no viewfinder (that LCD is nice but glares out fast in sunlight) and even at the sale price of $499 you can do better. There's allegedly a newer EOS-M enroute, but this critter definitely feels like Canon's version of the red-headed stepchild. Maybe if they dropped the price to $249….

The Photo Video Guy Podcast - Episode 64

Canon updates C100 firmware. Reviews are in on the 200-400 and 600/4 II.Specs have leaked for the Canon 70D. Canon ships 2.0.2 firmware for the EOS-M. Fuji announces new X series firmware, a new 27/2.8 lens and the X-M1 camera. Panasonic will update the 20/1.7. Sony releases a new flash as well as the RX1R and the RX100 II. Carl Zeiss is now just Zeiss

REVIEW : The Westcott Rapid Box Octa 20" and 26"

FJ Westcott has been doing umbrella frame softboxes for a while, and I like their Apollo line EXCEPT when you want to wirelessly control your flash with infrared. Because the flash is "in the box" infrared control fails most of the time. Westcott recently released a new family of products called Rapid Box. There are two octagonal softboxes and a small strip light. All use an umbrella stay collapsible system to make the units transportable, but most importantly, place the hotshoe flash on an included bracket outside the box. With the support of Chris and Louise at Henry's in Newmarket Ontario, I was able to do a test of the Octa versions of the Rapid Box units.

Assembly of the box itself is a no brainer if you have ever used an umbrella. Then simply attach the bracket on the box to the flash bracket that comes in the box by rotating the bracket arm and screwing in the flash arm. The only way it could be simpler is if it came fully assembled but that would defeat the superb portability of the unit when packed into the included travel bag. Total set up time including putting the whole thing on a light stand is less than five minutes if you pace yourself.

Mount the flash on the bracket and adjust the height so the flash head just fits inside the opening so all the light from the flash gets into the box. The octal and strip boxes are lined with a high quality silver foil for lots of efficiency and there is a simple diffusion panel that velcro attachs to the edge of the box at the front.

Using either the Nikon Creative Lighting System, Canon Creative Flash System (Infrared) or Canon RT Flash System (Radio) is a breeze. Set the camera flash to be master and to act solely as a trigger. Set the flash attached to the Rapid Box to Slave mode and start shooting. In order to confirm ease of use, I tested in eTTL, eTTL II modes on Canon and iTTL on Nikon. The exposures were excellent without any real need for compensation, leaving control in the hands of the artist. I even made some test exposures using old Canon 580EX units at my friend's home and the shots were beautiful right off the bat with soft clean light that wrapped very well when the light stand was placed properly.

The general rule for any soft box is to put it as close to the subject as possible while keeping it out of frame. Used in this way the Rapid Box is a great choice. Regular readers know that my raved about offering is the Lastolite Joe McNally Signature soft box and I still prefer it for portraits because its light is so creamy. However, I would say that the Rapid Box is as good as the regular silver interior Lastolite and much nicer than the Westcott Apollo collapsible softboxes. The 20" octal sells for around $169 and the 26" octal for around $199. The strip box is 10" x 24" and sells for around $199. There is also an internal reflector disk available to force more internal bouncing around for about $25. I have one of these for my Elinchrom Deep Octa and it does serve to reduce hot spots, although I did not try the Westcott Rapid Box version.

You can find Westcott products online or at Henry's locations in Canada. Support them if you would in thanks for providing evaluation products to me to test.

The Photo Video Guy Podcast - Episode 63

Nikon firmware updates and new software. Canon releases patents for new lenses. JVC has a 4K camera that takes Nikon F mount. Sigma sets the price for the 18-35. Pentax announces new DSLRs and Q7. First look at Pentax MX 1. Leica M delayed significantly. Hasselblad ships the Lunar. New RAW from Microsoft and Apple. Photoshop CC debuts

First Look : Pentax MX 1

I remember the Pentax MX from about 30 years ago. It was a good quality SLR. Pentax has gone through a lot since then, most recently being acquired by (and in some opinions, saved by) Ricoh. My friend Steve Davies has been with Pentax Canada for a long time and when I saw him at a trade event this week, he asked me what I thought of the MX 1. I, as one might expect, gave him the dumb look, since I did not know what he was talking about. Never to let a challenge go unpunished, I determined that the MX 1 was stocked at the camera store where I work on a very part time basis, and with the assistance of the most awesome Louise Booth, obtained one to do a first look with. The first thing you notice about the MX 1 is the weight. If you've handled other larger sensor point and shoot style cameras, the first difference you feel is construction. With top and bottom plates of brass, finished in either gloss black or retro silver, the MX 1 feels built tough. The lens is a 4x zoom measuring from 6mm to 24mm with an aperture of f/1.8 to f/2.5 That translates in 35mm language to a range of 28mm to 112mm so wide angle to short telephoto, with an aperture range of f/8.4 to f/11.6. This is decent range for a pocket camera, but isn't really going to rock low light. ISO runs from 100 to 12800 but I found it gets noisy around ISO 1600. Still, certainly more than some other cameras of this type. It incorporates a CMOS sensor noted as 1/1.7". I confess that this tendency of most manufacturers to play silly buggers when quoting sensor size makes my teeth hurt so some basic math says the sensor is about 0.68 inches on the diagonal. Certainly larger than the generic point and puke, but less than the much loved (by me) Sony RX-100, but similar to Canon's S110, Olympus' XZ-2 and the Lumix LX7. The sensor delivers files of maximum 12MP.

Like other cameras of this type, the camera captures not just in JPEG but in RAW format as well and a big clap on the back to Pentax for selecting the open standard DNG format for it's RAW files, so you don't need some wonk-ola software to get at your RAW files such as one encounters with oh say Fujifilm. Don't kid yourself though, the in camera JPEGs are generally the way to go until Adobe, DxO and the rest of the lens profile magicians get profile corrections available because when I shot RAW+JPEG fine on the MX 1, the RAWs were, to put it softly, showing a bit of the old barrel distortion. The in camera JPEG builder applies the needed lens correction so the JPEGs look pretty decent, albeit without the colour depth because of the JPEG "parsley to throw away" storage model.

By the way, if that phraseology doesn't mean anything to you, go find the episodes of The Flintstones where Fred and Barney buy a Brontoburger stand.

Charging the battery takes just over two hours and you can charge the battery out of the camera because it comes with an external charger, like any intelligent camera should. Manufacturers who are too frakking cheap to put an external charger in the package and then require that you charge the battery in camera, need to have Mr. Bat meet Mr. Kneecap. Pentax says you should get about 290 shots on a charge, putting the MX 1 in the same park as its competitors.

The menu system reminds me of most Japanese camera menu systems, meaning it looks like it was built after the architect just came off a three week long sake and Suntory bender. Adding insult to injury is a font style that brings back memories of the long dead and unlamented MGA from the original IBM PC. I would have hoped that Ricoh would have had some influence into the menu system. It's confusing because different presses do different things for different areas. This can be addressed in firmware so I hope that Pentax listens to buyers and hires a good UI company to redo the menu system. Button layout is pretty straightforward. Shutter is on top with a zoom rocker around it, video start / stop is a separate button, There is a shooting mode dial and a separate exposure compensation button giving ±2 stops in ⅓ stop increments. The power button is easy to find without hunting for it and it glows a bright green when the camera is on.

Modes include GREEN, Auto Pict, SCN, HDR, USER, M, Av, Tv, P and Movie. I expect many buyers will use GREEN or Auto Pict and for the most part they are pretty darn functional. You have to manually popup the flash to do any flash function selections and it emerges on a little cantilever arrangement like many other cameras of this type. The switch is on the upper left side of the camera. It's bright enough for basic work but it is very small and so harsh shadows and blow outs should be expected. There is no hot shoe, so this is what you get. It offers a couple of red-eye modes, as well as slow sync and "second-curtain" sync.

The back has a rotary wheel that does different things depending on the mode you are in. There's an AE lock button and the usual four way rocker. The rocker labelling needs work. The flower that everyone naturally believes is macro mode actually takes you into the different selectors for focus mode. Not all that intuitive. There's also a Play button, a Menu button to open that door to hell mentioned earlier and an Info button whose function varies depending on mode from doing nothing at all to popping up a Hollywood Squares style grid to select different configuration options. The Play button also empowers the rocker to move back and forth but if you rocker down, you get access to all the "fun" stuff, like in camera filters, HDR simulation, toning, Instacrap style things and a bunch of other junk I would never use, but that's probably needed for someone, though I cannot imagine who that might be.

The LCD display is large and bright. The image quality displayed is very good and I rate the LCD as one of the best elements of the little camera. It tilts up or down via a cantilever arm system that while solid is not all that smooth. The other side of that is that it doesn't flop all over the place.

The tripod socket is metal and screwed into the brass base plate so while a little thing, it indicates that some engineer has been thinking about the more demanding user.

Image quality is easily as good as any of the cameras in the price range, which is about $450. The lens is sharp and contrast is good, but beware the tendency to barrel distort. A close in shot in wide angle mode definitely made the upper right of Sondra's face start to wander into the corner. I won't publish that one, to avoid getting yelled at but trust me on this, you don't want to be taking head shots with this thing in anything but full telephoto.

The 4X zoom is adequate. There is also intelligent zoom available when shooting in lesser JPEG quality that basically reduces the MP count so as to use more of the sensor for zoom. A peer at the store says that doing this doesn't diminish quality. We're going to agree to disagree, I think there is a visible quality drop. The camera also has digital zoom, which as all readers should know is basically a simple way to make a decent shot look just like cat vomit.

I shot a small range of images with the camera because I only had it for a short time. I think that the JPEGs are quite good and expect the RAWs to be more usable when there are lens profiles available for Lightroom etc.

The Pentax MX 1 is a fine camera. I did not find anything that really set it dramatically apart from its competition in the price point except that it has much sturdier construction. Certainly it's very usable and the lens is very sharp. The menu systems need work, but in fairness, most menu systems look like they were designed by rats on typewriters. I think it's a strong contender in a field of good options. Certainly the price point gets it into the hands of people who might otherwise look at the excellent Sony RX-100 or the laughably sad Nikon Coolpix A.

The Leica X Vario. Mini M?

As regular readers will know, I am a Leica owner.  I shoot an M9 now, have an M240 on seemingly endless backorder and my first Leica was an M4-P with motor winder and 35mm f/2.0 lens.  I still miss the M4-P even though the only film I shoot these days is in my Sinar P. There has been a LOT of noise about this new Leica that has been referred to as the Mini M.  But that's not right.

It's an X, but Leica refers to it as the Mini M.  Confused yet?

Specifically it is the X Vario and fits into what for Leica is the point and shoot marketplace.  I have shot the Leica X1 and really liked everything about it except the price and think that the X2 was a major step up.  Except for the price.  Now M cameras are really stupid expensive but there is just something about a real manual focus rangefinder...

Anyway about the X Vario.

Off the top, it is an X series camera, so that means autofocus, non-interchangeable lens on with a larger sensor than a traditional Point and Shoot.  Internally known as the Type 107 it is a CMOS APS-C sensor based device capturing 16.2 megapixels.  Captures can be RAW in the open source DNG format or Leica's 4 JPEG resolutions.

The lens is a Leica Vario-Elmar 18-46mm f/3.5-6.4 ASPH.  This translates to about a 28-79 in the full frame world and it incorporates 2 aspherical elements.  That will mean great sharpness and resolution but not exactly buckets of lens speed.  It may not be an issue as Leica has gone with newer CMOS sensors with superior low light capability instead of their older CCD sensors that had the Leica "look" but fell apart badly above ISO 800.

ISO range on the new camera is ISO 100 to ISO 12500, so that should have you covered.

The camera will shoot HD video at 1920x1080 and 1280x720 both at 30fps.  So high quality but not much in the way of framerate flexibility.  Video is stored in the higher performance MPEG-4 format.

Still shooting modes are Program, Aperture preferred, Shutter preferred and Manual.  Bracketing is built in over a three shot range and EV increments start at 1/3 stop to a maximum of ±3 EV.  Shutter speed range is from 30s to 1/2000s.

White balance features the usual suspects of Automatic, Daylight, Cloud, Shade, Flash and Halogen, which I presume is what the rest of us think of as Tungsten.  There are also two user configurable WB settings, manual WB and fine adjustment controls.

In addition to single shot there are two burst modes, at 3fps and 5fps respectively with a buffer capable of handling 7 burst shots in DNG+JPEG fine.

As one would expect there is a popup flash unit, and as one would expect it has a Guide Number of 5 so it's not very powerful.  It does allow for lots of controls though including Auto, RedEye reduction, always on, always off, slow sync (dragging the shutter) and slow sync with redeye reduction.  Since it's on camera and on axis, it's going to look like the flash from any point and shoot.  What is nice to see is that there is a REAL hotshoe on the camera so you could go with a Leica shoe mount flash that bounces if you need one.  That Leica flash is TTL and looks suspiciously like a Metz (cannot imagine why that might be :D).  And, it's expensive.

So what does this lovely bit of kit set one back?  Well it is an X so presumably it is not restricted access as are M and S series cameras.  According to the web B&H has the camera for $2,850 USD with availability around June 18th.  No pricing at Vistek for Canadians at time of writing but figure it will be close to that.   If you want to preorder, please consider buying through the link to B&H posted below.

I don't know if I will get a hands-on test option with this critter.  It's about $800 more than the X2.  Where it is interesting is that it is priced right in line with the Sony RX-1.  I have shot the RX-1 and while opinions vary, I really did not like the handling.  The images were excellent, but the fit in my hands is very awkward.  Will the Leica be better?  Don't know but if you are the person set to drop three grand on a top end point and shoot, you would be well served to check out the Leica X Vario.

EXERCISE : Learn to "See" Like Your Lens

This is a pretty simple exercise that you can do with your lenses be they prime or zoom. First get two objects that are three dimensional that are about a foot tall and half that wide. Or two mannequin heads.  Make sure your objects have obvious markings or protrusions at different distances from the front.

Second, set your subjects about 8 feet apart front to back and nearly side by side left to right as in this little diagram.

Now position the camera lens combination so that with the camera in portrait orientation (vertical), you fill the frame with the first head and can see all or part of the second head over the the shoulder of the second head.

Open the lens to its widest aperture and shoot a frame.  Close the lens down to its smallest aperture and shoot a frame.  (This is where that tripod is going to come in handy).  Check your white balance and ISO so the shots don't look like mush.

Repeat for your different lenses.  For zooms, do the two shots at a variety of focal lengths.  For example, if you have a 24-105mm take shots at 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 105mm.  If you have a 70-200mm take shots at 70mm, 100mm, 135mm, 150mm and 200mm.

Import your shots into your editor of choice and make a layout so the wide open shots are in a line from widest focal length to narrowest focal length.  Add a second line of shots to your layout from widest focal length to narrowest focal length at the the small apertures.

Congratulations, you've now created your personal focal length / depth of field guide.  By memorizing the look of the shots you will be able to look at a scene and "see" how it will be through the lens, before you put the lens on and make a frame.  It's a critical piece of becoming a better photographer, learning to "see" like a lens.

The "Right" Lens

This past couple of weeks I've become engaged in a number of conversations about the "right" lens for "subject of query".  Many times I am asked about the best lens for portraits, sometimes landscapes, sometimes sports. There is a lot of misinformation out there, and a lot of varying opinions.  Here are mine.

Landscapes and Scenic Vistas

In this case you often want to show a wider field of view and create a sense of space.  Wide angle and extra wide angle lenses create perspective exageration seemingly increasing the distance between the foreground and the background.  Note, that for this to work, there HAS to be something in the foreground.

Full Frame : 24mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/2.8, 17-40mm f/4

Crop Sensor : 16mm f/2.8, 11-22mm f/4

Lens speed (large maximum aperture) is less critical

Small Groups, Casual Interaction, Street

The idea is to have the shots look sort of like your eye sees but with a bit more environmental inclusion.

Full Frame : 35mm f/2.8 or faster

Crop Sensor : 24mm f/2.8 or faster

Lens speed becomes more important as you may want to go for shallower depth of field, f/1.4 is optimal

Headshots and Upper Body Portraits

These shots are about making images that are pleasing to the subject and that may be used in a portfolio for a model or an actor.  In these scenarios, shallower depth of field and moderate perspective compression are critical.

Full Frame : 70-200mm f/2.8, 100mm f/2.8 or faster, 135mm f/2.8 or faster, 200mm f/2.8

Crop Sensor : 85mm f/1.8, any of the lenses listed for full frame except the 200/2.8

Lens speed becomes VERY important as you will need to be able to deliver very shallow depth of field.  I've said it before and I'll keep saying it.  The 50mm or Nifty-Fifty IS NOT A PORTRAIT LENS, regardless of what mcmarketing and uninformed retail hypers tries to spin.  Headshots look horrible, and are a great way to make the model hate you.

Full Length Fashion

This one is tough because you need some moderate perspective compression but getting that means having good distance from your subject and being able to maintain shallow depth of field.

Full Frame : 70-200 f/2.8, 85mm f/1.8 or faster, 50mm f/1.8 or faster

Crop Sensor : 35mm f/2.8 or faster, 50mm f/1.8 or faster

Lens speed is very important for depth of field control.  Slower zooms can work but you will need to create more distance between your model and the background if you want shallow depth of field as most of these kit lenses are f/5.6 at 55mm which is not the shallow depth of field you need

General Purpose Telephoto Outdoors

Kind of an all around lens to have, for lots of things.

Full Frame : 70-200mm, 75-300mm

Crop Sensor : 55-250mm, 70-300mm

Lens speed is less important but remember that when the light starts to fall you will need to be pushing the ISO up to keep handholdable shutter speeds

Arena Sports eg Hockey

Here's where the general purpose telephone fits IF it is a fast lens.

Full Frame and Crop Sensor : 70-200mm f/2.8, 1.4x Teleconverter

Lens speed is a killer factor indoors.  A slow lens can work so long as your camera can handle high ISO settings without turning into mush

Field Sports eg Football, Larger Wildlife

Full Frame  : 300mm f/2.8, 400mm f/4, 1.4x Teleconverter, 2x Teleconverter, 100-400mm f/5.6

Crop Sensor : As above, plus 75-300mm f/4

At higher magnification depth of field becomes shallower so your cameras ability to handle higher ISOs without falling apart will define the lens speed mostly, although faster lenses pass more light and so autofocus performance is always better with a faster lens

Birds and Distant Wildlife

This is the realm of go big or don't bother (unless your name is Moose, or Doug or Claude - all of whom are amazing Bird photographers).  The longer and faster the lens the better.  This is also the realm of building a relationship with a lens rental house because unless you qualify as stupefyingly rich, glass in this space costs  like a small car.

Full Frame and Crop Sensor : 100-400mm f/5.6, 400mm f/4, 500mm f/4, 600mm f/4, 800mm f/5.6, 1.4x Teleconverter, 2x Teleconverter

Choose a body that can handle higher ISOs with ease.  The combination of weight and dropping lens speed coupled with the need for higher shutter speeds even when on a tripod or monopod means you will be into the high ISOs and lower grade sensors will enter the mush zone.

Macro Photography

Close up work changes things as all true Macro lenses give the same level of magnification, and the only thing that really differs is the distance between the front element and the subject.  True macro most often means a tripod and very shallow depth of field while focusing so I also recommend a micro-focus rail for this purpose.  Macro lenses start as short as 40mm although I have little use for any macro shorter than 100mm and prefer the longer 180mm personally.  Lens speed is usually in the f/2.8 to f/3.5 range needed for light gathering to make the AF really efficient, although you may find yourself moving to manual focus as you shoot more.

Full Frame and Crop Sensor : 180mm f/3.5, 100mm f/2.8

So that's it.  Your guide to the "Right" lens.  Other folks will have different opinions, and these are mine formed after being a photographer for over three decades.  Doesn't make me "right" but it does offer some perspective.

The Photo Video Guy Podcast - Episode 62

Nikon D400?  Canon 1 Series firmware.  Canon adds 11-22 to EOS-M lineup.  Chicago Sun Times fires all its photojournalists.  Focus on Imaging UK shuts down for good.  Leica Type X M107 announcement next week.  Zeiss releases Touit lenses to fit Sony NEX and Fuji X Mount.  DxO updates Optics and releases a new verion of Filmpack.

FIRST LOOK : Cactus Laser Triggers

A few months ago, I noted the announcement of laser triggers from the folks at Cactus.  You may recall that I did a review on the Cactus Radio Triggers and was very impressed by the V5 release.  The idea behind a laser trigger is a "trip" event. Basically when the beam is broken, the shutter fires.  Cactus has a pretty innovative implementation that also allows you to set the shutter to fire if the beam is instated by removing some item that blocks the beam.  Quite cool and I'll explain more.

The system consists of a laser emitter and a receiver.  You position the emitter to fire into the receiver.  A hood is included to allow for limiting what the receiver can see.  The devices have shoe mount feet and are tapped 1/4-20 so you can mount on a tripod or light stand.  The foot is adjustable for angle.

Once the two components are aligned you can configure a number of settings.  Since the system uses the 2.4GHz shared band, there are 16 channels that can be selected, and the signalling defaults to 1KHz but can also run at 500Hz for the laser.  Working distance is 20m in bright sunlight and up to 150m in dark conditions.  The receiver is connected via a cable to your camera and herein is the one major gotcha.  The set comes with the cable to connect the devices to a Cactus Radio Wireless V5 system and also comes with a cable that connects to an X-Sync port.  What does not get included are the cables to connect to your camera.  These MUST be purchased separately, and I found a couple of situations where the reseller listed the kit but not the cables to connect to the camera, which makes the whole kit useless.  Buyer beware because I also found that most sales representatives did not know the product and were not aware of the need for the cables.

Once you are connected, the system works quite well but there is some latency so you may have issues with shutter speeds above 1/1000s.  Aiming the emitter to engage the receiver can be quite tricky and while the manual describes a back away process and there is an LED indicator to tell when the receiver is detecting the emitter, this step will take longer than anything else you do.

The trigger works on either a beam break or beam complete mode.  In beam break, if the beam is interrupted, the trigger trips the shutter.  This can be useful for where you are looking to capture an image when an event occurs, such as your local raccoon climbing on your trash can.  The beam complete mode is pretty cool as once you have the beam configured, you switch to beam complete mode after putting something in place to break the beam.  A good example is where you are putting out some type of treat in the hope of attracting some kind of wildlife and you don't want the shot to fire until the "model" seizes the bait.  Great for birds that may fly in to seize food and leave immediately.

Power is supplied by 4AAA batteries in each unit, although you can run each unit on 2AAA batteries for a shorter period and by inserting the batteries in a different orientation.  This seems overly complex to me, as batteries are not that expensive.  The kit comes with 4AAA batteries, two for each unit.

There are other laser tripwire systems out there.  The Cactus ones are very inexpensive comparatively and you can see and feel this in the construction.  To say that they feel cheap is an understatement.  I would peg durability of the units as very low, so if you need a laser trip system for hostile environs, this is not the kit.  There is no indication of weather sealing and given the construction, my guidance is that there is no weather protection.  In fairness though, what were you expecting for $100?

So it's a decent value for the investment, but don't expect mil-spec durability and DON'T forget to buy the right cables for your camera when you buy the kit.

The Death of the Point and Shoot

Much is being made of the announcement from Olympus that they are getting out of the point and shoot market to focus on their higher end mirrorless lines such as the OM-D EM-5. There are multiple arguments for and against this decision, my take is that it is a smart move as increased specialization keeps resources aligned and allows for more targeted investment.

That plus the reality that the point and shoot marketplace is moving on to that great darkroom in the sky.  As it were.

Our smartphones today are very credible point and shoot cameras.  Other than Canon, most point and shoot builders have engaged in the megapixel arms race with the sad result that we end up with more dots in the same size sensor.  This does not result in better images because the smaller the dot, the less effective each dot is at light capture.  It does however look good to the uninformed in a Best Buy flyer.  If we take the snapshot maker and break that market into the four common demographics, point and shoots appeal primarily to the mid adult and senior adult market places.

Youth and young adult are very comfortable with the images from the smartphone.  Pictures are often disposable, so quality is less important than quantity and availability of apps to modify the image prior to sharing.

Senior adults may be less inclined to carry an app rich smartphone and only need decent snapshots.  Simple one button press that results in images easily turned into prints at a retail kiosk is a solution that works.

Mid adults are often very busy with jobs and with raising small children.  While smartphones can do a good job at making snapshots, we see and hear comments that by the time you get the phone out, unlock it, get the camera app loaded, and the picture snapped, the moment has passed.  This market finds the one button approach appealing and is more inclined to also like the embedded video. Again simplicity in making prints for grandparents at the retail kiosk is a strong driver.

The demographic without small children and before earning the tenure of senior is looking for snapshots, is already carrying a smartphone amongst other items and is happy with decent snapshots but is less inclined to print or to have images as keepsakes.  They may also have the time and financial position to engage more fully in photography via DSLR or DSLM "serious" cameras and for this market, the smartphone is an ideal complement.

Convergence is driving point and shoots either up into the price point of consumer DSLRs, with the Sony RX-100 as a good example or down into the smartphone realm such as Nikon's 800C, a camera that runs a smartphone OS and looks like a smartphone.  What used to be the wide and profitable middle market is compressing rapidly.  As market pressures force prices down, and with major manufacturers missing their business forecasts and margins eroding it makes sense to exit this market in favour of more profitable specialization.

Point and shoots can also dramatically impact brand loyalty.  A good point and shoot experience may drive a buyer to stay in brand when considering his or her next camera.  This was definitely true in the past and certainly Canon's excellent past track record in point and shoots has driven market share in their consumer DSLR cameras.  The contrary is also true as recent point and shoot issuances from all vendors at lower price (and margin) points has placed truly disposable junk in the market.  These cameras are not made by the major photographic vendors, they are made for them, with significantly reduced quality and longevity necessitated by the required much lower cost of production.  So I have personally seen customers looking to move into a DSLR or DSLM consciously avoid an entire brand because of recent point and shoot experiences with that "brand".  Olympus is only one vendor whose high end is unfairly tarnished by low quality low price products under the same "brand".

The classic point and shoot market is already dead.  It's chest is still heaving in galvanic response but it is dead.  Specialized offerings are not dead because they offer some differentiation outside the scope of the traditional marketplace.  These would include verticals such as the waterproof/shockproof market, the super zoom market and the big sensor - small device market.  Smart retailers will understand this and build customer awareness around the differentiation, maintaining minimal supply of the generics as loss leaders, but not the market focus.

The Photo Video Guy Podcast - Episode 61

Opensource tethering for Nikon. New Nikon 32/1.2 for 1 series. New Nikon codecs. DP Review looks at D5200. Nikon releases firmware for D700, D300, D300s. Magic Lantern allows streaming RAW video from 5D Mark III. Preorders open for 200-400/4 L. Canon has new video picture style. Canon to release new EOS-M and zooms. Canon continues work on Foveon sensor. Leica to release new camera in June. DxO updates Optics and Viewpoint. Adobe releases ACR 8.1 on Labs. Google+, Flickr and 500px all get updates.

Creative Cloud : And then it all stopped working...

Readers know that I believe that the Creative Cloud is not a good deal for Photographers. It's good for Adobe,but for others not so much. One of our subscribers, Steven, is a Creative Cloud customer and shared a really unpleasant surprise with me today.

Like many independents, digital editing isn't his sole focus. He has a business to run, content to deliver and bills to pay. He subscribed to the Creative Cloud believing that the monthly payment model made sense and has not raised any concerns about not being able to use his files if his subscription is not renewed. About one-fifth into his first year subscription, he got a nasty surprise.

When launching Photoshop in Creative Cloud, that he had been using successfully for two months, he got a pop-up and I quote...

"Soon upon opening PS I got a pop-up message telling me my installed video card of 256MB's did not meet the newly updated requirements of 512MB's for 3D use in PS."

So here is a Creative Cloud customer, who bought in to the plan and two months in to a twelve month subscription, Adobe made a change that made his existing hardware unusable. It's not like he was advised that this would happen or that he had the option not to use the most current code as he would on a perpetual license model, or even defer the update until he was in a position to upgrade his video card, Adobe put the update in and left him hanging.

He was very frustrated by this action since he had NO CHOICE in the matter. He did go out and buy (inconveniently) a new video card, get it installed, do the dance of drivers and then ensure that the hardware change didn't break any other applications he depended on and he is back to work. He's also pissed off, and rightly so. To the point that he has been in contact with the folks at Corel to determine if they can provide a solution in their offerings to generate the OBJ file format he needs for his 3D work. If Corel delivers, he won't renew with Adobe. They will have lost a customer to a competitor and that customer will tell others about his very negative experience.

In the perpetual license model, we all understand that an upgrade in software may require a change in hardware and may choose to hold off on a software upgrade so we can budget the hardware expense and make a business justification. Steven was one guy. What if your whole business of 100 machines were suddenly unable to use the software you were paying subscription for without prior notice and without any control over the situation on your part.

I get that Adobe says that the benefit of Creative Cloud is that you get the newest, hottest features, but what if your gear cannot keep up, or they are irrelevant to your business need? The Creative Cloud model as the sole mechanism of software delivery is flawed and all the spin doesn't change reality for a very large proportion of the user base.

Oh and just an aside to all those who may read my posts and who decided that because Scott Kelby decided to invest his time and try to clarify some of the very muddy waters around Creative Cloud, it was perfectly ok to go online and eviscerate him personally, give your collective heads a shake. You don't have to agree with Mr. Kelby's points, but he isn't Adobe. He is not responsible for the decision Adobe made, and in fact, I get the very strong perception that he recommended against the action, partly because he said publicly he was not convinced that Creative Cloud was good for photographers. Taking your anger out on Mr. Kelby is misdirected fire. The people you should be flaming are Adobe's leadership team.

I have met Mr. Kelby. We aren't friends. He doesn't know me from Adam. I have been one of a zillion people he has trained. I have no dog in that hunt, but tactless is still tactless.

The very awesome CamRanger

If you're like me, you'd like to be able to remotely control your DSLR from your iPhone, or iPad device.  You'd like to be able to work in Live View without being tethered to the camera.  You'd like to be able to SIMPLY set up intervalometer shots. You don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for a crappy wireless adapter from the camera manufacturer when they build it in to their cheap point and shoots.  You don't want to pay good money for ancient wireless protocols.  You also don't necessarily want to spend hundreds of dollars for a remote radio based trigger system that is closed and proprietary.

While more and more DSLR and DSLM manufacturers are including wireless and GPS in their products each day, like they've been doing for years with the point and pukes, robust remote control has been dodgy and usually required tethering the camera to a laptop, then loading some software on your mobile, spinning around six times, bowing to the north star and then sacrificing a goat.

Stupid

Along comes the CamRanger.  Inexpensive it isn't.  Simple it is.  Connect the CamRanger to your Canon or Nikon DSLR camera (no Sony, Olympus or Pentax support at this time) with the supplied USB cable.  Turn it on.  Connect to the wireless network the CamRanger creates with your mobile device.  Launch the app on your device.  That's all there is too it.

You can not only take pictures, you can control many of your camera settings, do intervalometer style time lapses, use Live View, download images directly to your tablet for viewing or editing and much more.

Here's a series of screen grabs from my iPad the night I set the device up the first time.

It's pretty darn simple.  It comes in a little case that can clip to your tripod or camera strap and the USB cable is long enough not to be a pain and not too long that you pull it out of the camera.

In addition to "normal" shots you have great levels of focus control for macro work and even if you want to do focus stacking for combining later in Photoshop.

Android and Windows support are in development now and should be out around the June 2013 timeframe according to the manufacturer.  The manufacturer has a beta client for Mac OSX available for download on their website so yes! wireless tethering to your laptop!

To find out if it works with your camera, follow this link.  The unit retails for $299 USD and as of this writing is not handled by any Canadian retailers but you can get it online from CamRanger direct or from B&H by clicking the link below and helping to support The Photo Video Guy.

The Travelling Carnival

When I was growing up in small towns, the annual visit of the summer carnival was something to look forward to with excitement and fear.  They would bring rides and neat treats, and scary images and animals and in the more distant past "freaks".  Carnies are a very unique group of people and while things have tamed down a lot in nearly half a century, there's still a bit of magic and a lot of fun in the travelling carnival. This past weekend the show came to Newmarket, and while the weather was not good, given our endless winter, families and then later the teens came out to get out of the subdivisions and into a bit of fun and sparkle.  The carnies have been struggling, you can tell, but they were all very pleased to see us photographing them, the other patrons were pleasant and even tried to avoid "crossing in front of the camera" to prevent a picture from being ruined.  This was no issue since the primary goal was longer exposures and a ghosting quest.

I was lucky to have NCC member Isabel come with me, as a peer photographer, not a tag-along and she has self described and the fact that I have processed a couple of images as black and whites is due ENTIRELY to her inspiration.

The travelling carnival is a piece of the past that still exists in the face of always-on tech.  I suppose it's because I am of the generation of Rush's Lakeside Park, that I love going to photograph them and it was very cool to have Iz laughing beside me.  I do wish that the carnies were more commercially successful but it is what it is.

Since folks ask regularly about my workflow, it's pretty straightforward.

1. Copy the images from the card to a hard drive
2. Open them in Photo Mechanic and scan through the images employing judicious use of the  DELETE key
3. Import the remainder into Lightroom
4. Apply the lens profile correction to all imported images
5. Process as desired
6. Export as 1024 pixels on the long side at 72dpi as high quality JPEGs
7. Open the exported JPEGs in Photoshop and apply the Digimarc digital watermark filter to all the images

In this editing session, I used Lightroom 4.4 for all the core editing as I wanted the images in my regular catalog, not the LR 5 test catalog.  The black and white conversions were done in Silver Efex Pro 2 (Ghosts in the Fair) and Perfect Black and White (Ageless).  They are very different plugins but through competitive offers you can have the entire OnOne Perfect Photo Suite and the entire Nik Collection (until the Goog kills it) for about $300, money well spent.

All my images were shot on a Canon 1D Mark IV using a Canon 16-35/2.8L lens mounted on a Really Right Stuff tripod and ball head.  I did try using a Hahnel remote but being powered it kept turning itself off so I just went with the 2s self timer in the camera.  All exposures were in manual mode using experience as a guide for the first frame and then moving around based on what I saw.

If you have one of these travelling carnivals come to your town, take advantage to go out and make images.  You'll have way more latitude than at one of the big theme parks, and the vibe is completely different.  Plus, you will definitely get some very cool images when you apply yourself.

New bags from Think Tank specially designed for small DSLR and DSLM cameras!

My friends at Think Tank Photo just announced their first camera bag collection for Mirrorless cameras, the Mirrorless Movers™.  The Mirrorless Movers come in four sizes that range in size from the Mirrorless Mover 5, which fits one small size mirrorless body with a small telephoto or pancake lens attached, up to the Mirrorless Mover 30i, which fits one medium to large size mirrorless body plus two to four lenses and an iPad.

As is their design philosophy, Think Tank placed a premium on quality.  The new bags utilize metal hardware instead of plastic buckles, and only high quality fabrics, YKK zippers and a new, magnetic closure.  In the words of their president and lead designer Doug Murdoch, “The Mirrorless Movers offer photographers quality in their camera bags worthy of their investment in these sophisticated, expensive camera systems.”

The four sizes are:

• The Mirrorless Mover 5 fits one small size mirrorless body with a small telephoto or pancake lens attached. It is sized for the Canon EOS–M, Leica D–Lux, Nikon 1 series, Olympus E–PM2, E–PL5, EP–3, Panasonic GF3, Sony NEX–C3, or similar sized bodies.
• The Mirrorless Mover 10 fits one medium size mirrorless body plus one to two lenses and additional accessories. It is sized for the Leica V–Lux, Olympus OM–D E–M5, Panasonic G3, GF5, GH2, Samsung NX5, NX11, NX210, Sony NEX–5, NEX–6, NEX–7, or similar sized/smaller bodies.
• The Mirrorless Mover 20 fits one medium size mirrorless body plus two to three lenses and additional accessories. It is sized for the Leica V–Lux, Olympus OM–D E–M5, Panasonic G3, GF5, GH2, Samsung NX5, NX11, NX210, Sony NEX–5, NEX–6, NEX–7, or similar sized/smaller bodies.
• The Mirrorless Mover 30i fits one medium to large size mirrorless body plus two to four lenses, iPad, and additional accessories or a small–size DSLR and one to three small telephoto lenses or primes. It is sized for the Fuji X–Pro 1, Leica M8, Panasonic GH3 or similar sized/smaller bodies. Small DSLRs: Canon Rebel, Nikon D3200/D5200, Sony SLT–A55/A37 or similar sized bodies.

Here's the URL to order your new Think Tank bag directly and help support The Photo Video Guy

http://www.thinktankphoto.com/categories/shoulder-camera-bags/mirrorless-mover.aspx?code=AP-743

The Photo Video Guy Podcast - Episode 60

Adobe kills Creative Suite goes all subscription and pisses off most everyone.  Mobile LR will be cloud dependent.  Canon having manufacturing issues?  5D MkIII firmware out.   New Canon TS lenses by Christmas?  No 7D Mark II this year.  Canon misses earnings estimates.  Pentax updates K-5 II family firmware.   RRS and Thumbs Up gear for Leica M.  Zeiss to build lenses for Sony NEX and Fujifilm X.  X100S firmware update and rumoured X-Pro 2.  Think Tank releases new bags for DSLM cameras.  UK IPO says your posted images are free game.

Why Adobe Creative Cloud is a bad idea for photographers

Yesterday at Adobe MAX, Adobe talked about the future of the Creative Suite, or more accurately the no-future of the Creative Suite. As I predicted, this is the last version of the Creative Suite. From here forward, if you want current Adobe software you will only have a single option, that of subscribing to the Creative Cloud. I like Adobe products, but there is nothing in the Creative Cloud that is sufficiently compelling to photographers. In fact, Adobe put so much spin on the "value proposition" that it could torque the top off the Burj Khalifa. Why would Adobe do this?

Benefits to Adobe

• Single code base, centrally reposited
• Annuity revenue stream
• Prevents software piracy on new versions
• Ability to release new features on availability
• It's a subscription. No subscription, software stops working
• Cloud connections allow siphoning of user usage data
• No public patch library to maintain

Bad for You

• No local install to use when you want to if subscription expires
• Pay forever model
• Over the shoulder data gathering
• No ability to run older versions

Alleged Benefits to You

• New features available sooner without waiting for a version update
• Payable over time, no single large charge
• No need to buy software assurance
• Create new workflows across multiple devices

Adobe is a business. They will make decisions that will do at least one of three things, preferably all three.  Not that your happiness is not in this list.

• Increase Profit
• Decrease Cost
• Reduce Risk

When they make these decisions, you and I as customers come way down on the priority list. This is completely normal. Companies say customer first but it's not true. It's always company first spun in a manner to smell like the customer is winning. Sometimes, the customer even does win. The alleged benefits of the Creative Cloud are dubious on their best day. The lie about new features being available faster is a complete pantload. Service packs and updates have been the norm forever and new code and new services have been delivered this way since day one. The Adobe statement is a burning bag of s**t. The illusion that you will save money is another load of poo. You only save money if you have a clear end date when you will no longer use the software and this end date is prior to when you would have paid the traditional license model off. Adobe is SMART. They understand that once they've hooked you, getting off the hook will be hard. What benefit has software assurance ever really delivered to anyone? In a demand marketplace, new versions appear regularly, they are always upgrades and the software assurance will have magically expired or the change will make the assurance not qualify. Microsoft has smoked customers with this line of crap for years. IBM does this today. It's not new, it's an old well proven lie. As a user I may be able to create new workflows across multiple devices but to do so, I will be binding my workflow and devices to Adobe. You're free to work any way you want so long as it's Adobe's way.

The sad reality is that there is nothing really in here for the photographer.  The ability to use Adobe Revel?  Big whoop.  The ability at some point in the future to maybe do culling on your iPad and have that sync to your Lightroom library?  That would be nice, but why would that be tied to Creative Cloud?  If they really wanted to make a clean workflow, there's no reason to force everything into Creative Cloud.

So Why Are They Doing This

In software and as a corporate software developer, you want to get a customer and keep the customer FOREVER.  You want to make it as difficult as possible for customers to use your tools and then leave you for another vendor.  Proprietary file formats, locked file structures, patented screens, patented workflow sequences are all tactics that every major software company has tried.  The plain and simple goal is what the software industry knows to be VENDOR LOCK-IN.  Their goal is to lock you up into their infrastructure so tightly that if you leave, you get to start over at ground zero.  It's not just Adobe.  Oracle and IBM and even Apple have been pulling this kind of scam for a long time.  The difference with Creative Cloud is that you only have ONE licensing option, that being subscription.  Subscription can work.  But only if it is priced correctly.  $20 per month on a minimum one year term for Photoshop may be ok, but I think that the price is high.  $50 per month on a one year minimum for the entire Creative Suite means that after 10 months, I would have paid the upgrade to an entire new version.  Will I get an entire new version in 10 months?  NFI.  And unlike the current licensing model, if I have no need to upgrade, and just want to use the software that I know and love, there's no option.  If I stop paying, the software stops working.  It's about as customer hostile as you can get.

So why would a smart company do this?  Cash money would be one reason.  The ability to lock a customer in for a long time is another.  Building a predictable annuity revenue stream is another.  Note that keeping customers happy is not in scope.

I've been watching the trade journals and at DP Review, Techcrunch, and numerous others, I have not found any kind of proportion of note that likes the plan.  Over 90% think it sucks.  Some do like it.  Some of them also believe that it's for our own good, whatever the f**k that means.  I don't agree.  I think that the Creative Cloud program is nothing but a complete and utter cash and marketspace grab.  So I choose not to play.  I would reconsider if the pricing were reasonable.  People would not pay $2 for a song online but at $0.99 it was a landslide for the record industry.  The movie industry still wants to charge more for a digital movie of lower quality than a physical movie of higher quality.  This is both stupid and exactly what I would expect of those troglodytes.  Adobe needs to fix it's recto-cranial inversion and if they are so frakking committed to Creative Cloud, price it so participation ceases to be a question.

What About Lightroom?

It's been said that Lightroom will not be part of the Creative Cloud. So far. If Lightroom 5 is available as a standalone purchaseable license, I will upgrade. If only available in the Creative Cloud, I'll be getting off. I won't be signing up for Creative Cloud. As a CS6 Master Collection licensee, I could spend years and still not get leverage of all the incredible capability in the software I already have. Moreover, there are LOTS of alternatives in the marketplace for the things that I need to do. Yes, Adobe products do many of them extremely well, but I'm not willing to live by Adobe's draconian model to use their newest offerings. Capture One, Aperture, hell even iPhoto could be ok. Nik (until Google kills it), OnOne, DxO, Tiffen all make great point editing solutions, often available at terrific pricing and NONE OF THEM STOP WORKING IF A SUBSCRIPTION EXPIRES.

You might love Creative Cloud.  If you do, good for you, save time and effort commenting on how wrong I am.  Instead go use your software until they change the terms and conditions without prior notice and feel an enormous pain in your rear end.

Three Tools Photo Editors MUST HAVE

I'm often asked by students and club members what they might need to be successful photographic editors in the digital darkroom. I will take as a given, a decent camera, editing software that fits the person's needs and some training on the software.  You don't get very far without those at least.

But once photography becomes more than a spectator sport, you will need three key elements to help you maximize your returns.

1.  Display Calibration

If your computer display is not set correctly, and if it's not calibrated, it's not set correctly, you won't get what you really expect from your editing.  Moreover images exported for the web and especially those that are printed are not going to match what you saw in your editor.  There are lots of calibrator options out there.  I have bought over the years, the Huey Pro, the Spyder Elite and the Color Munki Pro.  Save time and money.  If you only need a display calibrator buy the Color Munki Smile.  It's all you'll need and does a great job.  I DO NOT recommend either the Huey or the Spyder.  It's your money, spend as you wish but the Color Munki is far and away the best system in my book.  Buy it on Amazon and help support The Photo Video Guy

2.  Tablet

There are a variety of pen enabled tablets in the marketplace.  For any kind of semi-serious to serious editing, there is only one.  The Wacom Intuos 5.  There are multiple sizes, I find the Small to be extremely convenient. There is a minor learning curve to working with a tablet, but once you do, you'll wonder how you ever did any kind of real editing with a touchpad or a mouse. Buy it on Amazon and help support The Photo Video Guy

3. Grey Card

Putting a grey card in the first shot of a sequence will make your white balance and exposure management much simpler. You can certainly get more sophisticated tools such as the ColorChecker Passport that I like very much and use myself, or the dedicated Lastolite popup grey card (and white card for video) but even a basic grey card works well. Put it in your bag and USE it and you'll be surprised at how much better your images are when you edit them. Buy the Passport or Lastolite on Amazon and help support The Photo Video Guy.

The Photo Video Guy Podcast - Episode 59

Nikon delays 800/5.6 Nikon maybe dumps Ashton Kutcher. DP Review reviews D7100. Canon to completely relaunch EOS-M line. Canon firmware out for the 6d, coming for the 5D Mk III and 1Dx. Canon announces patent for 400/4 DO IS II. Sigma to ship USB dock for new lenses. Sigma announces 18-35/1.8 for crop sensors.Black Magic shows Pocket Cinema Camera and new 4K Cinema Camera at NAB. DxO Optics 8.1.5 supports D7100. Adobe makes Lightroom 5 Beta Preview available. Apple adds support for Fuji X-Trans sensor. Photoshop World impressions.