Picture Stories by Stephen Alvarez

Magic Lantern, taking the plunge with the 5D MK II

Ok I just took the plunge and loaded Magic Lantern into one of my 5d MK II's. I don't have a field mixer. So I am just running the sound through my Zoom H4n and back into the camera with a double male mini phone plug. Initial test?

Its awesome. 

I'll shoot a little with it this weekend and see how it works.

-Stephen Alvarez

Zoom h4n recorder field update -Sound Machines continued-

Zoom H4n Update

Back in September I compared the Sony PCM D50 and the Zoom H4n field recorders (here). At the time I’d had the Zoom about a week, was impressed with the features and audio quality but couldn’t speak to its reliability in the field.

Well after a hard trip to Uganda/Sudan I have to say its performance in the field is stellar. I’m listening to the audio now. The quality is very good and most importantly the recorder survived the abuse. 

The recorder is just the right size. It fits in the outside pocket of a Domke F2 bag. It is always handy.

Canon 7D wish list

 Canon is coming out with a new aps sized camera the 7D. There are few of them floating around now -I have heard that Lauren Greenfield was testing one last week.

The camera builds on the success of the wildly popular video functions found in the 5D MK II. Most impressively you will now be able to change frame rates 24p, 25p, 30p (all at 1080HD) and get this 50p and 60p (but only in 720HD). Wow very cool!

If this is like most canon products the hardware is by now set but the firmware is still being tweaked so let me tell Canon what is on my firmware wish list:

1 fix the 5D MK II's achilles heel, it wretched, wretched sound recording. It doesn't need a new sound card just let me set the levels manually, I'll use my own  preamp. 

2 give me a live histogram while recording. With the 5d mk II I can't tell if the video is properly exposed while shooting. Just looking good in the viewfinder isn't good enough give me a histogram. There is a work around -shoot a short clip of the scene then when viewing in the viewfinder hit the info button for a histogram- but a live one would be much better.

While I like what the majic lantern guys are doing (here) I'd like to see these 2 little things taken care of at Canon.

preorder the camera here

-Stephen Alvarez

field recorders: Sony vs Zoom

Sound, as a photographer there was a time not too long ago when I didn’t think at all about sound. But now, I have to think about it a lot. Publishing on the web means putting sound as well as images on the screen. The new dimension means adding new machines. Here are 2 field recorders that I like the Sony PCM-D50 (about $460 ) and the Zoom H4n (about $300 ). Both are small, and light weight, both of them can make stunning field recordings, both take AA batteries and are easy to use.

First things first, I have used the Sony for a year and used the ZOOM for about a week.  So lets start with the Sony:

Printing, why is it so hard?

Inkjet printers have gotten fantastic. I use an Epson Pro 3800 in my office and it is a stunning machine. Rich colors, and  great set of media to print on. 

But printing -consistently- is hard. Why?

In short it is because too many things want to manage our color. Photoshop does, color-sync does, Epson does. And if we let them we'll get great results once bad results the next time. That makes it very hard to adjust your prints.

So how to get good, consistent, results?

Magic Lantern: These folks are on to something

OK, right now everyone go to this site and give these people $10. I just did. Why? Magic Lantern is an open platform firmware add on that attempts to fix the major issues with the Canon EOS 5D Mark II video. Namely the awful sound quality.

I'm not suggesting that anyone actually load the beta version of this firmware. Not unless you have $2999.99  to throw away. But for just a couple of bucks we can all move this process along. 

-Stephen Alvarez

Think Fixed Tech: iphone camera apps

I have blogged on this in the past and figure its my duty to pass along relevant information.  heres an excellent post from AppleBlog.
Geof

Think Fixed Tech: Answers to your Questions

Think Fixed Tech: Q&A

I go on and on and on about things every week (more or less).  Because I am incredibly lazy and busy today, I would like to hear from you about any questions or issues you find pressing.  Interested more in backups or security?  How about photo oriented applications or related hardware?  Maybe a process or scenario that a tech support group can help address.  Comments please!

Geof Bowie
www.thinkfixed.com
twitter.com/geofbowie

Think Fixed Tech: Security part 3

So we have covered all the scary security issues.  And I am sure everyone went out and either bought or upgraded their crappy firewall.  So now that some bored 13 year old kid cant hack your network, let's cover three simple things you can do today to secure your computers and data:

1) Strong Password.  I can't tell you how many people use the worst possible passwords to "protect" their computers and networks.  Seriously, if I were to guess, probably half of consumers use the default password that came with their firewall or wireless access point.  Worse, many people do not protect their Mac (or PC) with a password, meaning that anyone can do anything to that computer if they had either physical or remote access.  So if you have not done so already, go into your Accounts preference and enter a password for your account, especially administrator accounts.  Please.

And while you are at it, pick something good.  Using your birthday or first name or "love" simply is like not having a password at all.  I suggest something with at least 7 characters and using numbers as well as letters.  I like to use familiar words or names that I remember easily and then misspell them slightly, adding in a 0 for an O or a 3 for an E.   You get it.  Some people like to use movie quotes.  Just please pick something strong.

2) Screen Saver.  Set your screen saver to come on at a certain point.  The more paranoid you are, the shorter the interval.  But then, in the Security preference, set the screen saver to require a password to wake from sleep or screen saver.  This ensures that if you walk away from your computer and someone steals it or decides to use it, only authorized people can get into it.  Very effective.

3) File Vault.  Apple has a built in technology called File Vault, which can encrypt your entire home folder.  In the event your machine is compromised, only someone with the master password will have access, even if they know how to get around the normal passwords (pretty easy).  File Vault is very effective but as with all security issues, the greater security you want, the more you give up.  Because it encrypts and decrypts data on the fly, it requires more system resources and results in a slower environment than without it.  Its worth it to protect important data but do not ever lose or forget your master password; the encryption is so strong you will lose forever what is on there without it.

These are only a few of the methods you can use and only helpful if you use them correctly.  Other options are to password protect your Open Firmware, requiring a password to even reboot the OS, physical locking mechanisms and services like what we provide that can, in many cases, remotely erase a computer that has been stolen or otherwise compromised.

Interested in more?  Let me know in the comments!  Be safe!

Geof Bowie
www.thinkfixed.com
twitter.com/geofbowie