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Fujifilm X-T100 review

25 Jul

79%

Overall score

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The Fujifilm X-T100 is the company’s least expensive X-series camera to include an electronic viewfinder. It shares most of its guts with the entry-level X-A5, including its hybrid autofocus system and 24MP APS-C CMOS sensor. Unlike that camera, and the X-T20 that sits above it, the X-T100 has a unique LCD design that allows it to both tilt and flip out to the side but not rotate.

Unfortunately, the X-T100 inherits more from the X-A5 than the X-T20, which means there are some compromises. Image quality is great, design and build quality are solid and battery life is excellent. Unfortunately, the camera’s overall performance is sluggish, its autofocus system cannot reliably track anything moving and its ‘4K’ video is more like an extended burst mode (quality is poor, as well).

For those who enjoy the Fujifilm shooting experience we recommend spending the extra $ 200 for the X-T20. If you want to stay in the same price range, competitive cameras from Canon, Olympus and Panasonic may be better choices in many respects.

Key Features:

24MP APS-C CMOS sensor
ISO range of 100-51200 (fully expanded)
91-point hybrid AF system
2.36M-dot OLED electronic viewfinder
3″ touchscreen LCD can both tilt up/down and flip outward 180°
6 fps continuous shooting (up to 26 JPEGs)
Film Simulation modes
4K/15p and 1080/60p video
4K Burst and Multi Focus modes
Wi-Fi + Bluetooth connectivity
Interchangeable grip
430 shots/charge battery life (per CIPA rating)

The X-T100’s feature set is impressive, as long as you’re not a serious videographer. The EVF is beautiful and the articulating LCD gives you the best of both worlds, being able to tilt and flip to the side. While the X-T100 has a larger buffer than the X-A5, it still fills up pretty quickly if you’re shooting Raw. Still, that’s more than enough for a camera that costs $ 600 (body only).

An important difference between the X-A5/X-T100 and the more expensive X-T20 is that the latter uses an X-Trans color filter on its sensor, rather than the traditional Bayer filter. Many would argue that X-Trans had an advantage over Bayer sensors when resolutions were lower, but with everything now at 24MP, we’re not convinced there’s much of a difference.

The X-T100 is sold as a body-only kit for $ 599 or with a 15-45mm equiv. F3.5-5.6 power zoom lens for $ 699. Black and ‘champagne gold’ bodies are available.

What’s new and how it compares

Find out what separates the X-T100 from the entry-level X-A5 and mid-range X-T20. Also, see how to compares with other inexpensive mirrorless cameras.

The X-T100 has an SLR-style body that’s well-built, along with a unique LCD design and high-res OLED viewfinder.

We think the X-T100 is great for travel, landscape and portrait photography. If it’s video or fast action, you’ll want to steer clear.

The X-T100 produces excellent image quality, with beautiful out-of-camera JPEGs and a sensor with plenty of room for preserving highlights while brightening shadows.

While adequate for static subjects, the X-T100 just can’t keep up with anything moving.

The biggest disappointment on the X-T100 are its video capabilities – or lack thereof.

If you’re not planning on capturing action or video then the X-T100 is a good choice. If you are, then better choices exist.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Review of BlogStomp Software for Photographers

22 Jul

Blogging is a very important marketing tool for photographers. However, it can be quite a time-consuming task having to process the photos for each post in Photoshop or any other editing application. The BlogStomp software, in my opinion, has changed blogging for photographers.

Review of BlogStomp Software for Photographers

A collage of images made with BlogStomp.

What is BlogStomp?

BlogStomp is a simple blogging software that allows you to drag and drop the files you wish to use to create photographs the exact size that you want. You can make collages, or batch process many photos for a gallery, social media, or other storage devices.

BlogStomp also lets you add your own logo to the final photos either on tabs or on the image itself.

BlogStomp interface.

There are many features for personalization so that your final photos are ready to post where you want. It cuts the blogging process by more than half the time, especially if you are creating a rather photo-heavy post or gallery. BlogStomp also creates a folder on your desktop of the photos that you have “stomped” which makes it easier to find and upload them to wherever you are posting images.

Key Features

Image Processing

The most useful feature of BlogStomp is in the “Freestyle” tab where you can choose one or more photos to create collages. Here you can preview, modify, crop, add text, and choose the best layout to suit your needs.

On the right, you can see the various layout options as well as make your own custom layout.

Settings Tab

In the “Settings” tab, you can choose the image width, how much of a border or margin between photos you’d like to have, as well as add a tab underneath the photo. In this same tab is where you would add your logo.

You can also choose the output settings where you can customize the file names, set where you want your Stomped folder to be located on your computer, and configure how much sharpening you want for the final images.

In the settings, you can change the layout size, border, margin, and select the template you want to use. In Output, you have the option of giving the files a specific name and choosing where you want the Stomped folder to be placed.

Freestyle Tab

Add a color block and place it below or next to your photo.

Double-click to switch out photos in the layout.

Hitting the “Mix it up” button will cycle through different layouts using the photos that you have chosen to give you options. You can also double-click and switch the photos.

Batch Tab

The “Batch” tab will process all of the photos that you have in the sidebar individually to the size and settings that you have previously set up. This can save you a lot of time if you are uploading a lot of photos into an online gallery for viewing.

Batch process all of your photos at once.

Media Tab

The “Media” tab allows you to “stomp” the photos onto a storage device, like a USB stick, so that they all fit. This is really helpful when dealing with huge files that you want to keep all on the same USB, or similar storage device.

You can drag and drop your photos or choose from the ones that you have already previously “stomped”.

Don’t worry about storage space, this option will fit your images onto your media device.

BlogStomp also creates a folder on your desktop of the photos that you have “stomped” which makes it easier to find and upload them to wherever you are posting.

The app will also let you know if your image is not the right size originally for the final output size. Which is helpful because this can mean the difference between publishing a pixelated image or a high-quality image.

Post Directly to a Blog or Social Media

You can stomp your photographs directly onto any of the following blog sites: WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger, ExpressionEngine, and Live Journal. Simply set up your blog details and begin writing. Use the stomped photos that you have created, add categories, and publish all from the same app.

Choose from these blog sites. Stomp Software says they will be adding more sites to the list soon.

Use BlogStomp to also post directly to Facebook or Twitter. Insert your login details and use the photos that you’ve stomped previously.

In the Freestyle tab, you also have the option of sizing the photographs for Instagram or Facebook covers (above). This comes in handy when you’re publishing to social media often or using a social media app like HootSuite which requires the photos to be square in order to post to Instagram, for example.

Posting to Twitter with BlogStomp.

Upload to Gallery services

In the “Gallery” tab, you can set up any of the following gallery/proofing services: Shoot Proof, SmugMug, Zenfolio, and Photoshelter. It’s really easy to set up and get your galleries uploaded in half the time.

Review of BlogStomp Software for Photographers

Why use BlogStomp?

I think it goes without saying that editing a wedding or image-heavy blog post in Photoshop or the like can take hours. Using BlogStomp as part of your workflow can help reduce the time that you are spending at the computer by processing your photos for your blog, galleries, storage devices, and social media in one fell swoop.

I have been using this app for more than five years and it has served me well in so many ways. All of the photos in my past articles have been processed using BlogStomp. The photos that I use for social media are processed in BlogStomp.

Create marketing material in minutes with the collage layouts for both print and online. I have also used it for creating inspiration boards for future sessions.

This is a final stomped photo with a white tab below the collage and my logo added.

In addition to saving you time, it is also really simple and easy to use. Each feature is easy to navigate without any extra hoops or steps. It’s a straightforward app that helps you blog faster and share your photos with the best quality.

How much does it cost?

Finally, it’s priced reasonably for the amount of use that it will get. There are two options: Individual and Studio Pack.

The individual option includes two installs on different computers and is priced at $ 49. The studio pack includes 5 installs on different computers and is priced at $ 89. It’s a one time fee and it really is the best value for an app like this.

You can create many different collages with the features inside BlogStomp. Change the background in settings, add a stroke to the images, choose the margin size between photos, and add rounded corners all in the same app.

Other Stomp Software

BlogStomp is just one of three Stomp Software apps offered by the company.

Album Stomp is a great software for designing albums and Album Prufr is proofing albums where your clients can preview and make changes. The company offers a bundle option for all three on their website.

Review of BlogStomp Software for Photographers

Not convinced? The company offers you the opportunity to download a free trial before purchasing. You can use the full version with the app logo/watermark. This is great for learning to use the app and seeing first-hand whether this is an app that could work for your workflow.

In conclusion

Blogging can be a daunting task with hours of photo processing. But thanks to BlogStomp and the Stomp Software, blogging has never been easier and faster without compromising on image quality or style.

Use this app as a part of your regular workflow and cut the time that you spend at the computer. Overall, the app is worth its value in both time and quality. Test the app for yourself before you make the decision to buy. You won’t regret it.

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Review: Palette modular photo editing system

21 Jul

Palette System
$ 250-$ 550 | PaletteGear.com

The Palette system uses physical controls to manipulate software features in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and other applications.

Image editing applications are full of controls that mimic physical interactions. We could adjust a photo in Lightroom using nothing but numbers, but we’re conditioned to drag virtual sliders to see how the change affects the image. What we’re actually doing is repetitively positioning the mouse pointer over specific locations to work those controls.

Palette is a set of modular hardware pieces that can be assigned individual tasks and features.

If you’re tired of hitting those tiny targets or want to potentially speed up your editing workflow, perhaps you should consider the real-life physical controls of the Palette system. Palette is a set of modular hardware pieces that can be assigned individual tasks and features. Think of a sound-mixing board, but for editing photos (although Palette can also work with some audio and video software, too).

Key Features

Three physical controls: buttons, dials, and sliders
USB-powered
Controls many features of Adobe (and other) software
Modular controls snap together with strong magnets
Machined aluminum modules
Rubberized base so modules don’t shift during use
Mac and Windows compatible

Buying options

The modules can be like a mini puzzle: make sure the pins connect to pads so that power and data are distributed throughout the connected pieces.

The Palette system is sold in three kits:

Starter Kit ($ 249.98) includes the core, two buttons, one dial, and one slider.
Expert Kit ($ 349.98) includes the core, two buttons, three dials, and two sliders.
Professional Kit ($ 549.98) includes the core, four buttons, six dials, and four sliders.

The components are also available as separate add-ons: $ 29.99 for the button, or $ 49.99 each for the slider or dial.

Design

The system is based around a single Palette Core unit, which is 45mm (1.8in) square and connects to the computer via a Micro USB port. The core includes the processor and software for running the system, plus an OLED screen that indicates which mode it’s currently running. (It’s not a touchscreen, though; my smartphone-trained fingers kept tapping the display at first, expecting something to happen.)

At times I wish the controls offered some physical feedback, such as a dial that ticks as you turn it

The rest of the components connect to the core and to each other via strong magnets, with one side sporting spring-loaded pins to make data and power connections. There’s an arcade-style button, a dial that spins smoothly and can also be pressed like a button, and a slider. At times I wish the controls offered some physical feedback, such as a dial with detents that clicks as you turn it instead of just spinning smoothly; perhaps the company could offer such a module in the future.

Each piece includes an illuminated “halo” that can change color, which is helpful for visually identifying which application or feature you’re working with. Rubberized bases give the components a good grip so they don’t slip around while you’re working.

In use

I’ve used the Palette system and the PaletteApp software primarily with Lightroom Classic CC; it also supports Lightroom 6 and Lightroom CC 2015, but notably does not work with the newest Lightroom CC (which doesn’t offer the same hooks for other applications that the classic versions do).

It’s not a Lightroom-only tool, however. Adobe’s apps are well represented, with support for CC versions of Photoshop, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Illustrator, InDesign, and Audition. The software knows a few other applications, too, such as Final Cut Pro X, iTunes, Spotify, VLC, WMP, and Google Chrome. If PaletteApp can access the menu systems of other software, you can also set up some custom controls, although in my testing those weren’t as snappy as the interaction with supported apps. PaletteApp requires macOS 10.9, Mavericks, and higher, or Windows 7 and higher.

The software knows a few other applications, too, such as Final Cut Pro X, iTunes, Spotify, VLC, WMP, and Google Chrome

When you first begin using the Palette system, expect a lot of experimentation as you figure out which control layouts work for you. PaletteApp includes several pre-made profiles to get started, so as you snap modules together, functions are already assigned to them. You can also import downloaded profiles created by other Palette owners. That’s helpful, although I found myself wanting examples of physical layouts as starting points. I’d like to see recommendations of how other people work: do they use dials or sliders for controls like Exposure, for instance, and how are the modules arranged? I appreciate the freedom to piece modules together the way I want, but it’s almost too open-ended until you figure out what works for you.

Built-in profiles get you started.

The system’s modularity does have the advantage that one layout isn’t trying to accomplish everything; in Lightroom, for example, you can set up controls for reviewing and culling images, and then switch to a profile with controls for performing basic edits or even, say, landscape-specific editing tasks.


I’ve set up this profile and layout for reviewing and culling images after importing them in Lightroom Classic CC.	Here’s the same layout with a profile designed to apply basic and frequently-used Lightroom Develop controls.

Of course, you can manually assign features to each module and in some cases, fine tune their performance. Depending on the control, dials and sliders may include a Sensitivity or Range value (or both) to set upper and lower limits to how much a control is applied. For example, pushing a white balance tint slider all the way to the right can max out at +50 instead of +100, since you’d probably never crank the setting that high toward purple.

Manually set a module’s task, and adjust aspects like sensitivity depending on which type of control it is.

One of the best features of the Palette system is how responsive it is—not just in tracking a control’s physical movement with its onscreen setting, but switching between tools and modules. Activating a module switches to that editing control, regardless of where you were in Lightroom. For example, to straighten a photo, you could turn a dial assigned to Crop Angle. That switches to the Develop module if it’s not already active, selects the Crop Overlay tool, and starts rotating the image as you turn the dial.

At times the responsiveness can be jarring, though. A physical slider’s position dictates the software slider; imagine that the module for Exposure is set a quarter distance from the left following an edit in another application, but the Exposure slider in Lightroom is at the zero midpoint. As soon as you nudge the module’s slider, the Exposure value jumps down to –2.5 to match.

When you first begin using the Palette system, expect a lot of experimentation as you figure out which control layouts work for you.

There’s a preference called Optimize for Performance which, when turned off, shows the live status of the controls in the PaletteApp window. That can be helpful when the app is visible and you don’t want to take your eyes away from the screen, and it has the added benefit of including notches on the virtual dials that don’t exist on the physical ones. However, those notches are ultimately arbitrary: if you reset a control (by pressing the dial button), the notch doesn’t snap back to the center, so the next time you turn the dial, it starts from the last position.

One clever feature of the Palette system is the ability to rotate your setup in 90-degree increments. By repositioning the connected block of physical modules for other tasks, you can train your muscle memory to work in two different applications, for instance, and not take apart the layout you’ve set up and put it together into a new one each time.

The bottom line

If you spend a lot of time editing in Lightroom and Photoshop, and you have the desk space to dedicate to it, Palette is a good investment. That’s particularly true if your work involves processing hundreds of images and manipulating several key controls, such as editing batches of wedding photos.

That really gets to the whole point of using a system like this: to be able to let your hands take over while your attention is focused on the image you’re editing, not having to dart around the screen selecting every control using a mouse or touchpad.

What we like:

Build quality is exceptional
Color accents help differentiate tasks
Modularity lets you set up the controls how you like
Compatible with many applications
Granular sensitivity for the controls
Ability to rotate layout in 90-degree increments

What we don’t:

Open-endedness of layout options can be daunting until you find a layout you like
Expensive, especially to buy extra individual components
No physical feedback, such as clicks as you turn dials, which would sometimes be helpful

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits

16 Jul

The portrait and headshot industry in photography is likely the craft’s most popular niche. As such, it isn’t a stretch to say that there is a multitude of headshot and portrait photographers in every state and country. So, you need to find a way to stand out from the herd. The Westcott Eyelighter is one such way to differentiate from the masses, a unique reflector unlike any other I’ve seen before.

Review of the Westcott Eyelighter 2 - studio portrait of a model

What is the Westcott Eyelighter?

Much like the name implies, the Westcott Eyelighter is curved to mimic the shape of the human eye and illuminate the bottom part of the iris (something that many photographers tend to add in post-production). The eyes are the windows to the soul, and often the very first thing most viewers notice about an image. This highlight creates an eye-catching image (no pun intended).

As all working photographers understand, the more time you spend in front of a computer screen is less time out there shooting. So taking advantage of a tool that creates a commonly edited effect is grand. This product certainly diminishes the time spent at the computer.

portrait of a model in a black and white dress - Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits

What’s in the box?

The Westcott Eyelighter kit features the reflector itself and a carrying case, with additional accessories sold separately. The physical makeup of the Eyelighter includes a durable aluminum frame and a highly-reflective silver surface. Tension rods are utilized to pull this material taut, maximizing the light cast on the subject.

I was quite impressed by the durability and quality of the Eyelighter’s build, this is not an addition that will snap or break easily.

Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits - b/w of a model in the studio

Assembly

Assembling the Westcott Eyelighter is not much of a task on paper, but can be a bit of a handful in practice. Myself, as a 5’ 5” 98lb female, did struggle to put the Eyelighter together with no help, but it is most certainly possible.

Westcott released a very helpful YouTube instructional video (see below) on how to properly assemble this reflector for those that don’t find the instruction manual helpful. The real difficulty comes from the tension rods as I found it requires quite a bit of strength to put together.

Had there been a second pair of hands to help, the assembly would have been more of a breeze (so photographers that have studio assistants, there won’t be much concern there). On average, after practicing the assembly process several times, it finally took me 10-15 minutes to put together.

Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits

What’s included with the Westcott Eyelighter.

Transporting the Eyelighter and portability

The Eyelighter is a rather large piece of studio equipment and really is intended as a permanent addition to your studio. As I did not want to assemble and disassemble the kit every time, I wanted to test to see if I can transport the reflector in its fully assembled state.

From personal experience, I can attest that this product can fit into a car fully-assembled (minus the tripod). I drive an SUV, and I did not need to place the seats down to fit this reflector in horizontally across the backseat. Seats may need to be put down for smaller vehicles, but the height of the kit poses no issue fitting inside of a car.

The Eyelighter does come with a carry case and can be disassembled and assembled, but the assembly does take a bit of time. At least, for me it took a significant amount of time, so I would rather transport the reflector fully-assembled.

Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits - studio setup showing it in use

Using the Westcott Eyelighter

Using the Eyelighter is rather simple and doesn’t require any advanced studio knowledge. Like any reflector, the Eyelighter works by bouncing light off of its reflective panel.

The Eyelighter is already tilted upon attachment to a tripod (which must be purchased separately). As such, all you need to do is take a large softbox (I personally use an octagonal one for this but a square or rectangular softbox is just as valid), place it directly above the Eyelighter, and aim downwards.

It may take a bit of maneuvering and brief trial-and-error test to find the correct placement of the reflector underneath your subject, but the general consensus is that it belongs below the chest area of your model. This piece of equipment will not affect your additional lighting setup, which allows you the freedom to light the rest of the subject in any which way.

Unique catchlights

Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits - dramatic b/w portrait

The Eyelighter reflects light toward your subject, leaving a catchlight that follows the natural curve of the eye. If the silver reflector is too bright or causes too stark of a reflection, Westcott has a white sheet available for purchase that will cover that whole panel and soften the effect.

My favorite aspect of this is how seamless the catch light is, there are no odd or unflattering gaps. As well as this, it really does soften the light on the neck and chin. Paired with your other studio lighting kits, this is a must-have for anyone looking to add something fantastic to their collection.

That being said, it is important to keep in mind that due to the necessary position to create the effect, this reflector really is for portrait and headshot use only – you won’t be able to catch a whole body image with this.

Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits - white panel

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Westcott Eyelighter is a fun, eye-catching, and simple to use reflector that can really help you stand out from the competition.

With a retail price of $ 299, this isn’t the absolute most expensive item in your photographic arsenal but can make a huge difference to your portraits and headshots.

The post Review of the Westcott Eyelighter for Headshots and Portraits appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Sony Cyber-shot DSC RX100 VI review

12 Jul

83%

Overall score

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The Sony Cyber-shot DSC RX100 VI is the latest pocketable compact camera to feature a 1″-type image sensor. Unlike existing models in the marketplace, the RX100 VI ventures into the do-everything/travel camera space, with the addition of a 24-200mm equivalent F2.8-4.5 lens.

Like its immediate predecessor, the Mark VI offers quick and accurate on-sensor phase detection autofocus, the ability to shoot at up to 24 frames per second and highly detailed 4K video taken from the full width of its sensor. It becomes the first RX100-series camera to offer a touchscreen and has a redesigned electronic viewfinder that can be activated or stowed-away with a single push.

Key features:

20.1MP 1″-type stacked CMOS sensor
F2.8-4.5, 24-200mm equiv. zoom lens
Retractable 2.36M-dot EVF with 0.59x equiv. magnification
24 fps burst shooting (with continuous autofocus)
UHD 4K video at 30p and 24p, 1080p slow-motion capture
5-axis image stabilization
3″ touchscreen LCD
On-sensor phase-detection autofocus
Wi-Fi with NFC for quick image transfer to mobile devices
USB charging

Despite the significantly increased lens range, the RX100 VI is less than 2mm (5/64″) thicker than the Mark V. The result is a camera that can lend itself to a wider range of photographic situations (making it a solid traveling companion) but with a less bright lens that means sacrificing some of the low-light capability of its sister models.

The RX100 VI has a recommended selling price of around $ 1,200 before sales tax, or £1,150/€1,299 in Europe, including VAT.

What’s new and how it compares

The RX100 VI is more of a travel zoom than an enthusiast compact. We see how it compares with Panasonic’s TZ / ZS models, as well as its immediate predecessor.

The RX100 VI incorprorates a touchscreen but it’s still most satisfying if you don’t try to get too involved.

The RX100 VI is a very powerful travel camera and highly capable for family photography, but it’s not as good in low light as some of its peers.

Autofocus is very impressive: delivering a very high hit-rate even when you shoot 24 times per second. Eye AF is also hugely valuable. The design of the autofocus system is a little convoluted, though.

The RX100 VI can shoot some very attractive, detailed video and has an extensive feature set to support this. There are also significant limitations in terms of time and absent features.

The RX100 VI produces some of Sony’s nicest JPEGs yet and, on our sample at least, the lens looks excellent.

The RX100 VI is a hugely capable camera. It trades some of its predecessors’ low light performance for greater daytime flexibility, though the price tag is steep.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

09 Jul

The LaCie DJI CoPilot BOSS is a portable hard drive with an internal battery and added interfaces. The interfaces include an SD card slot, USB-C and USB-A connectors, and a custom cable for connecting the device to a phone or tablet.

There is an app available for both Apple and Android devices which gives you the ability to perform simple procedures on stored photos.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

The device is meant to be simple and easy to use while providing long battery life for extended periods away from a computer or outlet. The idea is to remove the need to take a bulky or brittle laptop into the wilds while shooting. But still, allow for backing up of critical images while on location.

Who is the LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS for?

While the drive is marketed by DJI, a leading drone manufacturer, the drive can be used by any photographer. With its ruggedized covering, it’s meant to travel far and wide. Its interfaces make it device agnostic. If you have an SD card (or micro-SD with the included adapter) or a USB connection, this device will work for you.

It is meant to be easy and straightforward without the extra cost that comes with all kinds of unused bells and whistles.

Some stats

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

What’s in the box of the LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive. (Photo courtesy of LaCie/DJI)

2 terabyte (TB) capacity
5.3″ x 4.3″ x 1.4″ (136mm x 111mm x 36mm)
1.2lbs / .53kg
Compatible with Window 10 or higher and Mac OS X 10.10 or higher via USB-C 3.1, Thunderbolt, 3, USB 2 or 3
Mobile phones/tablets running iOS 10.3 or higher or Android 4.4 or higher
Connects to mobile devices via included Lightning, micro USB or USB-C
Comes with a wall charger with multi-country adapters as well as a micro USB adapter
For reference sake, the 2TB drive can download 31 x 64GB cards. That’s about 70,000 20MP images (at roughly 28MB each) and hours of 4K video. Storage capacity varies depending on your camera settings.
Suggested retail price is $ 349USD

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

The unit can be charged with the included AC adapter (more on that in a minute) or through the USB-C connection, but only when connected to a computer or power pack, not through a wall charger.

The unit does have the ability to charge via its USB-C connection but only when connected to a laptop/desktop or portable external battery. When I asked, LeCie stated a wall charger would not work with the USB-C connection and it was also slower than the AC adapter (taking 12 hours to charge from 0-100% vs. 3 hours with the AC adapter).

How it works

Operation of the CoPilot is pretty simple. There’s only one button and you press it once to get system status (battery level and storage space remaining) or hold it down for three seconds to turn the unit on.

The on/off button.

Next, insert a memory card, USB drive, USB connection for a phone or USB connection to your camera or drone. The screen will ask you, “Copy?” (see image below) and indicate one press of the button for yes or hold down the button for no. Pretty easy!

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

The unit will scan the drive and start copying, updating status as it runs. It gives updates with a progress bar and the remaining battery level of the unit.

If you press the button, it will also show the number of files copied alongside the total number of photos to be copied. The next screen shows that previous amount as a percentage complete and then is a screen displaying the rate at which your card is being backed up.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

Some nice features

The unit also has the ability to queue up different backups, such as plugging in both an SD card and a USB drive for total unattended backup of your devices.

When the copy process is complete, the unit will display “Done” and it will remain on that screen until OK is pressed. I love this feature. In the past, I have used units that never gave a copy confirmation and I’m not one to stare at a device for 5-30 minutes depending on how many photos are being backed up. I never knew if a backup failed or completed.

The CoPilot will tell you if the copy competed or if there was an error, before letting you move on to another card. Very handy. Also, there is a ring around the outside of the display showing, as a percentage, how much space has been used on the CoPilot.

Copy procedures can be stopped at any time by simply holding down the button for three seconds and then pressing once more to confirm cancelation.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

The CoPilot App

The CoPilot App runs on Apple or Android devices. I will be sharing screenshots from an Apple iPad in this article. The unit comes with three cords for connection; Apple Lightning, micro-USB, and USB-C. The cord for connection wraps nicely around the unit, a thoughtful touch.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

After the initial setup of the app and device (those instructions are included with the device), it’s pretty easy to browse photos stored on the CoPilot or even on inserted SD cards or connected USB devices. This is helpful as it can turn your phone/tablet into a card reader for other purposes.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

On the left side of the screen are the available devices, with the first item being the CoPilot, followed by the device you are using (my iPad is named Spiff, as in Spaceman Spiff) and then the other ports on the CoPilot.

The main screen shows folders on the CoPilot when it is selected. The Backups folder is where everything resides and tapping it brings up a folder for each backup run.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

The folders are named by date, the time the backup was started and a unique identifier for each card or device. The date is below each folder if that makes reading easier.

Using the app

Tapping a folder will let you drill down through the typical card structure (depending on your camera manufacturer’s specifications) until you arrive at your photos.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

At this point, the image grid can be made fullscreen to cover more real estate if you like.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

The LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive can handle all the major Raw and JPEG file types as well as PDFs and a few others.

One more tap brings up a single image to fill your screen. It’s a 100% version, so you can zoom in just as you would on your desktop. There is not a zoom indicator anywhere, though.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

There are a few things you can do with the photo at this point. The Move and Copy options are both straightforward. Images can be copied either to another place on the CoPilot or to an attached USB or SD card. Rename might be helpful to some users as well.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

Full EXIF information is also available although DJI/LaCie need to clean up how it is presented.

Exif information display for this image.

I can see why a programmer made it display this way, but it’s not too user-friendly. An exposure time of 0.00200o seconds?

A little handier is the ability to share out the image with normal platform-specific applications. Here you see the standard Apple lineup and I enjoy that “Save Image” is there, making it easy to drop the file onto my iPad for use in a blog post or the like.

Share options.

If installed, the image can be handed off to the likes of Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop Express or Dropbox or any of a number of other apps. Note that these are the RAW (.CR2 in the case of Canon) files, not JPEGs if you are shooting RAW.

The image opened in Photoshop Express.

Previews in the app

One small annoyance with the app is the chronological preview creation. In this case, I had over 800 images in the folder on the CoPilot so it starts at the top creating previews. Before that they all look like this:

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

And if you want to work with an image shot just moments ago, it’s going to be at the bottom of the folder and you have to wait for the preview to resolve. Not a big thing, but something to note if you have thousands of images in one folder.

Otherwise, the app is pretty slim in features. You can rename folders and delete them if you like, which is handy. I wish I could drag images from the main part of the screen to my iPad folder on the left, but that’s not the case. I’d also like the ability to star or pick my photos as I do in Lightroom. That would make the app a lot more useful.

In the real world

At times I thought I should be able to just plug a card in (without powering on the unit) and start copying. Once I got over that mentality and was patient enough to wait for it to power on, I found the CoPilot easy to use.

I really enjoyed that it could back up all my media, including my phone photos (but not a true backup of my phone as I do on my desktop). With a cable, I can also download directly from my drone, but I often found it easier to use the micro-SD card adapter. After all, that’s what I do now when downloading drone footage.

The unit is a little hefty and all the rubberizing makes it a little bulky. It’s certainly not as small as my Western Digital Passports but also not as large as a standard external drive. I do feel pretty confident with that mass of rubber coating all around the shell and the toughness of a non-touchscreen.

REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive

Minor issues

This will seem like a minor gripe and I guess it is, but not owning a newer Android phone, I also do not own a USB-C to USB-A cable. The unit comes with a USB-C to USB-C cable for connecting to your desktop or laptop for final download and workflow, but not the cable I needed. Not a big deal, but it’s one more cable.

My bigger complaint is with the interface cover. It’s not tethered to the unit and I easily see myself losing it within a month of owning a CoPilot. It’s great that there is a cutout on the inside of the cover allowing you to keep SD cards (or the Micro-SD adapter) inserted with the cover on. But when hooked to USB, that cover can go missing.

For portability, I’m not happy that I can only use the somewhat bulky AC adapter that comes with the unit to charge the hard drive. When I am out of the country for 2-3 weeks leading one of my tours, I can’t trust that I’ll have enough battery power. So yet another power adapter has to be packed and accounted for.

It would be great if I could charge the unit with USB power (and that would take away my complaint above). However, if I was only going to be gone 1-2 weeks and thought I would shoot maybe only 4000-6000 images, I think it would be okay. This aspect needs more real-world battery drain testing.

Backing up your files

Unfortunately, there is no ability to perform incremental backups. The good news is you can use the app from your phone or tablet to simply delete the previous, redundant backup.

Such as, if you shoot 400 photos and back those up, then keep using the card for another 600 images. Your second backup will contain all 1000 images and with the app, you can delete the first backup of 400, if you want. It’s also handy that Lightroom and other desktop apps will recognize the duplicates and only import one copy, so you don’t have to delete the redundant backup copies if you don’t want to.

Backup speeds will depend on the type of card you are using. It is handy that the unit will tell you the exact throughput (in MBs) while it is downloading so you can estimate time remaining. In my experience, 40GB of backup from an SD card to the unit used about 6-8% of battery. I would estimate 12-14 32GB cards could be downloaded with each charge.

Dirt issues

Lastly, this is a minor thing, but the rubberized coating of the CoPilot attracts dirt and lint. I placed the unit in a planter for the introductory photo of this post and it came away with dirt stuck fairly well to the housing. It’s meant to take a beating, but my unit was not sparkling new for long.

See all the dust and stuff stuck to it?

(Photo courtesy of LaCie/DJI)

Downloading from the CoPilot

When matched with the likes of Lightroom and its ability to ignore duplicates, the CoPilot is a breeze when it’s time to download images at home or the office. Plug into the USB-C connector and start your import. No need to browse folder to folder.

Yet, if you only want to download a particular day’s worth of images, the CoPilot’s structure of naming folders first by the date shot is a big help in finding just the right images. The USB-C is fast at a rate of about 5Gbps.

Otherwise, the drive works like any other external hard drive and can be read directly. It can also be used as a card reader while plugged in.

(Photo courtesy of LaCie/DJI)

Is it worth it?

The LaCie 2TB DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive lists for $ 349. That’s a hefty price and not a cheap purchase. If you travel occasionally, this might not be the right device for you, given that price point. But if you find yourself lugging your laptop around only to be used as a conduit for backing up photos, the CoPilot will pay for itself soon enough.

Personally, when I lead photo tours I carry enough gear for the group that I don’t want to bring a laptop. I intend to purchase a CoPilot BOSS before my next trip abroad in order to lighten my load while ensuring I all my precious photos return with me.

The post REVIEW: LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS External Hard Drive appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD Review

04 Jul

Introduction

80%

Overall score

Jump to conclusion

The Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD is a lightweight telephoto zoom lens for DSLR cameras that comes in at an MSRP of $ 799 / £699 / €1049, undercutting its Nikon and Canon competitors significantly. Despite the wallet-friendly price tag, the Tamron offers solid build quality and good optical performance. Let’s dig into the details of how this lens stacks up.

Key specifications

Available in both Nikon F and Canon EF mounts
70-210mm focal range becomes equivalent to 105-315mm on Nikon APS-C, 112-336mm on Canon APS-C
4 stops image stabilization (CIPA rated)
0.32x maximum magnification, 0.95m (37.4″) minimum focus distance
Ultrasonic Silent Drive ‘silent’ focus motor (still audible in video capture if you use your camera’s internal mic)
Fluorine coating on front element combats fingerprints
Weather-sealed, internal zoom and focus
67mm filter thread, weighs 859g (1.89lb)

The Tamron 70-210mm F4, like its competitors, is well-suited to sports shooting from a moderate distance if you don’t need a faster F2.8 aperture.

Canon EOS-1D X Mark II | ISO 100 | 1/1600 sec | F4 | 94mm

This segment of lenses is an important step-up for photographers who want more speed than 55-200mm or 55-250mm kit telezooms, which often only offer F5.6 or F6.3 at the telephoto end, but without going all-in with the heft and expense of constant F2.8 variants. Unique to The Tamron is an extra 10mm of reach on the long end than its competitors (which makes for a nice, neat 3x zoom factor), but the difference between 210 and 200mm is negligible in real-world shooting.

But before we take a look at how the Tamron performs optically, let’s see how it’s built and how it handles.

For this review, we tested the Tamron 70-210mm F4 Di VC USD in Canon EF mount.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Review: Peak Design Anchor Links System for Camera Straps

02 Jul

I’ve had all sorts of camera straps and carrying implements over the years. From traditional neck straps that come with most cameras to sling-style attachments to simple wrist straps and even, on occasion, daring to go out into the world with no camera strap at all.

My main issue with most camera straps is that while a lot of them are designed for specific situations such as portraits, sports, travel, or hanging out with friends I haven’t yet found one that works for every occasion. That’s where the Peak Design Anchor Links system comes into the picture and solves this problem once and for all.

Mostly.

Review: Peak Design Anchor Links

The issue with camera straps

Choosing a camera strap feels more like a marriage than a dating relationship. Most aren’t easy to attach and remove without twisting some screws, threading some nylon through impossibly small holes, or making your fingernails bleed while wrestling with a key ring-style securement device.

As a result, when I buy a camera strap it usually stays on my camera permanently but often gets in the way when I want to take pictures in a scenario that the strap just wasn’t meant for.

Peak Design Anchor Links System – the solution?

The Peak Design Anchor Links system helps remedy this issue but in a bit of an odd way. Anchor Links don’t really do much on their own, and they’re not even camera straps at all.

What they are is a way for you to add a huge degree of flexibility to whatever you are currently using to help carry your cameras. They give you a great deal of choice and freedom when it comes to picking a strap that’s right for any given occasion.

Review: Peak Design Anchor Links - Fuji camera and a wrist strap

Sometimes I like to use wrist straps, and sometimes I prefer larger over-the-shoulder straps.

How it works

Using Peak’s Anchor Links is pretty simple and involves two basic parts: the strap loop and the connector. The strap loops are small red and black circular tabs with about an inch of cord sticking out. These are what you attach to things you want to carry. The most obvious items are cameras but you can use them on virtually anything that needs to be carted around from pouches to lens cases to accessory bags and more.

The anchors are small connectors that attach to your camera strap, wrist strap, shoulder handle, or anything that you use to actually carry around your gear. There is no special magic to these anchors. You just thread your existing camera strap through the slot on one end of an Anchor just like you would thread a strap through the attachment point on your camera.

It takes just about a minute to get up and running with the Anchor Link system and if you’re like me, you’ll soon wonder what you did without them.

Review: Peak Design Anchor Links - camera with a neck strap

It took less than 9 seconds for me to switch from a wrist strap to a neck strap thanks to the Peak Design Anchor Link system.

So what’s the big deal?

When I first got the Anchor Link system I didn’t really see what the big deal was. How could a set of anchors and connectors really help me with my photography?

What I realized over months of using this system, is that simply having the ability to attach and detach camera straps at a moment’s notice has freed me to focus on other things that really matter. These won’t help you get better photos, and won’t teach you about composition and lighting. But you might find yourself bringing your camera more places than usual simply because you have so much more flexibility with how you carry it.

When I’m out with my family I can clip a traditional neck strap on in about three seconds flat. If I need to go handheld I can attach a wrist strap in no time. Then when I want to move a strap from one camera to another, it’s done in mere moments.

On a recent maternity session, I was able to pack my cameras and lenses securely and put all my various straps in a separate bag. Way better than trying to wrestle everything into a single container while dealing with unwieldy lengths of padded nylon.

Anchor Links can be attached to other items such as bags and pouches, or even key rings.

In the field

In terms of durability, I have had no issues whatsoever with the Anchor Link system and have trusted some very heavy camera/lens combinations to these tiny little cords without any problems. Peak Design claims each anchor link can support over 200lbs and while I don’t know if I would go that far personally, it is nice to know they’re rated for far more than my camera gear actually weighs.

It seems weird to trust a $ 20 attachment to hold a $ 4000 camera/lens combination, but it’s fair to say that the weakest link in the system would probably be whatever strap you are using and not these anchors.

Drawbacks

There are a few drawbacks to the system, namely that the more you use them the more you end up with button-sized anchor disks hanging from your camera gear. Also for some wrist straps, the attachment that secures to the anchor disk can seem a bit large. But I use the system daily with a wrist strap on my Fuji X100F and it has never been a major issue.

These are minor quibbles though, are almost not worth mentioning for something that is so immensely practical.

Review: Peak Design Anchor Links on a Fuji camera

The strap loops are small and don’t really get in the way, and Peak Design claims they are made out of a durable plastic that won’t scratch your cameras when hanging loose.

Conclusion

Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Peak Design has recently re-designed the system to be thinner and easier to use. I currently use the older system and they have never felt clunky or unwieldy, so I would imagine the revised version is just as good and probably even better.

Overall it’s hard not to recommend the Anchor Links to just about any photographer whether casual, professional or anywhere in between. A basic set with four anchor links and two attachments costs about $ 25 and can give you a huge amount of flexibility and freedom no matter what type of photography you do.

The post Review: Peak Design Anchor Links System for Camera Straps appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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DPReview TV: Sony RX100 VI review

24 Jun

Sony recently announced the RX100 VI, the newest addition to its compact camera line. With six iterations of the RX100 series now in circulation, how does this new model stand out from the rest? Chris and Jordan take the camera for a spin and tell us what they think about the new, longer lens, the updated viewfinder and more. They even manage to fit in some well earned hammock time in the process.

Read our RX100 VI first impressions and RX100 VI: What you need to know articles to learn more.

RX100 VI first impressions

RX100 VI what you need to know

And make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new episodes of DPReview TV every week.

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Sony RX100 VI sample gallery

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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus Review

21 Jun

Samsung’s Galaxy S9+ is a large, fast smartphone that’s jam-packed with photography-focused features. But while it’s certainly capable of great image quality, we found some issues with regard to capturing moving subjects, shooting under low lighting and when using ‘Live Focus’ portrait mode. On the other hand, 4K/60p video capture is of very high quality with good autofocus, and the screen on the S9+ is the best we’ve seen on a smartphone to date.

Key photographic / video specs

Dual rear cameras, each with optical stabilization
- Wide-angle: 12MP F1.5-2.4, 26mm equiv. focal length, dual pixel autofocus
- Telephoto: 12MP F2.4, 52mm equiv. focal length, contrast detect autofocus
Wide-angle module is the only variable aperture smartphone design on the market
Front-facing wide-angle camera: 8MP F1.7 25mm equiv.
‘Live Focus’ background blurring for rear and front cameras
‘Pro’ mode offers manual control in built-in camera app, and Raw can be enabled
UHD 4K/60p video recording, slow-motion 1080/240p and 720/960p recording (8x and 32x slow motion when outputted at 30 frames per second)

To start, the Galaxy’s dual rear cameras are similar to the setup on Apple’s iPhone X (one wide-angle, one telephoto), while Google’s Pixel 2 makes do with just a single camera on the rear of the phone.

Out-of-camera JPEG | ISO 32 | 1/614 sec | F2.4

But beyond just the number of cameras, each of these phones takes a noticeably different photographic approach across different shooting scenarios. We’re starting to see enough differences between the experiences of using these phones to really warrant consideration of what you want (and like) to photograph, especially if you’re choosing your next phone with camera quality as a primary concern.

The ‘Live Focus’ portrait mode experience
is disappointing

With the Galaxy S9+, Samsung touts its Dual Aperture technology as an aid to low-light shooting and the included telephoto lens is primarily used for the ‘Live Focus’ portrait mode. We found that, despite the Dual Aperture, the phone would select exposure settings that resulted in unnecessarily blurry images in even moderately low light. We also found that, overall, the ‘Live Focus’ experience using that telephoto lens can give you completely mis-focused images even in bright light, and that it’s nigh unusable as light levels start to drop.

Other specs

Android 8.0 Oreo
6.2″ Super AMOLED display with 2960×1440 resolution (529 ppi)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 845
6GB RAM
64/128/256 GB storage plus microSD card slot
3500 mAh Lithium-ion battery (non-removable)
$ 840/890/940 (£849/869/929 in the UK, €949/1049 in Germany and France for 128GB and 256GB models)

We’ve now had our loaner Galaxy S9+ for several weeks courtesy of Verizon Wireless, and taken a critical look at how its cameras perform under a wide variety of scenarios. Let’s dig in and see what’s what.

Unique Features

The Samsung Galaxy S9+ (along with its smaller brother, the S9) are the only current smartphones on the market with adjustable apertures and screens that automatically adjust contrast and brightness depending on your viewing conditions.

The Galaxy S9+ comes with a huge 6.2″ AMOLED display with rounded edges that is simply gorgeous to look at – for the most part.

From ‘Live Focus’ portraits to a special ‘Food’ mode, we’ve taken a look at the Galaxy’s image quality under a wide range of situations.

With UHD 4K/60p and slow-motion video recording, the Galaxy S9+ certainly looks capable on paper – so we found out how it looks in the real world.

We’ve updated our sample gallery with dozens of images from several weeks of shooting. Check out portraits, concerts, sports and more.

The Galaxy S9+ is one of the most photographically capable smartphones on the market; is it the one for you?

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Posts Tagged ‘REVIEW’

Key Features:

What’s new and how it compares

Body and controls

What it’s like to use

Image quality

Autofocus

Video

Conclusion

What is BlogStomp?

Key Features

Image Processing

Settings Tab

Freestyle Tab

Batch Tab

Media Tab

Post Directly to a Blog or Social Media

Upload to Gallery services

Why use BlogStomp?

How much does it cost?

Other Stomp Software

In conclusion

Palette System$ 250-$ 550 | PaletteGear.com

Key Features

Buying options

Design

In use

The bottom line

What we like:

What we don’t:

What is the Westcott Eyelighter?

What’s in the box?

Assembly

Transporting the Eyelighter and portability

Using the Westcott Eyelighter

Unique catchlights

Conclusion

Key features:

What’s new and how it compares

Body and design

What’s it like to use

Autofocus

Video

Image quality

Conclusion

Who is the LaCie DJI Copilot BOSS for?

Some stats

How it works

Some nice features

The CoPilot App

Using the app

Previews in the app

In the real world

Minor issues

Backing up your files

Dirt issues

Downloading from the CoPilot

Is it worth it?

Introduction

Key specifications

The issue with camera straps

Peak Design Anchor Links System – the solution?

How it works

So what’s the big deal?

In the field

Drawbacks

Conclusion

Sony RX100 VI sample gallery

Key photographic / video specs

Other specs

Unique Features

Body and display

Photo quality

Video quality

Sample gallery

Conclusion

Palette System
$ 250-$ 550 | PaletteGear.com