SpyderCUBE by Datacolor

Once in a while a product comes along that is so clever, so right, it is just a “must have” product.  While at PMA, I stumbled on such a product.  The SpyderCUBE by Datacolor is one of those products.  Nothing it does is really new, but it does everything right, in a small package, with more features than most any competitive product on the market.  For me personally, this gadget has single-handedly obsoleted my gray cards, ExpoDisc and most all other white balance devices I have seen.

Overview

First, this is an ABS plastic/resin cube with a tripod mount on the bottom stem and a metallic ball on the top.  By putting this object in a photo you shoot, you get a whole slew of exposure, white balance, specular highlight, black level, absolute black, neutral gray and white readings in light from multiple directions, all in one place from a single tool.

Features

It’s not a complexly built product, but it is a lot more sophisticated than a piece of gray cardboard that gets bent up in the pouch of your camera bag.  Each and every feature and surface of the device has a specific purpose.  If you use Aperture or Lightroom, taking advantage of this tool is quick and easy.

Specifications

Usage

I have used this product in a couple of tests so far with my Canon 5D Mark II, and the results are both amazing and as expected.  At the beginning of my shoot, I put this SpyderCUBE (attached to a flexible tripod) on a flat surface somewhere in the shoot.  I take an initial shot with it in the photo.  Once I get into Lightroom, I use the eyedropper to set my white balance setting for the room, and then apply that setting across the rest of the photos that I shot in that scene.

Another possibility is to use the cube in a photo to set the on-camera custom white balance.  If you get the cube to take up a a good bit of the image, the camera can set white balance right from it.

Results

Original Auto White Balance Canon 5DII

So, here are some tests that I did to see how well this works.  Follow along with me.

First, I grabbed my Canon 5D Mark II with a 16-35MM F2.8L lens and set white balance to auto white balance (AWB), walked out my back door, sat the SpyderCUBE with a mini-tripod onto a crate of travertine on my back patio.  There is some white Styrofoam and fairly white stone there in the shot, so I figured it would get a pretty decent white balance with the auto setting on my camera.  As you can see, the photo isn’t too bad for color (click it to enlarge).  The camera calculated the white balance at 4500ºK.

Lightroom's eyedropper tool

I then brought the image into Adobe LightRoom to do a little light balance work there.  In the develop mode of lightroom, there is a small eyedropper you can select and use to point to a neutral gray on the image.  This is what the SpyderCUBE is all about… giving you that perfect neutral gray in both direct light and indirect light.  You can see from the image to the right that the Lightroom eyedropper gives a pattern of pixel colors around where you are about to click, as well as the RGB value of the pixel you are hovering over.

Lightroom Corrected - 5000ºK

Once you click the mouse, Lightroom immediately re-calculates the white balance for the scene and changes the white balance setting to the new calculation.  In this case, that setting is 500ºK warmer, or 5000ºK.  If I had just shot a whole series of photos in this scene, I would now apply the new white balance setting to all of the images in the series to get the color correct on all of them.  This one step alone can save many of us from manually tweaking the color settings in our images, but shooting outdoors is not typically a hard situation to white balance.

Mixed lighting indoors + AWB

A scenario that is really hard for most cameras to auto white balance is a mixture of indoor light sources, including halogen, tungsten, fluorescent and ambient light from windows.  I am sure that many of you have had this situation where you shoot an indoor scene with AWB set and what you get is an orange cast image that is just completely wrong as your camera’s auto white balance just cannot figure out the lighting.  So, I have set up that exact situation with the modeling lights from my strobes through soft boxes and halogen overhead lights, plus mid-day sunlight coming in through the windows.  This shot is a mess!  And it is so typical of using the AWB setting on so many cameras when shooting indoors.

Camera AWB reading

Looking at the settings in Lightroom, this image was read as a color temperture of 4050ºK.  The multiple light sources have thrown the camera for a loop.  But again, with the eyedropper and selecting the neutral gray, and this time you can see a much more dramatic change over the last example.

Corrected White Balance

The corrected image now has a color space of 2750ºK, which is 1300ºK different than the original calculations by the camera.  And look how obvious that difference is! As a matter of fact, I could not find a single situation where the color wasn’t ever so slightly off from my camera using the AWB setting.  That alone tells me that this SpyderCUBE needs to travel everywhere my camera travels.

Histogram as shot

This brings up another interesting tip with Lightroom and using the Histogram in the upper right corner.  Let’s take a look at the Histogram for this image (right).  Notice the triangles at the upper left and right of this image?  They actually serve a purpose.  They can tell you if your image has absolute blacks and whites in the range of the image.  Notice how both triangles are gray – the same color a the background of the Histogram?

No blue shows here

If you click on the triangle, it will highlight.  If you look at your image, it will now show blue wherever absolute black appears in the photo.  In this case, there really isn’t any absolute black to notice.  Even the hole in the bottom of the SpyderCUBE is not showing any blue.  But we can fix this.

Sliding the Histogram

Next, we roll our mouse pointer over the lower portion of the Histogram, and click.  A <|> symbol appears and we can now drag the histogram for the lower light portion of the image and move the black point.  As we slowly move it left, you will see the triangle turn blue just as the first pixels of absolute black appear on the screen.  Move it a touch more and it turns white.  When the triangle is gray, none of the image is at absolute black.  When it turns blue, the image is perfectly set with the darkest color in the photo at absolute black.  As you drag further and it turns white you are now clipping some of the darker colors in the image to black.  This is a powerful tool and tells us a lot about the luminance range of our image.

White point clipping

The upper end of the histogram serves the same purpose with the white point of the image.  When I click it, the specular highlight of the SpiderCUBE’s chrome ball reflects the brightest light source in the image and pixels begin to appear in red where the white point of the image begins to clip.  By adjusting this area of the histogram, we can fine tune the white point of the image and control the clipping at the brightest point we wish. You can also click both of the triangles and see the white and black clipping points in red and blue at the same time.

AWB shot for in camera WB

One last test was to see if I could set the camera’s custom white balance from just shooting the SpyderCUBE.  Using the same lighting setup as the studio shots above, I put the SpyderCUBE about 6″ away from my lens and shot it with AWB.  As you can see, the same white point issues.  This shot came out at around 4150ºK, which is pretty far off.  I then went into the menu on the camera and told it to set a custom white balance using this photo as a reference.  This was an interesting test as I made sure that there were other colors visible in the photo.

In-camera custom white balance

The camera re-set the white balance to 2900ºK.  I changed exposure slightly, took the SpyderCUBE out of the shot and re-took the photo with the new white balance setting, and as you can see… a huge improvement!  Once again, the SpyderCUBE has done its job.  even with all kinds of strange light combinations, it has saved the day and set the white balance properly.  From now on, this little baby goes wherever my camera goes.

The SpyderCUBE is available at B&H and Amazon for $59 as of the writing of this review.  Although it is a bit more than you will pay for a white balance card, and a little bulkier, there are some distinct advantages to having the extra features of this product… like specular highlight and absolute black.

The SpyderCUBE and a series of demonstration videos videos can be found at the Datacolor website.

Product Review Scorecard

*PHD Cameras – Acronym for “Push Here, Dummy”, meaning the world of simple point and click digital cameras.

Author: Maurice Naragon
Digital Creations
Website Development and Marketing
Professional Photography in Orange County, CA

What exactly is this colorspace stuff anyway? Basically its the amount of color that is contained in the file when you save it. The three most common colorspaces are Adobe RGB, sRGB, and ProPhoto RGB.  As my friend Rick Miller puts it, you can relate gamut to containers of beer. With sRGB being a 12oz can of beer, Adobe RGB would be a pony keg, and ProPhoto RGB being a full kegger.

The image shown here (courtesy of Cpesacreta) shows the relative sizes of the different colorspaces.

The difficulty here is knowing when to use which colorspace. Who would take a 12 ouncer when they can have a whole keg right? You would think, but the problem is that not all devices can actually display the larger colorspace  which can cause even more problems when it comes to viewing the images, add to that the lack of color management in most applications (like web browsers) and you will often get dull or washed out colors when viewing the images.

Wait a second, huh? If you use a colorspace that allows MORE colors, than why would the images look WORSE when viewing them? The answer that since almost no devices can actually display Adobe RGB, you wind up with an intepretation of the image causing it to look dull.

Effects of Color Space

Does all of this really make a difference? Let’s take a look at some images that were shot in RAW (thus no colorspace recorded on capture) and then saved as both Adobe RGB and sRGB using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

Adobe RGB

sRGB

Adobe RGB

sRGB

Adobe RGB

sRGB

Adobe RGB

sRGB

In all of these cases, the images saved as sRGB should appear more vibrant in Internet Explorer and Firefox since they are not color managed applications. Apple’s Safari browser is supposed to properly display Adobe RGB files and Firefox is supposed to have color management in upcoming versions. However, until everyone is using a browser you should avoid Adobe RGB in order to provide the best images to the widest audience.

What about ProPhoto?

ProPhoto offers the widest gamut of the available common color spaces so should have a place somewhere right? Well yes it does. The best use of the ProPhoto is to use it within your workflow to preserve the largest amount of color in your images and then only do a final conversion to sRGB when saving your images as jpegs.  This is quite easy with Photoshop and Camera Raw while Lightroom uses ProPhoto RGB internally (Geek Note: Actually, Lightroom uses Melissa RGB which uses ProPhoto RGB chromatisity values working in linear gamma, named after Melissa Gaul, one of the Lightroom engineers).

Should you shoot in Adobe RGB or sRGB?

This is another tough question that different people will answer differently. The simple answer is niether. Shoot in RAW and convert to the colorspace you want during your workflow process. If you want to shoot in JPEG then you have to make the choice. The best thing to do is actually experiment with your equipment and software to determine what gives you the best results. Some people think you should shoot in Adobe RGB and then convert to sRGB if the file is for the internet, while others think you should shoot in sRGB so no conversion or translation is applied, thus you should get more accurate color representation.

In the end, you have to make up you own mind as to what works best for you, but you do need to be aware of the differences and some of the issues you can run into based on your choice.

Author: Kerry Garrison

References used in this article

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/sRGB-AdobeRGB1998.htm
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/adobe-rgb.htm
http://www.steves-digicams.com/techcorner/October_2006.html
http://www.smugmug.com/help/srgb-versus-adobe-rgb-1998

Canon’s new EOS Rebel T1i is packed with features, both refined and new. In addition to its admirable performance with an all-new 15.1 Megapixel Canon CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 Image Processor, a 3.0-inch Clear View LCD with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coating, and compatibility with the EOS System of lenses and Speedlites, the EOS Rebel T1i adds remarkable Full HD video capture at resolutions up to 1920 x 1080. An HDMI port allows for quick connections to high definition TVs and monitors for easy viewing of your stills and video. The entire operation is simple and easy even if you are a beginner. You’ll have uncompromised EOS Digital performance with power and flexibility right in the palm of your hand.

• New 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor for faster processing of fine detail and natural color reproduction, 14-bit A/D conversion for smooth color tones and gradations.
• Full HD video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution with HDMI output for HD viewing of stills and video.
• Live View Function for stills (Quick, Live and Face Detection AF modes) and video.
• 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) monitor with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings for improved viewing and smudge protection.
• Auto Lighting Optimizer for superior highlight-shadow control.
• Wide range ISO setting 100-3200 (ISO expansion: 6400, 12800).
• Creative Auto goes a step beyond auto allowing control over frequently-changed settings.
• Compatible with over 60 Canon EF/EF-S lenses and most EOS System accessories.

Suggested Retail Price: $899.99

Website: http://www.usa.canon.com

Las Vegas, NV (March 2, 2009) DigitalFocus 2009 – ExposureManager (www.exposuremanager.com), a customizable full-service online sales resource for photographers, announces a new Premium Subscription service created to help increase print and merchandise sales for photographers. ExposureManager’s behind-the-scenes marketing support provides a convenient e-commerce solution for busy photographers through every step from order placement to print production and shipping of the final product.

“Traditionally, photographers interested in selling their work online were required to have a separate website in addition to their online gallery service. Now they can use ExposureManager for their entire Web presence. This will let photographers spend their time more profitably behind the camera,†said Donovan Janus, CEO of ExposureManager. “Our new premium subscription allows our users to have an individually branded homepage, a portfolio page, pricing page and more as well as advanced e-mail marketing tools.â€

With ExposureManager’s new premium subscription, photographers now have the tools they need to convert potential customers into actual customers. Starting in March, photographers will be able to:

• see the favorites and shopping cart contents of their customers

• easily send e-mail blasts to customers based on a variety of filters

• schedule automated e-mail reminders for customers who selected favorites or cart contents but who have not purchased yet

• send out automated thank you e-mails after orders have been shipped and received

• With any e-mail that gets sent out, photographers can provide a unique coupon code to further encourage their customers to return for additional purchases

  The monthly price to subscribe to ExposureManager’s premium package is $24.99 and the yearly price is $249.99. And if current subscribers upgrade to the yearly account in January, they will receive $150 worth of free print processing.

About ExposureManager

Headquartered in Torrance, California, ExposureManager was established in 2004 by Donovan Janus and Rhesa Rozendaal. ExposureManager is a full-service online sales resource that makes it easy for photographers to sell their images via their online galleries/storefronts and then fulfill those orders with their in-house processing lab. ExposureManager deducts a nominal commission as its fee from the retail price of each sale. That commission covers credit card processing fees. ExposureManager then sends a check to the account holder at the beginning of each month. For more information visit www.exposuremanager.com .

Want to make your shooting easier so you do less cropping in post production? CropLines has the answer with engraved focus screens for 8×10, Rue of thirds, school portrait, or other designs so that you can nail your image in-camera.

Many photographers use or are considering flash brackets so that you can keep your accessory flash above your camera regardless of whether or not you have your camera in its vertical or horizontal position. The Reporter Flash Ring is one of the simplest flash brackets I have ever seen Instead of a series of hinges and brackets, the Reporter Flash Ring has a rong around the lens that doesn’t move and the flash slides around on the ring on a set of rollers. The design is simple and effective.

While not everyone wants their own photobooth, if you are looking to make you own, check out the new photobooth software from TOFURIOS. Their photobooth software is the best I have seen so far.

Stay tuned, more to come!

Watsonville, CA (PRWEB) January 26, 2009 — ExpoImaging Inc. (www.ExpoImaging.net), developer and marketer of innovative camera accessories, including the Ray Flash Ring Light Adapter, ExpoDisc Digital White Balance Filter and the ExpoAperture2 Depth-of-Field Guide, today announced that it is now the exclusive U.S. distributor of Honl Photo Professional Products.

Developed by veteran photojournalist David Honl, The Honl Photo Speed System is a collection of lightweight, durable and affordable light modifiers for shoe-mount flashes including an assortment of grids, snoots, reflectors, gobos and gels. With retail prices ranging from $9.95 to $29.95, these practical tools were designed to universally fit all shoe-mount flashes without the use of annoying adhesives. As photographers increasingly take advantage of the power and flexibility of modern portable shoe-mount flashes, the Honl Photo Speed System allows them to affordably bring studio-style lighting effects into the field.

“With more than two decades of professional experience, David Honl’s work has been published worldwide,” said Erik Sowder, president of ExpoImaging. “David developed and field tested the Speed System while traveling on assignment under very challenging conditions. We firmly believe that there are no similar products available that are more practical or easy-to-use. And we are pleased that David recognized our sales and marketing success and chose ExpoImaging to be his exclusive U.S. distributor. We look forward to representing these innovative and unique lighting products.”

The Honl Photo Speed System consists of:
· The Honl Speed Strap: a simple, non-slip velcro strap that wraps around the flash head and attaches and removes in seconds. The Speed Strap avoids rubber bands, tape and sticky residue, and universally fits any shoe-mount flash. The Speed Strap provides a large wraparound surface area to quickly attach Speed Grids, Speed Gobos/Bounce Cards, Speed Snoots or Honl Gels. The Honl Speed Strap retails for $9.95.

· Honl Photo Speed Grids (patent pending): weighting just 3 oz and available in 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch grid, the honeycomb-like cells narrow the beam of light from a portable flash unit, producing a small circle of light on a subject. Perfect for dramatic lighting effects, Speed Grids fit any shoe-mount and most handle-mount portable strobes and attach quickly and easily to a Speed Strap. Honl Photo Speed Grids retail for $29.95.

· The Honl Photo Speed Gobo/Bounce Card: a versatile gobo made of black ballistic nylon on one side and white polymer on the other. The black side can be used to keep light from flaring into a lens when using a flash as a background or hair light. The white side can be used as a bounce card. Utilizing two gobos, photographers can create a barn door setup. The Honl Speed Gobo/Bounce Card attaches quickly with a Speed Strap. The Honl Photo Speed Gobo/Bounce Card retails for $14.95.

· The Honl Photo Speed Snoot/Reflector (patent pending): available as a 5-inch “Shorty” or 8-inch “Regular”, this snoot is constructed of black, ballistic nylon with a gray interior that produces a soft falloff. The snoot can be shaped to concentrate the light from a shoe-mount flash for dramatic cinematic lighting or opened-up to use as a flash bouncer/reflector. Ideal in a variety of settings, from basic portraits to dramatic background lighting, the Speed Snoot/Reflector attaches and removes in seconds using a Speed Strap. The Honl Photo Speed Snoot/Reflector retails for $29.95.

· The Honl Photo Gel Kit: colors strobes to correct for tungsten, fluorescent or daylight lighting environments or adds artistic color effects to images. These superior quality gels are pre-cut and have attached strips of velcro to secure quickly to a Speed Strap, and can be used in conjunction with Honl Snoots, Gobos and Grids. The usable gel area is 2.5 inches by 4 inches (approx. 64mm by 102mm) and can be trimmed to fit individual strobes. The Honl Photo Gel Kit retails for $29.95.

“We feel fortunate for the opportunity to partner with ExpoImaging,” said David Honl. “We chose to work with ExpoImaging because they’re good at marketing and they have a great reputation in the industry. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial business relationship.”

The addition of the Honl Photo line further solidifies ExpoImaging’s position as a leading supplier of unique and exciting products that meet the needs of photographers at all levels.

Honl Photo Professional Speed System Products are now available at photo dealers nationwide and online by visiting www.ExpoImaging.net.

About ExpoImaging, Inc.

ExpoImaging Inc. markets and develops innovative camera accessories and is the pioneer in digital white balance filters. Ray Flash: The Ring Light Adapter, Honl Photo Speed System, ExpoDisc Digital White Balance Filters, and the ExpoAperture2 Depth-of-Field Guide are available at select photography dealers worldwide, or online at www.ExpoImaging.net.

###
David Griffin
Matter Communications — Providence
401-351-9504 (direct)
508-648-1176 (mobile)
dgriffinmatter (AIM)
david@matternow.com
www.matternow.com

1. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera’s LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient.
2. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes an Err 06 Self Cleaning Sensor malfunction to appear on the camera’s LCD monitor and LCD data panel, even when the Self Cleaning Sensor Unit is operating normally. This message may appear depending on the timing of when the camera is switch to the ON position.
3. Fixes a malfunction that prevents correct colors from being printed when direct printing. RAW images captured using the camera’s custom Picture Styles (Emerald, etc.), which have been downloaded from Canon’s Web site and registered under User Def. 2 or User Def. 3.
4. Modifies the level of subject brightness that causes the AF-assist beam to fire when using an external Speedlite.
5. Enables an external flash connected to the camera’s synchro terminal to fire even when the camera’s built-in flash is popped up.

Source: http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/eos40d/eos40d-firmware-e.html

What is a RAW image?

By RAW, I mean an image that is shot with your camera image quality set to RAW mode which stores the actual sensor data for the scene that was shot. This is different than a JPEG image that is a rendered image of the RAW data that has different effects applied to it by the camera such as sharpening, saturation, and contrast. A good quality JPEG image can look incredibly good and can be printed at large sizes and will look great. A RAW image will need some form of software program to convert the RAW data to something usable. The most popular programs for this today are Lightroom, Photoshop, Aperture, Capture One (Nikon), and Digital Photo Professional (Canon).

Is there a technical difference?

Anyone that tries to tell you there is no difference in image quality between a RAW image and a JPEG is simply mistaken or ill-informed. From a purely technical perspective, a RAW image will always give you a better image. A RAW image simply has more data, for each pixel there is at least twice as much data on older cameras like my 30D and as much as eight times as much data with newer cameras that have more bit depth. This means that a RAW image has the ability to have a greater tonal range than a JPEG. A RAW image will also then have greater latitude than a JPEG image, giving you the ability to process the image to recover shadows and highlights more than you can if you started with the JPEG. Since white balance settings are applied when an image is saved as a JPEG, shooting in RAW will allow you to adjust the white balance during post processing without sacrificing any image data.

This is not an opinion, it is a pure technical fact. So let’s accept that this is true and that RAW has a distinct technical advantage over a JPEG saved from the camera. I don’t think we need to debate that RAW has an inherent technical advantage and I think some people get caught up in this. I think the real issue is whether or not you need the advantages of RAW versus the negative reasons for using RAW that we will look at later.

Getting down with the downside of RAW

The big debate over RAW vs JPEG is whether or not the pros outweigh the cons so let’s look at the cons and see what the downside of using RAW images is:

• Increased file size
  This is probably the biggest issue there is. RAW images are considerably larger files than their corresponding JPEG images. With my 30D, a RAW file will typically be around 5mb while a fine quality JPEG will be around 1.5mb. As the megapixel count goes up, the files get downright huge with RAW images from a new Canon 5D MkII being around 22mb each. If you are shooting lots of images, at a wedding for example, then the larger size of RAW files will be a significant hit. Since the files are larger, they will require more horsepower from your computer to process. For the same number of images, you will need more flash card storage.
• Specialized software needed to process
  If you can call Photoshop, Lightroom, or Aperture specialized software, then yes, you will need something like this or use the software that came with your camera. If you use something other than these programs then you may have issues dealing with RAW files. For a brand new camera, you may have to wait for updated versions of these programs before they can recognize your files. This also means that if your camera is discontinued in the future, there is no guarantee that your camera’s format will always be supported (this is a good reason to use DNG files, but that’s for another article).
• RAW workflow is different than a JPEG workflow
  Is it? If you are already using Aperture, Lightroom, or Adobe Bridge for processing JPEG’s, then there is little to no change in your workflow. Two years ago, before tools like Lightroom and Aperture, working with RAW images was such a pain that RAW was said to mean “really awful workflow”. Since many of us are using Lightroom and Aperture now, there is little to no changes at all for working with RAW files other than they take longer per image to download off a CF card.
• RAW images in third party tools don’t look as good as the JPEGs
  This has been a real serious problem for a while as only the camera manufacturers really have the secret sauce for decoding their RAW images properly. Adobe has pretty much solved this issue with Lightroom 2.2 and the inclusion of camera profiles that setup the RAW processor to match the settings used to create the JPEG images in your camera.

Again, we are looking at facts here and not opinions, but it is important to understand that there is a downside to using RAW files even if I personally feel that the negatives are typically blown a bit out of proportion with the exception of the increased file size which can be a really significant issue for heavy shooters.

The non-destructive workflow

One of the biggest advantages of shooting RAW is that it inherently provides you today with a non-destructive workflow. What it means is that there is no image degradation between saves and any given step in the editing process can be removed. If we are using any of the three most popular tools today (Photoshop, Aperture, or Lightroom) then when we edit a JPEG, and make our changes, those changes are permenant, and because we just re-saved our image as a JPEG some compression has occured, every time we do this we lose some image quality. Sure you can make multiple copies along the way so you can go back to previous versions, but that negates the whole point of JPEG’s saving disk space. I personally work in Lightroom and I can take my RAW images and apply as many edits to them as I want but these changes are simply stored as a set of instructions to Lightroom, thus the original image is never modified. This also allows me to make virtual copies of an image so I can have a color, B&W, Sepia, or dozens of different versions of an image and take up only a trivial amount of disk space since it is only storing the steps to make the changes and isnt storing a new copy of the image itself and again, no matter what I do, there is no image quality lost at all during the post-production process.

Is anyone still using JPEG these days?

If nobody was shooting JPEG anymore than I wouldn’t have so many questions about it but are any real professionals shooting JPEG and the answer is yes.

Carlos Baez is a wedding photographer from Florida, this is someone who makes his living delivering top quality images to high paying clients and yet Carlos shoots JPEG because he can consistently deliver great images without the extra overhead of RAW files. Carlos is an expert at lighting and understanding exposure so he doesn’t rely on post processing to get his images right.

Ken Rockwell is a huge advocate for shooting in JPEG mostly because a lot of people use it as an excuse to not get the image right in camera. Although he has an article about this (http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/raw.htm). I have posted a link to his article because he does make a few valid points but I think he does go over the top a little on some of the negatives while I do agree that many people use RAW without either knowing why or using it to correct their mistakes from not knowing how to use their camera properly.

Pros against JPEG

It’s only fair that I point out a few pros who have made the switch to RAW and some of their reasons for doing so.

Scarlett Lillian from Florida has been shooting RAW since she started shooting weddings but then tried going to JPEF to save disk and CF card space. After really giving it a try, she finally switched back to RAW because she felt she just wasn’t getting the color and skin tones from the JPEG files that she was when she was using RAW. She uses Photoshop with Bridge as her workflow tool.

David Ziser is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in wedding photography and recent convert to the RAW side. David’s big switch came when he started using Lightroom for his workflow and then discovered that the images he was getting with Lightroom and RAW files simply gave him a better image than starting with JPEG. David details his experience in a post on his site, although he also make a case for use JPEG for less critical shots that will never be printed at larger than 5×7. Anything destined for the album or enlargements he suggests shooting in RAW and the filler shots can safely be shot in JPEG to conserve space.

Rick Miller who is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Adobe does a segment when he is demoing Lightroom where he shows a picture of his girlfriends dog that is a white curly haired dog. Rick took a picture of the dog that when the rest of the scene is properly exposed, the dog is overexposed. Saved as a JPEG, the details in the dogs fur are completely lost and unrecoverable. The same image shot in RAW is able to use tools like recovery and exposure control to regain all of the detail in the dog’s fur. This demonstrates how even a shot that is technically correct for the rest of the scene may still suffer from being shot in JPEG.

RAW or JPEG — Which is for you?

Since I am far more likely to forget to change my camera from JPEG back to RAW when I need to, I simply leave it on RAW and take the disk space penalty. With a large wedding costing me around 10-12gb of space, it isn’t that big of an issue. If I upgrade this year to a 50D or 5D MkII and I move to having 30-40gb of space per wedding, I may have to rethink this strategy. What I like about shooting RAW for weddings is that in the thick of things, if you do make a small error in exposure or white balance, it is far easier to correct it afterwards. I don’t use this as a crunch, but it is a safety net.

To decide If you should stick with JPEG all you need to do is to take a close look at your images and compare them with what you can get from a product like Lightroom and then decide if your images are good enough or if any improvements that you get from using the RAW image are noticeable and worthwhile.

What do some other photographers say?

Mark Teskey “RAW only. Shooting JPEG is like working without backing up files or a second body/flash. There’s no safety net with JPEG.”

JE Images “RAW all the way. if I need to tweak anything then I have full access to all the info..”

Denise Clay “[I shoot] RAW – I used the best film I could that matched the job in film days, why not do the same now with the best digital file?”

MrsBoesch “I shoot JPG. It takes up less space on my hard drive, and I am of the opinion that you should try to “get it right” the 1st time”

So what are you to make of this?

There is certainly a case to be made that higher quality final images can be made from using RAW files and that shooting in RAW provides a technical safety net (even if you dont need it because you are wicked good). The main issues of working with RAW for me are the non-destructive workflow and the ability to have multiple virtual copies of an image without eating up more disk space. I do believe that almost all of the main complaints about RAW have been more than satisfied with current software leaving the issue of disk space and storage being the only real issue, albeit a signifigant issue for some people.

In the end, the only thing that matters is that you are happy with the images that you are delivering and if you are shooting for clients, that they are happy with the images you are delivering. If you are shooting in JPEG and are happy with your images and you see no compelling reason to switch, then don’t. If someone like Carlos Baez can shoot a wedding in JPEG and he makes a LOT more per wedding than I do, I am not going to tell him he is wrong for shooting in JPEG. On the flip side, if you are shooting in RAW and the disk space is killing you and you are good enough that your images require basically no tweaks for color, white balance, exposure, fill light, highlight recovery, or saturation, then you may be a good candidate for shooting in JPEG. It all comes down to a personal choice. There is no right or wrong answer to this debate, its just a question of what works for you in order for you to deliver the best quality images to your clients.

Author: Kerry Garrison

Have you ever imported some RAW files and when you first open the image in Lightroom the image is vibrant and looks great and then all of a sudden the image switches to something that is less sharp and the colors are all bland? If you have seen this phenomenon, what you are seeing initially is the embedded JPEG image being displayed first and then the on-screen image changes to the RAW sensor data image. The reason why there is a difference is that the JPEG images have had your camera settings applied to them before being saved. With Canon camera, this is usually Standard, Faithful, Landscape , Neutral, and Portrait. Other camera brands have similar types of basic settings. Many people complained that the JPEG image was often very nice and it took a lot of work to get your RAW images to look as good as the JPEG image.

To solve this, Lightroom needed to have a way to understand what the cameras where doing to the images. Initially, you could use the camera calibration controls to dial in some default settings, but this was really inaccurate and rather a pain to use. Shortly after Lightroom 2.0 came out, Adobe came out with the first beta versions of the camera profiles. These profiles were actually based on the characteristics of the different cameras and can be used to very quickly get your image looking better right from the beginning.

Sometimes the effect is more subtle

For some people who still shoot JPEG instead of RAW, one of the complaints about RAW is that it takes longer to process RAW images to get them look good. Lightroom 2.2 with camera profiles solves this problem quite nicely. You can easily create a camera profile preset (or download ours here) and use them as an import preset so that it is applied to every image as you are importing them. Applying the Standard profile during import will get the vast majority of your images looking almost identical to what you would get from saving the image as a JPEG.

Beta Profiles

If you have installed the beta profiles, you can go ahead and remove them using the following instructions specific to your operating system.

Go to the following folder (based on your operation system) and delete anything with the word “Beta” in it’s title. Then restart Lightroom and all should be good in the world again.

Mac: /Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/CameraProfiles
(note: the Library folder for Macintosh HD, not your user account)

Windows 2000 / XP: C:Documents and SettingsAll UsersApplication DataAdobeCameraRawCameraProfiles

Windows Vista: C:ProgramDataAdobeCameraRawCameraProfiles

Video Demo

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2.0 Camera Calibration from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

Author: Kerry Garrison

With Extreme 24.5-Megapixel Resolution, Processed Image Files Exceeding 138 MB, Five Frame-per-Second Burst Speed and Nikon Core Technologies, the D3X Ushers in a New Level of Image Quality

MELVILLE, N.Y. (Nov. 30, 2008) - Nikon Inc. today announced the D3X, an FX-format digital SLR featuring extreme 24.5-megapixel resolution and superb low-noise capabilities, which provides professional photographers with commercial-quality image performance in a familiar and extraordinarily versatile D-SLR form factor. In conjunction with the groundbreaking Nikon FX-format D3, the D3X tops off a collection of flagship level, rugged, professional caliber digital single lens reflex cameras engineered to excel in all types of professional photographic disciplines from photojournalism and sideline sports, to commercial in-studio applications.

The foundation of the enhanced performance of the D3X is its FX-format, 24.5-megapixel (6048 x 4032) CMOS sensor providing commercial, high fashion, fine art and landscape photographers with the extreme resolution, dynamic range, color depth, detail and sharpness that clients demand. Whether creating catalogs, magazine covers, billboards or gallery prints, the large 5.49-micron pixel size and high signal to noise ratio produces vibrant images with breathtaking image fidelity while reducing lost highlights and shadows, and ensuring smoother tone reproduction with minimized noise. With full resolution shooting speeds of up to five frames-per-second (fps), and 14-bit files, that when processed are approximately 138 MB, the D3X offers today’s photographic artists an extreme level of performance and versatility ready for demanding assignments in the studio or on location.

“In 2007, the 12.1-megapixel FX-format D3 delivered groundbreaking digital SLR image quality, coupled with incomparable high ISO, low noise performance and high-speed handling. In doing so, the D3 broke photographic barriers, enabling photographers to work in ways never before possible,†said Edward Fasano, general manager for Marketing, SLR Systems Products at Nikon Inc. “Now, the new 24.5-megapixel FX-format D3X D-SLR provides the extreme resolution and high dynamic range capabilities needed to meet the extraordinary needs of photographic disciplines such as high fashion, commercial advertising and fine art. The D3X delivers this remarkable capability while fitting seamlessly within the Nikon system, taking full advantage of Nikon’s world-renowned collection of NIKKOR lenses and Speedlights.â€

Image Quality Takes Center Stage
To re-emphasize the importance of image quality above all else, the D3X delivers an incredible level of digital SLR performance to provide photographers with extremely high resolution, exceptional dynamic range, phenomenal total gradation and outstanding color reproduction. Image files can be recorded as TIFF, JPEG or NEF (RAW) formats in either 12- or 14-bit compressed or uncompressed formats, and recorded to UDMA compatible CompactFlashâ„¢ cards for optimum speed. Photographers can save image files directly to the dual card slots as overflow, backup, or as separate file formats to different cards. Building on the D3X’s flexibility, users have the creative option to shoot in the 5:4 crop mode with 20.4-megapixel resolution, the ideal format for creating 8 x 10-inch portraits. While using DX-format lenses, faster continuous shooting of up to seven frames per second can be achieved at a resolution of 10.5 megapixels.

The exceptionally low noise of the D3X is essential to any professional commercial application, and it provides photographers with an ISO range of 100 to 1600, expandable to 50 (Lo-1) and 6400 (Hi-2). The ultra smooth tones and lack of grain at ISO 1600 as well as at low sensitivity settings result in smooth, natural skin tones and exacting detail that, before the D3X, required larger and far costlier studio-bound camera systems.

Advanced Technologies, Meticulously Executed
In a commercial setting or on location, imaging professionals need high performance in both speed and processing. The Nikon D3X can shoot at up to five fps at full resolution or up to seven fps in DX crop mode, allowing photographers to catch the split-second difference in a model’s expression or capture all of the action in a sequence. Just like the D3, the D3X achieves a start-up time of a mere 0.12 seconds and a shutter release time lag of 0.04 seconds.

The D3X’s speed, as well as high levels of performance, leverages Nikon core technologies including a newly enhanced EXPEED™ Image Processing System, specially designed for the D3X to provide superior image quality, faster processing speeds and lower power consumption. This advanced system is able to achieve extremely precise color reproduction for a broad spectrum of hues, in addition to vivid saturation and smooth gradation. What’s more, Nikon’s advanced noise processing function is engineered to minimize noise at all sensitivities and operate seamlessly without interfering with other image color parameters.

The D3X also features Nikon’s exclusive Scene Recognition System, which continuously analyzes information from the 1,005-pixel RGB light sensor, to further refine auto exposure, auto white balance and autofocus calculations. This results in flattering portraits and awe-inspiring landscapes that portray accurate color and fine details. Nikon’s exclusive 3D Color Matrix Metering II helps ensure accurate exposures, even in the most challenging lighting conditions. Instantly evaluating each scene before capture, input data from the system’s sensor is automatically referenced against an internal database of more than 30,000 images derived from actual photographs to calculate correct exposure values. Active D-Lighting, used in combination with 3D Matrix Metering II, helps to determines proper exposure, and creates realistic contrast while compensating for lost shadows and highlights. Prior to shooting, users can choose from Extra High, High, Normal, Low or Off settings, as well as an Auto mode.

Additionally, the D3X features Nikon’s exclusive Multi-CAM 3500FX focus module, with 51 AF points, 15 cross type sensors and 36 horizontal sensors that easily track and lock onto moving subjects, delivering the same fast and accurate AF performance that helped make the D3 immediately successful. Users can select any of the AF points, making it easy to consistently attain accurate focus right on a subject’s eyes, frame after frame. Additionally, three AF-area modes – Single point, Dynamic-area AF and Auto-area AF – are available to maximize the use of the 51 focus points by selecting the most suitable one to match subject conditions. AF is also available in one of two Live View modes optimized for the studio, including a phase detection handheld mode and a tripod mode. This feature allows the user to zoom in up to 27x on the LCD screen to ensure critical focus. While in Live View, the graphic indication of a virtual horizon is also available, making it easier than ever to confirm camera orientation.

To further ensure each photographer’s ability to balance their personal style, Nikon’s Picture Control System enables users to adjust their images to pre-set parameters such as Standard, Neutral, Vivid and Monochrome that apply tweaks to image sharpening, tone compensation, brightness, overall tone and saturation. Photographers have creative control over these image parameters with the use of up to nine available customizable presets.

Synchronizing Both Form and Function
Engineered for real-world functionality, the D3X retains a rugged shell with moisture, dust and shock resistance that has become a hallmark of flagship Nikon D-SLRs, while preserving the usability and ergonomics that allow the camera to remain an extension of the photographer’s vision. Attention to detail goes so far as to include a self-diagnostic shutter system that is tested to exceed 300,000 cycles for maximum durability and longevity. The camera’s body also maintains the resilient magnesium alloy construction and form factor of the D3, promoting consistent Nikon system synergy.

A bright and accurate viewfinder offers 100 percent coverage with 0.7x magnification. The body also houses Nikon’s acclaimed 3.0-inch super density LCD screen, now relied upon by so many photographers. The high-resolution 920,000-dot screen is viewable at wide angles up to 170 degrees, and will allow photographers to quickly zoom in to confirm critical focus. Users can also output the video signal to an external display via HDMI to allow client viewing. Thanks to incredibly efficient internal circuitry, the D3X can capture up to 4400* shots per single charge of the camera’s Lithium ion battery.

System Strength Withstands the Test of Time
The D3X is fully compatible with Nikon’s Creative Lighting System (CLS) to give photographers a mobile lighting solution that is easy to manage. To further enhance mobility, the D3X is compatible with Nikon’s GP-1 GPS receiver to gather information such as latitude, longitude, altitude and date of shooting. Photographers can easily shoot tethered via USB, or use the WT-4a wireless transmitter to send images wirelessly when speed and mobility are essential. D3X users will also enjoy the system strength of more than 50 genuine NIKKOR lenses that provide outstanding sharpness and high resolution across a broad range of focal lengths.

Price and Availability
The Nikon D3X will be available at Nikon Authorized Professional Dealers starting December 2008, and will be available for an estimated selling price of $7999.95.**

* Based on CIPA Standards
** Estimated selling price listed is only an estimate. Actual prices are set by dealers and are subject to change at any time.

Real and fake SanDisk Ultra II CF cards

The first fake CF card I came across was pretty obvious, visually. I received it with a used camera I bought, so I really couldn’t complain. It was basically free and I was thrilled at the time (2006) to have a 2GB card thrown in with a camera. But it was the performance of the cart that tipped me off to the real problem. The card was significantly slower in the writes than my other SanDisk Ultra II cards; about half the write speed or worse. Here is a look at the fake card next to the real card (right):

Back of 2GB SanDisk Elite CF cards

It is pretty obvious here which is the fake card. Come on, counterfeiters, can’t you do a better fake label than that? As I read up more, it seems that the early cards were easier to detect. Not only were the front stickers obvious, but the rear stickers were missing a lot of telling information. There were no serial numbers on the fake card. This was the first give-away. There was really not much of anything specifically identifying the card on the back label of the fake card. Notice that the real card on the left had the SDCFH identifier, as well as the patent numbers. This would be easy enough to fake too, if they weren’t so lazy. (right):

Close-up of real & fake SanDisk Ultra II CF cards

When you zoom in close (these images were made on a cheapo flatbed scanner at 1200DPI), you can also see the difference in the grain of the plastic. The fake card has a rougher texture and surface on it than the real SanDisk card. On closer inspection, you can see that the grain in the printing is finer on the real SanDisk card also. But these differences alone are harder to distinguish with the naked eye. If the labels were better duplicated overall, you might not even notice such small details as those. You can click to enlarge the photos to the right and get a better, more detailed blow-up of these differences. (right):

Sides of SanDisk Ultra CF cards

But here is one place that they did get clever… the serial numbering. Notice how close the printing is on both of the cards? Without contacting SanDisk, there is no way to tell which one is real and which one is a fake. (right):

So, recently I decided that it was time to buy me a new, 8GB SanDisk Ultra IV compact Flash card as my Canon 1DS Mark III burns through a lot of space at around 25MB per image. 2GB and 4GB cards were just not enough for events. I decided again to test my luck with a new SanDisk Ultra Card, and thought I would try to save a few bucks on ebay. What the heck… if the owner says it comes new in the box, that’s a pretty good sign, right? And sellers in Hong Kong can have real product once in a while too, right? Especially if it is in the new, retail box? And since it is not from the U.S., it could be cheaper, right? Like half price?

O.K., I have to say that right off the bat the first signs of trouble are right here. Half price, easily duplicated product from Hong Kong is a sure sign of fake product on ebay these days. However, for $29.97 shipped, it was worth it to see how good they really are.

Fake SanDisk Extreme package

Here is what I received, in a padded envelope from Hong Kong, partially crushed (right). Surprisingly, the box looks very very real. The gold foils are vibrant and shiny, the texture of the box is identical. And inside the box was the card in a plastic holder, a SanDisk keychain card holder and an SanDIsk RescuePRO 4.0″ installation CD. Pretty much every detail of the real box and contents was duplicated here with extreme care, and with only minor differences. At first glance, I was fairly convinced that this was actually real, or was it just a really damn good knock-off. After closer inspection, it seems that the later was the case. How could someone afford to go to all of this trouble?  Was there really that much profit in selling a $70 card for $30 on eBay with all of these production costs?

Real and fake SanDisk Extreme CF boxes

Looking at the box itself side by side with the real thing, it is hard to see many differences. The boxes look identical from the front, outside of the print color being a little off at the bottom (which is much more apparent in these photos and to the eye). Producing boxes like this with the gold embossing is not cheap process. Either these are the real thing, or someone is mass producing these to keep the costs down. I fear at this point that the compact flash counterfeiting business is not a small one. Someone is investing a lot of money into fake product and fake packaging here.

Back of SanDisk boxes

The back of the box is a bit different too. That would be the next clue on first, unopened inspection of the box. The real SanDisk IV box is the one on the left with a lot more text on it.  I only have 4 SanDisk Extreme IV boxes in my office (real ones).  The boxes for my SanDisk Extreme III cards are in storage, so I cannot see how much the back of the boxes changed from the III series to the IV series, but I assume that all boxes of series IV cards are pretty much the same.  This makes these changes on the back of the card more suspicious.

Real SanDisk Exreme Box

Fake SanDisk Extreme box

Now let’s look at a real box and content next to the fake box and content. They both have the same sleeve and slide-out insert format. They both have the same inside plastic housing and clear cover. They both have manuals, a CF hard plastic case and mini CD with software on them. They even both have a keychain CF card holder, although the real one has red text on it and the fake one white text.  The only piece missing from the fake packaging is a small advertising insert.

Real and fake SanDisk manuals

The manuals/documentation are slightly different.  The fake manual (on the right) is printed on cheaper paper with a much yellower cast to it.  The print quality is slightly lower than the original, real documentation pamphlet.  Interestingly, my real documentation is in Spanish, even though it was bought right here in the U.S. from an authorized SanDisk dealer (samys.com),   Notice the difference in phone numbers? I tried calling the number on the fake document and it rings SanDisk.  The phone number on the real pamphlet… wrong number/disconnected.  Now that’s funny.

Bottom of SanDisk boxes

On closer look at the bottom of the boxes you can see a numeric difference with the 8.0GB box. The real 2.0GB box has a part number of SDCFX4-2048-901. I assume that the 2048 is for 2,048MB, or 2GB. The 8.0GB fake box has a part number of SDCFX4-4096-904. Would that not be the part number of a 4,096MB card, or a 4GB? In an internet search for SDCFX4-4096, it seems it is the part number for the SanDisk Ultra IV 4.0GB compact flash card. There is our first clue.

8GB Fake SanDisk Ultra IV CF card

But, once we take out the CF card and begin to examine it, the details start to appear. The first thing I noticed was that it looked very close in all aspects to a real card. “Hmmm… maybe this is a real SanDisk Extreme IV.†Even the bottom edge of the card has a full serial number and ‘Made in China’ perfectly stenciled onto the case.

In further examination, I started to notice that the label was on crooked. But hey, that could be an issue in assembly that could randomly happen, right? Then, as the light caught it right, I also noticed two bubbles in the front label sticker. “Hmmm… this is getting more suspicious. SanDisk usually doesn’t let these kind of flaws through. This must be a hand-applied label.†Also notice that the corners of the label are square and not slightly rounded. This is another sign of a shortcut in the die cutting process of the fake label. On even further examination, you can see that the outer plastic edged of the card is different – different plastic to metal widths in the edges of the card.

8GB real vs fake SanDisk Extreme IV CF cards

The next thing I noticed is an issue which began to appear in several other articles, is that the holographic background to the lettering scans as a blue tint, and not gold like all of my other SanDisk Extreme cards. In this image (right), you will see that the fake card on the right has a blue tint to the lettering and the real card on the left appears more gold. Some of the elements are a little different size (like the E.S.P. logo), but overall it’s a pretty decent copy label sticker copy.

8GB real vs fake SanDisk Ultra IV CF cards

Next, lets look at the back of the cards. Again, the card on the left is the real card and the one on the right is the fake. Notice how it is a little dingy looking? That’s about the only difference on the back side. Even the corners of this dingy white label are rounded. It is hard to tell from the back side what makes this one fake, outside of the off-white paper used in making the label.  Again, a lot of work to make a fake card.  We are almost seeing efforts on the level of paper money counterfeiting here with all of the attention to detail in the print work.  Isn’t that another scary issue we have been reading about these past few years coming from China?

6 different CF cards

O.K., looks aside, its time to get down to the real meat of this.  How does the fake card perform in comparison to the real SanDisk Extreme IV cards?  To start, I do not have a real 8GB SanDisk Extreme IV card to test against, but I do have many 2.0GB Extreme IV cards that I bought from an authorized dealer.  This should be fine for our tests as the complete series of SanDisk Extreme IV cards are expected to perform similar to each other, within a small margin of error.  I also decided to throw in a few other generic and non-generic cards for comparison, and I included 2 separate SanDisk Extreme IV 2.0GB cards in the test to make sure that the real SanDisk IV cards perform equally in all aspects. You can see all of the cards (except for a 4.0GB PhotoFast Super card that looks identical to the 2.0GB Fotofast Super card) all in the image to the right.  The results are absolutely fascinating.

The test machine is a Mac Pro tower, 8 Core 3.0GHz Intel Xenon processors, 12GB RAM, Seagate 750GB SATA drive, Mac OS X v10.5.5 and a DELL 30″ monitor with 9in1 USB2 card reader built into it.  These specs are really irrelevant as every read and write was done with the same hardware and data.  That part is equal throughout the test.

The read/write copies were done with a folder containing ~1,000 jpg image files, 500k to 4.5MB each in size, 1.83GB (1,949,350,680 kbytes) total in size. 2 identical reads and writes were performed with this folder of images on each cards to insure consistency. All results were rounded to the nearest second. Margin of error is +/- 1.0 second.

Sandisk cards compared

This first chart is of read and write times for this folder of information to just the SanDisk cards, both real and fake. Notice how the read times are all pretty close, with the real SanDisk Extreme III and IV cards being almost identical, and how far off the 8.0GB fake card is from the others.  This is your first solid confirmation that you did not get what you paid for.  When you buy a card of this class and price, you are paying for speed, quality of build and the reputation of the company standing behind it.  This card is dropping the ball on all of those factors.  Below are the actual numbers from the tests.

All CF cards compared

Now, let’s throw some other cheapo cards into the mix.  The first is a Kingston Elite Pro 50X CF card (not necessarily a cheapo) and the other two are FastFoto Super CF cards, 2.0GB and 4.0GB.  These cards were bought 2 years ago off of an online discount house having a sale.  The interesting thing here is that these cards are really out of whack when it comes to write speeds, but their read speeds are good.  These were really cheap at the time I purchased them, and now you can see why.  However, the fake SanDisk 8.0GB cards are not terrible by comparison to the 2 year old generic CF cards. Below are the actual numbers from the tests.

SanDisk and fake CF cards

So, taking the data from the test and calculating MB/sec, we can see the relative performance each of these cards attains.  Let’s start with just the SanDisk cards and the fake SanDisk card.  Below are the actual numbers from the tests.

Transfer rate of all cards

Here is a comparison of all of the cards for transfer rate in MB/sec.  Below are the actual numbers from the tests.

A note to SanDisk:  Please forgive me for straying from authorized dealers just this one time.  The economy is rough, especially for those of us in photography.  The price was just too tempting.  I have purchased over 10 authentic cards from authorized SanDisk dealers in the past.  I promise not to stray again.  I offer this article to help others not stray either as a peace offering to you.

Maurice Naragon
Digital Creations
Website Development and Marketing
Professional Photography in Orange County, CA

Cloning and Stamping tool Live Preview with Photoshop CS4 from Kerry Garrison on Vimeo.

The Adjustments Panel

Working with adjustment layers has always been a serious tool for hardcore Photoshop geeks, now this has been made much simpler with a new adjustments panel. This can be used to easily adjust Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation, Vibrance, and more. New On-Image controls allow you to adjust colors in the image without the guesswork of trying to match a complex color. The panel features a wide range of modifiable presets for each type of control and more than 20 preconfigured, customizable starting points are included.

New to the masks is the concept of Density and Feathering to control how much of the mask is used. This is a huge improvement from before where deciding you wanted more or less effect would require constant redrawing of the mask.

Improved Dodge, Burn, and Sponge Tools

If you are a big fan of the dodge, burn, and sponge tools, one of the big issues in the past is that they could sometimes affect the color underneath in odd ways. The new versions of these tools work in a much more natural way and help you to make the adjustments you want while retaining tonal quality.

Improved Image Aligning and Panorama tools

CS3 has some really good photo merge tools and panorama tools, but CS4 takes these tools to all new levels. The improved algorithms improve blending, vignetting, and geometric distortion which results in much better final images. The blending tool can take multiple images of the same shot using different focal points and combine them into a single image with a greater depth of field.

Content Aware Scaling

Ok, this is some wicked cool sh** right here. What happens when you want to scale an image that has people in it? The people can get severly distorted ruining the new image. With content aware scaling, you can size an image and retain the original sizes of key elements like people. Using this you could change a horizontal image to a vertical image and the people or key objects in it will look the same while scaling the remaining parts of the image in a very natural and usually undetectable way.  When you see this in action, you will simply be amazed at what it can do.

Fluid Canvas Rotation

If you use a Wacom tablet or just need to view the world a little differently, you can now easily rotate the canvas around to make it easier to work on a it. Rotating the canvas does not affect the rotation of the actual image, this is simply a tool to make it easier for you to work on images by being able to look at it from different angles.

Smooth Pan/Zom and Flick effects

Some people may think that the new smooth pan/zoom and “flick” effects are just for show, but as you begin to use them you will see how much nicer it is to smoothly zoom in and out of an image and be able to toss the image around as if “flicking” it with your finger. The built-in physics engine makes this new way of dealing with images much more natural.

Bridge

I have always hated Bridge, I’m not afraid to admit it, it was slow, real slow, painfully slow to start up and slow to use. Even on my new quad core system with a nice video card, I still didn’t like Bridge. But get ready you fellow Bridge haters, Bridge is one sweet tool now. Not only is Bridge faster, but it has been improved in a number of areas. There are several new views such as Carousel view which makes working with large numbers of images signifigantly faster. Bridge now also has a PDF-based contact-sheet creator and preview along with web gallery tools. Bridge has certainly grown up and is more integrated into the majority of the CS4 tools besides just Photoshop.

Camera Raw 5

Take the Develop module tools from Lightroom 2.0 and put them all into Camera Raw and you now have Camera Raw 5. And I do mean virtually all of the tools like port-crop vignetting, the gradient filter tool, and the local adjustment brush tool. Unfortunately, Lightroom Develop presets are not available in Camera Raw.

Smarter Smart Objects

Smart Objects were introduced with CS4 and made a huge impact on how you dealt with new objects. With CS4, Smart Objects can now accept perspective transformations.

64 Bit Support (Windows 64 ONLY)

As a HUGE shocker to long time Macintosh users, the advantage this year goes to 64 bit Windows systems. Apple changed a bunch of things without telling Adobe and thus Adobe had to pull 64 bit support out of the Macintosh version. Are Mac users going to have to switch to Vista 64? Not really, only the heaviest of users is going to see much of a performance difference according to sources at Adobe.

Live Preview for Clone Stamp and Healing Brushes

As cool as the cloning tool and healing brushes are, the results have always been somewhat black magic, you just never really knew what you werew going to get. The new versions of these tools provide a live preview for easier and more precise cloning and healing results.

Availability and pricing
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended is now available in North America for an estimated street price of US$999. Adobe Photoshop CS4 will be available for an estimated street price of US$699. Both can be obtained directly from Adobe or through Adobe Authorized Resellers.

To order directly from Adobe, visit the Adobe Store at www.adobe.com or call
1-800-833-6687.

Licensed owners of Photoshop CS3 Extended, Photoshop CS2, or Photoshop CS can upgrade to Photoshop CS4 Extended for US$349.

Licensed owners of Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS2, or Photoshop CS can upgrade to Adobe Photoshop CS4 for US$199.
Licensed owners of Photoshop 5 or 6 can upgrade to Photoshop CS4 Extended for $899 or Photoshop CS4 for $599.
Licensed owners of Photoshop CS3 Extended, Photoshop CS3, Photoshop CS2, or Photoshop CS are also eligible for special upgrade pricing to certain editions of Adobe Creative Suite 4.

• 21.1 Megapixel Full-frame CMOS sensor, 14-bit A/D conversion (16,384 colors/each of 3 primary color), wide range ISO setting of 100-6400 (expandable L: 50, H1: 12800 and H2: 25600).
• Full HD Video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution for up to 4GB per clip with HDMI output for HD viewing of stills and video.
• Next generation DIGIC 4 Image Processor for faster processing of fine detail and color reproduction as well as reduced image noise.
• High performance with 3.9 fps continuous shooting, new shutter with a durability of 150,000 cycles and improved weather-resistant body.
• Live View Function for stills (Quick, Live and Face Detection AF modes) and video.
• 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) monitor with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings for improved viewing and smudge protection.
• Updated EOS Integrated Cleaning System specifically designed to work with a full-frame sensor.
• Compatible with over 60 Canon EF/EF-S lenses and most EOS System accessories.

The EOS 5D Mark II features a huge, full-frame sensor. A 21.1-megapixel CMOS sensor delivers images of up to 5616 x 3744 pixels. And since it is full-frame, all lenses will deliver the angle of view they would on a 35mm camera without a conversion factor. This comes in handy especially when shooting with wide-angle lenses. For the flexibility to shoot in even the most dimly lit situations, the EOS 5D Mark II offers Canon’s highest ISO sensitivity to date, ranging from 100-6400 (expandable to ISO L: 50, H1: 12800 and H2: 25600). Thanks to improved noise reduction technologies, images shot even at highest sensitivity will be remarkably smooth.

The Canon EOS 5D is slated to ship towards the end of November 2008 at an expected street price of US$2699 in the U.S.

New plug-in for Photoshop® and Aperture™ incorporates
U Point® technology for precise selective sharpening

Las Vegas, NV — September 4, 2008 (Photoshop World, Booth #321) — Nik Software today announced the latest version of its popular Sharpener Pro photographic plug-in for use with Adobe® Photoshop® and Apple® Aperture™. Designed for professionals and photo enthusiasts, Sharpener Pro 3.0 is the most advanced and powerful sharpening solution for photographers, eliminating the guesswork typically required for achieving superior and consistent results.

Now featuring Nik Software’s patented U Point technology, Sharpener Pro 3.0 enables photographers to selectively sharpen objects within their images. U Point powered Control Points are easy to use and offer precise control over sharpening intensity without the need to create complicated selections and layer masks.

“Sharpener Pro 3.0 has been dramatically improved with a range of new features, including powerful creative sharpening tools, a soft proofing option, and integrated U Point technology,†said Michael J. Slater president and CEO of Nik Software. “This new version of Sharpener Pro offers the most comprehensive tools for optimally sharpening images for any output device while also offering photographers the complete control they expect,†Slater concluded.

Key Features

• New U Point Powered Control Points—Enables precise, selective sharpening control
• Updated Output Sharpening—Provides the ultimate control to create perfectly sharpened images on all devices and media types such as display, inkjet, continuous tone, half tone, and hybrid tone
• New Creative Sharpening—Enhances fine details and textures with new structure, focus, and local contrast tools for drawing attention to desired areas within the image
• New Industry-First Sharpening Soft Proof—Allows detailed inspection of sharpening results on screen before printing, eliminating costly test prints
• New Output Presets—Enables custom settings to be saved for consistent, professional results
• Updated RAW Presharpener—Retains and enhances sharp details within images without amplifying noise and other artifacts
• Updated Powerful Selective Tool (Photoshop only)—Enables the use of Photoshop’s brush tools to paint in sharpening selectively
• New Smart Filter Support (Photoshop only)—Provides compatibility with Adobe Photoshop’s Smart Objects enabling adjustments to sharpening after Sharpener Pro has been applied
• New Multi-Image Support (Aperture only)—Provides compatibility with Aperture’s multi-image support, allowing photographers to easily copy and paste settings between images to maintain consistency

Pricing and Availability

Sharpener Pro 3.0 will be available in September for electronic delivery directly from Nik Software (www.niksoftware.com) in four languages (English, French, German, and Spanish) and will be available through specialty camera retailers in October of 2008. A complete list of resellers may be found at www.niksoftware.com/resellers.

The suggested retail price of Sharpener Pro 3.0 is $199.95. Upgrades from any previous version are available for $99.95. Sharpener Pro 3.0 installs as a plug-in for either Adobe Photoshop or Apple Aperture 2.1 and is available for Windows and Macintosh operating systems, including Vista and Leopard. For more information about Sharpener Pro 3.0, including video tutorials showing the software running within Photoshop and Aperture and a free 15-day fully functional trial version, please visit www.niksoftware.com/sharpenerpro.

About Nik Software

Nik Software, Inc. is a privately held company that develops software solutions for the growing digital imaging and photography markets. Established in 1995, Nik Software has become the recognized leader in digital photographic filter development and produces award-winning technology and software products for digital photography and imaging professionals including U Point® technology (www.upoint.com), Dfine®, Viveza™, Color Efex Pro™, Silver Efex Pro™, and Sharpener Pro™ software.

Features

The official feature list is show here, we will dig into more of these later on:

• New 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor with improved noise reduction, wide range ISO 100-3200 (H1: 6400, H2: 12800), 14-bit conversion for smooth color tones and gradations.
• Next generation DIGIC 4 Image Processor for faster processing, 6.3 fps up to 90 JPEGS using UDMA CF cards; 60 consecutive JPEGS or 16 RAW using standard CF cards.
• 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) with multiple coatings for improved viewing and smudge-resistant protection.
• Enhanced Live View shooting includes Face Detection Live mode.
• 9 cross-type high-precision sensors for accurate target subject acquisition and diagonal center cross-type AF point with f/2.8 and faster lenses.
• New Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction setting to automatically even the brightness across the image.
• Updated EOS Integrated Cleaning System with a fluorine coating for better resistance to dust.
• Creative Auto goes a step beyond full auto with on screen setting display.
• HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) output for displaying full high-resolution images on a High Definition TV.
• Compatible with over 60 Canon EF/EF-S lenses and most EOS System accessories.

The new sensor

As expected, a new sensor is built into the 50D that improves the light gathering ability by using bigger micro lenses over each pixel. Effectivily this will give you 1 to 1.5 stop of better noise reduction allowing you to shoot at ISO 3200 and have images that have noise that is closer to what ISO 1600 looks like on the 40D. Like the previous 20,30,40, the 50D is an APS-C sized sensor giving is a 1.6x crop factor and delivers images at 4752w x 3168h pixels. The integrated cleaning system is also claimed to work better than the one built into the 40D.

The new processor
The next generation of the Digic processor, the Digic IV is debuted in the 50D. This new processor is claimed to be 30% faster than the Digic III and provides a plethora of new features.

• Full size RAW (15.06 megapixels), sRAW1 (7.12 megapixelss) and sRAW2 (3.76 megapixels)
• Three levels of High ISO Noise Reduction
• Three increments of Auto Lighting Optimizer
• Peripheral Illumination Correction – This is a vignette control based on profiles of Canon lenses
• ISO 100 – 3200 is standard along with extended ISO of 6400 and 12,800
  

Better Storage

Although many of us were hoping for dual card slots, the 50D still sports a single Compact Flash slot although support of UDMA makes for faster read/write speeds.

Better LCD

The LCD on the rear has been improved with more resolution giving you 920,000 pixels which now gives you even great clarity than previous models. The Live Mode provided through the read LCD has also been improved with two types of autofocus now available including a simple quick mode that toggles the Live View off while the camera performs the focus and Live autofocus that uses contrast detection like we saw possible when using DSLR Remote Pro for tethered shooting. Like many new point and shoots, the 50D now has face detection when using the Live Mode autofocusing.

Shipping and Price

The EOS 50D is supposed to be available sometime in October at $1,399. As the camera gets closer to the release date I am sure more information will become available, especially from some of the sites that get pre-production units to test.

For a detailed hands-on preview of the 50D, check out: http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos50d/

Source: http://www.usa.canon.com

Before using this technique you will need to install the camera profiles that are available here:
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/DNG_Profiles

What is white balance?
While we have another article that goes into more detail, let’s do a quick summary refresher about what white balance is. Light actually comes in different temperatures, measured in degrees Kelvin. Daylight and flash is typically around 5200 degrees which is considered to be neutral. Late afternoon/evening light and incandescent is warmer (more orange) and is usually around 6200 degrees, Fluorescent light is on the cooler side (around 3800 degrees) and has a greenish tint. While your camera will generally do a decent job of estimating the white balance, the problem is that the camera is measuring the white balance based on the reflected light on the subject. This method works alright most of the time but it is not going to be absolutely perfect, nor will it even be close under some conditions. A very common example of this is shooting a scene in the snow, this can really throw off the sensor and you can end up getting a blue color cast on your images. If you are shooting in RAW, you can easily compensate for poor white balance but this just adds to your workflow. If you are shooting in JPEG, this poor white balance makes it much harder to recover the scene without losing image quality.

Good Balance

Too Warm

Too Cool

Getting a good white balance
The best way to get a good white balance is measure the light temperature from the position of the subject towards the camera, while a camera is looking at the subject and can only measure reflective light and not direct light. Other methods for measuring white balance include placing an 18% grey card where the subject is and setting the white balance against that. While this is the most common method used by experienced photographers, the theory that you are still using reflected light instead of measuring the direct light.

Using the Colorright
To get the best results from the Colorright so put yourself in the position of the subject and aim your camera towards where the camera will be when you take the shot, place the Colorright disc over the lens and take your picture. Using the custom white balance settings on your camera, select the image to use as your white balance reference. Now go back to the camera position and you are ready to shoot. This should result in a perfect white balance since your camera measured the light from the light source and not a reflected light that can be altered by the reflective property of the subject.

If you cannot put the camera in the position of the subject, you can also use it by aiming it at the subject like you would use a gray card. While this may not be ideal, it is certainly far better than not having other means of getting a good white balance.

Results
The results are absolutely spot-on. While the design is very similar to the Expodisc, the difference with the Colorright is that is doesn’t allow light from all directions to hit the sensor, instead a smaller area ensures that the light hitting the sensor is exactly what you are looking for. The Colorright disc sells for $89, and the obvious question is “is it worth it?” Like many other things this depends on how many images you take and how much time you end up spending doing post correction. In some places you may only need to get a good white balance setting once or twice and you are good, in other places like weddings and receptions there can be several different locations that have radically different lighting and when you have to process hundreds of images from a place like that, the Colorright can pay for itself in post production time savings the first time you use it. If you shoot fewer or smaller events it may take longer for you to realize the benefit of getting your shots right in-camera versus processing the images later.

Website: http://colorright.com
Author: Kerry Garrison

Summary
It’s one thing to know that throwing your aperture open to 2.8 will give you a shallow depth of field and closing it down to F22 will extend the depth of field. If you do a lot of portraits you probably have a good formula you use for a particular lens like setting your 50mm prime lens at F11 so that at a 10′ shooting distance you will get 12″ of depth so that an entire head is in focus. You may have learned this from numerous shots until you instinctively have a base setup even if you don’t have notes on your exact setup. But what do you do when you want a very specific shot and don’t want to spend all day doing trial and error?

Features
The Expoaperture² kit comes with two discs, one covering focal lengths from 15 – 135 and focal distances of 2′ to about 30′. The second disc covers 70mm – 600mm and focal distances from 30′ to about 1200′. The nice thing about how the discs work is that you set your sensor size and then you can use any combination of variables to come up with the remaining number. For example, if I set the dials for 24mm I can see that at f4 I will get 2.5 zones, if I then turn the disc over I can calculate the shooting distance I will see that a shooting distance of 3′ will give me a DoF from 2.5″ to 3.75″. If I am unsure of the aperture to use to obtain a 1′ DoF at a 6′ distance I can see that I will be looking for a 1 zone width so by making sure my focal length is at 24mm I see I will need an f1.6 aperture for the short distance I want or if I move to a 50mm I will need to shoot at f8 for the same result. Using the discs in this way will not only help you determine the amount of DoF you can get, but it can also be used as a tool to help you plan what lenses you will need for a given shoot.

Let’s say we want to shoot a football game and want to know what kind of shots we can expect from different lenses. Knowing that my long lenses is a 70-300 and the average shot will be around 100′ away, I want to make sure I have about a 10′ +/- DoF, I see that I will only need about ¼ of a zone I can quickly see that shooting at 70mm will give a HUGE amount of DoF because the maximum aperture for this lens is 4.0 so that’s going to give me a DoF range from 55′ to 150′. If I move to 150mm and shoot at f5.6 my DoF drops to about 60′ to 160′, and shooting at 300mm at f5.6 cuts the DoF down to about 90′ to 120′ which is going to give me the DoF I am looking for, not too short, not too long.

Usage
To demonstrate how this system works, we decided to set up a shoot that would utilize how the discs work. For this shot to work we wanted to show the model’s face and hands but wanted the gun barrel to be out of focus. Since we are using a Canon 30D, we first set the sensor size/format to 1.6 as that is the crop factor for the 30D sensor. Second, we are going to start with a 50mm Prime lens so we set the yellow focal length to 50mm. On the back of the disc we look at the shooting length of 10′ and we can see that the focus length we want to work with is within 1 zone in each direction, flipping the disc back over and finding the #1 on the dial (for 1 zone) we see that the actual aperture we want to use is going to be between f8 – f11 to get the entire rifle and model in focus and using f5.6 is going to give me about 18″ of focus distance so I can either get the model and part of the rifle or the front part of the rifle to about the mid-point. Before using the disc, I would have probably started up at f2.8 and then would have spent quite a bit of time and test shots getting the DoF correct. With the Expoaperture disc I actually had the shoot planned out with a handful of shots I wanted prior to even setting up the camera.

Results
The discs may seem a little confusing at first because there are multiple ways to actually use them. If you watch the video and work through some scenarios in your head a few times like I did above, it won’t take long at all to get a really good feel for how they work. Using the discs to pre-plan a shoot like I did for this article is a huge time saver, especially if you are using assistants since you can just give them a shot list and have them setup your camera almost perfectly before you even look through the shutter. The discs themselves are made from what feels like a plastic laminate that should hold up to a lot of usage and they come with their own soft plastic carrying cases to keep them from getting dinged up in your camera bag. Unless you simply have a knack for understanding what settings you need to obtain the exact depth of field you want, then getting a set of Expoaperture discs is a worth considering. As a training tool, using the discs a few times will help you to understand the correlation between the settings and will help you to learn how to judge the settings you want better.

Equipment Used

Author: Kerry Garrison
Model: Taylor Thorne

These superior quality Rosco gels are pre-cut and attach quickly and securely to the HonlPhoto Speed Strap, and can be used in conjunction with the HonlPhoto Snoots, Gobos, and Grids. Usable gel area is 2.5″ x 4″ and can be trimmed to fit individual strobes (measure the surface area of the front of your strobe to check fit). Packaged in a convenient carrying tube, the kit includes one each of:

Color Correction:
Cinegel Quarter Blue (1/4 CTB)
Cinegel Tough 1/2 PlusGreen
Cinegel Tough 1/4 PlusGreen
Cinegel Roscosun CTO
Cinegel Roscosun 1/2 CTO
Cinegel Roscosun 1/4 CTO
Cinegel Roscosun 3/4 CTO

Effects:
Roscolux Primary Blue
Roscolux Moss Green
Roscolux Light Red

Price: $24.95

Website: http://www.honlphoto.com

Summary
The FX is a colored gel system that comes with five colored gels (blue, green, red, yellow, and amber) and a gel holder that attaches to your flash with velcro. The kit contains the holder, the five gels, a carrying case, and velcro pads. The FX is available at most camera shops or online for around $35.00.

Usage
The FX attaches via velco to your flash with the included velcro pads. If you are like me and use a variety of modifiers, putting some velcro pads on the flash really isn’t an option. Instead of sticking the velcro pads on, I use a Honl Photo Speed Strap and the FX attaches to the Speed Strap quite nicely.

To use, pick out a color you want and insert it into the FX holder, attach the holder to your flash and you are ready to go. Keep in mind you are going to lose about 1 stop of light when using the gels so adjust your flash accordingly.

Shown here is the FX attached to a Canon 580 EX II and fired at a black muslin wall so you can get a feel for how to use the system. At first you may think you want to aim the colored light at a white wall for the best reflection, but in fact, the opposite is true. A white wall or white seamless paper will reflect the light and just give you white instead of the color you want. Using a dark grey or black background such as seamless paper, black muslin, or black velvet will give you the best effect.

By adjusting the output of the flash you can control the brightness of the background and adjusting the position can create a gradient effect as you can see that the color goes from brighter “sweet spot” to darker edges.

“The Lumiquest FX is going to be one of my favorite gadgets to have around for those times you need something a little different.”

I will usually have the flash hanging off a long boom and triggered with Gadget Infinity Flash Triggers. In the studio I will also shoot tethered using DSLR Remote Pro.

As you can see, a subtle color on background can make a huge difference on a portrait shoot. Let’s take a look at several product shot images taken with and without the FX system in place.

No Background Color

Blue Background

Red Background

Results
The results are exactly what I was looking for. The color is vibrant with a predictable fall-off allowing for easy adjustments so that you can get the exact effect you are looking for and for less than $40, it will work with virtually any flash brand.