Equipment
Don’t trust Apple’s Time Machine
I have been using Time Machine to back up my iMac for a few years now. It all seems so simple.
I then decided I would reinstall my iMac from scratch and then I could bring in all the pictures from Time Machine.
All seemed fine, but then I’ve realised I’m missing about 400 hundred pictures! Lightroom cannot find the pictures. Some of the directories they should be in exist and some even contain pictures, so it’s not a case that the pictures were stored somewhere else, and I just haven’t pulled them back over again.
So the only conclusion is that Time Machine never backed them up, and I’ve now read other articles where people have had similar problems.
I heard a quote a couple of weeks ago. Something along the lines of “A photograph is not a photograph until it exists in more than one place”. Based on that, those photos weren’t actually photos. I do have some of them somewhere else. Some are on another machine, and some exist on Flickr, so all is not lost. It’s just annoying, and now means I have to rethink my back up strategy if Time Machine is not going to be reliable. I would like to store copies in The Cloud, but when dealing with RAW files, the cost quickly mounts up.
Lesson learned – Do not trust anything 🙂
The mystery of the Nikon D500
The mystery is… Why is it so expensive?
I’d like to upgrade my D7000 to “something”, but it doesn’t look like the D500 is an option. It’s good that Nikon finally have a replacement for the D300 but the D500 doesn’t seem to have the features to warrant the price.
There seems to be two main selling points in my eyes.
- 10 FPS shooting speed
- EXPEED 5 image processor
The 10 FPS is great if you are into sports photography (which I am, but not to a level I would ever need 10 FPS). The updated processor would probably be worth it because technology moves on, and hopefully I would see better results (Although I’m still amazed at what my D40 can produce). I don’t shoot video either, so any improvements in that area would not be a clincher for me.
So £1729 for a processor upgrade is a lot of money. (And before you say, I will offset some of the cost by selling the D7000, a) I’m terrible at selling anything, b) I’m not convinced my D7000 works properly as I do seem to have the back auto-focus issue, so wouldn’t sell it).
The real problem I see is for off camera flash. I use the pop up flash on my D7000, in commander mode to trigger my SB910. Now, the infra red control is not necessarily the best, but it generally works. The D500 doesn’t have a pop up flash, but uses radio instead. Which means replacing the SB910 with something else… Ah yes, the £499 SB5000. Half-a-thousand pounds for a Speedlight! (If the camera isn’t overpriced, the flash certainly is). A cheaper option would be the SU-800 but then I’m buying old, if not soon the be obsolete technology.
So until the D500 drops in price, then it’s really not an option. I also read somewhere that they have delayed shipping, due to over demand. Really??? If that’s true,why does over demand delay shipping?
So what’s the alternative. Well I reckon a D750 body, which is a lot cheaper, and an 85mm 1.8, would do the job for me. I like portraits so this would seem to be a good combination and I have a FFS to go with my DX sensor.
There’s also another option. Abandon Nikon altogether and go a different route. Maybe Fuji…. They seem to be making great cameras and lenses.
Only time, and my bank balance will tell.
Low level light stand
I recently bought some Elinchrom D-Lite RX Ones, which are brilliant lights for people on a budget… or you need something with a bit less power. What I did find though, was that the lowest setting for the stand was too high for having a low level light pointing upwards. I looked a getting a shorter stand, but then had a much better idea. The Joby Gorillapod. It’s awesome. Not only does it do what I want, I also now have the Gorillapod for my camera!
Light meter
I’ve had this light meter for a while, but never really used it. I bought some Elinchrom D-Lites at the end of last year, so now I am trying to make more use of it. It’s handy bit of kit. It’s the cheapest of the range, and does what you expect. I would be interested to know what the benefit of a more expensive unit is.
I do sometimes feel my camera’s LCD screen is showing the pictures as slightly overexposed though, but the histogram looks fine, so I just go with that. Looking back, I think my pictures have generally been underexposed, so this has probably been me being too reliant on the LCD think everything as okay. Anything to help you get things right in the camera has got to be a good thing.
Shooting with the D40
On my London visit, I used a Nikon D40 with a Nikon 35mm lens. This was great fun, and the camera and lens combination seem to be pin sharp (unlike problems I have with my D7000). I was generally shooting at around F8 on Aperture mode. Quality wise it did not let me down, and the camera and lens are a handy size. While the 35mm is too short for many things, the real problem I had, was that quite often it wasn’t wide enough for what I was doing. I think this is really down to the crop factor on the D40. Still you learn to adapt, which is what it is all about.
Something needs a clean
This is the state of the sensor on my D7000. I’ve noticed a few spots on some photos which I’ve had to touch up… but this is how bad it really is. In fact I’ve previously posted a picture and thought it was down to the lens – clearly not. I have no intention of doing it myself, so need to find somewhere to get it done. I guess the clever thing about film is that you get a nice clean “sensor” for every picture.
Amazing Bit of Kit….. Not Camera Related
I was out taking photos by the coast, and found a number of fishermen that are trundling across the sea in these. They’re very well equipped. Some seem to have foot pedals, which clearly is a must if you want to move and fish at the same time. They even had electronic fish finders fitted to them. I overheard one fisherman explaining to someone that his wife didn’t actually know how much he had spent… and wouldn’t be too happy if she found out. Still, it looks like a lot of fun.
It’s all about experimentation
My blog is basically about me experimenting with different techniques, plus photos that I take of various day to day activities.
Sometimes you stumble on something you hadn’t even thought about trying.
I’ve been using the lens profile correction tool in Lightroom. What do you know… If you choose the wrong profile it can create some interesting effects. This was the result of using a Sigma 8mm profile. It should have been a 24-70mm lens.
Now, while this is quite entertaining, I’m pretty sure I’ll get bored of it quickly!
Vax, Light “Tent”
cranbury attic photography 