*This is a 2/26 re-edit of this post. I first published it on 2/24 running the photos in color. Since then I came up with a b&w conversion I am much happier with – so out went the color.*
I rushed last weekend to complete some more work on the buffer project. I know I’ll continue when the weather gets nicer but I wanted to get some more images while the snow was still around. It seemed having the contrast would make the images more graphic and this past Monday onward the forecast called for warmer weather (40′s) and rain. Surely, the snow would be gone within a few days…
Well, we still have 6″-8″ left and now are due for 10″-16″ more, starting tonight and continuing into Friday.
Washington Road Fields
Washington Road Fields
Harrison Street, Millstone River
Harrison Street, Millstone River
Seminary Drive Fields
I have reworked the five images from the previous buffer posts (here and here) with the new b&w conversion.
Seminary Drive Fields
Seminary Drive Fields
Alexander Road Fields
Alexander Road Fields
Alexander Road Fields
Some equipment and software notes:
All of the raw images were processed in Aperture 3, some received additional work in Photoshop.
The b&w conversion was done in Aperture 3. I created a platinum-esque preset which tones the image and alters the tonal curve a bit.
The top five images are composites made with the Canon TS-E 24mm II lens, in each case combining three images into one.
I’ve been testing a new tripod head, the Arca-Swiss C1 Cube. It’s a joy to use – simple, very quick, rock solid, and an engineering marvel. Its built-in levels are quite accurate and negate the need to add a bubble level to the camera’s hot shoe. I’ve come to love the fact that it has two pan controls. One at the bottom and one at the top, above the leveling controls. This way you can orient the head with the bottom control first (a rough line up or if the head needs a different orientation relative to the tripod), level the head, and then fine tune the pan with the topmost pan control. Since the head is already level adjusting the top pan won’t throw it out of alignment.
Apple has just released an update to Aperture 3. You can access the update via Software Update in your System Preferences or as a standalone file from here.
Photoshop turned 20 yesterday – so it’s time to bring out a couple of quick stories.
I first started using Photoshop back with version 2.5. It was on a Windows PC in 1992 or 1993. Back then, if you bought a mid-level or higher scanner Photoshop was often included for free and that’s how I came to own it. While I didn’t dive in head first, I played with it for many years and initially used it as a tool to clean up and prep scans. It wasn’t until the advent of good digital cameras in the late 90′s, early 00′s, that it became integral to how I work.
I have two brushes with Photoshop greatness in my career. The first is indirect and occurred when Adobe Camera Raw came out. In spite of the all the hoopla over it I found it to be challenged at best when working with Nikon raw files. My comments led an extended email correspondence with author Bruce Fraser and to spending lots of time photographing a MacBeth ColorChecker so that Bruce could test the files and pass information along to Adobe.
The second was much more direct. One of the successive versions of Adobe Camera Raw had a bug or two in it. I found them and posted them on an Adobe forum. Shortly after I got an email from Thomas Knoll, co-author/developer/inventor of Photoshop, with an invitation to be a beta tester for Adobe Camera Raw. I did that for a couple of years, Camera Raw versions 2.2~3.3. After 3.3 the beta program seemed to fizzle out. Releases went right to public betas or whatever part of the program I was in was asked to do less. It was never quite clear since communication was often one-sided (from Adobe outward.)
By the spring of 2006 I was starting to use Apple’s Aperture as my main raw processor and it was time to move on. Regardless of all the shifting about with raw processors over the years (Nikon Capture, MacBibble, ACR, DPP, Aperture) as digital capture matured from an infant to a pre-teen (?), the one constant has been Photoshop for almost all work beyond the initial raw conversion.
San Francisco, CA, 1/27/10, 12:28PM EST – Apple Inc. surprised the world today unveiling its newest device, the iCaplet – a small pill embossed with the Apple logo. Media and fans were sent into a frenzy of excitement and confusion. The world had expected the iTablet – a thin netbook sized computer which would revolutionize print media the way that iPods and iPhones had reinvented music and smart phones.
Apple's iCaplet (actual size.)
With the crowd at the Yerba Buena Center both cheering and booing, Apple CEO Steve Jobs, held sway saying, “Now, this is the coolest thing I have ever done! This device is amazing and it will change your life! I know you expected a tablet based computer but the more we studied it the more we couldn’t see the value in something bigger than a cell phone and smaller than a laptop. I mean, come on, WTF?! You don’t need that, trust me, I looked into it. What you need is the iCaplet. You swallow this, wait a minute for it to boot up your system, and then the whole world opens up. It enables you to read books and magazines, it helps you turn pages. Music, what about music? Yes, it does music. All the music you have ever heard in your life, brought with you, where ever you go. You can sing it at the top of your lungs or if in a crowd and discretion is advised the iCaplet will enable you to hum it inside you head. That’s right, I did just say that – it creates a world where you can hear music inside your head without others around you hearing it. Amazing, and only from Apple. That’s the iCaplet, our first product that lets you take a bit of Apple inside you, where ever you go.”
Jobs then brought out Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Industrial Design, who explained how Apple was able to get all of its technology and expertise into a device the size of a pill of aspirin. Won over, the crowd couldn’t wait to get out and get a taste of this new device. But, as is usually the case, there was Jobs’, “… and one more thing.” What was it? The iCaplet not only lets you leave your computers, interact with people, and go out into the world, it also can cure the common headache.
The iCaplet is available immediately at all Apple stores. It will be sold in blister packs of two, six, and eight. It will also be available in bottles of 50, 100, and 250 next month.
A huge sigh of relief will be heard round the world today from photographers, videographers, and others who rely on Apple’s MacBook Pro on location. This morning Apple re-introduced the antiglare “matte” option on the 15″ MacBook Pro.
Digital photography can be like going down the rabbit hole. You don’t know where it’s going to lead and sometimes you end up making changes that can affect things wildly. Canon’s more recent cameras have a new tool built-in called microadjustment. It allows you to fine tune the focus on a camera-wide basis or specific to each lens.
I had toyed with it a bit last year when testing the Canon 16-35 zoom lens vs. the new II version. I found it helped the updated II lens quite a bit. A few weeks ago, I got my cameras back from Canon after some updates (in early March Canon announced an auto-focus update & Error 99 fix for Mark III 1D & 1Ds cameras.) In testing them I found focus issues with my 70-200 lens. It was missing focus significantly but, not knowing if the lens or the newly updated Canon bodies (1Ds Mark III’s) were the issue, what would have been a simple test led to my testing every lens I own twice so that my two bodies could be compared as well.
The process can be time consuming. You need to set your camera up on a tripod, be at least 50x the focal length of the lens away from the focus point, turn off IS if your lens has that feature, with zoom lenses set them to the longest focal length, set the lens wide open, use one-shot AF, and then begin testing. The process involves narrowing down what will be the best adjustment, first with wider corrections (e.g. +5, +10, +15, -5, -10, -15) and then with more fine tuned corrections. For each data point you’ll want to take three images and for each image you’ll want to rack the focus out to infinity prior to taking the shot. The latter will make the camera focus on the mark each time and the former will cover you if there is any variance.
You’ll need to view the images at 100% on your monitor to compare – first in choosing the best of three images for each setting and then in comparing settings.
When I first tried the test I used my X-rite/MacBeth Color Checker as the focus point but quickly realized it would not work. It’s not inherently sharp enough. Searching online I came across a standard resolution chart. I printed it at 2880 dpi on high end glossy paper and it became my focus point for these tests. In Chuck’s article he recommends using a flat surface, parallel to the camera, so this type of setup should be optimal. I mounted the printed chart on a cork bulletin board to keep it flat. Also, keep in mind that you are using the resolution chart only to check focus, don’t be concerned with how many of those miniscule hash marks are being resolved.
I found the best way to test is indoors as long as you have enough space. A 14mm lens needs 2.3′ where a 70-200mm lens @ 200mm needs 33′. Indoors, you can light the chart and use manual exposure control for consistency.
A few more helpful hints:
In Canon’s DPP software you can use command-I in the browser mode to get the image’s metadata readings. This will show you the microadjustment setting for that particular image.
Since Canon’s DPP will not show you more than one image at 100% you can process images out and compare in another program or keep them in raw format and use a program like Aperture. I ran DPP on one screen in order to confirm the microadjustment setting and then Aperture on my primary screen so that I could compare images at 100% and also easily rename the files according to the setting and the lens used.
You could use live view or shoot tethered for this but I found it easier and simpler to create the rougher adjustments first, saved to a compact flash card, download and evaluate those, and then lather, rinse, and repeat by narrowing down to the finer settings.
On the Canon 1Ds Mark III the microadjustment control is in Custom Function III, Setting #7.
Within the setting above, you’ll want to use, #2:Adjust by Lens.
Is it worth all this work? Does it make a difference? Unequivocally, yes! My images are sharper out of the camera, across the board, after having done this. It also pointed out issues with two of my lenses, my 70-200 and my 24-70, prompting me to take them in for repair.
With the combination of the repair and the microadjustment calibration, my 24-70 of all my lenses shows the most improvement. It was never a stellar lens and the shift up to the higher resolution 1Ds Mark III made it seem unusable but as you can see below, the change after a repair and microadjustment calibration is significant.
I’ve also found that when shooting wide open or close to it with a lens like the 85mm II f/1.2, I’m more likely to hit focus exactly where I placed the AF focus brackets.
The samples above are crops at 100% (72 dpi). If printed at 300 dpi each would be ~1.5″ square.
Earlier this week I noticed that one of the SuperDrives in my Mac Pro was acting funky. It saw any burned DVD as blank. I have *two SuperDrives in the computer so using the second drive confirmed the issues with the first. A call to Apple was in order. Normally, that’s not painful but as with any customer service you’ve got to navigate their phone menu and then hold until a rep is available. Want to avoid all that?
Apple now has a web page called, Apple Expert. Any time, 24/7, you can log in with your Apple ID, and choose a convenient time for them to call you. I requested 9:15am and an Applecare rep called me the next morning at 9:15am exactly. The Apple customer service experience was always very good but this kicks it up a few more notches.
The next day I had a new SuperDrive under a warranty exchange and I’ll ship the defective one back to them in the same box.
*In case you are wondering, why have two SuperDrives in a Mac Pro? Two speeds up burning & verifying time. I often have to get multiple DVD’s out the door, into FedEx, and make backups. You can run two SuperDrives at once (just duplicate Toast.) Having the two drives in the computer also saves desktop space, frees up power outlets, and doesn’t tax the Firewire/USB bus at all.
