staticlag

<p>Lingo</p>

<p>Low use - a few people moving large files (> 1MB) around</p>

<p>High use - many people doing constant searches on databases with over a million records.</p>

<p>Photography is typically very low use on disks. You basically are just reading and writing single large files occasionally. A RAID 5 or 6 is perfect for this type of use (lowest cost, average writing speeds/good reading speeds).</p>

<p>Whereas searching bank records/hospital records/searching the internet/microsoft exchange mail server will call millions of possible records and run a function on them. In these cases most enterprises use multiple RAID 1 sets or RAID 10 where speed is required, because in RAID 1 two disks mirror the exact same data, and if you have high end hardware you can actually retrieve data simultaneously from the disks.</p>

<p>Natalie, I have a few dell servers (poweredge 1950 dual quad 3.0 gHz xeon and a poweredge 2600 dual xeon 2.4 gHz), and I can tell you that they are known for being competitively priced and reliable.<br /> But beware!!! that Dell you have priced out weighs about 100 lbs! Dell servers are not light!</p>

<p>Buffalo makes some good products in their upper tiers. Please see your other thread for my suggestions on a storage solution.</p>

<p>And also note that for the price of that Dell you can get a custom built server with the same capabilities/parts and 6-8TB of storage.<br>

<br /> As everyone is saying, having a comprehensive solution requires backups and multiple copies.</p>

<p>But a quality RAID solution adds a great deal of reliability to any service scheme.</p>

<p>Typically people who have parts/drives/etc fail consistently have them fail because they buy cheap junk parts for their machines or don't know how to maintain them. If you invest in quality parts from a knowledgeable technician they can literally last a decade without failure. This is how banks/hospitals/google/etc runs their networks.<br>

<br /> Most enterprises use a RAID 6 solution for their low use online connected storage system, they supplement this with windows Shadow Copy service and daily backups to other drives. If they are extra fancy they will do offsite backups as well.</p>

<p>Bob, typically HDs will fail either in their first year or ownership or after 5 years of ownership. Constantly bringing new untested drives in every year is not only a waste of money but also technically unsound.<br>

<br /> Those 1 TB drives you rotate are actually more reliable than the new ones (because they have been worn in and survived the first year)!</p>

<p>Sorry for your loss Natalie, the fragile nature of computers really only hits home once something like this fails.<br>

<br /> In addition to being a photog I am also an IT guy.<br>

<br /> My first suggestion is to not buy external HDs for storage unless they are a secondary or tertiary backup solution. Typically they have bottom of the line components inside to save costs.<br>

<br /> A RAID solution sounds like just the solution for your case. A RAID 6 array is the safest and could cover two points of drive failure (two disks could fail and you still have everything) and using windows Shadow Clone (free part of windows) windows automatically backs up all your files and keeps versions of the files available for roll-back at anytime. So if you accidentally saved some changes to the files that you didn't like or you accidentally deleted the file, you can simply open the folder and revert the files to their original state. The fancy thing is that this has been part of windows for some time just most people dont know about it. Complement this with a UPS battery backup and you have a very robust storage solution that can survive just about anything short of fire or other physical damage.<br /> Now for the bad news, a professional storage solution like this will run you $1500-$4000 out of the box, but a competent computer technician should be able to make a custom build for you in the range of $700-$1200.<br>

<br /> Here are a few good consumer level out of the box solutions that I have built for customers (its just installing drives essentially)<br>

<br /> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108028<br>

<br /> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822108032<br>

<br /> Both are very fast for their price range.<br>

<br /> Personally for my photography and other home files I am using a 4U rackmount server with 10TB of RAID 5 storage and a pro UPS battery backup (tolerates losing 1 disk).<br>

<br /> The beauty of a box like this is that I have Microsoft iSCSI targets setup so my drives appear to my operating system on my main computer as drives that are directly installed, this is very handy for keeping all your files in one safe redundant location yet avoiding noise or clutter in my work area. (I also installed a UV blacklight and some multicolored UV reactive cables inside of it just for awesomeness!)<br /> <img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v519/staticlag/Server-1.jpg" alt="" /><br>

But I digress.<br>

<br /> Natalie if you or anyone else would like help on choosing storage solutions please shoot me an email me. I can give you good advice on products I have worked with and would offer to build you or anyone else a custom solution like mine for a small fee.<br>

<br /> The beauty of a custom solution is that it is far more expandable than out of the box solutions (mine can hold 15 drives) at a far cheaper price.</p>

<p><strong>Moderator Note:</strong> Daniel--e-mail addresses in post are against forum guidelines. People can e-mail you by clicking on your name and using the e-mail facility.</p>

<p>Some thoughts about this page:<br>

http://www.vividomaha.com/blog/2009/11/12/konica-impressa-50-lonely-pictures</p>

<p>Bump! It's really been a while since my last post. I find myself coming back to these pics often these days.<br>

Now, like most people, I have left film behind for the most part. I'm shooting a 5D mkII. Added a lot more glass over the years...</p>

<p>http://www.vividomaha.com</p>

I find the poor economy is a great time to pick up new equipment.

 

People are in need of money and you can take advantage of some great second hand deals.

 

I, myself, just got a 5D with 1500 shots on it with battery grip for $1500

35mm/1.4L

70-200mm/1.4L

50mm/1.4

I enjoy the T3, it still is my favourite carry-anywhere travel camera when compared to my digicams & my 40lbs of SLR equipment. Very compact and excellent image quality.

 

One thing to watch out for is the parallax, after a while you forget its not an SLR.

On my 70-200 IS, I can stack a UV, CIR POL, and 81B with no ill effects or vignetting. Though the light loss is 4 stops, which gives me shutter speeds of 1/60 - 1/100 in the daytime with Reala and adequate DOF. Though an optically clear piece of glass will reduce the light transmitted, this is hardly a concern with TTL metering.

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=9778&is=REG">This One</a>

No, it wont.

 

<p>What it will potentially cause is ghosting/flare/loss of contrast. Light that takes on different visible colours is actually composed of different wavelengths of energy. A wavelength is a unit of measurement, with blue light being much shorter than red light. Light can be bent using different shapes of glass, which is what happens in camera lenses. Since different colours actually differ in size, when they are bent, they bend at different speeds in whatever is bending them. This causes chromatic abberation, which is a separation of colours.

<p>

So basically, only transparent articles that <b>bend the light</b> can induce chromatic abberation. This additional plane(the filter), that you question to cause the abberation, might cause the problem called ghosting, which is an overlay of an additional copy of the image.

<p>

If you require a more scientifically technical reason for what I have said, I suggest that you do some research on a phenomenon called "Red/Blue Shift".

The Macman = another young mind ruined by drugs.

Len, film developing is a very touchy subject, and usually it takes some testing on the photographer's part to find the best place that will give the price, service, and quality which he/she desires in his/her prints.

 

Since you mention that you are a beginner, I would really suggest that you look in the phonebook for professional photofinishing lab services. These people will charge you about $20 dollars or so for a single set of 4x6 prints, but the real reason why you want to pay this high a price is because of the quality control they put into maintaining their machine.

 

Quality control is very important in film developing because if you misdevelop the negatives then you have no pictures at all. And scratches caused by inproperly cleaned rollers inside the machine can leave permanant scratches across your pictures. Not to mention that I have gotten more than my share of miscut negatives(negatives cut completely through the picture because of a careless operator) from cheap places like walgreens.

 

In my area, there is a very good camera shop that will do the same quality work, with the same attention to detail for only $14 dollars per roll of 36. You just need to scout around your area after this situation for really good place that you can take your future pictures to.

 

Usually, after I shoot film, I get it processed the very next day if possible, colors seem brighter if I do. If I can't make it the next day, I stick my already exposed film in the refridgerator.

 

There are no special instructions needed.

 

This topic has been discussed at length, hence the agitation by some on this board.

Obviously, The Macman knows nothing of how a C-41 processing machine works.

I recommend the contax t3, it is a small P&S about a bit smaller and fatter than a pack of cards, with aperature priority and a fast 2.8 lens. It takes beautiful vibrant and contrasty color and black and white images.

 

Otherwise, any of the rangerfinder type models sound appropriate for you.

I wouldnt do it, because though the other pictures might be sort of alright looking, pushing film also has other consequences than just "increasing the iso", grain is now a problem, so is contrast and color shift.

 

But then again, why would you want to change ISO? Its not that hard to expect what situations will arise, or to shoot 36 pictures. If it really bothers you, just buy another body.

Well, whatever you end up getting, <b>make sure it is well cooled</b>. People just buy these huge HDs and stick them in their tiny dell and gateway cases, and soon they start getting corrupted data errors and HDs dropping files. Then the OS tries to fix them and screws it up even more.

<p>

back in highschool i did tech support and 90% of the crashed HD problmes I saw originated from overheating HDs crammed in next to each other. Personally I have HD fans on all 3 of my 15000rpm SCSI drives. I can barely get to sleep at night, my damn computer's so loud.

start buying 100% cotton plain white mens undershirts. They work better than anything else. Just a little breath and that stuff will come right off.

If you use flash, its no longer an available light picture. Period.

 

It just depends where your taste runs, with creative flash usage you can achieve some otherwise impossible results. But true available light usage has its own value and unique "look." These are two differenent types of photography and subjective to each individual person. So which one do you like? avaiable light or non-avaiable light?

 

You already know the answer to this question.

buy a 1 terabyte RAID array.

just buy the 28/2.8, the 50/1.8, and the 200/2.8 and be done with it, zooms are junk. I have the 24-70/2.8, the 24-85 and the 70-200/2.8 IS along with a few primes, and let me just say that you dont really need zoom, the primes will be much cheaper and lighter than the zooms. Use the money you save to buy another 7N and then you will have a photography kit that others will envy.

320 and use fill flash.

Its a ghost. Spooky.

Seriously dude, digicams are junk, they are only good for things that are holding perfectly still and smiling at you. Dont expect to take many candids/action photos with these.

<p>

But if the money is seriously burning a hole in your pocket and you need to waste it then look at the Panasonic Lumix series.

<p>

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=321412&is=REG">3 hundred bucks - DMC-LC70</a>

<p>

<a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=NavBar&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=302899&is=REG&si=feat#goto_itemInfo">6 hundred bucks</a>

<p>

Or, if I personally was going to get a digicam, I would want something small and non-SLR like(because you and I already have DSLRs), I would buy the <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=280691&is=REG">Contax TVS Digital</a>, at B&h it says you can get a used one for $630.

<p>

You already have an DSLR, dont try to buy the same features in a digicam, its a waste.