roamingstudio

A friend just purchased the DigiMagic DVD burner - takes AA batteries and has a car adapter. Slot in your cards; and burn upto 4.7 gb... has built in verification etc. I dont know how good it will work in the end... but is light and should be ok.

 

For me I do a lot of hiking and will often be above 3000 meters, so hard-disk errors are unacceptable. Besides you can mail home DVD's as necessary. Burn two copies - send one to your family and never worry about a hard-disk crash...

Dont forget to put in a couple of hard disks -

1x OS

1x Scratch (for Photoshop)

1x Data backup (optional)

 

Your photoshop days will appreciate the seperate harddisks (which work in parallel) when compared to a partitioned harddisk (which works effectively in series).

I will be getting a new tripod as my old one is getting a bit rusty; and is really a bit too heavy for hiking: I really noticed this whilst in Quebec in July (besides it has a fixed plate and no nice heads - it was something from Jessops UK).

 

I always carry carbon fibre based hiking poles and found them really useful. But the above comments are right - I should find a shop and try out the Gitzo's first.

 

Danny's ideas are seriously credible so I will also pass on the hints to a friend who goes to Base Camp in November.

 

Marc

Im planning on getting a carbon fibre tripod - I do too much snow shoe

walking / altitude hiking for metal poles to freeze my poor little

fingers.

 

Ideally I dont want to overspend on marketing hype: but it seems the

Manfrotto, Gitzo brands are the most recommended. However I noticed

that Slik also make tripods which seem to have the same charactoristics...

 

At the moment the decision is really between the Slik 814 or Gitzo

1228; one is 50% of the other. Eventually I will put a ball head on it

as well.

 

Apart from the name / hype - is there any real reason why the Gitzo is

so much more expensive?

 

Thanks,

 

Marc

I will buy one of the three calibration devices - Spyder 2, Gretag,

Optix Pro. Obviusly everyone has different charactoristics - and ive

read a lot of reviews which say they are all good, but some are better

for some circumstances.

 

So: which one is best (device + software) for calibrating a laptop

working in dual screen with a seperater monitor (either LCD or CRT).

Which one is the best bang for buck, and is the most flexible for

future work?

 

Ill probably get flamed for not digging into the reviews - but there

are lots which give contradictory results. Ill also get the long

winded discussion of which is better / worse and arguments from all

those who are devoted to their little baby. In the end I just dont

want to waste 350 USD on a Optix Pro if realistically I wont notice

the difference with a Spyder 2 Pro or Gretag.

 

The device will probably be shared amongst a few colleagues so

something must be reliable - especially to long train trips (Zurich ->

Munich).

 

Many thanks (and ill duck the flames when they come my way)

Living in Europe (Zurich) is not so bad!!

 

Seriously - check your adapters to make sure they autorange from 110->240V, 50 / 60 Hz. Then visit your local dollar-rama (or similar) and pick up one of the extension cords for 3 or 4 american plugs. When you get to Germany / Switzerland you can purchase a local 3 pin plug and wire it up yourself. In Europe when you look at a socket, the right hand pin is 'live', the left hand pin is 'neutral' and the middle pin is 'earth'.

 

Taking the Swiss trains is really worth it - but be prepared to get out at remote stations and walk - it is more worthwhile!. The trip from Chur->St Moritz is fantastic - as is the Glacier Express from Chur->Zermatt.

I had a similar set of posts recently - but wanted to find out if there is a simple server box (raid or no raid) which can be plugged in as a remote server; possibly using a gigabyte network connection. This would be used for data storage of images... but of course it will slow down loading... :<

Kelly:

 

Im actually going through the same process as you at the moment - but started with about 3 weeks more notice. Basically from what I have discovered so far (and reading through PN)

<ul>

<li>Scanner : Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 seems to be most reliable<p>

<li>Software: iMatch is recommended, although picasa from Google (free) seems to do a good job of searching for files, and included EXIF and IPTC information<P>

<li>Hard disk storage is a big issue; if saving 16 bit (per RGB) TIF images then you will quickly run into gigabytes of data. Perhaps a network based disk storage facility is useful.<p>

<li>Monitor: if doing colour processing a good monitor is recommended; either CRT or LCD. Pick the top range ones and get a colour calibrator (see other threads on monitors)<p>

<li>There are automatic scanning services (at least one american company lurks on the forum) ; but prices / quality vary. Where are you based?<p>

<li>website component is expensive - especially if you have to pay a hosting service. Alternatively try to use broadband and serve yourself.<p>

</ul>

Hope some of these ideas help.. I must say I have not yet sorted out any of these issues myself... but am putting together some form of document to help my colleagues.

 

Marc

The decisions between CRT and LCD are always tough - but are there any new / updated FAQ's about which technology is actually the best? (I read a lot of articles on FN but there is no consistent line).

 

Most of my processing will be for simple colour correcting (whitespace etc); cropping and occasionally sharpening / rotating an image. Eventually I will be scanning (Coolscann 5000 my backlog of photos (from last 7 years of film) and would like something which is suitable for this.

 

The Apple monitor sounds nice - but does it work on PC's?

Scott - I seem to have similar carrying loads as you. Often my day hikes last a good 6 hours; and if I decide for overnight hikes with tent obviously the pack gets very heavy.

 

In Quebec I found I was often switching between the Tokina 12-24 and the 28-135; sometimes just to see how a landscape would appear.. e.g. at a waterfall I would use the longer lens to focus on water in sunlight; and then switch to Tokina to get the pool + fall + distance (often means discarding / cropping out bottom 1/4 of image). I will just search for a decent Lowepro supplier and see what happens.

 

I dont have much of a waist - too much sport means 174cm and only 58 kg! so I should also check for the falling down possibility! : therefore I may add shoulder straps (like breaches for trousers) to help support it.

 

Marc

Whilst recently hiking around Quebec with my nice shiny new 20D +

lenses, + rucksack, I realised that the weights were badly

distributed. Ultimately I started thinking that a waist bag would be

good. (easy access to camera + sd cards, lenses etc). Anything would

be better than keeping it in my hand especially when using trekking polse!

 

I looked a little through the archieves, and saw that most people seem

to be recommending Tamrac, Lowepro, Kinesies, High Sierra or ??Rock.

However here in Zurich there are not too many of the bags to be found.

 

 

I saw some nice systems from MEC (canada) + Lowepro (in Jack Wolfskin)

but the sizes seemed a bit too small. Therefore does anyone have

experience with knowing what sort of size bag makes sense for a 20D +

lenses (28-135, 12-24, long zoom) etc? Im perfectly happy to 'adjust'

(sew etc) any bag which does the purpose. I also generally tend to

wear a rucksack (day or hiking) and therefore prefere something which

does not require huge ammounts of back space. Similarly something to

help hold a light weight tripod would be nice (im really tempted with

a Gitzo).

 

Many thanks,

 

Marc

 

Ps I have found that the 'girlfriend' version of the carry bag is

great, although they have a tendency to walk off with the spare lens

just when it is needed.

Desk - good point from Paul. My solution (and works well so far) is not to buy the 'computer desks' as they are really useless. I went for an Effectiv desk from Ikea (now marketed as the Gallant) : relatively cheap, lots of 'desk space', great combinations for different sized rooms, and adjustable upto 90cm (some can even go to 120). I then build whatever else I need for monitors etc.

Lets just say CS2 is not an issue... ;-) (and nothing illegal!)

 

However desk space is limited (I currently am laptops only) so a LCD would be preferred purely for size issues...

I never had a problem with my Dell laptops - and would be interested in your final verdict...

Dear All

 

I found the following review for a digital darkroom

(http://www.photo.net/equipment/digital/computers) dated from 2002.

However now 3 years on technology has moved at Moores Law and things

have rapidly changed.

 

Is there a general FAQ for what should be looked at in a Workstation

(apart from lots of memory)?

 

Having read through various reviews it would seem that a system

comprising of the following items would be the ideal; but how this

correlate into actual systems which can be purchased? Living in

Switzerland results in more expensive products; so cheaper but

reliable solutions would be ideal (e.g. Dell?). (And no im not a Mr

Money-Bags!)

 

Software:

 

Photoshop CS2 or similar

iMatch or similar

 

Machine:

 

>256 MB video ram - ATI or nVidea or Matrox?

>2048 MB system ram

2 x harddisks (1 = scratch, 1 = os) + for storage?

(Does anyone recommend RAID level 1)?

DVD burner (+/- RW etc)

 

Monitor

CRT or LCD?

 

Mouse / Trackball / Graphic Pen?

Ok Photo storage - many options on the market and most are of the nice

40+ GB type. However I wondered whether there were a couple of other

options which people might have explored / interested in.

 

For example; I would be interested in a system where you could insert

a CF card (or similar) in one end; and burn a multi-session DVD.

Perhaps using a portable HD inbetween. This allows the DVD to be

posted home on long trips without the worry of 'theft' or 'acts of

god' damaging the photos.

 

Are there also options to use bareboard PC's (or similar) which talk

to dedicated hard disks / DVD drives (ie a stripped laptop without the

screen). E.g. hacking the embedded linux on a Synology DS 101 to

provide a mini-pc?

 

Or am I really better off looking for an ultra-light weight laptop

with portable DVD drive? (DVD's can be easily posted home).

 

Thoughts from those in the know?....

 

Thanks,

 

Marc

 

Ps I was unable to find much concise information using the photo.net;

and wonder if data storage is now worth a section on Equipment

(especially if people start scanning negatives).

Hi

 

I recently moved to Switzerland (Zurich) and have been very

disappointed with the quality of processing and extreme prices asked.

Generally the price is double that which I paid in England, for half

quality (ie pictures look like 1980's prints!).

 

Therefore does anyone know of a decent place to get photos developed

in Switzerland - without too much cost? As a reference:

Semi Pro developing (MPS - Newcastle England) = 10 pounds per 36 roll.

Semi Pro developing (Switzerland) > 20 pounds per 36 roll - and half

required reprinting.

 

Cheap developing (post england) = 5 pounds per 36 roll - ok quality

Cheap developing (Switzerland) = 5 pounds per 36 roll - 1970/80

print quality.

 

HELP PLEASE!

 

Thanks

 

Marc