Welcome to episode 31 of The Circle of Confusion, the professional photography podcast. This week, Neil and Roger talk about calf injuries and fender benders. Peter doesn’t.
Neil and Roger discuss small cameras and the upcoming Leica release. Peter doesn’t.
Neil and Roger talk about the world’s longest invoice. Peter doesn’t.
Neil and Roger discuss the latest bug in a new camera release. This time round it’s the turn of the Nikon D4 and D800.
Neil and Roger chat about evidence that Adobe Lightroom doesn’t get the most out of the sensor in the Canon 5III. Peter doesn’t.
Peter is ill. Neil and Roger aren’t.
To hear episode 31 hit the play button below. And don’t forget that you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes. We’d love it if you did.
Climb the mountain
Episode 2 of Dynamic Range was filmed around Croagh Patrick, an Irish icon. Neil has climbed it twice. Most recently with his little boy, who is nine. This is him:
He had to carry his dad up, you know.
Unfortunately, there is a Circle of Confusion tax to pay every time one of us gets near the place. This time, it was Neil’s wife’s car.
Leica
At the time of recording, we only had rumours that the Leica release today is a B/W camera. Somehow our invitation to the launch got lost in the post.
D800 and D4 lock-up, 5DIII fix
Nikon has confirmed a bug in its latest releases. They can stop working suddenly.
Meanwhile, the problem with the Canon 5DIII top plate LCD has been fixed. Find out how here: Lens Rentals opens up a 5DIII.
If only someone could fix the interface of Canon’s image processing software Digital Pile of Pony Digial Photo Professional. However, it seems DPP gets a better result from Canon files than Lightroom. Listener Kevin Curry (thank you, Kevin) sent us a link to a Canon Rumors forum: LR 4 to Blame.
Pay up
Freelancers are used to being used as cheap credit facilities for bigger businesses. Sometimes, they are a source of slave free labour. Just how bad the problem is is illustrated by The World’s Longest Invoice of outstanding fees owed to creatives in the US.
Competition
Vanguard Skyborne 51 - as seen in Dynamic Range episode 2
Bag maker Vanguard gave us one of its Skyborne 51 backpacks to review as part of a group test in episode 2 of Dynamic Range and we have that bag to give away. Despite the pummeling it got during the test, it is in almost mint condition and Vanguard has said we can either keep it or use it as a prize. So guess what? We’re keeping it using it as a prize.
All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning it is to purchase a copy of either episode 1 or episode 2 of Dynamic Range between 5th April 2012 and 31st May 2012. Your name will go into the hat and we’ll announce the winner on 7th June in the podcast.
It’s a great prize and we’d like to thank Vanguard for its generosity.
FREE SEGMENT FROM DYNAMIC RANGE EPISODE 2
We produced an abundance of great content for episode 2 of Dynamic Range. We can’t possibly include it all in the release next week, so we’ve decided to give you an entire segment for free here. It’s offered in full HD, and will play automatically at that resolution in full screen mode. If your broadband connection is having trouble with that, click the little gear icon near the bottom right of the player to choose a lower res.
If you like it, why not buy the full episode? It’s available for pre-order here: Dynamic Range Episode 2.
What do you think?
As ever, we’d love to hear your views and get your feedback.
Disagree, agree or have a completely different take on what we’ve discussed? Please get in touch by leaving a comment or emailing us at mailbag@circleofconfusion.ie.
Also, if you see or know something you think we’d be interested in discussing on the blog, we’d love to hear from you too.
Lastly, if you’d like to put yourself forward as a correspondent (we’re especially keen to hear from female photographers to help balance our pool of photographers worldwide), then you know what to do.
Blatant plug for our wares
Don’t forget, you can purchase the first episode of our landscape photography video series Dynamic Range for just €9.95, and as a bonus, the pilot episode is just €4.95! You’ll receive the download link via email as soon as you’ve completed the purchase.
Hi guys
On the DPP v Lightroom and red and white pixels…. To my knowledge Lightroom/ACR automatically remaps dead/hot pixels before processing so you wont see them even in the previews in Lightroom. DPP on the other-hand shows these pixels but remaps them upon export.
Enjoying the podcast! A long way from having your head stuck up our photocopiers arse Neil…!!! hahaha
Richie
Hiya Richie,
Them be the Good Ole Days.
I had a feeling that this was the case, but scary to see them all the same. I believe there is more going on in the RAW files with DPP than meets the eye. When I worked for Canon I had access to all sorts of info but now no more.
Ta Neil
DPP has always been and continues to be my RAW processor of choice. I’ve never quite been happy with Adobe’s interpretation. Unfortunately far too many photographers dismiss DPP without a second thought. That being said, there are times when I prefer the results coming from Phase One’s Capture One Pro 6.
But to me, RAW converters are a bit like film developers of yesteryear, each with it’s own distinct look, so what works for one photographer may not work for another.
Hi Thorsten,
I agree 100%, each RAW processor works differently for different Photographers. I like the output form DPP but don’t like the interface that much.
Neil
DPP was my also my processor of choice until about 18 months back when I tried Lightroom. I found even on my MacPro (dual quad core with a shed load of ram) that there was lag generating previews sometimes up to 5 or 6 seconds per image. Whilst this was fine for small amounts of processing it was a nightmare if processing something like a wedding or large architectural shoot. The lag in Lightroom is pretty much non existant (although it has got worse in LR4?) but I agree with Thorsten the output from DPP, particularly the colours are better…! Not going back all the same…. I love Lightroom 4…!
Richie
Richie,
It’s down to the User Interface that makes or breaks a program.
Still at the same arc-a-me-techs ??
Neil
Yeah Neil…! Unbelievably I am still in the same Architrons. We have however moved to Dublin so I am now part of the commuter population…! Great fun.
Chat soon
Richie
I may be repeating what others have said, but anyway here goes.
As a regular CoC listener, I’ve just finished enjoying the latest episode. However there was a section that had me squirming a bit: Neil’s red dots. I may be mistaken, as this is not based on direct experience of DPP but rather of a selection of other Raw converters, but he think he’s got his wires crossed here. From the description, It seems to me that DPP is indeed showing stuck pixels in its preview, and then editing them out in its output. Lightroom and Aperture are dealing with them in Preview as well, in early stage noise reduction. Turning off noise reduction in the Raw conversion brick in Aperture may well reveal them – not sure about Lightroom. Neil might find it worth a quick play with Iridient Raw Developer (which is apparently very highly thought of for B&W conversions) which allows direct toggling of stuck pixel display. Now all of this doesn’t rule out the possibility that DPP does a better job with 5D3 files, but the behaviour he describes certainly doesn’t seem to show evidence of “more information”, but rather noise. On a further point, I wouldn’t have described Adobe as being in bed with Nikon. Don’t you remember the kerfuffle about Nikon keeping white blance, or whatever, proprietary? Indeed, my impression is that the Lightroom “clique” are far closer to Canon. In general I’d say that manufacturer software is poor. Arguably the basic conversions are good, and certainly I’d agree that they ought to be, but usually the applications are sluggish and lacking in subtlety. They also seem to take great delight in badly reinventing every user interface convention they can get their hands on. Nikon might be the exception here, but again I’ve never used thir stuff.
Right, having been a bit critical, I’d like to make up for this with a suggestion. It would be very interesting, for me at least, to hear something about how being a professional affects your photographic style. For example, do you go out with an eye to make photos which will sell, or is it more the case of you can sell because your basic style appeals to the buying public? Do you look for blue-sky-postcard shots (good luck with the blue sky part in Ireland
) which you would otherwise cringe over? Is there a clear division between your personal work, and work which you offer for sale, or in Peter’s case, hang in the gallery? I guess for commissioned work in any case there’s a brief to follow, which imposes a demarcation, so this more about speculative commercial work. Do you still take photos which you know won’t sell, just because you like them?
I’d better do some work myself now… So, thanks for the weekly slice of entertainment. It makes Thursdays worth getting up for!
Nikon Neil strikes again! That Alter Ego really doesn’t like the D800, does he? But the D800 continues to get very high ratings. The review at [http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d800-d800e/29] has some nice things to say about it:
“With its 36MP sensor, the D800 is among the highest resolution cameras we’ve put before our test chart. And as you’d expect, its performance here puts it at the head of the class among its DSLR peers.”
and
“Resolution is undoubtedly a strong, if not primary selling point in a 36MP camera. And the D800 is capable of absolutely stellar results, certainly at the top of the class for any DSLR we’ve seen to date.”
I don’t point-out all this just to rub Alter Ego Neil’s nose in it but, to justify my recent purchase of the D800. Now to the real business at hand… The review states that the D800 “demands a ‘medium-format mindset’ to get the best results”. So, perhaps Peter (when he recovers) could speak to the “mindset” that is necessary to get the best results.
Not wanting to leave without a peace offering to Alter Ego, I point out that the DPReview also says “With the D800 arriving in camera shops alongside its chief competitor, the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, we have two well built photographic tools that are capable of outstanding images”.
CanonMan can also take pleasure in the fact that I just bought the wife a G1X and hope to get some “cracker” images with it. The larger sensor size and Neil’s recommendation clinched the deal. I’ll be reviewing his images (and probably Roger & Peter’s too) to get some inspiration.
Thanks,
Rich
@Rich – Great to hear from you Rich.
There is no doubt that the D800 is an incredible camera. You only have to consider the nit picking we’re reduced to to find fault with it. (Though suddenly locking up for no apparent reason is a bit of a biggie. Nikon will likely respond swiftly and decisively on that). Same goes for the 5DIII.
Besides, Neil’s ardour is tempered by my own frustration at Canon, the system I’ve used since the mid-1980s; while Peter exists on an entirely different plane altogether. The latter makes your question an interesting one. Peter would have a medium format mindset using a medium format system. Neil has a medium format mindset using a 35mm set up. And my mind is empty regardless of the system.
The two will I hope talk about it in the podcast this week.
I hope we have answered your question David in Episode 32 of the Podcast.
Regards Neil
Hi Rich,
The CanonMan here, who at one stage had 25 Nikon’s in my downstairs Loo (the best place for them). Canon, Nikon, who cares what camera you have, just as long as you know what to do with it. Keep your eyes and ears open as we might have a mega camera test on the horizon.
Regards Neil.
Go on the GX1
Hi Guys.
I’ve just listened to this podcast again and was surprised at the talk (from Roger) about DPP not supporting early “CRW” files. I’ve just decided to test this with some images I made with my EOS D60 back in 2003 and it works perfectly with them. The only features that are greyed out are the Lens Aberration controls.
I’m using version 3.11.1.0 ( often
) )
Tom, are you taking technical advice from Roger? Crazy !
DPP should have backward compatibility with all the EOS camera. As I don’t have any old EOS I can’t test but if it works for you then it’s true.