The Radio Popper Website has been updated with more info on the new "Radio based E - TTL flash triggers" with expanded content including details of the three models currently in the works.
Check out the details about the Radio Popper Jr. :
From their site...
"We stripped the standard radio triggering feature off of our P1 model in an effort to further reduce size and cost - but we’re giving this feature back in the form of the RadioPopper Jr. The Jr. will be a standard no-frills studio strobe triggering device. It won’t sport the TTL or infrared bridging features offered by its older brothers, but it will fill the need in our industry for a simple device that plugs to the PC-synch plug on your camera and reliably triggers manual strobes.
And we’re going to offer it at a ridiculously low price.
Designed with the highest quality radio components, cutting no corners, real world range projected to 2000+ ft, legitimate FCC certified radio slaves, and we’re going to do our best to put them in your hands for $25 each. "
Awesome!
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Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Radio Popper Updates Web Info...
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Canon 7D Confirmed By Elvis...In Beta Testing With Bigfoot!
You can trust Elvis!
The widespread rumors about a future release date for the not yet confirmed Canon Eos 7D are growing with every passing week. Spurred by falling prices and big manufacturer rebates available in the EU, the Canon faithful are holding their breath with giddy anticipation. Consumers in Europe were the first to receive price breaks on the 12.8 Megapixel Eos 5D in the form of cash rebates, with the option of having the cash direct deposited into their bank accounts or receiving a rebate check mailed after purchase. With Canon's first round of rebates cutting 200 Euros from the price of the 5D, the speculation that a new full frame DSLR was right around the corner has continued to grow. To add fuel to the fire, there are now some retailers in Germany that have knocked another 100 Euros off the rebate price. Yeee Haaaa!
Even with all the price breaks, rebates and incentives, there are no guarantees that Canon will release any new professional level DSLRs anytime before the second quarter of 2008. We can only hold our breath and wait, or go and buy a 5D while the gettins good!
Update:
From the "Digital Pro Talk Blog,"
Anonymous said...
David, it's well known that big foot was caught taking a picture of the Loch Ness monster with a 7D. This was verified by Elvis who is working at a lab in Atlantis.
1:09 PM, October 04, 2007
Thats all the confirmation I need!
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Friday, October 26, 2007
Using Canon SpeedLite Transmitter ST- E2 As Focus Aid?
Just an idea...
Recently, Dr. Pimento did some pseudo scientific field testing with a Canon EOS 40D at his local pro camera shop. Straight out of the box, using several of his own professional Canon prime lenses and zooms, he took a series of ambient light, high ISO images to evaluate the 40D's focus accuracy and consistency under normal room lighting. His goal, to test for the dreaded front focus / back focus problems experienced by some of Canons other high end cameras. Using the unevenly stacked inventory boxes high on the shelf behind the counter, he focused and refocused on the same spot ( the large typeface on a Canon lens box ) making exposures after each new framing and refocus. Dr. Pimento was careful to use the singular focus spot in the viewfinder, zeroing in on the exact letter in the type face on the package front for each exposure.
Back at Dr. P's secret testing facility, the RAW images were processed and evaluated on his "state - of - the - art" imaging system, complete with Matrox video card and high resolution LCD monitor. His down and dirty in store focus experiment did not reveal the positive results he was hoping for, with frame after frame of inconsistently focused images, sometimes behind the subject, other times focused well in front.
Is it possible that Canon DSLR's just aren't capable of focusing on certain fonts? Or is it more likely that Canon autofucus ( purposely misspelled ) technology has an aversion to critical focus on cardboard boxes! Hmmmm..............?
That brings me to the title of this post....."Canon SpeedLite Transmitter ST-e2 As Focus Aid." I have heard rumors that these overpriced units for controlling multiple speedlite flashes are excellent for using strictly as a focus aid, emitting an LED beam at close proximity. Come to think of it, I have hardly ever taken an out of focus pic with a speedlite mounted on my Canon in a dimly lit room. At $209.95 before shipping at B&H Photo, they certainly aren't cheap, but coming back from an assignment with poorly focused images might cost you even more.
I might have to give one of these a try!
Specs:
-Speedlite Transmitter ST-E2
- Compatible with 420EX, 550EX, 580EX, or MR-14EX and MT-24EX Macro flashes
- AF-assist Beam: Compatible with EOS-3's 45-point Area AF and 28mm and longer lens focal lengths
- Power Source : 2CR5 lithium battery x 1, Battery Life: Approx. 1,500 transmissions (At room temperature and with a new set of batteries).
Price: $209.95 at B&H Photo
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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Radio Popper Transmitters On Their Way...
More photo goodies!
If you've been looking for an alternative to the expensive Pocket Wizard radio flash triggers that currently rule the photo universe, you might just have a new 'expensive' option coming in the first weeks of January. Radio Poppers from Kevin King, Phoenix Arizona based wedding shooter, promises to be a revolutionary new transmitter / receiver flash trigger for working with E-TTL and Canon / Nikon cameras. His tiny Radio Popper receiver units promise more flexibility with shutter speed sync, increased transmitter working distance and flawless reliability in bright daylight. You can read more about his Radio Poppers on the STROBIST website, where you can follow links to an original article from September of this year.
There still seem to be a lot of skeptics and Pocket Wizard true-believers out there who want to cast doubt on his invention and scheduled January 2008 release date. You can check out the Radio Popper Website and decide for yourself.
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Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Giving Microsoft's Sync Toy A Spin!
Here we go again...
Sync Toy: the smart way to copy files ?
From Microsoft's site...
'Sync Toy v1.4 is available as a free download on the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.'
Now that I have officially kicked Win Vista's butt and given myself over to the 'dark side', I figured I would go one step further and give the Sync Toy Utility a test drive. It appears to have quite a following on the Microsoft Pro Photo Website, with much praise from digital shooters as a simple and effective file copying / backup program. I plan to use the small file utility do a twice daily scheduled backup of my current image files from my 'DC' hard drive ( Main storage ) to an external mass storage device, possibly even a DROBO hot swappable drive storage system.
Setting up Sync Toy to manage file backups, file changes and renames, appears to be a fairly simple procedure. During the initial programming, you are asked to choose a folder pair where designated files are synchronized one to the other on a schedule that you choose, with options for more or less control over the process. If I can get this to work easily without some sort of battle with the Win Vista operating system, I will be a happy camper!
From Microsoft....
'Sync Toy synchronizes the files in folders of your choosing. It does so by copying, renaming, and deleting files. ' ...............'You can even set up Sync Toy to run unattended. ' ......'The powerful preview feature in Sync Toy shows you exactly what is going to happen before any files are touched. Preview even gives you a chance to unselect any proposed actions before you start.'
Sounds a little scary, but I'll be giving it a try!
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Saturday, October 20, 2007
Win Vista Is My B#*tch!
Geek Time!
After more than a week of boots, re - boots, hard drive installs and removals, disk formatting and software updating, I might just have a usable system for my imaging workflow. With a clean system and a dependable color balance thanks to the Gretag Macbeth - eye one profiling, I can hopefully get back to some work in Photoshop. The problem with Win Vista overriding my video look - up tables was resolved with a 512 MB, DDR 2 Evga Graphics card added in my PCI Express slot. Take that Bill Gates! ..........try and turn off my ICC Profile now Jerk!
Other upgrades include a 160 GB SATA drive in addition to the 320 GB Main HDD running my Operating System. The 160 SATA is expressly reserved and labeled as a Photoshop scratch disk set with 'write caching' and 'advanced performance' ( Scary! ) enabled. All image files are saved to a third 500 GB SATA disk labeled as DC Storage ( ?..... I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you! ) with no other data allowed. Using each drive for only one function, the Main Drive runs my OS and loaded programs, the scratch disk is only used for Photoshop and the big 500GB drive is only used to store image files. That's just the storage on the inside of the computer. With my new PCI E 1x SATA-E raid card installed, I will eventually put 2 more 500 GB drives on the desktop for long term backup and storage. The system is rounded out with 4 Gigs of RAM, 2 external high speed USB 2.0 hard drives ( 160GB Seagate and 250GB WD) that remain connected at all times and a newly installed 600 Watt dual fan power supply to replace the cheap 250 watter that came with the computer. The new power supply will guarantee that all my extra goodies will have more than enough juice to run properly with lots of extra connectors for the future. Wow! ...........I feel like such a geek.
Oh,........ but there's more! I also have Ready Boost enabled with a 1 GB USB stick running most of my background ( Antivirus + Firewall ) programs and two extra fans installed to cool my processor and hard drives. Fan number one is sucking air out the back of the case and I modded another huge 12volt fan into the side of the enclosure to blow air in. It has a sweet on / off switch mounted flush on the outside, provided by the the good folks at Radio Shack. It looks so cool you would swear it came from HP as an option.
And finally.......... because I couldn't leave well enough alone, I bought an inside / outside car temp thermometer and ran the sensor into the middle of the enclosure above the hard drives to keep a watch on overheating. The readout unit is mounted on the front of my computer where I can easily see it and looks as though it were built into the case. It proved to my satisfaction that my big 12v fan mod was lowering temps by as much as 12 degrees Fahrenheit in the case.
Still working on the Flux Capacitor...
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