Keep your software up to date

One of the great delights with both Adobe Photoshop CS5 and Phase One Capture One is the auto updates feature.  I think I have had two come through for CS5 since I originally installed it not so long ago and a few more with Capture One since the beginning of the year.

It was while mulling over what to write last night that it struck me that I don't get this for a couple of other bits of software that I use.

Dave and I have been strong protagonists of Breezebrowser Pro, but it doesn't always tell me when it has been updated, so I have to remember to check.

If you are a user of this fine software, you will find that it is now up to Version 1.9.5.4 issued on 5th July - which has just finished downloading as I write this

I sometimes use Canon's own DPP - this is now at version 3.8.1 - again I was a version down level so have changed that.

I am still currently on Lightroom v2 which as at 2.7, and as far as that will go as it has now been replaced by V3, which I will get round to getting upgrading soon.

There are links to the full and upgrade versions on the Amazon bar on the right if you are interested.

Well I am sure you are all far more disciplined than me, and have all your software at current levels, but if not then this might have been of use to you tonight.

Note, the above versions are all for the higher end PC platform.  Apple users can also check their links too - except of course for Breezebrowser Pro

Martin

Breezebrowser Pro Update - V 1.9.5

 As regular readers of the blog will know, both Dave and I are fans of Breezebrowser Pro software.

Well there was an update a couple of days to V 1.9.5 that you can see here and download.

Support now available for a whole raft of cameras including the Nikon D3S and X as well as the Canon 1Dmk1v, and loads of others.

Only for PC users luckily for us.  Another good reason to upgrade from over priced Macs.  Why have one piece of white plastic when you can have a desktop and a laptop or netbook with the same specs. and still ave change over  :-)

Martin

Quick Update - General Stuff

Just another quickie from me, particularly as Dave has been doing some lengthy photo posts with some great images.

I am still tied up writing a long environmental report for work which is taking a lot of my time and will do again tomorrow so no chance of getting out with the camera.  So fingers crossed for next weekend, although having said that the light has been awful today so no real loss there to be honest.

It is pleasing to see a lot more comments and interaction on a number of our recent posts with a big thanks to Ashley, Julian and Peter in particular for their inputs.  It does make it much more worthwhile for us to get your comments, so thanks, and we will always welcome more.

Also numbers of readers and daily visitors have been good so if you are a new reader, then welcome to our blog.  Please feel free to leave comments, take an RSS feed or sign up as a blog follower via the various links on the right hand side.

We also are signed up to Amazon.co.uk, so even if we are not showing what you specifically want to buy, if you click in via us to whatever you are looking for we would be most grateful.

I  must add some Amazon.com banners so that all of our US readers, and in fact UK and rest of the world  readers can get stuff that way too.

I have had a bit more hands on time with a 7D over the Christmas  and New Year period, so will think about a bit more useful feedback.

On a different note, I have read an awful lot of rubbish on various forums about the 7D. Simply put, if you want to get the most from it, then you will need to think about it and set it up.

Coming from a few years of 1Dmk3 experience it is very easy.  I think if you are upgrading from say a 450D or 30 or 40D, it is a much bigger leap, and if you employ the same techniques, you may well struggle, as seems to be the case from a lot of what I have read.

In terms of processing 7D RAW files, the best tool you can use is Phase One Capture 1 v5.  Simply put it really is the best tool for the job. There are Pro and LE versions - there is a big price difference, and the LE version will cover just about all your needs.  Again I have seen lots of people having problems with some of the Adobe products.  In addition, the latest update v 1.9.4.3 for Breezebrowser Pro will now also process 7D RAW files.  Only for PC users, so if you have a MAC, bad luck you could always upgrade to two PC's for the price of your white plastic  :-)

Anyway, I will cover the 7D in a bit more detail in later blogs.  If there are any particular aspects you want covered, please let us know through the comments, and I will do my best to cover it off for you.

Finally, I have cleaned up the 'Other blogs' section down the right hand side, removing a couple that were essentially dead as they weren't being contributed to, and replaced them with a couple of others  that I have come across recently  that are both active and enjoyable in terms of content.  So I hope you enjoy having a look at them too.

Martin

Software - Windows 7

Regular readers will know that I am a convert to my Samsung NC10 netbook.

This has been a fantastic little tool for me since I got it back in February. It goes literally everywhere with me, and providing I can get a Vodafone signal, I can hook up on line anywhere.

I gave my most recent presentation of my Mull Wildlife talk just this morning to the RPS Nature Group at the Chairmans Day, alongside two great speakers, Gianpiero Ferrari and Heather Angel, using the Netbook and Breezebrowser as my slide show software - another great bit of software that we have frequently recommended on this blog.

Anyway, I am sure it will not have escaped your notice that Windows 7 was launched last week, so I thought I would have a little look to see what is involved.

Firstly, if you are running Vista then it is an easy upgrade on top of your existing OS as you can just do a simopple run, as far as I am aware, but make sure you double check to be certain.

f you are using XP, then that's where your troubles start.

All the advice points to the following:

Back up all your files (well you should do that anyway - so no hardship there)

Then you do a clean install of the new OS.

Then, and here is the killer, reinstall all of your applications and files.

Well I don't know about you, but many of my apps are downloads, of various upgrades with discs all over the place.

I had thought about upgrading the netbook rather than my main desktop PC, which is now coming up to four years old. But on the basis of the above, plus the fact that XP is a pretty good stable platform and works well....at least for me on the netbook, I am going to give it a miss.

It can wait until I get a new desktop, which will almost certainly be some time next year.

That way, the OS would have had a good few months user testing, and service pack updates, and I will be back to reinstalls of apps then.

So my verdict!! - I am sure it is very nice, but it can wait. Sorry if you thought I was going to review it for you but I am not in the habit of changing for changes sake, and I have spouted on often enough on this blog about choosing not to be the test bed for manufacturer's lack of thorough testing.

Martin

Tips & Techniques - Highlight Tone Priority

For us Canon users and D-Light Control (I believe) for the Nikonites is a feature that can be found on the more recent bodies..

I mentioned about this feature on a forum recently and it was suggested that should feature as a blogpost - so here you go Calum!!

Firstly, I did a little bit of web searching as you do to check it out - it is remarkable how little information there actually is around. Which suggests that either people don't know what it is for, don't use it much, or that anyone has been that much interested in it.

Well I am no techno geek when it comes to some of these finer points - I use what is available to me, and try to find out it's limitations.

Using the Canon 1Dmk111 as an example, Highlight Tone Priority (HTP) can be found in the Custom Function setting, in the second group under Image/Flash exp./Disp and scroll through to C.Fn 11. You have the option to enable or disable.

I leave mine as disabled unless I am working in certain lighting and subject conditions.

So what does the manual advise us?

By using this setting, we will get improved highlight detail. The dynamic range is expanded from the standard 18% grey to the bright highlights. The gradation between the greys (or grays if you are US I guess) and the highlights become smoother.

There is a caution that with setting 1 (i.e. enabled) that noise in the shadows may be slightly more than usual.

The main visual clue is that the ISO setting on the top plate goes from upper case to lower case on the zeros. So for example ISO 400 with the HTP setting will appear as ISO 4oo. The minimum ISO becomes ISO200, as the camera is effectively carrying out a split exposure processing between the areas above and below 18% grey.

I understand that the selection of this feature will affect frame rate or buffer capacity, although I cannot confirm that from my own experiences.

Here is a bit of info I cribbed from a Google search which is attributed to the fine work by Arthur Morris on his BIRDS AS ART blog

"Canon has not publicly disclosed all the details of the method used to achieve Highlight Tone Priority. I can confirm that Canon’s method involves lowering the gain on the image sensor and modifying the image processing algorithm to simulate the ISO speed set by the user, but the details of the algorithm are confidential. Since HTP does involve lower gain than standard camera settings, it affects both RAW data and JPEG images. Although it would be possible for users to come close to simulating the effects of HTP for RAW images by shooting at a lower ISO speed and altering the tone curve of the image during post-processing, this method requires advance planning and furthermore offers no advantages in terms of noise reduction compared to setting HTP on the camera. Finally, as stated in the camera instruction manuals, “noise in the shadow areas may be slightly more than usual” when HTP is activated. Therefore, it’s basically up to users to decide if the benefits of HTP outweigh the potential drawbacks.” - all as written by Chuck Westfall of Canon USA

So does it work in RAW and jpeg. It clearly works in jpeg, and I understand to get the best of the results you should process your RAW images via Canon's own Digital Photo Professional software (DPP). This would make sense as the the software is designed specifically for Canon files.

Does it work with Adobe products to get the full benefit? Maybe somebody can answer that one. I do understand that it works correctly with Breezebrowser Pro - but you all know that Dave and I are big fans of that particular software.

Here are a couple of image that with and with HTP on. I used manual exposure to ensure that the settings remained the same. Certainly on the back of the camera, the black 'blinkies' were showing on the version that didn't use HTP. You will note that the shadows are clipped on both versions from the little blue triangle.

The main thing to note though is the shift leftwards of the highlights on the histogram with the HTP on version., and that the red clipping warning is extinguished on that version.

So when and where would I use it?

Bright light conditions, with very light subjects - so Egrets for starters, plus Kingfishers in the sunshine, when the sun is beating down on their white neck patch Calum :-).

When wouldn't I use it? - the rest of the time - as I said before I set it to default OFF.

So try for yourself and see what you find.

Without HTP (blown highlights)

With HTP on (clean highlights)

Martin

Hardware & software - Virtual Screen Res on Netbooks

Well I promised that I would share how you can get 1024 x 768 res on a netbook screen that has a native res of 1024 x 600 when I posted our first guest photographer blog on John Bulpitt on Friday just gone.

I found this after a bit of googling and found that some people were saying this was possible.

Now why would you want more res. than the screen can support. John made the point in his post that certain bits of software need a minimum screen res to run, including some of the Photoshop series, the Canon software and of interest to me is my colour calibration Eye One 2 software.

So here is how you do it.

On the desktop, right click and select properties. On the Settings tab, select Advanced button. Then on the monitor tab untick the box that says 'Hide modes that this monitor cannot display.

Click Apply and OK. Then back to the Display properties window and use the slider to select 1024 x 768 res.

And again Apply and OK.

Now when you see the screen you will either be missing the top or the bottom. Just use the scroll part of the built in mousepad to scroll the screen up and down.

I moved my desktop icons down to ensure I could see them all when using the taskbar and quick launch bar.

Now you may not get on with this but I find it is pretty easy really.

Would be good to get your feedback on how easy you find this.

So finally apologies that none of this is any good for our Mac readers, but you could always upgrade to a PC so you can get the benefits of Breezebrowser :-)

Martin

Breezebrowser Downloader Pro

Last week whilst shooting with Phil Shaw i noticed that he was using Breezebrowser Downloader pro so i took a look, I am a big fan of Breezesystems Breezebrowser Pro browser,The downloader pro works nicely in conjunction with this and at under $30 its a steal, Once you have plugged your card in for downloading you can set it to automactically add data as it downloads like your name and description/ITPC etc, You can also send it to a specific file and it recognises duplicate images and only downloads one, I was shooting both D3 and D300 and a couple of times i had duplicate file numbers-this wont happen with this programme-looks a good product and one i am about to purchase-more info here

Dave