Posts Tagged photography
Lensbaby Turns Photos into Works of Art
One of the most-carried pieces of travel gear is a digital camera. And if you’ve moved up from a point-and-shoot to a DSLR—or are thinking about it—Lensbaby can help take your photography to the next level of creativity.
Lensbaby makes a series of lenses, and optic inserts for those lenses, that can turn ordinary photos into extraordinary works of art. I’ve been spending some time with the Composer lens and the Soft Focus Optic on my Nikon D90 and enjoying the results.
First stop was an old-fashioned carnival where I got so busy with the Lensbaby, I forgot about the cotton candy.
The Composer is a selective-focus lens. One of the best ways to call attention to a subject is to have it in sharp focus, with the background or even the foreground blurred. This is a great-looking effect. And it’s where the Composer shines.
Lensbaby Composer's view of the Fun Slide
The focus area can be in the center of the picture. Or, with the Composer’s ball-and-socket design, the sweet spot can be moved to the right or left and up or down.
Then, just focus and shoot. A built-in locking ring, if needed, will hold the spot.
It’s possible to get a similar type of selective focus with a regular lens by using a wide aperture, giving the picture a shallow depth of field. But the Composer makes it easy and can create a more dramatic effect with a movable sweet spot in only a portion of the frame.
The Composer also includes changeable aperture discs ranging from f2 to f22. I used manual exposure settings for my D90. Some other cameras allow light metering in aperture-priority mode.
The Composer is available with mounts for most popular digital SLR cameras.
Lensbaby offers two other selective-focus lenses—the Muse, with an accordion-like design, and the Control Freak for tabletop and macro photography. The Composer, Muse and Control Freak can each be used with interchangeable optics for different looks.
Carnival ride with Soft Focus Optic
One of these interchangeable optics is the Soft Focus, which I’ve also been testing. It gives pictures a softer, velvety look. This effect is seen evenly throughout the image, without the sweet spot of the standard optic in the Composer.
It’s great for portraits and landscape shots and can do some really interesting things with lights as you can see from the photo of the Wipeout ride.
Lensbaby has an online gallery of photos. There’s also a Flickr group for enthusiasts to share their favorite pics and tips.
The Composer sells for $270 at Lensbaby’s online store. Street prices are very close to that. It’s available from Amazon and other retailers nationwide. (The Amazon link is for the Nikon model—be sure and choose the correct mount for your camera.)
Carnival ride with Composer
The Soft Focus Optic sells for $89.95 from Lensbaby direct and is also available from Amazon. Note that a Composer, Muse or Control Freak lens is needed to use one of the changeable optics such as Soft Focus.
Of course, setting up a Lensbaby takes a bit longer than using an automatic lens. But the small amount of extra time invested pays off with stunning photos.
Point and shoot cameras are great when you want a small, easy-to-use camera to carry around during your travels. But for serious photography—minus the shutter lag, fixed lenses and other annoyances of the point-and-shoots—a DSLR is definitely the way to go.
Then, adding a Lensbaby can help you look at the world in a new way.
Posted by JohnG in Adventure Gear, Business Gear, General Gear on February 22nd, 2010
Rebit Automatic Backup Hard Drive
Backing up your computer is something that most people think about but seldom do. Kind of like flossing your teeth or exercising more. It needs to be done, but it’s not an enjoyable task and it’s easy to put off. The products from Rebit take care of that by making it automatic.
Much of your data can be backed up “in the cloud” now anyway, so a hard drive crash isn’t what it used to be. But what about all those photos? What about all that music? Backing all those up online can get expensive since they are very big files. If you’re traveling for a long time or are an expat in a developing country, you also may not always have a fast Internet connection for all those gigabytes to flow through.
I used to use a basic portable hard drive from Western Digital until out of the blue it died while I was on a ship in the Galapagos. Apparently that’s common with these small portable drives, which makes me wonder, “Do I need a backup for my backup?” There I was with 400 new photos stored and praying that my laptop wouldn’t die or disappear. Their warranty on the old version I had was quite limited, but the company kindly offered to restore the data on it—for a mere $800. Um, no thanks. Now they come with a longer warranty though: three years. (See John’s Western Digital portable hard drives review.)
So now I use this Rebit, which is billed as “ridiculously simple backup.” The promise is that you plug this thing into a USB port (or two ports if extra juice is needed) and follow the installation wizard. After that it figures out what’s on your computer, and then it backs everything up. You don’t need to press any buttons or launch any software. It’s all automatic.
If you leave it plugged in it keeps backing up files as you work (and deleting what you delete), but if you only plug it in now and then, that’s fine too. The Rebit figures out what’s new since the last time and it goes and grabs it. In the event you need any files later, you just drag them off the Rebit and onto any computer.
The product has improved over time. I tried out a version a few years ago that was twice as thick and twice as buggy, failing to work properly on two different PCs with XP. This time I plugged it into my HP dv3 laptop with Vista and everything went without a hitch. The Rebit backed up 100 GB of data while I slept and then every time I plugged it in later (getting nagged every day I didn’t by the software), it would usually take 20-30 minutes to get updated. In theory it works in a way that doesn’t slow down your system—waiting until your mouse isn’t moving to work—but there was a little bit of system lag when the Rebit was plugged in, especially if I was typing. But this is true with most any backup system, so if it’s a concern you can plug it in when you’re going to lunch or something.
The device is sleek, light, and thin, with just a blue LED light to show it’s on and a place to plug in the USB. It comes with a cloth carrying case. This would be easy to pack up and take on the road for making sure you don’t lose any photos or files from your travels. It can also serve as a way to transfer said photos or files to a different computer. In my tests I was able to plug this into a home PC and drag over picture folders using the usual Windows Explorer drag and drop system.
Personally, I would prefer more feedback than what is provided. There’s nothing telling you what’s being backed up or scanned like you get with cloud solutions such as SugarSync. It doesn’t even really tell you when it’s working and when it’s not. Mousing over it or clicking on what’s in your system tray just brings up a message that it’s working.
The one real snag I ran into initially was this was supposed to be a two-computer version, but I could only get it to work on one. Since there’s no way to control the thing, there was nothing to try as a fix when it just installed itself and then did nothing more on the second computer. A call to tech support fixed the issue though when they walked me through a workaround—they do have a phone number answered by humans available during working hours. [Review updated 2/15/09]
Note that you can also buy Rebit just as a software solution (for less than $20 at Amazon) and install it on your own external hard drive. So if you’ve already got a regular hardware-only portable drive, you can put this software on it and then back up without thinking in the future. Just plug it in. It only works with Windows but that’s okay: with a Mac you can do the same thing with the included TimeMachine.
The prices on the actual drive are quite reasonable though—if you ignore the list price. The 160GB version goes for under $80 at Amazon and the 320GB version is under $110. Both ship for free.
See other reviews at Rebit.com.
Posted by Tim in Business Gear, General Gear on February 11th, 2010
Review: Eye-Fi Explore Video Camera Card
Occasionally, I run across a gadget that leaves me wondering, “How did they do that?”
The Eye-Fi Explore Video wireless memory card, that plugs into digital cameras and uploads still photos and videos, is one of those. While it has some limitations, what it does is pretty amazing.
The Explore Video card will connect and automatically upload pictures to your computer through a wireless router on a home network. It can also connect to thousands of Wi-Fi hotspots around the country. And it can upload, without ever taking the card out of the camera, to photo- and video-sharing services such as Facebook, Flickr, Picasa and YouTube.
It works with cameras that use SDHC storage and is the same size as a conventional card. The 4 GB Eye-Fi card will hold more than 500 pictures, at highest JPG quality, on my Nikon D90.
Just think of the possibilities. Travelers can easily upload and share pictures from the road. Or, I could walk around the house taking family photos while they transfer to the computer automatically. The card has good range and the signal even holds up well through walls.
I found it takes 10-15 seconds to upload a high-resolution picture to the computer with file sizes of 5-7 MB. Videos, if your camera supports them, can take much longer because of the bigger file sizes. I didn’t find any objectionable battery drain with my D90.
The Explore Video card can also geotag photos, adding location information which can be seen with some programs and Internet-based sharing services.
Setting up a computer to receive the photos is quick and easy, using a card reader that plugs into a USB port. The card can be set up to connect to encrypted routers. (Time out for a reminder—always encrypt wireless signals at your home or office. You never know who might be driving by or trying to connect from next door.)
Eye-Fi’s online support is excellent and addresses just about any question imaginable on setup and operation.
There are some limitations. The main one is connecting to many free, public Wi-Fi hotspots.
Eye-Fi cards will seamlessly connect to Wayport hot spots. There are more than 10,000 across the U.S., including hotel, fast-food restaurant and airport locations.
The trick is trying to connect to other public Wi-Fi signals. It can be done, but only if the signals are unencrypted and do not use a splash or log-in screen.
There are also some limitations on geotagging, which does not use GPS for determining locations. Instead, it homes in through the locations of nearby wi-fi signals without connecting to them. In areas with few signals, geotagging might not work.
Some cameras provide more support for the card than others. For example, some upper-end Nikon DSLRs will show on the screen when photos are being uploaded. Most cameras do not show any indication when an upload is in progress, though you can choose to be notified by e-mail or text message when it completes.
The Eye-Fi Explore 4GB Video card retails for $99.99, but you’ll find it on Amazon for less. That includes one year of access to Wayport hot spots. After that, the price for Wayport access is $14.99 a year.
For travelers who take lots of pictures and like to share them with family and friends, the Eye-Fi Explore Video card can make the task a whole lot easier. And it won’t take up any more room in your bag.
Posted by JohnG in General Gear, Kids and Family, Travel Light on January 5th, 2010
5 Things I Always Pack – Beth Whitman
This month’s guest post with “5 things I always pack” is from Beth Whitman. She is the author and publisher of the Wanderlust and Lipstick guides for women travelers, the editor of WanderlustAndLipstick.com, and leads tours to Bhutan, India, Vietnam and Cambodia. Here’s what she carries with her when she hits the road.
1. SteriPEN
In an effort to reduce my garbage footprint when I travel, I always carry a SteriPen Traveler water purifier. I’ve used this on numerous trips to India, drinking the tap water (hint: it still tastes yucky) and have never gotten Delhi Belly as a result.
2. eReader
I still buy the print versions of guidebooks because nothing beats lying in bed at night and highlighting all the places I want to visit. But for leisure reading, I upload books to an eReader, like Amazon’s Kindle, so that I’m not wasting space in my bag on a heavy tome.
3. Eyeshade
I’m never without an eyeshade that I wear on the plane or in my hotel room when there’s too much light coming through the window. It’s cheap and takes up little space, but is such a lifesaver when I really want/need to sleep.
4. Cable Lock
Nothing beats the added protection of a retractable cable lock. I can lock my backpack to my bed on an overnight train or to a stationary object in my hotel room if I’m staying someplace where I’m a little concerned about leaving my valuables behind.
5. Digital Photo Storage
Of course I always have a camera with me. But, I learned a hard lesson (I lost – but later recovered – about 300 images taken in India) about backing up my images nightly. These are generally small units that have the capacity to hold far more images or video than I’ll ever take on one trip. I use one from Digital Foci.
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Posted by Tim in General Gear, Travel Light on December 30th, 2009
Fuji EnviroMAX Batteries – A Little Less Toxic
Ah, the holidays. A time when people get millions of new gadgets powered by batteries. In a perfect world all those batteries would be rechargeable, but we know most people are too lazy (and too bad at math) to bother with that.
So millions of acid-filled batteries go into landfills instead of being treated as the hazardous waste they are. It’s not like most municipalities make it easy for you to dispose of them properly.
Enter the Fuji EnviroMax alkaline batteries. I wouldn’t really call them “green” since the batteries themselves are not recyclable nor even made from recycled materials, but you can toss them into the household garbage without feeling like you’re directly poisoning the planet. That’s a step in the right direction anyway. They’re free of mercury, cadmium, and PVC, which are all found in the usual batteries sold by the 40-pack at Wal-mart. And at least the packaging is made from recycled materials.
Of course people don’t want to give up performance, so thankfully these deliver as well as regular batteries. The company has data to prove that and in my unscientific test the two AA ones I installed in a Flip Ultra video camera are still going strong even after I let my daughter and her friend film silly videos of themselves for days on end. They come in all the usual sizes: AAA, AA, C, and D.
Prices are all over the map with these EnviroMAX batteries. In some places they are competitive with the regular acid sticks from Duracell and the like, but online they can range anywhere from $4.50 to $12 for a AA 4-pack, so shop around.
So is this green gear? Well, not really, but like using natural gas instead of coal, it’s an improvement if there’s a good reason you can’t use rechargeable batteries on your next trip.
See more at the official Fuji EnviroMax website
Get the AA 4-pack at Buy.com
Posted by Tim in General Gear, Kids and Family on December 16th, 2009
