Why I Love My X-E1

I visited my son at his college this past weekend.  He wanted to use my camera to take some pictures while we were in downtown Nashville at night.  He has used point-and-shoot cameras in the past, as well as film SLRs and a Holga.  I suggested he start off with the 18-55, then later stated that I prefer to use the 27mm as a walk around lens with the 60mm in tow.  I let him use my little DSLR bag which has exactly enough room for the camera with one of the two lenses attached and the other in the bottom of the bag.  He put on the 60mm and started taking pictures.

It was set to Velvia.  He took a few pictures using the 60mm 2.4, using manual focus and looking through the eyepiece.  He was surprised at how large the focus control was on the 60mm.

He wanted to know how to adjust the white balance.  I showed him how to use the down arrow (I had mapped to that purpose) to change the white balance to see the effect in the live view.  He switched to black & white and played around a bit more.  He wanted to change the shutter speed, which I was proud to show was controlled with its own knob.  I showed that ISO was mapped to the fn button, as well as how to change the aperture with the dedicated control on the lens.  I pointed out that I loved being able to see exactly what the picture would look like through the eyepiece instead of taking the picture and then having to check it.  

I showed him how to use Q to switch between C1 (Set to Velvia, high auto ISO) and C7 (B&W, 400 ISO) to quickly change the mood.  

He didn't like my C7 so went back to C1.   I showed him that he could change the focus point using the AF button and the arrow keys.  Even though he was using manual focus, the focus point mattered because you could zoom in by clicking the scroll wheel, all while using the eyepiece.  He liked it, but said it was disorienting focusing off-center in zoomed-in mode.  He continued to play with ISO and other settings as he took pictures.

We left the hotel and went to the restaurant.  He switched to the 27mm 2.8 because it was so discreet.  

I have the silver-and-black X-E1 and the silver-and-black 27mm, as well as the Fuji 1/2 leather case (please don't hate me for the case) and a nice wrist strap.  It's not invisible, but it certainly is not intimidating to people being photographed.

He took a few pictures in the restaurant.

He wanted to know what the picture would have looked like in B&W.  I showed him how to use the in-camera RAW converter to re-process immediately.  He liked it.  I was proud that the camera could do that so easily.

He tried a few other conversions as well.  

I don't know if he's happy with any of the pictures, but I certainly am.  I remember showing him how to use other cameras I have owned in the past, mainly Canon point-and-shoot and Canon DSLRs, and I remember how apologetic I was about how to change things instead of being proud about how to change things.

I have left the pictures as they came out of the camera, only changing the size to work for this blog.  I know that Velvia is not great for skin tones, and that several of these could use some balancing, but that would defeat the point of the story. 

Thanks for the great visit.

I Got Street Urchin! What Career Should you Actually Have?

I Got Street Urchin!  What Career Should you Actually Have

Can't Stop Reading The Walking Dead!

I keep reading this over and over. Does anyone know of any other comics like this:  Non-superhero humans living through some horrible hardship for years and years?

Breaking Up with a Laptop on Vacation

My wife and I recently went to Orlando for a quick vacation.  I decided to try and live without my laptop for the trip since I recently got an iPad 3.

To be clear, I really only bring the laptop (a two-year-old MacBook Pro) to edit photographs I take with my SLR.

THE GOOD

My iPad 3 still has the old connector, and has 64GB of RAM, so it was very easy to get the RAW images from my camera into the iPad.  I even pulled in a high-def video about 10 minutes long.

This is maybe the most important "good":  The screen on the iPad 3 is astonishing.  The colors are extremely accurate and the resolution is truly better than my eyes can see, which can not be said for my laptop.  It was a lot easier to identify bad photos because the resolution of the screen made it easy to identify if the desired in-focus areas were truly in focus. 

I was able to do everything I wanted to do (eventually) and it didn't really seem to take more time than on a computer.  Some functions, like cropping and rotation, were easier and smoother on the iPad.

I was able to edit a movie using iMovie on the iPad before I posted it.  It could have been easier, but it was certainly usable.

Of course, the iPad took up much less space and weighed a lot less than the MacBook Pro.

THE BAD

iPhoto on the iPad is NOT the same as Aperture on the Mac (duh).  I was able to make 90% of the changes I wanted to make to my photographs, but I didn't feel like I was finished with them (I didn't mess with them at home later, so I guess I was finished after all!).

iPhoto and the camera roll use two different storage locations.  I had to "export" edited pictures to the camera roll to publish them, and this could only be done one picture at a time.  Fortunately I only wanted to post a few of the pictures, but this would be unacceptable on a photo vacation (see update).

There is no way to batch-edit photos for things like white balance.  This is maybe a good thing because it forces me to make sure the white balance is where I want it when I take the photo, instead of planning on fixing this in post (rember, white balance is just a setting in a RAW picture, so it's easy to change in post--unlike a JPEG, where white balance is part of the processing so you can't "undo" it if it is incorrect).

UPDATE

iPhoto for iOS has been updated to make it much easier to move multiple pictures between iPhoto and the camera roll. 

CONCLUSION

I will no longer bring my laptop on vacations to edit and publish photos.  SD cards are cheap, so I'll make sure I have enough cards to store all my pictures, using iPad as editor and backup.  I can transfer everything to the computer when I get home.

Far Cry 3 vs. Skyrim

There are lots of posts on this already, but I wanted to give my opinion.  I have only played a portion of Far Cry 3, so I am certainly not an expert on the game, but my first hour with the game has shown me all I need to see.

GOOD

I was very impressed with the intro/tutorial.  It drew me in and kept me involved the whole time.  I was genuinely scared for my character.  I have to say that this portion of the game felt more "realistic" than Skyrim's intro/tutorial because it felt like what I did mattered, unlike in Skyrim where the tutorial just waited on my to get to the next checkpoint.

I'm running both games on a two year old MacBook Pro.  It was easy to set FC3 up so that it ran smoothly on this machine.  Skyrim took many hours of fiddling with settings to run smoothly without too many artifacts like popups.

The world is lush and feels realistic.  The plants don't move out of my way, but that hasn't bothered me in the past few years of games.  It makes me want to just wander around the island to see what I can find, which leads me to...

BAD

The game is very mission-based.  I am used to wandering around wherever I want in games like Skyrim to find little things to do--it makes the world seem alive.  FC3 is more like the earlier GTA3 games, where the current mission is the only important thing.  The missions I have been on so far have invisible boundaries that cause a reset if you move too far from the mission area.  Once the mission is completed and you are instructed to go to the next mission you have the opportunity to wander around on your own.  Unfortunately all you can do is collect plants, kill and skin animals and maybe kill a couple of red-shirts to loot them for collectibles.  There do not appear to be any "side-quests" or any things you can do to spend time on your own outside of mission.

CONCLUSION

I was hoping for a tropical Skyrim, but this is not it.  The game looks great and plays well, but the beautiful landscape is wasted since you can't really do anything with it.

Gettin' Drunk Kicks...

Pokewalker Is Accurate!

It was the most accurate of the three pedometers tested in this university study.

University Study

Tethered iPad WiFi Gets GPS from iPhone

Tethered iPad WiFi Gets GPS from iPhone

Pee & Poo Plush

Pee & Poo plush

Fujifilm FinePix X100

This looks fantastic! Read the review at dpreview.com, and view the product page here. Not bad for $199.95. Wait, what? I missed a number? $1,199.95? That's insane.

iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Guide (Part 3)

Essential Apps

These are the apps I use every single day, multiple times a day. I use them on an iPhone, but most of them also work on the iPod touch and iPad as well. I will note any issues with the various devices as needed.

Facebook (free)

The iPhone Facebook app is easier to use than accessing Facebook directly through the web browser. You are better off using the browser if you have an iPad.

MobileRSS Pro – Google RSS News Reader ($2.99)

I use Google Reader as my RSS reader so I don’t have to mark articles as read over and over again—anything that can access the Google RSS feed gets synchronized. This has been the best overall reader I have found, but it’s still not perfect.

WSBTV.com (free)

This is only good if you live in Atlanta. It essentially covers everything the TV news show covers, so if you don’t like their reporting then you won’t like the app. It also has the same exact weather images, so you will be consistently informed.

USA Today (free)

This is a fantastic iPad app (the iPhone one isn’t that great). Not only does it present the news in an easy-to-browse interface, but it has a fantastic free Crossword feature!

App Miner (free)

This application is a great way to keep an eye on the latest apps. I use it daily to look for app bargains. Most of my apps were purchased at a discount thanks to this app. Many apps over $4 go on sale for half price and many $1 apps become free for a limited time. You can make it track apps for you if you have your eye on a $5 app but just don’t want to spend the money.

PriceCheck by Amazon (free)

This has turned into a very useful app. You can scan a bar code with it to find out how much it costs at Amazon and other websites. You can also search by typing in or by just taking a picture of the product (books and packages mainly).

Grocery IQ (free)

This is by far the best shopping list program I have found. You can scan items as you throw them away to add them to your shopping list. It has a great search engine if you need to type it in. The best part is that it syncs the list online with its servers so you can share a grocery list with your spouse and their iDevice! It even lets you know when they add items to the list so you know to check it when you go to the store on the way home.

Zinio (free, $ downloadable content)

This is just a magazine reader. However, it supports the Retina display and has many of the magazines I read. Many of the magazines are very cheap, so it’s easy to justify the cost. For example, Automobile magazine is $7.50 for 12 months. It’s great to be able to carry around full-color, current magazines. It even lets you know when a new issue is available.

iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Guide (Part 2)

Terminology

Retina Display – This is the display on the iPhone 4 and the latest iPod Touch. It has four times the resolution of the previous generation of devices, which were already fantastic. They use this term because its pixels are apparently smaller than what your retina can distinguish at a normal distance.

Push Notifications – This is basically a way for companies to send you messages for specific apps whenever something changes. For example, Zinio will alert you when a new issue is available. Smurf Village will let you know when your strawberries are ready. These notifications work even if the programs aren’t running.

In-App Purchases – Many programs are now free because they rely on in-app purchases to make money. For example, Smurf Village is free but Smurfberries cost real-word cash to purchase. If you ever do something that will charge your iTunes account then you will be prompted by the device to re-enter your iTunes account password. This is good for 15 minutes, so you don’t have to type it in if you purchase anything else during that period. If this is a concern then you should unlink your credit card from your iTunes account, purchase iTunes gift cards and associate those with your account. There have been extraordinary stories about kids racking up $600 in Smurfberry charges. Apple isn’t great about refunding money for these situations.

Universal App – This is a bit confusing. Pretty much every iPhone app will run on an iPad so compatibility isn’t really an issue. However, the older iPhones, the iPhone 4 and the iPad all have different screen resolutions. Whenever you run an iPhone app on the iPad it will run in a small window in the middle of the screen. You can click the ‘2X’ icon on the screen to make the app zoom to take up most of the screen. However, it will be ‘pixelated’ because of how it scales the image, so the app won’t look that good. iPad-specific apps will not run on an iPhone at all. A universal app runs on all devices AND uses the entire screen on an iPad. This really doesn’t matter for something like solitaire, where graphics are not important, but it’s significant if the app displays a lot of text. Some apps have separate versions for the iPhone and iPad, which means you have to pay twice if you want it to look great on both platforms.

Multi-Tasking – The devices don’t support full multitasking. Instead they let programs stay loaded in memory so they appear instantly when you go back to them. Some background processes are allowed, so you can run Pandora while surfing the Internet.

iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad Guide (Part 1)

Apps

Apps are why iOS devices are so popular. Use the App Store app on your device to download them.

Apps are tied to a specific iTunes account, so if you own an iPhone and an iPad then you only have to pay for an application once to use it on both devices. We currently have all of our iDevices set up on the same iTunes account so that we can share between all devices. For example, if I buy Angry Birds for my iPhone then it’s assocated with my account. Sonya uses the same account on the iPad so when she downloads it she won’t have to pay (it will look like she will have to pay, but then it will state that you already own the app so you can download it again for free). This can add up to a significant savings if you have multiple people in your household with multiple iDevices.

When you sync your device with your computer then it keeps the information on each device separate, so you don’t have to worry about anything weird happening just because you are sharing an account. You can even have multiple computers associated with a given account, so you can sync with your laptop and your kid can sync with another computer. iTunes has a limit of 5 computers per account, so you can’t do this for everyone you know.

Internet Connectivity

I mainly use my iPhone as an Internet appliance. I check e-mail, surf the web, read news, check Facebook, etc. For me having Internet connectivity is essential to the experience of owning an iDevice.

You can connect an iPhone or 3G iPad to the Internet using the built-in cell phone data plan. There are no more unlimited data plans, but 2GB for $25 isn’t bad, and each additional GB is only $10.

Another option is to use Wi-Fi. If you don’t have a wireless router in your house, but you do have a broadband connection (Cable Modem or DSL) then you should invest in one. You can get one for less than $50, which will pay for itself after the first two months of use if you are considering a 2GB data plan for a 3G iPad. Most ‘sit-down’ places now have free Wi-Fi, like Starbucks, McDonalds, Chick-Fil-A, etc. Most hotels also have free Wi-Fi as well, but you need to check before you plan your vacation around watching Netflix on your iPad in the room!

A third option is a ‘hotspot’. These are portable 3G or 4G devices that look like a Wi-Fi access point to your iDevice. This may be a good option if you use Verizon or if you want to have the access available for other devices as well, like laptops. These require a monthly fee and many also require a contract, but if your house has fantastic reception then you could consider using it instead of a Cable Modem or DSL.

Other Considerations

Apple is working really hard to make its devices work seamlessly together. The current version of Apple TV is an AirPlay receiver, meaning you can redirect some audio and video sources to it. For example, if you are watching a video on your iPhone using the YouTube app and you want to share it with everyone, you can tell your iPhone to display the video on your AppleTV. In addition, you can use the Remote app to control your AppleTV like a touchpad—it even displays a keyboard when you need to enter text so you don’t have to use arrow keys to enter in a search keyword.

The AppleTV device is also an iOS device, meaning it uses the same basic operating system as the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. This opens the possibility that it will support some sort of downloadable app feature. Even without that, it’s worth it to me as a dedicated NetFlix appliance. I go into more detail about NetFlix later.

VS2010 Will Create iPhone Apps?

Apple: Will Steve Ballmer Show Up At The WWDC Keynote? - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com

Apparently he will be there to talk about VS2010 and that it can be used to create iPad, iPod & iPhone appps.

Jobs: Thoughts on Flash

I'm really surprised Steve Jobs wrote this and put it out there for all to see.

Essential thoughts:
1) Flash is not an open format
2) Flash is not necessary for the "full web" experience
3) Reliability/Security/Performance issues
4) Hardware (H.264) vs. software (Flash) video decoding and battery life
5) MouseOver events
6) Adobe wants to use Flash to create native iPhone/iPad/iPod touch apps

Thoughts on Flash

Volkswagen bik.e - Electric portable bike

The Volkswagen bik.e folds up into the size of a spare tire, goes for about 20 miles on a charge, and can be charged by being plugged in to the car.

Volkswagen bik.e replaces spare tire with electric mobility device [w/video] — Autoblog Green

Boy Scout Video Game Beltloop

You can now earn a belt loop by playing video games! Well, it's a little more involved, but still...
Video Games

Is Bowersox Out?

Poor Bowersox. This is the first time all four judges said she didn't do a fantastic job. It was still fantastic, according to them, just not her best performance. They told everyone else that it was their best performance ever (mostly anyway). I wonder if that's all it will take for her to get voted off.

Hate the iPad?

This is, like, the opposite of an iPad. A keyboard with a tiny screen. I really like ASUS but I just can't imagine this succeeding.

ASUS EeeKeyboard

iRetrofone Base

One of my friends spent a fair amount of time and money to get an authentic 1970s rotary dial phone. Maybe he'll get this when he gets an iPhone.
iRetrofone Base