Backing Up Files on iPad - One Step Closer - My Travel Backup System

 

Pogoplug Series 4 Sharing Device

Image Source: http://www.adorama.com/COCPOGOV4A3.html?EmailPrice=T

I've gone through several devices looking for the best way to backup files during travel with my Apple iPad (not requiring me to carry a laptop computer). I was looking for a way to backup raw files and jpegs, even when I may not have access to the internet. I tried multiple wireless hard disks that were advertised as having the ability to move files from the iPad; none of them worked.

 

What I've been doing in the face of this failure is basically making sure I have two copies of every file in a very basic way. I always carry enough SD cards that I don't have to format them during my travel. After filling one up (or after a day of shooting), I use the Apple Camera Connect kit to plug the SD into the iPad and transfer files. This gives me tens of Gigabytes of backup, and the iPad automatically moves both raw and jpeg files. Then, I put the SD away in a different case, so that I remember it's full. Now I have one copy on the SD, and one on the iPad, without the need for an internet connection.

 

Once I'm connected to the internet again, I can upload files to flickr, but that's pretty darned slow in my experience. That's where this little beauty comes in. The Pogoplug is a network file sharing device that you plug in to your network at home. Then, you connect storage to it - this can be anything from an SD card, to a USB hard drive (USB3 that is), or directly connect a hard drive that has the 2.5" SATA interface. I had a 1Tb Iomega USB drive that I connected for now. It gives you a dedicated connection, which makes it much faster than uploading to flickr.

 

So, once you've got that going, you download the Pogoplug app for the iPad (from the Apple App Store). It's free. You can set it up so that anytime you're connected to the internet and the app is open (yes, it must be open), the system will automatically backup your jpeg files from your iPad Camera Roll to the hard drive at home, no matter where you are. This is handy, especially if you use a wifi-enabled camera (like my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 or Lumix DMC-TS5) to upload to the iPad. Then it's all seamless.

 

Here's the limitation - both Lumix wifi and Pogoplug are limited to only jpegs - they won't upload raw files.

 

So, my workaround (assuming I need to backup raw files) is this - I don't use wifi to transfer from the camera to the iPad, but use the Apple Camera Connect as stated above to get a second copy of my jpegs and raw files onto the iPad. Then, the Pogoplug app requires that I go in and select the images in my Imported folder on the iPad for upload to the disk at home. Easy, and quite fast. It will be even faster when I get a dedicated hard drive directly connected to the Pogoplug.

 

So, what does this give me? Two copies of all files, and a third of the jpegs only:

 

1. The original raw and jpeg files stored on the SD card I used in the camera.
2. Second copies of both raw and jpeg files imported to the iPad (using the Apple Camera Connect kit).
3. Third copies of jpegs only backed up on the Pogoplug hard drive at home. These would save me if I dropped my camera bag and iPad into the ocean or something.

This means I have to carry a lot of SD cards, but they're small, lightweight, highly reliable, and relatively low cost.

 

I don't like that the Pogoplug app will only copy jpegs, but the silver lining is that upload of jpegs is very fast. Maybe they'll add raw capability in a firmware upgrade. Wouldn't that be great?

 

The Pogoplug adapter is very inexpensive. Purchase yours at the link below.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 - A Few Creative Control Examples

The Lumix LX7 is quite a little camera. With the small sensor size, which makes it possible to produce an amazingly well-featured camera with great fast optics in a very compact package, I usually shoot raw images, so that I can later control the noise levels in post-processing. Hold that that.

 

The LX7 has a plethora of built-in artistic and creative modes, as is common with many compact cameras. Here's the difference - the LX7 allows you to shoot both raw and jpeg files in these modes (except for the fully-automated iAuto mode). This gives you so much flexibility. Any of the creative control effects will be applied to the jpeg file (only), and the raw file remains untouched and ready for your post-processing as you see fit. So, I can actually use the creative controls on the LX7 without feeling that I may be missing the shot.

 

The jpeg processing on the LX7 is a little harsh in my estimation. Therefore, having the unaffected raw files really means a lot to me.

 

I recently took the LX7 on a trip to California, where I visited Pioneertown, a true town constructed by movie producers to make Westerns. It's quite a funky little place out in the desert.

 

(Click Here) to read about Pioneertown.

 

I tried a few of the creative controls, and really decided that I like "Toy" mode. Here's an example.

 

In a Pear Tree?, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, Toy Setting

iso 125, f2.8, 1/125 sec

 

You can see that toy camera mode adds significant vignetting (darkening around the edges of the image), muted colors, and I think some loss of sharpness around the edges, while the center remains sharp. Kind of fun.

 

Here's one using the Impressive Art control:

 

Control, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, "Impressive Art" Setting

iso 160, f1.6, 1/60 sec

Here's another setting, called "Expressive Art."

 

Desert Office, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, "Expressive Art" Setting

iso 80, f2.8, 1/1600 sec

 

So far, I really like Toy mode best.

 

 

Desert Office 2, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7, "Toy" Setting

iso 125, f2.8, 1/1600 sec

 

All of these images are jpegs, right out of the camera. The final two I decided to shoot in square format, another great setting on the LX7. No adjustments were made to any of these.

 

And, the great thing is, I have the raw files if I want to process them differently! Lots of fun.

 

As promised, I'm nearing completion of my ebook on the LX7. I'll be announcing it soon.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

The best $298 (current price) you'll ever spend on photo equipment - please buy yours through this link:

 

 

Panasonic Lumix LX-7 - Handheld Night Shot - A Scene Mode That Really Works!

 

Late Arrival, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 400, f1.4, 1/13 sec

 

My flight into Palm Springs was late tonight. I heard a United Airlines employee say "Never, ever, fly on a Friday night." Advice that I'll keep in mind in the future.

 

When I got off of the plane, I looked back and saw this scene. As usual, the moon looked much bigger to my eye than it did to the sensor, but anyway, I like this shot.

 

I usually steer clear of scene modes, which are canned sets of parameters built into the camera, designed to give certain looks or deal with certain photographic challenges. However, in this case I was tired and wanted to move fast. It was quite dark, and I didn't have my tripod (it was in my checked bag). So, I figured what the heck. I select the [Handheld Night Shot] scene mode on my new LX7 and fired away. Bang! It really did a nice job!

 

All the manual says is that this mode reduces blur and noise by taking multiple images in burst mode. I'm very surprised by how well it aligned the images; I'm sure I wasn't that steady after flying cross-country, and arriving at 3AM my time. I also find it interesting how the aircraft attendant, who was moving during capture, came out. It looks like the motion blur I would expect from just a single image.

 

In any case, I'm very impressed. I doubt if I could have done better with a tripod and more time.

 

I've started writing my ebook on how I set up and use the DMC-LX7. Stayed tuned for that. I think I may include a series of my own example pictures of some of the scene and artistic modes.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7 - Jpeg Settings

I have only spent a little time with the LX7 so far. I started off by shooting some Jpegs. You have lots of image options in Jpeg shooting with the LX7, under "Photo Style." I started with STD, with default settings (for contrast, sharpness, color, and noise reduction). I have to admit I was not very pleased with the look of the jpegs at these settings. So, I had an assignment - see how to optimize Jpeg settings, if indeed it's possible to get what I want.

 

Just so you know, the raw images look pretty good to me. In the past, with my DMC-LX2 and DMC-LX5, I always shot raw. I may end up in the same situation with the LX7, but let's see what contributes most to my disappointment with the default images.

 

I decided to shoot a set of images on a tripod, using iso 400, f5.6, 1/60 second (manual exposure), and manual focus. I wanted to minimize all of the other variables, so that I could focus on Jpeg processing. I also shot both STD (color) and MONO (black and white) jpegs, since I'm interesting in optimizing both.

 

Here's the scene I shot:

 

Overall Scene, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 400, f5.6, 1/60 sec.

 

The tight crop below shows close up what I saw with the default STD jpeg settings:

 

Crop - STD, Default Settings

 

You can see some processing artifacts, especially along the edges of the lamp shade at right, and in the shaded area of the wall, directly under the leaves.

 

Based on my experience, these artifacts could be due to one or a combination of the following variables:

1. Jpeg compression algorithm
2. Oversharpening
3. Excessive noise reduction (NR)

I was hoping that it wasn't number 1; there's nothing you can do about that as a user. So, I tested Sharpness and NR, independently and in combination. First, I turned down Sharpness to the minimum (-2).

 

Crop - STD Photo Style, Sharpness -2, Default NR

 

In this, I see a distinct drop in the artifacts, and the expected reduction in sharpness. Much better. I can always sharpen in Lightroom.

 

Next, I brought sharpening back to default level, and reduced NR to the minimum (-2):

 

Crop, Default Sharpness, NR -2

 

The artifacts are back. Looks like Sharpness is the key adjustment.

 

Just for kicks, I combined minimum settings for both Sharpness and NR:

Crop, Sharpness -2, NR -2

 

 

The artifacts again disappear, but I don't think NR had much to do with it. Default Sharpness level in the LX7 creates Jpeg artifacts to a level that I find unacceptable.

 

Now let's look at the same series in black and white.

Crop - MONO, Default Settings

 

In black and white, I think the artifacts show up worse than in color. Look at the right edge of the moulding at the edge of the window.

 

The next one was shot with Sharpness set to -2:

 

Crop, Sharpness -2, Default NR

 

Much better.

 

For completeness, let's see what default Sharpness and minimized NR do:

 

Crop, Default Sharpness, NR -2

 

Artifacts back. Again, Sharpness is the setting that affects Jpeg artifacts.

 

Finally, minimizing both Sharpness and NR yields this:

 

Crop, Sharpness -2, NR -2

 

Again, the artifacts disappear, but in my opinion that's mostly due to minimizing Sharpness. NR doesn't seem to generate many artifacts.

 

So, what does this tell me? It tells me that I can drastically improve Jpeg from the default settings by reducing Sharpening. Now that I know that, I can decide whether to reduce it to -1 or -2.

 

I'm happy that I can adjust Sharpening to affect Jpeg processing. I'm also happy that it's not a combination effect, which is harder to control.

 

One more thing - I love the iAuto option on the LX series cameras. It allows you to quickly switch from any setting and let the camera make all the decisions. Let's say that you're shooting Jpeg street scenes with manual focus in black and white at iso 400. Just then, you see a person approaching with a gorgeous bouquet of red roses. Rather than trying to work through menus to get back to shooting color, you can switch the top dial to iA and shoot away. Very handy. Unfortunately, I cannot adjust sharpening in iAuto. So, that will seriously limit my use of iAuto with the LX7.

 

Lots more to come on the LX7. So far, so good.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Olympus E-PL1, 14-150, and Lumix 20mm f1.7 Go On A Trip

 

Image Source: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1896778&posted=1#post1896778

User ywenz on Rangefinder Forum posted a gorgeous series of pictures from a recent trip.

(Click Here) to look at all of them. You owe it to yourself to see the other shots, in addition to the one above.

One interesting thing here is that all of the images are jpegs (not shot in raw format). There is a group out there of the opinion that Panasonic Lumix Micro 4/3 cameras don't produce acceptable jpeg images. Therefore, many (most?) shoot in raw format.

I always use raw, just in case I screw something up, like forgetting to change my white balance settings. It has happened. As I have written before, however, I don't like to spend more time than necessary post-processing my images. So, I've been trying different jpeg settings, in the hopes that when I shoot both raw and jpeg together, the jpeg will be acceptable for use, and the raw file will be there just in case.

I have posted a couple of others' ideas for ideal jpeg settings in the past. My latest post on the subject yielded settings that I'm now quite happy with.

(Click Here) to see the post with my favorite jpeg settings for the Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3, contributed by dixeyk on mu-43.com. These are now my standard jpeg settings, and are set up as a custom profile on both of my G3s. They're pretty good, in my opinion. Give them a try.

When I was primarily a Nikon shooter, I always chose very neutral jpeg settings (easy on the contrast, saturation, and sharpening), figuring that I could add all of those things back later, but cannot subtract them. The settings suggested in the post referenced above are very similar. Here's an example, pretty much right out of the camera.

Manassas Memorial, by Reed A. George

Panasonic DMC-G3, Lumix 14-140 f4-5.8 at 95mm

iso160, f5.8, 1/640 sec

I find that there's plenty of saturation here, contrast is well-controlled, and sharpness doesn't suffer.

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Another Jpeg Setting To Try

 

Here Comes the Sun by dixeyk on mu-43.com

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f43/panasonic-color-26171/

 
I have written in the past about my desire to find great jpeg settings for my Lumix DMC-G3. I normally shoot raw files, but would like to get the best jpegs out of my camera, to minimize the need to sit in front of a computer, post-processing images. Especially given my luck with home computers lately (another story).
 
Poster dixeyk on mu-43.com posted this image, and his settings.
 
(Click Here) to see dixeyk's post.
 
dixeyk uses the "My Film" setting on his Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2, setting Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, and Noise Reduction all uniformly to a value of -2.
 
From dixeyk's single example, this looks pretty good to me.
 
I previously tried another user's suggested settings and found the result way too contrasty and saturated. So, for now, I just use the normal film setting, but am not totally satisfied with the result.
 
 
(Click Here) for my earlier post on jpeg settings. Note, again however, these didn't work out for me.
 
 
I'm leaving for a short trip this weekend. I'll give dixeyk's settings a try and report back.
DMC-365.blogspot.com
 
 
 

Panasonic DMC-G3 in Alaska, and Some Information on jpeg Settings

 

Mu-43 Member pjohngren's Image From Alaska

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f43/g3-heads-alaska-14984/

I was attracted to this post on Mu-43.com because, as you probably have noticed, I like to travel vicariously through other Lumix users' photographs. I have never been to Alaska, and the images in this post give me a feel for the place.

(Click Here) to see the full post.

Once I saw the pictures, I wanted to know more about pjohngren's settings, which turned out to be really interesting. He shoots jpegs, instead of raw. Here is a quick summary of the settings he used in this case, and uses most of the time:

"... I actually leave it on Vivid all the time, but have the contrast at -1, the sharpening at +2, the saturation at 0, and the noise reduction at -2. Both Intellignt Resolution and Intelligent Dynamic on high all the time. Both do fine and a conservative and don't ever cause problems."

I find this very interesting. I always shoot in raw+jpeg, so that I can have the most flexibility in editing later on. However, I really don't like spending time editing on the computer, so would like to have great jpeg settings, to avoid editing altogether in at least some cases.

I have to admit that I have accidentally shot only jpeg images a couple of times, and found that the DMC-G3 jpeg processing, even at default settings, is wonderful. So, I will definitely give these settings a try. In fact, I will put these settings into both of my G3s as one of the custom settings.

Update: I tried these settings, and am not at all pleased with them. The saturation in Vivid is terrible for people pictures in my opinion. I have tried bringing saturation down to -1, and it helps. But, I think I'm going to end up concluding that iResolution and iDynamic should not be maxed out. So, my conclusion is that these are not the best settings for me. Your results may vary.

The ideal for me will be to have good enough jpeg settings to avoid editing most images at all, yet still have the raw files to do it well on the rare occasions that editing is necessary.

I am traveling to Japan in about a week. On these trips, I always shoot a lot of images (thousands), and have to deal with the editing load when I turn. Hopefully this will reduce editing to only a small number of images.

DMC-365.blogspot.com