I was thinking today about how incredible it would be to own a DSLR that was even 1/2 as good as our own human eyes are. Certainly cameras are just imitations of God’s wonderful creation and design, but have you ever really noticed how quick you can focus on any object? Talk about mind blowing; it’s practically instant. You don’t notice a delay, like you will on even the fastest digital cameras. They are getting better and better in time, but we can really appreciate how good we have it. Nature definitely did have it first.
A great video tutorial by Deke McClelland on how to use the reset and purge functions in Photoshop CS4 to increase the performance. Clean out Photoshop’s plumbing when things get clogged up: Reset and purge.
This little Indian kid named Varun on youtube is a pretty smart guy. I like this kid’s way of reasoning when it comes to mac vs pc. I love macs, but I’m not going to lie… I think they’re definitely way overpriced for what you get. I’m not taking sides, as I’ve worked with both for years. I actually just ordered a brand new desktop pc with an i7. It has more memory in the video card alone than my current (7 year old) computer has snapped into it’s motherboard DIMMs. Savings? $1000-1500 over the new incredible iMac 27″. That’s a lot of cheddar that can get redirected into new photo gear for me. Anyway, I’ll be sure to post a full review of my new setup once it arrives.
Amazingly, a lot of graphic design jobs you might find won’t always have you on a mac. Make sure you know how to use both – otherwise you’re going to have to educate yourself pretty quick once you land that first design gig straight out of college. That means knowing what the heck you’re doing in Windows XP and the all new Windows 7, as well as knowing OSX. Thankfully the Adobe programs are pretty much identical whether you’re on a mac or a pc, with the exception of the alt/option key on your keyboard (it’s not rocket science).
I thought I was pretty sure I was going to get the 7D as my next camera body. Right now I shoot with an older Canon 20D and 40D, both of which I love, but they are starting to show their age. I was originally decided on the 5D2, but when the 7D came out I was amazed my much of the response it was getting on the forums. Here are the benefits of the 7D I’ve learned about from all of my hours of research:
- the AF is superior to the 5d2, more focus points, better servo mode than the 5d mkii
- it has pop-up flash (comes in handy once in a great while for fill or to trigger strobes) will mount EF-S lenses (I only own one, the rest in my kit are EF mount because I have been planning on going full frame for a while now).
- it has wireless flash controls built in, if you own other Canon speedlights (I don’t have any yet – only Alien Bees B800′s)
- dual digic 4 processors (5d2 only has one)
- shoots video same as the 5d2
- very low noise up to iso 800, where the 5d2 then takes over
- a few more bells and whistles that the 5d2 doesn’t have like on-screen leveling
Sure, you get different catch lights in the eyes with each. Round ones with umbrellas, square or rectangle shapes reflections with softboxes. But here the two are reviewed much more in depth by a real studio guru. A great video by Jean Francois on the Layers Magazine website.
