XRite i1Pro3plus (large aperture) review
XRite brings back polarized, transmissive and large aperture measurements with the i1Pro3plus spectrophotometer.
Quick overview
The i1Pro3plus spectrophotometer contains a new LED illuminant that allows for simultaneous M0, M1, M2 measurement in a single pass. The large 8mm aperture (vs the i1Pro2’s 3.5mm) translates into rich, extreme shadow measurements and averaging of uneven surfaces and large dot patterns.…
Quick 2019 RAID Evaluation
I had a chance to setup a few new RAID systems last week at different client sites. I always like to do a Blackmagic Disk Speed Test and thought it would be fun to share. Manufacturer's speed claims are one thing but real world performance is another, and much more meaningful.
Here's a Drobo 5D3 connected via Thunderbolt 3 on a new, maxed out iMac. This 5 bay enclosure costs $678 without drives and comes with two Thunderbolt 3 / USB-C ports and one USB 3.0 port.
New Website!
Hey everyone! We just launched a new website that better focuses on communicating our strengths. The recommendations page has a bunch of product recommendations that we often suggest for our clients. And the downloads page has a bunch of updated targets and evaluation images we think printmaking geeks will get a kick out of. We’ve also created a ton of new targets, and evaluation images that allow us to calibrate and evaluate equipment more precisely. New business cards, stationary and client gifts also along with this new look. And we’ve formalized and branded our calibration…
Canon iPF Pro-4000 Review
Canon has taken a great leap forward creating a whole new generation of their aqueous printers that have some exceptional features. Now that the Canon Pro-4000 has just started shipping, I thought I would highlight a few features that I found significant. Roll Feed Unit and Paper Handling The optional roll feed unit can be used as a take up real as we have seen in printers before. But this roll feed unit can also act as a second roll feeder with its own unique paper path to the printing area. With this unit we essentially have double roll support that allows users to keep two different rolls…
New Stack-A-Matic script now optimized for night photography image stacking
Night Photographers use a process called "image stacking" that allows us to (among other things) make extremely long, 1-8 hour exposures that would otherwise be impossible due to overexposure. We take several images that are "stacked" or combined into a single, composite image. Over the years I've used a variety of applications to stack these images together including Keith's Image Stacker, Startrails,exe, LR/Enfuse, "Open in Photoshop as Layers" and older…
Night Photography Book Announcement
Lance Keimig and I are proud to announce that Night Photography: Finding Your Way in the Dark by Focal Press, is now available in bookstores. The book combines Lance's 20 years of night photography experience, and my 20 years of digital imaging training to create the most expansive and comprehensive exploration of night photography available. At 280 pages, it includes…
Lightroom 3 beta 2 released (updated with commentary)
LR3beta2 is out! Here are some noteworthy points: • Speed is greatly improved. • Importing has been improved and refined. • Tethering for popular Nikon and Canon cameras is now supported. • Watermarking is improved (although still not ideal). • Luminance Noise Reduction has been added to complement the new demosaicing and color noise algorithms. • New Vignette styles. • Adjustment Brush and Gradient tools can now be stacked to strengthen the effect. • New Print Layout capabilities with Rotate to fit and Rotate Cell options. • Video files can now be imported from…
Lightroom 3 second public beta to be announced today
Adobe is releasing the second public beta of Adobe Lightroom 3 today. LR3beta1 users won't be disappointed as there are a significant number of noteworthy features in the new beta that were not in the first. You will be able to download it from the Adobe Labs Lightroom 3 Beta2 page for details. I'm going to play nice and hold my tongue on the new features until it's officially released. Checkout Adobe's video demonstrating the new features in LR3beta2.
Apple gets hip to night photography (updated 2x)
You know night photography has become mainstream when Apple uses a night image for the default background image on their newest device. Note the star trails near the top! I would guess this is a ~25 minute exposure not too long after sunset considering the daylight glow along the horizon and gentle lighting on the foreground. If anyone knows who's image is used on the iPad, please let me know.
Update: The iPad background image is licensed from RIchard Misrach.
Update: See this in-depth article about the image and Misrach at ARTINFO
Display Recommendation Thoughts
I get a lot of questions about what displays I recommend, and answering them can be tricky. Some people are seeking justification for spending a lot of money on something they may not need. There are a lot of old notions that we need to forgot as well as newer features we need to consider. I have a few display recommendations on the recommendations page and people often ask me my why brands like NEC or Eizo monitors are not on there. My feeling is that the internal calibration hardware that some displays have (NEC, Eizo, Sony, Barco, etc) played an important role in addressing real issues we…