Happy New Year

January 12, 2010 | Doug, News

Captured with a Canon 5D Mark II as still raw images. Shot tethered into Capture One Pro 5.0.1 using a custom Apple Script. Processed in Capture One, assembled in Quicktime.

Showing the view the balcony of our new location in Miami.

Music by ThomasDaneWagener.com

Two Arca Swiss Cubes

November 24, 2009 | Doug

The Arca Swiss Cube is the world’s finest (and most expensive) photographic tripod head. Only those truly dedicated to their art/passion/work would invest in one. So why would you need two??

Well, I wrote an article, mostly for fun, over at getdpi.com (read the article) about why you would need two.

Big thanks to Charles Brown, one of our very talented customers, and a forum member of getdpi.com for the photo of the setup below.

Zacuto Audio

November 24, 2009 | Doug

Capture Integration recently became a dealer for Zacuto products, a company specializing in audio/video accessories for doing motion work with dSLRs. We are extremely interested in the trend towards dual-purposing cameras like the Canon 5D mark II as both still and video systems.

As such we’ve been doing our homework. In the course of which Chris Lawery came across this great video.

Advanced Sound for DSLR’s from Zacuto USA, Steve Weiss on Vimeo.

Blogging From Oregon

October 22, 2009 | Doug, News

Dave and I are in Oregon this week with GetDPI.com.

Once we are home we will be posting all sorts of wonderful images and stories. Until then here is a sneak preview.

We stopped on the way from San Francisco to Bandon Oregon to shoot in the Redwood Forests. These were with a P65+ with a Phase One AF body and Phase One 75-150 D and Phase One 28mm. Processing was done in Capture One 5 beta.

Extreme Macro Techniques / Gear

August 25, 2009 | Doug, Tech Features, Tips & Tech Support

Reposted from my personal blog www.doug-peterson.com.

Are you a Hard-Core Photo Nerd?

This article is a followup to the Extreme Macro Results post I made. It is only meant for those readers who are very technically oriented.

Nerd Out With All the Technical Details

Extreme Macro Results

August 24, 2009 | Doug

This post is the culmination of six months worth of research, experimentation, and refinement into high-magnification macro photography. Taking pictures of extremely small objects with extremely high resolution systems is an incredibly technical endeavor with great challenges and even greater rewards.

I’ll be posting an article for my readers interested in the nitty-gritty of the techniques and equipment used for this work.

More Ultramacro Shots

Random Selection

August 18, 2009 | Doug

We’ve started doing random drawings for some pretty expensive prizes. This means I had to come up with a way to do random drawings which are fully transparent and fair. Honesty is very important to us.

On the day of random drawings I check http://finance.yahoo.com/gainers?e=us. I take the ticker symbol with the fifth largest % gain at the closing bell for the NYSE. The winners of the random drawing are the email addresses which falls directly after that ticker symbol in alphabetical order*

Not 100% true-and-random. Mr. Spahn, my high school AP Stats teacher, would be a bit disappointed. But it is fully transparent and easy to do. Plus it gives me an excuse to check my stocks at work.

*If an email address starts with something other than a letter then I start with the first letter in the email address.

GetDPI Arizona Workshop: Vertical Stitches

June 24, 2009 | Doug

Cambo Wide RS, Phase One P40+, 70 megapixel 2-image stitch (15mm fall, 25mm rise).

GetDPI Arizona Workshop: Balance Rocks

June 24, 2009 | Doug

One of my photographic philosophies is “don’t miss a shot to get a shot”. While driving for hours in the Great American West to get to a particular pre-scheduled shot our fearless leader Guy Mancuso stopped on several occasions at unmarked, undocumented spots to shoot. This was one of my favorites.

Viewing these balanced rocks makes you wonder at the amazing

GetDPI Arizona Workshop: Pinhole Landscapes

June 24, 2009 | Doug

I took these shots while on the workshop using our Phase One 645 Body, Phase One P45+, and a self-made pinhole lens (body cap + coke can+ jewler’s drill + gaffe tape).

More high-resolution (and just as soft) pinhole images.

GetDPI Arizona Workshop: Antelope Canyon

June 23, 2009 | Doug

The GetDPI 2009 Arizona Workshop just ended. As with the 2009 Moab Workshop and the 2008 Lighting Workshop before that I was an instructor of software/workflow while the very talented co-owner of GetDPI.com Guy Mancuso (Jack Flesher, the other owner was unable to make this workshop) taught the composition and capture side.

I’ll post more of my images from the trip as soon as I get some rest. Until then enjoy these images from Antelope Canyon.

Technical Support Breakdown

June 8, 2009 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

Capture Integration receives several dozen calls to our two locations for tech support. Because the digital back is the most expensive part of the camera system it is generally the first target of blame whenever something is “not right”. So you might be surprised by the breakdown of the solutions to tech support calls that I, as Head of Technical Services, answered in 2008.

Optimizing a Computer for Capture One

May 20, 2009 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

There are many types of upgrades available for Mac laptops and desktop, and each effects computer performance in different ways. Capture Integration is a leading expert at customizing computers for photographic applications, especially for tethered and untethered use of Capture One. This article is meant to to help identify what upgrades will have what effect on the speed of Capture One.

Capture Integration a Professional Value Added Reseller and offers both standard and highly customized Apple laptops and desktops. Call 877-217-9870 to discuss your needs.

Read the Full Article

Highly Customized MacBookPro

May 20, 2009 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

Capture Integration was recently asked to research the fastest possible MacBookPro for on-location Capture One work.

With some dramatic customizations we were able to come up with a system that would be blazing fast, even compared to the fastest system available from Apple.com.

We remove the DVD Drive from the MacBookPro (we give you an external DVD burner which runs off of USB power to replace it) and put in two of the fastest laptop hard drives in the world and RAID them together for 3.3 times the speed of the standard Apple hard drive. For backing up during the shoot we provide an external 7200 rpm hard drive with both USB and firewire interface. We package it together with a HyperMac battery which will run the hard drive and computer for up to 27 hours. At your request we will install, configure, and optimize Capture One.

Why Buy From Capture Integration

• Expertise: We are a Value Added Professional Photography Apple Reseller
• Price: In most cases we are able to beat the price from Apple.com
• Tax: If you live outside Florida/Georgia you will not pay sales tax
• Support: We stand behind our sales and offer top-notch support
• Customization: We take pride in eking out every ounce of performance

10.5.7 released. USB camera bug fixed.

May 12, 2009 | Doug, Tech Features, Tips & Tech Support

When Apple released 10.5.6 it contained a major bug which made tethering with USB cameras (e.g. Canon 1Ds III, Canon 5D II) unstable in any capture program. In Capture One this manifested itself as an application-freeze after about 110 raw frames, rendering 10.5.6 useless for those tethering USB cameras.. This bug *appears* to be fixed with 10.5.7. Our Head of Technical Services, Doug Peterson, has just fired off 500 shots on a Canon 5D mark II and is still going.

We will do complete testing, and post a side-by-side speed comparison soon which will include the incredibly fast P40+ digital back as soon as time allows.

The Best Part of iPhone 3.0

March 18, 2009 | Doug

Apple just anounced their new iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available this summer as a free update to all iPhone users.

One small but awseome feature has gotten barely a whisper.

MacRumors.com reports: “Find my iPhone/iPod Touch” option available under MobileMe, which presumably allows you to locate your iPhone from Me.com

Let’s speculate on three uses:

I lose my phone all the time. Sometimes I left it at home. Sometimes I left it at the office. Sometimes I left it at the neighborhood bar. So the moment this feature is available I would enable it. The next time I lose my phone I could just log on to me.com and ask it to access my phone’s GPS and tell me on a map exactly where it is.

Parents could force the feature on and track where their kids are without the need for any 3rd party software. All Apple would have to do is lock that option to the rest of the Parental Controls. Sorry kids!

A “Play Music Until Located” which turns the volume on the phone to max and plays a version of “O Where O Where Could My Baby Be” until someone pics it up. They will see a dialogue that says “This iPhone has been lost. Are you the owner?” If the user taps yes then the user will be prompted for the 4 digit pincode for security. If the user taps no then the dialogue will switch to display the programmed contact information of the user with the option to call the “call when lost” phone number but no other options. Apple already does something vaguely similar with enterprise users, but I for one do not need my unit remotely “wiped” so much as returned to me! Going one step further it would be neat if I as the owner could set up a “reward if found” option. When the phone is found the finder is informed of the “reward if found of X dollars in iTunes credit” and is asked to enter their iTunes account email address and then is allowed to call the “call when lost” phone number to arrange return of the phone. If the phone is returned the owner can enter their pin to unlock the phone at which point the “lost if found” credit is automatically transfered to the finder. The process is transparent and everyone wins.

iPhone Apps

March 6, 2009 | Doug, Tech Features, Tips & Tech Support

ProCamera

This nifty capture program displays a tiltmeter in real time as you tak your picture to ensure your horizon is strait. You can also set it to delay capture of an image until the accelometer detects the phone is nearly motionless, leading to sharper hand-held pictures.

Download from iTunes

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aPhoto GPS Marker

This program does more than just insert GPS coordinates. It can super impose a full suite of labels ontop of photos including latitude/longitude/altitude, copyright, distance to a known point, and caption. We can think of a hundred uses for this, but here is just one: if you’re a nature photographer you can do an initial walk-through of a park with your phone in hand and take quick snapshots of areas you’d like to return to.

Download from iTunes

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Photo Calc

We love this application’s Sunrise and Sunset calculator which automatically detects your current location and tells you what time the sun will rise and set. The depth of field calculator, reference material, and other features are interesting but not as compelling, and the developer said he is eager to add more features.

Download from iTunes

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CameraBag

This program is all about filters. You can style your photos on your phone to Polaroid, Holga, Lolo, Mono, Infrared, and Fisheye look. We’re particularly found of the Holga look (called “Helga” in the program, presumably for copyright reasons).

Download from iTunes

Moab Black and White

February 12, 2009 | Doug

Here are some of the images I captured at the Moab, Utah workshop run by GetDPI at which I was a guest instructor for Capture One processing. These were shot with a Phase One P21 digital back which has been modified for infrared capture. The raw files were processed (of course) in Capture One, and enhanced in Photoshop. 

Capture Integration is the leading expert in the world on modifying medium format digital backs for infrared photography. If you are interested in purchasing a used or new infrared digital back or if you would like to have your digital back modified for infrared please contact us. Having shot everything from Kodak 35mm HIE to 120 Ilford SFx and 120 Macophot 820IR (halo and non-halo variants) and a modified Canon 20D, modified Olympus E-10, I can say definitively that this medium format digital is SEVERAL steps more awesome than any film or dSLR infrared option.

Thanks to GetDPI.com (see more pictures from the workshop participants at their forum thread on the topic) for inviting me to participate. Also thanks to Carol Highsmith who was able to loan me this digital back (our infrared backs were not available for those dates). You can see more of her amazing body of work at CarolHighsmithAmerica.com.

After the Jump More of my B+W Images from this Workshop

Losing my Leica Virginity

February 12, 2009 | Doug

Leica is a treasured and storied name in photography, having an illustrious past and a following akin to religious fanatical or Apple fans. I made it over a decade in photography without holding a single Leica camera in my hands. During this trip to Moab I had the privilege of shooting a Leica M8 Mark II which was a loan arranged by Guy Mancuso compliments of Leica itself. Let’s be clear: my usual shooting kit consists of gear totaling around $60,000, so I am no stranger to high-end gear, but shooting the M8 still felt like I was stealing breath from the devil. The prestige and aura surrounding the name “Leica” would be difficult for any non-photographer to understand.

I loved losing my Leica virginity and look forward to the private indoctrination ceremony whereby masked Leicaphiles brand you with a Red dot (the Leica trademark). Here are some of the images I took from around of only four natural double-arches in the world (where one arch ends with the beginning of another arch).

More of My Leica Images from the M8

What the Font on the iPhone

February 11, 2009 | Doug

What the Font is a website that lets you take a screen grab of text and identify the font used.

They now have an iPhone app you can use to take a picture of a magazine, book, etc and identify the font used.

If this doesn’t excite you then you are not as big a design geek as I am.

http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2009/02/11/whatthefont-comes-to-iphone/

Digital Presidential Portrait

January 15, 2009 | Doug

Pete Souza, the new official presidential photographer has released the official presidential portrait of Barack Obama.

EXIF data shows it is a Canon 5D II with a 105 lens.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/14/president-obamas-official-portrait-the-first-ever-taken-with-a/

Pentagon Uses Phase One

December 29, 2008 | Doug

The Pentagon 3D aerial mapping system using a Phase One back and Contax camera body.

Granted, I’m not positive the Pentagon’s use of a particular brand should be automatically considered a ringing endorsement given that they once used frozen bats as a method of bomb delivery. However, it’s still neat to see our product on a system on which I’m sure millions of dollars and hundreds of hours were spent.

My Newphew

July 30, 2008 | Doug

New + Nephew = Newphew

I visited my sister and brother-in-law in Virgina this month.

Yes, he is the cutest baby ever.

Yes that includes your baby.

Check out large images after the jump.

Continue reading My Newphew…

Custom Function List: Phase One 645

July 17, 2008 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

The Phase One 645 Kit has a great set of Quick Cards; easily the 2nd best in the world (next to our own of course). These cards contain an list of the custom function sof the camera, but not a list of what each setting of the custom function represents. For that information you’ll want to download the following PDF: Phase One 645 Custom Function List.

Also related: Phase One 645 User Manual.

Backup Solutions for During and Before your Shoot

July 9, 2008 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

Capture Integration takes dozens of tech support calls a week. Lately we’ve received a lot of calls about backup options during a shoot. So by popular demand we have drafted a 2 page PDF entitled “Backups Before and During a Shoot to Prevent Downtime or Losing Photos“.

Apple Laptop Batteries

June 18, 2008 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

Disclaimer

We are not chemists, electrical engineers, or any other form of battery experts. This post is a direct response to requests for information. We’ve researched the questions we most commonly receive about Apple Laptop Batteries and condensed the results into a short post. With that in mind, we lead with our sources, to encourage further research. This information is only applicable to Lithium Ion batteries used in all current and recent Apple laptops.

Sources

• Battery Universe Guide, by Cadex, a manufacturer of batteries & chargers
• Apple’s official recommendations
• Wikipedia’s Li-Ion article
• Coconut Battery Program for Analyzing your Batteries
• How Stuff Works Article on Li-Ion
• SMC Fan Control 1.2 (we’ve tested this version on our 17″ MacBookPro running Tiger and Leopard)
• SMC Fan Control 2.1 (newer version we have not tested)

Conclusions

Go through at least one discharge cycle per month.

It does not matter if this is one full cycle at one time, or multiple partial cycles spread out throughout the month.

Calibrate the battery once a month.

This will improve the accuracy of the power meter in the menu bar, not the capacity of the battery. Calibration instructions.

Avoid storing batteries that are fully discharged.

If at all possible change to another battery before it is fully discharged.

Avoid storing fully-charged batteries in a hot place.

Leaving a fully charged battery in a hot car will reduce its capacity. This includes a fully charged battery in your computer. Removing the battery from a plugged-in computer is one option, but has severe drawbacks (imagine working on an important file when your mag-safe power adapter is pulled loose). Though not found in the sources, we note that a less extreme option is to raise the minimum speed of your internal fan using SMC Fan Control (Intel-Based Laptops only). This will keep your laptop cooler and should reduce the effect of heat on the maximum capacity of the battery. The effect of this program on the longevity of the internal fan is not known, but it has been running on one of our 17″ MacBookPros for two years.

For long term storage charge the battery to about half charge.

Apple recommends 50%, Cadex recommends 40%. The universal agreement is that storing batteries fully charged or fully depleted is a bad idea. Storage temperatures between room temperature and refrigerator temperature are acceptable. Freezing is not recommended.

Your battery should hold 80% of its original capacity for 300 charge cycles, but will drop quickly thereafter.

The drop in capacity is much faster after 300 cycles than before (capacity vs time is a downward curve). You can find the number of cycles by Apple > About-This-Mac > Power. You can also use Coconut Battery for a more user-friendly readout.

If your battery is dying prematurely Apple may replace it under warranty.

If your capacity is shot and you are not yet to 300 cycles take your computer to the Apple Store and ask if they can replace your battery. According to forum discussions the resulting compensation will vary from nothing to a free on-the-spot replacement.

Li-Ion Batteries have a shelf life regardless of storage method.

Cadex references 3 years as a normal shelf life but confirmation could not be found in other sources.

Infrared Modified P45 plus

June 9, 2008 | Doug, News

Capture Integration is pleased to announce immediate availability of a P45+ Infrared digital back for demonstration during the months of July and August. At the end of August we’ll be selling it at a discount (because it will have been used for demos), so if you’d like to try the best infrared digital back made, don’t delay.

At 39 megapixels this digital back is the highest resolution infrared camera on the market and creates absolutely stunning IR images. Our technician Doug Peterson, a long time fan of infrared films such as Macophot 820IR and SFX200, has been putting the camera through its paces. Below is a low resolution version of a shot taken by Doug this past weekend. You can also download a watermarked full-resolution JPG.

Update: Here are tests with various filters can be found.

Tech info on the shot after the jump.

Further discussion can be found on the GetDPI forum.

Continue reading Infrared Modified P45 plus…

License Key Activation

June 5, 2008 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

Owning a copy of Capture One Pro entitles you to using C1 on two computers.  With the release of Capture One 4.1, Phase One has simplified the system that tracks and manages your use of Capture One installations. You can deactivate a particular installation from within Capture One or manage the keys remotely using your Phase One Profile at phaseone.com.

See this Activation Management article in the Phase One knowledge base for details.

Canon 1Ds & 1Ds II Tethering in OSX 10.5 and 10.6

May 27, 2008 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

The Problem

The most recent release of the mac operating system broke the ability to tether FireWire based dSLRs, most notably the Canon 1Ds II to Capture One Pro, but the fix is very easy. The reason for the problem is that Apple included a program associated with Apple’s photo program Aperture, which interferes with Capture One’s ability to connect to the camera.

The Symptoms

ALL 10.5.X and 10.6.X computers require the short-term or long-term fix below to ensure proper and stable tethering to a 1Ds II or 1Ds I or other FW based dSLR. Do not wait to see if you have symptoms of the problem; at some point you will. However, for the sake of completeness the symptoms are: random disconnects (often during the transfer of the first image), failure to connect, or extremely slow transfer of images with the failure to connect at all being the most common symptom.

The Short-Term Fix

1. Open [Hard Drive / Applications / Utilities / Activity Monitor]
2. Select the process Type8Camera and push “Quick Process”

This will allow the camera to tether to Capture One until the computer is restarted.

The Long-Term Fix

With the dSLR disconnected:
1. Open [Hard Drive / System / Library / Image Capture / Devices] and copy the file “Type8Camera.app” to a different folder (e.g. your desktop) as a backup.
2. Delete the file “Type8Camera.app from the Devices folder.
3. Restart the computer.

This will prevent the problematic program from launching and permanently* solve the problem. It will also prevent Aperture from tethering to your dSLR.

Update: It appears that 10.6 requires this same fix. It also appears that several major updates (e.g. 10.5.7) restore this file even if you have previously deleted it.

Capture One 4.1.1 Tips & Tricks

May 23, 2008 | Doug, Tips & Tech Support

Who trains the trainers?

At Capture Integration we are constantly working to improve our customer support. With the release of Capture One 4.1 and the Phase One 645 Camera we’re holding educational seminars (dates and locations here). But who trains the trainers?

In advance of our Atlanta and High Point seminars our head of tech support, Tim Palmer, spent a week training with Jon Gilbert, from Phase One US Tech Support. With our seminars in Miami and West Palm Beach approaching it was my turn this week to spend time with this guru of Phase One. I’ve been shooting fashion, portraits, and product shots with Capture One 4.1 since the beta, but there were no shortage of tips, tricks, and behind-the-scenes knowledge. For those unable to attend the coming seminars I’m listing some of what I took home.

Tips, Tricks, and Background knowledge after the break…

Continue reading Capture One 4.1.1 Tips & Tricks…