Equipment - tools of the trade: October 2005 Archives

I checked out the M-Audio Microtrack 24/96 today at my local Sam Ash. Looks like a nice unit, very small. I think it's overpriced at $400, maybe $250 is closer to what it should be worth. The definite downer for me is that it uses a proprietary Lithium-Ion battery. If you're in the field and you run out of batteries, then you're screwed unless you can recharge it (AC or USB). I'd prefer something that I can feed NiMH AA batteries into in a pinch. :-(

Replacing the LithiumIon will cost $75 + shipping, via Maudio. I do like the little mike they provide, although I wish it was built-in and not a separate unit as I know I'll forget to bring it to an interview if I got this unit. I have some further thoughts on other field recorders by Marantz and Edirol after the jump.

B&H has the new Canon EOS 1D Mark IIN listed for $3999, but it is "out of stock" when I checked this morning. The main difference with the 1D Mark II is the larger LCD screen on the back and a faster buffer.

Meanwhile, it appears that various stores are clearing out the Canon EOS 1D Mark II, so if you want this tried and true photojournalist's camera, now might be the time. B&H has it for $3829 and Costco.com has it for $3799. The advantage of buying it from Costco is the fantastic warrantee that Costco provides on its products. Although I might say that for only a $200 difference on a $4000 product, why not get the (very slightly) updated version? DPReview.com has more on the 1D Mark IIn.

In other news, Canon is offering (its now traditional) fall rebates on selected Canon EOS products bought from authorized dealers (i.e., not Abes of Maine and Costco.com). The interesting twist is that if you buy two qualifying products, the rebate amount doubles, and three it triples. Here are the qualifying products:

There's a wonderful blogrant called Petteri's Pontifications. In his most recent episode, Petteri Sulonen pontificates on full-frame DSLRs and the Canon EOS 5D. You may not agree with him, especially if you're a Nikon aficionado, but it's an interesting read. Now all Petteri needs to do is shell out the $3 for a real domain name.

OK, I thought I blog on relatively obscure things, but Paul van Walree wins the geeky photographer award of the month. Please visit his encyclopedic articles on the optics of lens hoods (lens shades in Britain), on lens flare, and vignetting, all of which are part of a larger collection of articles on optics.

Apple has come out with a product called Aperture that looks to directly challenge Adobe's Bridge preview and Camera Raw input hegemony. From what I've seen on Apple's website, it looks like a killer app (see http://www.apple.com/aperture/quicktours/), doing just about everything a documentary photographer would want to do. It isn't Photoshop but it's lightweight and fast and does the types of color correction, photo library management (the biggest thing for me), and formatting output that I need to do. It's retailing at $499 for civilians and $149 for academics. I've placed an order, but shipping is 6-8 weeks. Phooey!

The buzz on Slashdot and other blogs is that all four major digital camera manufacturers are releasing service advisories that the Sony-made CCDs on their cameras are subject to failure due to a faulty design that lets moisture in. See the info here: Canon, Fuji, Konica-Minolta, and Sony.