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VIDEO EQUIPMENT AND ACCESSORIES

The rise of DSLR HD Video, has many advantages for the professional photographer and film maker.
We at Three Four have been working closely with our clients to create and supply a versatile range of rigs, for hand held, shoulder mounted or track filming.
With marshall HD monitors, Rode sound recording, and post production editing, we offer the complete service to ensure smooth and professional DSLR filmmaking.

QUICK NOTE…

Placed the order for the new laptops. Went for the:
2.66GHz Intel Core i7
8GB 1066MHZ DDR3 SDRM – 2X4GB
500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 (spin away)
SuperDrive 8X DL
MBP 17″ HR Antiglare WS Display
I am excited but until i get them which I think will be next week I wont be able to tell you anything interesting.

CAPTURE ONE v5.1 RELEASED

Yet another upgrade. Its list of new toys and improvements is impressive on paper and I hope that it proves itself on the field.

New features:
• New spot type ideal for removing imperfections in images.
• New advanced noise reduction tool.
• Multiline fields the metadata tool.
• New metadata fields including GPS information in the metadata tool.
• New advanced recipe options controlling what metadata are included in processed files.
• New preference determining how to handle conflicting metadata during load.
• New inverse color slice feature in the color editor.
• New preference to disable JPEG/TIFF editing.
• New auto and style selector items for the toolbar.
• New size options for the focus and process recipes tool.
• Aspect ratios available directly from the crop cursor tool.
• New welcome screen.
• New option for naming without appending numbers.
• Customizable toolbar on Windows (already on Mac).
• New Auto Pause option to determine how auto selection of images works during capture.
• New Importer option for setting when to select import folder or to notify upon completion.
• Capture One gains basic color editor, clarity tool, full metadata editing and predefined
workspaces.
Enhancements:
• Workspaces now including the toolbar configuration.
• Clarity tool now allowing negative clarity values useful for portrait work.
• Streamlined Edit All Selected replaces old Edit Primary feature.
• Sorting now including sort by process state and smarter sorting by name.
• Better performance when selecting a recent folder and doing freehand rotation of images.
• Generally improved interactive speed.
• Fixed issue with tethered capture on 64-bit versions of Windows if the computer has 4GB or
more installed memory.
• Improved colors for Phase One P65+ and P40+.
• EIP support for all supported RAW files types.
• A number of other enhancements and bug fixes.

P65+/40+ AVAILABLE AT THREE FOUR DIGITAL

The end of 2009 marked the arrival of the new Phase One digital backs. We are now fully stocked with P65+ and P40+ for both V and H fits. We are pleased to see that since their arrival in December there has been a positive feedback from both photographers and operators. Their improved speed and image quality has had a significant impact on the workflow and finished product.
Here is a breakdown of the technical data:

The P65+
CCD: Full frame CCD
Lens Factor: 1.0 / Full frame
Resolution: 60.5 mega pixels
Active pixels: 8984 x 6732 pixels
CCD size effective: 53.9 mm x 40.4 mm
Pixel size: 6 x 6 micron
Image ratio: 4:3
Dynamic range: 12.5 f-stops
ISO: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800
Sensor + capture mode
Resolution: 15 mega pixels
Pixel size: 12 x 12 micron
ISO: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

The P65+ has both speed and a very large file to boast about. Its really nice to finally use all the lenses to their full potential with its full frame size. Its improved buffering RAM from 640MB on the P45+/30+ to 1.3GB makes it really quick.
The same counts for the P40+ which is incredibly fast and delivers file sizes equal to its P45+ predecessor.

The P40+
Resolution: 40 megapixels
Active pixels: 7320 x 5484 pixels
CCD size effective: 44 mm x 33 mm
Pixel size: 6 x 6 micron
Image ratio: 4:3
Dynamic range: 12.5 f-stops
ISO: 50, 100, 200, 400, 800
Sensor + capture mode
Resolution: 10 megapixels
Pixel size: 12 x 12 micron
ISO: 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200

For all technical data please visit the Phase One website
For more information please feel freee to contact us at info@threefourdigital.com

CAPTURE ONE 5 RELEASED

I have had a copy of Capture One 5 for the last couple of days and I am pleased to say that it seems to be quite a good upgrade. I say upgrade as I believe that this is what it is.
Yes there are some new functions but the new essential functions should have always been there since the launch of 4.
Stability wise, it seems to run smoothly. There is still no style attachment on import from card which is ludicrous but I guess you can get round it by importing them using hot folders enabled.
Also I spoke to a representative of Phase who said it seemed unlikely that 3.7.9 style will be able to be imported in 5, which was also the case in 4.
The focus tool is ok but still reliant too much on contrast. I think that checking it yourself will never be beaten.
Spot removal is quite good but I want to give a file with it applied to a retoucher and see what he thinks about it.
What I am really happy about is the RGB curves and levels. Finally!

For more information please feel freee to contact us at info@threefourdigital.com

CAPTURE ONE 5 NEWS

There have been rumors flying around of the imminent release of Capture 5, due out in the coming week.
Capture 5 is rumored to incorporate several of the key elements of 3.7.9 – which were so inexplicably dropped by 4- whilst retaining the far more efficient workflow of Capture 4
I have listed below some of the expected improvements to be released in version 5

- Individual Red, Green and Blue curves and levels.
- A focus tool on the left hand side showing 100% zoom of the file.
- A spot removal tool.
- Improved metadata information.
- Session switch tool bar.
- New folder button on library tool.
- Live preview button on Camera tool.
- Orientation Options.
- Images will be able to be displayed smaller than the fit option. Thereby enabling a border around the preview

I will do an in-depth review when I get a full copy in but i think this will be a good release, pending bug issues, which enables 3.7.9 users to shift to 5 due to its RGB curves capabilities.

For more information please feel freee to contact us at info@threefourdigital.com

STORAGE SOLUTION REVIEW.

Often we have been asked by photographers and agencies what is the best storage solutions available on the market.
With file sizes increasing, 250 and 500GB hard drives soon run out of space and only provide an immediate solutions on shoots but not a long term one.
Here at Three Four Digital we store data for three months after the shoot date for free and also offer long term solution. For further information on Long term stoage solutions feel free to contact us at info@threefourdigital.com

In this post i will be looking at our favorite storage solutions on the market for photographers and anyone with alot of data.

The Drobo

Firstly what is new from the first generation;
- Faster read/write performance thanks to an upgraded core processor and faster transfer method (Firewire vs. USB); slower read/write performance was a big point of contention with the first-generation Drobo
- Two Firewire 800 connectors in addition to the USB 2.0 connector, so you can daisy-chain other Firewire devices to the Drobo
- Different design for the cooling grille and a bigger cooling fan (the fan, without the cooling grille, was a silent upgrade that was also applied to some late builds of the first-generation Drobo)

- FireWire 800: Up to 52MB/s reads and 34MB/s writes
- USB 2.0: Up to 30MB/s reads and 24MB/s writes

The drobo has got great storage flexibility and the safety of one’s data. The only thing that’s holding it back at the moment, storage-wise, is the capability of the hard drives themselves. This means,(having 2TB drives inside) according to the Drobolator, that you can get up to 5.5TB of disk space on a single Drobo unit, which is still far from the 16TB limit.

For something a bit bigger you can go for the Drobo Pro. It has 8 bay slots which will give you 12.48TB of space if filled with 2TB disks.
The great thing about both is that you don’t have to have the same volume in all the drives. This means that you can expand when you have to and not have to spend a loads of money upfront.
Read all the technical sheets at the Drobo website www.drobo.com who we thank for the images above.

If you need any information or advice on which storage solution is best for you contact us at info@threefourdigital.com

CAPTURE ONE 4.8.3

Capture One 4.8.3 has been released and it promises to provide bug fixes when running Snow Leopard.
We are running tests with it and it seems stable. We will keep you posted on further developments.
Let us know if you have experienced issues with it.
Here are the release notes from Phase One

Capture One 4.8.3 release notes:

Capture One 4.8.3 includes:

Bugfixes
– Mac: Improved compatibility with Snow Leopard.
– Mac: Fixed issue causing out of memory in certain circumstances.
Image Quality Improvements
– Improved P65+ and P40+ image quality for some shooting conditions.
– Improvement of default import DNG colors.

Known issues
Below you will find a list of known issues for Capture One 4.8.3 at the time of shipping.

General:

- (PRO) Setting the white balance on a connected camera from the Camera tool is supported for
Phase One Digital Backs. It is not available for Canon DSLR cameras.
- The User Guide describes features that might only exist on the Mac platform currently.
- (PRO/DB) Sessions are not cross platform compatible.
- (PRO) For EOS-1D Mark II, EOS-1Ds Mark II, EOS-1D Mark II N: These cameras only support
remote capture via the FireWire port. Clear any messages on the LCD panel of the camera
before connecting the camera, otherwise capturing will be disabled.
- (PRO) For EOS 5D Mark II, EOS 5D, EOS 20D, EOS 350D/Rebel XT: Set the camera’s
communication setting to PC connection or Normal to enable remote capture. Do not use the
Print/PTP or PTP setting.
- Browsing folders containing unsupported image files may affect application performance
- The new feature of transferring rating from a digital back to Capture One is currently only
available for P 65+ and P 40+
- LCC libraries/files generated prior to Capture One 4.5.x are not supported. However it is
possible to create new LCC files from the original LCC images.
- It is not possible to export a DNG from a Leica D-Lux 4 camera.
- Image previews created with a version prior to Capture 4.7 will updated with Capture One
4.8.3. The first time you access folders with existing Capture One previews the application
performance can be slow.

Mac:

- (PRO/DB) When you have disconnected a camera do not reconnect a camera until the Camera
tool status changes to “No Camera Attached”.
- (PRO/DB) Do not open the shutter on the camera prior to opening the Live Preview window.
Doing so will generate errors on the digital back after closing the Live Preview window. The
recommended procedure for using Live Preview is to first open the Live Preview window, then
open the shutter on the camera, use Live Preview as desired, when done close the shutter on
the camera, and close the Live Preview window.
- It is only possible to show the Capture One toolbar in “Icon Only” mode.

For more information please feel freee to contact us at info@threefourdigital.com

PHASE ONE 645FD

Here it is! The new Phase One 645DF has just been announced. On paper it looks promising;

- 1/1600 Synch speed
- 3 new leaf shutter lenses with Schneider glass in lengths of 55, 80, and 110mm all with a F2.8 aperture.
- 30% faster focusing

To read the press notes click here: Press Notes

Three Four Digital has placed their order and we will let you know when they will be sitting on our shelves.

For more information please feel freee to contact us at info@threefourdigital.com