The Panasonic GH4 hasn't really made my life easier. Yes, it's great equipment.
I've taken roughly 49 video clips since getting the GH4.
Hold the camera steady. Follow the motion. Oh, and remember to remove the lens cap and power on the camera. Yes, that's it.
Once I got the clips onto the drive, I was confused about what to do next. I started iMovie (I have Adobe Premiere Elements on the way) since that's my only video editor. Suddenly, I need to deal with Events and Projects and Importing. Am I confused? Am I.
I managed to get a video onto YouTube and Vimeo. That seemed a little problematic, but not horrible. Horrible was the description for dealing with Instagram. It saw my video, but refused to process it, possibly because it was too wide. The solution? Dropbox on Android was extra helpful in exporting to Instagram. It somehow found the face in the video and kept the person in the video, regardless of the location. That was quite amazing, and better than I could have thought to do at this point. The iOS version of Dropbox didn't have such an option (or any export to Instagram) that I could find.
After getting the first, very raw video on all three networks that I use, I felt better.
The next day, I tried working with iMovie further, without any extra support. I made mistakes, and learned. Finally, I managed to learn enough to put a bit of the video into slow motion. Then, I found that iMovie could immediately send the final product to Vimeo and YouTube without much more than e-mail addresses and passwords.
I still have something like 10 videos to process--out of 49 I took. Some of the videos need pieces thrown away. I should be able to learn.
Update 2014.12.13: Finally worked with the last nine of the videos, added some transitions, and wrapped them into one video of slightly under two minutes. Am I proud? Am I accomplished? I don't know. I'm satisfied to be able to finish something else, and do more.
I got my copy of Adobe Premiere Elements, along with Photoshop Elements, today. I'm not sure it's easier or better but the multiple levels of assistance will probably be useful. (I use Photoshop so little since working through Phase One Capture One that Photoshop is all but obsolete for my workflow.)
Apple doesn't seem to care about helping the user, except through some videos. They'd started a tutorial system way back in Mac OS 8.x but they killed it fairly quickly on the way to Mac OS X.
Still, iMovie is more confusing than difficult to use. Hopefully, Premiere Elements is also more confusing than difficult.
Update 2015.01.15: Premiere Elements is similar. It's just giving me a load of new user problems, as is iMovie. Why am I not going for a professional product? It really doesn't matter at this point. I still have to learn to work with taking the video, working with equipment, and processing the clips, understanding the software. If there is magical software to help do what I want without requiring learning something, I need that kind of software. I don't believe it exists.
Also, I'm looking at which lenses might help me. It matters about whether I'm going to take video clips or make films.
What does that mean? Serious equipment will require more than just a monetary investment. It will require a mental investment, planning any move.
I'm more of a run-and-gun type of photographer. I'm ready at any moment. I don't tell people what to do--I ask what they want to do or use what they are doing. Sports photography is like that, though working around skate parks requires even more flexibility.
I've been thinking about cine lenses. I can use those in a way that isn't completely different from the way I work now, but these are adapted or otherwise, manually-operated lenses. There is a recent crowdsourced group Veydra that will be able to provide supposedly high quality cine lenses at low prices, in contrast to Zeiss--US$900 vs US$5000 for each lens.
What's different is actually setting the various parameters of exposure, which may not change a lot from minute to minute, and focus. This should not be a problem because, as I've found photographing sports, auto focus isn't always all that reliable, unless maybe you're using a camera body over US$5000.
However, I'd found that the Olympus E-M1 and 12-40mm f/2.8 lens was fairly good for run-and-gun situations. Perhaps the GH4 with Panasonic's 12-35mm f/2.8 lens would be equally good. The really great solution would be for Panasonic to work with Olympus and vice versa, to add the higher end Olympus lens profiles to the GH4 for Depth from Defocus application. It doesn't feel as though the 35-100mm f/2.8 lens from Panasonic is all that great with the GH4 but it wasn't all that great with the GH3 either.
I'm still considering all of the options, but quick auto focus is certainly effortless, mindless--if it works.
Update 2015.03.26: In January, I bought the Panasonic/Lumix/Leica 15mm f/1.7. It's been very good for video, staying focused.
The other day, I tried my Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens. The OIS was enabled and it was worse than the two lenses I use that don't have any image stabilization. What's worse, they recently updated the firmware to improve the OIS during video, and I'd applied that fix. It was absolutely jumpy. I suspect it would have been much better with the OIS disabled, as I'm usually only slightly shaky.
Building a workflow has been interesting. I organize the clips into folders. Delete the bad clips. Combine the good clips. Add transitions and titles. Shorten clips to remove unwanted material, and quicken the unwanted material in the middle. (I might be able to split the clip, and delete the bad section, but right now, this makes the process less complicated, and the speed up might be entertaining.)
Since I'm using iMovie at the moment, there are a lot of simple ways to add effects, as long as I can figure out how to select the correct segment. I'm taking baby steps to avoid making an unsophisticated mess of my finished videos.
Update 2015.11.20: I have over 120 videos on YouTube and only a few on Vimeo. Vimeo wanted me to pay to upload more and I would not.
I'm using the Panasonic GH4 and GX8 for video, but I have used video from the E-M1 and it's not as bad as people say that it is. It's just not as good as it should be. The Pentax K-50 is also not bad. The fixed display isn't helpful though and the fixed display on the Nikon D7200 has kept me from using it for video, especially when I already have some powerful equipment.
I'm still using iMovie for video production. Yes, it is the free one. I recently bought a Windows 10 machine and paid for Sony Movie Studio Suite. This is a cut-rate version big package and it is confusing. To start a new project, it has various categories of the type of video--you're importing or producing--I can't tell. Nothing in the DV or HDV category seems to be 1920x1080p 60fps, which is what I use. They have AVCHD which is something the cameras support but I don't use. The package supports 3840x2160 but not 4096x2160. Shouldn't the application read the files you're importing to determine the project and ask you what you want to output?
In any case, iMovie has been amazingly quick and easy to get reasonable skate park videos out of it. I put together a final project, a best of video, that started with 42 minutes' worth of clips that ended up at 14:55, with music and effects. Even with iMovie, it was a task but at least, it's not difficult to remember how to split a clip, change effects, or even import from multiple folders. It took a while.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Got an iPhone 6 last night and stayed with Sprint
As you might have read already, I live in an area where the LTE installations haven't been finished. While much of the town is on LTE, I live on the edge of LTE and a roaming zone. In fact, my bedroom seems to be a transition area between 3G/EVDO and LTE, so I end up with 1xRTT too many times for too long.
I went to see Verizon, but after seeing the local reseller's Yelp ratings, I went to a city 15 miles away where there was an official company store.
They currently have a $150 switching rebate, and I had found that the data sharing plan of 12 GB had been upgraded to 15 GB. This is important as I already have a mobile hotspot with the company. Service is better than Sprint but not great, as though it's bordering on overloaded. We apparently don't have enough towers in town.
I waited about 15 minutes until there was an available associate. We talked, and he explained the rent-to-buy plan. It sounded fine, and then, he talked about the data plan--6 GB for $120, along with talk and text messaging, which we didn't even discuss. I told him that I'd really have to think about that, since it would drive my total expense up by $40.
Then, I said "I thought there was a 12GB 15 GB sharing plan" and he seemed to tap his headset, and looked surprised "Oh, why didn't I think of that?" and as if he'd been given information by someone behind the curtain, he remarked "That would be $160." That pretty much ended the conversation but I asked if he was on commission, and he said yes, and had someone get his card for me. I figured that he would get a little extra each month by not suggesting the cheaper plan.
I went to one of the two Sprint kiosks in the mall just after that. The first was busy, so I went to the other. I said "Give me a reason to stay with Sprint. I'm ready to pay my ETF." and we started a discussion.
Within only a couple of minutes, he mentioned an extra discount for long time customers on the lease plan. This also supposedly doesn't include a contract. They get to keep the phone at the end of the lease or you can pay an extra $200 to keep it. I was a bit confused, but it still sounded okay. Except for prepaid service, is it ever 100% straightforward? Since I wanted a 64GB iPhone 6, it cost a bit more.
Naturally, with these plans, you leave without paying anything. They put certain things on your initial bill, like the !@#$ $36.00 activation fee--yes, they need to pay for the rigamarole to handle all the crap of paperwork.
My plan is a bit old, so they had trouble deciding which reason to use to make the lease work. They need to add "Hella Old Plan" to the list. Eventually, everything was fine, and they also sold me a Otterbox glass screen protector and a Griffin case. Amusingly, my old address from 2000-2008 was there, and now, with one of the receipts sent by e-mail, they showed me Indiana taxes, where I haven't lived for months.
What's bad about the lease discount is that I had to stay with my current service plan. They have a better, cheaper plan now. Actually, last year when I got the iPhone 5c, they add an Unlimited Everything plan or some such that was the same price but had no limits. Still, I don't talk on the phone enough to need my current minutes.
Oh, and I didn't have to pay the ETF, so far. Hopefully, it won't show up, since I was told that it wouldn't happen.
They asked me if I wanted insurance, and I told them AppleCare+ but I'm not sure that it will arrive or not. They didn't charge me for it, but then, they didn't charge me right away last year. I didn't want Asurion to handle it, as they want lots of money each month, and they have no problem refusing service.
In any case, the iPhone 6 is much better than the iPhone 5c. That's a surprise? I suppose not. I'm thankful that the iPhone 6 is a bit more efficient than the iPhone 5s. I was concerned about buying a first-generation 64-bit processor from Apple, so I didn't buy the iPhone 5s. The phone keeps up with me, except when service is poor. Given that the iPhone 5c is a two band LTE device and the iPhone 6 is a three band LTE device, I should have great performance in certain areas where the Nextel 800 MHz frequency band has been re-purposed.
Most apps I use seem to have been updated for iPhone 6, as well as iOS 8.x and they seem fine. However, there seem to be so many bug fixes, with apps being updated every few days. Asphalt 8 takes advantage of the new abilities and has some extra special effects. I'm not seeing anything else like that from other apps, but everything else seems smooth.
As it has only been a little over 24 hours, I don't know how the battery life really is. I was in a habit of charging whenever possible--in the car, in the house, and I have a Sony charging kit with a 10,000 mAh battery. I'm not comfortable enough to let it go overnight without a charge, though I suspect that it will be fine.
The display seems so good. I wish that they'd picked a more standard size, such as 1280x800 but had 1334-by-750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi. That's big enough to play 720p video, finally. Seeing "Full sRGB standard" makes me happy. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at photos I've taken and the color range and dynamic range is lower than expected, leaving my photos not looking their best, requiring imagination.
TouchID seems to work well. I was carrying on a conversation with the salesperson while trying to set up the phone and I wasn't synchronizing my movements well, but the TouchID setup was very patient. It works fine and it's good to be able to put my thumb on the Home button to unlock the phone. I'm not ready to use Apple Pay. Let someone else live through the problems.
The thing I don't like is the size of the phone. It's not horribly big, but it is a big difference. When I'm playing games in a landscape position, it's great. When I'm trying to use it as an internet device in portrait orientation, it's a little uncomfortable to use with one hand.
What else? I'm planning to buy another Ballistic case, so I don't have to worry about dropping it. The current Griffin case was labeled with "3'" but does it actually work after a drop of three feet? The glass screen protector from Otterbox seems fine, but for such a price, it should be fine.
Oh, the speakers are in the way of my hands. Yes, I know that doesn't make sense. Playing games or watching videos in landscape orientation, I can barely hear the sound at all. If they'd be a little less obsessed with thin and light, they'd likely have made it so headphones aren't necessary. Maybe, I can charge my Bluetooth-connected Motorola S9 headphones and hopefully, the synchronization of sound is better than way back when with the second generation iPod touch and iOS 5.x.
Update 2014.12.12: I found Best Buy-only Ballistic cases for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. They were $34.99, $39.99, and $49.99. I bought one of the $39.99 priced cases that was labeled Tungsten Tough. You won't find these on the Ballistic web site. It's a similar situation to the Klipsch speakers that are made for Best Buy. I suspect that there is a higher profit margin. The case has what seems to be anodized aluminum in back. The drop rating was 7+ feet. The case for $49.99 added water resistance, a screen protector, and an 8+ rating for drops.
I'm not sure if I'll miss the clip (it didn't turn the case into a viewing easel), as it has hung on to my pocket when I didn't quite have the case far enough into the pocket, but the company's protection is great, so a 7+ rating should handle a fall from my pocket easily.
Update 2015.02.10: I have to say that the situation with Sprint in California isn't as good as it should be. I understand that it is a long state, but seeing "No Service" should never happen, and it happened too often on my trip from Northern California to San Diego.
The compensation is that when LTE was available, it worked very well. I've found too many transition zones, just like in my apartment, where they still haven't got overlapping towers.
Update 2015.11.06: Sprint provided better technology and therefore, a better connection. After 1 month, they took it away, and things are back to the way they had been. Where they have good service, the phone works just fine. Elsewhere, the service is poor and the phone works poorly. I was told I needed to have the phone serviced. I told the @sprintcare team that I didn't know that humor was a new service they offered.
I almost wish that I had not got the new phone so I could switch to T-Mobile, which has improved their service. Even paying more to Verizon might have been worth it. I've been with Sprint since 2000 and the last couple of months have made me wish that Sprint would go out of business. I actually mentioned that to the @sprintsavings people on Twitter.
The phone has been good. Now, with iOS 9.0.2, it seems even better, if still a bit buggy.
Verizon First
I went to see Verizon, but after seeing the local reseller's Yelp ratings, I went to a city 15 miles away where there was an official company store.
They currently have a $150 switching rebate, and I had found that the data sharing plan of 12 GB had been upgraded to 15 GB. This is important as I already have a mobile hotspot with the company. Service is better than Sprint but not great, as though it's bordering on overloaded. We apparently don't have enough towers in town.
I waited about 15 minutes until there was an available associate. We talked, and he explained the rent-to-buy plan. It sounded fine, and then, he talked about the data plan--6 GB for $120, along with talk and text messaging, which we didn't even discuss. I told him that I'd really have to think about that, since it would drive my total expense up by $40.
Then, I said "I thought there was a 12GB 15 GB sharing plan" and he seemed to tap his headset, and looked surprised "Oh, why didn't I think of that?" and as if he'd been given information by someone behind the curtain, he remarked "That would be $160." That pretty much ended the conversation but I asked if he was on commission, and he said yes, and had someone get his card for me. I figured that he would get a little extra each month by not suggesting the cheaper plan.
Sprint Next but not Nextel
I went to one of the two Sprint kiosks in the mall just after that. The first was busy, so I went to the other. I said "Give me a reason to stay with Sprint. I'm ready to pay my ETF." and we started a discussion.
Within only a couple of minutes, he mentioned an extra discount for long time customers on the lease plan. This also supposedly doesn't include a contract. They get to keep the phone at the end of the lease or you can pay an extra $200 to keep it. I was a bit confused, but it still sounded okay. Except for prepaid service, is it ever 100% straightforward? Since I wanted a 64GB iPhone 6, it cost a bit more.
Naturally, with these plans, you leave without paying anything. They put certain things on your initial bill, like the !@#$ $36.00 activation fee--yes, they need to pay for the rigamarole to handle all the crap of paperwork.
My plan is a bit old, so they had trouble deciding which reason to use to make the lease work. They need to add "Hella Old Plan" to the list. Eventually, everything was fine, and they also sold me a Otterbox glass screen protector and a Griffin case. Amusingly, my old address from 2000-2008 was there, and now, with one of the receipts sent by e-mail, they showed me Indiana taxes, where I haven't lived for months.
What's bad about the lease discount is that I had to stay with my current service plan. They have a better, cheaper plan now. Actually, last year when I got the iPhone 5c, they add an Unlimited Everything plan or some such that was the same price but had no limits. Still, I don't talk on the phone enough to need my current minutes.
Oh, and I didn't have to pay the ETF, so far. Hopefully, it won't show up, since I was told that it wouldn't happen.
They asked me if I wanted insurance, and I told them AppleCare+ but I'm not sure that it will arrive or not. They didn't charge me for it, but then, they didn't charge me right away last year. I didn't want Asurion to handle it, as they want lots of money each month, and they have no problem refusing service.
In any case, the iPhone 6 is much better than the iPhone 5c. That's a surprise? I suppose not. I'm thankful that the iPhone 6 is a bit more efficient than the iPhone 5s. I was concerned about buying a first-generation 64-bit processor from Apple, so I didn't buy the iPhone 5s. The phone keeps up with me, except when service is poor. Given that the iPhone 5c is a two band LTE device and the iPhone 6 is a three band LTE device, I should have great performance in certain areas where the Nextel 800 MHz frequency band has been re-purposed.
Most apps I use seem to have been updated for iPhone 6, as well as iOS 8.x and they seem fine. However, there seem to be so many bug fixes, with apps being updated every few days. Asphalt 8 takes advantage of the new abilities and has some extra special effects. I'm not seeing anything else like that from other apps, but everything else seems smooth.
As it has only been a little over 24 hours, I don't know how the battery life really is. I was in a habit of charging whenever possible--in the car, in the house, and I have a Sony charging kit with a 10,000 mAh battery. I'm not comfortable enough to let it go overnight without a charge, though I suspect that it will be fine.
The display seems so good. I wish that they'd picked a more standard size, such as 1280x800 but had 1334-by-750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi. That's big enough to play 720p video, finally. Seeing "Full sRGB standard" makes me happy. I can't tell you how many times I've looked at photos I've taken and the color range and dynamic range is lower than expected, leaving my photos not looking their best, requiring imagination.
TouchID seems to work well. I was carrying on a conversation with the salesperson while trying to set up the phone and I wasn't synchronizing my movements well, but the TouchID setup was very patient. It works fine and it's good to be able to put my thumb on the Home button to unlock the phone. I'm not ready to use Apple Pay. Let someone else live through the problems.
The thing I don't like is the size of the phone. It's not horribly big, but it is a big difference. When I'm playing games in a landscape position, it's great. When I'm trying to use it as an internet device in portrait orientation, it's a little uncomfortable to use with one hand.
What else? I'm planning to buy another Ballistic case, so I don't have to worry about dropping it. The current Griffin case was labeled with "3'" but does it actually work after a drop of three feet? The glass screen protector from Otterbox seems fine, but for such a price, it should be fine.
Oh, the speakers are in the way of my hands. Yes, I know that doesn't make sense. Playing games or watching videos in landscape orientation, I can barely hear the sound at all. If they'd be a little less obsessed with thin and light, they'd likely have made it so headphones aren't necessary. Maybe, I can charge my Bluetooth-connected Motorola S9 headphones and hopefully, the synchronization of sound is better than way back when with the second generation iPod touch and iOS 5.x.
Update 2014.12.12: I found Best Buy-only Ballistic cases for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. They were $34.99, $39.99, and $49.99. I bought one of the $39.99 priced cases that was labeled Tungsten Tough. You won't find these on the Ballistic web site. It's a similar situation to the Klipsch speakers that are made for Best Buy. I suspect that there is a higher profit margin. The case has what seems to be anodized aluminum in back. The drop rating was 7+ feet. The case for $49.99 added water resistance, a screen protector, and an 8+ rating for drops.
I'm not sure if I'll miss the clip (it didn't turn the case into a viewing easel), as it has hung on to my pocket when I didn't quite have the case far enough into the pocket, but the company's protection is great, so a 7+ rating should handle a fall from my pocket easily.
Update 2015.02.10: I have to say that the situation with Sprint in California isn't as good as it should be. I understand that it is a long state, but seeing "No Service" should never happen, and it happened too often on my trip from Northern California to San Diego.
The compensation is that when LTE was available, it worked very well. I've found too many transition zones, just like in my apartment, where they still haven't got overlapping towers.
Update 2015.11.06: Sprint provided better technology and therefore, a better connection. After 1 month, they took it away, and things are back to the way they had been. Where they have good service, the phone works just fine. Elsewhere, the service is poor and the phone works poorly. I was told I needed to have the phone serviced. I told the @sprintcare team that I didn't know that humor was a new service they offered.
I almost wish that I had not got the new phone so I could switch to T-Mobile, which has improved their service. Even paying more to Verizon might have been worth it. I've been with Sprint since 2000 and the last couple of months have made me wish that Sprint would go out of business. I actually mentioned that to the @sprintsavings people on Twitter.
The phone has been good. Now, with iOS 9.0.2, it seems even better, if still a bit buggy.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
Copyrights and "Sharing"
For years, I've seen plenty of people who believe that digital files are theirs to do with as they please. Many of these files have been photos, some of which were my own, but they also include software, music, and videos made by professionals.
It isn't just an individual or group of individuals who feel entitled to take--Facebook has been consistently holding onto their rights of your uploads. If you agree to any private network's terms, you usually give up all rights that would normally be yours in a free society. Free speech doesn't necessarily exist, but people seem to think that because they live in a country which gives them rights, so should a social network that may not exist in that country.
People were upset that Facebook was using their photos in advertisements. Perhaps, these same people were ripping off photographers and musicians, and had no regrets but felt that they were being used when their photos showed up in advertisements.
I saw a bit about Apple being on trial for using DRM that prevented "sharing", that the DRM was illegal. If it prevents sharing music or music videos--an illegitimate act--how could it be illegal? Apple needed such DRM to make agreements with the various music companies. Was it not important to protect the companies from people who were not paying for music?
Do I think that the music companies were charging too much? Yes. Do I think that their promises of cheap CD prices were mysteriously forgotten once the startup of the technology was over and CDs were commonplace? Yes. Do I think that the RIAA was a group of out of contact with reality? Yes.
Do I think that things would be the same right now if Apple didn't apply DRM to satisfy the music companies? Yes. The world somehow benefited from the situation, even if it didn't seem that way. Now, music is DRM free in general and Blu-Ray discs (and DVD to a certain extent) are the real DRM target.
For every person who has taken one of my photos without permission, I'd love to have a digital method to make them pay for it or have it disintegrate. The owner of the digital files should be in charge, not the people who want them.
It isn't just an individual or group of individuals who feel entitled to take--Facebook has been consistently holding onto their rights of your uploads. If you agree to any private network's terms, you usually give up all rights that would normally be yours in a free society. Free speech doesn't necessarily exist, but people seem to think that because they live in a country which gives them rights, so should a social network that may not exist in that country.
People were upset that Facebook was using their photos in advertisements. Perhaps, these same people were ripping off photographers and musicians, and had no regrets but felt that they were being used when their photos showed up in advertisements.
I saw a bit about Apple being on trial for using DRM that prevented "sharing", that the DRM was illegal. If it prevents sharing music or music videos--an illegitimate act--how could it be illegal? Apple needed such DRM to make agreements with the various music companies. Was it not important to protect the companies from people who were not paying for music?
Do I think that the music companies were charging too much? Yes. Do I think that their promises of cheap CD prices were mysteriously forgotten once the startup of the technology was over and CDs were commonplace? Yes. Do I think that the RIAA was a group of out of contact with reality? Yes.
Do I think that things would be the same right now if Apple didn't apply DRM to satisfy the music companies? Yes. The world somehow benefited from the situation, even if it didn't seem that way. Now, music is DRM free in general and Blu-Ray discs (and DVD to a certain extent) are the real DRM target.
For every person who has taken one of my photos without permission, I'd love to have a digital method to make them pay for it or have it disintegrate. The owner of the digital files should be in charge, not the people who want them.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Panasonic GH4 is in my bag
It's just before Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A. and the sales are all over the place. One of the national broadcasters mentioned that electronics would be cheaper before Black Friday, and cameras and other photographic equipment generally falls into line with electronics.
I read that Panasonic has reduced the price of the GH4 by $200. Adorama, B&H Photo, and Mike's Camera (Colorado and California) have said that this is an instant rebate. Mike's Camera ended this instant rebate on November 26th--today.
I braved holiday traffic to drive 30+ miles to buy the camera body. I met with a salesperson with whom I'd previously talked. I asked about the body, and he checked their web site, and I bought it, even using my extra battery from my GH3 to try it. (My battery appeared to be fully charged, even though I traded my GH3 in early June. That makes it almost six months since it was charged.)
At $1499.99, the body is somewhat more reasonable for me, and it's the same price I paid for my Olympus E-5. That also makes it less than half the price of the Canon 5D MkIII, its nearest (hybrid) competitor in the business. Well, actually, the 5D MkIII was the competitor of the GH3, and the expanded 4K capabilities and high bit rates at 1080p add to the differences between the GH4 and the 5D MkIII, above those between the 5D MkIII and the GH3.
The salesperson mounted an Olympus 25mm f/1.8 lens, so I could check the body. The lens seemed almost tiny, though not as small as the 15mm f/1.7 approved by Leica, designed and made by Panasonic especially for the GM1/GM5. The image through the viewfinder seemed improved (it has over double the density) over my memory of the GH3. I didn't notice that much difference from the E-M1 I use regularly, or from my memory of the FujiFilm X-T1.
I used my sunglasses briefly, explaining about the blackout problem that I had with the GH3, and I currently have with the E-M1 on occasion. It only happened on occasion, but it happened enough that muscle memory was my only way around it with the GH3. I'm guessing that it may still occur. Perhaps, switching to polarized sunglasses may help. It isn't a problem with optical viewfinders.
Of course, it took a few minutes to find settings to change, to try to personalize it similarly to my GH3. I was pleased to see many video additions in the menus, bringing up the professional specification. I can't say enough how great it is that the GH3 and GH4 have 5 slots for settings. I only used two slots with the GH3 and that might be the same with the GH4, although I'll be more focused on video this time, so I might use more.
The most wonderful thing about the GH4 is the instant familiarity. Panasonic wisely chose to keep ergonomic choices almost all the same. They added a lock to the mode button, something it has in common with the E-M1--and the Olympus E-1 from way back when.
I just checked the What Digital Camera (my go-to magazine) review for the GH4 and E-M1 and they said that the design of the GH4 was an 85 and the E-M1, 95. In the text, they complained about the GH4 having so many buttons but appreciated the dSLR-like design. Strangely, everyone else seems to like that you don't have to dig through menus, and the Panasonic menus are a bit less extreme than those of Olympus. The magazine has had a complete change of staff and they seem to work toward advertisers more than 10 years ago. 89% for the GH4 vs 92% for the E-M1 isn't a huge difference. However, I would say that, given Olympus' poor video performance and uncomfortable grip, the two are equal at least.
One of the bigger issues for me with the E-M1 was the combination of the small battery and small, angular grip. Now that I have 3 batteries for the E-M1, I don't run out of power early, but I don't use it nearly as long as I used my dSLRs, so I'm still concerned.
With the GH3, I never had a problem where I exhausted both batteries during a long day of shooting. Since the battery is so much bigger than that of the E-M1, there is definitely a difference. Getting battery grips for each won't help much, as either grip only holds an extra battery, though they might help with using my Four-Thirds 35-100mm f/2.0 (3.64 lbs./1650g) lens. I was never happy with that balance on the GH3 and I've never bothered to try it for more than a few minutes with the E-M1. Of course, with the tripod collar attached to a tripod, the balance issue goes away. Naturally, this was never a problem with the Olympus E-5, which is only as big as the Nikon D7100.
When mounting the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens outside the store, I found that the lens operated at full speed again, in contrast to its performance on the E-M1. I had not used it significantly since the Panasonic Repair Facility had checked it. The few times I tried it with the E-M1, the frame rate was significantly slower than Olympus' 12-40mm lens, which made no sense, since it was very fast on the GH3. This makes the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens important for the E-M1. I expect that the color from the lens will be equally better over the 35-100mm f/2.8 as the 12-40mm f/2.8 was. I thought that there was a problem with the GH3, until I used the 12-40mm f/2.8 on it. It should be interesting to see how fast the frame rate of the GH4 will be with the 40-150mm f/2.8 lens.
I'm hoping to try some skate park video soon, using the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens. I don't know much about video but I took a few with the GH3. I don't have an enhanced speed card to handle 4K video but learning how to handle video is more important at this time. Responsiveness with my current SanDisk Extreme Pro card seemed much better than with the GH3.
Oh, and concerning the bag, I'm afraid that I've got to re-distribute equipment again to emphasize the smaller equipment, though I still want to use my Four-Thirds lenses through the adapter. I hope Crumpler has something appropriate.
Update 2014.11.28: Ouch! The firmware needs to be updated and for some reason, I'm unable to update it for various reasons.
First, the U.S. Panasonic web site ends up with only a Windows executable when I open the .zip file I've downloaded. Perhaps, I didn't see a Macintosh-related link or the web site incorrectly detected that everyone uses Windows.
I used the Japanese web site that I'd used for the GH3 and that seemed to give me the correct file, but the camera body doesn't recognize that there is an update available when I go through the procedure. I'm sure I'll be fine with firmware version 1.1 instead of 2.0, for a while anyway, but whatever. Panasonic continues to be an administrative screw up. What was downloaded was labeled AH4 instead of GH4. I got something different tonight, and have updated my GH4.
Taking the GH4 and 35-100mm f/2.8 to the skate park, it performed well, but not with as much performance as expected. (Continuous AF is enabled by default.) Auto Focus accuracy was acceptable, similar to the GH3. I'll try it with the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 at a later date. It didn't feel as fast or responsive as the Olympus E-M1 and 12-40mm f/2.8. Auto Review is also enabled, which not only slows things down, as it does with the GH3, but it's also a battery waster.
Update 2014.12.01: I ordered a 4K-capable SD card from Adorama. It's interesting that these cards were UHS-I, class 10, U 3. Do I need such a card right now? Probably not, but having dedicated for-video storage would be a good idea, especially on those days when I've been busy taking still photos. I'm a little short on cards now that I have three bodies that take SD Cards.
I had a chance to buy a higher capacity SanDisk card but, after viewing several descriptions of the card, I couldn't determine the exact performance. One mentioned 95 MB/sec., while others mentioned 60 MB/sec. and 80 MB/sec. They were also labeled Extreme or Extreme Plus because the company changed the name at some point.
Update 2014.12.07: Part of my order was not readily available, so I ended up at Best Buy getting a 4K-capable card. It was about the same price for 32GB as Adorama had for 64GB. That's not the worst I've seen. At least, it's a SanDisk card. They had the Extreme and Extreme Plus cards, but this one is labeled Pixtor. I've barely used it for anything. I thought that the card would enable 4K options immediately, but that happens through the Creative Video mode on the mode dial. Getting past the GH3 is taking time.
I'm impressed with how responsive the GH4 has been, especially in low(er) light. I went to a skate shop with an indoor half pipe, and shot both still photos and video. I was there a few weeks earlier and the E-M1 struggled with the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens but the GH4 didn't seem to have any problem at all. That doesn't mean that it's great in the dark. It isn't. I could use more lenses at f/1.4 or wider than my older Leica/Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 from the Four-Thirds system.
The Voigtländer lenses look good. There is a 10.5mm f/0.95 that should be available soon (okay, officially Q1-Q2 2015), and that is wide enough to get skate park shots easily, and should be good for sharp landscape shots at a less aggressive aperture. Is US$1000 or more too much for a manually focused lens? It depends on your wallet, of course, and whether you can make money from it. The other three (17.5mm, 25mm, 42.5mm) have all been rated well and many people are satisfied with what they do.
Update 2014.12.31: The Panasonic card is flaky and has had general errors in both the GH4 body and the computer SD Card slot. Almost naturally, the SanDisk card isn't a problem--I've had to have one replaced in the past, but only one.
I'm having some struggles learning the GH4. I'm not finding it as instantly familiar as I thought I would--or at least, I'm not as successful with it as I had hoped. As I go further with it, I'm finding little issues. The drive mode dial has been accidentally moved. The burst mode position is adjacent to a +/- burst mode position that allows you to take bracketed auto exposure photos. For instance, it will take photos at -1/3 EV, +0 EV, +1/3 EV, much like HDR preparations. Your bracketing settings will affect the latitude of the exposure range. It is useful, although there have been times when I was getting a series of shots and naturally, it stops at three and the action continues without me. Yes, I should be more aware of my settings. I'm sure I saw it in the viewfinder and didn't really notice as the +/- didn't seem so significantly distinct.
The GH4 is so capable that it could be 6 months before I'm really comfortable. It's been a little over a month that I've had it now, so getting casual photos are easy but action photos are usually more involved. I've basically given up the use of the E-M1 to get up to speed with the GH4.
2015.01.09: The auto focus still isn't everything it should be, with continuous auto focus or not. During video, it will lose focus completely, which is a great effect that people like, except that it will do it at the wrong time. That's not unlike the Olympus E-M1. Maybe, the 12-40mm f/2.8 isn't feeling well. I was using the 35-100mm f/2.8 the other day and I noticed that the auto focus on the GH4 was similar to the E-M1, lower performing burst speed, but with better AF accuracy.
2016.12.07: It's been over two years since I got the GH4. I've got over 100 videos on YouTube. Most are skate park videos but I have some music performances and random things, also. The camera itself does a very good job, except for AF.
I've got a number of Panasonic lenses and it loses focus on those, as well as while using the Olympus lenses. It just seems too busy to bother with auto focus duties, but in this price range, it shouldn't have such a problem. I'm not asking it to track someone. I want it to focus on the single area I select while I move the camera. It has predictive focus--it's always busy.
I'm still learning. I've been learning to do time lapse photography because I wanted to try some shots while driving, to condense little road trips as I've seen someone else do.
Since the GH4, I've bought the GX8 and GM5. The GX8 has very good 1080p video which matches what I get from the GH4, and that is so useful at skate parks since I'll have the 35-100mm f/2.8 on one and the 12-35mm f/2.8 on the other. The E-M1 doesn't come close and I suspect that the GM5 won't match either.
The GH5 should be released in spring. What the whole feature set is, no one outside Panasonic knows, and I'm not certain even they know at this point. 3840x2160 at 60p is one of the few things that are guaranteed to be included. They've shown mockups of the body and it's agreeable, but nothing is much different.
The new sensor may be 18MP or 20MP, but they're not saying. The new Olympus E-M1 Mk II has a 20MP sensor with 121 cross type AF points--both PDAF and CDAF. Many speculate that they will use a lot of the same equipment in the GH5.
I read that Panasonic has reduced the price of the GH4 by $200. Adorama, B&H Photo, and Mike's Camera (Colorado and California) have said that this is an instant rebate. Mike's Camera ended this instant rebate on November 26th--today.
I braved holiday traffic to drive 30+ miles to buy the camera body. I met with a salesperson with whom I'd previously talked. I asked about the body, and he checked their web site, and I bought it, even using my extra battery from my GH3 to try it. (My battery appeared to be fully charged, even though I traded my GH3 in early June. That makes it almost six months since it was charged.)
At $1499.99, the body is somewhat more reasonable for me, and it's the same price I paid for my Olympus E-5. That also makes it less than half the price of the Canon 5D MkIII, its nearest (hybrid) competitor in the business. Well, actually, the 5D MkIII was the competitor of the GH3, and the expanded 4K capabilities and high bit rates at 1080p add to the differences between the GH4 and the 5D MkIII, above those between the 5D MkIII and the GH3.
The salesperson mounted an Olympus 25mm f/1.8 lens, so I could check the body. The lens seemed almost tiny, though not as small as the 15mm f/1.7 approved by Leica, designed and made by Panasonic especially for the GM1/GM5. The image through the viewfinder seemed improved (it has over double the density) over my memory of the GH3. I didn't notice that much difference from the E-M1 I use regularly, or from my memory of the FujiFilm X-T1.
I used my sunglasses briefly, explaining about the blackout problem that I had with the GH3, and I currently have with the E-M1 on occasion. It only happened on occasion, but it happened enough that muscle memory was my only way around it with the GH3. I'm guessing that it may still occur. Perhaps, switching to polarized sunglasses may help. It isn't a problem with optical viewfinders.
Of course, it took a few minutes to find settings to change, to try to personalize it similarly to my GH3. I was pleased to see many video additions in the menus, bringing up the professional specification. I can't say enough how great it is that the GH3 and GH4 have 5 slots for settings. I only used two slots with the GH3 and that might be the same with the GH4, although I'll be more focused on video this time, so I might use more.
The most wonderful thing about the GH4 is the instant familiarity. Panasonic wisely chose to keep ergonomic choices almost all the same. They added a lock to the mode button, something it has in common with the E-M1--and the Olympus E-1 from way back when.
I just checked the What Digital Camera (my go-to magazine) review for the GH4 and E-M1 and they said that the design of the GH4 was an 85 and the E-M1, 95. In the text, they complained about the GH4 having so many buttons but appreciated the dSLR-like design. Strangely, everyone else seems to like that you don't have to dig through menus, and the Panasonic menus are a bit less extreme than those of Olympus. The magazine has had a complete change of staff and they seem to work toward advertisers more than 10 years ago. 89% for the GH4 vs 92% for the E-M1 isn't a huge difference. However, I would say that, given Olympus' poor video performance and uncomfortable grip, the two are equal at least.
One of the bigger issues for me with the E-M1 was the combination of the small battery and small, angular grip. Now that I have 3 batteries for the E-M1, I don't run out of power early, but I don't use it nearly as long as I used my dSLRs, so I'm still concerned.
With the GH3, I never had a problem where I exhausted both batteries during a long day of shooting. Since the battery is so much bigger than that of the E-M1, there is definitely a difference. Getting battery grips for each won't help much, as either grip only holds an extra battery, though they might help with using my Four-Thirds 35-100mm f/2.0 (3.64 lbs./1650g) lens. I was never happy with that balance on the GH3 and I've never bothered to try it for more than a few minutes with the E-M1. Of course, with the tripod collar attached to a tripod, the balance issue goes away. Naturally, this was never a problem with the Olympus E-5, which is only as big as the Nikon D7100.
When mounting the Panasonic 35-100mm f/2.8 lens outside the store, I found that the lens operated at full speed again, in contrast to its performance on the E-M1. I had not used it significantly since the Panasonic Repair Facility had checked it. The few times I tried it with the E-M1, the frame rate was significantly slower than Olympus' 12-40mm lens, which made no sense, since it was very fast on the GH3. This makes the Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 lens important for the E-M1. I expect that the color from the lens will be equally better over the 35-100mm f/2.8 as the 12-40mm f/2.8 was. I thought that there was a problem with the GH3, until I used the 12-40mm f/2.8 on it. It should be interesting to see how fast the frame rate of the GH4 will be with the 40-150mm f/2.8 lens.
I'm hoping to try some skate park video soon, using the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens. I don't know much about video but I took a few with the GH3. I don't have an enhanced speed card to handle 4K video but learning how to handle video is more important at this time. Responsiveness with my current SanDisk Extreme Pro card seemed much better than with the GH3.
Oh, and concerning the bag, I'm afraid that I've got to re-distribute equipment again to emphasize the smaller equipment, though I still want to use my Four-Thirds lenses through the adapter. I hope Crumpler has something appropriate.
Update 2014.11.28: Ouch! The firmware needs to be updated and for some reason, I'm unable to update it for various reasons.
First, the U.S. Panasonic web site ends up with only a Windows executable when I open the .zip file I've downloaded. Perhaps, I didn't see a Macintosh-related link or the web site incorrectly detected that everyone uses Windows.
I used the Japanese web site that I'd used for the GH3 and that seemed to give me the correct file, but the camera body doesn't recognize that there is an update available when I go through the procedure. I'm sure I'll be fine with firmware version 1.1 instead of 2.0, for a while anyway, but whatever. Panasonic continues to be an administrative screw up. What was downloaded was labeled AH4 instead of GH4. I got something different tonight, and have updated my GH4.
Taking the GH4 and 35-100mm f/2.8 to the skate park, it performed well, but not with as much performance as expected. (Continuous AF is enabled by default.) Auto Focus accuracy was acceptable, similar to the GH3. I'll try it with the Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 at a later date. It didn't feel as fast or responsive as the Olympus E-M1 and 12-40mm f/2.8. Auto Review is also enabled, which not only slows things down, as it does with the GH3, but it's also a battery waster.
Update 2014.12.01: I ordered a 4K-capable SD card from Adorama. It's interesting that these cards were UHS-I, class 10, U 3. Do I need such a card right now? Probably not, but having dedicated for-video storage would be a good idea, especially on those days when I've been busy taking still photos. I'm a little short on cards now that I have three bodies that take SD Cards.
I had a chance to buy a higher capacity SanDisk card but, after viewing several descriptions of the card, I couldn't determine the exact performance. One mentioned 95 MB/sec., while others mentioned 60 MB/sec. and 80 MB/sec. They were also labeled Extreme or Extreme Plus because the company changed the name at some point.
Update 2014.12.07: Part of my order was not readily available, so I ended up at Best Buy getting a 4K-capable card. It was about the same price for 32GB as Adorama had for 64GB. That's not the worst I've seen. At least, it's a SanDisk card. They had the Extreme and Extreme Plus cards, but this one is labeled Pixtor. I've barely used it for anything. I thought that the card would enable 4K options immediately, but that happens through the Creative Video mode on the mode dial. Getting past the GH3 is taking time.
I'm impressed with how responsive the GH4 has been, especially in low(er) light. I went to a skate shop with an indoor half pipe, and shot both still photos and video. I was there a few weeks earlier and the E-M1 struggled with the 12-40mm f/2.8 lens but the GH4 didn't seem to have any problem at all. That doesn't mean that it's great in the dark. It isn't. I could use more lenses at f/1.4 or wider than my older Leica/Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 from the Four-Thirds system.
The Voigtländer lenses look good. There is a 10.5mm f/0.95 that should be available soon (okay, officially Q1-Q2 2015), and that is wide enough to get skate park shots easily, and should be good for sharp landscape shots at a less aggressive aperture. Is US$1000 or more too much for a manually focused lens? It depends on your wallet, of course, and whether you can make money from it. The other three (17.5mm, 25mm, 42.5mm) have all been rated well and many people are satisfied with what they do.
Update 2014.12.31: The Panasonic card is flaky and has had general errors in both the GH4 body and the computer SD Card slot. Almost naturally, the SanDisk card isn't a problem--I've had to have one replaced in the past, but only one.
I'm having some struggles learning the GH4. I'm not finding it as instantly familiar as I thought I would--or at least, I'm not as successful with it as I had hoped. As I go further with it, I'm finding little issues. The drive mode dial has been accidentally moved. The burst mode position is adjacent to a +/- burst mode position that allows you to take bracketed auto exposure photos. For instance, it will take photos at -1/3 EV, +0 EV, +1/3 EV, much like HDR preparations. Your bracketing settings will affect the latitude of the exposure range. It is useful, although there have been times when I was getting a series of shots and naturally, it stops at three and the action continues without me. Yes, I should be more aware of my settings. I'm sure I saw it in the viewfinder and didn't really notice as the +/- didn't seem so significantly distinct.
The GH4 is so capable that it could be 6 months before I'm really comfortable. It's been a little over a month that I've had it now, so getting casual photos are easy but action photos are usually more involved. I've basically given up the use of the E-M1 to get up to speed with the GH4.
2015.01.09: The auto focus still isn't everything it should be, with continuous auto focus or not. During video, it will lose focus completely, which is a great effect that people like, except that it will do it at the wrong time. That's not unlike the Olympus E-M1. Maybe, the 12-40mm f/2.8 isn't feeling well. I was using the 35-100mm f/2.8 the other day and I noticed that the auto focus on the GH4 was similar to the E-M1, lower performing burst speed, but with better AF accuracy.
2016.12.07: It's been over two years since I got the GH4. I've got over 100 videos on YouTube. Most are skate park videos but I have some music performances and random things, also. The camera itself does a very good job, except for AF.
I've got a number of Panasonic lenses and it loses focus on those, as well as while using the Olympus lenses. It just seems too busy to bother with auto focus duties, but in this price range, it shouldn't have such a problem. I'm not asking it to track someone. I want it to focus on the single area I select while I move the camera. It has predictive focus--it's always busy.
I'm still learning. I've been learning to do time lapse photography because I wanted to try some shots while driving, to condense little road trips as I've seen someone else do.
Since the GH4, I've bought the GX8 and GM5. The GX8 has very good 1080p video which matches what I get from the GH4, and that is so useful at skate parks since I'll have the 35-100mm f/2.8 on one and the 12-35mm f/2.8 on the other. The E-M1 doesn't come close and I suspect that the GM5 won't match either.
The GH5 should be released in spring. What the whole feature set is, no one outside Panasonic knows, and I'm not certain even they know at this point. 3840x2160 at 60p is one of the few things that are guaranteed to be included. They've shown mockups of the body and it's agreeable, but nothing is much different.
The new sensor may be 18MP or 20MP, but they're not saying. The new Olympus E-M1 Mk II has a 20MP sensor with 121 cross type AF points--both PDAF and CDAF. Many speculate that they will use a lot of the same equipment in the GH5.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Lollipop (Android version 5.0) was installed on my 2013 Nexus 7 tablet a bit ago
An hour or so ago, I got the notice that Lollipop was available for my 2013 Nexus 7 tablet. Despite my reluctance to embrace x.0 versions, I decided to have it downloaded and installed.
You can see visual differences here in this Ars Technica article.
Naturally, the update took a while, and there was a bit of time involved as it was "optimizing" applications.
I haven't spent much time at the moment. So far, my most consistent experience is when I unlock it, by pressing the lock icon and sliding it, which gives me the camera. Perhaps, they want me to see how much better the camera is. I really don't know.
The system icons at the lowest part of the display look less indicative of their functionality. The joined rectangles were more of a clue of the multi-tasking manager than a single square.
Google Play seems okay when updating applications. I'm not sure it works better but it looks better. Perhaps, that's the thing--we're to be enraptured by its new look, and will forgive any lingering problems. Apple tried that and it didn't work. I get the feeling that Google never tests anything with regular people who aren't directly connected with the company. Apple does it somewhat, but things aren't always intuitive any longer.
I look forward to finding if performance is improved. I've read that it could be smoother and faster, but until I experience it in real life, I'll continue my skepticism.
So far, the delay from booting is still there. It may be diminished somewhat, but I need to let the tablet sit a while before I do anything.
You can see visual differences here in this Ars Technica article.
Naturally, the update took a while, and there was a bit of time involved as it was "optimizing" applications.
I haven't spent much time at the moment. So far, my most consistent experience is when I unlock it, by pressing the lock icon and sliding it, which gives me the camera. Perhaps, they want me to see how much better the camera is. I really don't know.
The system icons at the lowest part of the display look less indicative of their functionality. The joined rectangles were more of a clue of the multi-tasking manager than a single square.
Google Play seems okay when updating applications. I'm not sure it works better but it looks better. Perhaps, that's the thing--we're to be enraptured by its new look, and will forgive any lingering problems. Apple tried that and it didn't work. I get the feeling that Google never tests anything with regular people who aren't directly connected with the company. Apple does it somewhat, but things aren't always intuitive any longer.
I look forward to finding if performance is improved. I've read that it could be smoother and faster, but until I experience it in real life, I'll continue my skepticism.
So far, the delay from booting is still there. It may be diminished somewhat, but I need to let the tablet sit a while before I do anything.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
iPad Air 2 good, iPad mini 3 pathetic
Late last year, I chose a Google Nexus 7, the 2013, revised version. Why? The iPad mini didn't really meet my needs. It was too wide to be held in one of my hands, and it wasn't very powerful, but it was really expensive. Now that the newer (second generation+) version is out, last year's model has been dropped by US$100, and it's still not a bargain for what is there. However, the newer version isn't worth an extra US$100. People are better off buying last year's model for less.
Why does it seem that Apple are trying to push the iPad Air 2, even more than they were trying to push the iPad Air? That's my only explanation for the relative crapiness of the iPad mini. It makes the current iPad Air look a relative bargain. I'm even considering an iPad Air 2 for me. I would consider a refurbished iPad Air, if I could get it in a 64 GB configuration at a substantial discount; however, the anti-reflective surface of the newer model would be useful.
Another problem for the iPad mini is the iPhone 6 Plus. It is big enough, and its resolution is brilliant for the size. It also has strong processing power. Except for the size, it seems a great choice. I was interested in the LG G2 and Nexus 5 last year about this time but they were so large that I thought twice about them, despite the power.
I'm sure Apple will do well enough, especially with the iPad Air 2 but who will buy the newest iPad mini?
Update 2014.11.04: There is a rumor that the iPad mini may go away, making way for the huge 12.9 inch iPad. Someone mentioned that Apple gives poor upgrades to products that aren't selling. Isn't that the correct strategy for a product you're hoping will lose?
I would think that an aggressive company would drop the price and improve the performance, not try to give a product one new feature and polish it a bit more. The U.S. automotive industry was hit hard because they didn't help themselves, choosing style over functionality.
Update 2015.02.13: I've been waiting for the Apple announcement. It should be soon, and we should expect the watch, the big iPad with a keyboard/cover, and likely a revised Apple TV box. While Apple continues to make headway with content, until they start to resell networks or the networks' content, there will not be TV with a display.
Update 2015.04.07: Apple seem to be taking it easy, playing it safe, and any other relaxed idioms that apply.
The new 12 inch MacBook looks interesting, even though it's not very powerful. The latest rumor on the yet-to-be-announced Apple TV replacement is that it won't feed 4K media to the TV, even though the chipset is capable.
Update 2015.11.19: They fixed the problem by making the iPad mini 4 with the same processor as the iPhone 6. It's much more powerful having an A8 instead of an A5. The display is apparently very good, and for color accuracy, apparently better than the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Pro. That seems odd considering that the iPad Pro should be used by artists.
I guess the rumor about the Apple TV replacement was true--no 4K.
Why does it seem that Apple are trying to push the iPad Air 2, even more than they were trying to push the iPad Air? That's my only explanation for the relative crapiness of the iPad mini. It makes the current iPad Air look a relative bargain. I'm even considering an iPad Air 2 for me. I would consider a refurbished iPad Air, if I could get it in a 64 GB configuration at a substantial discount; however, the anti-reflective surface of the newer model would be useful.
Another problem for the iPad mini is the iPhone 6 Plus. It is big enough, and its resolution is brilliant for the size. It also has strong processing power. Except for the size, it seems a great choice. I was interested in the LG G2 and Nexus 5 last year about this time but they were so large that I thought twice about them, despite the power.
I'm sure Apple will do well enough, especially with the iPad Air 2 but who will buy the newest iPad mini?
Update 2014.11.04: There is a rumor that the iPad mini may go away, making way for the huge 12.9 inch iPad. Someone mentioned that Apple gives poor upgrades to products that aren't selling. Isn't that the correct strategy for a product you're hoping will lose?
I would think that an aggressive company would drop the price and improve the performance, not try to give a product one new feature and polish it a bit more. The U.S. automotive industry was hit hard because they didn't help themselves, choosing style over functionality.
Update 2015.02.13: I've been waiting for the Apple announcement. It should be soon, and we should expect the watch, the big iPad with a keyboard/cover, and likely a revised Apple TV box. While Apple continues to make headway with content, until they start to resell networks or the networks' content, there will not be TV with a display.
Update 2015.04.07: Apple seem to be taking it easy, playing it safe, and any other relaxed idioms that apply.
The new 12 inch MacBook looks interesting, even though it's not very powerful. The latest rumor on the yet-to-be-announced Apple TV replacement is that it won't feed 4K media to the TV, even though the chipset is capable.
Update 2015.11.19: They fixed the problem by making the iPad mini 4 with the same processor as the iPhone 6. It's much more powerful having an A8 instead of an A5. The display is apparently very good, and for color accuracy, apparently better than the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Pro. That seems odd considering that the iPad Pro should be used by artists.
I guess the rumor about the Apple TV replacement was true--no 4K.
OS X Mavericks now, Yosemite later
I've had OS X Mavericks for a week or so. Since Mac OS X, I've taken it a bit more slowly with my updates, upgrades.
When I went from 10.2.x to 10.3.0, things went awry. It took until 10.3.4 until most everything worked again. It seemed with every release, it took until 10.x.4 until it was stable enough for all that I did, so I waited, even though I had used the beta test versions for testing and programming purposes.
When Avie Tevanian left Apple, Mac OS X seemed to become even more sloppy. I still have a PowerBook G4 on 10.5.8 and it really could have used some bug fixes. Thankfully, they produced a number of security updates since then, and some of those helped stability.
Since 10.6.8, Apple provided (Mac) OS X on less and less media until it was only available for installation over a network connection. When I got my mid-2012 MacBook Pro, it got 10.8.0, which required updates while connected to the internet.
So, I bought a new version of Phase One's Capture One version 8. The only problem was that the software didn't work on 10.8.x and I didn't see anything about the system requirements ahead of the purchase, which seemed odd for them. Obviously, I wanted the new version of the raw development software so much that I was not thinking as well as I should have.
Having spent the money, I needed the update to OS X 10.9.x. The nearest Apple Store was okay with installing the update for me. If there was physical media, I would have installed it myself. Actually, I was expecting to occupy a corner of the Genius Bar with their internal network connected to my computer and I would install the update myself. They had a local installation image of the update and they used that.
They managed to e-mail me when they finished the update, but they didn't use the phone number they confirmed three times. Since they had my computer and I expected a phone call, I didn't check my e-mail. I returned to the store about 45 minutes before the store would close, just hoping that they had finished.
Long story, long, I've updated and my computer is still working. Mavericks is slightly better than Mountain Lion, so I feel okay about the changes. I'm not finding any interesting or odd behavior. I'm glad I did the update when I did, so that I wasn't forced to Yosemite. The only Yosemite I want close right now is the national park.
Update 2014.10.30: Some Yosemite users are reporting WiFi connectivity problems. That's a surprise! (Did your sarcasm detector max out there?) Every new release of Mac OS X in recent memory has had WiFi connectivity problems, and many iOS releases have also. Do you wonder why I wait to update?
When I went from 10.2.x to 10.3.0, things went awry. It took until 10.3.4 until most everything worked again. It seemed with every release, it took until 10.x.4 until it was stable enough for all that I did, so I waited, even though I had used the beta test versions for testing and programming purposes.
When Avie Tevanian left Apple, Mac OS X seemed to become even more sloppy. I still have a PowerBook G4 on 10.5.8 and it really could have used some bug fixes. Thankfully, they produced a number of security updates since then, and some of those helped stability.
Since 10.6.8, Apple provided (Mac) OS X on less and less media until it was only available for installation over a network connection. When I got my mid-2012 MacBook Pro, it got 10.8.0, which required updates while connected to the internet.
So, I bought a new version of Phase One's Capture One version 8. The only problem was that the software didn't work on 10.8.x and I didn't see anything about the system requirements ahead of the purchase, which seemed odd for them. Obviously, I wanted the new version of the raw development software so much that I was not thinking as well as I should have.
Having spent the money, I needed the update to OS X 10.9.x. The nearest Apple Store was okay with installing the update for me. If there was physical media, I would have installed it myself. Actually, I was expecting to occupy a corner of the Genius Bar with their internal network connected to my computer and I would install the update myself. They had a local installation image of the update and they used that.
They managed to e-mail me when they finished the update, but they didn't use the phone number they confirmed three times. Since they had my computer and I expected a phone call, I didn't check my e-mail. I returned to the store about 45 minutes before the store would close, just hoping that they had finished.
Long story, long, I've updated and my computer is still working. Mavericks is slightly better than Mountain Lion, so I feel okay about the changes. I'm not finding any interesting or odd behavior. I'm glad I did the update when I did, so that I wasn't forced to Yosemite. The only Yosemite I want close right now is the national park.
Update 2014.10.30: Some Yosemite users are reporting WiFi connectivity problems. That's a surprise! (Did your sarcasm detector max out there?) Every new release of Mac OS X in recent memory has had WiFi connectivity problems, and many iOS releases have also. Do you wonder why I wait to update?
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