All Entries in the "(04) Computer Hardware Advice" Category

Upgrading from Lightroom 2 to Lightroom 3

So, you’ve heard that Lightroom 3 is out. You’ve read about some of the new features for professional photographers. You’re sold. Now it’s time to upgrade.

My Camera Equipment: Digital SLR Advice from David Marx 2010

This article is all about the photography equipment that I use professionally. Among photographers there is no easier conversation starter then the question “what camera do you use?” For some reason, we photographers are obsessed with our camera bodies. I currently own two Canon bodies. Click here to read more about what I use and what photographic equipment I recommend.

Firewire Connectors: A Profusion of Plugs

What to do if you have a Firewire 400 drive and need to connect it to a Mac that only has a Firewire 800 port? Or, say you have a Firewire 400 6-pin full size plug but need to connect to a PC laptop’s mini Firewire port?

Answer: Get the right cable or plug adapter!

My Photo Storage System: External Hard Drives and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

Keeping all of my images, and my Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Catalog, on the right type of external hard drive is the best way to meet my image storage needs. After much experimentation, I have come to rely on a professional-grade RAID-0 (stripped) external hard drive for my primary image storage.

Recommended External Hard Drives

Update: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and external hard drives are a perfect match for the serious digital photographer. Thanks to the low price of high-quality external hard disks, we now have an inexpensive way to store thousands of digital images and to make redundant backup copies of our precious work. I’ve completely re-written this post on which external hard disks I trust for both my main photo storage drive and for my backup drive. Check out the new recommendations….

Apple Updates Professional and Consumer Desktop Line

Today, Apple announced updates to its professional and consumer desktop computer line with new Mac Pros, iMacs, and Mac Minis. This is great news for photographers. As David mentioned in a recent article, our favorite desktop photography machine is the Mac Pro, and this upgrade makes it even better!

Read on for more details about the new machines.

How to Format an External Hard Drive

Regardless of brand or model, the very first thing that you must do when you buy a brand new external hard drive is to format it properly for your system. Format your new disk immediately, before you start using it for backup or for additional file storage. It is essential that you do this right away, before you start using the drive, because the formatting process erases everything on the external disk.

Read on for more information about properly formatting an external hard drive.

Calibrating a Monitor using the X-Rite EyeOne Display2 System

Monitor calibration is an essential first step in digital photography. For this post, I made two tutorial movies which demonstrate how I use my X-Rite EyeOne Display 2 monitor calibration system.

Monitors and Calibration Systems for Digital Photography

Digital photography is painful and messy without a trustworthy calibrated monitor. I urge you to spend the extra money and get yourself an accurate professional grade monitor right away. The money that you spend here will save you so much time and frustration in the long run.

Check out this article for some great suggestions and resources.

Reader Question: LCD vs. LED Displays

Janelle asks: “I was wondering if you could explain how the new [Apple] LED [Cinema] display differs from the LCD displays? I was hoping someone could help me understand this before I purchase.”

Read on for the answer and a follow-up question.

New Apple Laptops – Finding the Ideal Photographer’s Laptop

Apple has updated its laptop line in a much-anticipated announcement. Check out this article for a review of the new MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. Find the ideal machine for a photographer.

Using a Tablet with Lightroom

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom is already a very efficient software program. It has greatly increased my productivity, especially when dealing with large numbers of images from a single shoot. One of the ways to increase this productivity is through the use of a tablet.

In this article, we’ll review some of the popular Wacom tablet models and talk about some tips and tricks for using a tablet in Lightroom.

My favorite tablet for the job is the Wacom Intuos 6×8. Read on for more information.