Michael Chang

DataRescue’s PhotoRescue software suite is an essential piece of software for the photo toolbox. It’s the most effective tool that I’ve tested for data recovery on flash drives. The Wizard version will work for most snags with accidental formatting and data loss, but there are even more powerful Expert and Advanced versions, too.

Sandisk’s RescuePro also works quite well, but I found that the current version at the time of this writing (4.0) has trouble with the Nikon D300 RAW+JPEG files. Since RAW files also contain embedded JPEG thumbnails, RescuePro does not always parse the binary image data correctly. It truncates some RAW files while augmenting some JPEGs. These recovered RescuePro data files can be manually spliced and joined to recover the RAW and JPEG data (very tedious!), but PhotoRescue Wizard was able to parse everything correctly with no hassle.

So, why did I end up needing recovery software in the first place? Well, we all have our CF card downloading habits/sequences. Shooting over 1,000 images on one CF card results in another directory being created. I formatted the 16GB CF card before downloading the second directory. Thankfully, all the data is easily and quickly recovered with PhotoRescue. PhotoRescue also allows you to make a binary image of the CF card so that you can use other tools in the future should you find that there are any problems with your data recovery.

What’s the lesson?

1. Always double-check that you download all the CF card data before formatting? This seems so obvious, but habits throw a wrench into things.

2. $29 is worth the money for PhotoRescue! There are a lot of more expensive programs out there, but this one’s worth the money. Search around the web, and you’ll find a lot of more detailed, praising reviews.

A Haiku…

La Jolla Nights

Beautiful coastlines
Expensive homes on the hill
No eats after 9

A sign of the times:

One of the top 100 searches in Google on Dec. 24 was “Is Santa real?”  Ten years ago, young kids wouldn’t have thought to get such answers from an internet search engine.  Instead, they would have to leave cookies and milk, try to stay up to see the big man, or rig up a Polaroid photo mechanism in the chimney.  Google takes the fun out of the hunt.

In a few years, I can just imagine 6 and 7 year-old boys and girls hitting the forums to ask such things… maybe on their neon or Dora-the-Explorer Blackberries…

Starting on January 1, 2008, the TSA is enforcing new restrictions on the lithium batteries that are allowed in checked luggage and carry-on bags (both rechargeable and non-rechargable).

Here’s the official TSA posting:

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/batteries.shtm

This is an official DoT page referenced by the TSA, detailing battery classes:

http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html 

 (Yes, it’s an official page, believe it or not…)

Now, let the confusion begin…

• According to this site, the equivalent lithium content (in grams) is roughly 0.3 times the battery’s rating in A-h (amp-hours).
• A lithium-ion cell has a native voltage of roughly 3.7 V.

So, take the Nikon EN-EL4a (for the pro-series cameras) as an example.  It provies 11.1 V, which is three lithium ion cells (each 2500 mAh) stacked in series.  The gram-equivalent lithium content is thus

3 cells x 2.5 Ah x 0.3 = 2.25 grams of lithium in each EN-EL4a

The Nikon EN-EL3e is 7.4 V (two 3.7V lithium cells in series) with a 1500 mAh rating, so it’s lithium-gram-equivalent is

2 cells x 1.5 Ah x 0.3 = 0.9 grams of lithium in EL-EL3e

Points of clarification: Lithium Metal vs. Lithium Ion

• Lithium metal (non-rechargeable) isn’t the same thing as lithium ion (rechargeable), so the 2 gram limit for lithium metal batteries doesn’t apply for the rechargeable camera batteries.  It’s difficult to find a lithium metal battery that’s over 2 grams of lithium.  The CR123A’s and other small lithium metal (i.e. non-rechargeable) batteries are nearly all under 2 grams of lithium.

What does all this mean for our rechargeable camera batteries???…

• You cannot check any loose lithium batteries into your check-in luggage (rechargeable lithium ion or non-rechargeable lithium metal)
• If your lithium ion battery is installed in your DSLR, you can check it into the luggage (only if the battery is installed).  The same goes for your lithium metal battery in your Pocketwizard: you can put it in your luggage if it’s installed in the device.
• You can bring as many rechargeable DSLR camera batteries in your carry-on luggage as you like, as long as the contacts are covered or as long as the batteries as kept in sealed ZipLock bags.

Now, whether TSA scanners will know which batteries are lithium metal (non-rechargeable) vs. lithium ion (rechargeable) and which are under 8 grams of lithium (basically all DSLR lithium ion batteries) is going to be interesting.

Happy travels…

My most widely-used lenses on the DX-sensor format body (a.k.a. Nikon, DSLRs before the D3) are

17-55 mm f/2.8

85mm f/1.4

30mm f/1.4 (Sigma)

The 17-55mm range is a favorite on the 1.5x sensor crop format. I think the new 24-70mm f/2.8 on the D3 is going to be an outstanding combination. 85mm f/1.4 is great for portraits, although a little long on a DX body. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is an oustanding, fast lens IF you can find a decent copy. It took me 5 tries to get one that didn’t have issues like HSM motor squeaking, infinity-focus issues, close-in focus miscalibration, aperature deformation (non-symmetric aperture), etc.

Yes, there are other nice lenses out there which I also use, but the three above sastify 70% of the shooting. The 70-200mm f/2.8 and 12-24mm f/4 come into play for most of the other times. The new 14-24mm f/2.8 is looking really nice for FX, full-frame shooting on the D3. I can’t believe Nikon didn’t leave the option for a polarizing filter on this great piece of glass. Maybe the 17-35mm f/2.8 will make its comeback now.

What’s missing from the Nikon lineup?…

Updated primes with AF-S (internal focusing motors) and VR

300mm f/4 VR, an updated wide-angle tilt-shift lens

If there’s time, an updated 28mm f/1.4 would be great

The D3 and the 24-70 + 14-24 combo is a great start, though! Now’s a great time to get a used D2Hs, D2X, or D200.  The best bargain out there is the D40, in my opinon, or the D40x if you want to splurge…

I had a musing months ago that you could make a lot of money if you owned the right top-level domain. Now, it seems that the us.com domain is selling yourdomain.us.com to attract people who want a “.com” in the domain name, but don’t mind the extra “us.” tagged in front. Strangely, the .us domain is really underused, already. .mobi never took off (yet, at least). .tv is really not much in use, either.

How long will it be before .com names are replaced by something more chic? 10 years? 20 years? Even sooner? When that time comes, things are going to be a mess– domain name fights and lawsuits everywhere. The only other example, (that I can think of on a coporate level) where there’s a rush to register names are vanity phone numbers: (800) MY-NAMES or something of the sort.

Why trade stocks and precious metals when you can trade internet domain names, instead?… Also, has anyone ever noticed that GoDaddy = god addy = god addresses?… Interesting…

After five copies over 12 months, I finally got a working Sigma 30mm f/1.4 for my Nikon mount. It is a real gem, if you can find one that actually works. Sigma’s got some quality control issues on this lens. I’m now hesitant to look for any more Sigma products!

Lens #1: Massive focusing issues near infinity, but close-up focusing was fine

Lens #2: More focusing issues at infinity

Lens #3: Misaligned aperature blades– blades came together to form a lopsided, irregular-shaped aperture

Lens #4: Very squeaky HSM (AF-S) motor

Lens #5: Finally, a good copy!

Is it better than the Nikon 35mm f/2? Yes!

Is it worth getting if you have the Nikkor already? No.

Would I recommend buying the Sigma? Maybe… Pick one up in-store, and try out the lens at the store. Make sure

1. Focusing motor doesn’t squeak

2. Aperture blades make a “regular” shape when the lens stopped down

3. Near focus as well as far (infinity) focus is calibrated correctly.

Don’t be willing to settle for “just buy it and send it in to Sigma for adjustment.” The lens should be perfect out of the box! This is an outstanding low-light lens that has developed a horrendous quality-control reputation. Shame on Sigma!

Now, someone please make a wide-angle prime optimized for APC-C/DX sensors! I’ll take a 12mm or 14mm f/2.8 one, please…

The best thing since the do-not-call list is the pre-approved credit card opt out. Tired of receiving all these pre-approved credit card mailings via snail mail (“Urgent: Open within 15 days,” “Special Offer,” “Please do not discard,” etc.)?

Now, you can opt out of pre-approved credit card mailings (and insurance mailings) for five years by signing up online here:

https://www.optoutprescreen.com

Yes, you do need to enter in very sensitive data like social-security number, birthday, address, and telephone number, but this is a legitimate site. Opting out will prevent the major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and personal-data sales companies (Innovis) from giving credit approval information to insurance and credit card companies. The companies will take your name off the list for preapproved offers for five years– a do not mail list. If you want back in, you can always opt back in electronically on the same site.

Opting out of these preapproved offers should increase your identity security. We don’t need hundreds of pieces of mail with our name, address, and blank forms for credit cards floating around everywhere. Our shredders will be much happier with an opt out.

Also, go ahead and perform a Google (or your favorite search) to verify my link. In general, you should never follow a link from any blog or webpage for transmission of sensitive data. Some unscrupulus thieves may set up wannabe sites that look identical (with very similar URL or masked URL) to collect your data. Do a search on “credit card opt out” and get the URL straight from the horses mouth!

Why the gaudy logo, Nikon, why, oh why?… Yes, it’s a marketing opportunity, but do Nikon users really want to flaunt the make and model of our camera in yellow-on-black fashion? Nikon straps can either say, “Steal my D2x!” or perhaps, “Do you really feel like stealing my D40?” The older forrest green and brown straps were a nicer color scheme, in my opinon.

So why not use the old Nikon straps? The issue with the older Nikon straps is that they contain metal clasps/parts that can scratch LCD screens. All newer Nikon straps have wider loop threads and plastic parts, making them better for carrying heavier DSLRs with scratchable LCD screens. So, our choices are to use the gaudy straps or buy some new ones. Domke makes some really nice, black straps (“Gripper” series), and Op/Tech always has a nice series of padded neoprene ones. I just end up using Nikon’s OEM strap by taping up the huge Nikon logos and makes with some heavy-duty gaffer tape…  A $0.10 solution!

The next big internet business is still in information, but with storage rather than information distribution. How such a business would integrate with internet service providers is another problem, but I’m confident that there are viable solutions.

We all have a lot of electronic data that has accumulated. The amount of data that we’d like to keep (photos, videos, music, documents, etc.) keeps growing. I’m betting that photos and videos far outpace personal documents in the MB/GB race, so multimedia dominates our storage needs. People will soon realize that hard disk drives are unreliable for long-term data storage and that, worse yet, CD’s and DVD’s have finite shelf lives. Many dollars are put into personal mp3 investments (rather than CDs), and someday video (movies) will take the same sort of download model. What happens if your iPod dies and your laptop HDD breaks (or worse yet is stolen)? Will the music play on?…

The answer is online data storage. I advocate it for non-sensitive data like mp3 files, photos, and videos. The problem with data these days is that multimedia files are huge and keep growing as we push high def technology. Now, families can easily have 200-300 GB of data on the home PC.

The biggest bottleneck to a successful online storage business model is the upload link speed to the storage server. Our ISPs are the key to unlocking online data storage. If I were an ISP, I’d partner with a giagantic storage solution partner (maybe Google, IBM, Amazon S3, etc.) and write special software that would allow high-speed uploads (software that would enable a high-speed, high bandwidth mode on the DSL/cable modem). The ISP pipe would be allowed to open up for these special online storage softwares, and the cost would be bundled with ISP coverage.

Currently, the only way to upload 300+ GB of data online is sending in your hard disk (not always an option and clumsy, too) or going to your local high-bandwidth university and uploading that data over many hours. Perhaps Web 3.0 will address personal storage solutions. The need is silently growing… I’m looking forward to the solution!