Digitalopia

I am often asked about the best types of storage solutions you should use for digital photography, especially if you should look at using RAID storage on the Mac Pro. In this series of articles, I hope to explain some uses for each of the most popular RAID types, RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 5. RAID is not specific to an operating system, and equally applies to Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Whilst Mac OS X is capable of supporting RAID 1 through the RAID Utility software, only the Mac Pro provides support for more than one internal disks. You can stripe across disks connected via USB or Firewire, but the gains are minimal and it is not really worth the effort.

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is the use of 2 or more disks to achieve greater reliability, greater performance or greater capacity.

In this article, I will be describing RAID level 1, or Mirroring. Looking at the above definition, RAID level 1 provides greater reliability, but neither greater performance or capacity. I have previously covered RAID 0 Striping in a previous article.

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I am often asked about the best types of storage solutions you should use for digital photography, especially if you should look at using RAID storage on the Mac Pro. In this series of articles, I hope to explain some uses for each of the most popular RAID types, RAID 0, RAID 1 and RAID 5. RAID is not specific to an operating system, and equally applies to Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. Whilst Mac OS X is capable of supporting RAID 0 through the Disk Utility software, only the Mac Pro provides support for more than one internal disks. You can stripe across disks connected via USB or Firewire, but the gains are minimal and it is not really worth the effort.

RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) is the use of 2 or more disks to achieve greater reliability, greater performance or greater capacity.

In this article, I will be describing RAID level 0, or Striping. Looking at the above definition, RAID level 0 provides greater performance and to a lesser extent greater capacity.

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If you are looking at exploring macro photography, there are a number of options available.

• Dedicated Macro Lens - can be an expensive option but will provide the most flexible solution. A Macro lens has been specifically design to provide a higher magnification and a closer focal point than normal prime or zoom lenses.
• Reversing the Lens - an adapter is available to allow a lens to be reversed onto the camera body. This will remove the automatic focus and aperture controls, but does offer a cheap solution, as cheap eBay adapters are available.
• Close-up Filters - similar to other lens filters in that they screw onto the end of your lens to provide reduced focal distance and magnification. You will need to ensure they match your filter size. Both Nikon and Canon offer close-up lens, as well as cheap eBay copies.
• Extension Tubes - extension tubes connect between the camera body and the lens, allowing you to focus at a much reduced distance and also increase the magnification factor of the lens. Available with electrical contacts for automatic focus and aperture, with the popular Kenko tubes up to 100 dollars each. Cheaper extension tubes are available that do not have electrical contacts, with cheap eBay tubes available for 10 dollars a set.

As a experiment, I decided to try out the cheap ten dollar eBay extension tubes. I was obviously not expecting much from them, but I was pleasantly surprised by the results I achieved.

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I do enjoy the near instant feedback that photographing when tethered provides. However, it is not always convenient to have your camera right next to your computer. During my current build of a DIY light tent (you will have to wait for a few more days for that article), I found the ideal place to set up the light tent was a few meters away from my computer (iMac rather than a laptop so not that portable.) Rather than shoot to the CF card and then process the photos later in Aperture, I decided to tether the camera with the help of a 5 meter USB (16.4 feet) extension cable. I found a cable that was compatible with USB 2 that gave nearly 6 meters extension when the Nikon cable was included.

The photo above (of a toy pencil sharpener) was taken with 2 desk lamps (100 Watts each) on a blue card background. The setup is shown below. No prizes for the lighting, but I am still in the process of building my DIY light tent (letting the glue dry!)

I have not noticed any slowdown or any other issues when using the longer cable. It should be noted that 5 meters is the maximum specified length for USB, but this should be more than enough to allow you to shoot anywhere in the same room as your computer.

With my recent purchase of the Feisol CT-3342 carbon fiber tripod I also upgraded my ball head to the Markins Q-Ball M10 ball head. This is my first ’serious’ ball head, after using a number of cheaper models with limited success. Their tendency to creep when used with larger lenses requiring constant tightening/loosening was frustrating in use. I therefore decided to move up to a more professional ball head. I was also looking for a head that is compatible with the Arca-Swiss mounting plates.

I ordered the Markins direct from their Korean office, and it was shipped in just a few days. Payment can be conveniently made through Paypal and an EMS tracking number was provided so you can track its progress.

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