So what’s all the fuss about this DSMC system and the Mysterium Monstro sensors?? Is RED really gonna kill the DSLRs with this system? Are we gonna see professional (and amateurs) flock to their new Digital Still and Motion Cameras?

First of all, it’s mostly a motion camera that can do stills too. Where Canon & Nikon have enabled some of their still cameras (5D & D90) to shoot motion, RED goes the other way which is only logic since their core business is to manufacture motion cameras!

RED seems to have solved the typical CMOS issue that shows itself by moving the camera during motion capture.

Known as “jelly movement”, they have overcome this issue with a rapid read-reset CMOS sensor program. The Mysterium Monstro sensor is supposed to be the fastest read-reset CMOS known to man enjoying the same motion characteristics as a film camera.

And since it’s that good at capturing motion, it has little problem capturing stills… That is crucial is you plan to shoot sports at high speeds!

With 2,251,799,813,685,248 possible camera configurations announced, RED plays the card of “switching components” when there is an update available instead of buying a new camera.

“As technology pushes forwards, there is no reason to buy a new camera every time a sensor, recording module or display technology improves.

Instead you can upgrade individual modules, and even interchange Scarlett and EPIC components at will.”

Where this might be true for motion picture (I know nothing to comment about it), this is not true when it comes to still photography…

When a major DSLR manufacturer like Nikon releases a new camera, like the D3 for example, they don’t just release a new sensor…

Often a new camera includes major improvements to the body, viewfinder, auto focus system, white balance, etc. and of course the sensor.

Now, would I want to be able to switch my D3 sensor when a D3X sensor will come out? Heck yeah!! But it’s not that simple.

If you’ve already invested in a digital medium format camera system, like the Hassy of Leaf, well you can already change the sensor as they improve while still being able to use your lenses and existing body! No revolution here…

Obviously, RED will need to do much more to get in the DSLR market.

Read more… »

The external HD I was using for my Time Machine backups was getting full but since I didn’t want to loose all the backups, I decided to try to move the backups to a fresh new HD.

One thing that won’t work is to simply copy/paste the backup folder onto another drive! If you try, like I did, you’ll end up wasting an hour “preparing to copy” then end up with an error -500…

What you actually need to do is to use the Disk Utilities to Restore your old drive to your new drive, then tell Time Machine that you want to use a different disk.

It’s pretty easy but there are some tricky steps to follow to make sure everything works fine. Also be ready to spend a long ass time before it’s all done!

Read more… »

So recently I was starting to get random Kernel panics, which are pretty rare on a Mac. After doing the usual maintenance routines, I still got freeze ups.

Now, Kernel panics are usually triggered by a faulty peripheral. After unplugging all my USB/FireWire peripherals, I started to plug them back in and ended up realizing the my Drobo was the suspected faulty device…

After contacting the Data Robotics Customer Support team, I sent them the log file. A few days later, they emailed me and did a phone follow up as it seemed my Drobo was defective…

I have to say, they are VERY professional and on top of it!!

In less than a day, I had a new box FedExed to me at no charge in order to replace my less than a year old Drobo.

I can’t wait to hook it back to my LAN to keep on Droboling and because Data Robotics now offers Drobo Apps (free) to improve your Drobo!

You now can remote access to your Drobo and DroboShare from a web browser or mobile device like the iPhone, turn your Drobo into a iTunes media server or even as a FTP server!

Despite this little problem, I still am a satified customer and still highly recommend Drobo as your preferred storage/backup solution!!

Finally a great step-by-step procedure to migrate/restore your data from Time Machine!

“If you use Time Machine in Leopard, then transferring your stuff to a new Mac might be a bit simpler than you thought. With Migration Assistant, you can easily transfer Applications, Documents, Settings, and more. In this Mac 101, we’re going to show you how it’s done, and how you can do it yourself!”

And remember if the account name you’re transferring from has to be different as the one you’re transferring to.

I’m a big fan of Flickr. Love that it’s cheap, unlimited upload storage, user friendly and damn well designed!

Flickr is a great tool but once you’ve uploaded tons of photos on Flickr, how do you download them back onto your computer if ever needed??

Well, there is a solution :

• FlickrEdit: Formerly known as FlickrBackup, FlickrEdit is a Java Desktop application that allows you to display and edit your photos in a variety of ways. It also allows you to download/backup or upload your photos to and from Flickr. FlickrEdit is written in Java and it uses flickrj framework to access Flickr.

This is particularly useful if your local hard drive goes bad and you don’t have a current backup.

Full feature list:

Read more… »