Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape Photography Locations => Topic started by: NancyP on January 29, 2014, 01:09:53 pm
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I am an Old Fart and still use printed portions of USGS quads, and for that matter, a compass. Yes, I know the phone has a compass function (triangulation), but a magnetic needle compass doesn't need a battery. I see weather-proof tablet cases at REI, and the recent issue of Backpacker magazine had an article on tablets. So, does anyone here use tablets in the field, and what sorts of apps do you use?
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Hello Nancy,
There is the well known Photographer's Ephemeris, for calculating the location and time of events such as sunrise, sunset, moon rise, etc. This app is free on the PC but I believe there is a charge for using it on smartphone or tablet.
My favorite is dslrController, $9 for Canon Eos cameras. I believe there are similar apps for Nikon. I use this on a Samsung Galaxy Tab II 7 in tablet. It fits in a plastic bag :>). I also have attached a little router to the USB port on the camera and this allows wireless transmission to the tablet. All the controls are available remotely. The image is shown on the tablet screen. You select controls, such as histogram, by finger-tap on the controlling icon. This app does much more than remote the controls of the camera. For example, I use it for focus bracketing: You select begin and end points for focus bracketing and the app fires off a sequence of shots, each stepping the lens to positions calculated by dslrController. Similar, enhancement of HDR capture is available. You can combine focus bracketing and HDR capture. Focus peaking. Etc.
I also have a little clamp to hold the tablet to the leg of my tripod, giving me the modern equivalent of a view camera, except the image is not inverted. Ha Ha?
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I believe that anyone who hikes out of sight of the road should still be carrying a liquid-filled magnetic needle compass and know how to use it to find their way back to the truck. Whatever else anyone decides to carry is optional, but the old-school magnetic compass is mandatory.
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Back in 1983 I was doing some habitat mapping for a black bear research project - essentially running compass lines through the bush and counting/ measuring the habitat as we went. One day we got into an area where there was a big load of hematite under the ground (or something) and the compass needle all of a sudden turned 90 degrees. Put my old Silva Ranger back in my pocket and walked my staff out of the woods - we came out 12 feet from the truck. Use the equipment, but don't become reliant on it!
As to the tablet, I started putting together a presentation today for our photo group and realized I have 16 apps on my phone directly or indirectly related to photography!
Mike.
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I believe that anyone who hikes out of sight of the road should still be carrying a liquid-filled magnetic needle compass and know how to use it to find their way back to the truck. Whatever else anyone decides to carry is optional, but the old-school magnetic compass is mandatory.
Hi,
I carry a GPS for that purpose, although one needs to be moving to get direction in addition to position. Very easy for finding previously visted/scouted locations, or even those determined in advance by a mapping application before ever being there before. Of course, not having to rely on electrical power can be a benefit, and a magnetic compass (or a floating needle) can be useful.
Cheers,
Bart
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.....but remember that a compass is useless unless you know where you are and know where you want to go and know the spatial relationship between the two. (Second-nature to folk of our generation but how many under-30s will every have used one?).
At least with GPS, you can enter waypoints as you go out and follow them in reverse to get back.
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Spend more time staring at screens instead of the landscape? No thanks!
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I try to work on my map-reading and compass guidance skills.
I was curious if anyone used larger-than-phone screens for maps, eg, USGS quads. An iPhone 4 is laughably small for this sort of thing.
I have a few useful things on my phone:
1. everyone's favorite, The Photographers' Ephemeris .
2. the night sky equivalent of TPE, Sky Safari . This is a great program for learning as well as planning. I have the least expensive version, it gives you all the stars you are likely to need unless you are in the middle of the desert with a 24" Dob ;) .
3. a bunch of Notes for:
a. no-parallax ("nodal") points for various lenses and cameras
b. best no-coma, sharp corners f/ stops for various lenses used on full frame camera in astrophotography, plus the faster ok-for-APS-C f/ stops if pertinent, plus declination for pertinent locations (well, one location so far, St. Louis MO)
c. soon to come, the true number of stops reduction of my brand new Big Stopper, and shutter speed conversion table
4. Audubon birds of eastern North America field guide (has songs and calls too)
5. EOS remote utility provided by Canon for its Wifi-enabled cameras (6D in my case). I haven't fiddled with this yet.
6. PhotoPills calculator and ephemeris. I got this recently and haven't fiddled with this much yet either. Hyperfocal tables, exposure equivalents, field of view, etc, plus a feature that gives you simulation of light direction at different times of day on a phone photo.
I also have a "Spot" emergency beacon that uses a satellite, pertinent in more remote areas without cell coverage (lots of the hilly Ozarks).
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Having spent 35 years as a computer professional, I am enjoying my retirement as a Luddite. I am of the camera and map persuasion, and I even still have a slide rule (ask your grandkids if they have the foggiest idea what that is).
That being said, I saw a terrific slide show the other day from a very experienced backpacker who recently did a two-week excursion in the northern part of Denali National Park in Alaska, some 300 miles from the nearest road. He mentioned that one day, when they were very near their northern-most point, he and one of his companions compared their compass readings only to find that the two pointed in exactly opposite directions.
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I even still have a slide rule (ask your grandkids if they have the foggiest idea what that is).
Wasn't there a line in a Sam Cook song, "Don't know what a slide rule is for...."?
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Having spent 35 years as a computer professional, I am enjoying my retirement as a Luddite.
Yup. When I stargaze I like a paper atlas and a red LED.
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I still have my wood K&E slide ruler and its instruction book. Let's all be Luddites together. Shall we all head over to the LF forum or APUG? There is something good about those paper star atlases, namely, not having to contend with unlocking screens that are too bright.
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I still have my wood K&E slide ruler and its instruction book.
Yay! Me, too. I love mine. I had a Kurta once, too. But it's long gone, unfortunately.
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My one remaining slide rule is a Pocket Picket. But I also have a couple of Abaci.
I don't generally take any of them with me in the field, however. ;)
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Don't you think this thread has decompensated into an extreme preference for the old fashioned and obsolete over the new and more useful. Most of us do not get so far off the trail that a truly analog compass is essential gear. Most of us don't use an abacus to balance a checkbook. Slide rules are for baseball. Can't bear to look at a "screen" in the outdoors. Aw shucks, this thread sounds like an audition for the curmudgeons club.
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Nope, I carry camera, tripod and one lens and usually know what I want to shoot- so no need to research anything while in field. My laminated tide chart tells me what the tides are, my diary tells me about sunrise times, don't need much else.
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Don't you think this thread has decompensated into an extreme preference for the old fashioned and obsolete over the new and more useful. Most of us do not get so far off the trail that a truly analog compass is essential gear. Most of us don't use an abacus to balance a checkbook. Slide rules are for baseball. Can't bear to look at a "screen" in the outdoors. Aw shucks, this thread sounds like an audition for the curmudgeons club.
Hear, hear. I love analogue, but with what I'm reading on this thread, there must be a lot of you who are still shooting with glass plates or even Daguerrotypes!
With eyesight that is not what I used to be, I'm looking forward to the day I can plug my D800 into my iPad and blend the experience of using a 4x5 I so enjoyed with the efficiency of digitography.
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All this started as a query about using tablets to contain maps. My insistence on using a magnetic compass and maps, rather than relying solely on GPS, is due to my desire to keep up analog skills for those situations when one runs out of battery. Not all trails are well marked, and a lot of forest trails are criss-crossed by deer trails. I have managed to lose myself in the fall, when the leaves are covering a poorly marked or unmarked trail that has very little usage. A 5$ keychain compass and a trail area topo map gets me back on track if I follow the deer trail too far. There are some bushwhack opportunities in scenic areas of the local National Forests.
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With eyesight that is not what I used to be, I'm looking forward to the day I can plug my D800 into my iPad and blend the experience of using a 4x5 I so enjoyed with the efficiency of digitography.
EXACTLY!!!
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Are you going to flip your iPad upside down? ;D
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Are you going to flip your iPad upside down? ;D
of course, and use a loupe to look at it :P
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I am an Old Fart and still use printed portions of USGS quads, and for that matter, a compass. Yes, I know the phone has a compass function (triangulation), but a magnetic needle compass doesn't need a battery. I see weather-proof tablet cases at REI, and the recent issue of Backpacker magazine had an article on tablets. So, does anyone here use tablets in the field, and what sorts of apps do you use?
Nancy, not to be a sexist, but can you be an Old Fart and female??
I am a retired "Old Forester". I love my old Ranger compass, analog aerial photos, and memories of days in the field trying to figure out property lines.
Today, I think you would get fired if you showed up for work with a paper map and a Ranger compass.
My IPAD. I have a Canon 6D and with the IPAD I have a viewfinder screen on my 6D. The remote app is pretty cool. If you have a wi-fi camera you will eventually want a tablet for photography.
On my IPAD is a bird guide, a book to animal tracks, spiders and insects, wildflower guide, and a star program that not only gives me a view of the current night sky but also controls my telescope. Oh, and those 6D photos taken through the telescope are downloaded to my tablet.
Then I take topo maps of areas that I am going to visit outside of cell phone range....and save them on my IPAD.
Wait, there's more on Google Earth I take screen shot of aerial photos of the areas that I am going to visit. Yeah, it really helps to be a professional Forester to interpret satellite imagery, but I am sure most people can get the basics in short order.
In Washington and Montana, I can even get ownership records for the areas I am exploring.
Really a tablet is an amazing device. If you had handed me one of those on graduation day in 1972.....I would not have believed it possible.
Unfortunately, most tech devices are marketed to urban folks. They really do not need them. Out in the middle of somewhere they really are a revolution IF you use them and think outside the so called box!!
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Well, that answers my question. Tablet is useful for consulting quad maps.
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NancyP,
Respectfully, you should reread your first post in this thread. Your request seemed more general to than than just maps. WiFi control of cameras in the field is a local function. It does not require any over-the-air service. Responders have been in two camps, paper maps or the desire to improve their dSLR experience. It is the latter that we should be discussing.
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A secondary question is why the better LCD displays that tilt and pivot are only found on the less expensive cameras. I like the CamRanger with a tablet to be able to manually focus accurately when doing panoramics or using a tilt shift lens.
In the field I use USFS maps and GPS (taking multiple ones so I have backups). Having done boat deliveries in the Atlantic with only a sextant which only works if there is clear weather to take a sighting I consider GPS a must have for navigating.
I do not like to have all my electronic eggs in one basket. If my phone dies that is all I lose. If the tablet dies I lose the CamRanger but that is all. If the GPS dies I have backup devices. For a "computer" I use netbooks and if they fail all I lose is access to email.
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I gave up with tablets since I live in the desert. Sun is too bright to see the thing, much less the phone. Heat is another matter and I had one LCD screen go black until it cooled down again.
I bought a black thick fabric to make a darkened tent and have to let my eyes adjust to see the screen which I have to turn up full brightness (and battery dies sooner!). Then when I figure it out and come out from under the tent my eyes are blinded and I can't work the camera for a few minutes. Like walking out of a dark theater.
I leave it all at home now other than just the camera, and maybe a Hoodman since it doesn't need batteries - but even then I hope my calibration is correct and camera and settings are good enough for any post work. All the gear is a bit much to pack, sort, use, and it slows me down a lot and maybe a quarter of what I would shoot otherwise by tethering it all up and struggling with usage issues.
Seemed like a good idea at the time though. Maybe in studio only, but desert sunlight is too much to deal with.
SG
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Technology is what you make of it. And recently I found myself excited about being able use my Cambo WRS technical camera and IQ180, tethered in the field with a Surface Pro 2, a sort of super tablet. I am able to run a full version of Capture One Pro 7 DB, and view full resolution RAW files--not downsized JPEGs. Sometimes I may want to be more of a minimalist, but other times I will be sure to have the Surface Pro 2 along with me. The great part is that there is no fiddling around trying to make things work. Using USB3 to tether with C1 Pro 7 just works. Plug and play simplicity.
You can read my review on my blog at http://kendoophotography.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/microsofts-surface-pro-2-a-game-changer-for-phase-one-iq-series-and-leaf-credo-medium-format-digital-backs/ or over at the Capture Integration blog at https://captureintegration.com/tethering-with-the-microsoft-surface-pro-2/
:) ken
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I use a viewfinder app for composition before pulling out the camera. I used it a lot more with my 4x5 then I do with my DSLR, but it's still useful. Like other's had mention I'd really like to use a tablet or monitor as a digital ground glass; right now the video output quality of my D800 is lacking, and packing the monitor and mounting it for each shot would start to cumbersome. There's a reason I don't shoot 4x5 anymore.
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If I am shooting on a tripod with a canon 5D Mk3, I will sometimes use an eye-fi card to transmit JPEG files to an iPad. This can be useful if I am doing something that requires careful composition or if I am shooting at night and there are details I can't see in the viewfinder but can assess on an image on the tablet.
I also use a sun tracking app on my phone.
And apparently the Sony a7r allows for some wi-fi control of the camera. I've played with it briefly, but as I tend to use that camera hand held, the remote capabilities are not that useful to me.
But on the whole, I find trying to use a tablet or phone in conjunction with a camera is awkward and ungainly. I like to have just enough equipment with me to get the job done, but not so much that it slows me down.
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I use a Garmin off-road GPS. Runs on two AA batteries all day something a phablet or even cell phone can't do. I take spare AA bats. Simple. The GPS has an on-board compass so you do not have to be moving to see what direction you're looking towards. It will store a "bread crumb" trail so you can follow your path back out exactly as you entered if you choose. You can set waypoints ahead of time to track to exactly and then when you get home lay down the bread crumbs in your laptop and see the path on a map or satellite view. It also has a compass rose display screen if you enjoy using that and will mark of distance to where you are going too and where you are going when you want to go home. My GPS has road maps as well as 24k quad maps. I wear in on neck lanyard so it's handy. It's water resistant to 6 feet and shock resistant too, something ipads are not. It fits in my breast pocket like a pack of cigarettes. Check the Garmin site. Not all units have the built in three-point axis compasses so verify beforehand.
It's always a good idea to mark a waypoint for you car before you enter the woods. :)
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I take my Nexus 7 tablet and/or my Nexus 5 phone with me - the phone to maintain contact as much as the terrain will permit.
I use either the tablet or the phone to use Fujifilm's remote control app for my Fuji XT-1 and other apps such as the photographer's ephemeris, GPS, compass, etc.
Barry
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I have an app called EZ model release or something like that. It is on my phone and the iPad. It has modifyable boiler plate stuff and the model or subject signs with their finger and puts their email address in and you can use it to take a photo of them with the phone or iPad and it emails you both the model release.
I like it. All I use a iPad for out side when shooting, or inside too.
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Hear, hear. I love analogue, but with what I'm reading on this thread, there must be a lot of you who are still shooting with glass plates or even Daguerrotypes!
With eyesight that is not what I used to be, I'm looking forward to the day I can plug my D800 into my iPad and blend the experience of using a 4x5 I so enjoyed with the efficiency of digitography.
Almost possible already with Camranger. A bit pricy for what it is, but it is live view on an iPad and it works. I shoot the lovely Canon shift lenses 17/24 with this... but shame you can only have a movement on one axis.
Other essential apps in my Photography folder on the iPad/iPhone
- Photographers Ephemeris
- Corbis Gateway (free Model and property releases even if you aren't a Corbis contributor)
- Weather Pro
- GB and parks - With OS Maps at 1:25000 and 1:50000 for UK counties (yum)
- Instagram + Facebook
- CityMapper (for NYC)
- Journey Pro - Awesome for London travel planning in real time, joins up my locations with integrated journeys across bus/tube/rail and shanks pony
- Foliobook because I wrote it! (iPad only)
- Walkmeter to compute how much beer I've offset during a working day
- Navigon for US road navigation, all the maps are on the iPhone so no data charges when navigating.
- TomTom for UK road navigation with the traffic info add on.
All invaluable when shooting, especially with my peripatetic architecture/development/stock shooting jobs.
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I don't use my iPad or iPhone to control my cameras or even act as on-site external VFs for them. That doesn't work for the way I take photos. But all the ancillary mapping, sky charting, GPSing, etc. apps are so useful! I do like having a dedicated GPS unit too for off-the-beaten-path stuff.
And...I've never got on well with the auto-pano modes in (some of) my cameras, but on the iPhone I love that option. Does really nice verticals too. This afternoon I spent some time chatting with a very cool lady in her mid-80s...she was taking pics with an iPad, which I rarely do, and I noticed she too was shooting vertical panos. She showed me some of her pics, and it was obvious she was no neophyte. Turned out she photographed professionally as a young woman, then gave it up for a long while after marriage, kids & grandkids. Now she loves using her iPad as a camera due to its size, both in terms of the screen but also just the dimensions of it. "If it wasn't for this iPad I wouldn't be out here today," she told me.
-Dave-
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It's always a good idea to mark a waypoint for you car before you enter the woods. :)
That's also useful in a more urban environment as I've lost a car several times. Ironically I have a near perfect memory for directions, but don't necessarily register where car is parked. Once I reported car stolen from outside my mate's student flats and whilst walking with copper to station, I suddenly saw it in distance parked behind University. I completely forget that I had used it earlier because I so rarely drive in town and left it elsewhere. Duh!
I do have a 'find my car' app on phone, but I mostly cycle around town so never used it. Not that I would remember to set app anyway.
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I'll second the Surface Pro 2 - with at least 256GB SSD - that way you get 8GB of RAM.
I just started using it with my Phase One/Cambo setup, and it works great. Note that it's got a USB 3 port which is important if the camera supports it. Mine does. Even 60mp files tether to Capture One in ~2-3 seconds. That's extremely useful for checking composition and focus.
Arkon makes some nice tablet arms that attach to the tripod. I'm trying to leave that part attached to the tripod, and just put the tablet away between locations.
There is an excellent blog article referred to in this thread.
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The Surface Pro 2 is a great tool for tethering USB3 enabled MFDBs like the Phase IQ series and Leaf Credo. Not sure of firmware updates for the Credo (yet) but Live View is now an available option for Phase IQ series MFDBs using C1 Pro 7. Live View on IQ MFDBs is still CCD sensor limited, but using the larger screen of the SP2 makes Live View much more usable. The full range of tools of C1 Pro 7 is available on a full resolution RAW file.
I started a Tethering with the Surface Pro 2 thread over at GetDPI: http://www.getdpi.com/forum/medium-format-systems-digital-backs/50349-tethering-surface-pro-2-enabling-phase-iq-series-credo-mfdbs.html
There is also a SP2 "shopping list" on my blog article reviewing the Surface Pro 2: http://kendoophotography.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/microsofts-surface-pro-2-a-game-changer-for-phase-one-iq-series-and-leaf-credo-medium-format-digital-backs/ which is long overdue for a follow-up on using the SP2. Definitely a thumbs up! The "shopping list" and links are also on the GetDPI thread.
It's rumored that the next generation Surface Pro will offer more performance (Core i7) and be even lighter.
ken :)
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With my 500mm f4 and my PC-E lenses I need to manually focus, with the former with critters in trees or brush or when using a teleconverter and with the latter lens all the time. This is where Live View is a big help except for the screen not tilting on my DLSR cameras.
Paying $200 for a 7" Android tablet and $300 for the small and light CamRanger device is a small price to pay to get sharp pictures. I use the tablet only for that function. For GPS and orienteering I use a Garmin. For geo tagging I use a Holux receiver that has bluetooth. For calls I have flip phone that has a a battery that will last for weeks. I don't like the Swiss Army knife approach and prefer not to have all my electronic eggs in one basket.
The technology, except for cellular data plans in the USA, is cheap. My last 5 computers cost me less than my first IBM Selectric typewriter. The first calculator I bought that could do square root calculations for statistical work cost $1400. Now I can get a free give away calculator with that function.
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What is the mini router you are using?
Hello Nancy,
There is the well known Photographer's Ephemeris, for calculating the location and time of events such as sunrise, sunset, moon rise, etc. This app is free on the PC but I believe there is a charge for using it on smartphone or tablet.
My favorite is dslrController, $9 for Canon Eos cameras. I believe there are similar apps for Nikon. I use this on a Samsung Galaxy Tab II 7 in tablet. It fits in a plastic bag :>). I also have attached a little router to the USB port on the camera and this allows wireless transmission to the tablet. All the controls are available remotely. The image is shown on the tablet screen. You select controls, such as histogram, by finger-tap on the controlling icon. This app does much more than remote the controls of the camera. For example, I use it for focus bracketing: You select begin and end points for focus bracketing and the app fires off a sequence of shots, each stepping the lens to positions calculated by dslrController. Similar, enhancement of HDR capture is available. You can combine focus bracketing and HDR capture. Focus peaking. Etc.
I also have a little clamp to hold the tablet to the leg of my tripod, giving me the modern equivalent of a view camera, except the image is not inverted. Ha Ha?
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What is the mini router you are using?
Hi,
It's probably a TP-Link TL MR3040 with flashedd firmware to turn it into a dedicated wireless router: http://dslrcontroller.com/guide-wifi_mr3040.php (http://dslrcontroller.com/guide-wifi_mr3040.php).
Cheers,
Bart
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I'll second the Surface Pro 2 - with at least 256GB SSD - that way you get 8GB of RAM.
I just started using it with my Phase One/Cambo setup, and it works great. Note that it's got a USB 3 port which is important if the camera supports it. Mine does. Even 60mp files tether to Capture One in ~2-3 seconds. That's extremely useful for checking composition and focus.
That´s what they call progress, I guess. Checking composition and focus on the ground glass is way too simple. Great that, finally, Phase One came up with a cool solution to overcome this old problem.