DxO updated to 3.55a

DxO Optics Pro 3.5 announced.

DxO Optics Pro has been upgraded to 3.55a as a free update.

Most of the new changes are cosmetic/UI changes:

  • New configurable “docked palette” mode for easy access to all adjustment tools;
  • Improved configuration wizard;
  • The “Automatic” mode of DxO Optics Pro is now easily and fully configurable thanks to a “Default preset”;
  • Option to save or not .dxo sidecar files;
  • Option to set application level output setting preferences (can be locally overridden);

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LX1 and Aperture

In order to get the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX1 (or Leica DIGILUX-2) to work in Aperture you first have to convert it to DNG using Adobe DNG Converter. Then you follow these directions which a commenter provides the trick.

  1. Open “/System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/
    Versions/A/Frameworks/ImageIO.framework/Versions/
    A/Resources/Raw.plist” as an administrator.
  2. Search “DMC-LC1” and copy the chunk of XML in there
  3. Replace the “DMC-LX1” with “DMC-LC1” and the “C-LUX 1” with “DIGILUX 2”
  4. Save file

Now you can import the DNGs into Aperture or iPhoto and the previews will now work.
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Taking your Aperture keywords with you

Here is a small Aperture tip I forgot to mention.

I work on Aperture on two machines, my Powerbook G4 and my girlfriend’s PowerMac G5 when I can sneak in some time. One problem I ran into was finding that the keywords (and also various export settings) I have set up in Aperture are not carried with the Aperture Library.

The trick is realizing that they are stored in your home directory in: “~/Library/Application Support/Aperture”
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Considering an entry level camera

I received an e-mail today about a new camera purchase. Here is an excerpt:

About the camera stuff, I am in the market for a “prosumer” digital camera and considering the Canon Rebel XT (350D). I think it’s quite a bit lower level than the D70 but do you have any thoughts on the camera or Canon’s SLR in general? Any recommendations you have for a different model/brand in the 800-1000 range would be appreciated as well.

What follows is my relevant response.
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Forbes Field Forever

Today, I saw a poster next to Michael Rowley’s desk and I asked if any of the baseball fanatics at Plaxo knew which stadium it was of.

Nobody did.

forbes19

I mentioned that I thought that it looked like Forbes Field to me. Given what I remember of the remains of it (the right field wall and home plate), it looks like the Cathedral of Learning would have afforded exactly this sort of view.

(When I was a kid, I used to point at the Cathedral of Learning, “the tallest schoolhouse in the West” and say “my mommy works there” (she actually worked nearby). My mom said that when I was younger I thought it was the Washington Monument: “Whenever we passed it, your eyes would get wide and you’d say reverently, ‘Washington!’”)

It turns out that stopping following baseball after the 1994 strike and being a die-hard Pirates fan had its advantages—it is a view of Forbes Field from the Cathedral of Learning.Continue reading →

Aperture 1.1 out

Aperture 1.1 was released as a free update today. If you own Aperture, see Software Update. (My comments about it are here.)

In my original review of Aperture, the only real complaint I had was the price, which was too close to PhaseOne CaptureOne. I felt that Apple should undercut them like Final Cut Pro did to Avid. Well, if you own Aperture 1.0 like I do, you can get a $200 coupon good for future Apple Store purchases (Academic users get a $100 one).

By the way, this also means a $200 price drop to Aperture to $300 from $500.

Now how is that for service?Continue reading →

Picturewall

I recently purchased a picturewall in order to add some accents to my otherwise boring apartment. It’s been on my to do list forever and now that I own a couch, hanging up some “fotografs,” as Caitlin puts it, was my next priority.

A quick run to Costco today allowed me to add a few photos.

Picturewall (detail)

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