Rangefinder Magazine
September 2001/Columns

Digital Photography: by John Rettie
Useful Accessories for Nikon's D1

Plugged in and ready to shoot. The single battery pack powers the camera and the flashgun. The D1 camera also has the Hoodman hood attached.

Users of Nikon’s 35mm system of lenses and other accessories continue to have a choice of digital camera bodies from three manufacturers—two from Nikon (D1X and D1H), one from Fuji (S1 Pro) and two from Kodak (DCS 720x and DCS 760). Canon users have just one body, the EOS D30, which is not aimed at professional photographers. Not surprisingly, Canon users are getting frustrated waiting for a professional level digital camera body now that Kodak has dropped it’s range of Canon-based digital camera bodies. Rumors abound as to when Canon will rectify the situation, but every indication is that we should see a professional camera sometime before Christmas. Bear in mind that the Winter Olympics are being held in Salt Lake City in February and Canon reckons 90% of photographers there will be shooting digital images. As a good percentage of sports photographers use Canon equipment, it’s pretty safe to say that Canon will not allow Nikon to be the camera of choice for 90% of photographers covering the event.

In the meantime, the Nikon’s range of D1 cameras have become so popular that aftermarket companies have begun introducing useful accessories either designed from the ground up uniquely for the D1 or adapted from equipment that can also be sued with other cameras and accessories. Most of these accessories will also undoubtedly be available for Canon digital cameras in the future as well.

The Digital Camera Battery pack solves battery capacity constraints of digital cameras and flashguns in one tidy package.

Digital Camera Battery
One of the major irritations of digital cameras is battery life. Of course, this is nothing very new for those who’ve been using flashgun or laptop computers. It’s a fact of life that portable electrical products consume power and nobody has yet developed batteries that provide power for very long. The answer has always been to use external battery packs for a decent power supply. External battery packs for flashguns have been around for a number of years and have a place in every professional’s gear bag. I’ve been dreaming of the day when I could plug my digital camera into the same power pack as the flashgun. This is now a reality with the introduction of the Digital Camera Battery, produced by a company with the same name.

The sophisticated Digital Camera Battery is computer-controlled, so that it can supply juice to two pieces of equipment at the same time, even if they use different voltages. The voltage output of the battery is set by the individual cables and can vary from 1.2 to 16 volts DC.

The battery, which is offered in four different capacities, is contained in a neat aluminum case with status indicator lights on top along with two output sockets and one socket for the charger. Unlike other battery packs, which rely on lead acid cells, this power pack uses a NiMH cell, which is the current favorite with digital camera manufacturers, thanks to its good characteristics. For example, unlike NiCd batteries, NiMH batteries do not suffer from memory loss although they do discharge slowly when not in use.

I tried the 30W model, which weighs just 1.5 lbs. and is about 1.3 x 3 x 6 inches in size. It proved very convenient to use as it comes with a nice cloth carrying case that can be attached to a belt or carried with a shoulder strap. The company also offers a variety of tripod and camera mounting brackets.

The special cables vary in complexity, which means that some of them have small boxes that add to the weight of the dangling cords. Many cameras and flashguns have their power sockets mounted on the side of the body, which is convenient as it keeps the cables out of the way. Sadly the Nikon D1 has it’s external power plug mounted on the front of the camera body, which means it gets in the way more than necessary. Likewise, the matching Nikon flashguns external power supply plug attaches to the front. I tried the battery out with the two cables for these units and found it worked well although the cords did get in the way somewhat. Nonetheless it’s great to be able to rely on a consistent power supply for both the camera and the flash at the same time with just one battery pack.

The Digital Camera Battery has to be custom ordered, as there are such a large number of different cables required for all the different cameras and flashes on the market. The cost of these cables also varies, meaning that the cost of a battery and cables ranges from $300 and up depending on the size of the battery and the number and complexity of the cables required. All the details are contained on the company’s web site, www.digitalcamerabattery.com.

The clear Hoodman Hoodcap LCD screen cover for the Nikon D1 can be left on the camera at all times.	The rubber Hoodman hood is very effective for photographers who need to view images on the camera’s LCD in daylight.

Hoodman Hoodcap and Hood
Nikon supplied a black plastic cover for protecting the LCD screen on the back of the original Nikon D1. Most photographers leave it off most of the time, as they need to be able to see the screen when the camera is in use. Consequently, the screen gets covered in nose grease, fingerprints and it can get scratched. Hoodman, a company that specializes in producing hoods for the screens on TV camcorders and laptop computers, has developed a clear cover, called a Hoodcap. It is made from optically clear plastic so that the screen can be easily seen at all times while remaining fully protected from damage and dirt.

Recently Hoodman introduced a hood for this cover to provide glare free viewing of the screen in daylight. The hood slips over the Hoodcap and can be kept in place at all times as it is a soft rubber bellows that collapses when one’s face is pressed against it yet it recovers it’s shape when needed.

I have permanently replaced the black cover on my D1 with the clear Hoodcap, but I still find the hood a little too obtrusive to leave attached at all times, although it certainly works very well when one needs to see images clearly on the LCD screen during a daylight shoot. Incidentally, the new D1X and D1H cameras come with a clear cover from the factory. At first I thought this would obviate the need for the Hoodcap but the Nikon cover is made of inferior plastic and the image is not clearly visible. So even owners of the new cameras will find the $19.95 investment in a Hoodcap worthwhile. Additionally, those wanting to use the Hoodman hood, which costs $39.95, need the Hoodcap for attachment, as it will not work without it.

Hoodman also make hoods for most digital cameras and camcorders. In some cases, such as the Nikon Coolpix 990, the hoods can be snugly attached by Velcro, while others are attached by slipping an elastic strap over the camera body.

The Digital Album, seen here in its docking cradle, can store an enormous quantity of images on its 20MB internal hard disk.

Digital Album
If battery life is one bane with digital cameras, the other is storage capacity for images captured by the camera. If one cannot afford to stock up on lots of CompactFlash cards, SmartMedia cards or IBM MicroDrives, the only alternative has been to transfer image files to a laptop computer while away from the office or studio. Now a couple of manufacturers have come to the rescue with external storage devices that use high capacity hard drives.

The Digital Album, made by Nixvue and imported by Jobo, is a nicely designed palm-sized unit that contains a 20GB hard drive and a rechargeable battery. It has a slot in the body that accepts a PC card. The same PC card adapters that are used to mount the camera’s storage cards on a laptop can then be used to transfer the contents for storage on the Digital Album.

Once back at the studio or office the Digital Album is placed in a cradle that is connected via a USB cable to the computer so the files can be transferred for editing and permanent storage. The cradle can also be hooked up to a TV so the images can be viewed on its screen via a remote control device for a “slide” show. While the album is in the cradle its battery is also automatically recharged.

I found the unit to be a boon on one shoot where I did not have enough storage cards with me. It’s also a heck of a lot quicker than booting up the laptop and lugging it around. The only disadvantage is that you cannot view the images once they have been transferred to the Digital Album like you can on a laptop.

It would be entirely possible for some photographers to use the Digital Album to store images and obviate the need for a computer altogether as it can be hooked up to some printers for printing images. Professional photographers would be unlikely to view the Digital Album as anything more than a temporary storage device for use when doing shoots in the field.

Internext
Week by week the continuing news of dot-com failures is enough to make one wonder if the Internet is ever going to be successful as a medium for commerce. When the media is even questioning if Amazon.com will survive, it’s time to question the whole notion of on-line business. A few months ago a Rangefinder reader e-mailed me with the suggestion that I check out an exposition called Internext in Las Vegas. It was a three-day conference and exhibition for those involved in adult web sites. At first I wondered what professional photographers could learn from this.

However, after attending the exhibition and listening to some of the seminar speakers, I came away with a different outlook on the world of adult web sites. Sure there are some sleazy aspects to this end of the industry, but on the whole I was amazed at how many mainstream people are succeeding in this area. It’s one area of the Internet that is making money and growing successfully month by month. It shows that when consumers are willing to spend money, the Internet is a viable means of commerce. A good number of the exhibitors were commerce companies that provide on-line billing services for collecting money automatically via credit cards or telephone charges. Basically a lot of the technology that will be used in future e-commerce sites is being developed and proven in the adult world first.
From a professional photographer’s point of view it’s an area that is crying out for decent photography. There were presenters in the seminars telling attendees how they could get “good enough” images by just buying digital cameras and setting up a studio in the basement of their house. Then there were others saying that the only thing that mattered was decent lighting.

I was amazed at how many models are producing their own web sites, some of which would be described as X-rated, but many of which are pretty tame. Some of these “models” are amateurs with great photography because they’ve hooked up with professional photographers, while others have mediocre images because they do not have the services of a good photographer. As the Internet continues to grow there will be more and more demand from web sites for decent photographs, opening up another venue for the marketing and selling of quality photography. If you want to keep abreast of the future of the Internet watch what’s going on in the adult world of the Internet, even if you’re not a fan of the content.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. He has been using a camera as a professional for 31 years, a computer for 21 years, and has combined his knowledge of both for the past eight years. Readers can contact him by e-mail at john@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail c/o Rangefinder.