Rangefinder Magazine
June 2006

Digital Photography by John Rettie
Apple iMac and Olympus Stylus 720 SW

Apple’s speedy new iMac is powered by an Intel Core Duo processor. Photo courtesy of Apple.	The latest Universal version of Photo Mechanic runs much faster on the Intel-powered iMac

Apple Computer has certainly been rocking the computer and even the photographic industry in the past few months since it introduced new Mac computers powered by Intel processors. As if that wasn’t enough, Apple really surprised industry pundits when it introduced a beta version of its Boot Camp software, which allows users to choose whether to boot into Windows XP or Mac OS X on startup. However, Boot Camp only works on Intel-powered Macs and requires a full retail copy of Windows XP Home ($199) or XP Pro ($299). Ouch—that’s a lot of money for an operating system that most users only pay about $50 for when it’s included on a new PC. Microsoft must be laughing, since the company can now sell even more copies of its Windows operating system.

What’s really surprised many reviewers is that the newest MacBook Pro laptops actually turn out to be among the fastest Windows laptops on the market. That means that owners of the new MacBook Pro models can have the best of both worlds—running Mac OS X in addition to Windows XP, all on one machine.

At the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) convention in Las Vegas, Apple introduced the 17-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.16Ghz Intel Core Duo processor. Apple had a large presence at the show, yet it only displayed these new laptops running the newest Universal version of Final Cut Pro. Regular users of FCP were impressed to find that the program runs faster than on a PowerMac G5. All of this is very encouraging; it shows that when Apple introduces a desktop replacement for the PowerMac G5 later in the year, it should be a really fast machine.

Unfortunately for many Mac users, now might not be the best time to upgrade to a new Mac—at this time not all software runs efficiently on the new Intel-powered Macs. Applications that have been rewritten to run on Intel processors are called Universal applications, and they show a great improvement in speed. But a significant number of Mac applications run under emulation, via Apple’s Rosetta software. Adobe has yet to release a Universal version of Photoshop, so at this stage in the transition, heavy Photoshop users who already have a G5 Mac are least likely to benefit from upgrading to an Intel Mac.

However, I have a 1.5Ghz PowerBook G4 that is almost two years old, and my desktop PowerMac G4 (a dual 1.0Ghz) is now nearing six years in age. I decided that the ideal new Mac for me at this time is the latest 20-inch iMac ($1699), which is powered by a 2.0Ghz Intel Core Duo processor. The new iMac offers very similar performance to the MacBook Pro with the same processor.

The iMac has a unique form factor; the computer hardware is wrapped in the same white case as the 20-inch LCD screen, which makes it really sleek and eminently suitable for placing on a desk. I purchased the iMac from Mac Mechanic, my local independent Apple dealer in Santa Barbara. They were good enough to let me take out the memory that came with the machine so I could insert two 1GB Kingston memory modules. It’s cheaper to buy your own memory rather than have it installed by Apple. It’s also the only upgrade that one can perform oneself, since the iMac is a closed machine, like a laptop. However, I did opt for the $75 factory upgrade for 256MB of VRAM on the graphics card, which improves performance in graphics-intensive programs like Aperture.

Apart from a worthwhile increase in speed compared to the old G5 iMac, the most impressive upgraded feature is the ability to run a second monitor just as one can on high-end PowerMac, PowerBook or MacBook Pro models. This means I can use the iMac with my 20-inch Dell LCD hooked up as a second monitor. Anyone who has experienced the benefits of having two monitors side by side will know that switching back to a single monitor is hard to do. I purchased the iMac just a few days before writing this column, so I have not yet had time to try out many programs. At first blush, it seems that Photoshop CS2 runs at about the same speed as it does on my 1.5GHz PowerBook. The fact that old programs are running in emulation is totally transparent to the user. Still, it is not an ideal situation, and Adobe has promised that a Universal version of Photoshop will be available early next year. Honestly speaking, heavy users of Photoshop who are running the program on newer G5 Macs will be disappointed in the performance on the new Intel-powered Macs. Those like me, though, who are used to Photoshop on a G4 Mac will probably not notice any drop off in performance. I have had no problems running Microsoft Office or FileMaker, and again, there’s really no discernable lack of performance, even running in emulation.

Fortunately, Camera Bits Photo Mechanic, which is the program I use to do initial editing after a photo shoot, has already been upgraded to run as a Universal application. It is really much faster. It’ll open hundreds of thumbnail images in seconds. I have also upgraded Aperture to the latest version, 1.1, which runs as a Universal application. It runs faster than before, but even when opening JPEG files, it still takes many minutes to draw thumbnail images and, unlike Photo Mechanic, it is not possible to open any until all have loaded. Based on my first experience with these two upgraded programs I’m still a fan of Photo Mechanic, even though it would appear that Aperture should be a potential alternative. Once the images have been loaded, the one thing I still love in Aperture is the loupe—it is so easy to look closely at details in images. Unfortunately, I am usually in a hurry to edit images, so waiting for them to load in Aperture is too time-consuming. I guess it all depends on the workflow one is most comfortable with.

I am sure long-term users of Macs will be interested to know how smooth the transition is for upgraders such as myself. I plan to try out new Universal applications as they are introduced in the coming months. I also plan to install Windows XP, which will give me the opportunity to try out the handful of programs of interest to pro photographers that only run under Windows. At one point I was going to build myself a new PC to try these programs, after being without a decent PC for a couple of years. Now I will not have to, as my PC is built right into my new iMac.

Olympus Stylus 720 SW

A few years ago, Minolta shook up the world of compact point-and-shoot cameras when it introduced the XT camera. With a zoom lens that adjusted vertically inside the slim camera body instead of protruding externally, it was a truly pocketable camera that produced pretty good images for the time. Thanks to the convenience of this design, it’s not surprising that most camera manufacturers have produced their own variations on the theme since then.

The diminutive Olympus Stylus 720 SW camera is waterproof and shockproof.

One of the most recent models in this genre is the Olympus Stylus 720 SW, which goes a couple of steps further. It is waterproof to a depth of 10 feet and can be dropped from up to five feet without harm. This surely makes it an ideal kid-proof camera. It sports a 7.1-megapixel sensor and comes with a large 2.5-inch screen on the back. Although it lacks an optical viewfinder, this doesn’t seem to worry most users, since they have gotten accustomed to composing images on the rear screen. It has a 3X zoom with a 35mm equivalency focal length of 38–114mm.

The camera is nicely made, but its shiny metal finish makes it somewhat slippery to hold, especially since it has no indents or raised “grip” for holding. I guess this is the penalty one pays for having a stylish camera that is only 0.78 inches thick. In fact, the camera is a shade smaller than the included battery charger! Like most cameras of this ilk, the 720 SW includes numerous automatic functions as well as a video-recording mode. It also features a “digital image-stabilization” mode that is a little misleading all it does is boost the ISO when the shutter speed drops below a certain level. Overall image quality was acceptable but not as good as that produced by the 9.0-megapixel Fujifilm E900 I tried a few weeks ago. For a street price of around $399 or less, the 720 SW is practical for family use in bad weather, at the beach or out boating.

Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook has over 62 recipes that show you how to recreate masterpieces from the art and photo world.

Quick Book Review

Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook

Anyone who attended seminars at the recent WPPI Show in Las Vegas will undoubtedly agree there is a continuing trend towards producing artistic images that are more akin to painting than pure photography.

Further Information: iMac Aperture Apple Computer (www.apple.com) Photo Mechanic Camera Bits (www.camerabits.com) Stylus 720 SW Olympus Camera (www.olympusamerica.com) Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook O’Reilly Media (www.oreilly.com)

Without a doubt this is because it has become easier for a photographer to be an artist, thanks to Photoshop, Painter and other image-editing programs. Moving a mouse around on a computer screen is certainly easier than using an airbrush or a paintbrush.

It’s a cliché, but imitation is the easiest way to produce popular artistic looks that people are nostalgic for. John Beardsworth, the author of this book, begins by describing how to shoot a photograph that can be digitally manipulated. He then moves on to the main part of the book, which contains 62 step-by-step “recipes” that describe in colorful detail how to reproduce photographic and artistic painted “styles” using Photoshop’s tools and filters.

Styles include those of painters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Hokusai, Monet, Dali, Warhol and Picasso. Photographic styles recreated include those from the 19th century through modern masters such as Edward Weston, Ansel Adams and David Hockney.

If you or your clients are bored with regular photographs, this book, published by O’Reilly (176 pages, $29.99), could provide the inspiration and techniques for you to become an artist as well as an accomplished photographer. I guess we must remember that at the end of the day we are artists first and foremost. Capturing an image in a camera is just part of the process.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. He has been using a camera as a professional for 36 years, a computer for 26 years, and has combined his knowledge of both for the past 13 years. Readers can contact him by e-mail at john@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail c/o Rangefinder.