www.lewiz.org

On Windows Vista I use EXT2-IFS to mount my home directory, which Windows does not natively support. As my home directory lives underneath the /home mountpoint, I accessed my files via N:\lewiz, as opposed to just N:\ if I were to mount via Samba.

While this all worked very well, I now wanted to use my Lightroom database in my Windows XP VMware image. No problem, I thought, I’d just import the database and all would be well.

As it turned out, Lightroom really didn’t seem to like this. All of my folders turned red, I couldn’t access the photos and Lightroom went off doing some checking stuff that really didn’t interest me.

I attempted to tell Lightroom where my root images directory was, but I didn’t have much luck. A little frustrated, I decided to open the database file in vim and do a global search and replace on the offchance. Upon opening the file, I spotted that the lrdb file used by Lightroom is actually a SQLite database.

Impressed, I did some poking and discovered that filename and path data really only exists in two tables: Adobe_imageFiles and AgFolderTagInfo.

As I had no Internet at the time, I had to call Vlad to find out what the SQLite string concatenation function was, but in no time at all I had four SQL queries that I applied to (a copy of) my database:

update Adobe_imageFiles set absolutePath = 'N:' || substr(absolutePath, 9, 9999999);

update Adobe_imageFiles set robustRepresentation = 'WN:' || substr(robustRepresentation, 10, 9999999);

update AgFolderTagInfo set absolutePath = 'N:' || substr(absolutePath, 9, 99999) where absolutePath like '<span>lewiz</span>';

update AgFolderTagInfo set robustRepresentation = 'WN:' || substr(robustRepresentation, 10, 99999);

This replaced ‘N:\lewiz\...’ with ‘N:\...’ in the appropriate tables.

Import the database into Lightroom, and Voila! My images all work.

That said, Lightroom does appear to be bitching about being unable to write metadata to the files.

This is probably a very stupid thing to do with your Lightroom database, I do not recommend that you try it. I expect that my database will fall apart shortly. In fact, I have this weird feeling that some Lightroom dev is going to pop along, read what I’ve done, and double over laughing at my stupidity.

Ah, well.

A couple of days ago I posted my favourite photo from the China holiday… ‘Silence on the mountain’

Vlad suggested ‘Thunder on the mountain’ and a bunch of word insertion was tried until I settled on silence.

Vlad did the work on this shot… my original version was good, but nowhere near the version that Vlad produced.

I duly uploaded it to TrekEarth, marking the first TE post I’ve done in months and, lo and behold, got some pretty impressive feedback.

Right now it is sat at 30 points, which is quite impressive.  A few of my other photos are ranked in the 50s, but it was really nice to get such a good response with the first photo in a while.

Hopefully I’ll get a few more shots sorted out and upload those too :)

I’ve spent most of the day messing around with photos in Lightroom.  I’ve uploaded all of the shots I’ve done today.  I’m pretty happy with most of them, although one or two do still need a little more work.

Please visit the gallery at www.fajita.org/china2007/ to have a look.  Sometime soon I’ll finish off the work I started on the Angkor gallery and make that public too.

Here’s one of my favourite shots from the China 2007 gallery:

These days a lot of the shots I take get converted to B&W more or less straight away.  Looking through the contents of my photoblog (www.lewiz.org/plog) I spotted just how many of the recent shots have been B&W.

I guess there area  couple of reasons for this… many of them were taken with a film body loaded with 400ASA B&W film, and some shots just work better without the colour to distract you.  But to be honest, I think the number one reason I shoot B&W so much is because it has a ‘feeling’ I don’t think I can capture with colour.

Anyway, I just uploaded another shot to my photoblog, please check it out at www.lewiz.org/plog (leave a comment if you wish :).

In addition, here’s a shot that I will probably upload to my photoblog sometime soon.  It was taken by my Mum earlier this year while we were visiting a temple in China.  I believe it is somewhere in Hangzhou, but I’d have to check to be sure…

Just recently we’ve had the 18th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and since then a few interesting tidbits have popped up.  Most interesting was the report that a newspaper editor is get the sack after printing a short advert in the newspaper.

The advert read: “Paying tribute to the strong mothers of June 4th victims.”   According to the BBC News article at news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6733611.stm the editor called the person who placed the ad, asking about the significance of the June 4th reference, such is the way the incident has been suppressed in the media.

Every year around the anniversary police and army presence is increased.  This is made easy by the fact that Tiananmen Square itself is like an island: there is no official road access, pedestrians must instead walk through subterranean walkways.  On June 4th policy and army men were checking the bags of people entering the square before letting them in.

Interestingly I dug out a photo of a police riot van I took earlier on this year.  This is a van that means business and I doubt that the presence of small round openings in all of the reinforced windows escaped the attention of any would-be protestors.

This photo was actually something I was messing around with before I decided to write the post.  You’ll see a rare guest apperance in the corner, and the funny colours are due to a cross-processing plug-in for Photoshop CS3 I was messing around with.

Just uploaded the first photo to my photoblog in ages…

It’s a quick shot from Tiananmen Square in Beijing.  I’ve included it here for fun :)

I was just browsing through some of my exported photos (i.e. the full-res images before I resize, tweak and sharpen for web) and spotted these.  I’ve no idea if I’ve posted them before, but it’s clearly not a bad idea to post them again.

12-year-old English learners

9-year-old English learners (from some other random school)

Me… with a very 70s haircut… weird stuff happens when you don’t cut your hair!

 

At the 130th birthday party (combined ages of my Mum and Grandma) on Saturday I spotted that a certain brown roll seemed to have gone uneaten and was making its way slowly around our table.

One thing led to another, which in turn led to another thing, which led to the bap being named Billy… anyway, every single person (young to (very) old) at the 130th birthday party took part in a sensational photoshoot with Billy.

To see the full set visit http://www.fajita.org/billy/

Chris has put up a quick comparison between the D40 and the D80 over on his blog.  You can read the entry at www.christalbot.co.uk/?p=77

His MB-D80 came today so he’s included some basic info about this.  I’ve also arranged to borrow his D80+MB-D80 sometime next week so I can add it to my D2X/D200+MB-D200 comparison.

There are a few things that I’d like to point out:

The EOS-400D is Canon’s low-end DSLR, but it’s aimed more at the D80 market.  I believe that Nikon are currently selling one of the cheapest DSLRs going, the D40.

Canon changed their lens mount from EF (I guess?) to EF-S, which in many ways is similar to the AF-S F-mount glass we see over in the Nikon world.  Specifically all Canon glass made in the last n years has a built in motor.  I think.  But this should mean that there is very little practical difference between AF speed on Canon and Nikkor glass at a given price range.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the Canon L glass AF speed was better than the Nikkor offering, given that they’ve been doing it longer.  Again, I think.  I can’t claim to know more than the very basics about the Canon line-up or recent history.  If I’ve got it wrong, add a comment.

These days it would be crazy to buy the D40 over the D40X (10MP with better high ISO, etc. instead of 6MP).  Given the price difference between the D40X and the D80… I’d argue that those people are also crazy not to buy the D80.  But it is definitely horses for courses, and if you want a compact, cheap yet powerful DSLR, the D40 is the way to go.

The D2X is Nikon’s current* top-of-the-line digital SLR, announced in late-2004, which features a 12MP DX sensor. The D200 was announced a year later and comes equipped with a 10MP DX sensor.

D2X and D200+MB-D200 not to scale (but close)

I’ve borrowed a D2X, Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 and 80-200 f/2.8 from Vlad for a week. At the same time I’ve managed to get a hold of a D200 with the MB-D200 vertical grip and dual-battery pack from Neil Hutchinson who works in the BT Group of the Solutions Centre at Sun.

After playing around with both cameras independently and in a mini-shoot I’ve decided to discuss my findings. Please bear in mind that two or three hours isn’t enough to judge any camera, no matter how much time you’ve spent reading about it. In addition the 17-55 is a totally new beast to me. All in all, beyond my experience with the D70s this kit is all new to me.

First off, I’d like to point out what key features I look for in a camera:

• Big, bright viewfinder that display all of the info I need


• Good performance at higher ISO levels


• Outstanding ergonomics and overall performance


• Build quality

I picked the D70s over the Canon EOS-350D solely on the viewfinder… by comparison the 350D’s viewfinder was dim, small and cramped. In the meantime Canon have really upped the ante… the EOS-5D provides a truly stunning viewfinder in terms of size and brightness, while delivering some of the very best high ISO performance (performing well all the way up to ISO1600-3200).

So, first off… buttons...

D2X buttons

D200 buttons

The D2X is considered by many to be the pinnacle of camera ergonomics. The right controls are in the right place and they can be configured to meet the most demanding of situations. In fact, I spent well over an hour going through the D2X custom settings before I was satisfied I had them right. No doubt with extended use these will continue to be tweaked and changed.

Fortunately the D200 menu layout is very similar to the D2X… if you’re going to be shooting with both, you’ll have no trouble adapting to the slightly different controls.

The front of both cameras is the same… the mode button, exposure compensation button, on/off and LCD illuminator knob, DoF preview, a FUNC button that can be configured to do a variety of tasks, focus servo switch (manual, single and continuous), not to mention the main command (aperture) dial.

On the rear of the body things are again very similar: the AF-ON, sub-command (shutter speed) dial, joystick, focus mode (i.e. closest subject priority, group, etc.) and LCD buttons (menu, grid, lock and enter) are the same. Between the D2X and D200 the playback button has switched around (on the D200 it returns to the more familiar location above the menu button, while on the D2X it sits next to the delete button to the left of the viewfinder).

The main real difference is the AE-L/AF-L button… on the D200 it is slightly further away from the AF-ON button; I personally find this makes it easier to distinguish between the two.

In addition the exposure calculator (spot, matrix and centre-weighted) button rotates around the AE-L/AF-L button. On the D2X it lives at the right-hand-side of the large viewfinder prism and is operated in a rather clunky way. Again, the D200 wins here… switching between the available metering modes is quicker and more logical. It is also easier to view at a glance and so far I have not accidentally switched (and I don’t see that I would).

Below the D2X’s LCD display is a smaller LCD that displays various camera settings (notably the ISO which can be seen on the D200 only by pressing the ISO button or looking through the viewfinder). The D200 doesn’t have this at all.

On the top of both cameras to the left of the viewfinder lives the mode selection dial. The D2X dial includes the BKT (bracketing), flash and a lock button, while the D200 has quality, ISO and WB (white balance).

On the D200 the flash button has been moved to the left side of the viewfinder, but unlike the D70s it does not also act as the flash pop-up button. I don’t personally have any preference here… I’m used to the D200/D70s way, but both are good.

On the D2X the ISO and WB buttons are on the smaller LCD on the back. This leaves space for the BKT button… on the D200 this is above the play button… again familiar for D70s users.

This leaves the lock button, which exists on the D2X only. This button allows the shutter speed and aperture to be locked (in much the same way as AE-L/AF-L)... sounds useless until you’re in a studio. I could feasibly see myself missing this on the D200.

Finally the D2X and D200 share identical settings on both the rotating shooting mode dial (S, Cl, Ch, timer and Mup (mirror up)) and the vertical grip: a shutter release, front and rear command dial and AF-ON.

So, ergonomics and handling...

Unsurprisingly both are very similar. I’ve already pointed out that the metering mode dial on the D200 trumps the D2X, but otherwise things are more or less the same. In landscape both cameras are a joy to use… once your fingers learn where all of the buttons are.

In portrait both cameras have their advantages/disadvantages. The D2X’s joystick can just about be operated in portrait mode, while it is totally out of reach on the D200 (thanks to the larger grip). I don’t believe the D2X’s joystick was designed to be used in portrait, but it is handy and noticeably lacking on the D200. However, the D200 claws back by having a more comfortable grip in portrait… my thumb feels far more comfortable at the back and there is more purchase at the front. If you’ve managed to cope with using the AF-ON button and a command-dial to select focus point, then the D200+MB-D200 is for you.

So far my experience with using the joystick for selecting AF spots has been a bad one. Both cameras have 11 points and navigating between them is painful at best. I hope this will get better with practise and once I’ve learned the patterns. I’ve messed around with a Canon 5D recently and I’d like to point out that the nipple solution they have is absolutely outstanding… by having just nine AF spots and a nipple with centre, N, NE, E, SE, S, etc. it is possible to switch from any of the AF points directly to another one. I’d settle on two less AF points without any hesitation if such a system were implemented.

D200 viewfinder

The D200 viewfinder is slightly larger and brighter than the D2X viewfinder, while the D2X offers a 100% view of the frame. The D2X includes information (ISO, WB and quality settings) to the right of the viewfinder, along with the useful information along the bottom, which is shared with the D200. Overall I prefer the D200’s view… it doesn’t include quite as much information, but it meets my needs very well. Having the ISO setting at the bottom of the viewfinder rather than the right hand side in the D2X is another big plus for me… I find reading the right-hand readout unnatural and more difficult.

D2X viewfinder

I expected the slightly larger, brighter D200 viewfinder to be a really big thing for me, but it isn’t. Neither camera really offers anything that would sway my decision. Both are very good, very big and comfortable to use, although I have to admit I prefer the smaller non-active AF spots in the D200 viewfinder (you can’t see them well in the viewfinder photos I found on Google).

Both cameras come equipped with a large 2.5” LCD review screen. While the D2X sports a colour calibrated display, the D200 provides a much brighter, clearer display. The D200 wins hands down for me, but if you’re shooting straight to JPEG in a studio environment, then that colour calibration may be useful to you. The content display seems to be the same, although the D2X seems to offer the old-style yellow luminosity histogram overlay, which I haven’t got the D200 to do yet. I should probably move into the 21st century and learn to use a full RGB+luminosity histogram, so this is no big plus for the D2X. Fortunately both cameras provide a high-powered zoom feature, something sorely lacking from my D70s. Final note about the LCD display… the BM-6 cover that comes with the D200 is far better than the D2X’s BM-3: it fits much closer over the display, appears to stop more dust, cause less reflection problems and critically does a better job of keeping my hot steamy breath from clouding things up.

A final ergonomics note… a big win for the D200 over the D2X is the ability to remove the vertical grip. With the grip removed the camera is lighter, smaller and less conspicuous. You might think that the flip side of this is that the D200 with vertical grip doesn’t deliver the same comfort as the D2X with built-in grip. I argue that this is not the case… while the MB-D200 does look like it was bolted onto the base of the D200, it doesn’t handle that way, and that’s what counts. Again, if you spend plenty of time shooting with long lenses in portrait, this is of no use to you, but for me, I think it’s something I might benefit from.

Auto-focus performance...

The long and short of it: the D2X blows the D200 right out of the water. With the 80-200 AF-D attached the D2X runs rings all around the D200 thanks to a super-powerful motor and better CAM auto-focus system. If you spend all of your time tracking birds in the flight or cars in motion, just go and buy the D2X.

That’s not to say that the D200 doesn’t do a good job… it does. The D200 is such a massive improvement over the D70s that it just isn’t funny. But the D2X combined with the high-speed crop is a winner in all situations.

Personally, I don’t do much of this… from time to time I think it’s fun to play catch with the birdies, but it never goes beyond that. I like to think I do people-shots (where AF is important, but the D2X offers no real advantage over the D200) and some landscape stuff (manual is fine here :).

Making exposures...

I haven’t had long enough to decisively address this. I was surprised to find that I found both cameras lacking…

I know my D70s more or less inside out and I can operate it very quickly (currently faster than I can operate either a D2X or a D200, but that’s just a matter of time). In many circumstances I can compensate an exposure before taking the shot, just because I know what the matrix metering will make of the scene.

I had a challenging scene involving two white swans on a lake and neither camera made it easy for me to achieve what I wanted. I can’t guarantee my D70s would have either, but I like to think it would.

Overall I’d say that the D200 did better than the D2X, but not enough to count. Really it was a tie… for moderate to unchallenging scenes both did perfectly.

In terms of what I look for this leaves two main areas: high ISO performance and build quality. The D2X is a first-class professional camera body designed to cope with the most challenging situations. NASA use them in space, pros operate them in deserts, the Arctic and hot and humid climates. They handle this because they were designed to. I haven’t dropped the D2X as part of any tests, but I would be surprised if it didn’t fare considerably better than the D200.

Again, as with auto-focus performance, this is definitely not to say that the D200 isn’t rugged and durable. It is and it will take many of the same knocks the D2X will take and keep going. It’s worth pointing out that the MB-D200 seems a little less solid than the D200 body itself, but not enough to matter in 99% of situations you might find yourself and your camera in.

As for high ISO performance... I’m not going to get into this. I haven’t done the research into it. I’ve personally read conflicting views… some people say that if handled properly the D2X does a good job, while others say the D200 is better. What I do know for sure is that neither are great… stick them up against the EOS-5D and they look very poor. If high ISO performance is critical to you, consider the Fujifilm S5 Pro, which is based on the D200 body but incorporates a Fuji SuperCCD delivering high ISO performance on a par with the 5D. Expect to pay £200 more than your standard D200 body.

Canon EOS-5D and Fuji S5 Pro

In conclusion...

Both cameras are awesome. They both drive all lenses very well and cope with all situations very well.

Which you should pick depends on what you’re doing. I personally feel that now the D200 is out there are only a limited number of reasons to opt for the D2X:

• You’re planning a trip to the Moon/the Arctic/the Safara desert/a warzone (delete as appropriate)


• You spend all of your time catching high-speed action and the AF performance is critical


• You want to build-up your muscles


• You want to have something you can hit attackers with

For all other situations the D200 is a more than adequate competitor.

A D2XS currently retails for £2,479 and a D200+MB-D200 for £959.99. Both can be found cheaper, but the difference is massive. For the same price as a D2XS you can have a D200+MB-D200, a 17-55 1:2.8 and half of a 70-200 1:2.8.

My recommendation would be to go for the D200+MB-D200 unless your needs dictate otherwise, and even then get both and try them out before you buy.