Running Pixels did a heavy shoot test with the new Digital Backs. This test was about speed and stress, not processing. Here's a link to the Results PDF. Lots of info so probably better to print it out and read versus scrolling and zooming on your screen.

Digital Back Shoot Out Results

--------------------

Erik Hillard
http://www.runningpixels.net/
Los Angeles, CA.

1prophoto.com - Photo Assistant Boot Camp & Certification *
If its Monday morning 08-20-2007 your reading this as I'm writing it so check back later for the real deal.

Q. "Why offer this and why would I need to take it?

A. During the past 2+ years I have received dozens of emails and phone calls from Photographers and Rental companies and rental studios asking that somebody offer training for new assistants because the current crop of assistants is seriously under skilled. And the photo schools are turning out graduates that have no skills no knowledge of lighting or traditional photography yet show up on set with an unwarranted sense of entitlement. "Sorry kids, I'm not going to sugar coat it".
I've personally worked with assistants claiming to have a BA in photography and they've never used a light meter, loaded film, or even used a 4x5 or 645 camera.
This just will not do. 
Recently I saw a post in the forums of another site in which someone working on there masters thesis in photography wanted to know how to do lighting for a series of portraits. "So if not lighting, then what are these schools teaching?"

Q. What does the certification involve?

A. That means were actually going to test you on what we've taught you. It would make no sense to rattle off a bunch of information and not have you be able to perform once on a photo shoot. Unlike other workshops that will certify you for sitting through their workshop, I want to know that you actually learned something.
"You don't pass my test you don't get certified." 
Hell it's not like this stuff is difficult. If I can teach my 10 year old daughter how to setup a white background and color correct the lights, then it should be a breeze for a photo school student.

There are few old school photographers and experienced assistants around any more to teach the basics so we have taken it upon ourselves to do so.

When I started assisting there was no one willing to tell me how to go about it, and trying to get work with photographers that were willing to train you and pay you at the same time were few and far between.
"You can't get work with out experience & You can't get experience unless you get some work!"
Now you have the option to get some experience and learn some of the skills that will help you to get on jobs quicker.

This workshop/Boot camp removes some of those variables and provides you with the opportunity to learn from those in the industry and to speak with camera and lighting company reps.

It is our hope that the rental companies and photo companies/manufactures will take the initiative and also get involved since all of you are there demographic; both present and future.

Building a business based on your values is one of the most important responsibilities that you have as a freelance photographer. It is also a tremendous opportunity.

Being awake to ideals that you hold as “true” creates a state of consciousness that will positively affect every aspect of your business.

As you develop a body of work from a state of true awareness of your talent and market needs you will be able to create online and print portfolios that clearly represent your visual value to buyers.

Your principles will also serve you well as you create your service goals. Making conscious choices about how you will meet deadlines, entertain clients and follow up jobs will guarantee your clients a positive experience.

Business and licensing practices developed around your standards can be clearly and kindly communicated to clients as needed.

While most photographers do have values that define their company, few take the time to pro actively examine, define and build their businesses around them. Have you built your business with your principles in mind? Do they guide your daily decisions? Are your business goals in synch with your family and personal values?

Ted Rice has been a successful photographer for many years. He is the person that comes to mind when I think of a photographer who is invested in building a business and a life from a position of being aware. He has recently made a life change that has temporarily taken him out of the mainstream photo world. He has made this decision in order to” live” the values that he has set for himself.

More...

Running Pixels did a heavy shoot test with the new Digital Backs. This test was about speed and stress, not processing. Here's a link to the Results PDF. Lots of info so probably better to print it out and read versus scrolling and zooming on your screen.

Digital Back Shoot Out Results

--------------------

Erik Hillard
http://www.runningpixels.net/
Los Angeles, CA.

received via email.

Just as I'v always said, "Just say no!"

Digital Back Shoot Out Results

Erik Hillard

http://www.runningpixels.net/

Los Angeles, CA.

OWC Mercury™ On-The-Go External drive. Our test drive: 160 gig, 7200 rpm, 8MB cache

Manufacturer Seagate Series Momentus 7200.2 Model ST9160823AS Type SATA SerialATA/300

Capacity 160GB Form Factor 9.5mm Access Time 11ms RPM 7200rpm Cache 8MB Sustained Transfer rate internal (Max) 59MB/sec Sustained Transfer rate external (Max) 300MB/sec Guarantee 5yr Platter Size 2.5"

The first thing I found when I plugged in the drive was that one of the Firewire 800 connectors on the back of the drive did not work.

The drive comes with 3 cables; Firewire 800 to 800 , Firewire 400 to 800 & USB 2.0. These fit the two Firewire 800 & single USB 2.0 connectors on the back of the drive. The drive also come with a power adapter which is needed when using the USB connection.

Once connected to the computer the drive heated up pretty quickly. Under a constant work load of transferring 9 gigs of data the heat sink got blazing hot. I took apart the drive to see if there was away to get things cooler. Once opened the real surprise came when I found that the heat sink is neither connected to the hard drive nor does it come in contact with any of the IC chips on the circuit board. In fact it seems that the sole purpose of the Heat sink is to act as a tray to hold the circuit board which slides into the heat sink via two narrow groves. the hard drive is then connected to the circuit board and faces out and away from the heat sink. So the hard drive is enclosed in a somewhat air tight container with no direct way to transfer the heat that is being generated by the hard drive. Though there are four mounting holes on the heat sink that could have easily allowed for connectivity to the hard drive no screws were attached. I found some spare mounting screws and attached the heat sink to the hard drive simply in hopes of extending the drives life span. While the drive was still running hot under a heavy load I have to believe that once the drive was actually attached to the heat sink at least some heat was being drawn away and the drive running just a bit cooler.

The heat sink displayed here is not connected to the hard drive. Which seems foolish considering the amount of heat being generated in this almost air tight container.

The sole propose for checking out this drive was for use as a way to transfer data between computers during our workshops. This drive would also be great as a small data storage device that is only connected for very short periods of time, or as a small back up drive that is used briefly and then gets stored away, or even as a drive to hand off to clients with the days images. This is not a drive that should be connected and running 24/7.

Pros: "Its' pretty" like all things Mac, Small light weight, very fast, quiet. Seagate link.

cons: gets real hot real fast, poorly designed and lay out make the heat sink virtually useless since it is not directly connected to any part of the drive or circuit board. Not all connections worked on our test model. Pricey. the model tested listed on their web site for 259.99 plus tax and shipping. The Seagate drive alone can be found on the internet for as little as $148.00

Now for those of you that are not faint of heart, here is one method that will help to disperse some of that excess heat. --- PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PROCESS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND MAY CAUSE DAMAGE TO THE CIRCUIT BOARD. -------

Ok, first we remove the two small screws on either side of the case, that are holding the back face plate covering the 1394b connectors.

Next remove the 4 screws holding the heat sink in place.

At this point the drive assembly should drop into the case and with a slight shake (over a soft surface) you should be able to remove the hold hard drive, circuit board and heart sink.

slide the heat sink off of the circuit board.

Now for the next steps you will have to make a decision; Leave the hard rive connected to the circuit board or remove it?

I chose to leave the drive connected since it added stability to the circuit board during the next steps.

In order to get the heat sink in closer contact with the hard drive we are going to attach the drive to the heat sink. The problem here is that the circuit board is wider that the inside area of the heat sink. In order to change this we will need to file down the circuit board so that the heat sink will completely wrap around the hard drive and not touch any portion of the circuit board.

To do this you will need a rasp or file preferably with a handle.

Now rather than drawing the file or rasp across the fiberglass printed circuit board, we will be sliding the edge of the circuit board accords the length of the file or rasp.

Before doing this I would suggest wrapping the drive circuit board combination in several layers of paper towel with only the surface to be worked on left exposed.

Before beginning, take notice of the tiny resisters attached to the edge of the circuit board. You will be filing right up to the point that you could knock one of these off; and they are on both sides of the board.

Set the edge of the circuit board on the file and with just a small amount of pressure begin drawing the board back and forth across the files surface. be extra careful to apply even pressure across the entire surface of the circuit boards edge so that you are not taking too much surface area off of the front and or back leading edges of the board while the center remains intact and becomes rounded.

You will be doing this to both side of the board, and you should be checking regularly to see which Side of the board needs more filing so that it will fit inside of the heat sink. Do not do all of the work on one side because it just won't work.

This should take around 40 or more passes over the file, but check on the progress continuously to ensure that you don't break any of the on board connections.

Now as your doing this and checking the progress you will notice that you are now exposing the top and bottom layer of copper on the circuit board. this is ok as long as you are applying constant even pressure as you are filing down the edges.

Once you have the desired width check the edge of the board for stay pieces of copper along the edges and clean them off either with the file or with emery paper.

Use dust off to completely remove any dust left behind. You may even wish to take the drive off of the circuit board to blow any dist out of there too.

Now its just a matter of reassembling the drive and putting it all back together.

more details and photos when time is available.

It wasn't so long ago that Spencer Tunik was one of us.
A struggling photo assistant living and working in NYC. When I first move to NYC I spoke with Spencer on teh phone during the time that he was assisting for George Holtz. It was at this time that he was just begining his first foray into his nudes. Now he's makeing international news.
This is what happens when your willing to take the risks in order to get the photo you want.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/americas/05/06/mexico.nude.ap/index.html

LEXAR LAUNCHES ExpressCard™ SSD with Auto-BacKup Software; NEXT-GENERATION SOLUTION FOR NOTEBOOK STORAGE EXPANSION

-- Super-Compact Solution Sets New Standard for High-Performance, Low-Cost PC Expansion and Data Backup --

Fremont, CA , May 2nd, 2007 -- Lexar Media, Inc., a world leader in advanced digital media technologies, today announced the introduction of its new ExpressCard™ SSD with auto-backup software.  Roughly half the size of current PC Card solutions, the Lexar ExpressCard SSDis a high-capacity removable solid state drive (SSD) that promises to set a new standard for delivering high-performance, lower-cost storage expansion to notebook computers. The Lexar ExpressCard SSD comes bundled with auto-backup software, an innovative solution for protecting laptop computer files and data that allows for automatic regular (daily, weekly, or monthly) backup without user intervention after the initial setup. During this setup, the user will be able to set the folder and specific file types to be included or excluded from the backup process. In addition, this automatic backup software can also support multiple computers by recognizing the computer name and the appropriate backup setting for each computer.

The Lexar ExpressCard SSD is also ideal for use with Windows® Vista™ as it is enhanced for use with ReadyBoost™, a Vista feature that improves your system performance without having to add DRAM to your computer. The ExpressCard SSD serves as an additional memory cache, which is a reserve section of memory that the computer can access faster than if it were accessing data from the hard disk drive. Additionally, the ExpressCard SSD interface supports a direct connection to the chipset, allowing users to enjoy all of its extensive backup and ReadyBoost capabilities without having to unplug the card after every use; users simply keep their ExpressCard SSD in the slot as external storage.

Farshid Tabrizi, General Manager, USB Products noted: “The ExpressCard standard is the ideal form factor for leveraging PC card technology and providing notebook users with a simple, more reliable way to significantly boost system performance. With auto-backup software, the Lexar ExpressCard SSD will be especially appealing for traveling business people, small- and home-office owners, and anyone who wants a secure, hassle-free way to backup important documents and literally add more storage to their laptop. The Lexar ExpressCard SSD also does away with the external cables necessary for external HDDs or the awkwardness of UFDs sticking out of your laptop. We believe ExpressCard technology clearly represents the new generation for plug-in cards and is destined to replace current PC Card technology; in fact, many new laptops are already shipping with dedicated ExpressCard slots, including Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Intel, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Sony, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.”

The Lexar ExpressCard SSD is shipping in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities.

LEXAR LAUNCHES ExpressCard™ SSD with Auto-BacKup Software; NEXT-GENERATION SOLUTION FOR NOTEBOOK STORAGE EXPANSION

-- Super-Compact Solution Sets New Standard for High-Performance, Low-Cost PC Expansion and Data Backup --

Fremont, CA , May 2nd, 2007 -- Lexar Media, Inc., a world leader in advanced digital media technologies, today announced the introduction of its new ExpressCard™ SSD with auto-backup software.  Roughly half the size of current PC Card solutions, the Lexar ExpressCard SSDis a high-capacity removable solid state drive (SSD) that promises to set a new standard for delivering high-performance, lower-cost storage expansion to notebook computers. The Lexar ExpressCard SSD comes bundled with auto-backup software, an innovative solution for protecting laptop computer files and data that allows for automatic regular (daily, weekly, or monthly) backup without user intervention after the initial setup. During this setup, the user will be able to set the folder and specific file types to be included or excluded from the backup process. In addition, this automatic backup software can also support multiple computers by recognizing the computer name and the appropriate backup setting for each computer.

The Lexar ExpressCard SSD is also ideal for use with Windows® Vista™ as it is enhanced for use with ReadyBoost™, a Vista feature that improves your system performance without having to add DRAM to your computer. The ExpressCard SSD serves as an additional memory cache, which is a reserve section of memory that the computer can access faster than if it were accessing data from the hard disk drive. Additionally, the ExpressCard SSD interface supports a direct connection to the chipset, allowing users to enjoy all of its extensive backup and ReadyBoost capabilities without having to unplug the card after every use; users simply keep their ExpressCard SSD in the slot as external storage.

Farshid Tabrizi, General Manager, USB Products noted: “The ExpressCard standard is the ideal form factor for leveraging PC card technology and providing notebook users with a simple, more reliable way to significantly boost system performance. With auto-backup software, the Lexar ExpressCard SSD will be especially appealing for traveling business people, small- and home-office owners, and anyone who wants a secure, hassle-free way to backup important documents and literally add more storage to their laptop. The Lexar ExpressCard SSD also does away with the external cables necessary for external HDDs or the awkwardness of UFDs sticking out of your laptop. We believe ExpressCard technology clearly represents the new generation for plug-in cards and is destined to replace current PC Card technology; in fact, many new laptops are already shipping with dedicated ExpressCard slots, including Dell, Fujitsu, Fujitsu Siemens, HP, Intel, Lenovo, LG Electronics, Microsoft, Sony, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba.”

The Lexar ExpressCard SSD is shipping in 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB capacities.