Pocket PCs for Photographers and Web Designers
IPAQ
Picture ViewerToday I am going
to show you some mobile computing solutions for the Digital Photographer
using a Windows Mobile powered Pocket
PC. You can use the Pocket PC as an ultra mobile RAW file viewer and editor, to calculate the Depth of Field and Hyperfocal Distance, to evaluate Exposure, take notes, attach voice notes to digital files or read a book while you are waiting for an event. The possibilities are endless. You can do almost as much with this ultra portable solution then with a "normal" PC. Unfortunately many vendors like Dell have withdrawn from this market, but you can still buy everything you need (often at bargain prices). HardwareA few months ago, I purchased a HP IPAQ HX4700 through an Auction. This is still one of the most powerful machines to date and has some features that I considered vital to use it as a portable photographic computing solution.The features most important to me:
IPAQ SD and CF Flash
CardsThe HX4700 was therefore
a logical choice for me, as it had the most advanced features and would
still have a very decent battery life, even though it has such a large
display and fast processor. Just in case I also bought the larger
battery extension pack, which I have never gotten below 70% charge
after 5 hours of regular use.SoftwarePhoto Software Resco
Photo Viewer 2007 Thumbnail ViewThe IPAQ is in Portrait mode (vertical)All screenshots are just thumbnail views (since the device has such a high resolution). You can click any of the screenshot pictures for a full resolution view (make sure your browser doesn't shrink the vertical pictures) The pictures will appear larger than the display of the IPAQ, since computer monitors don't have the same pixel density. I have often proposed shooting RAW if your camera supports it, for the added flexibility (white balance, sharpening ...) and the higher dynamic range. RAW is often considered less desirable because it needs special tools to view and convert the files into JPG files for printing and web viewing. Today there are two programs that support reviewing RAW files on your Pocket PC. PocketLoupe and Resco Photo Viewer Professional. Since PocketLoupe isn't updated anymore, I will not review it here (it won't be able to support newer camera models). Resco Photo Viewer ProfessionalMake sure you will get the Resco Photo Viewer Professional Version, since only this version supports RAW files (RAW, CRW, CR2, RAF, MRW, NEF, ORF, PEF).Usually I open up a folder on the compact flash card and look at the content via the Thumbnail view to get an overview about what's on the card. Basically the Resco Application supports all things you would expect from a PC Application like Thumbnails, Exif Information, File Information, Zoom, Rotation, basic editing plus it supports features that many PC Viewers don't have (but the photographer needs) like Histograms and RAW file support. It can be a very useful tool for the landscape photographer to evaluate one's photographs. However often there is no time (the light changes fast, the situation has changed), so I use it mostly to review some photos in my hotel room or to convert and email some of them or even put them in the blog (I am too lazy to write an entire blog post on the PDA, but I could. Overall the Resco Photo Viewer is a fine tool for RAW shooters like me. However there is one drawback. I need to optimize my RAM before I can view files at 100% zoom. Since I already have some trouble with the files from the 20D, I expect even more trouble with my next camera. Nevertheless, you cannot judge sharpness very well on a RAW file anyways (needs conversion and sharpening), so I am not too bothered by this. Depth of FieldIn my recent article on Depth of Field and Hyperfocal Distance I provided a download for my Hyperfocal Distance Calculator. Use this to calculate the Depth of Field. It is usable for a variety of cameras. The instructions can be found in that article. Hyperfocal Distance Calculator for
Pocket PC
Alternatively you can also download a Depth of Field Calculator
Software over here:http://home.comcast.net/~jonsachs/ I didn't find it as easy to use, but you might like it better. ExposureWeb SoftwareBrowser
Voice over IP
PuttY
RSS Reader
ToolsThere are many more useful applications available for the PDA and many of them are free of charge. Except for Resco Photo Viewer and Opera all applications I talked about are free. The software above is what I consider essential for photography and web publishing. I left a couple of things out (like WCE FTP, a ftp client for Pocket PC or certain Games), because I didn't want to drift too far from the main theme of this website. ConclusionThe Pocket PC is a wonderful companion and can be very helpful for photographers to review results, share results and do basic calculations. With Pocket Excel, you can easily create your own special calculators (check my example) and use them on your PC (Excel) as well as your Pocket PC (Pocket Excel).The PDA can be connected to GPS receivers for navigation or used to research locations. You can even download entire websites or parts of websites (Webaroo) in case you don't have internet access where you go. (Webaroo doesn't install on the expansion card, so I removed it from my Device, since it took to much memory). You can have pre-made maps or keep a travel journal. It's the perfect PC on the go. Between the IPAQ and my Image Tank, I can now leave my laptop at home and save myself a lot of weight in the backpack. |




















Binding of the audio files to images
Did you find any software to bind audio records to images, or you just save them side by side in your archive?
Image formats
I think i wasn't very specific, but Resco will create wav files that are given the same name as the image.
I don't think any Image format supports this?
The Canon 1Ds Mark 2 supports audio recording as well, but even this camera will create a separate wav file.
IPAQ Pocket PC and RAW files from Pentax DSLR
Can I insert my SD card from my Pentax K100D SLR into the IPAQ Pocket PC and it will read the .PEF files, Pentax's RAW file extension?
Puh
Thats a tough question. If you check the link to Resco's viewer in the article, it says that it supports PEF files. I did a quick 1 minute research. It seems like version 6.33 of the Resco Viewer does support your camera.
alignment is
This alignment is also towards a southerly rising of Venus which occurs once every eight years.
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