What Tablets Need in Order to Replace Laptops For Photographers

We’re the closest we’ve been yet to having tablets that can be considered true laptop replacements, but there’s still a little way to go.

For the last few years, Apple, Google, and Samsung have thrown around the term laptop replacements when it comes to their tablet offerings. But to date, that has not been delivered. There have been some recent offerings that come close though, with the iPad Pro series, the Google Pixel Slate, and the Galaxy Tab S line all trying to make this dream a reality. This week Apple announced the new iPadOS at their World Wide Developer Conference, but is this enough to make photographers ditch laptops for tablets? Let’s discuss after the break. Continue reading…

In Regards to Tablets and Cameraphones Getting in the Way of Your Shot

Taking a photo with a tablet

A colleague of mine recently asked a question about wedding photography after talking about his experience of shooting his first one. He ended it very stressed out and eventually complained about so many folks holding up iPads and phones to take a photo during the ceremony and in some instances getting in the way of his photo-taking opportunity. While yes, it’s unfortunate that it ruined his shot I believe that event shooting and wedding shooting has changed to the point where we as photographers should instead be embracing this instead of trying to fight it.

Let’s be honest here, no one in the crowd taking a photo with their phone, tablet or even a little DSLR is your competition. Absolutely no one is going to shoot a photo and then charge the bride and groom for it. Yes, they’re getting in the way. Yes, it’s annoying. But instead of fretting over how a single image of yours is now ruined, turn it into something else immediately. If you’re at the back of the hall and you suddenly see cameras, phones and tablets go up you shouldn’t try to fight it. Embrace it and shoot that instance because at the end of the day your job is to be a documentarian.

If you’re at a wedding, and trying to snap a photo of the cake or a specific moment and someone’s flash is getting in the way and messing up your exposures, then that’s one thing. You can easily and politely ask them to stop for around 30 seconds so that you can take photos that the happy couple will remember and cherish later on in life. But if someone is simply just taking a photo, then that shouldn’t really bother you or prevent you from doing your job.

Of course, you can always ensure that this doesn’t happen to begin with by getting more creative with your angles and positioning as well as having a second shooter if that option is available to you in your budget. Furthermore, I don’t think that we can really stop people from taking pictures at this stage of the game. Everyone has a phone on them or a tablet and everyone loves taking photos all the time even though it’s not anywhere in the same realm or reason as to why you’re doing it. At certain times, telling folks to stop taking photos isn’t a bad idea–but again only at certain times.

Otherwise, it’s time that we embrace it rather than fight it.

Wacom Has Announced New Intuos and Intuos Pro Tablets

intuosintuospro

Wacom has been announcing a few new products lately. They recently announced the Cintiq companion as well as the Intuos Creative Stylus. To top it all off Wacom has refreshed the entire Intuos line as well. The old Bamboo line of entry level tablets has been discontinued. Now the Intuos line is now made up of 7 tablets. The regular Intuos tablets have a silverfish design and the Intuos Pro sport the classic black look similar to the Intuos 4. Included in this line is the Intuos Manga, the first tablet marketed at manga and comic book artist. Imagine what this table can do for photography! All the tablets have a newly designed pen which is more tapered in shape and has soft touch finish as well as colored rings and pen holder tags for customization. The standard model pens deliver 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity while the Pro models deliver 2048.

  • The three entry-level Intuos models include the Intuos Pen (small – $79 USD), Intuos Pen & Touch (small – $99 USD) and Intuos Pen & Touch (medium – $199). All three models can be plugged into a Mac or PC or equipped with wireless functionality (with a range of 30 feet) via Wacom’s optional $39 wireless accessory kit.
  • The Intuos Pro is essentially the same tablet across the board, with all of the same hotkeys and built-in wireless and touch functionality. The smallest model will retail for $249, with the medium model going for $349 and the largest model costing $499. The medium-sized special edition will go for $379.
  • The Intuos Manga ($99) is the same model as the small Intuos Pen & Touch, only it comes bundled with Smith Micro’s Manga Studio Debut 4 and Anime Studio Debut 8.

These tables are now available on the Wacom Store .

Via Comics Alliance

 

Photoshop Touch Optimized for Smaller Tablets

Smaller tablets such as the iPad mini, Google Nexus 7, and the Amazon Kindle Fires are getting some love from Adobe with their latest Photoshop Touch 1.4 update. It brings additional new features and effects while adding support for some long-awaited functions.

You’ll now be able to use your Pogo Connect, Jot Touch and the JaJa pressure-sensitive styli to edit your photos more effectively and quickly. To make things even easier, the 1.4 update gives you smoother brush strokes and improves your overall workflow. The update is currently available for download on your respective platform’s app store for existing Photoshop Touch users while new users can grab a copy for $10.

Tablets For Photographers: The Round Up

Throughout all of last week I have discussed The HP Slate, The JooJoo, The Dell Mini 5, Archos 9, and The Apple iPad as to find out which tablet would serve a photographer best. Now all these tablets have a usefulness to them, none of them is without any worth, however from a photographer’s point of view some of them do not stand up to what we need from a Tablet PC. Here are my final thoughts. Continue reading…

Tablets for Photographers: The Apple iPad

Finally we have come to the last tablet, and possibly the be all end all to this tablet war, the Apple iPad. The Apple iPad was deemed the savior to many media industries and was looked forward to by photographers as a way to edit, and view your photos on the go. So is it really just a better way of presenting your portfolio?

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Tablets for Photographers: The Archos 9

The Archos 9 PC Tablet is Archos’ latest touch screen tablet. It’s being advertised as the thinnest tablet on the market, while still being able to boast the high performance of a high-end netbook without risk of over heating. This will be the second tablet we’ll be taking a peak at that uses some form of Windows 7. Let’s see if the Archos can hold a candle to everything else we have looked at this week.  Continue reading…

Tablets for Photographers: The Dell Mini 5


The next tablet I’m going to take a look at is The Dell Mini 5 (I’ve already looked at the JooJoo and the HP Slate). Not much is known about the Dell Mini 5 yet aside from that is has a 5 inch multi-touch screen, runs a customized version of the Android OS, and uses a 1 GHZ Snap Dragon Processor. The Dell Mini 5 also doubles as a phone and supports wifi and bluetooth. The plus side of this is that the Android OS supports a lot of apps that can only be rivaled with the iPhone/Pad/Touch OS. In fact, Chris wrote a posting on the best Android apps for photography. But does that do anything for us photographers?

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Tablets For Photographers: The HP Slate

The Tablet PC Market has seen quite a lot of news as of late, the release of the iPad getting the most of it. With five more tablets on the verge of launching, photographers who may want to invest in one may be wondering which tablet is the right tablet for them. Over the next 5 days I’m going to take a look at these tablets and try my hand at deciphering which tablet would be a good tablet for photographers. The first being the HP Slate.

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Tamron Has A New Lens Utility Mobile App Coming Out

Tamron Co., Ltd. of Japan has just announced the development of a new app called Lens Utility Mobile™. It’s aimed at allowing users to fine-tune and make changes to their Tamron lenses using smartphones and tablets. With these features already existing in their desktop Lens Utility software, Tamron now extends the functionalities to Android mobile devices.

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The Best Father’s Day Gifts for Outdoor Photographers

There are lots of great things you can get Dad this year. But if he loves to head into the great outdoors often, then we’ve got just the thing. We’re rounding up the best Father’s Day gifts for outdoor photographers in this special roundup. Best of all, we’ve tested all these products; and there are situations where they’re totally father approved. Take a look!

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How to Shoot Spring Photos if You Have Allergies

It’s spring! That means *ACHOO* that it’s time for you to get out and *ACHOO* shoot spring photos! Photographers everywhere love this time of *ACHOO* year because of the natural beauty found during spring. You *ACHOO* get to see colors you’d otherwise never witness. There are a lot of tips on how to shoot photos during the springtime, but we’re focusing on the stuff no one tells you. So, if you’re looking to shoot some of the best spring photos you’ve ever shot, consider these practical tips.

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Beautiful Colors. OM-System 12-40mm F2.8 PRO II First Impressions

It’s been nearly a decade since the original Olympus 12-40mm f2.8 PRO lens was announced and reviewed. Now, we’ve got the OM-System 12-40mm f2.8 PRO II. The new lens boasts an incredible weather sealing durability rating, a $999.99 price point, 20cm close focusing, and more. This is the standard lens for the OMDS system and we got to spend some time testing it before the announcement.

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Like Magic, This Bag Converts: Manfrotto Advanced Hybrid III Review

Backpacks distribute weight on both shoulders for more comfort, but shoulder bags offer fast access to gear. For photographers stuck in the middle, there’s the Manfrotto Advanced Hybrid III camera bag. Part backpack, part shoulder bag, the Advanced Hybrid III allows photographers to convert from a backpack to a shoulder bag with just a few zips and clips. But, is the Manfrotto Advanced Hybrid III a useful convertible, or is it a bag that’s just stuck in the middle?

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Announcing Phoblographer App on iOS and Android (with Minimal Ads!)

Trust me when I say that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief for a very large project that we’ve been working on. And today, we’re announcing the brand new Phoblographer app on iOS, iPadOS, and Android. On there, we’re showcasing a pivotal step in the future of our organization. We’ve been listening to readers, and carefully incorporating your feedback into this design. Plus, there’s even more to come!

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The Photo Stitch Could Make Your Camera So Much Better

Phones have had the photo stitch feature for a long time, but why don’t cameras have it?

We’re not necessarily talking about the Brenizer effect. And we’re not just talking about panoramic features either. But instead, modern digital cameras are missing a lot of things that phones have done for a while. One of the oldest features is the photo stitch. You know–shooting a scene, moving your camera around, and the phone stitching all the images together. “Oh, I can do it in post-production,” you say. But why? Why do I need to spend all day in front of a computer? I already do this for work. I don’t want to return to a computer later on to do a photo stitch! What kind of an answer is that from manufacturers? It’s one thing to give that as an answer. It’s another thing to provide that answer and complain about smartphones killing their business.

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The Best Messenger Bag Ever. Tenba DNA 16 Slim Review

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Everyone else can pack it up and go home now because they’re probably not going to beat what Tenba has done this year. Tenba refreshed the DNA messenger bag lineup and made minor improvements. But what’s been improved are some of the biggest things for usability. Other brands have tried and failed to make a messenger bag more comfortable on the back and shoulders. Luckily, the Tenba DNA 16 Slim messenger bag does it right. In fact, it’s the first messenger bag to really, truly do it right. And overall, it’s hard to find fault with what I think is the most perfect messenger bag on the market right now.

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Can a Free Photoshop Alternative Edit Just as Well? A Photopea Review

Photopea is free, but it will cost you a lot of time. For more stories like this, please subscribe to The Phoblographer.

Photoshop is so synonymous with photo editing that it’s both a noun and a verb. With that fame comes a steady stream of copycats, including free Photoshop alternatives. Photopea is one such program. The free software is web-based, so besides not needing a credit card, photographers also don’t even need to download anything. The program has been around since 2013, but it’s enjoying some recent Reddit fame.

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Your Time’s Up Wacom: Xencelabs Pen Tablet With Quick Keys Review

The Xencelabs tablet and Quick Keys Combo is a powerful tool that makes complex editing jobs easier.

We get by pretty well when it comes to editing our images on PCs and Macs. Still, there are times when I wish I had just a little more control over the edits I make. The mouse doesn’t want to cooperate sometimes, and making tiny brush strokes can be challenging. This is where editing tablets and pens come into play. We’ve all heard of Wacom before, but Xencelabs (which is pronounced Sencelabs) – that’s a new name for most. They have released an editing tablet that can be bundled with an OLED powered Quick Keys panel, and they’re going for the jugular. Will their new tablet and aggressive pricing strategy take image editors away from Wacom, though? Find out in our full review.

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