All Forum Comments
Comment by Mannesty posted on Hard Drive Back-Up at 12/01/2008 - 18:23
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The more drives the more heat generated so you need to ensure that there is more efficient cooling in your system.
Using external USB/Firewire drives increases heat by a negligable (if any) amount.The more drives the more heat generated so you need to ensure that there is more efficient cooling in your system.
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One rule of thumb I have is to replace my hard drive about every three years, even if I don't need the extra space.
Use Seagate drives, they are guaranteed for 5 years.One rule of thumb I have is to replace my hard drive about every three years, even if I don't need the extra space.
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I would also advise investing in a good surge protection power brick (set of sockets) and voltage spikes can cause disk failure and data loss.
Useless if the power fails. A good UPS is much preferred.I would also advise investing in a good surge protection power brick (set of sockets) and voltage spikes can cause disk failure and data loss.
Comment by Mannesty posted on Hard Drive Back-Up at 09/01/2008 - 13:24
Different partitions is good, different drives is better and faster, especially so if they are on different controllers. Even then, if the drive electronics fails on either one, you'll probably lose everything that's on that drive.
External drives are sooooo cheap, why not use one to keep a copy of your valuable data, then lock the drive away.
My son told me yesterday that he's got a Western Digital 1Tb (Tb = Terabyte = 1024Gb) external drive for about £120.00 (+ delivery + VAT).
External drives are sooooo cheap, why not use one to keep a copy of your valuable data, then lock the drive away.
My son told me yesterday that he's got a Western Digital 1Tb (Tb = Terabyte = 1024Gb) external drive for about £120.00 (+ delivery + VAT).
Comment by Mannesty posted on Hard Drive Back-Up at 08/01/2008 - 17:49
I've been in the IT business more years than I care to remember. Part of my service to my customers is to recommend and test backup strategies for 'mission critical' company data. Basically, that's data that, if it went missing, could cause the demise of the company.
I always recommend (in fact, I insist):-
1: Store live data on a RAID 5 array of HDD's, and have a hot spare configured as well.
2: Make daily backups to a network attached HDD or a locally attached removeable HDD.
3: Backup to tape.
4: Keep the backup drives/tapes in a fireproof safe on the ground floor near to a main entrance/exit.
The first three of these recommendations are my advice to anybody here, especially if you value your images or any other data for that matter. If your proffession is photography, follow my 4th as well.
With the cost of HDD's today, it is shear folly to commit them to one hard drive in your PC or Mac (which can suffer catastrophic failure at any time), and then only make periodic backups.
I always recommend (in fact, I insist):-
1: Store live data on a RAID 5 array of HDD's, and have a hot spare configured as well.
2: Make daily backups to a network attached HDD or a locally attached removeable HDD.
3: Backup to tape.
4: Keep the backup drives/tapes in a fireproof safe on the ground floor near to a main entrance/exit.
The first three of these recommendations are my advice to anybody here, especially if you value your images or any other data for that matter. If your proffession is photography, follow my 4th as well.
With the cost of HDD's today, it is shear folly to commit them to one hard drive in your PC or Mac (which can suffer catastrophic failure at any time), and then only make periodic backups.
Comment by Mannesty posted on Hard Drive Back-Up at 06/01/2008 - 18:11
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Again, brilliant, thanks - just what I needed to know. (I'm guessing you meant 7 seconds. )
Another question - the AF-assist beam, what form does it take? Is it just a bright directional LED? A laser grid? A laser pattern? A tiny red man waving a laser pointer in a repeating pattern really fast?
It's strange - everywhere, people talk about what devices have an AF assist, and whether it's dedicated or just a built-in flash in Demented mode, but it's very hard indeed to find qualitative descriptions or even pictures of the beam and its effects.
I'm guessing that, if no-one talks about the qualitative differences between different illuminators, then they must all be effective and I don't need to worry... I mean, I find more discussion about the relative merits of different kinds of lens caps!
Sorry, I misinterpreted your last post. I thought you meaant the recycle time was 70 seconds. I wasn't paying proper attention. 70 secs would be next to useless I know.Again, brilliant, thanks - just what I needed to know. (I'm guessing you meant 7 seconds. )
Another question - the AF-assist beam, what form does it take? Is it just a bright directional LED? A laser grid? A laser pattern? A tiny red man waving a laser pointer in a repeating pattern really fast?
It's strange - everywhere, people talk about what devices have an AF assist, and whether it's dedicated or just a built-in flash in Demented mode, but it's very hard indeed to find qualitative descriptions or even pictures of the beam and its effects.
I'm guessing that, if no-one talks about the qualitative differences between different illuminators, then they must all be effective and I don't need to worry... I mean, I find more discussion about the relative merits of different kinds of lens caps!
I don't know what form the AF beam takes other than it's red and bright. I've had an AF400FTZ but I've moved on from there. I think my son may still have one with his MZ-6, I'll ask him to check. Others around here may be able to answer that one.
Comment by Mannesty posted on Homebrew AF-assist at 17/01/2008 - 17:43
Yes it's a good flash, not lightning fast recycle time but beats 70 seconds on fresh batteries. It's manual zoom though.
More info here.
More info here.
Comment by Mannesty posted on Homebrew AF-assist at 17/01/2008 - 00:36
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Severely tempted by the AF400FTZ. I'm aware it uses the wrong kind of metering for the K100D (TTL not P-TTL) so I won't get auto exposure, but I'm fine with that.
But can it talk to the K100D enough so that the AF-assist light works? Otherwise there's no point...
Thanks
Yes, it'll work fine. The AF400FTZ (not AF400T) has a digital interface and hence it has the 4th pin with which it 'talks' to the camera. AF assist is one of its 'conversations'.Severely tempted by the AF400FTZ. I'm aware it uses the wrong kind of metering for the K100D (TTL not P-TTL) so I won't get auto exposure, but I'm fine with that.
But can it talk to the K100D enough so that the AF-assist light works? Otherwise there's no point...
Thanks
Comment by Mannesty posted on Homebrew AF-assist at 16/01/2008 - 16:22
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Then I'm prepared, I suppose, to make a manually-controlled one. Pop it on the shoe and press a button concealed in my palm to illuminate it, perhaps!
Wouldn't a torch be simpler?Then I'm prepared, I suppose, to make a manually-controlled one. Pop it on the shoe and press a button concealed in my palm to illuminate it, perhaps!
Comment by Mannesty posted on Homebrew AF-assist at 06/01/2008 - 23:12
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I need help to find a program that actually saves the deleted files as PEF again......
I use R-Studio from R-Tools Technology. It's never failed me yet but it depends how much you value the data that's on the card whether you fork out the money.I need help to find a program that actually saves the deleted files as PEF again......
Comment by Mannesty posted on Anyone used www.cardrecovery.com ?? at 08/01/2008 - 09:12
Metering issues exist when using M series (or older) lenses on the K10D. Some here have fixed it by replacing the focussing screen.
I'll not elaborate here but it has been widely discussed on these forums.
I'll not elaborate here but it has been widely discussed on these forums.
Comment by Mannesty posted on SMC Pentax-M prime lenses v Pentax SMC DA 18-55 & 50-200mm at 05/01/2008 - 16:15
Battery drain might be an issue though, it'll copy about 10 Gb on one charge, more than enough for me in one day.