iPad/tablet tripod mount

Did you know I suffer from “decision paralysis?” I do. It doesn’t matter whether a product is expensive or inexpensive, I agonize over the decision to pick the one that’s best for me. This time, I made the decision relatively quickly with little angst.

I knew I needed to get some sort of tripod mount for my iPad mini 6. For a while, I was using a small photography clamp to hold my iPad. It was precarious at best and an expensive accident waiting to happen.

A quick Google search turned up a YouTube video that caught my attention.

The build quality looked good and the price point seemed fair, so I ordered one.

After a month or two of usage, I can say this versatile tripod mount works as advertised. I think the parts that actually support the iPad are a little narrow for my comfort, but they do work — just be careful to center your tablet on the mount and be sure it’s clamped down tightly.

The tripod mount came bundled with several “extras.” Most of them are borderline useless, but one item turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

The small wireless remote control is great for starting/stopping time-lapse videos. You can use the built-in timer featured in the Apple “Camera” app to shoot still photos and start video recording, but you still have to touch the iPad to stop recording video. That can result in “camera shake” that you need to edit out of the video, but hey, I don’t need one more thing to do when the “little remote that could” can be used for clean stops.

Is this the “best iPad mount” as the YouTube video title says? I don’t know. But it’s “good” and sometimes all you need to know is when good is good enough. Please comment if you know of a better product than this one.

Related Resources

• THIS is the iPad/Tablet Tripod Mount YOU NEED! by BenoniTech (2:55)
• Aluminum iPad Pro Tripod Mount Adapter Holder With Cold Shoe Ball Head and Bluetooth Shutter for iPad Pro 12.9 11 10.5, iPad Air Mini, Surface Galaxy Tab, Video Recording 3.5 to 13.5″ iPhone Tablet $29.99 (as of this writing)

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Helicon Focus: Rendering in action (plus Post Update)

In my last blog post, I shared a composite image that was created using Helicon Focus to focus stack 99 JPG photos taken automatically using my Fujifilm X-T5 set for AUTO FOCUS BKT.

The following video demonstrates two strengths of Helicon Focus.

1. It’s relatively simple to use. Creating a focus stacked composite image can be as easy as a two-step process: add source images to Helicon Focus by drag-and-drop; click the “Render” button.
2. Rendering works quickly. For example, 99 photos focus stacked in ~50 seconds! (~00:08 s to ~00:58 s.)

The main window features two panels: the panel on the left shows the source images as the focus stack is created; the panel on the right shows the final output.

The right sidebar shows a list of filenames for the source images. When a filename in the list is highlighted, the corresponding image is displayed in the left panel of the main window.

Look closely at the final output, shown in the right panel in the main window. Notice the “ghost” artifact that’s visible near the tip of the toy dinosaur’s tail. Otherwise, the composite image looks perfect.

Click here to see a Screen Recording of the Rendering process.

I have no idea what caused the artifact. For whatever reason, some of the composite images I have created using Helicon Focus have one or more artifacts.

In contrast, every time I have used Fujifilm AUTO FOCUS BKT it has worked perfectly. (He said with fingers crossed.)

Related Resources

• https://youtu.be/jr5SMaO4qWI
• When dinosaurs attack! – This blog post shows the final image after I used Helicon Focus “Retouching” to fix the “ghost” artifact.
• Focus bracketing and focus peaking – When I watched the real-time display of Helicon Focus rendering “Method C” for the first time, I was reminded of a blog post featuring two videos I created to demonstrate how focus peaking can show the way focus bracketing works. Those videos aren’t as steady and smooth as I’d like, but hey, not bad for a manual focus rail!

Post Update

When I tested the link to the video I noticed a problem with “flash dropout.” Two small LED panels and two external flash units were used to light the scene. Notice the flash on the right side of the subject didn’t fire in photo DSCF1214.JPG. That flash was a Godox MF12. Up until now, the MF12 flash has never failed to fire. For those who might be wondering, the Lithium Ion battery in the MF12 was fully charged before I started the focus bracket. I’ll watch it more closely to see whether reliability is an issue.

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Thunderstorms, mesocyclones, and tornadoes. Oh my!

As a weather enthusiast, RadarScope is my go-to weather app for tracking the approach and passing of weather systems such as the line of strong thunderstorms that affected the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region on Saturday, 22 April 2023.

Animated GIF created by RadarScope app. (11:44 AM to 11:58 AM)

The following annotated screenshot shows a few basic buttons; their function is described below the graphic.

My location, radar sites, and warnings. (12:01 PM)

1. My location. (See blue reticle, center screen.)
2. Radar sites. (KWLX, located in Sterling, Virginia, is the National Weather Service radar site nearest to my location.
3. Warnings. (Two warnings were in effect when this screenshot was captured.)

A fly-out panel appears when you click on the Warnings button. As you can see, there were two Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in effect at the time of the screenshot. If you click on one of the warnings then RadarScope automatically takes you to a zoomed-in view of the warning area. Click on the button for “My location” to return to your home location.

Warnings. (11:58 AM)

Tornado Warning

Soon afterward, a Tornado Warning was issued for Culpeper- and Madison Counties in Virginia, as indicated by the red polygon. Notice the red polygon is nested inside a yellow polygon that outlines an area where a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued.

Tornado Warning (red polygon). (12:30 PM)

Click on the red polygon for more information about the Tornado Warning.

Tornado Warning (information). (12:30 PM)

The next screenshot shows the “Super-Res Reflectivity” radar product, zoomed in on the Tornado Warning area. With a lot of imagination, you can almost see something that looks a little like the classic “hook echo” associated with tornadoes. Almost, but not quite.

Super-Res Reflectivity. (12:30 PM)

Time to switch to the Storm Relative Velocity radar product, shown below. This is where Doppler weather radar really shines. Greens indicate radar echoes moving toward the KWLX radar site; reds indicate radar echoes moving away from the radar site (like brake lights on a car driving away from you).

The following image shows the thunderstorm cell is rotating counterclockwise — this is known as a mesocyclone and is the reason for the Tornado Warning.

Storm Relative Velocity. (12:27 PM)

Within the broader area of counterclockwise circulation there is a tighter area of greens and reds, as shown more clearly in the Super-Res Storm Relative Velocity radar product.

Super-Res Storm Relative Velocity. (12:32 PM)

It’s important to note that the orientation of side-by-side greens and reds typical of rotating thunderstorm cells varies depending upon the location of the storm cell relative to the weather radar site. In the example shown above the greens are on the right and the reds are on the left because the warning area is located to the southwest of KWLX. In contrast, if the warning area were located to the northeast of the radar site, then the reds would be on the right and the greens on the left.

As it turns out, there were’nt any official Tornado Reports for Virginia. Later the same day, a small F0 tornado touched down briefly in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Related Resources

The following resources from the National Weather Service provide excellent background information about Doppler weather radar.

• How radar works
• Composite Reflectivity
• Storm Relative Velocity

More RadarScope-specific resources are available from the creators of the app.

• User’s Guide
• Information Articles
• RadarScope Blog

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Minor post updates

How to do screen captures on Apple iOS devices

Since my last blog post, I discovered it’s possible to record a movie of the screen display for Apple iOS devices that features both video and audio.

As you know, when you swipe down from the upper-right corner of the screen, the “Control Center” menu appears. Tap and hold the “Screen Recording” button and the following sub-menu appears.

Apple iOS | Control Center | Screen Recording / Microphone On

Tap the “Microphone” button to toggle recording on/off. As you can see, my iPad mini 6 is currently set for “Microphone On.”

This feature could be useful for creating instructional videos that show and tell how to use apps such as “RadarScope” (shown in the background of the preceding screenshot), my favorite weather app.

Comedy of errors

Going back to mid-March 2023, my blog post entitled Comedy of errors included the following composite image. Did you notice the dark blob on the coin? I did! It’s located in Theodore Roosevelt’s imaginary line of sight, above the horse’s neck. Once you see the blob, you can’t un-see it.

Composite image created from 192 of 328 photos.

The discoloration was a mystery to me, since I washed the coin with soap and water (twice) in preparation for the photo shoot. I’m happy to report the mystery was solved, by accident, when I was watching another YouTube video recently.

Turns out the dark blob is a chemical reaction that can occur on some coins as they age. In this case, the quarter is made of silver (in part) and the simplest explanation of the dark blob is it’s a place where the coin is tarnished. It’s not exactly the same thing as tarnish, but you understand.

Some coin collectors refer to the discoloration as a “burn.” In most cases, a burn doesn’t reduce the value of a coin, but in some rare cases it can add to the value substantially.

Related Resources

• How to Record iPad Screen With Sound, by Howfinity (2:43)
• Value of 1968 Kennedy Half Dollar, by BigDCoins (6:26)
• RadarScope app – a blog post by Walter Sanford

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

How to do screen captures on Apple iOS devices

Still photos

Most people know how to take a screen shot of the display on an Apple iOS device by pressing a combination of buttons on the device. For example, simultaneously press the Power button and either one of the audio volume buttons (up or down) to take a screen shot using my Apple iPad mini 6.

Video

Did you know you can also record a movie of the screen display? If you swipe down from the upper-right corner of the screen, then the “Control Center” menu appears. Press the “Screen Recording” button, highlighted by the red square (shown below), to start recording the screen after a three-second countdown timer. Whatever you do with the device will be recorded in a movie that is saved to the “Photos” app by default.

When you’re ready to stop recording, press the small red button in the upper-right corner of the screen (highlighted by a red rectangle, as shown below). A pop-up window appears on screen; click the “Stop” button (also highlighted by a red rectangle). Your movie is saved to “Photos” automatically.

Related Resources

• How To Screenshot On iPad mini 6! (2:06) by LoFi Alpaca.
• How to Record iPad Screen With Sound (2:43) by Howfinity.
• How to customize Control Center on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch – Apple Support (0:53)
• Post update on 11 April 2023.

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

How to shoot time-lapse videos on Apple iOS devices

Regular readers of my photoblog might remember when I experimented with using my GoPro HERO4 Black to record time-lapse videos. The process I used is simple and straightforward and works fairly well.

Did you know the Apple “Camera” app can record time-lapse videos on iOS devices? I didn’t. (More about that in “Tech Tips,” below.) As it turns out, the process is simpler than using my GoPro.

How to shoot time-lapse videos on Apple iOS devices

How to shoot TIMELAPSES on iPhone (7:15), by Matthew Vandeputte, time-lapse guru, is a helpful how-to video that provides step-by-step instructions for shooting time-lapse videos using the “Camera” app on an iPhone. The same process works for Apple tablets too.

Testing 1, 2, 3 …

I devised a simple test for Matthew’s directions using my Apple iPad mini 6 and my older iPad mini 2. I used the “Camera” app on my iPad mini 6 to record a time-lapse video of the real-time display of the “Alarm Clock” app on my iPad mini 2. Clever, huh?

The following time-lapse video shows approximately five (5) minutes of elapsed time compressed into 23 seconds of video (0:23).

YouTube video (0:23).

As you can see, the process works and works surprisingly well. Exactly how it works is almost magical. Matthew Vandeputte’s video provides an overview of research done by Dan Provost. For more details, be sure to refer to Dan’s article.

Tech Tips

User interface

The following image shows the default screen for the Apple iOS “Camera” app. The camera lens is covered in order to help the viewer focus on the user interface for the app.

Three options for setting the camera appear along the lower-right sidebar (from top to bottom): Video; Photo; and Square. Is there any indication there are more options for setting the camera? In a word, no. I suggest this might be a good place for a scroll bar.

Apple iOS “Camera” app (default screen).

If you scroll down, then you should see “Pano” …

Apple iOS “Camera” app (scroll down).

… and if you scroll up you should see “Slo-Mo” and “Time-Lapse.”

Apple iOS “Camera” app (scroll up).

Who knew all of these options are available? Not me. I realize Apple has fallen in love with “clean” user interfaces but when form impairs function it’s time for a reality check. I’m just saying, in case Apple is actually listening.

“Camera” app video settings

By default, the Apple iOS “Camera” app is set for “High Efficiency.” High Efficiency Video Encoding (HEVC), also known as the H.265 video compression standard, might be the standard of the future but is currently incompatible with some social media platforms.

I prefer to set the “Camera” app so that it will record movies using the H.264 video compression standard, also known as .MP4, one of two video formats recommended by Facebook and YouTube.

Video settings: Apple iPad mini 6

Navigate to “Settings,” select “Camera,” then select “Formats.” Change the default setting from “High Efficiency” to “Most Compatible,” as shown below. Note: “High Efficiency” is the default setting.

Set “Record Video” for “1080p at 30 fps.”

Video settings: Apple iPad mini 2

The following screen capture shows the camera settings for my Apple iPad mini 2. As you can see, the default settings for “Record Video” just work.

Related Resources

• How to shoot TIMELAPSES on iPhone (7:15), by Matthew Vandeputte.
• How Does the iOS 8 Time-lapse Feature Work? by Dan Provost.

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Focus bracketing and focus peaking

Focus peaking can be used to visualize areas of a photograph that are acceptably in focus. This can be especially helpful when creating focus stacked composite images.

I recorded two videos that show simulated focus bracketing using my NiSi NM-200 manual focus rail. Notice how the focus peaking band moved across the subject from back-to-front as the carriage moved along the lead screw of the focus rail. The videos aren’t rock steady because I was turning the larger adjustment knob as I was recording the HDMI output from two of my Fujifilm X Series digital cameras.

The subject in both videos is a quarter, that is, a 25-cent coin in U.S. currency. President Theodore Roosevelt is shown on one side of the coin.

The diameter of a quarter is 24.257 mm (0.955 inches). The APS-C sensor used in Fujifilm X Series digital cameras is 23.5 mm x 15.7 mm. A good indicator of the magnification is how much of the quarter is visible in the photo frame.

Fujiffilm X-T3 camera plus Laowa 25mm Ultra Macro lens

The following YouTube video shows a simulation of focus bracketing using a Fujiffilm X-T3 digital camera plus Laowa 25mm Ultra Macro lens. Focus peaking (shown in red) helps to highlight areas of the image that are acceptably in focus.

Video of Roosevelt quarter at 2.5x magnification using an aperture of f/4.

Fujiffilm X-T5 camera plus Fujinon 80mm macro lens

The next YouTube video shows a simulation of focus bracketing using a Fujiffilm X-T5 digital camera plus Fujinon 80mm macro lens. Focus peaking (shown in red) helps to highlight areas of the image that are acceptably in focus, same as in the preceding video. Although it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, I set the lens aperture to f/4, like the X-T3/Laowa macro rig.

Video of Roosevelt quarter at 1x magnification using an aperture of f/4.

Safe step size and focus banding

After watching the preceding videos, I think it should be clear why macro photographers use focus bracketing to create focus stacked composite images that show more depth of field than is possible from a single photo.

Focus peaking helps to highlight areas of an image that are acceptably in focus. Focus banding occurs when there isn’t enough overlap between the areas that are in focus from one image to the next. This is why it’s critically important to calculate the safe step size BEFORE you begin a focus stacking project.

Tech Tips

The following YouTube video shows how to set my Fujifilm X Series cameras for “clean HDMI” video output. Sometimes it’s helpful to turn “ON” the info display, for example, when creating “how to” videos like this one. You can see my camera settings at the beginning and end of the video.

Video of Menu settings for “clean HDMI.”

A micro-HDMI cable was used to connect my cameras to a MacBook Air (13″, M1, 2020) laptop computer via an inexpensive HDMI Video Capture adapter (HDMI to USB). I used Apple QuickTime Player (free) to record the HDMI video output from my cameras.

Open Apple QuickTime Player. File / New Movie Recording. Click the down arrow disclosure button located to the right of the red Record button and make the following settings.

• Camera = USB Video [= HDMI adapter]
• Microphone = MacBook Air Microphone [for narration, voice over]
• Quality = Maximum [1920 x 1080p, 25 fps]

Movies are recorded as .mov files.

Related Resources

• BEST Fujifilm Manual Focus Setting! by pal2tech (6:01) – FOCUS PEAK HIGHLIGHT plus Fujifilm film simulations (“Acros” Black and White)
• Understanding Fujifilm Video Recording, by pal2tech (5:11)
• Fujifilm X-T3: Focus Peak Highlight – A blog post by Walter Sanford related to, well, focus peaking.
• What is it? – A blog post by Walter Sanford related to the HDMI Video Capture adapter used to create the videos featured in this post.

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

 

Please stay tuned …

I’m working on a blog post that isn’t ready for publication. It should be finished sometime within the next day-or-so, so as the title says, please stay tuned.

Walter

Manual focus rails: Useful or useless?

For the purpose of this blog post, let’s establish there are two types of focus rails: manual; and automatic. This blog post will focus on manual focus rails only.

Manual focus rails are useful for positioning your camera more easily when it’s mounted on a tripod. But most manual focus rails are essentially useless as an aid for creating macro focus stacked composite images. The issue is lack of precision. More about that later in this post. For now, let’s review a brief history of manual focus rails that I own and have tested.

Neewer

The Neewer Pro 4-Way Macro Focusing Focus Rail is the first focus rail that I bought and is still available for $39.99 from Amazon. Trust me when I tell you this focus rail is anything but “Pro” but the price was right (given what I was willing spend for a focus rail at the time) and turned out to be a relatively inexpensive way to gain experience using a focus rail.

The rulers on each rail are marked in centimeters; the finest increments are in millimeters.

Photo Credit: Amazon.

Novoflex

My next focus rail — the Novoflex Castel-L Focusing Rack — was a significant step up in price. The same model is still available for $279.00 from B&H Photo — overpriced like all products made by Novoflex, in the opinion of this author. This is one of only a few pieces of photography gear that I really regret buying.

Although the focus rail is beautifully engineered and operates smoothly it is no more precise than the much less expensive Neewer focus rail: the ruler on the rail is marked in centimeters; the finest increments are in millimeters.

Photo Credit: B&H Photo.

NiSi

I recently bought a NiSi Macro Focusing Rail NM-200 for $199.95 from B&H Photo. At that price point, the NiSi focus rail is five times more expensive than the Neewer focus rail, and nearly $80 less than the Novoflex focus rail.

Notice the ruler on the rail is still marked in centimeters and millimeters. So why would I waste more money on another focus rail that is no more precise than the other two? Because it turns out it is more precise than the other two!

Photo Credit: B&H Photo.

Look closely at the larger adjustment knob shown below. One full rotation of the knob moves the carriage one millimeter, or 1,000 micrometers (microns). The knob is marked in 100 increments, so each increment on the knob is 10 microns. Now we’re getting somewhere!

Photo Credit: B&H Photo.

Thanks to Andy Astbury for verifying the math using a digital caliper. (As part of my due diligence, I watched Andy’s video before deciding to buy the NiSi NM-200.)

Screen capture from YouTube video by Andy Astbury.

Do you need a focus rail with 10 micron precision?

In a word, yes!

According to Allan Walls, macro photography guru extraordinaire, the following list shows the “safe step sizes” for different macro lenses. Remember, the goal is to move the camera with 30% overlap between steps.

• 1x:1 = 0.7 mm (700 micrometers, a.k.a., microns) ← 70 increments on NiSi NM-200
• 2x:1 = 0.25 mm (250 microns) ← 25 increments on NM-200
• 4x = 0.1 mm (100 microns) ← 10 increments on NM-200

It’s somewhat unclear whether the preceding step sizes include the recommended 30% overlap. In Macro Talk #18, Allan said a step size of 60-70 microns would be better at 4x magnification (6-7 increments on the NiSi NM-200). Another macro photographer recommends a step size of 50 microns at 4x (5 increments on the NM-200). Regardless of which advice you follow, the NiSi NM-200 is capable of getting the job done.

As you can see, even at 1:1 magnification the recommended step size is less than a millimeter. The same idea expressed another way: It’s impossible to use a focus rail marked in one millimeter increments to do macro focus bracketing with right size step between images consistently. That is, unless you find a manual focus rail like the NiSi NM-200 that enables fine adjustments.

Testing 1, 2, 3 …

I just set up my new NiSi focus rail and need to do some testing. I am encouraged by the results achieved by other photographers using the same rail. Stay tuned for a follow-up blog post in the near future.

Related Resources

• Neewer Pro 4-Way Macro Focusing Focus Rail
• Novoflex Castel-L Focusing Rack – with MiniConnect Quick Release
• NiSi Macro Focusing Rail NM-200 with 360° Rotating Clamp (7.9″ Length)
• NiSi NM 200 Macro Focus Stacking Rail Review – Budget Friendly Macro Focus Stacking Accuracy, by Andy Astbury (49:55)
• Nisi NM-200: Best Manual Macro Focusing Rail!? – First Impression, Testing & Tips, by peterviragphoto (8:50)

Copyright © 2023 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Dragonfly Curriculum Guide Supplemental Videos

One of my photos is featured in a new video entitled Determining Dragonfly Sex: Dragonfly video 15, by Dr. Ami Thompson. See the inset photo in the following video screen capture.

Determining Dragonfly Sex: Dragonfly video 15, by Ami Thompson.

The video is one of 15 Dragonfly Curriculum Guide Supplemental Videos coproduced by Ami Thompson and Peter Xyooj. The Dragonfly Curriculum Guide (PDF) is available for free.

Notice my last name is misspelled in the credits at the end of the video: Stanford is an institution; I should be institutionalized. <Rim shot!> Oh well, at least my name is spelled correctly in the video screen capture shown above.

Determining Dragonfly Sex: Dragonfly video 15, by Ami Thompson.

The inset photo is from “Mocha Emerald dragonfly claspers,” a blog post that I published on 13 July 2017.

09 JUL 2017 | Huntley Meadows Park | Mocha Emerald (male)

Related Resources

• Dragonfly Curriculum Guide Supplemental Videos, coproduced by Ami Thompson and Peter Xyooj.
• Dragonfly Curriculum Guide (PDF), by Ami Thompson.
• Mocha Emerald dragonfly claspers, a blog post by Walter Sanford.

Copyright © 2022 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.