As is always the case, new technology is continually pushed into the chain, sometimes causing minor ripples, and at other times causing big waves.  The current breaking wave on the computing end of the spectrum is a new family of central processors coupled with advanced graphics card capabilities which are being leveraged by ever more sophisticated software like the Mercury Graphics Engine in Adobe’s latest Creative Suite.  Intel’s “Ivy Bridge” processors (and upgraded workstation CPUs with a different family lineage) are just entering the product stream at the same time Nvidia’s CUDA parallel graphics computing platform continues to raise the bar on the GPU side.  All this is good news for those stepping up to really large image files (perhaps out of a Nikon D800?), or producing more video along with stills.

Some of the first upgraded packages are showing up in laptops.  Lenovo has just announced their new lineup (with Windows OS), and very strong rumors suggest Apple will be unveil a new 15 inch MacBook Pro at their Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11.  And there’s much more to come with OS upgrades soon from both camps.  No doubt it will take a while for all the dust to settle and clear choices to become evident, but the options to expand your creative suite will be broader than ever, and commensurately, might deserve a bit more study than in the past to make the best picks for future acquisitions.

If you use Photoshop, here is Adobe’s list of suggestions for optimizing performance.  Notice how much more important the GPU has become in the overall mix.  Add 64-bit processors, solid state drives, and large amounts of RAM and the performance improvement of a state-of-the-art system over one just a few years old can be mind-boggling.  Take a look at one reviewer’s perception of the quantum leap in usability afforded by a new variety of SSD that runs in a PCIe slot on the desktop system’s motherboard.

Most photographers would rather be in the field making pictures than doing post-production work on a computer, and making some astute choices on end-game hardware and software can save a lot of time to help you do just that.  2012 is rapidly shaping up as a banner year for technology improvements on both ends of the imaging spectrum.

With this camera Leica is filling a niche many photographers have been longing for—a single purpose tool optimized for one particular photographic technique.  Other manufacturers have shied away, with limited market size and short term profit potential being judged outside their business model.  But Leica has an edge here as a boutique company that continues to hold superlative craftsmanship and quality among its core values.  Dedication to these tenets has driven the costs of its products into the stratosphere, but regardless, they’ve succeeded in developing a customer base that keeps both cameras and lenses (especially the lenses) in high demand and short supply.  There is a unique mystique surrounding the whole Leica experience, and I expect the M Monochrom will rejuvenate many discussions about it.  And there will likely be some angst as well that film will no longer be required to authentically capture black & white images.  Technology marches on.

Standards keep changing and technology keeps moving forward.  Just a few years ago a 1GB 40x card cost hundreds of dollars; today a top-brand card with 10 times the speed rating and 32 times the capacity costs less than $100.  Memory overall has gotten relatively inexpensive, in the greater scheme of things, and for most shooters there’s little reason to be cramped for capacity or transfer speed any more.

For technically oriented folks who like to study the numbers, Rob Galbraith has recently updated his CF/SD/XQD Performance Database (the only one like it I know of) to include data on Canon 7D and 5D Mark III, Nikon D3S, D7000, D4, and D800 camera bodies, and several of the latest CF and SDHC cards.  Right now, for a number of the cameras the 32GB version of the Lexar Professional 1000x CF card is the clear winner, though the new XQD 32GB card in the Nikon D4 (the only current body with a slot for that card format) eclipses everything!

One interesting note from this data compilation:  the Canon 5D Mark III with Lexar 32GB Pro 1000x CF card reached a RAW file transfer rate of 80.2 MB/s!  That’s stunning, and aside from the fierce debate over the ability of the new Nikon D800/E to resolve more fine details than the 5D Mark III, I’m finding the 5D3 to be a very satisfying body to actually use.  With a maximum continuous shooting rate of 6 fps I expect it to meet most “action” needs, and the top-end focusing system and many other improved features make it a very well fleshed out body.  For any serious shooter already committed to the Canon system, the 5D3 is worth a very close look.

As image files get larger and cards get bigger, it takes ever longer to transfer those files to your computer (where they have to go eventually).  One efficiency improvement option is Lexar’s Professional USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader (UDMA 7). While USB 3.0 ports are not yet available on all computers, they are showing up on most new Windows systems.  So far Apple has thumbed its nose at USB 3.0 in favor of Thunderbolt, which is taking a long time to catch on.  You can fairly easily add USB 3.0 capability to a desktop system if you have an available PCIe slot, or add an adapter to a laptop if it has an ExpressCard 34 slot (though you’ll have to power the device you connect to it through another source).  USB 3.0 is way faster than USB 2.0, and even faster than eSATA for those with that capability.  When Thunderbolt connectivity and devices actually reach the market at affordable prices they’ll be even faster than USB 3.0, but that’s somewhere down the road.

So don’t let memory cards be the weak link in your system.  Find the right combination of capacity, speed, and price so you can shoot to your heart’s content with…as they say in the really deep south… “no worries.”

Adobe has now released their free CS6 Public Beta available at Adobe Labs.  By all accounts this upgrade will be significant on several levels, not the least of which is that the entire interface has changed to a new (darker) color scheme with redesigned icons.  There’s plenty of information beginning to flow and you can find a pretty good synopsis of the major changes at DP Review.  Do keep in mind this beta release is not the final product, so there will almost certainly be some additional tweaks before it ships sometime in the next couple of months.  This upgrade will also provide an opportunity for the information industry to launch a new wave of online and hardcopy training materials to help get you up to speed, such as the free video sessions at lynda.com and Tim Grey’s training department.  I suspect too that a few eyebrows will be raised regarding elevated system requirements which will demand more of the host computer (for example, CS6 will not support 32-bit Macs).  Read the fine print carefully.

Which brings up another point.  If you’re anticipating a computer upgrade in the near future primarily to run Photoshop (and/or other computationally intensive photo editing programs), consider the confluence of converging technologies.  The next wave of Intel’s “Ivy Bridge” Core i7 processors should find their way to suppliers within the next month or two, and the latest iteration of workstation Xeon E5-2600 series CPUs are coming on line as well, so delaying a purchase just a bit might be good practice.  With the new processors will come system components and features that significantly improve data throughput and reduce the time it takes to create content. 

Maybe real. And some things are just tantalizing rumors that may or may not eventually make it to market—like a new 37MP full frame Sony Alpha SLT body sporting a square sensor!  Far fetched?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I for one really like the square aspect ratio.  I still own a vintage Rolleiflex through which I put many scores of rolls of film a long time ago.  Discussion of this interesting new development purports that all current Alpha mount lenses would work just fine with this 36mm x 36mm sensor, removing the impediment of a new lens line.  Whether or not this concept gains legs remains to be seen, but it could be a way for Sony to quickly separate themselves from the crowd with one very clever move.

Adobe Lightroom 4 has just been released.  There are some pretty big changes that should appeal to most users and the package carries a lower price tag too.  At the fundamental level there’s a new RAW development Process Version (PV2012) in which the underlying engine has been improved and which will require some study and familiarization as to which sliders are performing what function.  The same new engine will also show up soon as Camera Raw v6.7 in Photoshop CS6 since the same RAW developer is used in both packages, just implemented differently.  (ACR Release Candidate v6.7 is available now for early adopters.  This is your key to Photoshop RAW conversion for the new PowerShot G1 X; see full new camera support list here.)  There’s plenty of online info available on LR4, but a place to start might be with DP Review’s coverage.  As image editing programs continue to improve, it’s worth pointing out that going back to some of those older RAW files and redeveloping them with the new process can sometimes yield some pretty surprising results.  Files you may have skipped before because you couldn’t envision making anything reasonable from them might be worthy of attention now; one more reason not to be too hasty making initial editing decisions and permanently deleting questionable original RAW files just to save a little storage space.

In other software, Both Apple and Microsoft have new operating system versions on the way—Mountain Lion for Apple, and Windows 8 for Microsoft.  Both efforts accelerate the convergence of mobile operating system components with the traditional keyboard/mouse interface.  This is a sea change, and will challenge the comfort level of a lot of established mindsets, but it’s the way forward and is best embraced to leverage current processes for efficient future output.

In the realm of tablets, Apple announced their new (3^rd Generation) iPad yesterday.   The top new feature is a very high resolution Retina display.  While still more a device for consumption than creative production, the iPad has become a very useful tool for a great many photographers.  One source has indicated the new high-res model has a significantly wider color gamut as well, and it will be interesting to see what discriminating reviewers like Ctein and Rob Galbraith have to say on that subject down the road as color accuracy is especially important for image makers.

The Micro Four Thirds category has a strong new player in the Olympus OM-D E-M5.  While Olympus as a company continues to struggle with huge financial issues, the E-M5 has certainly created excitement by employing some very interesting high-level features with pro aspirations in a diminutive package having distinctive retro styling harking back to the vaunted OM-4 SLR film camera.  With m4/3 lens selection continuing to improve, I think the E-M5 has a bright future.

In a different vein, Pentax chose to enter the compact interchangeable-lens category (which they are labeling “Hybrid”) with the K-01.  Using a 16MP APS-C sized sensor and a proprietary lens mount that provides backward compatibility with a large number of legacy Pentax lenses, the curious thing (from my perspective) is the very strong emphasis for this model on design (function following form?).  Press material goes to great lengths to laud the artistic acclaim of Marc Newson and what Pentax perceives to be the magnetic appeal of bold lines, bright colors, rounded corners, and soft accents.  I’m sure it’s all in the eye of the beholder, and while I have great respect for Marc Newson, the K-01 looks to me more like a toy than a tool, and in addition comes up a bit short in the basic feature department (like some sort of eye-level viewfinder).  But I’m sure it’s capable of making very nice images, and I certainly wish Pentax well as that venerated company has a rich legacy of producing fine photographic tools.

For specific info about the camera itself (and the new 600EX-RT flash and additional accessories), see DP Review, Rob Galbraith’s DPI, Camera Labs, or Bob Atkins’ site.  And of course you can read endless comments on any number of forums passing instantaneous judgment on everything from the crippling lack of pixels in this new 22.3MP sensor to the total failure of Canon as a camera company.  It’s the world we live in.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.  Just based on claimed specs for the 5D3 and my own experience with the 5D2, it looks to me like this new body will make a lot of Canon shooters very happy.  Yes, it’s going to be a bit more expensive ($3,499 body-only), have only a modest increase in megapixel count from the 5D2, and lack a few features that some of us would really like to have seen included (like an articulated LCD and built-in flash).  Be that as it may, there are enough advanced and pro-level features melded from both the 7D and the new 1D X to make it appear that this will be Canon’s first digital body to replicate the conceptual lineage of the vaunted EOS 3.  Things I like:  top-level autofocus system, upgraded exposure system, decent frame rate (6 fps), improved dynamic range and noise levels, and built-in multi-exposure and HDR.  Hard to say until it’s actually in hand, but it also looks like the 5D3 is shaped very similarly to the 7D—my favorite ergonomically of all the smaller (non-1D) bodies.

One of the most hotly debated issues is how well the 5D3 will stack up against Nikon’s D800.  Absent rigorous field tests of production bodies, we just don’t know; and even then it will depend entirely on what features and aspects are most important to your style of shooting.  It’s quite possible both cameras will be big winners for their respective companies without hordes crossing over from one system to the other.  Time will tell.

For Canon shooters, March 2^nd is announcement day, most likely for the successor to the EOS 5D Mark II.  There’s been huge speculation as to how Canon intends to address the trade-offs between stuffing more photosites into a sensor or concentrating on other capture improvements like low noise and greater dynamic range, as well as potentially adding more pro-level hardware features in their “budget” full-frame sector.  Enthusiasts have been begging for a digital EOS 3 for years.  Most 5D Mark III informed guesses point to a 22MP sensor along with a number of significant performance upgrades.  Of course there could be more than one new full frame model (5D X?), and we’ll likely know in a couple of days.

On a somewhat more lower-key scale, the PowerShot G1 X is now reaching stores.  Though this fixed zoom lens compact model won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, I’ve a sneaking suspicion it’s going to gain a lot of converts.  I’ll add personal impressions before long.

On a side note, with much of the emphasis in communications these days being wireless, we’re very close to implementation of the next Wi-Fi standard—802.11 ac.  Speed is good; now if security keeps pace that would be a good thing too.

On the computing front, those needing or wanting to upgrade a laptop or desktop machine for creating content are likely well aware of the impending release of Intel’s next-generation Ivy Bridge CPUs which promise modest performance gains at lower current draws.  Looks now like the expected April launch of the new chips has been delayed for 8-10 weeks.  This may or may not affect the anticipated announcement of new Apple MacBook Pro laptops which will likely build on the slim-and-light MacBook Air form factor.  The delay also may impact the second generation of Intel’s own “Ultrabook” initiative.

Much more to come in the month of March.  Stay tuned.

So what about the megapixel argument itself?  Whether it even matters to you will depend on many things of course—your favorite photographic subjects, what you do with your images once you capture them, your budget, and whether tool discussions interest you in the first place, to name a few.  And as in all these matters, one size doesn’t fit all and every tool is a compromise of one sort or another, so there are no easy answers regardless.  One astute thread of this discussion is on Mike Johnston’s “The Online Photographer” by the contributing author Ctein (who legally has only the one name, pronounced “kuh-TINE”).  In it he addresses myths about megapixels that may or may not be of help to someone grappling with the issue; at any rate, it’s very informative for the technically inclined.

Will I be considering a Nikon D-800?  Not really, because I have far too much invested in a Canon system.  But I happily used Nikon equipment for many decades and have the highest regard for their top-end gear, and if I were looking for a mid-range pro-level Nikon body to cover a lot of bases in relatively good light (i.e. not semi-dark, candlelight environments demanding superior ISO performance) I’d see the D800 as a stellar option.  And I hope it turns out to be just as good as is expected; we’ll likely all be better off for it.

Start with memory cards.  There are many brands out there, most of which work just fine most of the time.  I like to stick with Lexar and SanDisk, partly because of my positive personal experience with them and partly because they’ve been in the business for so long.  Any card should be handled carefully and formatted in-camera before use; avoid formatting the card in your computer as there’s a chance you may not apply the proper formatting protocol.  When shooting, let the camera finish writing all the data to the card before you start reviewing images, and whatever you do, avoid opening the card bay and removing the card before the camera has finished writing to it—this is almost a guaranteed way to corrupt files.  Additional tips on care and feeding of memory cards can be found here and here.

If you do experience a problem with a card, such as having images show up on the back of the camera but not on your computer, don’t panic.  Put that card aside and use one of the many image rescue tools to see if you can’t recover images from the card.  Among the well-regarded is PhotoRescue.  This is a relatively low cost program for both Mac and Windows that has a high success rate, recently corroborated by a friend of mine locally.  Lexar, SanDisk, and others also make image rescue programs and some companies supply the programs along with certain versions of their cards.

Of course the other big potential for data loss is in your computer.  Everyone preaches data backup and most practice it to some degree, but it’s very easy to get lazy and backslide and only your personal work ethic and discipline will determine your degree of success in this arena.  Cloud services also now offer to protect you, though transmitting thousands of high-resolution image files to and from cloud-based data centers is still a serious bottleneck, and the whole idea is only as good as your faith in the concept.  Anyone remember Digital Railroad?  I know I wouldn’t sleep very well at night without maintaining multiple local copies of my most important image files.

A short while ago Lexar announced their latest high-end CF card, the Lexar Professional 1000X, and now Rob has put it to the test; in  a nutshell, it’s far faster than any other memory card they’ve ever tested.  The numbers are laid out in tables for in-camera write values with Canon 1D Mark IV and Nikon D3S bodies, and for card-to-computer transfer rates using top-end readers in four different connection protocols.  An interesting note is that the quickest download speed was achieved using a USB 3.0 card reader.

If you use a camera that’s UDMA 7 capable (currently the fastest data timing protocol in the CompactFlash specification) and you actually need the fastest CF card on the market, right now this is it.  In addition, Lexar’s USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader (the one with the latest firmware available in March) will give you the fastest download times possible (until someone comes up with a Thunderbolt card reader).  For Mac Pro users, CalDigit can supply a USB 3.0 PCIe Card and drivers to provide a USB 3.0 interface.  This card will also work in a Windows computer, and in addition they build a USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ExpressCard for any laptop with an ExpressCard/34 interface (such as the Apple 17” MacBook Pro).

Memory cards are not the bottleneck in the digital imaging process they used to be.  Capacities are now sufficient for nearly any purpose, and prices have plummeted to the point that having several cards no longer is a serious crimp on most budgets.  While in day to day practice few need the incredible speed the fastest cards now provide, it’s nice to know they’re available.