On Computers and Photography
Version 1.1 of Technical Camera is now available on the App Store. This is a device support update, bringing optimized screen layout for the whole iPhone X series, including the new XS Max/XR screen size.
We’ve also fixed a few bugs, and added two wide converter profiles as discussed in the release notes.
This is a free update for existing Technical Camera owners. New users can purchase the app in the App Store.
Today is EOS R day. We’ve released ShutterCount 3.4 with EOS R support in the morning, and now I’m happy to announce that Kuuvik Capture 4.1 is also available on the Mac App Store with full Canon EOS R support.
The EOS R is a special camera – having the fastest multi-point live view among the whole Canon repertoire, it is eminently suitable for use with tilt/shift lenses or view cameras. Pictured below is the R on my Cambo Actus-G digital view camera.
Canon EOS R on a Cambo Actus view camera
It’s not just the speedy multi-point live view that makes the R a great companion to the Actus-G, but the RF mount’s reduced flange focal distance (20mm instead of 44mm for the EF mount) allows you to use shorter lenses. A Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 60mm f/4 for example. Well, it will once Cambo starts selling an RF bayonet holder.
For those of you who aren’t aware of multi-point live view in Kuuvik Capture: it’s a unique feature (that is, no other app offers such a thing) allowing you to select up to three points on the live image and display them simultaneously in 5x magnification. An indispensable tool for product photographers.
Below is a screen shot of a the app showing multi-point live view in a typical scenario where you want to place the focal plane along the plane of the subject (the desk in this case).
Multi-point live view in action
It was shot with the Actus-G and a Rodenstock HR Digaron-S 180mm f/5.6 lens stopped down to f/8, with around 10 degrees of front tilt.
You can learn more about the multi-point live view in my free eBook, Kuuvik Capture Inside Out.
Besides EOS R support, there are a few fixes and support for macOS Mojave’s Dark Mode in this release.
Kuuvik Capture 4.1 is available on the Mac App Store. It is a free update for users who purchased the app earlier from there. You can see the complete list of new features and changes in the release notes.
We did it again! Canon introduced a new shutter actuation counter method for its mirrorless cameras, starting with the M50. The just released version of ShutterCount supports this new method, as you can see on the following screen shot.
ShutterCount is the first and only app that can do it.
The new mirrorless counter for my EOS R.
Instead of giving a shot-by-shot counter, the M50 (Kiss M in some markets) and the EOS R will give a value measured in thousands. ShutterCount displays it similar to the 1-series cameras do it in their menu: <= 2000 means the counter is between 1000 and 2000, <= 15000 means the counter is between 14000 and 15000, etc.
The Distribution Chart and live view counters are not available for mirrorless cameras, since all photos are taken in live view mode.
Being Wi-Fi capable, both the EOR R and the M50 are also supported in the iOS version of the app.
Speaking of mirrorless, we also certified the app with the Nikon Z 7. Just like all other Nikons, the Mac version supports this camera via image files.
The Mac version adapts to Dark Mode in macOS 10.14, and the iOS version supports the large screen size of iPhone XS Max and XR.
Version 3.4 is a free update for existing users on both operating systems. New users can purchase the app in the respective App Store. Live View Pack and Plus Pack are available as in-app purchases.
During software development we create several tools that never see the day of light. These are for internal use only, and aid in a multitude of ways. For example for testing the image and metadata encoding components in Technical Camera we needed something that can display both the image and its metadata quickly. So we built a special version of Kuuvik Capture that could do that. And it turned out to be so useful in everyday culling and image browsing that we merged the code from this special internal version to the released app.
The tool I’m referring to is called extended metadata tooltips.
When activated, it adds GPS location (including altitude), color space, artist, copyright, camera owner, serial number and producing software information to Image Browser tooltips besides the usual basic camera and exposure data.
It is off by default, and you can choose between the regular (basic) and the extended metadata display via a new preference.
GPS coordinates are nice, but it’s much better if you can see the location on a map. So the Show on Map command (also accessible by pressing Cmd+G) was born. As the name implies, it will open Apple Maps with a pin dropped at the image’s location.
Besides these, the Imager Browser also gained the ability to read star ratings from JPG files (as it does from Canon RAWs). Of course you can always override the embedded ratings from within the app.
Kuuvik Capture 4.0 is available on the Mac App Store. It is a free update for users who purchased the app earlier from there. You can see the complete list of new features and changes in the release notes.
My updated eBook, Kuuvik Capture Inside Out is also available for download, free of charge for both existing and prospective users.
Kuuvik Capture 4 supports two methods to achieve the self-timer functionality: one built right into the app, and another via the camera.
The app’s implementation is accessible through the intervalometer. In version 4 we’ve lowered the minimum for the Number of Shots field to 1 (it was 2 in previous versions). In this case Trigger Interval is ignored, and the app waits the time specified in Beginning Delay before capturing an image. It also works for brackets, and mirror-lock up (even in auto-release mode) just like the normal intervalometer functionality. Since this is an exposure sequence, you have to use the Run Sequence button (Cmd+R) instead of Capture. This is the method we recommend to use.
There’s one situation, however, in which the camera’s 2s and 10s self-timer drive modes come into play. In a rather awkward fashion, the RC-1/5/6 infrared remote control works only with self-timer drive modes. Kuuvik Capture manages the camera’s drive mode to avoid potential issues caused by some of those (for example continuous drive), and switches back to single frame capture when the camera is in an incompatible drive mode. Now the app accepts both the 2s and 10s self-timer as compatible, so you can use the IR remote to trigger the camera.
You need to set the self-timer/remote control drive mode directly on the camera. While mirror lock-up set in the app will work, auto-release will not.
Kuuvik Capture 4.0 is available on the Mac App Store. It is a free update for users who purchased the app earlier from there. You can see the complete list of new features and changes in the release notes.
Kuuvik Capture 4.0 is now available on the Mac App Store. This is the first release in the version 4 series, and brings the first batch of enhancements to the app. The first batch, because instead of waiting for every single feature we planned for version 4 to be complete (and delaying the release significantly), we decided make new features available as they are ready, so you can enjoy their benefits as soon as possible.
Let’s begin discussing the new stuff with the display engine. My FastPath imaging engine, that provides highly optimized image decoding and display, debuted in Technical Camera. Later on the Mark II Artist’s Viewfinder received it. And now Kuuvik Capture joins the club. It provides up to 2x faster JPG display (including the JPG previews embedded into RAW files), plus massive memory savings: I had measured around 100 megabytes less GPU memory usage with 5DS R files, for example.
But the story doesn’t end here. In contrast to this lightning fast preview display, it seemed that RAW loading and decoding (that’s a prerequisite for the RAW histogram and RAW-based clipping warnings) takes forever. And we wanted that users could begin working on the images the instant they appear on the screen. So we made RAW data loading asynchronous, taking place in the background. There’s no more waiting for the “Loading” progress bar.
A circular progress indicator on the RAW histogram’s panel lets you know how the loading goes forward. With the exception of a few operations (such as image deletion and purging) you are allowed to do anything during RAW loading. If you move to another image or capture a new one, loading is automatically cancelled, so you don’t have to waste your time on waiting for something that will be instantly thrown away.
And there’s even more. RAW loading consumes a lot of energy, and there are situations when conserving battery is of paramount importance. Thus we added a new preference to be able to turn off automatic loading completely.
The default is to automatically load RAW data, so that both the RAW histogram and clipping warnings could work as expected. Well, there’s a little difference from previous versions: with the Prefer RAW clipping warning option you’ll see the processed warning layers until the ones generated from RAW data arrive. In previous versions these processed clipping warning layers were not displayed at all.
Should you need the histogram or the warning layers later on, you always have the option to load the RAW data manually. Just click the placeholder on the RAW histogram, or choose the Load RAW data command from the menu, or press Cmd+L.
Power efficiency and speed were always cornerstone features of Kuuvik Capture. This new release brings both to a completely new level.
The last on the list of image display enhancements is support for images in color spaces other than sRGB and Adobe RGB. While images produced by Canon cameras are always in one of these two, images from other sources can be in others as well. For example JPG files produced by Technical Camera can be in the Display P3 color space. ProPhoto RGB and Display P3 are supported on macOS 10.11.2 or later, and arbitrary profiles on macOS 10.12 or later.
Kuuvik Capture 4.0 is available on the Mac App Store. It is a free update for users who purchased the app earlier from there. You can see the complete list of new features and changes in the release notes.
