[MF3D.FORUM:725] Palm Software Review (2)

[Tom Deering <smile@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here are some other photo-related Palm titles I found in my research:

- PhotoProtocol from http://www.palmspot.com/psdl/photo.zip

- Focus+ from http://www.bitwareoz.com

- PalmPhotographe 2.0 from http://members.tripod.com/~PalmPhotographe

- GoPix (G-d knows where I got it)

Some were terrible.  None were great.  Most seemed like they would 
work in theory, but were not likely to be useful in the field.  The 
only one I kept on my machine was Photographe.

Review:

Photographe is divided into four modules: Parameters, Aperture 
Finder, DOF Calc and Photo Logger.  Parameters allows you to enter 
different cameras, lenses, films, formats, filters and reciprocity 
tables.  The other modules use this info.

Aperture Finder calculates the focus distance and aperture, given the 
near and far points and other parameters.  It can take diffraction 
into account for more realistic small aperture calculations.  The 
program can do 1/2 and 1/3 F-stops.

DOF does the inverse of Aperture Finder.  It tells the depth of field 
for a given lens and focus distance, as you'd expect.  This is 
simplified by the fact that many of the variables are already in 
place, courtesy of the parameters module.

The most useful part is the Photo Logger module.  After helping you 
to set your camera, the program logs these bits of info for you, 
together with a short description.  With about two clicks, it created 
this memo

0006121321: Lighthouse Sunset

Date = Jun 12, 2000 at 10:24 am
Settings = Twin Lubitel, T-22, Fuji Velvia, Medium Format, Daylight
Roll = 5
Frame = 1
Description = Lighthouse Sunset
Notes = I'm adding 3 fill strobes at one stop under ambient
Speed = 1/15s
Aperture = f/16
Place1 = Tree shadow, R=1, Z=3
Place2 = White cloud, R=7, Z=9

The 0006121321 in the title is 06/12/00 13:21, which enables sorting. 
The "place" fields allow you to log a particular spot reading (EVs 
and zones).

The program was pretty easy to learn.  The HTML help files were 
extenseive and useful.  (I only wish there was a module that did 
MAOFD.  I'll contact the programmer to see what he thinks.)

All in all, I basically like Photographe, and will see if I can use 
it that next time I go out.  It would be nice to have all that data 
when I get my slides from the drug store.

Cheers,

Tom
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tmd@xxxxxxxxxxx    http://www.deering.org