Rie travels through the cosmos
Good weather, and a field of flowers in bloom. Time to get out of the studio, and make the most of the natural environment.
Model – Rie Tanaka Makeup and Hair – Summer Johnson.
Rie travels through the cosmos
Do different 64GB SDXC cards perform differently when used in my Pentax 645D camera?
Why is this question important? SD cards of the same memory capacity vary in price. Some claim “faster shot-to-shot performance” but does it make any difference with my particular camera.
The cards:
Transcend SDXC Card 64GB
Transcend 64GB SDXC Card Price 4,769 Yen (Amazon Japan)
SanDisk Extreme 64GB SDXC Card
SanDisk Extreme 64GB SDXC Card Price 6390 Yen (Amazon Japan)
SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB SDXC Card
SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB SDXC Card 12,819 (Amazon Japan) 
Whether purchased in Japan or in the U.S. there is a clear difference in pricing between the three cards. Prices shown are the best available prices on the Amazon websites as of writing. (Please feel free to click on the links, and I’ll make a few cents from any purchases you make. This is a bonus, but not the purpose of the post.)
Pentax 645D with dual SD card slots
The camera:
I’m using my Pentax 645D camera. It has twin SD card slots. I have them set up so that the camera writes the RAW DNG file to both cards simultaneously. If there is a problem with one of the cards I have a backup. Also after filling the pair of cards with images I can then store the two cards separately. This reduces the possibility of all data being lost due to theft or another calamity. The Pentax 645D is a 40 megapixel camera, each RAW file is around 70 MB. On a 64GB card I can fit 712 images.
In the camera’s settings, high ISO noise reduction and slow shutter speed noise reduction are turned off.
The test:
Shooting continually, approximately 1 frame a second. How many frames will the camera take before it won’t let me capture any more images.
After shooting 5 frames in succession how long does it take for the preview image of the last shot to appear on the viewing screen.
The results:
All three discs produced the about the same results.
They camera shot about 17 frames in a row and then wouldn’t take any more images
After shooting 5 shots it took about 13 seconds for the most recent shot to appear on the preview screen.
The conclusion:
For the 645D camera, shot to shot performance was not significantly affected by the choice of SD card. I presume that limiting factor with regards to speed is the camera’s processor rather than the type of SD card.
Other types of camera may have better performance when using cards with fast write speeds, but in my case it would be better to choose one of the cheaper options.
Speed and price, however, are not the only variables when considering SD cards. Reliability is another issue. I have found more issues with corrupt files with the Transcend cards than with SanDisk cards. I have not done even a rudimentary test on this, but as a personal preference I would stick with the SanDisk brand.
Test winner: SanDisk Extreme 64GB SDXC
Shades of Blue
The ocean, shot from beside the road on a cloudy morning. Turns out to be one of my favorite shots of the year.
Kiyoshi Yogi – Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou
Kiyoshi Yogi is a master of Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou. He was the sai world champion, the bou world champion, and the first Okinawa traditional karatedo world champion.
Kiyoshi Yogi – Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou
Yogi sensei was the 17th master to be photographed as part of the Karate Masters Portrait Project. We stared on March 11th 2012 so we’ve being underway for a year. Over the past 12 months it has become clear just how important the project is. There has been praise and encouragement from all over the world, although the best feedback is usually the beaming smiles from the masters as we hand over the prints for their dojos.
Kiyoshi Yogi – Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou
Hopefully over the next year we’ll photograph even more of these Okinawan icons. I’ll continue to take the portraits, James will continue to organize the shoots, and the karate masters will continue to share their knowledge with the world.
Kiyoshi Yogi – Uechiryu Karate & Ryukyu Kobudou
Hisano – Jahana Kippan
Hisano Pankiewicz makes traditional Okinawan sweets. It’s been the family business for over a century. They have a small store in Naha called Jahana Kippan, which can also be found online at OkinawaSweets.com Her husband James is the owner of The Dojo Bar in Naha.
Hisano needed a new portrait that can be used when promoting the company and introducing herself as a young Japanese businesswoman. We decided to keep the look of the shot simple and natural. Hisano was delighted with the image, and a happy client means a happy photographer.
Hisano also gave me some coconut covered tougatsuke, as a thank you. Very happy photographer.
Naha Airport, Okinawa at Dawn
Planes with propellers. Awesome.
Unless, of course, you’re a big German mechanic fighting with an archeologist.
The Queen of Hearts
The first of two images from an Alice in Wonderland themed shoot for a client. The concept, costume design, and makeup was by Candi Girls Jovanna Flor, Michelle Rives, and Siobhan Bermudez.
In this shot Michelle was more than a little upset that someone had stolen her tarts.
Tech Guru Stage 1
The first of a series of computer geek / tech guru images I shot with my friend Keith last month.
Unlike some of my other portraits, Keith really does this for a living. He’s also so nice that having spent all day reconfiguring and updating servers, he’s willing to stop by my home to fix / undo the latest technology based mess I’ve gotten myself into. Long live the nerd.
Tech Guru Stage 1
Yuukou Tomimoto – Ryukyu Kobudo
Yuukou Tomimoto, a Ryukyu kobudou master who studies a rare type of bo (staff) fighting that was passed down from the royal court of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
Yuukou Tomimoto – Ryukyu Kobudo
Yuukou Tomimoto – Ryukyu Kobudou
Yuukou Tomimoto – Ryukyu Kobudou
Pentax K5IIs exhibition
Starting February 13 in Tokyo, Pentax is having an exhibition of images shot with the new K5IIs camera. 15 photographers are involved and I was lucky enough to be asked to be one of them. Pentax selected a couple of my recent studio images, one of Alexis, and one of Sachi. I’ve spent a month working with both the 645D and the K5IIs side by side so I have similar images from both cameras.
Alexis ( K5IIs exhibition image )
Sachi ( K5IIs exhibition image )
From February 13th to 25th the exhibition will be at Ring Cube in Ginza, Tokyo. This is the Ricoh / Pentax Gallery that overlooks one of Tokyo’s most famous intersections.
Ring Cube Gallery overlooking Ginza 4-chome, Tokyo
From March 6th to 11th the exhibition will be shown at the Pentax Forum in West Shinjuku.
Thanks to Pentax for selecting the images, to Alexis and Sachi for modeling, and Felicia Lee and Summer Johnson for hair and makeup.
TRAVEL 67 : Chris Willson Photography 