So, you want to make a podcast?

It’s a great way of creating a voice for yourself and discuss topics that may be of interest to others.
I’m on episode 53 of my own, and it becomes a weekly discipline.
But that not what you want to hear about.

The question may be:
What is the best gear to get?

In this post I’ll go over:
*Rodecaster Pro
*Aten MicLive
*Zoom Podtrak P4

I find there are 3 main mixers I’d recommend:
The price ranges are from about $200 – $430
All 3 were used with a Shure SM7B mic as a main microphone.
with some alts I’ll discuss further down the post.
Size comparison photos at the end of the post.

My current go-to when recording at home is:
Rodecaster Pro.

There may be a newer version, but I’m still using the original and the good folks at Rode keep updating the firmware.
Some of the positives:

Great pre-amps
4 mics can be used
Bluetooth Phone connection or Direct line in.
Sound effects pad with up to 16 or more sounds, or custom sound (I went custom)
Well built
Companion software on the computer makes it super easy to transfer episodes to upload to podcast hosts
A huge positive is the on-board micro-SD media card slot, so you can record and have a removeable hard copy.
You CAN power from a battery like a big one you would use to charge a laptop.
Basically, it does take some real estate, yet can be transported.
I do have a case that holds the rodecaster pro, 2 Rode Mic Boom arms, 2 Shure SM7b ‘s, headphones, cables, etc.
It’s a big case, but if needed, a great set-up.

Then, there is a new one I took for a test drive :
The Aten MicLive mixer

with 2 XLR combo inputs, so you can plug a 1/4″ jack instrument (like a guitar) right in, You should know your goals for interviews to determine if the 2 inputs is enough.

You can also do an interview by phone with an input designed for that..
A key feature is that it uses the industry’s first AI-optimized audio mixer – enhances microphone audio quality with enhanced acoustic models. It truly delivers great sound.

High end pre-amps for some sweet sound.
A time saving feature once you get to edit, is auto ducking, which lowers background music anytime one speaks. Yes, you can use 2 xlr combo inputs and add music (or a phone) through a 3.5mm input as well. So have your music going throughout if you like, and while doing the interview it will automatically duck (lower the volume) the music when someone is talking.
The footprint is way smaller than the Rodecaster, and being rewarded with great sound is the key.

It only powers on when connected to a laptop or tablet using an app to record/edit/mix
MicLIVE 6-CH works with dedicated ATEN software, OnAir Audio, which supports Windows and Mac OS. You can also use Garageband or your audio software of choice.

They did spend a lot of real estate on voice altering knobs and software. Not sure why, but would rarely use those features.
A big diff is no removeable media, although you can store up to 8 audio samples on the jingle pad.
This is best used in limited space, and when you are at the very least, connected to a laptop.

The best portable, standalone podcast mixer is the Zoom PodTrak4

Here are the highlights:

Up to 4 XLR mics, direct connect to a phone
4 possible sound effects (or jingle) pads
Can run on a battery (usb-c connection or AA)

Removeable SD card slot
Solid pre-amps
I do wish that the sound effects pad effects could be stored internally, but they can only be stored on the SD card, so a little tricky
The size is very manageable
The build is a little plasticky but seems to hold up.
The big news is that is is a self sufficient unit, as it doesn’t need a laptop or tablet to work.

If you are doing a single VO record, I’d recco the Shure SM7B, with a Rode flex arm, and Sony 7506 headphones for any of these scenarios when in a stationary place.

If you are going portable, you may want to go to 2 Shure Sm58s, 2 Manfrotto PIXI mini tripods

(This same setup is great with the Aten, as well.)

Small footprint, easy to pack and carry.
For headphones I use wired earbuds, your choice, and always carry a bunch of inexpensive wire earbuds for the guests

Now with the Zoom PodTrak4, you do need to add some adapters to go to 3.5 plug mics. Especially those needing phantom power.

These are not XLR combo inputs on -board, so that will add some dough to your purchase for the converters. about $25 per, made by Rode.

You can pick you lavalier mic of choice, and I go either Sanken , Tram 50 , or sometimes the Rode lavalier

And yes, you can use a Rode Go wireless system, or Sennheiser G series transmitter /receiver system with the above wired lavs, if you already have that system in your gear bag.

So that is a roundup of my choices for your podcasting systems:

If you are going to based at a stationary locations and will have up to 4 mics going, and def get the Rodecaster pro.
For a smaller footprint, with one-on-one 2 mic interview situation, or carrying a laptop/tablet
Go for the Aten MicLive

My fave for portable is the Zoom PodTRak4. No computer needed, battery powered, small footprint, removable SD Media capable, and 4 sound effects pads.
Up to 4 XLR mics.
BH has run packages that have the mixer, one set of headphones and a 3 month sub for podcast hosting for about $180. Keep your eyes peeled as they may run that again

For size comparisons between the 3, with a deck of cards for size relationship:

In the hand:

and you saw this one:

Yes, I posted this a while back, and the product still is incredibly viable, even as tech marches forward! Time to pick one of these up and share with your immediate family, and all of the connected households.

I love to scan old photos.
Seriously, being able to scan negatives and slide from my archives is one of my favorite evening pastimes. Set it up, scan and store. It almost becomes a treasure hunt, especially with the negatives.
One thing I was not scanning much were all of the 4×6 photos in my storage boxes. You know, we all have them. The personal records of our lives.
The neg sleeves from the commercial labs, like Fromex, had a short cut to the strips, and was, honestly a bit of a pain to deal with.
There are services where you pack all of your precious family photos into a box, and send them overseas to be scanned. Scared the heck out of me, so never did it.
The I saw a demo of the Epson FastFoto 640 (its now the 680W)

When I first saw the Epson FastFoto last year, I had a feeling that this was a breakthrough product. Being able to bulk scan my family snaps, with speed, AND scan front and back for the older ones (people used to put notes on the back) was a win. And sitting on a small bit of a desktop? Worked for me!
Until I get to try these things out myself, I can’t truly comment.
After having one to test for a bit. I’m convinced.

Pure winner.
There is one possible downside that I’ll broach later.

OK, first of all, you stack the photos, and pick your resolution,

and then decide where they should go after you scan. Add the image info for that batch. After you scan one batch, you can continue to add more batches with the same info/set-up if you like. These images can all be saved to the same folder, or destination. I have different folders for birthdays, holidays, etc.,

They can be sent into a named folder, or even on-line.

Then, hit a button on the front of the unit, and your snaps get scanned, in a bulk rate fashion. and no negatives left the sleeves!
Digitized, tagged, and ready to share.
Sweet!
You can also use it for documents, and make searchable PDF’s.

I did it with 4×6 prints, 5×7, and even long panoramics. On the pano’s, once I brought them into lightroom, I just did a mass rotation to get them in the proper orientation. For odd size photos, they include a folder to keep them held correctly to scan. Can you throw a random stack of odd sized prints in at one time? Not advised.
The color was great, it can do auto enhancement, saving an original so you can tweak, the resolution is superb, and the ease of operation was as advertised.

And you can save in of format options for easy sharing (300 dpi), archiving (600 dpi TIFF) and enlarging (1200 dpi (4)); handles multiple sizes in one batch!

I’ll call it portable, as it’s small enough, although not battery powered. (11.8 x 8.7 x 8.1 in)
Well built, great software included, and very easy to use.
So what’s the downside?
The price.
When I first saw the unit at a press event, I thought perhaps it was a suggested price. Nope.
It’s a hefty $650. Now it has dropped to $530!
BUT……
It serves a huge purpose, and it does exactly what it said it would, and does a great job of it.
I suggest this:
Share it with your family. Yep, that’s right. Buy one, and share the cost with family members. Have each family get the scanner for a bit, and scan in their collection of family images. If you amortize the cost with your family members, you can create a massive digital history of your family photos, to share online or in hard files.
The family that scans together, stays together.
As far as shipping it to out-of-town relatives, the box I got the review unit sent in, was the box it came in. No outer packaging, so that’ll work.
The software is very easy to download and use.
When my mom turned 80 we all shared photos of her from across the familial network, and created a book of her life. Wish I had this then.
With companies like ancestry.com giving you details on your families birth lineage, here is a perfect tool to document your families visual history.
Win #TBT every week!

When the Fuji X-H2, and X-H2s were announced, those of us who have been shooting with the X-T series, were asking:
Where the HECK is the X-T5??
Well, your question has been answered, and you won’t have to wait too long to buy.
This November, the X-T5 will be available at a price of about $1700!

Had a chance to put IRL hands on this pup, and no surprise, it felt as comfortable as I hoped
So much of a known feel from the X-T4, with some great improvements.

Taking a page from the H2, you will now get that 40mp you’ve been wanting. AND 6.k video!
Better IBIS, 2 SD card slots, same battery as the X-T4.

So no new battery buys,

and you won’t need to buy the expensive CFExpress cards.
Very slight body change, so feels even a little it better in the hands due to the front grip
Improved battery life,

and a faster AF due to a new processor.Plus finally subject detection, AF!
X-T5 equips AF Algorithm developed with ”Deep learning
technology”. Some brand call a similar system AI.
Camera can recognize not only “Human face/eye” but also
“Animal”, “Bird”, “Auto mobile”, “Bike”, “Airplane”, and “Train”

On the video side of the equation, they did lower the BPS from 400 to 360, BUT it can do ProRes and BlackMagic RAW

Recording time is about 90 min @ 6.k/30P

A hot tip I garnered while at the event, was pulling away the LCD from the back, when recording a lot, as it helps with the heat dissipation.

Heck, I’m also going to do that when I shoot anything with pre-shot.
Got caught with overheating when I was shooting at the US OPEN this year.

What doesn’t it have?
A grip that takes batteries.

Notice there are no contacts for a vertical grip, with batteries

A fully articulated LCD, only a 3 way.

Hopefully not a deal killer.
If you were looking for a legacy camera that upgrades your current photography situation, your eagle has landed!

One other great product they shared was the 30mm 2.8 Macro, lens:

Tiny lightweight, and the specs are crazy. 1×1 macro, weighs 195g
Even if you have the 60mm, 80mm, this lens is a prefect lens to put in your bag
IS this your new “nifty fifty (ok, 46mm)
Looks like it will be mine soon!
MSRP of $599.

here it is on a H series body

So there you have it for now.
I have been looking at the full line of new Fuji camas and I have decided which one will be coming home to me.
That is for another post.

Damon Webster

We always hoped we get there.
And now it looks like it’s almost in our hands:

Fujifilm announces collaboration with Adobe to Offer the World’s First Camera-to-Cloud Native Integration for Digital Still Cameras
The ability to shoot and wirelessly transmit RAW stills files and ProRes video, and to be able to edit within moments for the small crew content creators is groundbreaking.
Oh, not the idea of a wireless transmission: it’s getting it in the cloud that is the big news!

Tethering in a studio usually works best when hard wired. This is about remote shooting and uploading to the cloud.

This changes everything, as a more stable, reliable, system. Having a partnership with Adobe definitely brings it to the right place.
The remote capabilities are massive. Especially in the documentary category, or news gathering.
Putting this tech in the reach of the many, in an affordable package, democratizes the collaboration possibilities.

What does it take? The new Fujifilm H-2S and the special grip with an enhanced wifi antennae, plus an update to the firmware.
And if you have worked in the video space, you will know about Frame.IO, which is where your files will upload to.

During Covid days, all of my post production for commercials and sometimes shoots, was remote, and a lot still is. For commercials we would use Slingshot to get the dailies to the editor fast.

This isn’t that, but a manageable system that opens up the door to not only location uploads, but being able to work with people in various location, uploading to the same file on Frame.IO. Content creators can easily work together as long as there is wifi.

In a press event we got a preview of this technology, and this week at NAB, I’ll be able to see it in action.

During the presentation to our group, the question came up about “what if you lose battery power, or you shut your camera down during the transfer?” No fear, as the transfer continues once the camera is on again.
Continue Reading »

Fuji just announced its new X-H2, a 40.2MP camera, with a brand new
New X-Trans™ CMOS 5 HR sensor and the high-speed X-Processor 5.

And why are there now a X-H2, And a X-H2s? 2 versions of the same camera with diff specs. I’ll give you some of the specs here, and at the end let you know which one I’ll go for.

The H-2 will sell for $2000, and the H-2s sells for $2500.

With a $500 difference, between the 2, the simple answer is that the H2s has more robust video capabilities, and the H2 has the higher MP count. They share many of the same accessories- vertical battery grip, cooling fan, and some other items.

The specs are eerily similar, and you really do have to make a conscious direction on which to buy, depending on your usage,
Of course, it may make sense to buy one of each, so you are prepared for all situations.

Here is a breakdown:

The new sensor gets you to a low ISO 125, and a max shutter speed of 1/180,000 (are your shooting in a snowstorm?)
AND they’ve added an interesting built in focusing meter.

It shows up on your screen as a green gauge and shows you your in focus range. This all reads great, but until I see it in person, the jury is out on that feature

Speaking of auto focus, X-Processor 5 features subject-detection AF based on deep learning technology that automatically detects and tracks a broad and diverse range of subjects, including animals, birds, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, airplanes, and trains. Like some of the other brands in the category

X-H2 is the first X Series camera featuring the Pixel Shift Multi-Shot function
. Using the camera’s in-body image stabilization (IBIS) mechanism to shift the image sensor with immense precision, 20 reference images are automatically created and later assembled in post-production using the dedicated “Pixel Shift Combiner” software. The result is a 160 Megapixel image, constructed from the total information available from each RGB pixel found on the X-H2’s new X Trans 5 CMOS HR sensor.

Yes, you read that right 160 MP, using a proprietary software.

OK, as mentioned above, it also has the capability of 8K movies that can be recorded internally at 30P in 4:2:2 10-bit color. X-H2 has a heat-dissipating design — same as the X-H2S — to enable recording of 8K/30P video for up to 30 minutes. There is an available cooling fan, for shooting longer sessions.
This is the world’s first APS-C camera to enable 8K/30P Apple ProRes internal recording.

Honestly, I use an Atomos Ninja V for video on my Fujis, but this camera allows you to shoot 8K/30P on board video for up to 30 minutes

Be mindful of the heat dissipation, it’s a very real thing. Thats’ why they offer a cooling fan!

You will have to get a fistful of new media cards, as CFExpress B may not be in your arsenal.
So here is my journey with the H series of Fuji cameras.
I began with the X- series and loved the analog feel, and controls at my fingertips
When the H-1 came out with built in IBIS, I jumped on it. Different layout, but I tweaked the wheels to do the functions I commonly used
Then came the X-T4, with great IBIS, solid video options (was able to shoot FLog at 400 MBS for a movie), and back with the analog knobs

With the new H series, there are so many improvements, as it usually goes with any next gen.
However, for my purposes, my take is go with the H-2: high MP; better newer sensor and processor; all the video specs I need (as I said, for more serious video I use an Atomos Ninja V); plus the headphone jack is now back to a 3.5mm standard (was never a fan of the USB-C. requiring an adaptor; and yes, it’s $500 cheaper.

Now $500 in the life of a camera is really not a big deal, but it is the still image specs that tipped the balance.

In the future, can I get all of those specs in an X-T5? I still do love the analog adjustments.

PLEASE NOTE: I HAVE NOT SHOT WITH THE X-H2, SO ALL NOTES ARE BASED ON SUPPLIED SPECS