Category Archives: Hardware

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MacBook 2017/2018

Hardware, Macintosh

A fine replacement for the 11″ MacBook Air.


The 11″ MacBook Air at left next to the 12″ MacBook.

My son and I have long been aficionados of the 11″ MacBook Air. Light, adequately fast and with sufficient internal chip storage for all but large video and photo catalogs, it was affordably priced. Sadly, Apple discontinued the 11″ version in 2015, and only the 13″ version continues in the line.

As my son works his way to the Ivy League he has stepped up his efforts and just scored an A+ mid-term grade in calculus, so it seemed only fair to hear his complaint about the slowness of his 2013 MacBook and procure him an upgrade. There were, however, two issues. First the closest match in size to the 11″ MBA is the 2017/18 MacBook – the specifications remained unchanged in 2018 – but the asking price of $1300 is outrageous. Second, when the current MacBook first surfaced in 2015 we tried one in the Apple Store and were very disappointed by the mushy feel of the keyboard.

Well, both issues have been happily resolved. First, B&H in New York had a special on the 2017 MacBook a few days ago, slashing the price by $500 to $800, albeit available in gold finish only. No big deal – it looks OK, even if silver would have been preferred. Second, Apple redesigned the keyboard in 2017 and the feel is now superb. The keys are crisp and light and every bit as good as those in the MBA.

Memory is doubled to 8gB and speed is now up to 1867MHz. The latest integrated Intel GPU sees to speedy screen response of the Retina display and data storage is now 256gB of quick RAM compared with 128gB in the 2013 MBA. The CPU is Intel’s Core m3 with a Geekbench score of 6643 compared with 4974 for the 2013 MBA despite the slower clock speed of 1.2gHz vs. 1.3gHz in the older laptop. That’s 33% faster. (The last 11″ MBA made, the 2015, scored 5568).

Display pixels? 1366 x 768 in the MBA compared with 2304 x 1440 for the MacBook with retina Display, or almost three times as many pixels per unit area. My son reports that the Retina Display in the MacBook is noticeably sharper than the regular one in the MBA.

Testifying to continued improvement in engineering the MacBook weighs in at a scant 2.0 lbs compared with 2.4lbs for the 2013 MBA, yet the screen is 19% larger in the MacBook. Wonderful. Battery life is a claimed 10 hrs, presumably measured in a dark room with minimum screen brightness and no activity ….

What’s not to like. Well, yet another connector switch with the MacBook using USB C at both the laptop and power brick ends. And because the laptop has only one USB C socket for power and data (the MBA has two USB A sockets and a power socket) this means that an adapter will be required if, say, you want to use the laptop with an external display while simultaneously charging it. Not great.

Transfer of apps and data from the old MBA was a breeze as my son backs up everything automatically to iCloud. While Apple really should include a progress bar when recovery to the new laptop is in progress – the screen display just remains static and you have no idea if anything is happening – the whole process took but 10 minutes. Very nicely done, Apple.

The old 2013 MBA will sell for $400 or so on Swappa making the net upgrade outlay just $400. Now that’s what I call a bargain, given the six years of hard use my son got from the machine. Be sure to wait for the B&H discount to reappear as the $1300 full retail price is way too high.

Panasonic FF mirrorless imminent

Panasonic

A new FF entrant.

DP Review has an interesting interview with a Panasonic representative, talking about the forthcoming full frame S1 (24mp) and S1R (47mp) bodies.

While Panny is coy about the maker of the sensors, meaning it’s not Panny, that hardly matters. Panny and Nikon no more make all the parts in their hardware than Mercedes and BMW do in their cars, where everything from shocks, wheel, electronics, brakes, windows, seats, etc. is sub-contracted. That does not stop them from making good products.


The Panasonic S1R.

Panny’s timing is perfect. With Nikon having just introduced the mirrorless Z6/Z7, bodies which really dictate a move to the new compact lens line, Panny will be identically priced. The new user will have to pay for a body and lens and you can bet that if Panny wants decent market share that prices will be identical to Nikon’s. Best of all the bodies will hit the market with a large range of lenses from Panny (the MFT optics are excellent), Leica ($$$) and Sigma, the latter for those who do not care about bulk, weight and poor auto focusing. The target market is stated as being the working pro. I would wager that the bodies will take adapted MFT lenses with full functionality, restricting the sensor size to that of MFT. Not nuclear physics and nice to have, the 47mp sensor becoming 12mp, perfectly adequate for all but mural sized prints.

It is heartwarming to read of Panny’s experiments with ergonomics described in the article, something very reminiscent of Leica’s approach in designing the landmark M3 in the early 1950s, the best handling camera of the time. Panny also puts significant stress on the quality of the EVF and the camera’s durability, both required if they are to compete with Nikon. Further, given the high quality video implementation in Panny’s high end MFT bodies it seems the video maker has much to look forward to here. Panny really knows video.

From a hardware perspective there has never been a better time to be a photographer, even if the cell phone revolution has saturated the world with execrable photography.

Nikon – a magnificent legacy

Cameras, Nikon bodies, Nikon lenses

The Nikon Museum in Tokyo.


Click the image to go to the interactive Google view.

Nikon honors its legacy in the extensive displays in the Nikon Museum. When Nikon abandoned the Zeiss Contax lens mount replacing it with the F mount in its first – and best – SLR, the peerless Nikon F, it was as much a statement of intent as it was an act of courage. The wisdom of that decision persists to this day when even the earliest F mount lenses can be mounted on the latest Nikon D850 DSLR.

Now with a new, wider mount in the Z6/Z7 mirrorless offerings, Nikon has finally begun to abandon the flapping mirror in favor of what is already acknowledged as the best EVF in the business, the one found in the new Z bodies.


A display of rangefinder bodies which preceded the Nikon F. The related lenses put Nikon on the map.

Leitz, Wetzlar used to be the owner of the legacy crown, snatched from it by Nikon with the Nikon F which saw the rangefinder Leica M bodies migrate from being workhorses to becoming silly Veblen goods. The working pro gives these not even a passing thought, no more than an enthusiastic driver thinks about Rolls Royces.


The Nikon F. The camera which changed everything. This camera did to the German
camera industry what Honda did to British motorcycles.

Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D AF lens

Nikon lenses

A decent walkabout optic.

The heart warming facts about Nikon’s AFD zoom optics is not only that many choices exist but also that many are insanely inexpensive in mint, used condition.

My mint copy of the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 ran me but $78 plus $7 to Amazon for a 62mm UV protective filter. I did not bother getting a lens hood as the one for this lens is huge and mostly useless.

The rational ‘walkabout’ comparison is the 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 IF lens which adds internal focusing for a smoother feel and extends more at both ends. I have been using the 24-120mm on my Nikon F100 with Ektar film with considerable success. If there’s a complaint it’s the generous dollops of distortion, barrel at the wide end and pincushion at the long. This needs correcting in LR with architectural subjects, a pain but not hard to do.



At their widest settings. Note that the zoom rings work in opposite directions.


At the longest focal lengths.


So how does the 28-105mm differ? Bulk and weight are much the same, the zoom rings displays a tad more stiction owing to the traditional design, the optic is faster at the long end by one stop and adds a handy macro feature.

Here are test images – you can compare with those from the 24-120mm f/3.5-5.6 by clicking here.



At 28mm, f/3.5, center and edge.


At 28mm, f/8, center and edge.


At 50mm, f/4, center and edge.


At 50mm, f/8, center and edge.


At 105mm, f/4.5, center and edge.


At 105mm, f/8, center and edge.


In summary edge performance at the wide end is ghastly at full aperture; you need to stop down to f/8 to make it useable. The 24-120mm optic is far better in this regard. The edges from the 28-105mm get progressively better as the focal length increases. Whereas the 24-120mm lens shows chromatic aberration (easily fixed in LR) the 28-105mm has none. Not published here, distortion characteristics disclose that the 28-105 shows mild barrel distortion at 28mm, disappearing at 50mm or longer. That is much better than the 24-120 which barrels greatly at 24mm and pincushions north of 50mm. Neither optic does a particularly good job of rendering out-of-focus areas, both yielding results that are too ‘busy’ for my taste. The 28-105mm lens shows no light fall off at the edges at any aperture or focal length. I have found that the later lens correction profile in LR for the 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 G VR optic (the one with no aperture ring) works well with this earlier AF D lens.

Handling of both optics on the D700 DSLR and F100 film SLR is excellent. They balance well, zoom rings lack any gritty feel, AF is as fast as you need for all but sports subjects and as I always use aperture priority with aperture control transferred to the lens, the aperture ring on the 28-105mm is easier to access as the lens is less steeply pyramided at that location, making the ring more accessible. Not a big deal in practice.

The macro range on the 28-105mm is accessed by setting the focal length between 50 and 105mm and focus between infinity and 0.5 feet. The switch on the barrel is flipped and you get a very handy macro lens with a focal length range of 50-105mm. The long focal length setting is especially handy as it allows better clearance between the front of the lens and the subject. This is the closest I could get at 105mm:




The magnification ratio computes to 1/4 life size.

Sharpness, even at f/4.5 in the macro range, is excellent – fully useable.

Conclusion: If you need 24mm (which is much wider than 28mm) and useable edge performance near full aperture at the wide end, the 24-120mm is the better choice. If you prefer a minimum of post-processing to remove distortion the 28-105mm is to be preferred. The construction quality and material choices (more plastic) of the 28-105mm are lower but hardly a deal breaker and the macro feature is both useable and the optics excellent. Weights of the two lenses with filters are 16oz for the 28-105mm and 20 oz for the 24-120mm.

It’s a nice choice to have to make with each lens selling for well under $100. I have both!

Apple discards the college business

Macintosh

Silly-priced new MacBook Air.

Apple just announced the new MacBook Air and it’s priced at an over-the-top $1200 for the base model with a 13.3″ display.

You will not be seeing this much more:

Yes, this silly-priced MacBook Air confirms that Apple is strictly in the Veblen Goods market, where a premium price is seen as attractive, a low one as a disincentive to conspicuous consumption.

Consider: Wireless ear bud speakers at $120. Cellphones starting at $800 + tax + annual service contracts. The Apple Pencil to draw on your iPad at $100. All commanding 50% profit margins because someone has to pay for that ridiculous over-the-top flying saucer HQ:


Hubris. The Apple HQ building in Cupertino.

I’m writing this on a 2010 Mac Pro tower. In its faultless 365/24/7 life it has had one upgrade of GPU, CPU, RAM and SSD storage. I expect it to continue to deliver fault free daily performance for another decade, at 70% of the speed of the latest throwaway machines. When parts fail – and they seldom do – they are easily replaced with a screwdriver or two and readily available. The chassis design dates from 2006.

My MacBook Air is the last 11″ 2015 model made. I would upgrade this $800 machine annually as, with associated tax benefits, the upgrades were free. Then the 11″ was discontinued never to appear again. It weighs just 2.38lbs and is a handy portable companion. At 11″ a costly ‘Retina Display’ would be money wasted. It’s the perfect traveling machine whether for college student or businessman. But you can no longer buy it new. So now the aspiring student will buy a Chromebook with comparable specs to the new MacBook Air for, what, $450?

In a decade Apple has abandoned its core constituency, the pro A/V market. It has abandoned college students and the impecunious. And now it sells ridiculously overpriced, glass-backed, fragile cell phones for $1000 and up.

Strange business model for the coming recession.

Strategy? Given that technology changes at the margin for desktops, laptops, tablets and cellphones are very slow, I’m increasingly focused on upgrading to 2-3 year old tech, as I did in moving from an iPhone6 to an iPhone7 for a modest $300 net a few weeks back. No $1000 cellphones for me. I get 80% of current performance for 30% of the cost. That solves.