The 2021 iPad Pro life

So this week has been very exciting.  I sold my Sony a7R Mark II camera, my Sony FDR AX-53, my Canon Vixia HF G50 and a few of my point and shoot cameras.  I purchased a Sony RX100 Mark VII for a second time in about a year.  I also purchased a Sony FDR AX700B camcorder.  I wanted to really downsize my equipment while keeping up the quality of the equipment in my possession.  Both new cameras are able to shoot HDR stills and video.  So that’s exciting because the weather has gotten much warmer this week and it’s actually sunny so I’m spending more time outside doing photography and shooting videos.  I am also a day closer to getting the new M1 based Apple iPad Pro with the 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM.  I already have the new 2021 magic keyboard in my possession.  The new iPads are supposed to be released this coming Friday, May 21st 2021.  I hope that is true.

I was going to cancel my iPad Pro order today as it’s been processing the past 2 and a half weeks.  Than I was editing some 4K videos today and I was thinking to myself; “Screw it, the Windows 10 Pro based Dell XPS 17 9700 laptop is loud when it’s editing 4K video.  I use LumaFusion on my 2018 iPad Pro and no noise whatsoever.  And it does it faster than the Windows 10 based laptop.  The 2021 iPad Pro is supposed to be 50%+ faster than the 2018/2020 iPad Pro using the M1 based chip with 16GB of RAM.  I honestly cannot wait. I hope to get it soon.  Waiting for new tech sucks.  I have 2 Toshiba T5 external SSD’s that I will be using for external storage.  I cannot wait for the iPad Pro to come out.  Have I said that already?

I hope Apple releases some pro apps like Final Cut Pro.  That is the one piece of software I am looking for.  If Apple charges a yearly subscription for Final Cut Pro, I’d be thoroughly disappointed and I will not purchase a subscription based program.  That is why I quit using Adobe products.  

I have my current 2018 based Apple iPad Pro paired with the magic keyboard, an Apple Magic Mouse and the Apple  iPods Max and they really sound fantastic for the price.  I also have the Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro.  I am a very mobile photographer/videographer.  That is my stated goal with my equipment.  Now I just need to move out west to Calgary and actually start doing my landscape photography.  

I cannot wait for the 2021 Apple iPad Pro (12.9”) with the M1 processor, 1TB of SSD storage and 16GB of RAM to be in my hands.  I think it’s gonna be a huge game changer.  The SSD is apparently twice as fast as the SSD hard drive in the 2020 iPad Pro.  It’s gonna be amazingly awesome to work on the 2021 iPad Pro.  I cannot wait to use it.

Photography only with the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

I am basically done with carrying around a mirror less or DSLR type camera.  I’m also done editing in Photoshop, Affinity Photo, Lightroom CC and such software.  I can do shoot everything on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and edit everything in Apple Photo and Pixelmator Photo on the iPad Pro.  I can use my Apple Watch Series 6 as a shutter release.  I carry the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max and my Apple Watch Series 6 with me everywhere I go.  No more lugging around bulky and expensive cameras.  Why would I do that when I can shoot on the iPhone 12 Pro Max that fits in my pocket.  I can sharpen, colour correct and de-noise all my photos and videos in Apple Photos and enlarge and colour correct them in Pixelmator Photo.   I can get 25MB to 60MB photos out of the original PhotoRaw photos shot on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  I’ve submitted them to Adobe Stock and most do get accepted.  I say most because some of the photos I have submitted weren’t properly edited.  That’s on me.  My fault.  I’m just waiting on a batch of photos that I reworked.  We’ll see how many of those Weill be accepted.  

A few years ago, I wouldn’t even touch iPhone photos because of the crappy quality. But now.  They’re just as good or better than a shot taken with a DSLR or mirror-less camera.

2021 Apple iPad Pro with the M1 chip, 1TB ssd and 16GB of RAM

So riddle me this.  Why would Apple put the M1 chip with 16GB of RAM into the new 2021 iPad Pro if they weren’t going to put pro apps on the new 2021 Apple iPad Pro?  That’s why I bought the 1TB option with 16GB of RAM.  If and when they do release Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad Pro later this year, I will be one of the first to buy both products.  I’m not a music guy at all but I think you can use Logic Pro to edit voice overs.  Final Cut Pro is an amazing video editing piece of software that I already own for the 2013 MacBook Pro so I’m used to editing with the software.  Mind you, LumaFusion is just as good, if not better.  I hope some of the plugins are ported over to the iPad Pro for Final Cut Pro.  The Denoise plugin from Neat Video is the only plug in I use.

I will be using the 2021 Apple iPad Pro as my daily driver.  I already use the 2018 iPad Pro as my daily driver.  I’m so used to the iPad OS and most of the apps that I use on a daily basis.  I just can’t wait for iPad OS 15 and some of the pro apps to come out in September.  I think WWDC 2021 in June will be a major stepping stone for the OS and the iPad Pro hardware.

More Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max photography

 

So that fiancée and I decided to go for a drive down to Brockville, ON this past weekend.  It’s one of our favourite places to go as the city is small and it has a lot of parks.  Brockville, ON is located on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Across the river is New York State which you can see in the above photo.  I keep using the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with 512GB internal hard drive.

I edit all my photography on the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  Apple is supposed to come out with a brand new iPad Pro this year.  Hopefully it’ll come out in March.  I’m thinking of upgrading the iPad Pro since my current iPad Pro is 3 years old now.  I upgrade my equipment every 3 years with the exception of the iPhone which is every 2 years.  But I think I’ll be keeping the iPhone 12 Pro Max for 3-4 years.  We shall see what Apple does.  If they release a new iPad Pro this year.  I prefer the 12.9” version.  I’ll probably get the 12.9” version with the 1TB hard drive.

It has started

 

So yesterday I grabbed my tripod and my newly acquired Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage and went out for a short photo walk.  I photographed the Parliament buildings, the Supreme Court of Canada building and the National Arts Centre.  On my way back to the parking garage, I caught the above shot.  The building is part of the World Exchange Plaza located in downtown Ottawa.  Yesterday was a cool and brisk day.  I think the high was around -4 degrees Celsius with some wind.  I am totally impressed with the quality of the camera on the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.  The HDR photos and video are simply stunning.  This photo was taken at about 3:30pm with a setting sun in the west.  I think today is supposed to be the same in the afternoon so I’ll just go around the Ottawa downtown core and just do some handheld photography with the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

The video sizes are simply immense coming from the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  On Saturday, the fiancee and I went up for drive up to the Ottawa Valley.  I decided to use the Filmic Pro app on my iPhone and do a whole video of driving from Arnprior to Ottawa.  The 50 or so minute drive was about a 50GB file.  This is the reason I got the 512GB storage option on the iPhone.  It also took a while to Airdrop the file from the iPhone to my iPad Pro.  The iPad Pro handled the 50GB HDR video file a champ.  It’s on my YouTube channel if you want to check it out.  Here is the link.

The malls are empty

 I’ve been picking up accessories for my new Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max this past week.  I’ve gone to one of the larger malls located in the west end of Ottawa this past week.  The mall is 90% empty.  There is maybe 10% of the people that are typically there.  It’s still a few weeks before Christmas but this particular mall and all the other malls in Ottawa are typically full of people.  But this year, all the malls are void of people.  You had a few thousand people in the malls at this time last year.  This year, it’s less than a few hundred.  There is hardly anyone there.  I went to this particular mall around 3:30pm on a Wednesday and Thursday night and it’s empty.  No one is doing any in person shopping.  The Apple store located in this mall is pretty empty.  You have maybe 20 employees if that and you got people lining up outside because they have one or two people at a time.

The rona virus is making people miserable and mean.  I think this is another reason I want to get out of Ottawa and Canada actually.  They say Canadians are nice and all, but in fact they are the complete and total opposite.  Just mean, grumpy a-holes for the most part.

On a brighter note, the above shot was taken with my new Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the ultra wide lens.  For me now, there is no point in carrying around my Canon PowerShot G7X Mark III or my Sony a7R Mark II.  I don’t think I’ll be using my camcorders either.  Next week, I’ll have more time after work to do some more photography and testing out the new iPhone for photography and videography.  I fortunately have the last two weeks of December off because the department is really slow and there aren’t that many people at work anyways.  Actually there aren’t any people in my building at work at all.  There are more security and cleaning staff than actual government employees.  

My fiancee and I are going to the Greater Toronto Area during Christmas to visit my fiancees sister.  So the iPhone 12 Pro Max (512GB storage edition) will be coming with me.  I think we’ll be hanging around Niagara Falls and the downtown core.  I’ll take my Sony a7R Mark II with me just in case.  It’s still a good camera for night time photography because of the full frame sensor.  We shall see.

So just one more thing

 

So I have one more thing to pick up today at the Apple store at the Bayshore shopping centre.  It’s the Apple wireless charger for my Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB internal storage option.  Then off to do photography with just the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  

With the iPhone, my photography style will change I think.  I’m going to be going more stealth mode inside shopping malls and office buildings.  Hopefully, if they get approved on Adobe Stock (probably not), they’ll start selling.  Those pesky property releases are a pain in the butt.  

I am also hoping iOS 14.3 comes out soon as well.  Can’t wait for the ProRaw option on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Raw files allow you to better edit your photography.  Gives you more options to edit your photography.  I’m hoping Apple Photos will be updated to handle the ProRaw files on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  

2021 has to be much better than 2020.  2020 is total gong show.  This year has totally sucked travel wise, freedom wise and every other thing.

iPhone photography. Just iPhone photography

 

I am thinking of selling off all my photography gear like my Sony a7R Mark II, my Sony FDR AX-53B, Canon Vixia G50 and my Canon Powershot G7X Mark III.  I haven't touched any of them in weeks since I don't like to carry so much equipment with me.

When Apple release iOS 14.3, all Apple iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max shooters will be able to shoot in Raw mode.  That is a huge improvement for iPhone photography.  I do mainly landscape photography right now along with cityscapes.  I hardly do any night time photography or early morning photography.  The iPhone 12 Pro Max has excellent lenses on the phone and they're only to get better.  I have enough storage on the phone and the iPad Pro that it won't be a hinderance at all.  I have the phone with me all the time.  I don't carry around the big cameras.  

I don't do photography people or animals.  I don't do any studio work.  Mostly I am outside in nature.  It will also help with the minimalism type of life style I'm developing.  By spring of next year I want to be out in western Canada and away from the miserable and bleak landscape of Ottawa and eastern Ontario and western Quebec.

I've noticed with the iPhone 12 Pro Max I hardly use the battery.   I use maybe 30% of the battery with all day use listening to music, checking emails and watching YouTube videos.  I am so engrained in the Apple eco-system, it's hard for me to leave.  My current 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GH internal hard drive and the 12.9" screen is a fantastic complement to the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

I want to start creating more and more YouTube videos to sell my existing photography on the various micro stock sites and my own site.  The iPhone 12 Pro Max will definitely be useful for that.

Finally got everything I need

 So I got the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage which is more than enough to shoot 4K/60FPS video.  It's also more than enough to do a lot of photography with the phone.  Yesterday I bought the Apple 12 Pro Max Clear case with Magsafe.  This case allows me to connect my external Shure MV88 microphone without any obstruction.  

The bad thing over the last couple of weeks is that the weather here in Ottawa has been a total crapshoot.  It's either raining or snowing.  It's been cloudy for pretty much everyday for the past month or so.  I think we've had maybe one or two somewhat sunny days here since October.  Up until 2 weeks ago, we had what's called a Bermuda warm front come through Ottawa so we had several nice warm days.  Now, not so much.  It's been just above 32 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and below freezing at night.  

When I leave for work at 7am, it's dark and when I go home at 4pm it's dark.  I hardly take breaks and my lunch is short.  So getting out do do any photography during the day is pretty much non existent.    I am not making any excuses but I've been off work since April 1st till the end of October.  So I kinda value my job for the income.  I'm going to do more photography now and I'll be doing YouTube videos as well.

iOS 14.2 is pretty solid and stable.  Just waiting for iOS 14.3 to come out as the native camera app will be able to support proRAW natively on the iPhone 12 Pro Max.  Currently I am using Camera+ 2 as my main photography app.  For video, I'm using the Filmic app.  All are pretty easy and functional apps to use on the iPhone.

Everything is edited on my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 12.9" screen and 512GB worth of storage.  Plus I have 4TB of iCloud storage which is pretty sweet.  This is the whole reason I cannot or will not leave the Apple eco-system.  I'm just too far ingrained and used to the Apple eco-system.  I just want to go out and shoot with the iPhone.  

I really want to go shooting with the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

really want to go do some photography and capture some footage with the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.  I ordered the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max on November 15, 2020 and got it on November 28, 2020.  It was supposed to take 3-4 weeks to get to me.  Luckily I got it in 2 weeks as I was able to pick it up at the FedEx depot near the Ottawa International Airport.  Didn’t get a chance to go yesterday as I was at my parents place for dinner as they are flying into Florida this coming Wednesday.  Today is Monday and I’m stuck inside a boardroom all day at work.  From the looks of the weather radar, it’s raining pretty hard outside.  I usually get out of work between 2 and 4.  The weather is gonna suck for the rest of the day as it’s supposed to rain pretty much all day.  I have plans to use the iPhone 12 Pro Max as my primary device for photos and videos.

I might actually just go home and shoot a talking head type video.  I do not like doing the talking head videos.  I’d rather be behind the camera.  Actually after work, I have to go to one of the two Apple stores here in Ottawa and see what I can get for my old Apple iPhone 8+.  Probably not gonna get a whole lot for it from Apple.  Probably about $210 or so.  That should get me a few things on an Apple gift card.  I need a new case where the bezel is free so I can connect my mic properly.