Final Cut Pro

 

Last weekend, before I went to the hospital again, I purchased the base Apple M2 Mac mini.  I wanted to start learning how to use Final Cut Pro on an Apple computer.  I had used FCP X about 7-8 years ago before completely switching to an Apple iPad Pro.  Apple released FCP for the iPad Pro last year but that app is just not there.  There is really no good colour or audio correction on the iPad Pro.   

Apple was also still running on Intel chips in those days.  No M series chips back in the 2010's.  I've been working on an iPad Pro for the last 4 or 5 years or so. 

On the weekends that I'm home in between hospital visits where I learn how to walk with my prosthetic, I've been learning how to  FCP X on the Mac mini.  Although pretty fast, much faster than an Intel based computer, it's not so good for video editing longer videos and adding edits such as video noise removal, and colour correction.  The iPad Pro with the M2 chip, 2TB of storage and 16GB of RAM is much, much faster. 

This coming week, I'm getting about 2 years worth of back pay from my job.  The plan is to buy a MacBook Pro with at least 2TB of storage and 64GB of RAM and an M3 Max chip on the inside.  I am hoping that is much more of a capable machine to handle 4k video editing.

I'm planning on using either my Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max with an external Samsung T7 2TB drive and editing off of that with the MacBook Pro.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max

The iPhone 15 Pro Max is a game-changer for photographers. Its camera system is nothing short of exceptional, with a large sensor, improved low-light performance, and enhanced computational photography capabilities. The ProRAW and ProRes video features provide unprecedented control and quality for both photo and video enthusiasts.

The Pro Max’s ultra-wide and telephoto lenses offer versatility, while the enhanced ProRAW format allows for extensive post-processing flexibility. The improved Night mode ensures stunning results in challenging lighting conditions.

The A15 Bionic chip’s processing power and machine learning capabilities enable faster photo editing and seamless multitasking. The Pro Max’s ProMotion display with a high refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling and precise touch response.

However, the hefty price tag might be a deterrent, and professional photographers may still rely on dedicated DSLRs or mirrorless cameras for certain scenarios. Overall, the iPhone 15 Pro Max sets a new benchmark for mobile photography, making it a compelling choice for photographers seeking convenience without sacrificing quality.

It is time for some minimalism

 

I don't photograph weddings.  I don't photograph people.  I tend to just photograph the world around me.  Cityscapes, landscapes, wild life.  Anything but people in general.  I'm usually in bed by 10pm.  Up in the morning at around 6am.  I have not touched my Sony a7R Mark II in weeks.  I have not touched my Sony or Canon camcorders in much longer.  Not that I have lost my interest or love with photography.  I've been back to work now for several weeks now.  It's just hard to bring all that equipment with you all the time.  I've ordered the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of storage.  I literally bring my phone with me everywhere.  It's either in my pocket, my hand or right beside me.  I think the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of storage will be the right device for me.

I need a severe location change.  I am so unhappy here in Ottawa.  Not that Ottawa isn't a great city.  It is.  It's very beautiful here in the summer and winter.  You can be in the country within half an hours drive in any direction.  There's a lot to do if you have a family.  I've been here for 37 years.  I've done all there is to do in Ottawa.  I've photographed most of it.  I've seen it all.  I need a location change.  I need to move out west to Calgary or even further west.  But east of British Columbia.  B.C is very expensive.  And as nice as B.C is in pictures, the people are not for me.  Not that I'm not a people person, I would rather just be by myself with my camera out in the mountains or by a lake in the mountains.

I think after this contract is finished in March 2021, I'll head out west.  I don't mind doing the camping thing in the SUV for weeks at a time.  I just would need the Canada/U.S border to open up in the winter so I could go down to the States to do photography.

I think once I get the iPhone 12 Pro Max and start using it for my YouTube channel and if the channel grows as I hope it does, I can just live off the YouTube and photography money.  I don't do the donation thing.  I would rather people buy my photography and support me that way.  I want someone to get something of value instead of just giving me money.  I would rather live off my work than live off someone else's hard earned money.

I have something coming in 3-4 weeks

So I ordered the 2020 Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB internal hard drive.  When IOS 14.3 comes out and support ProRaw, I think I’ll pretty much drop all my other photography and videography gear and just use the iPhone and iPad Pro as my two main devices.  I shoot Raw photos on all my cameras.  The iPhone support 4K/60fps which is another reason I am getting the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB SSD hard drive.  4K/60fps takes up a lot of space.  The 64GB iPhones fill up within half an hour with 4K/60fps data.  Now that the iPhone 12 Pro max will be able to shoot Raw natively in the Camera app, I won’t need my Canon point and shoot.  From the details I saw, the photo file size will be at about 25MB which is more than enough for photos to be uploaded to sites like Adobe, Shutterstock and other websites where you can sell your photography and videos.

I basically won’t need a physical laptop to edit my photography and videography.  I can use my 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive.  Three years ago, you couldn’t shoot and edit anything on an iPhone and iPad which would be usable.  But now, the hardware and software are so good and getting better, that a DSLR or a mirrorless camera are not needed.  Especially for YouTube or sites like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 or any of the online photo and video selling sites.

I used to photography a lot of wildlife at Parc Omega.  I’ve been to Parc Omega maybe twice this year.  The reasons I don’t go anymore is the pricing to get in is just ridiculous.  Way too expensive.  The last time I went, there were more people than animals.  Parc Omega is far more commercial than an actual natural habitat right now.  It used to be good up until about 4-5 years ago.  It wasn’t that well known but at the same time it was.  Now it’s way over commercialized.  It’s not fun anymore.

I think in March or April of next year, I’ll end up moving to Calgary, Alberta.  Since I got back in July of 2017, I haven’t been the same.  I miss the mountains.  I mill the lakes.  I miss the fresh air.  I miss being out in actual nature by myself.  COVID-19 has definitely proven that I don’t want to be around 99% of the people on this planet.  I would rather be out on a hike somewhere with my camera, away from the majority of the people on this planet.  I think that’s why the iPhone 12 Pro Max with the 512GB of internal storage will be such a good device for me as a person and a photographer.  Shooting in ProRaw will help a lot.  It will have to get better throw as this will be first generation software on the camera.  Eventually, probably in the next year or so, it’ll get much better with software and hardware upgrades.  Apple by far is doing a much better job on its hardware and software than any other phone manufacturer.

I think the iPhone 12 Pro Max paired with the Peak Design aluminium travel tripod will make an awesome photographic tool to take amazing landscape shots out in Alberta and British Colombia.  Once the border opens up, I’ll be able to travel to the western United States.  All I’ll need with me as far as photography goes will be my phone, iPad Pro and my lightweight tripod.  I don’t take portraits, I don’t do weddings.  I just do landscape and cityscape photography.  With ProRes and ProRaw on the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the ability of the 2018 iPad Pro to edit ProRes and ProRaw files, I’ll be able to do a lot more photography in the future than I can right now.  I can be total stealth.  

What are your Pro Photographer moves?

So what are some of your pro photographer moments?  Forgetting the lens cap on your lens?  Dead batteries in the camera? Forgotten batteries at home?  Full SD card?  You forget your SD card at home?  It’s all happened to everyone at some point.  Part of the job right.  Tell me what else has happened to you while you’re out with the camera.

The above shot was taken with the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Mating Canadian Geese

Couldn’t set up my 4K camera in time.  Shot this on my Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max.

My photography setup

During this self isolation period, I managed to clean up my desk and clean up my photography setup.  My setup includes the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 12.9” screen and the 512GB hard drive.  I have an external 2TB hard drive attached via USB hub and the Yeti Blue Mic.  I also have the Apple Keyboard Folio and the Bluetooth Apple mouse which will be connected via Bluetooth tomorrow whenever iPadOS 13.4 comes out.  The camera is the Sony a7R II which has the 42.4 megapixel sensor.  I am using the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens which is a great all in one lens.  Yes, it’s a little slower compared to the f2.8 lenses but it’s also a lot cheaper in price.  

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro is great for editing photos coming from the Sony a7R II camera.  It has more then enough power to edit the 85 megabyte files coming out of the Sony a7R II.  There are minuscule problems with the operating system of the iPad Pro which I hope will be fixed in iPadOS 13.4.  I am hoping iPadOS 14 brings in more features like a better and more stable File system.  The File App has crashed my iPad Pro twice so far when transferring files from the 128GB SD card onto the external hard drive.  Also missing for me is the copy status when transferring files between the SD Card and the external hard drive.  Once those two features are baked into iPadOS, I’d be really happy with the 2018 iPad Pro.  With the 2020 Apple iPad Pro, the GPU is only about 10% faster which is not a reason for me to upgrade.  I also don’t use the 2018 Apple iPad Pro as my primary camera so the new camera system on the 2020 Apple iPad Pro is totally meaningless.  Although the new keyboard folio looks interesting with the track pad, I was never a huge fan of the track pads on any device.  As long as the iPad Pro gets the Bluetooth mouse support tomorrow, I’ll be really happy.

I have noticed an uptick on visits to the site.  With everyone staying home and self isolating, if you are reading this and you see the ads running on this blog, I would appreciate if you would peruse the ads by placing your mouse over them and hitting the left mouse button or using your finger on your iPhone or iPad.  It would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks very much and be safe out there.

Back to just doing phtotography

I think it's time to go back to just doing photography.  Not just your run of the mill wildlife and animal photography but high end landscape photography.

Yesterday I went to my local photography store and I bought a Sony A7R II camera body.  Just  the body.  I have to wait a bit to buy the specific lens I want.  I'll probably get it in the next week or two.  I was thinking yesterday that Parc Omega isn't worth going to anymore as the entrance fee just keeps going up and up and up.  The fencing is higher now that it ever has been so if I want to photograph the Arctic Wolves for example, it's virtually impossible to get them without having the fence in the way.

I want to get the Sony f3.5-6.3 24-240MM lens for the Sony A7RII body.  I  think it's wide enough and it has enough reach for me to get most things.  The Sony A7RII has 42.4 megapixels so I can crop in to whatever I want.  I think it's going to be the perfect camera/lens combination.

It's early March now and the snow is starting to melt away.  It's supposed to be above zero starting tomorrow during the day at least.  I have pretty much all the camping gear I need.  Sleeping bag, mattress, pillow to sleep in the back of the car.  All I need now is just a cooler to put my food and water into and I can now leave for the weekends to go car camping and do photography on the weekends with the new camera.

I will need to buy an extra set of batteries for this camera as the battery life sucks on this Sony camera.  I'm seeing a picture of the Sony batteries not being so good on most Sony cameras.  But if I'm just doing landscapes, I can just fire off 300-400 shots over the weekend and work with just one battery.  I just want that lens.

More night photography with the Apple iPhone Pro Max

The 2010’s are coming to a quick close with New Years here in just 2 short days.  Fiancé and I went to play some pool and have some drinks last night and got home quite late for us.  Decided to step out onto the balcony with the iPhone Pro Max and take a test drive with the iPhone to do some long exposure night photography.  This was taken with the default Apple app.  3 second exposure, hand held off the ninth floor off our apartment building.  Edited in the default Apple Photos app.  I can truly say the iPhone has come a long way in the past 12 years or so.  Couldn’t do this 10 years ago, let alone a few years back.  I could make out some of the stars in the Big Dipper at the top of the frame.  The sky was noisy but in the Apple Photos app you can get rid of that.  I think in probably 3-5 years, you will only need an iPhone and an iPad to edit your photos on.  No more need for bulky DSLR cameras or point and shoots.  The hardware and software is getting much, much better.  The wide angle camera is pretty good so far.  Just needs optical image stabilization.  The zoom lens needs work as the image is shaky and noisy.

The perfect setup. For me.

So I’m sitting here at work waiting for my computer to get setup and finally getting my access to the network.  I brought by 2018 Apple iPad Pro with me today to watch some videos and do some light reading.  I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my computer setup and my photography setup.  I have the 2 terabyte backup plan with Apple.  I’ve had it for several months now.  I think I’m currently using about 270GB worth of data.  Most of that is my photography backup.  I am really happy with the Apple ecosystem.  How simple and easy it is to access pretty much everything.  

My current photography setup consists of a Sony RX100 Mark VII, a Canon Vixia HF R80 camcorder and an Apple iPhone 8 Plus.  My contract with Freedom Mobile is almost up.  Actually May 2020, I’ll be free of Freedom Mobile.  I am not entirely happy with Freedom Mobile.  Their network coverage is absolute garbage.  I could be right down town here in Ottawa and be on some other company’ network or I could have 1 or 2 bars.  The reception is absolutely horrible.  I honestly don’t like Bell or Rogers.  They’re overpriced and their customer service is atrocious.  Mind you Rogers’ network is pretty good.  They’ve had to up their game with the amount of data they give to customers having gone from 4GB a month to 10GB a month. They are about $20 more expensive a month.

What I’m trying to say is that I’m looking into the idea of just using my 2018 Apple iPad Pro and the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max (256GB) model to do all of my photography and all of my computing needs.  I don’t use Photoshop or Lightroom on my iPad Pro.  Just use Pixelmator Photo on my iPad Pro to edit all of my photography.  I could use the iPhone as well to shoot all of my footage.  The iPhone has excellent video quality and it takes excellent photos.  All of this with a phone.  All my stuff would be backed up to the cloud and be accessible via WiFi with my Apple iPad Pro.  Something definitely to look into.

The problems with iOS 12

iOS 12 is very problematic.  No real file support, no mouse support and no real browser.  I do a lot of photo and footage editing.  I mean a lot.  I need a real file system.  I need mouse support.  The Apple Pencil is fine but a real mouse is better.  I honestly cannot wait for the iPadOS to be release in September.  A real file system.  Mouse support.  File sharing.  Better file management.  Until iPadOS comes out, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro is just a media consumption device that can edit photos and videos just fine.  It's just uploading multiple files via web browser or FTP is just cumbersome.  Till iPadOS comes out, I will need to be using my Windows 10 laptop to edit and upload photos and videos.  It is very unfortunate. 

I honestly cannot wait

Apple typically releases a new operating system every September.  THis year, a “new” operating system is coming out specifically made for the Apple iPad.  Two of the most important things within iPadOS are going to be external hard drive support and mouse support.  ON a lighter note, dark mode is also coming.  See what I did there?  ;) 

I will no longer need a laptop wether it’s Windows or MacOS or Linux.  Not that I used Linux before but it’s hardly used for photography or editing videos.  You can do it but 99.9% of the people I know use either Windows or Mac.  I cannot justify spending a minimum of $4500 on a MacBook Pro where the keys are crap and the O/S is buggy.  MacOS used to be good under Steve Jobs because Steve actually took quality control seriously.  Tim Cook, not so much.

Once iPadOS comes out in September, I am thinking of lightening my load with my camera gear.  The Sony A7II is a great photographic camera.  It’s a 24.4 megapixel full frame sensor camera.  But it is kind of heavy with the battery grip and the 24-240MM lens on it.  I am absolutely in love with the Sony RX100 line of cameras having owned the RX100 Mark II, IV, V and the VI.  I am thinking of trading in the Sony A7II camera, the grip and lens for another Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I’m also thinking of getting rid of the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder as it’s too big for me size wise for me.  I have the Canon Vixia HF R800 camcorder as well.  I mainly capture wildlife with the Canon Vixia HF G40 and I don’t video much at night so the Canon Vixia HF R800 is good enough for me.  It’s also about half the size of the G40.  I know the G40 has a lot more controls on it so I may just keep it.  I just want to do a lot more travel this year and next and I don’t want to carry around a lot of equipment with me.  Shoot me a quick email or leave a comment telling me what you think or giving me suggestions.  

But yeah, time to think over the next two to three months to see what I will do once Apple iPadOS comes out in September.

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro is a computer replacement

I abosulutely love it.  It is truly an amazing device.  I have not needed to get onto a laptop since I purchased the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive.  My only regret is not getting the 1TB hard drive with the 1GB of RAM version of the iPad Pro.  Over the past weeks I’ve purchased 4 dongles for my iPad Pro.  I’ve purchased the USB-C to USB-A dongle.  I actually bought two.  I bought the USB-C to headphone adapter so I can listen to music and I bought the USB-C to SD card adapter.  I also bought the Apple Pencil 2 along with the Apple Keyboard Folio which by the way is awesome.  It’s not back lit like other keyboards and it doesn’t have the function keys which I really don’t miss.  I thought Face-ID was a gimmick but once it’s setup it works flawlessly for all my apps and websites that I visit that have passwords.  I don’t even need to type in my passwords after the first time.  I like how Apple thought that out.

I have purchased apps for photo and footage editing.  Affinity Photo and LumaFusion are both amazing apps.  The rest of the apps were either free or or costing less than $6.00.  I can attach my Yeti mic to do podcasts.  Found a free podcast app today thanks to the Apple website.  Yes I am going to do podcasts.  I hate being in front of a camera so podcasts will do.  They will be short and will deal mainly with photography.   

I honestly don’t need a mouse.  I have eight fingers and two thumbs that I can use to write and touch the amazing screen on the iPad Pro.  For finer detail work in my photography of when editing my footage, I can use the Apple Pencil 2.  I don’t think I even need an external hard drive as I pay Apple $12.99 a month for 2TB of storage.  If need be I can always purchase a wireless 4TB hard drive from Western Digital

For my photography, I use a Sony RX100 Mark VI which I can attach through the supplied Sony USB cable and and a USB-C to USB-A adapter.  I can use the Apple USB-C to SD card for my footage shot with the Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder.  There is absolutely nothing else that I need.  No laptop, no desktop.  The iPad Pro comes with me everywhere along with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I tell ya it’s a great combination for a single shooter type photographer.  The less I have to carry, the better.

I am one happy guy with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I purchased the PaperLike screen protector which is in the mail and should be here soon.  Once that is applied to the iPad Pro, I will be secure in knowing that the iPad Pro is secured in practically every way.  I am so happy with this device.  

The 2018 Apple iPad Pro - Total computer replacement

I got the 2018 Apple iPad Pro about two and a half weeks ago now and I have not touched my early 2013 Apple MacBook Pro or my Microsoft Windows 10 gaming laptop since.  The iPad Pro does everything I need and faster.  Today after going to morning service with my girlfriend we decided to have lunch and go for an afternoon drive in the country since we haven’t done that in months.  I took my Sony RX100 Mark VI with me to do some quick side of the road photography.  

After coming home and changing I took out the SD card reader USB-C dongle I bought from Apple and inserted the SD card into the reader.  I plugged it into the iPad Pro via the USB connection.  And nothing.   No application opened up and nothing happened.  I unplugged the card reader from the iPad Pro and took out the SD card.  I replugged in the SD card reader and re-installed the SD card.  And nothing.  A quick online YouTube search and I have to plug the Sony RX100 Mark VI directly into the camera.  When I got the iPad Pro, I purchased a USB-A to USB-C converter.  I plugged my USB-A cable into the camera and into the USB-C to USB-A converter and voila.  On the Sony  line of cameras, you have to set the camera to be a mass storage device for the Apple iPad Pro to recognize the camera and SD card where the pictures are stored..

I have yet to try using my Canon Vixia HF G40 camcorder with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro but I am assuming that it’ll just as easy if not easier to import video files.  Yesterday I purchased 2TB of online storage with Apple as I plan to only use the iPad Pro for the foreseeable future.  I am hoping that iOS 13 will support external hard drives.  I a m so hoping for that.  I can actually do with out a mouse for the Apple iPad Pro.  The Apple Pencil 2 does the job of a mouse just fine.

The apps I use mostly are LumaFusion for video editing which I haven’t used yet.  I of course use Apple Photos to manage my photos along with Pixelmator, Affinity Photo and Google Snapseed to edit my photography.  To upload photos to Shutterstock I use Shutterstocks own app or if I have more than 100 photos to upload at one time I use FTP Client Pro to upload photos and footage to Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.  For writing the blog I use BigTouch Pro.  For other documents like my resume I use Apples own Apple Pages.  For spreadsheets it’s Apple Numbers.  For music, it’s Apple iTuens of course.  Yes iTunes needs a rework but it suits my needs just fine so far.

The only downsides of the 2018 Apple iPad Pro are all the dongles and support for an external hard drive.  In hind sight I should have probably purchased the 1TB Apple iPad Pro.  I know there are other options out there for external storage like wireless hard drives and I probably will look into that at some point.  But right now storage is not an issue.

In conclusion, the 2018 Apple iPad Pro is just an amazing device.  It is not perfect but it’s close to being a full computer replacement for most people who just consume media, surf the net and check emails.  There are pretty much apps for everything.  For the every day mom and pop photographer, an iPhone and an iPad are pretty much all you will need.  Maybe some storage with Apple, Google, Dropbox, Amazon or another provider and you’re pretty much set.  The girlfriend and I are planning on traveling a lot this year so it’s much better for me to just carry around an iPad and one or two cameras.  Currently I am shooting with a Sony RX100 Mark VI, a Sony RX10 Mark II and a Canon Vixia HF G40.  For most photography I will be using the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  For time lapse, I can use the Sony RX10 Mark II.  For sit down stuff I can use either the Sony RX10 Mark II or the Canon Vixia HF G40.  All will work wonderfully with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I cannot wait for the spring, summer and fall to come.

An end to an era

It’s truly an end to an era for me.  I bought my first Apple product probably back around 2005 or 2006.  Since then, I’ve always had an Apple computer beside my iPhone or an iPad.  I’ve actually only had one Samsung product since about 2008.  I’ve always had an iPhone beside my MacBook Pro.  Now that I have the 2018 Apple iPad Pro with the 512GB hard drive, I no longer need the Apple MacBook Pro.  I bought it in early 2013 just before my now ex wife and I went on a trip to Prague.  Later in 2016 I bought the 5k Apple iMac.  Both computer served me well.  I sold the iMac back in January 2019 and now I’m looking to sell the 2013 MacBook Pro.  It’s a great computer, don’t get me wrong.  It’s got 16GB of RAM and an SSD hard drive.  It’s great at editing my 1080p/60fps footage and my photos that I shoot with the Sony RX100 Mark VI.  It does have a hard time editing 4K footage.  Considering it’s now 6 years old, I don’t think it can handle the 4K footage I’d be throwing at it if I was shooting 4K footage.

I still have a Windows 10 laptop that I bought back in November 2018.  I’ll be using that for printing and scanning my timesheets for work and doing my taxes.  But I think for 99% of my daily needs, I’ll be using my 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I create and consume a lot of media.  I find that I can carry my iPad with me anywhere with my Sony RX100 Mark VI all in one bag and I can be setup in literally less than a minute.  The iPad is always on unless I’m doing an iOS install that needs a reboot.  Apps on the iPad don’t need to reboot the tablet like a program many need to reboot a laptop or a PC.  I haven’t ran the iPad the whole day yet as I’m at work pretty much the whole day.

The apps I currently run are Luma Fusion for footage editing and Affinity Photo for photo editing.  I also use Snapseed and Camera+ 2 in a pinch.  I use the Shutterstock app to upload any photos I shoot with my Sony RX100 Mark VI.  I actually haven’t even had a chance to test that out yet as work has been very busy the last few months.  

I’m currently sitting at a coffee shop writing this post on my iPad Pro just relaxing, writing and listening to music.  It is truly relaxing. Got the ear pods in and just typing away.  Not that I couldn’t do this with my MacBook Pro but this is just more convenient.  I just open up the iPad and open my app and start typing.  I have iTunes running in the background pumping out some cool tones that I relax to.  And considering I live in Canada, I’m sipping on some really warm Timmies steeped tea.  No coffee for this bad boy.

I am really impressed with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro and my Apple iPhone 8+.  I don’t think for most of my productivity on a regular day, I won’t need anything else.  My iPhone, iPad and Sony RX100 Mark VI and I’m all set.  I am truly mobile.  I don’t need to carry around a 4-6 pound laptop.  This iPad weighs less than 2.5 pounds.  I’m pretty sure, in the next ten years, Apple will make the iPad into just a clear sheet of glass that will bend.  On purpose.  ;) 

Blogging off the new 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9”

This will be my first blog post from the brand new 2018 Apple iPad Pro 12.9” with the 512GB hard drive and the 4GB of RAM. I can tell you that this thing is truly amazing. It is incredibly fast. It feels blazingly fast compared to my early 2013 Macbook Pro and my 2018 Asus Windows 10 laptop. I finally got the keyboard folio today. I went to the Apple store today again and asked if they had the keyboard folio and neither Apple store in Ottawa did. Best Buy doesn’t even have any keyboards available for the 2018 iPad Pro. I went to one of the local Staples stores and they had none either. They did mention that one of the other Staples stores half way across the city had two and that was the only Staples store in Ottawa to have any. I rushed to the Staples store in the South Keys neighbourhood to grab one. The iPad doesn’t come with anything except a USB C cable and a power brick. That’s it. I so far have purchased a dongle for my earphones which work with my external speakers. I had to buy a USB C to USB A dongle to attach my Blue Yeti mic which works flawlessly. I still need to buy an SD Card dongle so I can transfer my photos and footage from my Canon Vixia HF G40 and my Sony RX100 Mark VI point and shoot camera that I use for my photography business. Now I have to find a proper blogging software since this software I am using now is very limited in its abilities. Also I have to find some voice editing software to remove hiss and clicks from my sound files when I do voice overs for my videos when I actually start doing that. My desk is also littered with cables for these various attachments I have for the iPad Pro. The screen on this is absolutely amazing. The sound quality coming straight from the speakers are truly fantastic. It’s amazing the technology that is in the 2018 iPad Pro. The Apple keyboard is actually pretty good. I can get buy with it. I don’t mind that there is no true multitasking on the iPad Pro. I can actually concentrate on doing just one thing and not multitasking on a few things at once. The fact that there is no mouse is ok. The Apple pencil v2 does all that I need so far and more. I haven’t had a chance play with the Apple pencil yet as I’m still learning the ins and outs on the iPad Pro. The work flow is different for sure than working on a Macbook Pro or a Windows PC. The only limitation that I can currently see is that there is absolutely no support for an external hard drive. I am hoping that with iOS 13, support for external hard drives will happen as I only have the 512GB hard drive in the iPad Pro. Work wise, my contract with CMHC is coming up in 3 weeks and my boss is trying to get us into Shared Services Canada. I also have my name for a deskside support position with Global Affairs Canada which I am not fond off. I do hope we get into Shared Service Canada. I’m 99% sure my girlfriend will get into Fisheries and Oceans which means she’s staying in Ottawa. I still want to go out west to Calgary. I cannot stand Ottawa. I hate this province. I hate this city. I need to get out.

My last day.

Today is my last day with an Apple computer.  I am selling my early 2013 MacBook Pro and my late 2015 Apple iMac with the 27 inch 5k monitor.  I am buying a 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I'm going to get the 512GB storage model with 4GB of RAM.  I have external storage that I can use with the 2018 Apple iPad Pro.  I am really looking forward to my new purchase and get away from desktop and laptops.

I'm selling my iMac on Kijiji and the people trying to buy it are ridiculous.  Some people are offering me like $150 or $300 which is an insult.  I honestly hate haggling over price.  I just want to sell it so I can get my iPad.

2018 Apple iPad as a computer replacement

So I'm 100% sure I'll be replacing my early 2013 MacBook Pro and late 2015 Apple iMac with a 2018 Apple iPad Pro later next year.  Considering I only write this blog, visit a few websites, edit photos and videos on my laptop and PC, I'm pretty sure the 2018 Apple iPad can handle all of my needs.  I visit maybe 10 websites that I can use Safari on.  I'll need an FTP client upload my videos and photos to sites like Shutterstock, Pond5 and Storyblocks.

I want to get the 12.9" with the 1TB HD and the 6GB of RAM model.  Go big or go home as they say.  I don't who "they" are but "they" are right.  From the benchmarks that I've been seeing on Youtube videos, the 12.9" iPad outperforms both of my computers by a huge margin.  The only thing I'm worried about is space because I do shoot a lot of photos and videos.  I'm sure I can find a work around to upload my raw files to an external hard drive.  Apple will have to give the iPad some support for external hard drives.  I can use the Apple Pencil 2 as a mouse.  iOS still has to be upgraded to access a better file system.

I will also be using an Apple iPhone for the foreseeable future.  As much as I like Android phones, the Apple ecosystem is much better.  I find the apps in the Apple ecosystem are much better built and provide much more enjoyment and entertainment.  Youtube, Netflix are my go to media consumption apps.  I use a few astronomy apps such as Star Walk 2, PolarAlign, Solar Walk to name a few.  There are a few apps I would like to get once I buy the iPad such as Affinity Photo for the iPad and Luma Fusio to edit my footage to upload to my micro stock sites.  

All in all I think I'll get the Apple iPad in March of 2019 once I get enough money saved up.