bad. I used version 1.1.12. Kodak has some work to do to bring this application up to the level of the camera it is designed to support. A contact sheet appears on the screen when a folder of Kodak DCR files is opened in Photo Desk. Double-
clicking an image renders it in a few seconds to a larger version that can be viewed at 25, 50, 100, or 200 percent. This is helpful for checking details. Moving around in an image larger than the screen can only be done with scroll bars or arrows. Kodak needs to add a hand tool like the one in Adobe Photoshop that allows navigation by holding down the space bar and dragging the resulting hand icon. Keyboard zoom shortcuts would be helpful as well.
Holding down the command key and clicking additional images makes multiple selections. This is contrary to the Mac OS standard, the shift key. These can be seen in a larger view by choosing the review feature in the view menu. It is quicker to use though not as high quality as the rendered method.
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Selected thumbnails can be rotated and have their color temperature changed in Photo Desk. A slider controls exposure compensation of plus or minus two stops in
Selected images can be renamed and saved either as a native DCR file or as a JPEG or TIFF file in either 8 or 16 bits. The DCS 760 names captured images in an arbitrary manner that ensures that no two files will ever be named the same and possibly overwritten during a shoot. To catalog photographs with a job name or number, the file must be resaved in Photo Desk. This is not a problem except when you need to rename and save a large number of files. This software works well with folders of no more than 200 images and so as long as the application’s memory has been increased to 300MB or more. Photo Desk crashes when asked to open a large number of files due to its need to open each file in memory. This is not a problem for most photographic projects. After my safari, however, with almost 4,000 images using 30GB of storage, a batch processor for rotating, renaming, and making JPEG files for copyright registration would have been a huge timesaver.
Kodak Professional DCS Camera Manager software (included) is better than Photo Desk because its purpose is simpler. As its name implies, its job is to manage the camera or cameras (up to 63 of
them at once if the computer’s resources can handle that many).
Almost all of the settings that can be changed at the camera can be made with Camera Manager running on a tethered computer. The camera can be fired and files renamed and saved through a Firewire connection. It can also be triggered from the camera itself. Files can be saved on a card and/or transferred directly into the computer’s hard drive through a Firewire cable of up to 75 feet using repeaters. This software is a great help in the studio. Clients love to see images on a big monitor. Since Camera Manager also dynamically updates the Photo Desk contact sheet, clients can see their images appear as they are taken.
Bottom Line
The really great news is the Kodak Professional DCS 760 is a superior digital camera that holds its own with imagers in the medium- format range. It is solid, well thought out and executed. It goes on location and functions without need for technical support right out of the box. On safari in Africa and about as far as one can get from help, it preformed flawlessly under adverse conditions from before dawn to after dusk. I highly recommend the Kodak DCS 760 camera to anyone
serious about digital capture. |
Kevin Ames is a digital commercial photographer in Atlanta. He is an international lecturer on digital capture, Adobe Photoshop, and the digital workflow. His work has appeared in Time, The Wall Street Journal, PEI, and Professional Photographer. He is chairman of the Professional Photographers of America Commercial/ Advertising Group and