Colorspace 0 Storage device for M8/DMR?!

[mhoersch]

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A short time ago there was a thread on "Fast Portable Storage" on this forum:

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m8-forum/49341-fast-portable-file-storage.html

 

I read every bit of information I could find about the Colorspace 0, went to the website of hyperdrive.com and ordered a Colorspace 0 with 80GB harddrive. These are my first rahter sad experiences with this gadget:

 

1. It does backup files from M8 and R8/DMR, and it does it fairly quickly as well.

 

2. It does show DNG files from M8 (officially supported) and R8/DMR (officially not supported) full screen in less than a second.

 

3. On an M8 DNG file

- you can zoom to 100% in about 3 seconds.

- zooming in reduces cloror saturation and brightness of the screen dramatically so that you can hardly see anything on the 100% view, so it's useless for all practical purposes.

- histogram does not work at all (error message)

- the short EXIF Data in the full screen image view show focal length and ISO correctly, exposure time of 1/350, however, is shown as 1/6", exposure time of 1/2000 is shown as 1/33".

- in the full EXIF data (accessible through a menu) a shutter speed of 1/350 is shown as 32768/0, a shutter speed of 1/2000 is shwon as 0/0, both are figures which don't make that much sense.

- in the full EXIF data an exposure bias of -2/3 is shown as -43520/65536, which actually amounts to the same value but isn't that easily readable.

 

4. On an R8/DMR DNG file

- you cannot zoom in (error message).

- histogram does not work (error message)

- the short EXIF Data in the full screen image view are correct.

- in the full EXIF data (accessible through a menu) a shutter speed of 1/45 is shown as 55/10, a figure that amounts to 5.5 which doesn't make any sense.

- in the full EXIF data an exposure bias of -1/2 is shown as -5/10, which actually amounts to the same value but could be easier to read.

 

5. The 'intuitive' user interface is confusing, to say the least, because you have to navigate through quite a number of menus using five buttons, to which numerous meanings are assigned via icons at the bottom of each screen. Why "Move right/left" is assigned to a top and bottom button instead of to a right and left button remains a mystery, as does why selecting a folder requires pressing the central "ENTER" button, whereas selecting an image requires pressing the top left button (and pressing the central "ENTER" button does nothing).

 

6. Programming and documentaion are sloppy, to put it very mildly: in the full EXIF view assigning buttons to the scroll movements has simply been forgotten (you can scroll nevertheless, just guess which buttons to press), most features are described in the manual, others are not (what "Startup On" and "Startup off" might possibly mean remains a well kept secret of the devlopers).

 

 

So, no, this is not the fast mobile storage device which saves me the trouble of taking along a notebook when travelling.

 

I can still use my EPSON P5000, which shows JPG files on a beautiful contrasty screen with correct EXIF data, histogram and brilliant zooming in up to 200% - but forces me to shoot painfully slow DNG+JPG on the M8, and, contrary to the setup menu, does not "ignore unknown file formats" while browsing, so I have to put up with "JPG - no image - JPG - no image..." With the R8/DMR I can't use it at all because EPSON arrogantly don't support DNG at all, and the DMR doesn't offer the DNG+JPG option.

 

Or I can use the Colospace 0 with its pathetically poor display, partial DNG support, ridiculous EXIF mumbo jumbo, sloppy programming and a genuinely cheap plastic feel. Anyone care to buy it from me? Highly recommended!

[canlogic]

I have both the original colorspace and the Epson. The colorspace is a bit funky but much smaller, way faster and battery lasts a lot longer. I would never use either to try and evaluate an image and any that clearly should be deleted can be determined on either screen. At least the people from colorspace update the firmware usually Epson just says piss off. Try and get them to support the M8 and see what happens.

[rsolomon]

look here for an idea ..

 

 

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/49935-raw-images-dmr-image-tank.html

[mhoersch]

Thanks, I'll have a look!