Chuck Westfall Technical Education Award

4th ANNUAL LUCIE TECHNICAL AWARDS HONOR THE YEAR’S PHOTO-RELATED INNOVATIONS AND INTRODUCE CHUCK WESTFALL TECHNICAL EDUCATION AWARD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2018
PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo, Jacob Javits Convention Center, NYC

August 16, 2018 – (Los Angeles, CA) - The fourth annual Lucie Technical Awards, an initiative of the Lucie Foundation and sister-program of The Lucie Awards, will take place in New York City on Thursday, October 25, 2018, during PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo, at The Jacob Javits Convention Center, in New York City, 5:30pm reception, 6:30pm awards presentation. Held just prior to Lucie Awards weekend, the acclaimed Lucie Technical Awards embraces a large and critical segment of the photographic community. The Lucie Technical Awards aim to honor the large and small companies, as well as the individuals who have advanced the photographic industry in a particular year. All-inclusive, these awards intend to encompass such items from cameras, lenses, lighting, and accessories, to printers, software and more.

This year for the first time, the Lucie Technical Awards will be presenting the Chuck Westfall Technical Education Award, named in honor of the legendary Canon spokesperson who became “teacher of technology” to journalists and the photo industry in general, for more than 35 years. Despite losing his long battle with cancer earlier this year, Chuck Westfall remained a transcendent, authentic spirit who loved photography and the photo industry, and it loved him right back. This distinguished honor is awarded to an influential voice in the photographic industry who displays an extraordinary commitment to, and love for the art and technology of photography. The recipient will have demonstrated a tireless effort to share their extensive knowledge with others, either through interactions with the media, written or published documents, and public appearances and presentations.

Hossein Farmani, the founder of The Lucie Technical Awards, commented, “For the 4th year in a row, we spotlight an ever-growing segment of our beloved photographic community by embracing those whose penchant for the technological lifts up the talented image-makers, many of whom we honor just a few days later at The Lucie Awards. It is with great pleasure that we add the Chuck Westfall Technical Education Award, to the festivities.” The 16th Annual Lucie Awards will follow, on Sunday, October 28, at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Experts in the field of photography as well as members of the public can contribute to the nomination process with the goal to recognize and reward deserving companies and individuals whose efforts have advanced the careers of so many image-makers. They all share a passion for creating extraordinary imagery through innovative technology.

In addition to the Lifetime Achievement Award, the categories include:

Camera:

Best Camera Drone
Best Instant Camera
Best Action Camera
Best Small Format System Camera
Best Full Frame System Camera
Best Medium Format System Camera
Best Fixed-Lens Compact Camera

Camera Accessory:

Best Camera
Bag Best Tripod
Best Speedlight
Best Industrial Design

Lens:

Best Wide Angle Prime Lens
Best Wide Angle Zoom Lens
Best Standard Prime Lens
Best Medium Range Zoom Lens
Best Telephoto Prime Lens
Best Telephoto Zoom Lens
Best Special Purpose Lens

Lighting & Studio:

Best Light Modifier
Best Continuous Light Source
Best Portable Battery Powered Studio Light
Best Studio Strobe

Printing:
Best Inkjet Printer

Software:

Best Photo Editing Software
Best Software Plugin

Storage:

Best Memory Card
Best Backup Solution

With the invaluable advice and guidance of the esteemed Lucie Technical Awards Advisory Board, these awards will honor the people and companies who have assisted and inspired so many on their photographic journeys. These awards, plus The Lucie Awards bestowed later in the same week, together create an even more inclusive photographic community.

Ticket availability for The Lucie Technical Awards will be announced shortly. For the complete list of awards and to nominate, please see http://tech.lucies.org/nominate/ for additional information.

About Lucie Technical Awards – The Lucie Technical Awards aim to honor the large and small companies, as well as the individuals who have advanced the photography industry in a given year. All-inclusive, these awards encompass cameras, lenses, lighting, accessories, printers, software and more.

About Lucie Foundation - Lucie Foundation’s mission is to honor master photographers, discover and cultivate emerging talent, and promote the appreciation of photography worldwide. In addition to Month of Photography Los Angeles (MOPLA), the foundation presents year-round programming to support high school students through SNAPSHOP!, emerging and professional photographers through the Lucie Scholarship Program and master photographers through The Lucie Awards. Lucie Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable foundation. www.luciefoundation.org

REVIEW: Delkin CFast 2.0 Reader & Card

Delkin Devices USB 3.1 Gen 1 Multi-Slot Memory Card Reader

When I got my Canon 1D X Mark II I ordered the kit bundled with a Sandisk CFast 2.0 card and reader which turned out to be a wise move as the cards were very scare and the reader is still near impossible to find in-stock. Since that time people have asked me countless times if there's any other brand of CFast 2.0 card and/or readers that I recommend, but I didn't have anything to suggest.

As luck would have it, my friends at B&H reached out to ask me if I would be interested in reviewing Delkin's new CFast 2.0 card and reader and I was happy to oblige.

Now if you are like me there's pretty much only two questions you have about memory card readers and that is "how fast is it" and "will it last"?

Well I'll start with the second question first and say that I've only had this product for a couple weeks so obviously I can't speak to long term durability, but I've seen nothing to suggest that either one is externally much different than their Sandisk counterparts in my camera bag.

Performance

Delkin Devices 128GB Cinema CFast 2.0 Memory Card

To test performance, I transferred 58.6 GB (62,934,351,872 bytes on disk) from my combo of JPEG+CR2 RAW files taken on a recent shoot in South Korea from my Sandisk CFast 2.0 card to the Delkin card.

Test 1 - Sandisk Card Reader

Using my Sandisk Card CFast 2.0 Reader connected to a USB 3.1 slot on my WIndows 10 machine, I observed that the Delkin card took 3 minutes and 17.24 seconds to transfer the data to my new and and near empty Samsung 1TB 960 PRO M.2 Internal SSD at a transfer rate that averaged 297 MB/sec.

The SanDisk 64GB Extreme PRO CFast 2.0 Memory Card was faster at 3:07.27 and 313 MB/sec.

Test 2 - Delkin Card Reader

I repeated the same test using the Delkin card reader and with the Delkin card the transfer time was a little slower at 3:24.21. Once again the Sandisk card was faster at 3:16.68, but it was slower than with the Sandisk reader.

Conclusion

I repeated both tests 3 times and got near identical results, so I feel confident in saying that the Delkin card and reader were both a little slower, but both performed equally well in my Canon 1D X Mark II which seems to not take advantage of the improved performance of the Sandisk card.

Both cards were excellent 4K movies at the fastest FPS and bit rates possible.

In the end I did switch from using the Sandisk reader to the Delkin reader because its front USB 3.1 slot means that I don't lose a slot when I have my reader plugged in. Previously I always had to connect and disconnect my reader which was annoying.

I also preferred the Delkin reader because it took the microSD's for my DJI Phantom IV drone and the SD card I use for a variety of purposes and devices in my household. Now my desk loses two readers and doesn't lose any USB slots.

I also found that the Delkin didn't get hot and cook my cards like the Sandisk did, so if this was a problem you experienced too then the tradeoff of slightly slower performance might be worth the longer life you are likely to get out of your cards by not cooking them.

I'm happy to have had a chance to try these out and I'll definitely keep the Delkin card in my bag. What's more, with the Delkin cards offering 2x the space as the Sandisk, I'm likely to pick up a few more of them too!

Enjoy these and more on the Reviews tab as well as Ron's Recommendations.

Where to Buy?

CLICK HERE to learn more about the card reader and CLICK HERE to learn more about Delkin CFast Memory Cards.

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. I was given a card and reader to keep as part of testing these devices for this review.