"SO, WHAT GEAR DO YOU USE?"
I hear this question way too often. Gear is not important. At least nowhere near how important composition and lighting is! But I have a quick list of what I use. Anything listed below, I swear by. I'm not a fan boy, I use what works for me!
Body: Nikon D850
Lenses: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 | Nikon 24-85mm |Tamron 100-400mm
Tripod: Leofoto carbon legs with low profile ball heads (I use a Sirui tripod for the sea and water)
Editing: XP-PEN tablets and pen displays
Computer: Dell XPS with 32 GB of RAM (Trust me, You NEED 32GB!)
XP-PEN 4K ARTIST PTO 16TP
In 2021, as a photographer who's final products are geared towards the artistic style of landscape photography, I am spoiled when it comes to choices in gear. I wanna talk about one of my favorites that is going to be a game changer. No, we're not talking about cameras, tripods or lenses. This is about graphic tablets. If you don't know what these tablets are, let me explain. Think of them as monitors that connect to your computer, but you get to draw on it directly. So instead of using your mouse, or a pen tablet, you'll be drawing on the actual screen. These tablets aren't anything absolutely new to the industry, however, the competition has now completely changed the game. Remember those days when Wacom used to be the powerhouse and produced these tablets at a very expensive price tag that not a lot of people could afford? Well those days are over indeed!
Let me introduce you to the all new 4K XP-PEN Artist Pro 16TP! Before I start though, I'd like You to know one thing about me. I do not promote a product just to get paid! I only promote something that really works for me and makes my life as an artist better! Now, this thing is a beauty. Not only that you can have it for a very affordable price, It has all the bells and whistles and features of the high end tablets including pressure sensitivity. Knowing XP-PEN in the past and having used almost all of their graphic displays, I can tell you that they work great! As an artist who relies on graphic displays, I'm very excited to finally have a 4K editing display that I can draw on. The previous displays from XP-PEN already have opened up a whole new world for me as I could finally paint on my digital images without having to spend top dollar.
Let me introduce you to the all new 4K XP-PEN Artist Pro 16TP! Before I start though, I'd like You to know one thing about me. I do not promote a product just to get paid! I only promote something that really works for me and makes my life as an artist better! Now, this thing is a beauty. Not only that you can have it for a very affordable price, It has all the bells and whistles and features of the high end tablets including pressure sensitivity. Knowing XP-PEN in the past and having used almost all of their graphic displays, I can tell you that they work great! As an artist who relies on graphic displays, I'm very excited to finally have a 4K editing display that I can draw on. The previous displays from XP-PEN already have opened up a whole new world for me as I could finally paint on my digital images without having to spend top dollar.
THE PEN/INTERACTION
First things first, let's talk about the Pen. It has no battery or annoying charging cable! That's right, you'll never run out of battery for it so one less thing to charge. It also comes with lots of extra nibs that you can change as needed. Don't forget the artist glove which you can put on to make the experience even more pleasing. The pen also comes with a very nice and solid metal case that color matches the main unit itself. Overall, everything feels very smooth and high end. The cool thing about this pen is that it also is able to detect up to a 60 degree tilt on the pen when you draw! How cool is that? We touched on the pressure sensitivity before but it has 8192 levels of sensitivity, So whether you wanna use that pressure to bring your opacity up and down, or change your brush stroke, the sky's the limit. They added another feature that I really like with physical side buttons on the side of the unit itself. Those buttons allow you to either shut off the new multi-touch feature, turn on touch OR leave touch on but give priority to the pen first! how awesome is that?
CONNECTIONS
CONNECTIONS
So how does it connect to the computer? You get two options; HDMI and USB-C. There is a second USB-C port on the tablet itself which comes with its own power supply that uses a USB-C type cable to power the unit. The second table goes to the computer. Just keep in mind that your computer's USB-C port MUST support sending video if you decide to go the USB-C route. You can technically run the entire unit through one USB-C cable connected to your computer but it will not receive enough power to be able to pump the brightness to its maximum capability. It's a great option and if your room is not super bright and it is more than enough brightness.
SCREEN
Well, the resolution and clarity on this unit is a huge improvement over the previous generations. It comes equipped at 92% Adobe RGB color gamut. It is fully laminated. Now, it doesn't feel 100% matte but the glare is definitely reduced compared to a regular high gloss screen. It is a happy medium between that sharp vibrant display and the type that you wanna draw on all day long with a matte screen. I like this compromise myself. There is a function that I used to dream of having when I worked with the previous versions of XP-PEN graphics displays and that is TOUCH TO ZOOM! Guess what? we have it now! Zoom in, zoom out, rotate, all the fun stuff. It is fully a multi-touch screen.
OTHER IMPORTANT SPECS
I don't like to talk numbers so I'm going to give you the most important specs that actually matter for the users. The Artist Pro 16TP is rather a portable unit. This specific model is one of those tablets that you can easily fit in a laptop bag's extra pouch and away you go! At home, you could sit it on its stand and still use it every day. Mac users, don't worry it is fully compatible with Apple's operating system as well.
OVERALL FEEL AND CONCLUSION
Honestly, I love feeling like Albert Bierstadt when I edit my landscape photographs. There is something very soothing about being able to work on an image and dodge and burn right on it with a pen as if you're painting. As an artist who's imagery relies on Photoshop and the digital darkroom, there is nothing more satisfying to take your creativity and experience to the next level and XP-PEN's latest tablet does just that. I know I mentioned this before but being able to do all of that at the price tag of XP-PEN is a super bonus these days. I give this product a very comfortable 9 out of 10 for its innovation and feel. There are very few things I would change about it. But I'm 100% sure with our feedback, the future is even brighter! Wacom now has a LOT to do to be considered innovative ;)
Official links to the product's page:
Canada: https://www.storexppen.ca/buy/16tp.html
Canada: https://www.storexppen.ca/buy/16tp.html