Six months in the making, I’m proud to present Ming Thein’s Photography Compendium: an iPad app like no other. It’s not for taking pictures or processing: it’s for learning and reading on the go, and all content is also retina-display native. It’s now available for $1.99 on the Apple App Store:
The Homepage aggregates the latest posts from the site, images from my photostream on Flickr, as well as the latest video tutorial content. Think of it like the Huffington Post, but for photography – it of course updates by itself every time there’s new content, too.
On the bottom tab bar, the Dictionary icon takes you to a searchable lexicon of photographic terms – if you’ve ever wondered what the difference between longitudinal and lateral chromatic aberration is, here’s the place to find out. If I’ve missed something, you can also request a definition. Drag and release to update the list and contents – same for the blog aggregator, Camerapedia and video list, too. The dictionary content is available exclusively through the app only.
The blog tab is an offline aggregator for recent posts – you can load up the most recent posts to read on the go when you don’t have an internet connection. It also includes a mini-browser that activates whenever external links are in play.
For everybody who’s been asking for digital delivery of the Photoshop Workflow DVD and Leica M-Monochrom workflow DVD, both are now available as a HD download through the app. There are also all-new and more detailed video segments; and there will of course be more videos over time with several currently in the works. (The physical DVDs continue to be available in the normal way at the previous links for those who don’t have iPads or prefer to have a physical disc.)
Finally, we’ve translated the CAMERAPEDIA! into a searchable database of equipment. Tempted to buy something during your next camera store visit? Check out my opinion first.
If you have any feedback or questions about the app, you can contact me here.
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Visit our Teaching Store to up your photographic game – including Photoshop Workflow DVDs and customized Email School of Photography; or go mobile with the Photography Compendium for iPad. You can also get your gear from B&H and Amazon. Prices are the same as normal, however a small portion of your purchase value is referred back to me. Thanks!
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Images and content copyright Ming Thein | mingthein.com 2012 onwards. All rights reserved
Ming,
Will the digital downloads work on a regular Apple computer running iTunes?
Sorry, you’ll need an ipad because the videos are in-app purchases.
Hi Ming, I’m very close to ordering the workflow video on the iPad app. In the comments for the workflow DVD post, you mention that the Quicktime files are huge because they’re encoded at a quality level that lets us see the effects of your processing. Is the iPad video of similar quality, or would one be better off ordering the DVD? Thanks!
There’s a tiny bit of compression applied to the ipad app in order to make it easily distributable, and it doesn’t run at native screen resolution (but there is a retina-native version) – so it’s really up to you. If you’d like that extra bit of quality, then the DVD is the way to go, if not, then the ipad video is available immediately.
Perfect! So when I produce my usual mediocre pictures, I can blame the fact I got the iPad version instead of the DVD.
Serious question: is the current iPad video at Retina resolution, or are you saying there is a Retina iPad version coming in the future?
If you have a retina ipad, it will download the retina version of the videos.
OK, got it. Thanks. I just ordered it last night, and it looks pretty good.
Hi Ming, great videos. It seems the videos don’t stay on the iPad once downloaded. If I want to watch them again, they get downloaded again. Is this supposed to be like that? Any tricks to keep them on on the iPad and save download quota?
Oops, that shouldn’t be the case. We have a bug with a couple of hardware and iOS combinations – fortunately it’s solved by deleting the app, then hitting restore purchases. They should save permanently after that if you have enough space; needless to say downloads are best done over wifi.
Thanks, will try the delete app and restore purchase option. I use wifi/broadband for the downloads at home, but have a GB limit per month.
Hi there,
I seem to be having difficulty viewing the videos. I have purchased the Sharpening, Color Correction and Basic Workflow vids. All seem to download correctly but have no audio? The sharpening video worked correctly yesterday prior to reinstalling the compendium to resolve the redownload on every view issue, now none of the videos have any audio. (To avoid the obvious ones, yes, the audio level on the ipad is high enough, no, it isn’t muted, youtube works correctly)
Thanks.
Is your rotate switch set to mute or rotation lock? This has solved the problem for all others with the same complaint
Awesome, that worked! Thank you. Maybe get a little FAQ together of common issues?
Thankfully there aren’t enough issues for this to be required
would love a version of this app on my mac as i don’t use iPad (yet)…
Hmm…the app-specific content is the dictionary, offline reader and ability to purchase things directly. I can supply you with all of those if you need in a format that’s mac-friendly – shoot me an email. (Actually, the videos are available via the store).