For photographers, speeding up common tasks can add up to huge time savings. For editing and processing images, a lot of these repetitive actions take the form of keystrokes for image browsing and rating or dragging sliders, respectively. Enter the TourBox Neo.

The TourBox Neo is a input device for your computer that features over a dozen controls that can be customized. What's more, with the TourBox app, you can customize each of these buttons with essentially infinite variations, with custom functions for any given application.

This all sounds good in theory, but how does this custom input controller work in practice? Here's my overview of the TourBox Neo for Photographers, with a specific look at using this device for Photo Mechanic and Adobe Lightroom Classic.

Why Use an Input Controller like TourBox?

OK, so why does the TourBox exist? There are two main benefits:

First, the promise is essentially that you can customize this device and its controls to very quickly access your most used functions. Second, you can use multiple controllers to more quickly and easily make adjustments. The options for a scroll wheel, a jog dial, and a central knob are all big draws to the TourBox. Most other input devices catering to photo workflows don't offer close to this level of choice.

While using keybinding software and customizing peripherals can offer some of the TourBox's functionality. However, I'd argue that the third reason for the TourBox is a more ergonomic input and an array of control choices as well. More on this in the design section.

The Design of the TourBox

The design of the TourBox is reminiscent of gaming controllers, with subtle curves and a soft, rubberized exterior. The TourBox can be comfortably held in one hand or used on a desk surface.

The TourBox is a pleasantly weighty device without being difficult to hold or pick up. It has just enough weight to feel solid and sturdy — not cheap.

While there's a central knob, the overall layout feels somewhat generic. I don't mean this as a negative. On the contrary, the seemingly arbitrary layout of the controls invites one to use the device however you feel most comfortable.

The TourBox is an ambidextrous design in the sense that it doesn't force you to use one single grip or position. I feel this is a huge boon.

This design decision does come at the expense of some controls being more comfortable to use with one hand over another. For example, if you're using the TourBox with your right hand, the scroll wheel and jog dial are easily accessed by your index finger and may emphasize their use. Using your left hand, these two controls are still easily accessible. However, if you want your index finger to hover over them it means that your hand is off to the side of the device, rather than over the center of it. Ultimately, it all comes down to personal preference and these details are inherently neither good nor bad.

TourBox Neo Controls

The TourBox Neo includes 11 buttons and 3 rotary controls. The buttons themselves are well spaced and grouped in the layout, without forcing any one single kind of use. This kind of “generic” approach offers an easy kind of flexibility.

Key to this layout is the rotary knob in the center of the controller and the D-pad just below it. Their central placement are easily accessible regardless of which hand you use for the Neo.

While the layout itself feels relatively like a blank slate, there is hierarchy in the design. Button placement relative to the center, scale, shape, and so forth all inform you'll customize this controller. And that's a good thing.

USB-C Connectivity

The TourBox Neo features USB-C connectivity. There is the new TourBox Elite that features Bluetooth wireless. This is a great option if you want to cut down on cable clutter on your desk. Bluetooth is also a good option if you want to frequently move the TourBox.

Aside from the wire vs Bluetooth operation, the TourBox Neo and TourBox Elite appear nearly identical in their function, with a few exceptions. So if you're considering the Elite, most all of this review should apply.

The Software: TourBox Console

Key to the TourBox Neo is the TourBox Console software. This app is very easy to setup, but also offers a huge amount of customization. From this home screen, you can see that you can customize the controls globally and also by specific application.

Here's how I have my Lightroom preset setup so far. (This is very close to the default, but with just a few tweaks as I use the TourBox more.)

In addition offering customization of all of the dozen input controls, you can also customize combinations of buttons. This is a super smart feature and the TourBox software makes this very easy.

It's easy to see that the TourBox is essentially infinitely customizable. Between the ability to customize the 11 inputs and also combinations of buttons, there are endless possibilities.

Creative Software Integration

Diving into the software a little more, the TourBox offers custom options for a number of apps. Integration with Adobe Lightroom is baked into the console software at a deep level. This is one of the super interesting aspects of this device and advantages of TourBox. This level of function mapping isn't quite so easily replicable on a standard macropad or input device. Here, TourBox is clearly catering to creative professionals.

In this screenshot below, you can see how essentially every single panel option of Lightroom can be set as a shortcut.

In addition, this above screenshot shows that TourBox Console also has essentially every command available as an available shortcut to set. This is hugely helpful as it can saves you time having to reference commands in Lightroom itself, or trying to discover the correct keybindings. I love the attention to detail here. This is again one aspect of TourBox Console that helps set it apart from a generic macropad and many other input controllers.

Customization of Input Methods

I'm a massive fan of jog dials and tactile controls. Rotary controllers are such an intuitive and efficient way to make adjustments. There's a reason we've seen dials like this frequently used on consumer electronics like the original iPod and countless others. They just work.

In addition, the individual knobs, jog dial and scroll wheel can be set to adjust one of several different functions:

• software selected slider
• selection of an HSL color
• slider based on mouse hover

For my use, I'm personally using the “Adjust Slider (Mouse Pointing)” option most at this point. This is closest to my normal input workflow where I'm used to mousing over a panel slider and adjusting the setting using the arrow keys on my keyboard.

Utility & Performance

Personally, this is the best customizable input device I've used in a photography workflow. It's a great companion device. My main input is a Kensington Slimblade Trackball, which I absolutely love. But this is just what I use as a pointing device. Otherwise, I'm mainly using my keyboard.

Where the TourBox comes in is as a replacement to the keyboard. For the most part, I still use my trackball for UI navigation and pointing, but the TourBox has replaced a lot of keyboard use. This includes both shortcuts and direct input.

Photo Mechanic Performance

I've written about the use of the software Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits before. It's a piece of software specifically designed to cull images with extreme efficiency. In my workflow, I edit my selects first in Photo Mechanic first. Then, I import just those selects made in Photo Mechanic to Lightroom for final selects for processing and export.

For use of Photo Mechanic, this includes the arrow keys to scroll through images and to the number keys to assign star ratings. Here's how I have my Neo setup at the writing of this review:

With the TourBox Elite, I'm mainly using the knob and job dial controls to navigate very quickly through images. For star ratings, I have customized the arrow cluster of the TourBox for ratings of 1 through 4. I have them ordered with 1 at the top, then clockwise in ascending order.

Overall for Photo Mechanic, the knob and scroll wheel allow for extremely fast image navigation. Overall it's a much more intuitive process than using arrow keys to navigate, as you'd expect from controls that allow for continuous rotation.

The jog dial in particular is extremely nice to use when you want to scroll through images quickly. This is especially true when you're looking for a specific image or moment, rather than spending time on each image individually.

The one “gotcha” with Photo Mechanic

One thing I haven't quite worked out with the TourBox is a way to use the scroll or dial adjustments to set star ratings. Unlike Lightroom, there's no set command for increasing the rating or decreasing the rating. This makes using the scroll wheel and dials an imperfect fit for the ratings, even with macro functions. My ideal would be to have a scroll wheel up to increase ratings and down to lower it. Still, my arrow cluster solution works OK.

Ultimately, I'd really love a set of keys/buttons in a row that I could directly assign to correspond with 1-5 star ratings. This isn't a deal breaker but it would make the Tourbox a much better fit for my Photo Mechanic workflow.

I've also made a feature request with Camerabits, the maker of Photo Mechanic, for relative keyboard shortcuts to increase and decrease ratings. I've been told this will be incorporated into the next version of Photo Mechanic, which is going to make the utility of the TourBox for this app so much more flexible for me.

Adobe Lightroom Performance

For my use in Lightroom, I'm personally making very fast adjustments. Mainly, my adjustments are limited largely to the Basic RAW adjustments panel. I'll normally adjust these parameters, generally in this order:

• White Balance
• Tint
• Exposure
• Contrast
• Highlights
• Shadows
• Blackpoint
• Tone Curve

The Lightroom default TourBox actually has most of these tied directly to the buttons so they can be accessed with a single press. I can see how this is useful if you're not using a mouse/pointing device.

Here's how I have Lightroom for the Neo setup:

For me, as I'm using a trackball in my lefthand and using the TourBox with my right, I prefer using the dials/scroll wheel to control inputs, and to just hover over the slider I want to affect.

Adjustment of the sliders is very fast. I'd love to see some more granular control over the inputs for the knob, dial and scroll wheel. For example, being able to change exposure by 0.1EV (the default is 0.02EV adjustment, extremely granular) or slider levels by increments of 5 (the default is 1 unit). There is the ability to change the input to a unit of 20, but I find this a little too coarse. Somewhere in between would be a great addition to the TourBox Console software.

Advantages of the TourBox Elite

Aside from the addition off Bluetooth for wireless control, the TourBox Elite (soon to be released) also features haptic feedback. This is a massive and welcome addition. I'd love to try out the TourBox Elite for this feature alone.

With the TourBox Neo, the scroll wheel does include small detents as you'd expect on most scroll wheels you'd find on a mouse. However, the knob and the jog dial spin freely without offering any tactile feedback. The addition of haptic feedback would be extremely nice to have and I hope to try the Elite with this feature.

Review Conclusion of the Tourbox Neo

Overall, I'm really liking the TourBox Neo. It's an incredibly fun controller and input device if you're someone like me who loves trying to optimize their workflow. The TourBox Neo can be customized almost infinitely.

The only limit to the device is really in its software support. For very widely used applications like Adobe Lightroom and other Adobe creative applications, for which TourBox has extensive support, it makes the controller a dream to use.

For software like Photo Mechanic that is arguably more niche (though still widely by professionals, but not necessarily hobbyists or amateurs), the TourBox is still an excellent option.

If you're an Adobe power user, I think you'll love the TourBox. The intelligent software and deep Adobe support makes it a super powerful controller with a lot of utility with apps like Photoshop and Lightroom in particular.

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Looking for a replacement to your MacBook Pro AC adapter? You can not only ditch the bulk and weight, but you can get even more ports. The uGreen 100w and 65w options are dramatically smaller and offer even more functionality than the OEM charger. Here's why these two GaN chargers for MacBook are the best you can get.

GaN Chargers for MacBook

Apple has made strides in improving the charging bricks for its MacBook Pros, bringing back MagSafe and switching to a USB-C connector. But as battery capacity goes up, the chargers have gotten even more massive.

The current 16″ M1 MacBook Pro features a huge 140w AC adapter. It offers a ton of power to charge your MacBook quickly and also service power to any peripherals you connect to it, but it's large and bulky.

GaN chargers are a new type of chargers that use gallium nitride (GaN) as a superconductor. The benefit of GaN is that it produces less heat than other conductors used in chargers. This means the components can be more tightly spaced and thus more compact.

In addition, GaN chargers also often offer more ports, a great benefit if you're a photographer on the go connecting multiple devices. I've already mentioned uGreen GaN chargers as a must-have in Essential Gear for Tour Photography. Here's more on why I love these chargers.

Size Comparison

Here's a size comparison between the stock Apple 140w charger and the uGreen 100w and 65w GaN chargers. As you can see, the uGreen 100w charger is about 2/3 the size of the Apple charger. The uGreen 65w charger is about 1/3 the size.

And here's another view to show the ports of these chargers as well as the relative thickness.

If you travel with your MacBook Pro, the size difference is noticeable. More than that, the new generation of GaN chargers like the uGreen models offer increased functionality as well.

USB-C and USB-A Port Selection

Unlike the single USB-C port on the stock Apple charger, the uGreen models offer both USB-C and USB-A.

The 100w charger features 3x USB-C ports and 1x USB-A. The 65w model features 2x USB-C ports and 1x USB-A.

What multiple ports means for you is that you can charge multiple devices at once. If you travel with your laptop, this means that a multi-port charger can replace the adapters for your laptop, tablet and phone, all in a single unit.

In practice, this consolidation saves a ton of space in your gear bag and reduces clutter. Instead of fishing around for multiple adapters, you can just grab a single chager.

Charging Performance

The 100w model features a ton of options. Using a single port, you can charge at a full 100w, or balance between other output modes.

Charging multiple devices at once will mean that your may charge more slowly. In addition, if you're using the latest MacBook Pro with a 140w charger, the 100w charger will not charge as quickly.

Still, I feel like this is a relatively small tradeoff for the flexibility of being able to have access to multiple ports when you need it.

100w will charge and sustain your laptop just fine for nearly all instances. It'll just take longer to reach full charge than the 140w default MacBook Pro 16″ charger.

Arguably, the lower wattage and slower charge is actually better for the battery long term. Personally, the one time a super fast charge is needed is when the batter is already depleted and I'm in a hurry to be mobile without the ability to charge (think needing to charge up before a flight on an airlines without AC outlets).

For most other instances, I'm more likely looking to trickle charge and/or just not draw down on the battery excessively.

Here, the benefits of these small GaN chargers are perfect. If you're looking for a GaN charger for your MacBook Pro or MacBook, for me the uGreen 100w and uGreen 62w chargers are perfect. The additional ports, smaller size and much lighter weight far outweigh the one advantage of the OEM charger's higher wattage.

The post UGREEN 100w + 62w GaN Charger Review appeared first on ishootshows.com.

Looking for a faster editingworkflow? Leave Lightroom for processing RAW files. Photo Mechanic is the fastest way to make selects.

Whatever your terminology for it, the process of culling, editing or selecting photos can be very time consuming. Choosing images takes time, but one's choice of software can have a huge effect on speed as well.

When you need to edit images quickly, there's only once choice: Photo Mechanic. In this article, I'll dive into why ever photographer working in events and when fast delivery is essential should be using Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits..

Photo Mechanic by Camera Bits is custom made to make selections as quickly as possible and this precisely what I use it for. There are other functions of the app where it excels, such as metadata and ITCP data, but my favorite use is with editing.

Why use a dedicated piece of software for culling when Adobe Lightroom can do the same thing? A few reasons.

Photo Mechanic Loads Images Faster

The most compelling reason to use Photo Mechanic over Lightroom is that it is much faster at loading images. Lightroom's default is create its own preview image for every single file. This takes processing power as well as time.

Any user of Lightroom is familiar with importing a set of images and starting to edit. When you go from one image to the next, there's a noticeable delay. The reason for this is that Lightroom is rendering it's own image preview from the RAW data.

Photo Mechanic, on the other hand, uses the built in JPG of the RAW file to create its previews. As a result, images load instantaneously. When going through images in sequence quickly, this speed is essential for an efficient workflow.

After selecting images in Photo Mechanic, I'll then import only my selects to Adobe Lightroom.

Photo Mechanic Doesn't Rely on Catalogues

Another reason I love Photo Mechanic is that it is lightweight. The app essentially acts as a file browser rather than cataloguing software, as in the case of Lightroom.

This difference means that you can load folders of images in Photo Mechanic without needing to save a catalogue file. It also makes browsing images fast, whether you're looking through existing folders or using the software to ingest or download images.

Creates More Efficient Lightroom Catalogues

Finally, smaller catalogues are more efficient catalogues. Smaller catalogues are faster to index, load and process.

Since I'm only importing selects to Lightroom, my Lightroom catalogues are streamlined and more efficient. So long as I've done a proper image selection, there's very little need to have any images I won't be editing in my LR catalogue.

The benefits to your catalogue will be faster loading and smaller sizes. Both of these will aid in your computer performance overall.

After making selects in Photo Mechanic, I literally just drag and drop those files into Lightroom. That's it. Filter images to show my selects, select all, drag them into Lightroom. It's that easy.

Photo Mechanic has More Powerful Ingest Options

The instantaneous speed at which Photo Mechanic loads one image after another is reason enough to use this software, but it is not the only reason.

Another reason I love Photo Mechanic is for the more sophisticated ingest options. With Lightroom, the options are simple. You can ignore suspected duplicate files, tweak basic preview options, keyword and apply a preset.

With Photo Mechanic, the ingest options are much more robust. Among them are the abilities to:

• Copy images to a primary and secondary location
• Erase media after ingest
• Unmount media after ingest
• Apply metadata template to images
• Rename images on ingest
• Download locked or rated images first

Of these, many of common solutions that add up to a superior workflow, especially for photographers working in events such as live music, festival media teams, sports and photojournalism.

Ingesting Protected/Rated Images: The Ultimate Speed Hack

The feature of Photo Mechanic downloading protected and locked images is low key one of the ultimate workflow hacks I can share with you. I learned this from my friend Brad Moore, who is a fantastic music photographer. Nikon cameras like the Nikon Z 9 have included image protection buttons as a default, dedicated UI option. The reason for this is to easily and quickly lock images against deletion while reviewing in camera.

However, the ability to protect images in this manner also dovetails perfectly as a workflow solution to flag images for editing. Whether a photographer does this for an independent photo editor or themselves, being able to lock images while photographing has become an essential part of my workflow.

Photo Mechanic's ability to download protected images first is truly a game changer. While I'm photographing, I naturally review images anyway. Protecting images in camera is extremely quick and adds only a very small amount of time to something I'm already doing. The benefit of essentially doing a first round edit in-camera and then having those images download first is one of the best things you can do to speed up your workflow.

The Fastest Editing Workflow for Event Photography I've Found

When I'm working on a media team for a music festival doing a self-edit, I'm often downloading and processing images in between my assignments.

Using this image protection/Photo Mechanic workflow, I can very quickly do a second and third round of selects. Often, I'm done with my final edit before the memory card is finished downloading. Then, I'm able to quickly process images, export, deliver and get back out shooting in a matter of minutes.

Trust me. Try it, you will love it. While Nikon cameras make protecting images as easy as a one-button press, rating images will also give the same benefit. Do whatever is easiest for your system.

Summary

When people lament the time it takes culling or editing photos, my very first suggestion is to start using Photo Mechanic. Camera Bits has created software that is custom made to speed your photography workflow for selecting images to process.

If you're working on tight deadlines doing same night edits for clients, Photo Mechanic is for you. For any kind of high volume photography where tight deadlines are essential, you need this software. From tour photography to sports, festival media teams to photojournalism, this is software that will dramatically speed up your workflow.

I have zero affiliation with Camera Bits or Photo Mechanic other than loving their software, by the way. I simply love this software. It's saved me untold hours and days in the decade I've been using it.

Camera Bits offers a free, 30 day trial of Photo Mechanic. Use it for your next event, you'll love it.

The post Photo mechanic: The Fastest Editing Software appeared first on ishootshows.com.

If you're a professional photographer, you should care not only about how your images are made, but how they're processed and edited. Adjustments to white balance, color and contrast in software like Adobe Lightroom require an accurate computer display. The default displays of your average MacBook Pro are beautiful, but they have many issues, from glare to accuracy.

This BenQ SW321C review will look at the features and benefits of this professional photography monitor. We'll look at why an external display like the SW321C dedicated to pro photography offer superior performance that are worth the upgrade over consumer monitors.

BenQ SW321C Specifications

In this BenQ SW321C review, we'll look at a lot of details of this professional photography monitor that aren't just specs, but those can be important, too. Here are the specicifications for the SW321C:

BenQ Packaging

Naturally, the packaging of a product is of lesser importance than the product itself. However, I feel it is worth pointing out that BenQ packages the SW321C in the maximum of recyclable material.

Almost the entire container and packaging of the monitor is cardboard, which may be easily recycled. While there are a few bits of high density foam that pad the monitor, 95% of the packaging is cardboard. I was personally excited to see this approach. Well done, BenQ.

Factory Calibration and Perfect out of the Box

The BenQ SW321C is calibrated at the factory and each monitor comes with its own performance spec sheet.

The factory calibration reports details:

• Color gamut measurements
• Uniformity measurements
• Gamma
• DICOM

One of the most interesting aspects for me in this is the uniformity measurements, as the screen uniformity is one of the aspects that is most apparently in day to day use. My BenQ321C unit shows uniformity of nearly 100% across the screen and where there are deviations, the variation of only 1%. This uniformity is exceptional compared to consumer displays, which I have personally found to show much more variation.

Uniformity variance on small displays is much less of a noticeable issue, but are easily seen on large displays with the larger required viewing angles that exacerbate any differences. This makes uniformity one of the most easily appreciated aspects of the BenQ SW321C for me personally.

Design of the BenQ SW321C

Overall, the design of the SW321C is unassuming and utilitarian, but there's an honest beauty in this approach that means it fits in with nearly any aesthetic. There are no chrome accents or polished, chamfered edges, no translucent plastic that might catch stray light. Even the BenQ logo is simply screen printed on the lower bezel.

The plastic used for the display's hardware is a simple: a subtly textured dark gray, which seems to fit in with any sort of style unobtrusively. Black would have been too severe. Somehow BenQ's choice of this cool gray is perfectly utilitarian and understated, which I love.

At first glance, the aesthetic seems simple, but this is only a superficial read. More to the point, the design choices are extremely intentional and have everything to do with the experience of a performance monitor.

On closer inspection, there's nothing glossy or reflective on the front of the display. There is nothing to take your attention away from the image. This is a small but important decision that indicates BenQ's focus on delivering the highest quality visual experience.

Even the use of wide bezels, at least half an inch at the narrowest, serves to create a visual blocker of the display's image. This separation against any background distractions that might serve to compete is a quiet feature that aids in focus. The bezel is a physical moat around the image itself. Add in the supplied monitor shade and you have even more of an immersive experience.

While this is a review for the SW321C, these design features carry over to the other models in BenQ's professional photography line. This includes 32″ BenQ SW320.

Ergonomics and Height Adjustment

While a monitor isn't something that we generally think of as possessing ergonomics, the BenQ SW312C offers extremely good flexibility in terms of this feature. What I mean here with the ergonomics is the adjustability of height for optimal viewing.

In this regard, the SW321 is excellent, allowing for a very wide range of heights with the default base stand. The display can be set to be as low as about 1″ off the desk to a height of 8″. This range easily accommodates a huge range of preferences.

For me personally, I like to have the top of the monitor roughly at or just slightly above eye level. This allows me to view the center of the screen in a natural, relaxed downward angle that reduces eye strain. The low setting of having the display sit about 2″ over my desk is perfect for this preference. This is more important for the fact that the dimensions of this 32″ monitor are already quite large and the height of the display relatively high.

The height of your desk, the height of your chair and how you sit in it all will inform the proper height of your monitor. BenQ's attention to ergonomics here are excellent and I love the adjustability of the SW321C in this regard.

Often, in consumer monitors, monitors are given a tilt option but not necessarily easy height adjustment. In particular, it's not often to have the ability to set a very low height to allow for my preferred setup without a VESA mount, which can be bulky and requires an additional purchase. I love that that SW321C has such a versatile base with height adjustment by default.

In addition, the stand for the SW321C accommodates both vertical and horizontal use by default. Again, pretty incredible flexibility.

In this BenQ SW321C review, I cannot understate how easy and flexible the adjustments for this display are. I've had to use a VESA mount to get the same level of height adjustment in the past. Those mounts always come with their own caveats where one adjustment to height also adjusts the distance to the mount's clamp. Here, BenQ offers supreme ergonomic adjustments out of the box without compromise.

User Interface and Controls

On the monitor itself, the input of the SW321C are controlled by 4 buttons to the left of the power button. Pressing any of the buttons will bring up a visual display with quick options. These include access color mode, brightness and then the full menu of settings. Only the power button features an LED. Per the design aesthetic, I'm glad to have this as the only possible distraction surrounding the image.

Most importantly, the physical controls and menu are an elegant solution that surfaces the most commonly used controls — color mode and brightness.

I've used other monitors that prioritize input or that bury common features in menus. BenQ's prioritization is a welcome and smart decision. More on the ability to quickly change brightness below.

Hotkey Puck G2 Controller

One of BenQ's innovations is the Hotkey Puck G2. This is a small input device with a jog dial with 5 dedicated keys that is included with the SW321C. This controller is used to change display settings from the basic to the complex, including brightness, color mode switching between sRGB, P3, B&W and AdobeRGB, and more.

By default, rotation of the dial controls monitor brightness and I love this quick access. We know that display brightness is crucial to not only eye comfort and fatigue, but also to making precise image decisions.

I love that with the Puck I can intuitively and easily change the brightness level of the monitor to give me the best possible image based on ambient lighting conditions. In the daytime, I can easily increase brightness when it's needed, and at night I can dial down the brightness to suit my needs and the ambient so easily.

While monitor brightness is a basic function, the fact that it's so easy to change instead of being buried in a menu or only accessible by a fiddly user interface makes this BenQ decision of the Hotkey Puck G2 so brilliant.

In addition to monitor functions, the Puck can be set to control volume or mute. However, this control appears to be for attached devices only, not as an global system control.

Included Monitor Shading Hood

Included with the SW321C is a shading hood. This is a professional monitor feature that acts in a similar to a lens hood, blocking stray light. This protection further reduces glare and is ideal if you need to use the monitor in uncontrolled situations. Think on-location for a digital tech in a very bright room, or other instances where lighting cannot be controlled.

In addition, the shading hood creates a more immersive experience by physically blocking possible distractions.

BenQ includes both vertical and horizontal shading hoods with the SW321C. This is a great item to include and speaks to the professional stature of this model. Everything you need for the best possible experience is included right in the box.

Personally, I haven't used the shading hoods. For one, my desktop setup is in a fairly controlled environment where there aren't light sources that create glare. In addition, I have peripherals set up around my monitor (including the beautiful BenQ Screenbar Plus). With my Nikon Z 50 on a boom just to the side of my display and a Samson Q2U microphone on a book to the right, my current setup both doesn't require the shade or accommodate it.

All that said, it's a great value that BenQ includes the options for horizontal and vertical shades by default. If your desktop setup is in a situation near windows or where lighting can be either unpredictable or uncontrollable, the shades are huge asset that make for the ideal viewing experience.

Connectivity

The BenQ SW321C offers very good connectivity options, including a built-in SD card reader, USB-C port with 60W power delivery, and two USB 3.1 ports.

Between the inclusion of USB-C, DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity, all the standard options are available.

For a lot of photographers, connecting the BenQ SW321C to your MacBook Pro may replace the need for an extra hub if your needs aren't too heavy.

Use as an Primary External Display

I'm using the SW321C connected to a Mac Pro. I'm a fan of systems like the Mac Pro, Mac Mini and now the Mac Station over a combination system such as the iMac for flexibility and modularity.

If you're a Mac user, I'd always advocate for using an external display for your desktop set. This is true even if you use a MacBook Pro as your main machine, which I know is very common among professional photographers. This setup can be ideal. You have portable solution for work on location and on the road, and then you can use an external display like the SW321C for the ultimate desktop viewing experience.

In addition, what you get with this setup is not only more real estate, but flexibility and ultimately better quality. With the M-line of Apple Silicon, we're seeing incredible performance with their MacBook line. There's very little reason not to get the best of both world's with a portable setup that can also have a world class display in the SW321C for critical work.

Overall Display Performance

The overall visual performance of the BenQ SW321 is, in a word, excellent. From the first minute of using the display, I admit that it was love at first sight. The display is a gorgeous 32″ inches at the diagonal, but the real estate is just one part of the experience.

Out of the box, the monitor is calibrated from the factory to precise standards for “out of the box accuracy.” This is a monitor that literally requires nothing to look great and gives you the confidence that you have exceptional accuracy from day one.

Colors pop off the screen vividly. The 4K resolution renders beautiful crisp details. The 10-bit color depth showcases gradations with smoothness and subtlety.

The specs of the SW321C are impressive, as you would expect a monitor of this calibre and cost should be. 100% sRGB display, 99% AdobeRGB display and 95% P3.

A Superior Matte, Anti-Glare Screen

One of the main reasons to go with a professional photography display like the BenQ SW321C is for the superior anti-glare treatment of the screen. Glossy screens look amazing under the right circumstances and are convenient for casual viewing and non-critical work.

However, for demanding viewing, glare can be an issue that can prevent the accurate viewing of detail, obscure parts of the image or at the very least cause distraction to the task at hand.

To this end, all professional displays are universally anti-glare and this is precisely the approach that BenQ has taken with all of their displays. The SW321C's matte screen showcases beautiful color and contrast.

While glossy screens are truly beautiful to consume content with as a viewer, I'd argue that the inky blacks of glossy displays can hide perceived shadow detail and distort the apparent visual range. These considerations are not a factor for the consumption of media in a non-critical context; a glossy screen has its place to be sure.. However, as content creators and artist, an anti-glare screen is essential for detail work, whether it is photography retouching, image editing or processing RAW files.

Edge to Edge Display Evenness

One remarkable feature of the SW321C is that the monitor features incredibly even brightness and uniformity across the 32″ display. This is no small feat. Display uniformity among small displays isn't often an issue because the distance from the center to the corner is relatively small, and thus the viewing angle is proportionally small.

With a large display like the BenQ 32″ SW321C, the viewing angles from the center to the corners is much greater. This larger difference means greater viewing angles need to be accommodated along with uniformity for color, contrast and brightness.

Here, the BenQ shines, implementing what they call “BenQ Uniformity Technology” to offer an even experience from the center to the edge. I've used ultra-wide monitors in the past that have suffered from visible unevenness from the center to the edge, but I am happy to say that the SW321C has zero trace of these issues. From the aforementioned calibration report, the difference in unformity is less than 1% on any given part of the screen, with most parts being 100% identical.

Compare this to an extreme case of IPS glow in a consumer monitor like my previous monitor, the LG 34UM95 34″, which I returned.

Aside from IPS glow, lesser displays would show low contrast, increased apparent brightness or weird color shifts toward the edges of the screen, due to poor viewing angle consistency.

Even with a huge 32″ screen, the SW321C is incredibly even and BenQ's tuning of their displays is readily apparent. While most non-expert eyes aren't trained for color accuracy, even unevenness of a display is readily apparent to untrained eyes. The uniformity of the BenQ is a standout feature and one that any user will see day to day.

4K Resolution Monitors for Photography

Previously, I've used an LG 34″ Ultrawide with 3440 x 1440 resolution and a 21:9 aspect ratio. The 3340 x 1440 resolution is considered 2K. The SW321C's 4K resolution is 3840 x 2160 pixels.

Realistically, how much of a difference is going from 2K to 4K? It's not night and day. I was happy with the 2K resolution as a viewing experience and 4K in a smaller horizontal scale does give higher PPI. 4K gives plenty of detail at normal viewing distances with very crisp details.

16:9 vs 21:9 Ultra-Wide

More important than the precise resolution, I would say that I much prefer the 16:9 aspect ratio of the SW321C to the 21:9 aspect ratio I was using in the past. The 16:9 ratio means that the elements on the sides or extremes of the display are simply closer to the center screen than they are in a 21:9 display.

There's less eye or head movement to see everything you need to see. It's a subtle difference but one that's immediately noticeable and I find it more comfortable overall. In addition, the 16:9 screen gives more height to the real estate of the screen (all things being equal) and again, this gives you more usable real estate in the center of the screen, where it's most comfortable to look without eye movement or head movement.

Color Accuracy and Display Performance

The color accuracy and rendition of the BenQ 32″ SW321C is essentially flawless — as you'd expect at this price point. The specs tell the story best here:

• 100% coverage of sRGB
• 99% coverage of AdobeRGB
• 95% coverage of P3

In other words, what these numbers translate into are industry leading specs on par with the best of premium competitors. More to the point, BenQ's price point is dramatically lower. The very comparably spec'd EIZO ColorEdge CG319X retails for $5,739 vs the $1,999 price point of this SW321C, for example.

The real world take away from the BenQ 32″ SW321C offers the best image quality in a monitor that I have seen and the one that offers the highest quality experience I've used.

As a photographer, sRGB and AdobeRGB are my main concerns for display. AdobeRGB is important for client delivery and sRGB is important as the most common color gamut for real world applications on screen.

That said, for it it's all the other details about the BenQ SW321C that come through as most exceptional and which make this monitor more than the sum of its parts. Ease of use, the thoughtful details, ease of adjustability and use for stunning performance out of the box make this BenQ professional photography monitor a true winner for me.

Furthermore, the anti-glare screen and accuracy of colors, the adjustability of brightness to suit any condition and more all add up to an experience that is a pleasure to use. From global edits for RAW processing in Adobe Lightroom to retouching or other detail work, the accuracy and precision of the SW321C make these tasks a joy to use. My photos look amazing, the details pop, and I'm able to work with the minimum of fatigue even with all-day editing sessions.

BenQ SW321C vs Apple Studio Display

With the 2022 introduction of the 27″ Apple Studio Display, I feel it's worth making a minor update to address some points of comparison.

The stock Apple Studio Display starts at $1,499. Add on the Nano textured glass and height adjustable stand, and the cost is $2,299. Compared to the BenQ SW321C, Apple charges a premium for what I'd argue are essential features for professional work — anti-glare screens and complete ergonomic adjustment.

In addition, the Apple Studio Display offers less real estate and arguably very few advantages for professional photographers.

For a more direct comparison, the 27″ BenQ SW271C is $1,599 for the same screen size and the value of BenQ's line is more apparent with these built-in features. In all the most essential ways, I feel like BenQ is the winner here.

BenQ SW321C Review Summary

I hope that this BenQ SW321C review has been helpful if you're considering a professional photography monitor. This is a perfect display for photographers who want the best possible viewing experience for their work.

The setup of the BenQ SW321C is dead simple and what you get is a monitor that gives you professional performance at a fraction of the price of some alternatives. Out of the box, the 32″ SW321C offers incredible ease of use.

This display is full of subtle details that speak to BenQ's intent on providing a superior product and flawless experience. The truth is that all professional monitors will hit nearly identical specs. For me, the intuitive user interface, the emphasis on the most common functions (brightness, input, color mode) and more tell the true story.

BenQ has created a beautiful flagship display that takes the worry out of your monitor solution. Gone are the worries about color accuracy. The worries about missing detail due to screen glare. The worries about uniformity or viewing angles. The SW321C just delivers. It might not be flashy, but it works to perfection. The ideal of a tool that works as transparently as possible to deliver the goods without getting in between you and your digital images.

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On paper, the Nikon Z 9 EVF doesn't seem groundbreaking. The specs, by themselves, are unassuming, in many ways. Moderate refresh rate and resolution — nothing truly new. But that's far from the whole truth — groundbreaking is exactly what it is.

In actually using the camera, the Nikon Z 9's EVF is a wholly new beast that defies convention. The praise of the Nikon Z 9's view has been made well known. This is an electronic viewfinder that is very much more than the sum of its parts. I would say that the Z 9 offers the best viewfinder experience of any camera I've used.

Traditional Viewfinder Experiences

Viewfinder blackout has been a constant of photography for all through-the-lens viewing experiences involving a mechanical shutter. With SLRs and DSLRs, there is viewfinder blackout as the mirror swings up to exposure the film/sensor.

With mirrorless cameras, viewfinder blackout is a common experience not because of a mirror assembly, but because of processor pipeline/bandwidth and the use of a mechanical shutter.

As the mechanical shutter closes, there's a loss of image light, just as with a SLR camera. In addition, writing the image to media and the associated image processing is prioritized over the live feed for the EVF. The experience is viewfinder blackout for a fraction of a second.

EVF Brightness

Nikon's Z 9 EVF features the world's brightest Quad-VGA panel, which reaches a peak brightness of 3,000 nits. This top rating is brighter than many HDR TVs. For reference, the iPhone 13 Pro features 1200 nits brightness in HDR mode.

EVF brightness doesn't matter much for low light, where high display brightness isn't necessary. So why is EVF brightness important? For bright situations — think sunny midday sun — where your pupils are constricted to reduce light, viewing a dimmer EVF that doesn't match surrounding conditions provides a poor experience.

The brightness of the Z 9's display allows for a more natural, seamless experience with reality. The Z 9's very bright EVF allows for better viewing in a wider range of conditions.

Blackout-Free Experience

In the past, mirrorless cameras achieve a “blackout-free” experience by show images that had just been recorded in place of the frames that were unavailable. It's a clever trick in theory, but one that is a little awkward in actual use. With this image replacement, you're seeing image that were created a fraction of a second in the past, instead of what's happening in front of you.

Nikon is calling the Z 9's viewfinder technology their Real-Live Viewfinder.

For the Nikon Z 9 EVF, Nikon's engineer's have developed a split image processing pipeline. This solves the issue of viewfinder blackout at multiple levels.

Dual Channel Processing

First, there are two image data channels — one for the EVF and one for still image capture. The dual EXPEED chips process both images simultaneously, so there's never a need to prioritize one stream over the other.

100% Electronic Shutter

In addition, the Z 9 features an entirely electronic shutter. There's no mechanical shutter component to cause a loss of light or interruption to the imaging experience. This is an advantage over not only other mirrorless cameras, but the optical viewfinders of DSLRs and SLRs for action.

Fastest Sensor Readout

With the Z 9, Nikon claims the world’s fastest sensor readout — 12x faster data readout than the Nikon Z 7II. This tech is partially what allows for Nikon to do away with the mechanical shutter. In addition, this blazing fast readout allows for very low latency — more on this in the next section.

Here's how Nikon explains how they achieve a blackout-free experience:

Lowest EVF Latency

One notable but less talked about considerations with EVFs is latency. Latency here means any lag between the real world scene you're viewing and the observation of that scene in the electronic viewfinder. With optical viewfinder, the latency is basically measured at the speed of light.

With digital displays and electronic viewfinders, latency is determined by various factors, including sensor readout and image processing.

Nikon already has boasted class-leading image readout from the sensor as well as fat pipes for image processing and double EXPEED processors to handle it all. All of this contributes to the lowest latency of the flagship mirrorless bodies.

More on latency here in this video, which showcases the difference in approaches, and highlights that resolution and potential refresh rates aren't everything when it comes to the best EVF experience.

Nikon's Approach to EVFs

It's clear that Nikon has taken a different approach than the rest of the market in the Z 9. Instead of hard numbers for resolution or refresh rate, I feel it's clear that Nikon has focused on the less tangible and less buzzy aspects that don't necessarily make for easy marketing.

Instead, Nikon has focused on a set of attributes that combine to offer what their engineers offer is the best experience in the real world, not just on paper.

• Lowest latency
• Highest brightness
• Most uniform experience without stutter or lag
• Blackout-free without frame substitution

In Nikon's marketing, there are very few asterisks or caveats. You get what you get, basically, in the most uncompromising way. I have always respected Nikon's engineering team for taking this approach because it means that the end result is often superior for the actual user, not just what sounds good for marketing.

Real World Use of the Z 9's EVF

While the Z 9 boasts modest resolution and refresh rate, in practice the viewfinder experience is the most immersive I've ever used.

The Details That Matter

Unlike other competitors, the resolution and refresh rates are entirely consistent with the Nikon Z 9 throughout the experience. Furthermore, the latency of the Z 9's EVF is the lowest of all flagship mirrorless cameras. In addition, there's no difference in the display performance when passively viewing compared to actively focusing. In addition, there's no lag or black frame that occurs with the start of a burst mode compared to other models.

Combined with the blackout-free shooting experience, lack of a visual difference in resolution or refresh rate, Nikon has unassumingly provided the best viewfinder experience available in my opinion.

Creating Transparent Tools

With the Z 9's EVF, there's nothing to take you out of the experience as a creator. There are no “gotchas” that remind you of the artifice at hand. For me, Nikon's set of small but very calculated decisions add up to be far more than the sum of their parts.

We intuitively understand that the best tools are the ones that are the most transparent. They just “fade away” in our hands without drawing attention to themselves and with the fewest mediations between us and our tasks. The Z 9's EVF is a clear expression of this philosophy.

I personally feel this viewfinder isn't just the best of any mirrorless camera to date, but it's the best viewfinder experience that I've had period. The continuous, bright viewfinder experience that is almost entirely devoid of any lag, visual jolts, or other ‘hiccups' seen in other mirrorless cameras. This makes the Z 9 the best viewfinder experience of all the cameras I've used, from SLRs to DSLR and now mirrorless.

What's most exciting about the Real-Live experience of the Nikon Z 9 EVF is that we will see this technology become not only even better in the coming years, but ubiquitous. The technology of today's flagships will be commonplace in even the entry level cameras of tomorrow. For me, that is incredibly exciting and one reason I'm all in on mirrorless.

Update: Z 9 Firmware 2.0 Notes with 120 FPS EVF

With the new version 2.0 firmware update, the EVF of the Z 9 gets even better. The new update enables a new high refresh rate of 120 FPS. This is a constant rate that does not lower situationally. There are no caveats or gotchas, other than an affect on battery life.

In practice, I've found that the increase to 120 FPS over the previous 60 FPS is a great improvement. The viewfinder experience is just that much smoother. For me personally, the increase to 120 Hz is not a night and day difference, but you can readily see the advantage.

The Z 9 already has excellent battery life, which for me is likely the only consideration for not using this high frame rate mode.

For me, this small but welcome improvement means that the best EVF experience just got even better. Again, the consistency of the experience between playback and shooting mode, the extremely low latency, the lack of a visual stutter when engaging autofocus and more — all of which are unique to the Z 9 and issues found with other EVF implementations — are why the Nikon Z 9 offers an exceptional performance in this regard. Hats off to the Nikon engineering team for this change among many others in the Z 9 firmware 2.0 update!

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