The Next Wacom Cintiq for Designers, Illustrators and Photographers

Wacom has announced its latest Cintiq display tablet. These devices are, and always will be aimed at creative artists looking to go beyond using their trusty iPad for design or photography. Yes photography, too.

Image credit: Wacom. Wacom Cintiq 16

I’ve been a bit of a fanboy of Wacom for years. A dear friend of mine got me into the Intuos devices to replace the mouse on my computer. It really does make things easier for me with regards to photo retouching. Later, I got my hands on the Cintiq line because I was interested in having the actual display at my reach. I LOVE it. Especially for working on headshots in post. So of course when I got wind of the latest Cintiq becoming available, I spoke with the Wacom team for more details.

Streamlined look and feel

Wacom announced two new Cintiqs for creative artists. The Cintiq 16 and 24. Both of these sizing options are great as it allows the device to be an easy fit in most workspaces. The form-factor is thinner and lighter further advancing the portability of the Cintiq line. Not to mention, the footprint has improved.

Image credit: Wacom. Wacom Cintiq 24

You can now lay the Cintiq flat on your desk space as you would an Intuos. This gives you the feel of actually drawing on a smooth sheet paper or a sketch pad. If that’s not your preferred way of working, you can still opt for a tilt angle on your desk with the foldable feet on the Cintiq 16 or the foldable stand on the Cintiq 24. Whatever works best for you. You can also utilize the integrated VESA mount option on the rear of each Cintiq if you’re interested in mounting these devices onto third-party monitor arms. I’ve done this before and it can be quite handy as an additional monitor for day-to-day computing.

Other tech specs

Each device will utilize the Wacom Pen Pro 3 stylus. The 2.5K screen resolution is beautiful with anti-glare etched glass. The Cintiq 24 also offers touch mode if you’re into using your fingers in addition to the Pen Pro 3 stylus.

The updated Cintiq line will be available this summer with a starting price of $699 for the Cintiq 16 and $1299 for the Cintiq 24.

Boyamic2 Wireless Lav Mic is a Budget-Friendly Option for Creators

A few weeks back I began playing around with a set of wireless mics sent to me by the team at Boya. It’s the Boyamic2 Wireless lav. Let me be straight with you; initially I didn’t have much interest in this mic set because there isn’t much one can say about mics. But of course the buzzword of AI was thrown into the description. So I took a look for kicks and giggles at the very least. I’ve not been the biggest fan of the label “AI” getting slapped onto EVERY DADGUM PIECE OF TECH today. Most of the time it’s a bunch of bunk that’s not very helpful or useful. Just marketing buzz. Well, I can’t say that in the case of the Boyamic2.

Boyamic2 lavalier mic

Like most wireless lav mics today, you get a pair of mics (transmitters) and one receiver to capture the sound. The receiver allows you to pipe the audio into your camera or smartphone. Just use a TRS cable or a dongle. Pretty easy to use.

Boyamic2 lavalier and receiver

Boyamic2 lavalier and receiver

Nothing new here. So what’s the deal with this mic?

So Boya has touted having much better noise-cancelling in these mics to help provide a better listening experience. Granted, one must also consider other recording variables with a bold statement like that. Variables such as mic placement, what the actual ambient sound is, where the ambient sound is coming from, wind and more. In my testing, the environment was pretty tame. Some wind here and there, but even with that in consideration, the Boya2 did offer pretty effective noise cancellation on the fly with its AI.

But I have to give some additional credit. Even without the active noise cancellation activated, the mics do a pretty nice job with picking up the audio you actually want instead of the whole environment. Here’s a screenshot of room tone captured by my professional, studio mic - the Heil PR 40*. Notice the room tone is coming in at about 1kHz in the spectral display. And I mean BARELY at that because you can barely see the purple color in the spectral display.

Now take a look at the Boyamic2 in the same room with the same spoken word. It’s doing a really great job as it barely capturing room tone at 2kHz in the spectral display. So yeah, credit where credit is due.

The Boyamic2 is available now online* with competitive pricing. As previously mentioned, they’re very easy to use with either your camera of choice* or your smartphone. The key is you’ll spend a lot less time in post-processing trying to clean up your audio for your podcast or other content.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

Office Hours With Alex Lindsay

I was on a episode of Office Hours hosted by Mr. Alex Lindsay and his colleagues. This is the first time I’ve been on the panel in a couple of years. Mr. Lindsay has asked me SEVERAL times to get my ass onto his panel, but I couldn’t because of my schedule and/or sleep. He’s been very supportive in my head and ears over the last few months. I’ve always enjoyed what he and the panel offers to the creative community far as information and tips. I really appreciate him. In this creative space, he’s been there done that. Be it from live streaming huge keynote events for some of the tech world’s largest companies, to working on the set of Star Wars. He has experience. I’ll try to be on Office Hours a little more in the future. It’s definitely an effort as it means for he and I it’s a 6AM hot mic and camera. Check out the show below.

We Gotta Do Better With AI News and Discussions: Friends Like Us with Marina Franklin

I was recently a guest on comedian, writer, creator Marina Franklin’s podcast known as Friends Like Us. I’ve been a fan of hers since stumbling across her comedy special "Single Black Female"*. This lead to me finding her on social media and checking out her other content. Never did I assume I’d be a guest on her podcast. Let alone at TWO-TIME guest.

In addition to having me on, Franklin had her friend Von Decarlo on. Decarlo’s another hilarious and successful comedian. Our discussion ranged from herding cats, to AI, to stalkers. Yeah those are some heavy topics, but we had fun conversing. Check out the show below. Thanks for listening and sharing.

*Affiliate link used. Affiliate links allow me to earn a small commission as a content creator if you purchase items using the affiliate link. Thank you for your support.

New G-Series Lens Announced From Sony

Sony continues its push of offering great image quality to hybrid shooters be it photography or video. Today Sony announces a new G-series 24-50mm f/2.8 lens for all of its E-mount, Sony shooters.

Image credit - Sony

Why does this matter?

So a new lens is announced. “What’s the big deal,” you ask? Well first, what’s big about this is the focal range and aperture. This focal range is ideal for both photography and video. Being an f/2.8 lens also offers great performance in low-light scenarios.

Speaking of the f/2.8 aperture, the aperture blades are important. In this new lens, Sony is offering 11 aperture blades. In entry-to-mid-level lenses, you’ll get seven aperture blades in most instances. Sometimes nine blades. These additional blades offer a much nicer looking bokeh effect while shooting wide open as well as helps reduce diffraction.

Lastly, the main reason this is big news is the weight of the lens. Sony states that the new G-series lens will come in at 440g, or 15.5oz for us uncivilized folks. One of the primary selling points of a mirrorless camera is the reduced body size and weight. I always thought this selling point was a bunch of bunk because most pro-grade lenses were freakin’ HEAVY compared to camera bodies, so the total camera package would still be considered heavy. But, I’m no marketing genius, so what do I know?

You can request your new lens from Sony for $1099 with delivery set for sometime in May 2024. Let me know if you decide to order one.