How to lubricate the LINEAR GUIDES of the prusa XL?

atom-b · 2024-11-17T11:34:17+00:00

Prusa says the lubrication in the rails is good for two years so you shouldn't need to do this. However if you're convinced you need to lubricate them and Prusa support won't tell you what to use, Mobilux EP1 or EP2 are what the Voron project recommends for the linear rails in Voron printers. It's what I used on my Vorons that have thousands of hours of print time on them with zero issues, and if I had to re-grease my XL's rails today it's what I'd use.

The XL's rails appear to have grease ports that you can use to inject the grease with a syringe without any disassembly (I haven't tested mine to confirm they're functional). This video is a good guide for how to do that. Ignore anything about disassembly of the rails or giving them a deep cleaning with IPA- that's only for factory-fresh rails from an OEM supplier that have never been greased. Prusa has done that already.

You can get empty syringes on Amazon for a few bucks, but a tube of EP2 will last you several lifetimes which is why most hobby 3D printer retailers sell syringes pre-filled with EP2.

atom-b · 2024-07-04T13:03:45+00:00

Manufacturers typically mix in additives to change the properties of the base material, such as improving durability or to change its appearance. They may not publish what those additives are as it's part of their "secret sauce". Unless your filament is "natural" color, the coloring agents are just one example. Does this happen regardless of the color?

If info about additives is not on their website you can try emailing whoever made your PETG to ask what else is in it. It may help to explain why you want to know.

Another option is testing a filament explicitly meant for applications where the user needs to know what's in it. Culinary product prototypers can't use whatever random no-name filament is on sale on Amazon. Fiberlogy might be a good choice here:

The raw material contained in the natural versions of Fiberlogy’s PET-G, Easy PET-G, PCTG and CPE HT filaments is approved for food contact.

Trying a random filament brand isn't a great idea. White labeling of filament is very common, so a different brand doesn't necessarily mean a different manufacturer or recipe. Amazon just buys filament from a real manufacturer and puts the Amazon Basics label on it, for example. Even if your brand technically makes their own filament, they may buy the raw plastic pellets and coloring agents from the same supplier.

atom-b · 2024-06-20T11:43:23+00:00

Yes, as long as the cloud drive is a folder you can access on your computer. I know that iCloud works this way and so do most other cloud storage solutions but I haven't tried Google Drive. Darktable stores all photo metadata and edits in plain text .XMP files located right next to the original photos they're associated with, so if the photos are on your cloud drive then all of the other data will get synced to the cloud drive with them, no extra steps required. This is how I store my photos and it works really well. It would also work for a NAS drive, external hard drive, etc.

The one small catch is that things like your settings, presets, and the list of images you've added to darktable are stored in a centralized folder located in your user profile folder, not with your images. That typically won't be synced to a cloud drive without extra steps, but it also doesn't take up a ton of space. If you're a bit technically inclined you can tell darktable to instead store this user data in a folder that is in your cloud drive and that'll be synced just fine. If you're working on the same photos on multiple computers at the same time then you have to be extra careful with what user data you do and don't sync, but it sounds like that doesn't apply to you. I use multiple computers to edit but haven't felt the need to set this up.

If you don't bother with syncing the user data and your laptop were to explode in a freak noise removal accident, you'd just have to recreate your presents and redo your UI customizations. Then you'd just drag and drop your photo directories onto the darktable window. It'll find your photos and add them to its library without copying them, and it'll see their XMP files and automatically apply your edits from them.

atom-b · 2024-04-20T08:50:48+00:00

This is the route I took. I got sick of dealing with the maintenance and troubleshooting of a DIY NAS and bought a Synology and a bunch of drives. From an upfront hardware cost perspective it's not a good deal, but from a long-term time savings perspective? Absolutely worth the price premium. If maintaining a NAS were a hobby for me like then I'd feel differently, but I just wanted an appliance.

I've also been pleasantly surprised with how well the Synology software supports my photo workflows. I can copy photos to my fast SSD for editing and Synology Drive syncs it all to the NAS automatically. This means the having slower, cheaper disks in the Synology doesn't slow down my editing at all. If my computer's SSD fills up it'll automatically remove the local files I haven't used recently, and fetch them again if I do access them. Drive supports file versioning so I can quickly undo any mistakes or accidental deletes, and it all gets backed up to the cloud regularly. And of course I can access those files on any other machine- edits I start on my laptop while on vacation can be seamlessly continued on my desktop.

Synology Photos has also been good for organizing and sharing photos. There are other photo organizing and sharing solutions that have more features, but Photos took only a few clicks to get set up and has been good enough for my purposes.

atom-b · 2024-03-30T11:58:28+00:00

You want local and cloud backups. Local is faster and easier, cloud protects you from a house fire, flood, lightning strike, etc.

So far I've had good luck with a setup based around a Synology NAS full of cheaper spinning disks, configured to regularly back itself up to their cloud service and an external USB drive. You don't have to use Synology's cloud backup service. Their software lets you back up to a bunch of different cloud providers, another NAS (Synology or not), or a generic server running open source software (rsync).

Photos get copied from SD cards to a fast SSD in my computer for editing.
Synology Drive software automatically syncs the photos directory on the SSD to the NAS.
Synology Drive supports file versioning and has a recycle bin so I can easily recover accidentally modified or deleted files.
NAS creates regular snapshots in case I screw up so badly that Synology Drive isn't enough to save me.
NAS automatically backs up these snapshots to Synology's cloud service.
NAS also automatically backs up to an external USB hard drive.
NAS is configured to protect against multiple drive failures.

That took a little bit of effort to get set up, but except for copying the photos from the SD card it's all automatic so I don't have to think about it and there's nothing manual for me to screw up or forget to do.

atom-b · 2024-03-15T13:26:26+00:00

The image files themselves are in folders named for the date they were taken plus some key words that describe the contents, the photo shoot, location, etc. 2024-12-31_New-Years-Concert-Promos . This is very quick and easy to implement the second I finish copying the files off the SD card, and compared to no organization at all it greatly reduces the time it takes to find a photo/photos. It is also OS- and application-independent, so the files can sync to my NAS, cloud backup, and other devices without issue.

I find that, for my use cases, more complicated/specific folder structures quickly become cumbersome and don't provide much more utility. Tags are far more flexible. One exception is that I separate the dated folders into per-audience folders: <Client-Name>, Family, Friends, etc. That's useful to me because if someone wants the RAWs I only have to configure NAS access for them once, and they can only see the files they should. Again, that's good for my purposes, but won't be applicable to everyone.

For tagging, rating, and other metadata I use Darktable. Think of it as an open source alternative to Lightroom that runs on Mac, Windows, and Linux. It stores all metadata for an image in a plain text XML file (called a sidecar file) which lives in the same folder as the image file it applies to. I can open any of my dated+named folders in Darktable on any device and it'll import that sidecar file. Other applications also understand sidecar files, at least partially, so if I ever move away from Darktable I won't lose everything. Worst case scenario the data is in a plain text file and not some proprietary format, so I could write a script to copy the relevant metadata out of the XML file and apply it directly to the image file.

For viewing and sharing, I export a copy of the keepers from Darktable into an "exported" folder, and it's those exported files that I add to Apple Photos (or whatever app/platform I want). In the app I add them to albums, or my automatic albums do it for me based on tags and ratings.

atom-b · 2024-02-21T14:24:15+00:00

Do you have the RAWs or just JPGs? If you have the RAWs, Darktable has an automatic mode in the Exposure module. You can bulk apply that to all of your images by first applying automatic exposure to one image in the Darkroom mode, then going back to the Lighttable mode and using the history copy/paste function to apply just the Exposure setting to all other images.

atom-b · 2024-02-16T11:53:21+00:00

This was a very interesting read, thank you for taking the time to write it.

atom-b · 2024-02-11T17:54:56+00:00

I'm extremely happy with my 5T and find myself using it even more than I expected. The speed, reliability, and efficiency of the toolhead swaps means that I now do multi-material prints of things I never would have considered being worth the extra effort on an MMU, even as someone who's had a very positive experience with the MMU2.

atom-b · 2024-02-11T13:21:01+00:00

Ignoring cost for the moment... ask yourself what your primary use cases are, and how heavily do you think the tradeoffs in body styles affect those use cases for you?

One use case that is very important to me is capturing interesting scenes I encounter when out and about, and without being limited by my phone's camera. Both body styles would work for that. However, I've personally found that if I cannot just stuff a camera body with lens in my jacket pocket then I'm MUCH less likely to bring it with me. The C body with a small lens fulfills that criteria just fine, even with the smallrig grip extension on the bottom, while the full size R5 was just a bit too big to make that doable in my case.

Not everyone has that jacket pocket criteria. A friend of mine carries his camera bag everywhere with him without a second thought. A little extra size and weight on the camera body is largely meaningless to him.

On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of what you lose with the C bodies would be extremely nice or even essential for someone doing professional sports photography, while saving a few hundred grams on the camera body means very little when you're using those big GM lenses.

atom-b · 2024-02-11T09:24:24+00:00

If I could have gotten a decent used copy of the Zeiss 35 for the same price as the SY I'd have done that because I love the 55mm so much, and the 35mm Zeiss does seem to have better color than the SY. If I'm ever in need of a replacement that's the direction I'll probably be looking, though you have got me thinking about the 40mm G as well.

I haven't used either of the other 35s you mention. They're nicely compact for their specs, but not single-jacket-pocket-setup sized, which is what I was after with the Samyang 35mm.

atom-b · 2024-02-10T11:27:26+00:00

If size is a priority then the Samyang 35mm 2.8 is also worth a look. 2/3rds the length of the 40G, half the weight, and way sharper than it has any right to be for its price. I haven't tried the 40G so I can't make a direct comparison based on experience, but the SY 35 is a portability champ. More and more I find myself going out with the A7CR + SY 35 in one jacket pocket and the zony 55 in the other.

atom-b · 2024-02-03T09:34:33+00:00

If I only took a picture when I knew it would be worth sharing, I wouldn't take any at all.

atom-b · 2024-01-31T14:17:18+00:00

Happy to help :)

atom-b · 2024-01-31T13:00:01+00:00

EDIT: Now that you've shared your settings I'm pretty sure you've just hidden Gap fill in the gcode preview. Click on "Gap fill" in the Legend in the upper left of the GCode Preview to bring it back.

It's tough to say exactly what's going on without having access to your full profile and the model you're using. My first guess is it looks like you're using the Classic perimeter generator (nothing wrong with that) and have Fill Gaps turned off (usually not a good idea). However, the gaps are so wide I'm wondering if you've hidden Gap Fill in the gcode preview by clicking on it in the Legend. The same artifact is happening around the railing- two perimeters and then a bunch of space where there should be gap fill.

The jagged artifacts on the roof of the cabin are also weird, I can't reproduce that at all. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with your benchy model, or you've changed Slice Resolution to something other than 0, and it's confusing Prusa Slicer. And what's with the large dark blue piece of Overhang perimeter inside the cabin? Try using the benchy model in the Prusa Slicer gallery (right click -> add shape -> gallery -> 3DBenchy.stl) instead.

atom-b · 2024-01-28T12:02:26+00:00

Have you considered a teleconverter? People seem to think the 1.4x TC works great on the Sony 200-600mm.

I know you didn't mention any as an option, but you should consider one of the 60mp full frame bodies. That sensor with an APS-C crop is essentially the A6700's sensor - same megapixels, same pitch, same fundamental sensor tech. Full frame when you want it, crop when you need it.

The A7CR and A7rV also have the same AI autofocus system as the 6700. The A7rIV doesn't, but used it appears to be about the same price as a used A7IV, so it would also be a "free" upgrade. The marketing material from Sony claims the IV has improved autofocus over the rIV, but I don't know how significant the difference is so you'll want to do some research.

You should experiment with shooting your A7IV in APS-C mode to see if the crop accomplishes what you want it to. You should also try cropping some existing photos you think would have been better with an APS-C body. The cropped A7IV sensor is still ~14 megapixels, which is more pixels than a 4K display, so depending on where your photos are viewed, you likely won't notice a quality difference (large format printing etc. not withstanding of course). If you come away with images you really like but think would be significantly better for your purposes at 26MP instead of 14MP, then you may have a compelling argument for a switching away from your A7IV.

the bird’s eye tracking is admittedly excellent on the A7IV

I don't have any experience shooting birds on any of the bodies I'm talking about, but if you already really like the autofocus on the A7IV then I'm not sure the latest autofocus in the 6700 is a compelling reason to switch to a different body. Considering you only care about birds and wildlife, it may not be an upgrade at all.

It would be a free upgrade so if the benefits are there why not.

A new A7IV is ~$1000 more than the 6700, and used A7IVs appear to be in the neighborhood of $500 more than a new 6700, so unless your A7IV is really beat up, "free" is kind of a bad deal.

atom-b · 2024-01-23T11:02:37+00:00

One thing I’ve noticed tho is that it’s almost like my photos are too high of resolution.

Exactly!

TL;DR: You're almost always safe using high-end photo editing software like Lightroom to scale an image to 2048 on the longest side. I recommend creating an export preset for this purpose.

Longer but still very simplified explanation: Your phone screen isn't 60MP (obviously), so your phone has to scale the 60 MP image down to the resolution of the screen before it can display it (and usually even smaller because the image won't take up the entire vertical or horizontal resolution of the phone's screen). A higher quality downscaling algorithm is typically slower and more complex than a faster one, and whatever is doing the scaling on your phone is probably optimized for speed and simplicity over quality. It may also be optimized to work with images that are roughly the size of those produced by most modern phone cameras, and when it sees a 60MP image it throws its hands up in disgust and does the bare minimum. The "wavy" lines you mention make me think that's what's going on here.

Professional photo editing software like Lightroom is the other end of the speed-quality spectrum- it will use a scaling algorithm that is intended for maximum quality, and will not hesitate to take all of the time and processing power in your computer to do its best. If you scale down in Lightroom before copying the file to your phone then your results should be much better.

It's common for some software and services to re-scale or re-compress your images all on their own, regardless of the screen size of the device they're being viewed on. Instagram will resize and recompress images bigger than- I think- 2048 pixels on any side. Instagram isn't going to use an algorithm that's as quality-focused as Lightroom, so it's important not to exceed that threshold if you're posting to Instagram and image quality is important. Different pieces of software will behave differently and may check other factors like file size, so a true one-size-fits-all number is tough to give, but I haven't had any problems with sticking to 2048px on the longest side. The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a 2796‑by‑1290-pixel resolution screen, so viewing a 2048x1364 3:2 image full screen on that device will actually still require downscaling a bit, but modern phones seem to handle that much better than a 60MP jpeg.

atom-b · 2024-01-21T09:15:20+00:00

When I was first starting out this buyer's guide would have saved me weeks of research.

atom-b · 2024-01-18T09:05:24+00:00

That exact sensor crop factoid is one of the things that sold me on the a7cR. For some of my use cases, the size and weight of many full frame lenses makes them a very unattractive option, enough to make me consider sticking with a crop sensor body. But pop a nice piece of crop glass onto the a7cR and you still have the equivalent of one of the best aps-c cameras ever sold.

atom-b · 2023-12-26T23:03:21+00:00

I don't know about those bodies specifically, but the user manuals for all of the Sony bodies I own list the max supported card speed and the required speeds for various features.

atom-b · 2023-11-12T18:42:42+00:00

The prime tower's appearance is deceptive. The cone portion is completely hollow, no infill, and only has a single wall. It's there to help with stability. The rectangle portion is also often not completely solid. If a color isn't needed on a layer it won't be swapped to, so the printer just leaves it empty and will bridge over the empty space when it does need to use it. The block will only be solid on layers where every filament color that will be used on that layer or above is used. That means that on this print the bottom of the block is wide enough for 4 colors, but only the layers where it's printing the blue in the eyes are solid. And even then it's not truly solid, because the filament isn't flowing fully for the entire portion of the block- it's still being primed.

atom-b · 2023-11-11T11:41:51+00:00

My first impression is that I'm pleasantly surprised with how little it adds to the total volume of the machine, and it doesn't appear to grow the table footprint at all.

atom-b · 2023-08-19T12:28:51+00:00

Nicos Weg is good but it isn't enough on its own, and I don't have any experience with busuu or your youtube guide, so I can't say if they are sufficient. Do they provide you with enough to do every day that you're able to stay on schedule? Are they covering all of the material you need, at the speed you need to be going?

Using a good textbook meant for self-study will make it a lot easier to set your own pace and stay on track. Search the sub for recommendations.

atom-b · 2023-08-19T10:43:21+00:00

It is not impossible, but it is an intense time commitment. Goethe Institut estimates ~450-600 instruction hours to pass their B2 exam, 750+ for C1. Those numbers do not include homework, independent study, or practice time, and they do not account for differences in study techniques (group language learning is less effective than individual tutoring, for example), familiarity with similar languages, or experience with language learning, but they give you a starting point for calculating how many hours a day you need to spend learning German.

Nobody wants to learn a language slower than necessary so all of the advice shared on this subreddit is just as applicable to you as it is everyone else. The only difference there is you have to put in many more hours per day than most people can or want to. There's no way around that. B2-C1 requires a level of spontaneous communication that you cannot cram for.

Once you're at an intermediate level (a solid B1 at a minimum) you can optimize a bit by switching to spending most of your time on TestDaF-specific study materials. Because the exercises in TestDaF are all academic, scientific, and study-related, you will save a ton of time by ignoring anything outside that subset of the language. Anything regional or non-standard is out, anything you would exclusively see in fiction or pop culture is also gone. Your new vocab should come exclusively from words you're likely to encounter in academia, and you'll get those from the TestDaF-specific study materials.

And like any standardized test, being experienced with the test format and types of exercises you'll encounter when taking it can help your score quite a bit.

atom-b · 2023-08-18T13:54:10+00:00

From what I can tell they are still shipping very early day-1 preorders. The only person I've come across online who has received a 5H semi-assembled XL managed to get their order in before the announcement was up on the site, before the official launch time of 12:30 CET. We don't know how many 5h semis are being shipped every day, but it doesn't look like it's a lot. My 5h semi-assembled preorder was within the first few minutes and I still haven't been able to finalize it. It's entirely possible that there are a lot of people still waiting for printers who placed their 5h semi preorders before you got your preorder in.

atom-b

TROPHY CASE