photonovice.net » gear

McNally vs. Kelby

photonovice — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:11:10 +0000

If you know these two guys and haven’t seen it before watch the video below for a good laugh.

Found it on Joe McNally’s blog. Make your comments there.

My New Computer

photonovice — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:46:28 +0000

After quite some research and coping with the seemingly antagonistic contradiction between desire and financial capabilities I decided to migrate to Mac. My final choice was the simpler Mac Mini which was sold by a local Premium Reseller with 2G RAM as a promotion and I asked for a 320G (7200RPM) HD replacing the original 120G one.

I actually migrated from two directions:

I used to be using a pretty old laptop with Ubuntu Linux on it for emailing, surfing the Web, writing blog posts and some basic Web developments,
and was suffering on an even older desktop PC with Windows on it for photo editing.

I don’t want to be laughed at so I’d rather not list the specs of my old stuff here. It’s enough to say that both were slow, watching videos was rather like looking at slide-shows of still images, the desktop PC was laud, and when I write laud, I mean laud, and the display of the laptop started to be unreadable after I managed to screw up the video driver when upgraded the operating system to 9.04. (Supposedly it was not entirely my fault. ) So, it was high time to change.

Mac is smooth. It’s a pleasure to use. Certainly the official keyboard that I also purchased contributes a lot, but it is all about simplicity and user-friendliness. I know it’s not a surprise to Mac users but it was for me: despite the beginners unfamiliarity with the system this operating system is clear and easy to learn at least to the basics. There are not many tools available for the same tasks and deep level configuration possibilities are hidden from the average user. (Even though I had to deep dive once, refreshing my command line memories, when some difficulties occurred with unmounting my external USB HD.) Apparently Ubuntu is trying to achieve something similar in terms of simplicity and even with the look and feel, but I can see nothing wrong with that.

Mac Mini is mini indeed. However, it is powerful enough, at least for the time being. An I know this an other road – after photography – where there is no way to stop. We are all running on it, and we seems to be happy with it.

Just a New Bag

photonovice — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:27:21 +0000

I upgraded my camera bag a few weeks ago. I’ve chosen the same brand so it is a Lowepro again, but a Magnum AW this time.
I’m pretty satisfied with it so far. I can put all my stuff into it (see my gear here): a camera body, two lenses, two speedlights, chargers, batteries and still have some room for some future developments or a backup body.
It seems to be padded very well for protection.
I also purchased a Belt strap with it. It’s easier to carry the full bag on my shoulder with the belt fastened around my hip and the belt prevents the bag from slinging when not needed.

Still Images and the Red One Camera

photonovice — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:01:37 +0000

This is about something Chase Jarvis mentioned some time ago: the convergence of still photography and video.
Alexx Henry was lucky – or hard working – enough to get an assignment where he could use and leverage the features of an amazing Red One cinema camera for a project that combines still images and video. You’ll see some movie posters coming alive.

Living Movie Poster – Start to Finish from Alexx Henry on Vimeo.

Nikkor DX 35mm F/1.8

photonovice — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 10:31:21 +0000

There are lots of speculations around the Web on what Nikon is after with launching a normal (52mm equivalent) prime lens exclusively in DX format.
DPreview seems to have great connections to ask Nikon itself about the official reasons.
The major messages are:

“DX is not over”
“The main target is D40/D60/D90 owners”
“this is not the last lens announcement we’ll be making this year”

Read the interview with Nikon representatives at DPreview.

Nikon D90

photonovice — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:33:50 +0000

Let the word spread around. The Nikon D90 has just been announced and even Chase Jarvis has his words about it. See the video below, the DPreview here and some sample videos made with this camera here.