Upgrading from the kit lens?
March 22, 2008
Just came across this superb post on another wordpress blog on buying a new lens. Explains in very simple, easy to understand terms (for beginners like me that is), the key issues involved. Well worth reading!
(And it includes the first decent explanation I’ve come across of “focal length”… beats all the other stuff I’ve read hands down!)
Latest Flickr Uploads #9
March 18, 2008
The “Shell to Sea” campaign, London, St Patrick’s Day 2008
For inside info on the Shell to Sea campaign check out their website at www.corribsos.com and for details about this demo see gluaiseacht for global justice
The day was a bit overcast with an intermittent but cold wind that ended up thoroughly chilling me… so what’s new!
Here’s a small selection of the 129 pics in the set…
The full set is here
Latest Flickr Uploads #8
March 15, 2008
After a hard night’s work was on the verge of going to bed when I suddenly realised I had an itch that I simply had to scratch!
So out comes the camera to fire off a few shots of anything that was remotely eye-catching… in my (rather unkempt) back garden. The thing was, though using the 250mm lens with significant zoom and rather less than perfect lighting I couldn’t really be asked to set up the tripod, so of the dozen or so shots I fired off I ended up with three that were (just about) worth keeping (that is, they’re pleasing to me)!
Dunno why I bother really.
Latest Flickr Uploads #7
March 14, 2008
Travelling home from work this morning I was almost hypnotised by the sky. It was big. It was red. It was gold. It was crying out to be photographed.
Impatient for the journey to end, when it did I rushed indoors, festooned myself with cameras (two actually), and hastened out again.
But alas, too late. This time of the day the sky seems to change minute by minute and by the time I arrived at a reasonable vantage point most of the grandeur had passed.
Fired off a couple of shots but none of them do justice to the spectacle I’d witnessed just a short while before.
However…
The village in which I live is a bit of a curious one in that most of the residents prefer to keep themselves to themselves (or perhaps its just me!).
Consequently, although I know and am on quite good terms with the neighbours either side, that’s about it really. Don’t know anyone else there (and I’ve been there nearly a decade now), they don’t know me, and conversation never happens.
I don’t have a problem with that.
So, scurrying along to catch the sunrise I pass a young lady walking her pair of dogs. Seen her before on a couple of occasions and exchanged nods sorta thing.
Having passed her, I hear an “Excuse me” and, ever polite, I stop mid-step and turn around, looking askance.
“Don’t know if you’re interested” she says, “but there’s a pair of barn owls at the end of the lane.”
“Oh great, thanks” say I, and we proceed on our respective journeys.
Must have spotted the cameras and assumed… well… dunno really.
Didn’t actually manage to spot the barn owls. Almost certainly too preoccupied with the sky.
But in some curious way I was truly touched by her gesture. That she had made a point of stopping and mentioning the owls to me, a complete stranger, seemed to me an incredibly kind thing to do.
So mystery lady with the dogs, whoever you are, thankyou!
Did I say we’re turning into a Police State?
March 12, 2008
On the travails of being a photographer… a video of one photographer’s encounter with “authority”.
Watch it at current.com
Be sure to check it out!
With thanks to LifeSpy with a G9 and One Eye on the Road
(P.S. I’ve also posted this at my Fitwatch blog!)
Latest Flickr Uploads #6
March 12, 2008
With forecasters predicting really foul weather for three days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) I’ve been drumming my fingers waiting for the opportunity to try to get some really good “bad weather” pics.
Um… well, that’s not strictly true for the first two of those three I confined myself indoors to try to recover some semblance of reasonable health.
Not that I’d missed much photo-wise as, apart from some strongish (note I don’t say “gale force”!) winds and some sleet turning to hail about midnight-ish Tuesday, nothing much happened.
So Wednesday looked to be the last chance… also the day I happened to be heading toward town to do my weekly shopping.
“Yippee” thinks I, “loadsa pics of trees blown down, people holding hats and chasing brollies, sheeting rain, scudding clouds, shiny pavements, raging torrents at the weir, deserted streets…” oh, on and on and on. (Huh, talk about relishing someone else’s misfortune… I feel almost guilty!)
Not a bit of it!
Strongish winds again, yes. And a few tasty-looking clouds in the sky. And sunshine! And blue skies!
Oh well, next time maybe.
Meanwhile, here’s a few of the 15 pics uploaded in the most recent batch…
Just monkeying around
March 11, 2008
The Gorillapod
Described as being “made up of 30 or more fully articulating ball-and-socket joints” that can be bent and twisted into any shape, surely an aberration in terms of camera accessories, I was introduced to the Gorillapod a few days ago.
Admittedly it wasn’t the first time I’d seen one, having spotted this bizarre device on display in my local camera shop, but its appearance alone had been sufficient to discourage me from investigating further.
However, I was able to inspect it more closely when my friend produced one with a flourish and, with some palpitations of the heart, I was able to give it a trial run in a real-time situation by using it to attach my camera (very precariously, or so it seemed) to the railing of a bridge over a river, enabling me to take a longish exposure of the flowing water in rather fading light.
Encouraged by visions of the camera plunging straight downwards I made sure that the strap was firmly looped around my neck. But my fears were groundless, the Gorillapod holding the camera firmly in place for a number of shots.
So impressed was I by this brief demonstration of its capabilities that I decided then and there that I’d simply have to treat myself to this new toy.
And here we are.
Its made by Joby and comes in three sizes:
The Gorillapod Original, intended for most compact point & shoots
The Gorillapod SLR, claimed to be “designed for lightweight SLR cameras and video cameras”
The Gorillapod SLR-Zoom, which they claim will support “professional tripod heads and SLR cameras with zoom lenses”
I bought the SLR version (i.e., the middle one) from Jessops, which they’re knocking out at £39.99 (the small one being £19.99, the largest being £54.99) and of course, once in my grubby little mitt I couldn’t wait to play with it.
Well, as the local Jessops happens to be in the same town as (and within a few hundred yards of, in fact) my favourite drinking establishment, wherein lurks another photo-addicted mate, it was no real surprise where I’d end up.
Brandishing the new toy elicited a number of almost exclusively uncomplimentary remarks from mystified onlookers, all reacting to its appearance. Words such as “odd”, “weird”, “alien” were bandied about, and I’m sure there was an “obscene” slipped in there somewhere as well. If reactions could be summed up in a single phrase it’d be something along the lines of “What the hell’s that?”
Nevertheless, perseverance is all and, disregarding the deeply suspicious looks of the establishment’s clientele, we give the little beastie (there’s definitely an organic, if somewhat alien, feel to it) a try-out. With my mate’s point & shoot. Works a treat. Attaching it to all sorts of things mate was enabled to take fascinating pics of the ceiling and suchlike at all sorts of weird angles.
Seems the rubberised bits encirling the balls that comprise the “legs” provide quite significant grip once the thing’s settled into a position.
However, plonking my Canon dSLR with the long lens on it caused it to struggle a bit at any angle other than the camera being positioned immediately above the splayed legs in a conventional tripod-like position. (There’s a pic on his Flickr photostream of our experiment!)
Days pass… I’m stuck indoors recovering from a bout of something ‘orrible (a cold I think, but that doesn’t really sound dramatic enough) and decide to use the opportunity to give my new gadget a more thorough workout.
The test camera was the Samsung GX10, and on the whole the ‘pod performed reasonably satisfactorily, holding the camera quite stable (my test rig was a chairback) providing the angle wasn’t too extreme.
However, I found there was a distinct droop at any attempt of a sort of “sideways” fixing. Not to put too fine a point on it, the ‘pod simply wouldn’t hold the camera level when attached at right-angle to an upright support (as above pic).
In fairness the Samsung is a bit on the heavy side for a sort of “one-step-above” entry level dSLR. Here are some comparison weights (bodies only)…
Samsung GX10: 710g
Sigma SD14: 700g
Canon EOS 30D: 700g
Nikon D80: 585g
Sony Alpha 100: 545g
Olympus E-510: 380g
…and my own Canon EOS 400D comes in at 514g
Whilst its claimed that the ‘pod will support up to 800g I probably would have done better going for the larger size, but it was a trade-off with factors such as the price and the size/weight of the ‘pod itself coming into play… oh, and the fact that the local Jessops didn’t have the largest one in stock and I wanted one now!
This reservation aside, I’m well satisfied with it. Its lightweight. It folds (collapses? squashes? bends?) down to a manageable size (doesn’t quite fit in any of my coat pockets comfortably but as I usually carry a daysack with me anyway that’s not really an issue) and is therefore easily portable, and it saves all the hassles of carrying a “proper” tripod all the time. In a word, its convenient.
(Nevertheless I have to observe that even with a lightweight entry-level dSLR, once a halfway-decent lens is attached Joby’s recommended applications may be somewhat problematic. I also wonder just how long the tautness of the ball-and-socket joints will remain “as new” when subject to constant usage. And a further concern is how long the rubberised parts will last before beginning to perish or lose their grip.)
Its also got a couple of nifty little features…
The quick-release head, released by pressing a button at the rear of the shoe. Word of advice though… be sure to carry a coin with you to really tighten the screw when fixing to the base of the camera. Seems a 1p or 20p piece works best!
And the joint just below the head incorporates a locking feature as a safeguard in case you accidentally depress the quick-release button when camera’s attached.
On the whole I anticipate it proving to be quite a useful bit of kit. All that’s needed now is for someone to come up with an umbrella attachment so it can be worn on the head with brolly attached, to provide cover when doing rainy weather pics!
(The session was also an opportunity to give my super-duper Slik tripod its first “proper” use. What a joy!)
