Canon 5D MkII By Night

Posted on December 9, 2008 | Leave a comment

I’ve had my hands on a 5D MkII for over a week now as I’m reviewing it for the BJP’s Christmas edition. Its going to be a sad day when I have to return the camera back to Canon.

The low light capabilities of this camera are absolutely astonishing. It almost makes you feel like you’re cheating as it opens up possibilities where normally you would either:
a) have to get a tripod
b) use flash and kill the mood
c) leave and go home
The shot of the London Eye (above) is a nice shot by night. Not a difficult or demanding shot. However, you have to realise that it was taken hand held at 4000ASA! The picture’s been taken using a Canon 45mm f2.8 TS-E (tilt and shift) which is quickly becoming a favourite lens for creative shooting.

The second picture of France’s President Sarkozy (above) visiting Downing Street was taken yesterday after 4pm – basically it was almost pitch black. As my colleagues were forced to get their flashguns out and swap lenses to a 70-200 and hope the high gloss black door of number 10 wouldn’t reflect too badly, I just stood there with a big smile, the 5D MkII and my 300mm f2.8L lens. I may have forgotten to mention that it was shot at 6400ASA! As I showed my colleagues the picture, an argument ensued – they were certain that I had used flash….until they realised there was no flash on the camera; oh what good fun!

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Posted in Camera Equipment

New Bags From Think Tank Photos

Posted on December 8, 2008 | Leave a comment

Think Tank Photo have launched several new bags. The Shape Shifter (above) is definitely of more interest to photojournalists. It has a genius way of swallowing up a whole professional level of camera gear and a laptop with accessories. What sets it apart from all other bags though is its ability to compress the camera section away, just leaving a 3″ deep laptop bag. This is great for travelling to assignment, taking out your gear and then turning the bag into a slim laptop carrie
r which is light and so slim that you won’t be bumping into people or objects. I have written a full review for the BJP which will be out very soon.

The other bag is part of a series called Street Walker (above). Its a very neat design which can carry a laptop and full pro level camera gear.

You can purchase these bags on-line from SnapperStuff.

I’m a big fan of the products from Think Tank Photo and every bag I use is made by the company. I have yet to find better designed or better made rollers, back packs, pouches or shoulder bags. One of the things that sets the company apart from others is that it listens to photographers and has a design board made up of photographers from around the world with different disciplines. If you haven’t yet seen the range, I definitely recommend you look through their web site and pop into your local shop to try them out; you won’t be disappointed.

Lastly, founder of Think Tank Photo, Doug Murdoch, has published a new free white paper called “Active Shooting vs. Transportation/Storage” which is available to download.

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Posted in Camera Equipment

Six Months in Afghanistan by John D McHugh

Posted on December 5, 2008 | Leave a comment

John D McHugh’s six months project is now complete and The Guardian have posted 19 images from his project. They give an interesting insight as well as cover the drama of a fire fight. Well worth a look.

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Posted in Photography

400Gb Blue Ray Disc

Posted on December 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

Pioneer has showcased its 16-layer 400Gb Optical Disc at the Taipei IT fair.

Its due for launch in 2008-2010 in a read only version, but there are plans for re-writeable discs in 2010-2012 and a 1Tb version is destined to follow in 2013.

Whilst optical discs like CDs and DVDs have proven not to be the best solution for archiving digital media, here’s a chance for Pioneer to concentrate on not only making these large discs (which are so much better than using hundreds of CDs or DVDs) but also put emphasis on trying to make them archival in nature. Lets keep our fingers crossed!

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Posted in Computers and Software

Does The Apple Mac Need Antivirus Protection?

Posted on December 2, 2008 | Leave a comment

The short answer is possibly. For many years the Mac has survived the constant barrage of PC viruses and worms. However, as the platform grows in popularity, spreading outside of creative circles into most people’s lives and work, it becomes a target for virus writers.

OS X is still a much more secure and solid operation system than its competitors, which needs user verification before it installs anything. Common sense will prevail; don’t open or install anything that you weren’t waiting for or that looks either too good to be true, or dodgy!

In all my years of computing, I have only heard of a small handful of malicious codes in the wild (virus, worms etc), but my strategy, as well as Apple’s, is better safe than sorry. Apple themselves recommend Intego, McAfee and Symantec. Read this article for more details.

Addendum 1: Apple have since removed the article saying that it was old and inaccurate.

Addendum 2: Here’s an interesting article on this subject at TidBITS.

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Posted in Computers and Software

Robert Capa and Gerda Taro

Posted on November 30, 2008 | Leave a comment

I popped by with some friends to see the “This is War!” exhibition at the Barbican in London. Although I’ve previously mentioned seeing the exhibition, it was done very quickly, so I definitely wanted to see it again.

I can’t stress enough what a great exhibition it is. Although familiar with Capa’s work, I hadn’t previously seen much of Taro’s work. She has some stunning images and the whole story of the two of them covering the Spanish Civil War is what romance novels are made of!
Along with images from both photographers, there are a fair few magazines on display showing how the images were used. I must say that seeing these magazines made me so envious – in this day and age there are so few magazines that show off important stories the way they deserve to be displayed. I’m sick and tired of page after page of silly celebrity stories. Anyway…..
Along with the magazines, there are also press cards, caption sheets and various letters. Its fascinating seeing this stuff. My favourite has to be a letter written by Capa to his mother and brother, after the D-Day landings in Normandy; he writes, “…yesterday, I had a bit of an adventure”!! How great and understated is that?!!
The exhibition is on ’till 25 January 2009 – don’t miss it!

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Posted in Photography, viewpoint