"Yes We Can" by Scout Tufankjian

Posted on November 18, 2008 | Leave a comment


Just a little heads up folks; a friend of mine, Scout has a superb new book out covering Barack Obama’s two year journey to the White House. You can get a sneak look at some of the pages and a video interview of Scout here.

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Posted in News, Photography

In Harm’s Way – War Photographers

Posted on November 17, 2008 | Leave a comment
A CBS crew of 16 followed photographers Zoriah and Alissa Everett through Gaza and the West Bank as they documented the conflict. Its a little Hollywood in parts but worth watching. Its in five parts, of which part one is posted above. The remaining clips are:





For anyone who hasn’t seen War Photographer with James Nachtwey, I strongly urge you to watch it. Its one of the most powerful documentaries I’ve seen, on one of the world’s most powerful photographers.

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Posted in Photography, Video

24 Megapixel Camera That Shoots at 30 fps?!

Posted on November 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

There has been a lot of talk and many rumours surrounding the Red Scarlet. Well, a couple of days ago it was announced officially by Red.

For stills photographers and for photographers needing to also shoot video, these cameras seem ideal; the ones to look out for are the Scarlet and the Epic. Also, you need to learn a new acronym; DSMC (Digital Stills and Motion Camera)!

The camera system that caught my eye most is the Scarlet, of which there are four variations which range from $2500 to $12,000 for the full frame model. Although Red will be producing their own lenses, there is also the option to get a lens plate for Canon and Nikon lenses. The other interesting thing is the whole modular technology (grips, lens mounts, monitors and eye pieces, recording modules, batteries and I/O module) which means you bolt on what you need and also upgrade certain bits as time goes on.

Going back to the full frame model, the Scarlet FF35, lets you shoot 24 megapixel stills at 30 frames per second! Absolutely nuts!! You can also shoot 6K video on this thing.
The other item of interest is the 2/3″ Mysterium-X with a built in x8 lens. The focal length of the lens has yet to be announced and the price isn’t yet known, but this might just become the perfect photo journalist’s video camera.
For the medium format photographer, the $45,000 Epic 645 will no doubt raise some interest. This camera will shoot 65 megapixel images at 50 fps!

As far as I can see, there are no samples yet, but I’ll keep you posted as and when they appear.
The Canon 5D MkII has re-written the rules on video quality for the photojournalist. The only place the Canon fails is professional quality sound with the ability to allow the input levels to be managed (although it does have a built in microphone jack); this is where the Red Scarlet may make the difference. If the system delivers what it promises, these are going to be interesting times!  Lets welcome the DSMC!

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Posted in Camera Equipment, Video

Need Faster Broadband ADSL?!

Posted on November 7, 2008 | Leave a comment

Firstly, I have to say I haven’t tried this, so can’t make any personal comments. I will probably be ordering one though.

Its a little plate that fits into your BT phone socket box and provides a better way of filtering out line interference. Judging by the customer reviews, it seems to work for the majority of people.

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Posted in Computers and Software

Steve Jobs Stanford University Speech

Posted on November 7, 2008 | Leave a comment
Although this speech was made in 2005, I’ve only just seen it. It has a few computing references, but is mainly about life and lessons in life. Its very interesting and definitely worth watching.

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Posted in viewpoint

Want 6Gb RAM For Your MacBook or MacBook Pro?!

Posted on November 7, 2008 | Leave a comment

Its the one thing in the Apple laptop range which I wish was different; that RAM didn’t max out at 4Gb. Well, Other World Computing (OWC) can now supply 6Gb of RAM for the latest and previous generation of MacBooks and MacBook Pros!

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Posted in Computers and Software