We will keep you up to date here on our thoughts about the latest cameras, accesories, techniques and any current jobs we are especially pleased with!
Zenfolio
Trying a Zenfolio account for a few weeks - hopefully will replace our AppleMobileMe Galleries. It certainly has more options for our clients, including passwording, print orders and easy access to social media so could be a winner. See here
Canon 1D X
Yes... we've been and gone and done it!! They're on order, go here for more details.
Ensemble Cymru
We spent a day with Ensemble Cymru as they announced their residency at Venue Cymru in Llandudno.
Police pics update
We have been working hard to update the image bank at North Wales Police before a revamp of their website. We have added some to our portfolio page.
Ipad Wallpapers
We have produced a few wallpapers sized for iPad. Find them here. Please note these are for your own personal use only and are copyrighted to Eye Imagery.
SlideshowPro
Our portfolio and home page images are driven by SlideshowPro and though they do an excellent job our viewers need to have Flash installed. When we try to view the site on our iPhones or iPads we find a box saying install flash which you can't do on an iPhone or iPad! We were considering building an alternative site without Flash but......
SlideshowPro are working on a solution and have a beta of SlideshowPro Mobile out at the moment. As soon as all the testing is done we will implement it on our site so that you can view our site on portable devices. See their news page here for details.
Brief
We hope to add a page of our recent images on an occasional "briefing" page. You can see the first one here. You will need the latest Flash plug to view the page.
Redrock
We've been hard at work with the 5d Mark II's but it's not easy getting great video! A DSLR just isn't designed to hold a foot in front of you while you follow the action on a small screen. We are being asked to do more and more video though, so we have invested in some new gear! (I can hear the accountant moan from here)
We have bought a Redrock Micro eyeSpy Deluxe DSLR rig with follow focus, counterbalance and shoulderpad. Handles a lot easier now and with a loupe makes for a far more stable set-up. We bought ours from Production Gear
We have also bought a Libec video tripod - about time we got a decent one and this has been getting rave reviews. A Genus Mattebox joins a Marshall 7 inch monitor for tripod mounted shots. We have discovered how difficult it is to get first class audio off the camera and have been persuaded to record sound separately and sych it up later. We have got a Zoom H4N recorder which will take all our existing XLR microphones. So... we've got a lot to learn. We'll get the resuts on here as soon as we have it!
Christmas landscape pictures
A few landscape pictures from mid-Wales over the Christmas holiday. Taken as RAW files with a Canon G9 and manipulated in the Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta.
Canon 5d Mark ii video
We have had our second 5d now and a couple of battery grips. I had my first tentative play with the HD video a few days ago at a preview flight for the upcoming Llangollen Hot Air Balloon Festival. A little stop motion piece at the start of the balloon inflating and then I shot video from the basket as we took off over some smaller balloon. The flight was quite short and we actually managed to land back where we took off! Great for me as I had another job to get to!
I shot video and simply pressed the shutter button when I saw a good still picture. The results are below.
5d Mark II first use
We recieved our first Canon 5d Mark II last week and one of it's first jobs was a conference in Leeds. The camera is certainly a lot quieter in operation than our 1d Mark III''s but what jumps out is the lack of noise.
The lights weren't bad on stage but it was great to be able to knock the iso up to 1600 and get a decent speed and still see a total lack of noise.
I can't find all the controls as quickly as I would like but I'm sure that will come with more use. I think I need the battery grip though, it's a bit lost in my huge hands!
Here is one of the pictures from the event and closer view below.
BlackRapid RS-1 Strap
The latest bit of gear we have bought is the BlackRapid RS-1 strap. This new style of strap is bound to be a huge hit. It lies diagonally across the body from shoulder to hip and the camera rests on the hip or in the small of the back. The strap is attached via a locking FastenR to the tripod socket on the bottom of the camera body or on a long lens.
I've been using one for a few weeks now and it certainly takes the strain off the neck for day-long jobs like conferences, it leaves the hands free for taking notes or carrying tripods and the camera is safely out of the way but quickly to hand when needed. There's one on order for Mandy but they do need to come from the US so be prepared to wait for a week or two.
See videos of it in action here
Canon Eos 5d Mark II
Two of the latest from Canon are on order - a little stock shortage is causing a queue but we're a patient bunch!
We are itching to get our hands on this 21.1 MP, full frame little beauty. All the reviews are raving and we'll let you know what we think. When we've had a play and used it on a few jobs we will post a few images here for you to check out.
Certainly the high iso and low noise capabilities will see me using it a lot at the local Blues club! The HD video might prove useful as well.
See the Canon web site for details and await our own thoughts!