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!
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!