Taking Control…

Thought it was time for another piece of kit review.It’s well known that low light needs either a bright flash or a longer exposure (either a wider aperture or a longer shutter speed). What I only discovered recently is that landscape shots can also benefit from it. those shots where the water looks like mist or the grasses have that ethereal (cool word) quality are all taken with longer exposure times.As a reformed Sabutamol addict (puff free for 2 years now), I’ve got this fantastic hand tremor (OK, it might be natural - Sabutamol could have nothing to do with it. Please don’t sue me!) . Anyway, the tremor means a lot of my pictures are more blurry than I’d like. I’d thought the tripod I borrowed would help with this and it does to a degree.However, that moment when you push the button on the camera still can cause a shake - even on the tripod. so I bought me one of these…. Canon RC-1

The Canon RC-1 is a simple remote control for the Canon camera (it works for the 440D - no idea about yours). Incredibly simple to use, it allows pictures to be taken from a range of about 10 feet in front of the camera, though not really from behind (OK, no comments about taking it from behind you freaks).It comes with a handy strap clip to keep with your camera. This seems pretty robust and secure - certainly mine hasn’t fallen off in the last few weeks.I have only one negative about what is otherwise a tasty bit of kit. When you change the camera to remote, it doesn’t change back between sessions - Pain in the bot….erm…neck when you only use the remote occasionally like me. Anyway, at less than £20, it’s worth the pennies in my opinion.

Subscriber is me - Digital SLR Photography Magazine

No pictures today (again!)

Instead I thought I’d mention this magazine (again!) and say that my first copy as a subscriber arrived last night. I’ve been buying this for the last few months and some of the articles are brilliant.

While hunting for my chosen toy and debating the whole passage of time, I bought a few different magazines. My responses to them ranged from “I wanna spend how much???” to “I just spent £4 on a book of adverts!”. A lot of magazines seemed obsessed with selling me thousand pound lenses and cameras rather than telling me what was in my price range. Little things in Digital SLR Photography like how to make your own reflectors and how to improvise filter mounts make it so much more accessible to people on a budget.

It was their review of the D40X against the 400D helped push me into Canon’s laps (mmmmm comfy), and it was their features of David Nightingale (Chromasia) and other fantastic photographers which makes me want to take better shots.

For those trying to learn the art, the fact the provide the exposure settings for a majority of their shots is superb (and it’s why I do it to).

My one complaint is that their website doesn’t live up to the quality of the magazine. 

If you’re looking for a magazine on Digital SLR Photography you can’t beat this. It does exactly what it says on the tin…erm cover.

Learning To Snap

Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag

One good thing to come out of the weekend was finally getting to put my camera bag through some proper carry time. Previously, I’d never carried it for more than 20 minutes at a time so I was reluctant to say it was a bag or a bag of sh…

On Saturday, that all changed.

But first, the bag itself!

The Lowepro Slingshot 100 AW

Manufactured by Lowepro, the AW 100 is their entry level sling bag.

This came as an upgrade option for the camera kit I puchased, and at the time I was nervous about it, but though it looked a little more sturdy than the standard Jessops bag.

According to Lowepro, it’s possible to store a “Digital SLR with attached lens; 1 - 2 extra lenses and personal accessories”. Mine currently holds a Digital SLR with 18 - 55 lens, a 55 - 200 lens, a flash gun, a UV filter, a polarizing filter, a Cokin filter kit (with filter box), all the manuals, the extra lens caps, a sun doofer for the end of a lens, that sandisk card holder I mentioned last week, a spare battery, a sink, 2 towels and an emergency 4 star Radisson SAS hotel*.

Now before I begin, let me just point out I’m a big bloke. not big as in a little tall, or a little overweight. I mean big as in I have my own gravity well - small objects keep sticking to me! “Where I walk, I blot out the sun”, that sort of size. 

So anyway, Saturday saw me on an open boat (yes, the one in the picture from last week) and out for the day to Inishfree. Not the island from the poem, the one in the Atlantic, the one which if you miss the next stop is some island with a big copper woman with a book and a torch on it.  I had the bag in it’s backpack position and was pleased to see that not only did the straps fit me (with some slack) but also that it was incredibly comfortable to wear. It felt light and I wasn’t restricted in any way.

Upon beaching on Inishfree, a single click of a strap and the bag shifted from my back to my side, with the camera in a handy position to just lift out as needed. All the kit I needed was easy to get whilst still feeling secure. Watching other people on the island looking for a dry, clean spot to start rooting in their bags I was left feeling all superior - Well done Lowepro!

The handy little extras on their bag where great too. The screen cloth attached in the bag was a life saver for dealing with pesky rain drops and the water proof cover meant the kit all arrived back to base dry and snug - unlike its owner.

By my reckoning, I had the bag on my person for maybe 5 hours on Saturday. not once did I find it a burden. I was so impressed and comfortable with the bag that I ended up out walking on Sunday again to see if I could steal something from the weekends shooting.

To be honest, with the amount of kit I’d bought I was contemplating a new camera bag in the very near future. Now, I think I’ll keep the 100 AW and maybe just buy something to keep the bits I don’t need on a day out and about.

 I don’t plan on rating kit on this site, but if you’re looking for a cheap camera bag and don’t have a lot of kit to haul, this one might be for you.

* OK, so I was exaggerating about the sink, towels and hotel.

Picasa picked me…

I have no idea what other people are using to view image libraries. I’m sure there are some great tools out there, but when I first got a digital camera a friend recommended Picasa as a neat utility that did what I needed.

It provides a nice interface for scanning your images and number of functions including basic contrast, brightness and cropping. Most importantly when you’re a camera noob like me it has a patented(?) Google-esk button ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ which makes the changes it thinks the images need.

As a camera noob it’s been my stalwart photo utility since the E550 came to live with me.

Lately I’ve been playing with Gimp, but thats on my list of things I need to learn so it’ll be a while before I feel qualified to say anything about it other than “The name keeps making me snigger”

Almost forgot. Both Picasa and Gimp are free under their various license models.

Sandisk Large Memory Card Case

During my purchasing frenzy over the last few weeks, I pciked up a Sandisk Large Memory Card Case. It arrived int he post today and after a bit of playing with it I thought I’d post  my initial impressions…

Capable of holding up to 4 memory cards of different shapes and styles (good for me who uses Xd and CF), the case is quite robust and looks likely to survive a decent amount of pounding. The inside of the case is a snazzy red rubber mold which holds all the cards I’ve tried quite well.

I have only two concerns.

Firstly, it stinks. Yes, stinks as in smells funny. When open there is a funny rubbery plastic smell - it reminds me of a musty wetsuit to be honest. All I can hope is it passes.

Secondly, the latches to secure the case closed look flimsy. Really flimsy. Now I know I didn’t buy some secure case which would take a professional burgler three weeks and an arc welder to break into, but these look like they’re going to break before I ever get around to using my spare CF card. After 30 minutes of use they are already beginning to show that familiar white line on the hinge thats common to plastic attrition.

Still, at less than £3 from Amazon I expect it’ll survive long enough.

Learning To Snap