End of the Week Post
At the end of the week, right before the long weekend, we all want some entertaining stuff, so here it is. At least what I’ve found. Figured I could share it with you and clue you in on what I’ve found interesting recently.
Ross Ching’s a time lapse, stop motion, and live action camera kind of guy and has some amazing shots he’s put together to a Death Cab for Cutie’s song. Way cool video, and totally trendy.
I like the Black Rapids’ R-Strap because it frees me up from carrying around a big camera bag, while also protecting the body and lens from swinging out and crashing into nearby objects (which often happens if you’re using the standard Canon/Nikon strap that comes with your camera). The R-strap is a camera-fied version of a single point rifle sling that military folks use. I like it because the body and lens are pointed in into the small of your back, out of the way when you’re moving through crowds and tight situations. I’ve seen other folks trying out their own DIY straps to get away from the clunky hanging-around-your-neck situation.
Mike gives some great tips about how to shop for camera gear on his new Petapixel blog. Although the shopping around on Craigslist is really time-consuming, his tips on what to look for and how to be prepared (e.g. looking through the lens, checking the camera sensor, etc.) are very smart. Definitely worth a read if you’re purchasing used gear off Craigslist.
Everyone knows by now the (cool) Official White House Flickr Photostream. But I also really like The Big Picture, “News stories in photographs.”
Lesson about VR/IS
Recently, i got a chance to compare a VR lens (IS for Canon) and a non-VR lens. I was comparing the Nikon 80-200 AF-D (2-ring) 2.8 and the Nikon 70-200 AF-S (Ultrasonic for Canon) VR 2.8. Granted that the 70-200 lens is the 2nd rev of the 80-200 AF-D (2-ring) lens.
2 different Sunday services. Unfortunately i didn’t have both lenses with me to compare the exact same situation. In both cases the subject is reading his/her testimony. The lighting was the similar, with the first setting possibly having more lighting. I was standing on a chair about 100ft away. So here it goes:
Are all Memory Cards Created Equal?
I used to think that I should just get the cheapest one out there. Then I thought ok, what about the fastest one? And then I ran into another very “scientific” article. I appreciate Rob Galbraith’s work on this subject. He took out a lot of the guess work for me. He takes into account the speed of your camera bus and then the speed of your card. Right now I’m using a Transcend 4GB 300x and my backup is an Sandisk Extreme III. Usually I’m OK unless I decide to shoot RAW. Then I really choose my shots more carefully or I end up doing a lot more deleting on the fly.
UV Filter or Not to UV Filter – that’s the question
Do I really need a filter? OK, if I do, then does it matter which one I get? Is there a real difference? Well, I suppose that you can answer this in a couple of ways. I’ve asked friends, photographers and even went to the internet via forums and web searches and everyone has different opinions- just to protect your lens, just polarizer and ND, digital doesn’t care about uv, lens flare, etc…. And I wanted a slightly more scientific approach. So i found this article.