Mobile Dad

Today has been about photography, the beauty that can be captured by a talented photographer and the amazing gear used to capture it.  Well when you got a lens like the Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 EX, you no longer look like a photographer but more like a person with a military weapon.  With an 2x extender, this bad boy can hit the 1000mm range, that is scary.  This guy has the ~$34,000 lens on a ~$7,000 Canon 1Ds Mark III body, man his photos must cost a fortune to buy!

I love photography.  It is one mobile tech that is completely dependent on your creative skills.  I love taking pictures even though I am not that good at it and thus admire those that can take a camera and produce imagery that is awe inspiring.  Take a look at this time lapse video using a Canon 5D Mark II:

Timescapes Timelapse: Learning to Fly from Tom @ Timescapes on Vimeo.

It is stuff like this that makes me want to grab my camera and run outside shouting on the top of my lungs, “inspire me world!” It reminds you no matter how busy or crazy your daily life is,  hidden beauty surrounds you.  You just need to stop and look up.  Thanks Giz for a killer find.

Today I got my 5D Camera Armor from MADE Products. The first question many of you will ask is why. Those who know me understand that I am a gadget freak. Not only must I have the latest gadgets, but they must look as “new” as possible years after owning them. I think this is a mental illness, but I enjoy using my gadgets and taking great care of them as well. I love my 5D but I do not want to be too careful removing it or putting it back in the bag. I would like to pull the camera out quickly and take a shot but still protect it as much as possible. This is where the armor comes into play. After a couple of reviews, I ordered it through Amazon and now it is here. continue reading…

Since it is a bit of a pain to carry around my 5D, I am going to do more shooting from the hip. I am going to start a series of pics from the cellphone. Let’s see if I push out some quality pictures. Remember it is not the gear… Well we see about that

This is a shot from SU while I was working late. Not bad on noise considering it is coming from a ridiculously small sensor.

If I was on the fence and looking at which prosumer camera to buy (Canon or Nikon), I would lean toward Nikon as the new D300 looks to finally trump Canon. In the recent past, Nikon Dxxx series were always compared to Canon’s xxD bodies. Time and again, Canon’s superior CMOS sensor would always prevail with low noise. It seems Nikon finally dumped their CCD chips and went over to CMOS. Not only that, they also added pro-level auto-focus engine with 51-AF selection points. 51 points, on a prosumer-level camera! This camera kind of smokes the recently announced 40D with it’s paltry 9-point AF system. Hey, I use a similar system on my 5D and it works well but I always wanted to play with an AF system that has greater than 15 AF points like the 1Ds Mark III (which by the way, the camera of my dreams). All there is left is to see if the Nikon CMOS sensor can hold it’s own against Canon’s. With a new processor, more durable shutter, higher res lcd screen, and ridiculous amount of AF points, it seems Nikon did not want to just one up Canon, they set a whole new standard. I am a Canon lover but have to give it up to Nikon for not conceding defeat when it looked like Canon was heading down the path of being the king of prosumer slrs. Come on Canon, give me these features in the next version of the 5D!