An amazing bit of video here. The finished product is brilliant but when you look at the ‘behind-the-scenes’ footage, the patience, skill and technology that went into producing the finished product is simply astounding. Take a look:
BirdCam
Category Archives: Gear
Rotation180° – a Bag with a Difference
I have long been a fan of thinkTank products. The design, attention to detail and workmanship is second to none in my opinion and they are obviously designed by photographers for photographers.
In recent times thinkTank have started a new company called Mindshift Gear and their first product, the Rotation180°, will shortly be on sale.
Designed to be a hiking/photography bag, it’s unique selling point is a section of the backpack that rotates around to the front so that gear can be accessed without taking the bag off. The rest of the bag can be used to carry more photography gear with a padded insert or, without the insert, it can be used as a regular backpack. The bag comes in two iterations: the basic Rotation180°Professional and the Rotation180° Professional Deluxe which includes all the optional extras.
Have a look at the video below:
Ron Martinsen has already posted some video reviews of the bag on his blog.
A new look at Parcel Post
Have you ever ordered gear online and had it shipped to you? It’ great when that parcel arrives and you finally get your mitts on it. Did you ever wonder about the route your parcel takes and the places it visits on its way to your doorstep?
Blogger, Ruben van der Vleuten did “so instead of sitting back I started a simple project to actually see it myself. I put a small camera in a box, build a timer circuit using Arduino and shipped it”. Here is the result:
See the whole story here.
Catch any Fish?
Having discovered the virtues of thinkTank products, mostly camera bags, I remember discussing them with a friend of mine last year and recommending them to him. In particular, I mentioned the Retrospective 20 model because of its great design, strong build, good workmanship, comfortable shoulder strap, and most importantly, the fact that it doesn’t scream “bag full of expensive gear, come and rob me!”.
Well, long story short, my friend went off and bought a Retrospective 20 and was delighted with his purchase. He was able to fit plenty gear in it yet was able to carry it around comfortably in such a nondescript way – the perfect shoulder bag.
Fast-forward to a few days ago and my friend is out one evening looking for a good sunset shot. He decided to keep the gear in the bag until he needed it. So he’s walking along with his camera in the bag and tripod over his shoulder when he met a man “who asked me if I had caught any fish? I told him that the salmon were scarce!”
Proof that the Retrospective doesn’t scream Camera!
See the thinkTank Retrospective 20 here.
“Fuji is the new Leica”
“Fuji is the new Leica” is a statement that gets a second glance. That was Zack Arias’s take having reviewed the Fuji X100S, a mirror-less digital camera with a retro look, fixed 23mm F2 lens and a 16MP APS-C sensor.
The enthusiasm with which this camera has been met is beyond anything I have ever read or seen to date.
One would think that the limitations of a fixed focal length lens alone would be enough to, at least, dampen the enthusiasm especially since similar offerings from Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic and indeed Fuji itself, have interchangeable lenses that offer more options to the photographer while still keeping the overall kit small, light and portable. Not so.
Renowned photographers Zack Arias, David Hobby (aka The Strobist) and Neil Van Niekerk, among others, have recently reviewed this camera and outline their thoughts in detail. Check out the camera’s mini site here.
I must say that the thoughts of leaving all the weighty gear in the bag and going off with just this camera is appealing to me too. How about you?