motography, cameras, gear and chatter

[CantDecide]

I'm not sure she will get an auto reminder of new posts yet, because the thread position is changed. PM her with this thread address.

Jape, it looks like everyone who posted to the messages you moved were auto-subscribed to the new thread. At least, I was! Pretty handy feature actually.

[CantDecide]

right now I have about 10 or 11 vintage and toy film cameras, both medium format and 35mm (TLR, ones with bellows, box cameras.. etc)..

I have a bunch of those two, an old Brownie, etc, but I never use them because processing is such a pain. :(

Oh, I have that 50mm 1.4, its pretty awesome for the price actually (mine is the plastic bodied one). Mine dropped and broke open on the floor into 3 pieces and I was able to clean it and put it back together... still amazes me. I don't use it much, but its so fast I should use it more, or replace it.

I'll upgrade to full frame and have my trusty rebel as my back-up camera.

When I bought my 7D I really wanted a 5D instead, but I checked them out in the store, and the 5D is HUGE. My 7D is massive besides the 350D/450D line, and it is dwarfed by the 5D. Also, the 5D's controls and electronics are pretty behind the latest... I didn't like the switch positions, and the AF and image processing are way behind the 7D. Obviously you can take amazing pictures with any camera, and you are right, glass is more important than the body.

Still, most of my photos are in low-light, so full frame would be nice...

Those new hybrids from Sony and Olympus with interchangeable lenses but no flappy mirror are pretty awesome too.

[Ekkicore]

i've got two brownies and an agfa clack! most of my friends think they are super ugly but i love them.. ah the joys of taobao! :)
i love the 50mm as well but unfortunately i never use it anymore because i bought a fake nikon uv filter for it in vietnam and the threads have warped or something and i can't get it off. the filter itself is all wonky and leaves horrible light reflections on my pictures :(

to be honest, i'd rather have a 7d as well but the 21.1 megapixels of the 5D II means I don't have to stitch images together when shooting two-page spreads for art catalogues that typically print at 300ppi (150dpi)..
my 450d can only print 24 x 36cm images at 300ppi, which is fine for full page spreads, but double-pages are troublesome.. :( but if i'm gonna blow money, i'd blow it on the 1Ds :)

btw if you're in town tonight, pop into Siif (in Beiluoguxiang, Gulou area) for a drink, we're throwing a party there (10rmb tsingtao, 20rmb cocktails) and will be hanging out getting drunk all night :) will have my camera with me!!

[VTECsauce]

w00p, fellow shutterbugs.

Chinese "____ malls" are great, and camera malls are no different. Going around oogling at everything from every type of filter ever to huge 800mm f/5.6 lenses. Fun fun fun.

I got my 25-105 F/4 L when I was rocking out with a 400D. It was an alright lens on that body, but not quite wide enough. But; on the 5D2, it's great! Especially with the IS for video work.

Well, I ended up using a Nikon strobe because I wanted to borrow some AA batteries for my strobes, so he bought some...but he bought them using his SB-600 as an expensive carry-case; so me being lazy, I just used his SB-600. I usually don't like Nikon stuff as I personally find the user-interfaces counter-intuitive - but maybe thats from years of shooting Canon.

I imagine the 5D2 will be hard to operate while riding the bike though...so may have to get a decent point and shoot. I also wanna set up a mount for the 5D2, so I can shoot some 1080p video of the roads around here; then my crashes will be in glorious detail. Eurgh; scratch that: lens alone is probably worth more than my bike. Maybe changing my 400D for a 550D would be a less-crazy idea. The 550D looks like great bang for the buck at the moment, considering its basically the same sensor as the 7D; it's a bargain!

I'm hoping my bike will enable me to get to some more cool locations. Inner-city stuff gets boring. :)

Ya'll should post some of your 'best pics evarrr!!!'

[CantDecide]

btw if you're in town tonight, pop into Siif (in Beiluoguxiang, Gulou area) for a drink, we're throwing a party there (10rmb tsingtao, 20rmb cocktails) and will be hanging out getting drunk all night :) will have my camera with me!!

I don't think we will make it tonight, we are pretty wiped out, but I saw you have another event in two weeks right? I'll try and make that one!

[CantDecide]

The 550D looks like great bang for the buck at the moment, considering its basically the same sensor as the 7D; it's a bargain!

I thought about that when I bought my 7D. For video, I totally agree, at least from what I know about it.

For still, the 7D has a real prism and a claimed 99% (or was it 100%?) FOV and a HUGE viewfinder. I never thought that would make a big deal to me, but its so awesome I can't stand to use my 350D any more with its tiny, dim view finder. I don't know if I'll ever use another SLR without a solid prism.

On the other hand, by the time I get around to replacing the 7D, cameras might not even have flappy mirrors any more.

[euphonius]

I'd never heard of Cisco's FLIP palmsized HD video camera until reading today that Cisco is canning the product despite having paid $590 million for the company a year or so ago. The report I read today said it's retailing for $130 or less, so I had a look. Turns out one accessory is a little tripod with two straps for attaching to handlebars, helmets, etc. The unit, which records 1080 video, whatever that is, is said to be sweet for directly uploads to your laptop, and for directly posting video to youtube, etc.

All of which led me to wonder: Has anyone in this forum used the FLIP as a motography recorder? At $130 it's way cheaper than a GoPro HD or Contour HD. And because it has a monitor and controls, it's possible to review your video while you are still on the road.




Just thinkin' out loud, which has gotten me in trouble before...

cheers

[Lao Jia Hou]

That Cisco Flip is indeed interesting. It would be good to know if the image stabilization works well. A riding buddy brought a GoPro HD from the states & I've got to say that I am quite impressed by it. It takes great pics / video, and has a nice wide angle perspective. Interestingly, the GoPro HD is about the same price in Beijing as it is in the USA Best Buy chain. Don't often see that.

I've also read a few ride reports over on the "other" adv website, and a couple of folks have a really interesting little toy. The Polaroid PoGo Zink instant printer (one review). They use it a lot of different ways, but mostly to give an instant "paper pic" to kids, people, policemen, border guards who want to sit on the bike, etc. It is a great ice-breaker, and commonly melts even the snarliest "official" when they get an instant pic to take home and show the missus how cool they are. The PoGo Zink is available via taobao.

Euph, you have a G11 and I've seen your method of a neck lanyard (which I've tried to replicate). Given I am all thumbs (in heavy gloves), I've been wondering if you've tried a RAM mount with your G11? I know the G11 has image stabilization, but I'm wondering if it is enough for the serious vibrations of a bike? Also, I wonder if the vibrations might do some damage over time? Using the neck lanyard has a built in shock absorber (our bodies) and maybe a hard mount might be a bad idea? I've had a clear UV filter mounted over the lens for at least some protection from bugs & grit, but Murphy's Law says the gravel stones will be perfectly targeted for the lens.

Comments?

[ChinaV]

Comments?

I've never gotten a bike mounted camera to produce the results that you get from a chest or head mount. The body does a great job of isolating vibration, and I think we will have to wait for the next generation of helmet cams with IS to get really good results without the shakes. All of the good looking bike mounted video I've seen has utilized very robust mounting systems, the RAM mounts tend to shake quite a bit unless the road is nice and smooth.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[Maux]

Hey guys, have any of you got an experience with this Casio EX-G1? I'm a Casio fan (having had several watches calculators, another Casio point n' shoot, and the second generation Gz'One phone) and I dished out about Y1150 for it.

Seems like a very sturdy camera http://www.casio.com/news/content/70...-97996227B7D6/

I'm no pro photographer or even avid photographer but I want something better than my phone for pictures. In reviews it seemed to stand up pretty well and for ~$170 it seems like a nice deal. The other Casio camera I had was another point 'n click and I was really happy with it. I let my friend have it when he came to China about two years ago and it ended up having some problem with the lens as it was too delicate for my buddy. Oh also I got the new camera in a Olive drab instead of the black, silver or red versions. The matte, muted green makes it look pretty sweet, IMHO.

Also I was wondering (not exactly photo related) what computers you guys pack. I've got a Lenovo X200 that I think is pretty sturdy as it did live through my recent run in with a taxi. I had it slung over my back in a bag that's built to carry a laptop. I worked a lot with Dell and Lenovo laptops while in IT at a college and the X2xx series are nice and light with nice modular designs that I've found pretty easy to strip down. In my list of other purchases I've just got a WCDMA (cellular internet) and GPRS (yup, just GPS) card that I hope to get to work most places I could use China mobile. I hope this will help with getting online to check information or update folks. I've got to get it installed and then basically I'll need another account with China Mobile with data and GPRS ability. I need to get a more practical bag for it (a backpack I think) for the computer and other equipment in order to pack it properly on a bike. . Other than that I think this will have got my tech equipment for the trip sorted out.