EFS 17-55 F/2.8 Broken!!! :(

My EFS 17-55 broke the other day - one shot was fine, and then in the next the IS was going from max deflection to min deflection at top speed. Only way to take photos was to turn it off. Luckily I have a MACK international warranty. Lens is now with Canon UK being repaired.

Mini DV Camera

Check this out - 5cm tall, 19g weight and takes 480p footage direct to mini-sd card. Perfect to try and capture some of these crashes from on-board the helicopter... should also be useful filming my mountain-bike crashes... available for £13 now - link in title!

Canon EOS 7D

I bought a small birthday present for myself today - an upgrade from my 40D to the much more sophisticated 7D.  Key improvements are a new AF system, better high ISO performance and lens micro adjustment.

Lightroom3

Adobe Lightroom 3 is out - it offers some nice extras such as improved noise filters, flickr integration and lens correction.  I hope to get it installed over the weekend: http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/photoshoplightroom/

Update: it came, installed with no problems and auto updated the LR2 catalog.  I then uninstalled LR2 with no issues.  LR3 seems much faster (especially to start).

Lowepro's new camera bags

Lowepro have just introduced a new range of their popular 'sling' bags (one if which I own). The new one is wider, more flexible in terms of storeage and offers a padded compartment for a laptop. It also fits airline carry-on sizing - tempting! Need to find a store with them in to see if I need the small or large version.

Snapfish Photos

With V-Media I get 50 Snapfish photos free a month. I just recieved my first set - they are ok but dissapointing.

When there is an outsized picture, instead of shrinking it to fit, they crop it. So, nice landscapes and tall photos get made into rubbish. Not happy :(

Photomatix - HRD

I bought a copy of Photomatix recently - been wanting it for ages but just figured they do a massive 60% student discount!!!

The software allows me to render tone mapped HDR images straight from Lightroom - awesome!

An HDR is a combination of several images, over and under exposed in order to get more levels of detail in the shot. Here's a sample of the effect (slightly exaggerated here) - a view from my home office window.

Second Flash

I got home from another weekend at work last night and whilst waiting for K to get back from yoga, had a play with my new 2-flash setup. Took some interesting shots (link in title) but liked this one the most. The second flash is behind the guitar - lighting up the amp.

Canon 580EX II - SURPRISE!

I was surprised yesterday when A came round with a gift - a Canon 580EX II!!! A gift for the upcoming photo shoot at his sister's wedding.

So, within an hour (whilst at the pub) I had read the manual and around midnight I attacked the cats with a pap-style flash attack (pics linked in title).

It is amazing HOW much better it is that the 430 EX - THANKS A!

Canon 580EX II Review

Image published :)

I was visiting Grandma in Padstow just before Xmas when I was asked to take a picture of a cheque being presented. Grandma emailed me a press cutting today - my pic made it to print :) Not sure which paper yet - but I suspect it may be one of the ones I work with in the area.

Canon G9

I got a new toy today - the Canon G9. I am going to use it when it is not convenient to take my main DSLR along. It is very rugged, compact and packed full of features. Battery is charging ready for first use as we speak...