Jackson Thomas Rose

Jackson Thomas Rose
Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

friday lunch

friday lunch Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

A well known multi-national corporation has a rather large campus across the street from where I work. I (and a large number of others) rather routinely cut through this campus to get to the only decent restaurants in the area for lunch. It is so common a short cut most of us think of it as a public park rather than private property. Friday morning I noticed someone on flickr is getting great colour saturation with a Canon 10D and is underexposing 1/3-2/3 of a stop. So I grabbed my camera on the way to work Friday morning and was auto bracketing right and left on the train ride in. At lunch, while crossing the multi-national's park, I took 12 photographs of a tree (bracketing exposure and colour saturation settings.) I then enjoyed a lovely beef and peapod stir fry at the local noodle shop. As I returned from lunch (back on the private property) I hear; "Excuse me! Excuse me!" and here comes someone who saw me "taking pictures." She could not wait to tell me that this is private property and that she had 'reported' me and wanted to know my name and where I worked. My first thought was who exactly did she report me to? But I somehow managed to realize that that would be a very confrontational question so I told her I worked across the street and my name (showing her my work ID that was clipped to my belt.) I told her I was taking photographs of the tree on the other side of the main building and offered to show them to her and even delete them. She backed right off; reminded me it was private property and said I need to get permission if I want to take pictures in the future. Lessons for the day:

• SLRs draw more attention than compacts
• A reminder that it is not legal to trespass
• Big multi-nationals are nervous about corporate espionage
• Polite honesty worked well in defusing the situation
• The Chinese restaurant is better than McDonald's

I spent a good part of the afternoon waiting for the police to turn up at my office. So far, no word from the authorities, but if that changes, I'll be sure to let you all know!

mr whippy queue

mr whippy queue
Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

A Photographer's Review of the Canon EOS 10D Digital SLR

MacDevCenter.com: A Photographer's Review of the Canon EOS 10D Digital SLR: "Nothing matches the sensation of peering through a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) viewfinder and squeezing off a series of frames. Once you become immersed in the viewfinder, the entire noisy, distracting (and often ugly) world is eliminated from your perfectly-composed image viewed directly through the zoom lens." True, so true.

Happiness is a clean sensor

Thank you Canon Australia. Actually this is the second time I've had to visit the North Ryde Service Office and both have been positive experiences. The first time was when the viewfinder LCD on my EOS 1 died. Now that they have my 28-105 (sticky zoom.) Hopefully my next visit will be positive as well...

australia day photos on flickr

bbq on the harbour Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

What could be more Australian than a Sausage Sizzle with a view of the Sydney Opera House? I even included the sun that was baking down on us all day (causing minor sunburn.) This was the first real workout for the 10D. A few more photos from the day are at Flickr. We started the day at Milson's Point and watched the finish of the Ferry Race. This is basically chaos on the harbour. The photos are chaotic as well and I haven't posted those. May try them in B/W later tonight. Anyway, after the race we walked across the bridge (where most of the photos were taken) to find food and beer (not in that order.) Here's a shot of me, taken by Amy and my conspicuously stealthy Crumpler Tall-ee Camera Bag Rob on Bridge Originally uploaded by gadgetgirl.

how 'bout that?

Seems my earlier estimate of four or five visitors to this site should be increased to six or seven. I posted a reply to Scott, but as I write this, the reply hasn't shown up on his blog. Yes, my blog did briefly have the description "A Yank in Oz" that was changed to the current description shortly thereafter. I'm not even the only Rob Barker at blogspot.

EOS 10D; a short review

I've had the 10D for a few days and shot close to 300 images with it. My biggest concern going into this was with the physical size of the sensor - I like wide angle shots, and the field of view of my favourite lens (24mm) wouldn't be the same. Well, it's not the same but still has a nice wide angle feel anyway (similar field of view of a 35mm lens on a 35mm camera.) Tasman Sea at North Head Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

My 28-105 is still a very useful zoom range, it is a normal-to-telephoto zoom on the 10D. I used it rather extensively at a friend's baby's baptism on Sunday. I've been shooting film with an EOS 1 for at least 12 years and the layout of the 10D is so familiar that it's easy to forget that it's a digital camera. The only thing that seems strange is the location of the depth of field preview. I have to hunt for it when I need it. This is not the end of the world because a) when depth of field is critical, the subject probably doesn't move and b) I'll get used to it over time. Highs:

• responsive (no shutter lag)
• fill in flash (controllable amount of fill)
• custom functions (focus related ones in particular)
• major functions easily accessible (drive, metering, iso, ect.)
• uses my existing lenses
• 3200 speed setting - wow!
• below 400, almost no noise at all
• beep can be turned off (it is)
• Price (new 10Ds can be found for under 1000USD)

Lows

• grip could be a bit bigger
• 2 seconds to power on
• dust (see below)
• 'auto' white balance - not!
• only manual flash with my 430EZ - guess I'll need a EX flash :-)

Here's a 3200 speed test, under incandescent light with the 'auto' white balance. I really don't see where Canon can call this auto white balance - but I don't mind the colour, actually prefer it to a photoshop corrected version. The other thing to check out here is the grain, or noise at 3200 speed. It's there, and is expected but is IMO far less than the grain in 3200 speed film. And rather similar to the 800 speed setting in the Nikon 995.

3200 test Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

Dust... Dust, dust, dust. This is totally my fault. With film, if a bit of dust gets behind the shutter and gets on the film, it shows up on one photo. Then the film and the dust move, ready for the next dust free shot. I've kept my 80-200 zoom lens in an imitation Domke wrap. Next to the wrapped lens, in my old camera bag sat my 24mm, with the 28-105 on the EOS 1. In my excitement with the new camera I grabbed the 24mm and put it right on the 10D - didn't notice that the imitation Domke wrap's loop fabric was deteriorating in my bag, leaving bits of black dust everywhere, and yup, a few bits made it's way onto the sensor. It's only visible with F/11 or smaller aperture and I've got most of it off with a blower bulb but there are a few stubborn bits. The good news is that it's easy to photoshop out and the Canon repair office is a few Km from my office, so it will get a professional clean after Australia Day.

Now, I'm adopting a new anal lens cleaning routine and am trashing my trusty old Tamrac bag (now loaded with black dust) and have replaced it with a Crumpler Tall-ee bag. Review of the Crumpler coming soon to yankinoz.

sydney harbour

sydney harbour Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

honey eater in flight

honey eater in flight
Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

not perfect, but I like the shape of the wings and the bit of yellow. could be a bit sharper, but check out his eye...

3200 test two

3200 test two
Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

There's some noise, but for being set at ISO-3200 - it's not too bad. Get used to pictures of the cat, he's always ready as a photo subject. So far, the camara feels like an old friend. It has a similar heft as my old EOS-1. and shutter lag? What shutter lag?

Train ride home, with the 10d

Train ride home, with the 10d
Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

It works :-)

Rescue Mission, $187 ransom

Message brought to you by Telstra MMS Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

Customs Australia put a $187 ransom on the EOS10D. I was able to successfully rescue it from the clutches of the Sydney Gateway Facility at approximately 9AM this morning. I came away with minor bruising of the AMEX card. The battery is currently sitting on its charger. By day's end photographic evidence shall be posted.

Black Steel

I got a letter from the government the other day... OK, really today, and they are holding the EOS 10D ransom. I have to fill out forms and fax/post/lodge in person to learn how much duty/GST and the 'processing fee' will be. From what I can tell on the customs web site it looks like duty and GST will be about 200AUD and the fee is about 50, so all up it looks like the camera is still going to cost about 100 bucks more than a 300D. This was anticipated, but I was hoping it would slip by... It didn't.

EOS 10D update

Shipment Activity Location Date & Time -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRIVED ABROAD AUSTRALIA 01/16/05 10:13am INTO FOREIGN CUSTOMS AUSTRALIA 01/16/05 10:13am ACCEPTANCE SANTA BARBARA CA 93102 01/12/05 2:34pm -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nope, I don't have it yet. It's all up to Customs now.

Classic Taronga Zoo Photo

Classic Taronga Zoo photo op Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

Flickr's going to be down on Sunday (North American Sunday) for some sort of update. I managed to figure out why most of my photos were not getting updated with the EXIF information. Seems a bug in the Photoshop 'save for web' function was deleting the EXIF from the JPGs. This photo from our Christmas Day trip to the Taronga Zoo and a photo of our car were upload as a test to make sure I had the EXIF fixed. (note the taken with a Nikon E995) and if you are wondering - it still don't say taken with a Canon 10D cus I'm still waiting, and waiting, and waiting :-)

Message brought to you by Telstra MMS

It Came! It Came!

OK, not the 10D, but the KMFDM Australian Tour T-Shirt. There was a mix up at the show (they claimed the car with the shirts was late because they hit a kangaroo on the way from Perth) and the shirts didn't go on sale until after the show. As you can imagine, it was a bit of a madhouse - and 1AM. Those of us on the better side of 30 were ready to go home. Good news - the shirts were (still are) on sale at the KMFDM web site. So I got one without the wait. Check them out at the KMFDM STORE

Message brought to you by Telstra MMS

But I want it now!

I'm in. A Digital SLR is somewhere between California and Australia as I type this and I want it now. This is one of those prices to pay for living in Oz - takes ages to get things from the USA. Fortunalty most things are readily available down under, but in the case of the Canon EOS 10D - well, they are long since sold out. The 4 or 5 of you who follow this blog will remember that I was looking for a second hand 10D on Ebay. Then I found a shop in California selling out the last of the Brand New 10Ds for only a few dollars more than the used ones were going for! (and in a few cases, the used ones were selling for more than new.) So, I bought one. I'll let you all know when it shows up, and assuming that I havn't been had, I'll let you know where you too can get an EOS 10D for under 1000 USD...

Sparky the Turkish Van

Sparky the Turkish Van
Originally uploaded by yankinoz.

one of my very first fully digital images - and still my favourite photo of our cat. Nikon 995