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I think I've found the perfect camera and laptop bag, it is a Tamrac Adventure 9. It happily takes my G4 PowerBook in a slot in the back, then holds my 20D, some lenses, including a 70-200 f4 in the bottom. Then in the top space, often neglected on other bags, it holds a geek book (Ruby for Rails), a paper back, some cables, headphones, iPod, and there is space for a few other bits. It is carry on, just, you might need to be careful how you pack, it is narrow and short enough, but the depth is arguably over the max for some UK based airlines.

I've been looking for a new bag, since I started taking my SLR and laptop to conferences. A camera back and a laptop bag is no fun, one is always in the way. Once I'm back from Xtech, I'll write a longer post on how I found the bag. In the meantime I can recommend CameraWorld for those in the UK, no affiliate thing going on, just good prices and nice people. I've bought several of my near dozen or more camera bags from them.

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When will my potential AppleTV or desktop iMac be able to help out my PowerBook on compute intensive image processing. I own all these computers, so I can install what I like. There are distributed computing environments eg Qmaster for a range of high end rendering applications like Final Cut Pro and Shake etc. So when will this become a reality in the home?

I can imagine a version of Aperture 2.0 which will look for local compute resources and send batches over Wifi to the computer and wait for response. I realise there are bandwidth issues, but say thumbnail processing following import or any batch operation would benefit.

Lucy and I have been discussing photography backups and we'd been thinking about buying an external drive, maybe 250 or 400G. Somewhere to stuff the clutter. Then Joyent launched Bingo!. We already use strongspace to run an automated mirror of our Documents folder, so I know they are good.
However it is a maximum of 100G, much less than the 250 of even 400 we had been planning. So, I thought a while and realised that this is actually an advantage, if we see it as a constraint. We don't have 100G of pictures yet, so we don't need all that space, it will make us delete the rubbish pictures and keep the best ones. By the time we hit 100G, Joyent will be offering 250G I'm sure, but the constraint will have helped me to winnow out the chaff. My only decision is to how tight to make the constraint, 25, 50 or 100.

Since writing the earlier entry about medium format cameras in the summer, I discovered what captivated me about medium format. It is not the resolution, it is the aspect ratios. I made this discovery shortly after writing the previous article, but it has taken me a few months to finish this new article.

After a while looking through a 3:2 35mm viewfinder or looking at 4:3 monitor images, seeing square or dramatic panoramic images is exciting. So the 6x6 format of Bronica SQAi or Hasselblad intrigues me. So does the 6x12 or even the unaffordable 6x17 of medium format panoramic cameras, see this gallery of panoramic images. The X-pan with its double frame 35mm panoramic ability is interesting too, some reviews, more reviews. The delights of 6x9 or 645 are not appealing as they are too close to the format I use most days. Only the 6x6 is really affordable via a Lomo 120 or posssibly a second hand Bronica SQ. Photo.net has a good overview of Medium format cameras. Robert White in Dorset and Teamwork in London stock a wide range of panoramic cameras. The Xpan, the Bronica SQAi and the Hasselblad 501CM, 503CW kits are available from Jessops, too.

Looking at the different formats, see overlaid and vertical representations of the aspect ratios below, gives an idea of the image size and relative aspect ratios. The normal ratios of 4:3 and 3:2 are very close to another. The panoramic images are closer to widescreen tv displays. The panoramic format and the square medium format stand out in strong contrast to the more common formats.

Panoramic really appeals to me, I am often tempted by wide angle images, to the point of getting a 24mm prime lens for my Canon 35mm SLR, last summer. The ability to represent the world as I see it with both eyes, rather than with one shut, makes it easier to visualise the world. Panoramic offers this ability, but in a manner even more suited to landscapes. Working with a 35mm lens with the 3:2 format, means trying to get foreground interest to make the image work and avoiding acres of sky in your images. I can image that a wider view makes this more natural, as you do not see with only one eye.

Going against this, slightly, is the desire to shoot square. Rectangles invite a vertical and horizontal choice, with a square image then this choice disappears and one can concentrate on composition. This removes some of the cognitive load from creating the picture. A friend a few days ago described photography as the art of representing the 3d as 2d. Square images allow you to concentrate on the spatial relationships and the exposure, not the shape of the frame.

Lastly these mainly medium format cameras have higher cost per picture, so you tend to be more thoughtful, rather than assuming that a ratio of 1 or 2 good from 36 is fine. Getting the same 1 or 2 good shots from the 12 - 18 you get in the cameras above doubles the success rate. There is also a tendancy for using a tripod and an external light meter, so working each image is slowed down, from the almost point and shoot that auto SLRs encourage.

So once the light improves I'm borrowing a medium format camera to experiment, whilst I still can. Medium format is a dying format so it seems, Bronica have stopped making them and the film is getting harder to get outside London, according to AP.

Lots of rumors floating around about a new range of Canon cameras, it is looking likely to be an update to the 10D, called the 20D, plus at least two new EF-S lenses (EF-s 10-22mm /f 3.5-4.5
EF-s 17-85mm /f 4-5.6 IS) and maybe a third. Two new digital cameras, an A95 and a G6, plus a new E-TTL2 flashgun, maybe two of these as well, 580EX and an un-named replacement for the 420EX. Available from Jessops, late September is rumored release date.
Bod Atkins gives a measured reflection on the rumors. Photographyblog mentioned them earlier in the week. They have posted pictures now on photographyblog. First mention was I think on the Photo.net site this post mentions the 580EX flash gun, though in late July most people initially doubted the new cameras. More information on fredmiranda and older information. More on this including the Paul Pope initial post. Photos are available on canon.com and more images including lens pictures, plus the new digital compacts.

Rough spec for the new SLR is
- model name : EOS 20D
- 8 megapixel with DIGIC II (like 1D mkII)
- CMOS sensor , 1.6X crop factor
- 9 focus point
- 5fps (not sure abt the frame buffer)
- 25 frame buffer
- EF-s support
- E-TTL II support
- 0.2sec startup time
- 1/8000 max shutter speed

The rumored new flashgun is named the 580EX - ettl2, higher guide number. My estimation would be more compatialble with 10D / 20D, metering pattern matching the 7 or 9 sensor of 30/33 and 20D as well as the 45 of the 3/1V and 1DS etc. Better construction, faster cycle time.

UPDATE:
Previews and reviews of the new 20D, lenses and the flash are appearing.
Bob Atkins 20D preview
Luminous Landscape 20D review
Rob Galbraith review of 20D
Imaging Resource review of 20D
Photo.net reactions
Digital Photography Review of 20D
Digital Photography Review lenses and flashgun
DCRP review of the EOS 20D

I think that the new camera is interesting, people seem to be impressed with the 5fps for 25 frames, but it is still a 1.6 crop. However the new lenses are interesting the 10-22 gives 16-35 equivalent and the 17-85 is the digital equivalent of the 28-135 IS lens that I own and like, as it is the equivalent of 27-136. The filter size of the 17-85 is also 67mm, which would allow it to share filters with the 70-200 f4, which is a popular digital lens, offering 110-320 equivalent. If the new flashgun is true then that might what I'll be most likely to get soon, especially if it supports the top and bottom sensor on my EOS 30. UPDATE - it does.
It looks as if Canon are going to run with three sensor sizes for the next few years, offering the 18-55 cheapie with the 300D was a foot in the water. Offering a range of general photography lenses from wide and ultrawide up to 135 is a good plan as there is a body upgrade from existing 300D and 10D users to the 20D, who can then sell camera and lenses should they jump up to the semi pro 1D mkII. It seems that the 3D is never to happen, in fact it is probably the 1D mkII.
I can now get my favoured 24mm viewpoint in a digital kit from Canon, but yet, I'm still not tempted, 1500 quid is a lot of slide film.

Unfinished project idea. Take a 6x6 medium format camera and shoot slide film with it. Take pictures of brightly coloured objects and scenes. Then arrange the slides in a pleasing order and hang the resulting display in a high up sunny window.
Get the 120 film processed unmounted, usually this will be cut into strips of 3. Then buy clearfile pockets to hold the cut frames. You'll need a steel ruler and a sharp knife (scalpel) to cut the film into single frames.
I think this is a fun project to capture memories of summer and makes you use something that you'd normally not think of using. A manual medium format camera and slide film is radically different from most peoples' experience of 35mm point and shoot, or a SLR, or the digital equivalent. You'll probably also need to buy or borrow an ambient light meter too, so that you can set the camera to take properly exposed pictures. Slide film is much less forgiving of under or expecially over exposure.
For the camera and film, costs do not need to be high, you'll not need a hasselbald to make pretty coloured pictures, even a holga will do the job. I'd recommend velvia 100 for intense colours and a bright, but not too sunny day. Velvia 100 costs about 3 pounds a roll mail order and processing is about the same. Buy 5-6 rolls and the costs will be less than fifty quid. For the camera, buy a holga, or borrow a friends medium format camera, personally I think 6x6 is the right shape for this project. Failing that, you could buy a second hand rolliflex or a yashica 124 or a mamiya 330 for 150-200 pounds, or a seagull on ebay for 50-80 pounds.
If you are serious about medium format after this, then a Bronica SQAi or a Hasselblad are the cameras to choose, but the lenses are expensive beyond the normal 75 or 80 standard lens, which is roughly equivalent to the 40-50mm prime on a 35mm camera.

26 things is a photo competition in which you get a list of 26 words and have to interpret them and produce a set of pictures one for each word. It has been run by Tracey from sh1ft.org twice last year, this year it starts on 1st July. I'm hoping that this year I'll actually get further down the list than previous times. There are other games on her site too
It is a good challenge, as it helps to be focused when taking pictures. Colour is a fine brief, but yellow is a much stronger one. It is a great way to improve your photography and creative interpretation of a scene. From memory the words last year where evocative ones like — smile, light, heavy, red, fast. I'm quite looking forward to it, as I should have a bit more time in July.
Lastly it also gives you a stock of photographs, with which you can enter competitions in magazines, which actually have prizes to win.

I have found that people have been searching for the words "take one" and arriving at this site. A few days ago I found one of the possible other sites that people have been looking for. It is a very interesting looking exhibition at the National Gallery entitled Take One Picture, where some school children are shown a painting and asked to produce work in response to it. This year it is a Caneletto. I think that this educational outreach programme is a great idea, encouraging children to see painting as an artform that they can embrace early in life is important.

Shopping outside the UK has always been popular, going to France has definite benefits if you want wine or beer or coffee or pretty much any super market shopping. However a trip to New York to buy consumer electronics or clothes has always had a certain appeal. BBC news had an opinion piece a few weeks ago about the pitfalls of importing and paying tax. I decided to check this out for myself.
Using an approximate US dollar exchange rate of 1.70, with Vat rate for imports at 17.5 percent seems quite attractive, depending on the import duty and price.
Import duty rate for camera lenses is 6.7 percent (?). The import duty rate for Camera Lenses, under Taric, the tarrifs database for the EU. Some useful instructions are on this site, they help you work out what is going on. Though essentially pick the country you are travelling from into the UK and then browse to the product you want. Film camera bodies attract a rate of 4.2 percent.
Therefore the approximate dollar pound exchange rate is 0.74, including the legal duties and taxes. so a $1000 lens is actually 746 pounds. The import allowance is 145 pounds, which is approximately $250. However given the near 1:1 exchange rate for camera prices, if you are thinking of buying a big ticket item, say that long telephoto lens you have been wanting for this summer, then you could nearly have a holiday in NY on the cost difference.
Approximate USD to UKP prices for a few Canon lenses follows, buying the EF 70-200 f4 L, which in the UK will cost £499, will cost you approximately £406, if you pay duty and VAT.
The EF 300 f4 L IS is £999 and will cost you £829 in New York
The EF 500 f4 L IS is £4699 will cost you £3922
The EF 17-40 L is £569 and you'll pay about £500 for it.
US prices from B&H Photo in New York and converted at a rate of 1.70. UK prices from Warehouse Express, a keenly priced mail order shop with a good reputation.
The savings range from about 100 quid to about 700, taking the exchange rate, the duty and the VAT together you get an approximate difference of about 0.75 of the US Dollar price. The prices are about 20 percent higher than the equivalent UK figure.
Not a bad saving on the whole, not worth a trip to save the costs, but if you are travelling to the US anyway then a good idea. Be aware that Canon in the UK may not honour the year warranty, as the lens was sourced outside the UK.

So it seems that Canon are not giving up on film, photo.net message board post about new EOS 30V. See also EOS Magazine and Canon UK details.
Personally I'm pleased to see Canon revising a good film body, the 30 is a great amateur camera, it gives the majority of what is needed for controlling light, the 3 and 1V give faster frame rates, spot metering and better build quality and AF performance, which are nice but not critical.
Improvements are essentially better flash system, same as the EOS 10D and backlit top display. The viewfinder blackout time has been lessened a bit too and they have made it even quieter.
I have the EOS 30, which I really like a lot. These changes would not make me change my camera for the same model, but they are an improvement. Things they could have improved are the low light performance, the 30 series are not that amazing at twilight, you often need to prefocus, or even manually focus the lens. This is especially true around f5.6. The spot meter would also be useful, 10 percent partial metering is not quite small enough sometimes.
A second hand EOS 3 might be a better buy, but then you need to buy a flash gun too, as it it not included, which pushes the price difference up to more like 3-400. The comparable digital model to the 30 series is the 10D, so there is a 900 quid difference in price for similar picture taking capability.
I hope that Canon release an EOS 3D equilivalent, at say a street price of 2-2500 pounds. Build quality and AF performance of the EOS 3, with the same bright clear viewfinder. I guess it might happen later this year, as there is a space at that price point that Nikon have placed the D2H.
Buy Canon EOS30V from Jessops, buy a decent lens with this too, I'd highly recommend the 28-135 IS USM, as a perfect travel lens.