I justified getting the iPad since I read SO many PDF’s for work. I sold my Sony eReader. My main concern of eye strain on a non e-ink screen hasn’t really hit and it’s quite comfortable to read on. But it is definitely purely a gadget. The screen is gorgeous. Lots of fun apps… I’ve never followed the news so closely.

So things I do on it:
- Read PDF’s via GoodReader (the only ESSENTIAL app you need)
- Read magazines
- Read the news via USA Today, New York Times, Reuters, Yahoo! Entertainment, EW.
- Read my blogs via Feedler & Google Reader Sync.
- Check emails (quite fun)
- Best Calendar on an OSX device.
- Watch TV shows and movies.
- Show off my pictures.

Things I wished it did better:
- Easier to get videos on. It requires a very specific format.
- Better stylus available for actually taking hand written notes.
- Ability to transfer photos from an SD card to a hard drive… would alleviate me needing to bring a laptop on trips. Something about transferring photos to JUST the iPad for later scares me.

AND NOW, I got the iPad’s BEST COMPANION. The DodoCase. A throwback to Moleskins books. This is the most beautiful well made case I have ever seen for any product. Which only added to the painful 4-6 week turn around time. But definitely worth the wait.

The iPad fits very snuggly into foam in the corners and I have NO fear of it falling out. The bamboo box is perfectly crafted and fits the iPad like exactly. The case only makes the iPad marginally thinner… just about as thick as any silicon gel glove (which I would NEVER recommend) would make it. This case really sets your iPad apart from anything else out there. I have #508 of 1000. Very exciting. I read somewhere that these are the Rolls Royce of iPad cases. haha. I was not let down.

Well done DodoCase. Well done.

Get yours at http://www.dodocase.com.

First off… the numerous models Surefire offers gives you exactly what you want. I knew I wanted a 2 mode light (hi and lo beams). And wanted the highest hi beam I could get. I singled it down to a LX2 (200 lumen hi and 15 lumen low) and I thought that was the one I wanted. 200 lumens was going to be AWESOME. But noticing the high price of the CR123 batteries that they take… I decided for the single battery L1 (65 lumen hi and 10 lumen low). Also considered the cheaper E1L but the L1 had higher specs. Also the E1B was a nice option but I liked the looks of the L1 better.

So before I got this light (or torch as the flashaholics call it), I had several nice lights from cheap Hong Kong retailers. They were nice. And I thought they were bright. One was rated at 220 lumens. Well… let me tell you: not all lumens were created equal. At first I had doubts about the meager 65 lumens from the Surefire but it blows all of the cheapo lights away. Much better throw, consistent light and perfectly round beam. The light itself has a great feel and heft. It’s really the Rolls Royce of flashlights. It definitely feels like it will last a lifetime. I just have to make sure I don’t loan it out on set.

If you are on the market for the best flashlight made… definitely don’t be shy to buy a Surefire light.

Specifications
Max Output: 65.0lumens
Low Output / Runtime: 10.0 lumens / 16 hours
Tactical Runtime: 1.5 hours
Length: 4.50 inches
Bezel Diameter: 1.00 inches
Weight w/Batteries: 2.9 ounces
Batteries: 1 123A

The pouch is great. First of all… I LOVE the color. It’s foliage green but I have never seen this green in any other tac-gear product. The seams are well done and lots of pockets and elastic to hold everything. Best of all, it has a really cool tag! I know that seems silly but it has a really nice design. I now carry this in my Belstaff Bag to hold all my loose work gear since the Belstaff has no built-in organizers. Tad Gears pouches I feel are much superior to the other tactical pouches out there (and I have tried a lot).

• Low profile organizer.
• Nominal dims: 1″ deep X 6.75″ tall X 7.25″ wide.
• Fully opening clam shell zippered design.
• Multiple pockets, dividers, slots, and elastic webbing keepers.
• MILSPEC construction.
• 500 denier Dupont Cordura, lined with smooth nylon 420D oxford, 1″ webbing, Velcro, and heavy duty elastic webbing.
• Features our 2TAC webbing straps which fit all our 2TIBS webbing system & all MOLLE.

Check out my Flickr page to see everything that it holds.

After 3-4 weeks of pounding the online pavement, I kept circling back to that independent watchmaker: Lum-tec. My original criteria was pretty much what I had currently been wearing… a black face and case, a chronograph for timing my runs, a diving bezel because I thought it looked nice (would have gone with a GMT bezel which is probably more practical) and a date. No Lum-tec model fit all these criteria. The closest thing they have was the M14. But it was already full on the pre-order list. So I kept looking… Hamilton, MKII, Seiko, Citizen, IWC, Luminox etc. What I kept getting drawn back to was the original Lum-tec watch that I saw… the B-series. Extremely clean, simple and beautiful. And when I put a picture side-by-side of the Lum-tec and one with a chronograph…I started shifting towards the cleaner, simpler Lum-tec.

There were 3 choices of the B-series that had black cases/black faces: the original B1 which is out of production now and has an interesting dial pattern from 0-60 which probably would have slowed down my time telling anyway, the B2 which is like the B1 but with a date and normal dial and the B3H which was a limited run with a display case and no date. All beautiful and when I finally let go my silly criteria, I settled on the one that would be most practical for me every day: the B2.

When I got the B2 in, it was a really cool looking tank of a watch. Solid and the first mechanical watch I had ever owned. I wasn’t completely sold just yet but after a short week of wearing it, I knew I was in love. I didn’t miss the chronograph and really liked the pilot-watch-type styling. And there is just something very charming about the fact the watch was put together by hand in a private shop in Ohio. It’s like buying local. The anti-reflective coat is beautiful and has withstood well against scratching. I got a green Nato band for it and it’s been a pleasure to wear. And you know you have a unique timepiece when within the first week more than half a dozen people have asked about the watch.

Now a note about Lum-tec. They really are a privately-owned family business. The owner picks up the phone when you call! How often does that happen these days. They were extremely accommodating and worked with me to get a second watch to me before my trip for a friend. I won’t go into detail as not to set any ridiculous precedent for them but don’t hesitate to order. It’s well worth every penny! My Tag is off to eBay.

Order yours here.

Watch in Auckland New Zealand.

First off… I am not a telephoto shooter. Previously, I brought only a 70-200 f/2.8 IS on trips (monster to travel with). In fact, that’s the only telephoto lens I own (next down is the 100mm macro). I pained trying to decide about picking up a 135L or 200L or 70-200 f/4 IS or even a cheap 70-200 f/4. I wanted a black lens and something that wouldn’t duplicate the 70-200 I already had that I do use for shoots and wouldn’t think about getting rid of. I got an early great deal on the new 100mm macro L so I snagged it and brought that. What a great lens!!! Lighter than my 24L. Small, compact. It makes some weird noises but I feel it is faster at focusing than my old 100 USM Macro. This is definitely my new travel telephoto. Beautiful bokeh. I am not sure if it is better than the old lens but the IS is well worth it and makes it a useful all purpose telephoto. My old 100 USM will be on the market soon.

I also brought the 50L & 24L for night shooting. And my trusty 16-35L mkI as an all purpose 80% of time lens. I brought my 5DII as a lightweight traveller (we probably walked 6-10 miles per day). And 1DIII as a backup… which never left my luggage.

The 5DII was great EXCEPT… did have some low-light outer focusing points struggles. No surprise there. Nothing detrimental. And as the Classic 5D, dust was a mess inside the viewfinder. Not TOO bad on the sensor but after day 2 on the Great Wall… there were several dust bunnies INSIDE the prism box… not accessible with a simple blower. Just annoying than anything. But the pictures were gorgeous and a pleasure to carry all day compared to all my previous trips with the 1DIII (this was the first outing with the 5DII. Definitely more inconspicuous too.

Usage was probably 80% 16-35L, 8% 50L, 8% 100L, 4% 24L. Did I regret bringing the fast primes? No… they got some great night shots I know I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get. But I didn’t use my 24L as much as I thought I’d would since the high-ISO on the 5DII was just that good. I think my 1DIII is really good in the ISO realm too but I was shooting at ISO2500 with confidence which I never had the confidence to do with the 1DIII.

I did not bring a tripod. Night shots were all handheld or camera set on railings, trash cans etc.

Here are some picts (I am a vignetting freak so most of the vignetting here is added in post):

100L Vignetting added in post, ISO800

24L ISO2500

50L ISO200 @ f/1.2 (I took variations at different ISO and apertures… this, probably by chance, turned out the best)

16-35L

16-35L

100L Slight T&S effected added in post

See rest of picts here.

At the Timbuk2 website here.

Go to JCrew.com.

I know when I posted the Belstaff 554 Large Colonial Shoulder Bag I said that was the last bag I would ever buy. Well, I lied.

The Belstaff 554 is a fantastic bag and I have no regrets. But I found myself often faced with the comment, “Wow. Nice bag… it’s big.” And people were right. It IS big. Big enough to carry my 15″ Macbook Pro. I was hoping the bag would be able to be an everyday carry as well as my work bag. But using it as an everyday carry was just a bit bigger than I’d like. Put it this way, fully loaded, it wouldn’t fit under some of the smaller seats on a plane. And fully loaded… it was HEAVY.

So I started looking and thinking about another bag. It was hard. I had been spoiled by the Belstaff bag. So when I came upon an ad for a Belstaff 556 Colonial Shoulder Bag (regular size)… I jumped on it. Mountain brown just like my larger bag.

I have had it for about a month now and through a trip to Orlando and a trip to New Zealand. It is GREAT! This is the perfect size for everyday carry and travel. Big enough to throw a good amount of stuff in, books magazines, a netbook etc. Not too heavy to carry around all day. Same great construction as the 554.

It also has one really nice feature. It fits a Tenba Messenger Photo Insert perfectly. I saw this insert on Flickr and it is actually better than all the Domke ones that I swore buy. It is PERFECT for a messenger shaped bag… none of the Domke’s really are. With it, I can actually fit a Canon 1DmkIII and 3 lenses. Or even the 70-200L f/2.8 IS and another lens mounted. In a bind, I can load the 1DmkIII holster style (lens pointed down). The top closes… barely and is not that comfortable to carry but it fits… in a bind.

So if I had a choice, I’d go with the 556 over the 554. It’s just more universally usable. But I like having two and don’t feel it is duplicating. In a time where Belstaff seems to be stopping the manufacturing of these bags (STUPID STUPID STUPID)… I am glad I have another in case something were to happen to the other. Both mine also don’t have the magnets and the seams match the color of the bag. The newer ones have magnets under the latches and a different color seam. Now why would they do that!

The dimensions measured at the seams* are: 10.25 in tall x 12 in wide x 3 in deep at the top and 4 in deep at the bottom.

Front pockets are 6.5 in tall x 4.5 in wide x 1 in deep.
Side pockets are 5 in tall by 4 in wide… tight rounded depth.
Inside zippered pocket is 7 in long.
* inside might be a bit smaller.

Pictures of Belstaff Colonial 556.

Okay. Why would you plunk down over $1500 for a prime, wide angle? There is just something magic about this lens to me. The Mark I version was a favorite lens of mine to shoot dogs with. You couldn’t match the background blur, color and build quality of that lens. I was always very happy with it but when Canon announced a Mark II version… I was intrigued. But I did hold off for some reviews… plus they weren’t in stock ANYWHERE. (I actually got a decent deal on eBay and used www.live.com 8% cashback program).

Well, the reviews all indicated marginally better sharpness and much better build quality. That’s exactly what I found too. It does focus a little faster and more reliably than the Mark I version. It’s truly a beautiful lens and take AMAZING photos. If you are looking for a fast wide angle… this baby is it!

Then my Alien Bees ABR800 Ring flash died. Arg. but they were great and are sending me a replacement! So hopefully I’ll be okay. Other light is a Canon 580ex fired in a softbox… but I am not sure I am going to use it like that or gridded. Still playing.

These were actually taken with my Panasonic LX3!