While surfing the web for interesting stuff to share with my readers, I found a very innovative camera strap.  The BlackRapid R-Strap caught my attention.  When going to their site blackrapid.com, I noticed they had a Seattle address.  Since I live in the Pacific Northwest, I decided to pay them a visit for my blog.

After contacting the Chief Marketing Officer, K. Francesca Lukjanowicz, I set up a meeting.  She met me at the office in the Fremont District of Seattle.  She explained to me that the owner Ron Henry was a working photographer who had a flash of brilliance about camera straps.  He was tired of straps sliding off his shoulder, neck aches, tangled and fumbling around.  He designed a better camera strap, by redistributing the weight of camera and making the camera available quick for shooting.  She said that the company was now distributing in 50 countries.

Ron then met me and explained the concept of the strap.  By having the camera hang upside down being held by the tripod socket, the camera is always ready to maneuver into position at a moments notice via a sliding connector that allows the camera to move freely while the strap stays put.  By using the tripod socket, the strap can be attached to heavy long lenses as well.   The R-Strap utilizes hardware that is engineered to facilitate shooting speed by enabling the camera to glide smoothly up the strap from its upside-down resting position. Stress on the connection between the body and the lens is reduced since the strap attaches to the lens rather than to the camera body.

He gave me the RS-7 to tryout.  I have to say I have used it on two shoots and find it is very helpful.  The strap is constructed of ballistic nylon for extreme durability.  With the camera at my hip, I was able to maneuver easily through the shoot, carrying other gear and simply liked having have both hands free.  When I was ready to shoot, the camera connector quickly glides up the strap into shooting position. It is as simple as, grab, glide, shoot.

I have always liked having a camera strap on my camera whether still or video.  Now that we have still cameras that shoot video we have only one camera, it still needs a strap.  Other shooters have not liked using straps.  I have found that I can stretch out the strap and have a more stable platform shooting video handheld with a rig.

Their complaint is sometimes the strap gets in the way.  Having the fastener in the tripod socket, it is easy to remove the strap when on my slider or tripod.  I just screw the fastener back in to use the strap again.  Simple.

I interviewed Ron at his office and he explains how to used that strap and the different models that are for sale.

(The iPhone is mine.  Like the nifty backing?)

Canon Europe has released a video about the New EOS5D MarkIII. It has a headphone jack. The EOS 5D Mark III is the latest addition to Canon's world-famous EOS 5D series. Building on the performance of the legendary EOS 5D Mark II, the new the EOS 5D Mark III offers improved speed, greater resolution, enhanced processing power and extended ISO.

From press release:

“Next generation EOS Movies

The EOS 5D Mark III builds on the reputation of the EOS 5D Mark II, with a range of new features introduced following feedback received from photographers to provide even better Full HD video performance. As well as offering the depth-of-field control loved by video professionals, the new full-frame sensor combines with the vast processing power of DIGIC 5+ to improve image quality by virtually eradicating the presence of moiré, false colour and other artefacts. The addition of a movie mode switch and a recording button also offers greater usability, enabling videographers to begin shooting immediately when movie mode is engaged. Additional movie functions include manual exposure control and an enhanced range of high bit-rate video compression options, with intraframe (ALL-I) and interframe (IPB) methods both supported. Variable frame rates range from 24fps to 60fps, and the addition of SMPTE timecode support provides greater editing flexibility and easier integration into multi-camera shoots. Users can also check and adjust audio during recording via the camera’s Quick Control screen and a headphone socket enables sound level monitoring both during and after shooting. Enhanced processing power provided by DIGIC 5+ also makes it possible to conveniently trim the length of recorded movies in-camera.”

Sample videos:

Mario_Nette

Rad Ball

Color_Of_Hope

I just received a camera slider. I had ordered a Kamerar SLD-230 23″ Camera Track Slider for $99. I have always wanted a slider and was looking for a small one that would fit in may suitcase when I fly. Thus it is short, 23 inches to be exact. I did not want to spend a lot of money. This is a friction slider as there are no wheels or bearings. It takes a little more work to get a smooth move, but it is inexpensive and small.

Here is a trial that I did to test it out.  Shot with the Panasonic GH2, the Lumix G 14mm f2.5, the Leica Summilux DG 25mm f1.4 and the Olympus m.Zuiko 45mm f1.8.  I edited in Final Cut Pro X with no transcoding of the raw camera files.

After using the GH2, I don't see much need in an optical viewfinder in a HDSLR anymore.  The advantages of an electronic viewfinder are plenteous:  You see what the camera is seeing, Exposure, White Balance, 100% view, it is eye level and does not black out when shooting video and you can hold the camera with out a rig.  This new advancement in viewfinder technology makes the viewfinder better than a 720p display.  This article is from Gizmag:

“Digital camera technology has just taken a huge leap forward with the development of a microdisplay panel that's millions of pixels beyond what is currently used in the highly detailed electronic viewfinders of Fujifilm's most recent X-series cameras (X-S1/X-Pro1), and more than double the panels in Sony's latest alpha and NEXcameras. MicroOLED's new bright and detailed, low power OLED panel has been viewed by a number of industry pundits as the final nail in the coffin of the optical viewfinder.

Even though electronic viewfinders (EVF) allow photographers to access lots of important information like exposure or white balance while framing a shot, and see what the application of different settings will look like on the fly, professionals and serious users still seem happy to continue with optical. Reasons offered for sticking with tradition include a lack of dynamic range, noticeable lag while the digital image is processed and concerns about the power needed to drive electronic panels.

The image quality of Sony's recent consumer-level XGA OLED EVF panel developments, in particular, already seems to have stunned some of the critics into silence, but now MicroOLED has entered the fray with the highest pixel density OLED microdisplay available on the market today. The new 0.61-inch (diagonal) OLED panel has a 5.4 million pixel density and a sub-pixel pitch of 4.7 by 4.7 micrometers. It comes in both 16 million color SXGA (1280 x 1024 pixels) and monochrome (2560 by 2048 pixels) formats, and is also said to have eliminated any spacing between pixels and benefit from 96 percent uniformity.

The high resolution image reproduced on the display has a 100,000:1 contrast ratio that should pick up many of the subtle tones in a scene that are missed by other EVFs and, perhaps most importantly, it can be driven with as little as 0.2W of power.

MicroOLED is looking to market the new panel for use in head-mounted displays used by surgeons, professional cameras and camcorders, and night vision applications.”