It’s a simple set of two dock connecting devices, one for SD cards and the other for USB, not unlike a USB SD card reader I have (in the middle):

When you first connect one of the adapters to the iPad, it automatically launches the Photos app and displays a new tab called ‘Camera’ and begins to load image thumbnail previews:

You’ll also notice that it there is also a ‘Places’ tab – I didn’t have this tab before connecting the camera kit and it plots all the geotagged photos on the iPad on a map:

Once the previews are loaded, you can select which photos to import or import all of them:

Once the import is done, you can then choose to keep or delete the photos:

The photos are now available in your camera roll in the ‘All imported’ album with the most recently imported batch in a ‘last import’ album. Any videos in your imports will also now be playable, as long as they are in the correct codec/format that the iPad can understand. I found that videos shot with my cameras varied but the files, while not playable, would be playable when I synced the iPad back to a computer, on the computer.

A side benefit of the video support, especially when travelling, is that you can load up a huge SD card with iPad playable movies and just import the ones you want. Once you watch them, delete and load more. It saves the steps of loading them into iTunes (assuming you made/ripped them yourself – DRM’d/rented movies won’t work this way) and having to allocate space for them during syncing. This also means you may not really need that 64GB iPad since you can literally just save a gig or two for movies and add/remove as necessary. This would have been handy during my trip to Hawaii but I didn’t have the camera kit yet.

From here, you can simply view and email your photos like normal. That’s pretty much all there is to it. But I’d like to be able to apply some post processing to some of the photos and have found that CameraBag for iPad is the most interesting app currently out. I first wrote about CameraBag for iPhone two years ago and have been very impressed with the new version for the iPad.

Once CameraBag is launched, you can select your camera roll to import photos via the top left icon:

Using the options on the bottom right, you can process the original photo in any of the preset modes:

as well, you can mix and match the borders and crops as you’d like or choose ‘Vary’ for a random effect combination:

The settings popup lets you choose the size of the saved image as well as modify the list of filter options:

I’m pretty happy with the results of this super portable combination:

If you’re into photography and have an iPad, you’ll definitely want to pick up a camera kit…it even supports RAW files. Too bad it doesn’t work with the current iPhone 3GS – it would be pretty awesome to be able to upload straight off the camera to the internet via just the iPhone.

Maybe the next OS update (or hardware revision expected to be announced next week) will allow this.

As I mentioned previously, I’m not an opera goer and was not familiar with the material. I was told that I would have probably heard some of the music used in Butterfly and that the plot shouldn’t be a big surprise as it’s a commonly occurring one (I won’t spoil it in case you don’t know what I’m talking about). Both these points turned out to be very true.

As before, we were given a backstage tour before the show which I quite enjoy.

The set this time around was quite different from Norma’s with its vertigo inducing lines and bold shapes and colours. On the tour, Kelsey suggested that it could easily be used as a set for a 60′s game show.

I love seeing the ‘craft’ that goes into a production of this scale after my humble beginnings producing plays in local *cough no budget cough* theatre.

Unlike my previous visit to the Opera, this time we had front row seats. I liked this A LOT. It dramatically improved my appreciation for what was unfolding on stage where I could see every nuance of the actors performances as well as a perfect view of the stage. If I stood up a little, I could even peer down into the orchestra pit:

Last time, I was fairly far back on the main floor. Not a horrible place to view the Opera from by any means, it’s just a much better experience in the front in my opinion.

Puccini’s music certainly was familiar to me. As had been suggested to me, it has been used in many movies before. It was nice to finally connect the dots on something like this so I now know where it came from.

Again, like last time, this Opera reminded me of a videogame. Due to it’s strikingly bold colours & costumes, strong visuals and somewhat nautical theme (thanks to Mr. Pinkerton), I was immediately thinking of the Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. The game contains many similar traits to Madama Butterfly with it’s family ties, bold colours, dramatic music and many simple characters. The musical interlude between the second and third acts even further strengthened this connection for me with the three panels of video projections that could have easily been produced for the videogame (this isn’t a bad thing).

Due to my seat in the front row, the surtitles above weren’t that readable without craning my neck but I found the story easy enough to follow along without too many looks upward.

I thoroughly enjoyed this performance. Clocking in at around 2 hours 40 minutes, I can’t recall a single time when I was thinking it was dragging or was slow. It actually seemed to be fairly quick and before I knew it, I was backstage afterwards meeting the cast.

One final thing that still surprises me that happens during the final bows at the end of both Opera’s I’ve attended is the extended ovation that gradually builds as the performers come out. For Butterfly, it went on for a long time and it was cool to see the passion the audience had for these performers. It’s not often you see an older gentleman hoot and holler while wearing a tux.

As a side note, this post and photos was mostly created on the iPad during the course of the evening…which in itself was fun thanks to a number of curious Opera goers inquiring about it during the intermission.

After finally obtaining the camera connection kit for the iPad, I thought it would be a good test to see if you could in fact, use an iPad completely in place of a laptop to photograph/process/upload photos, and write a blog post on the spot.

It almost worked.

I was able to shoot backstage photos, download them to the iPad, post-processed a few favs with the Camerabag for iPad app, upload them to Flickr/Twitter during the performance straight off the iPad.

Using the WordPress iPad app proved to be the weakest link unfortunately…I had to resort to my laptop (at home later since I didn’t bring it to the show) because the app was too flaky for my workflow and it was tedious to switch back and forth from Flickr to the app to paste in the photos (I rarely upload my photos directly into WordPress, but instead embed them from my Flickr account) – it probably would have better to simply use Safari for the WordPress side for this task.

That aside, I am impressed with how well the photo side of things worked out and look forward to being to upload photos on the go at other events.

The day before I left, I decided that I’d buy Kodak’s latest HD camera in the Zx line, the PlaySport (aka Zx3) which has a lot of the same features of the Zx1, except that it’s waterproof (to 3m/10ft), shoots in 1080p (@30fps) and has electronic image stabilization.

I had read some reviews and everyone seemed to agree it was perfect for snorkelling and similar water sports. I was impressed with a few videos I came across so decided to pull the trigger and bought one just before we left.

I am SO glad I did. Take a look at these clips…ideally in 720p HD, which is how I shot them (at 60fps) to see why:

I’m still blown away by the quality of this ~$150 HD camera…especially since it’s waterproof…many point & shoot camera manufacturers sell waterproof housings for their cameras for that price (plus the camera cost).

I was also impressed by the quality of the 5 megapixel still images the camera took:

Considering it was always around my neck while I was in the water, I was able to get still shots I wouldn’t normally get to take with my regular cameras without some kind of expensive protection.

My only gripes with the camera are:

• weird underwater audio – obviously, there isn’t much to record underwater, but there is a lot of strange digital noise mixed in with the recorded audio of my Darth Vader breathing and ocean gurgling
• the ‘H2O’ mode doesn’t stick when set – this seems to improve the underwater audio quality but unless you leave the camera on the whole time, I had to manually set it to this mode every time I powered on the camera. Definitely not ideal.
• battery life – didn’t seem to last as long as the AA’s in my Zx1 do. As it uses the KLIC-7004 Li-Ion battery pack, it wasn’t as convenient to swap batteries like the Zx1 – unless I bought a second battery
• wrist strap – seems like it would have been better to include a neck strap for in water use – I just clipped the included wriststrap to a lanyard I had to accomplish the same thing

Despite the issues above, I still think it’s a great camera. Hopefully a firmware update can address the H2O mode audio issue.

I wish I had went with my original plan to just use this camera and my Nikon P6000 point and shoot camera on my trip…the one day that I decided to not ‘get wet’ and take my DSLR out for photo ops, I managed to slip on a rock on the shoreline and while trying to save my DSLR which was in my hand, my camera bag containing my 35mm and 10.5mm fisheye lenses went for a quick dip in the ocean…the 35mm is electronically dead and the fisheye will probably seize up soon. Also two batteries for the P6000 (also in the bag) got nuked in the salt water. Then, moments later, while I was assessing the damage done, a ‘rogue’ wave soaked me (I was still on the shoreline) and completely killed my iPhone 3GS.

Yeah, it was an expensive and depressing day. Next beach vacation, it’s the PlaySport only for me.

Update: Here’s another video (with clips from the above ones) with about 99% footage shot with the PlaySport (the turtle in the sand clip was shot with my P6000):

My decision to drive across the line to get one was further justified (to me) by the fact that Apple then had to delay the international release of the iPad over a month longer than originally planned (pushing it out to almost 2 months from US launch to Canadian availability). This delay, combined with my demo of the device, prompted a number of friends and coworkers to make their own track to Seattle to get their own units.

I have to say, after having it for a number of weeks now, the device keeps surprising me. For starters, the battery life has been amazing. Apple suggests that it lasts for about 10 hours on a charge. I’ve heard of people getting better than 12 hours of life out of the battery. Personally, I’ve gone for 3-4 days of heavy usage before having to plug it in. I never do stupid battery tests (playing a video loop until the battery dies for example) with any of my gear as they aren’t reflective of my actual usage. I can honestly say that the battery performs better than expected and that is awesome for a device like this.

Of course, since the iPad isn’t currently available in Canada, I get asked about it all the time. It’s been fun to have people come up to me at Starbucks for example and say “Is that THE iPad?”. Pretty much everyone has been impressed by seeing one in person, including many naysayers that start off their questioning with “so is it really just a big iPhone?”. It’s also been interesting seeing people that don’t have an iPhone or even a Mac play with it and intuitively figure out how it works without any prompting from me.

So here’s a few app highlights of why it’s outperformed my expectations:

The Photos app, as expected, is a fantastic way to view photos synced from my laptop. It can support thousands of photos and you can scroll through them REALLY fast.

I particularly like the option at the lockscreen to enable the Photoframe mode which is a nice touch for when it’s just sitting there or while charging:

Like Photos, the Movies app is equalling compelling to view movies…I’ve loaded up a bunch of my portfolio videos along with a number of feature films and combined with the crazy battery life, it’s truly a great media player.

I’ve collected a few books to read over the next little while and love that the iBooks app supports ePub formatted books. Combined with the opensource Calibre app (cross platform) conversion tool, you can pretty much put anything text based into the iBooks app. It’s also a nice touch that the entire Amazon Kindle library of books is available via the free Kindle app that has been updated with iPad support.

While considering the purchase of a magazine in a grocery store, I realized that this could be better read on the iPad. A quick check of the Zinio app and for about the price of two issues of a magazine (in this case Shutterbug), I could get a 12 issue subscription. This was a no-brainer. The iPad version includes a number of benefits over the printed version including text transcripts, in-app url viewing (all the ads have clickable links to product pages) and fast navigation through the magazine. I also get an email when the next issue is available.

GoodReader is another ‘reading’ app that allows you to view any PDF document along with a number of other supported file types. It also allows you to create a webserver on the iPad to allow you to wirelessly share files between your iPad, your computer and even other iPads without syncing. I currently have a pile of manuals and documents stored in GoodReader that is incredibly handy. Pretty slick for a $0.99 app.

The Google Maps app is blazingly fast and truly excels at showing the power of the iPad off. Despite not having built in GPS, I’ve found it worked incredibly well at locating me via wifi triangulation in a number of different locations around the province. It truly feels like something out of Minority Report when your are pinching and zooming such a large screen around. Streetview even works amazingly well.

At this point, I’ve got over 4 screens of iPad specific apps. Every day, more apps come up on the App Store and impress me. I can’t get into all of them in this post but will do future posts on some of the more impressive ones.

Gaming on the iPad
I have a bunch of games on the iPhone and have been really impressed with the quality of the iPad games that have been released that really take advantage of the iPad’s big screen. In particular, Scrabble has blown me away with some innovative game play options:

Basically, the party mode supports the notion that players have an iPhone/Touch. They download a free ‘Tile Rack’ app (currently only available on the US App Store) that lets players using their personal devices as view screens of their own tiles. You can arrange your tiles on your iPhone then when it’s your turn, you simply flick them onto the iPad’s game board and place them. You can even flip the iPad’s board orientation around to face you if desired.

Other games like 10 Pin Shuffle feel like games you’d see on a Nintendo Wii (or better) with fast gameplay and beautiful graphics.

Too bad it seems unlikely that Nintendo would ever port any games to the iPad…Zelda or Mario Kart would be amazing on a platform like this.

You’ll want the Apple Case (for now at least)
When I picked up my iPad, the Apple Store in Seattle had a wall of case options. I had already heard mixed reviews about the Apple branded one:

but opted to get it anyway since it was the only one that offered a cover over the screen along with a simple, yet innovative integrated stand that would work in either orientation as well as comfortable angle for typing on a lap or table surface:

Simply tucking the cover into the little flap on the backside quickly transforms the case into a sturdy stand. The only thing I don’t like about this case is the fact that it seems to pick up dirt/lint like crazy. Unavoidable I guess but it’s a pain to clean it constantly. Apparently this case has been wildly popular with it being sold out in all the Apple Stores and it has been spotted on ebay for more than twice the list price of $39.

Some things I don’t like or annoyed me

• Like most people with an iPhone, the iPad could really benefit from over the air syncing. It would be great to be able to add some new movies on the fly without having to sync. I already have Mobile Me which works great but doesn’t allow me to add any kind of media over wifi sync.
• I wish the VGA adaptor supported true video out…right now only a handful of apps support video out – I would have loved to been able to make a video demo of all the apps via the video out but it’s locked down unnecessarily
• I keep finding myself reaching for the home button on the wrong side of the device since it’s orientation is always different depending on use. Only way around this would be a gesture system for getting home or putting a home button on all four sides of the bezel (not likely)

Like teenage vampires, the iPad apparently doesn’t like direct sunlight:

Using the iPad normally results in it never getting warm (unlike my iPhone or laptop)…it’s always cool. But take it outside and it starts to get warm when in direct sunlight and eventually will shut down after about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. I’m not planning on taking it to the beach but it’s kind of a disappointment.

What I’m looking forward to
I soon hope to get my hands on the Camera Connector as it should open up some interesting options for a much more portable photo upload tool with its support for RAW images, selective uploads and video support. It also sounds like the usb dongle that is included supports things other than photo downloads from cameras so it will be interesting to see what apps take advantage of this option.

Considering the iPad has only been out for a few weeks with the development kit only being in the hands of developers for little more than a month, the potential for this device is still largely untapped. It truly is a game changer in my opinion and not just a ‘big iPhone’.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the 3G enabled iPad is released as well…I’m still not convinced the mobile carriers will offer a compelling package for data users that already pay for a data plan on their iPhones (or other smartphones) which was one of the reasons why I opted to get the wifi version and tether my iPhone to the iPad via an app…although this method does require a jailbroken iPhone, there are similar apps for Android devices as well.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments if you’re curious about the iPad and I’ll try to answer them.

UPDATE (May 10, 2010): Rogers has announced (or rather, Apple has announced it for them) their pricing for the 3G iPad data plans. $15 for 250mb (per month) or $35 for 5gb. If you already have an existing data plan, you can add the iPad to your plan for $20/month. That means that it would cost me $50/month for my 6gb data plan that I can use with my iPhone & iPad (Looks like Apple/Rogers has removed this option – due to negative response?). Um, no thanks, I’ll stick with my tethering option.

UPDATE #2: Keep an eye on Roger’s official blog for more details about iPad pricing…there still seems to be some confusion about how the plans will work and whether there is an addon option.

So what is it?
It’s basically a GPS receiver with onboard memory that tracks your current location via GPS and writes out some data to the device. You can then later download this data and do all kinds of cool things with it like plot your travels on a map, geotag any photos you took while on walkabout with the map data and export the geo data to other applications like Google Earth where you can make movies from your travels.

Wandering around Vancouver:

Taking the Alberta Train to Whistler:

My flight to Whitehorse:

I even took it dog sledding with me (the purple line is the trail we took along the river):

As you can see, the device is pretty tiny:

I just had it clipped onto my backpack for most of the games. Its onboard battery ran for days without recharging all the while it was downloading my location data.

The main thing I liked about this device over my other GPS photo gadgets is that it was always on, capturing data. My Nikon GP-1 needed a few minutes to acquire its satellite lock once I powered on my camera. It also has a motion detector so it goes into standby mode when you don’t move to conserve battery power.

What I didn’t like is the software support…unfortunately it only supports Windows XP and the 32 bit version of Windows 7 at the moment. No Mac support either. I have the 64 bit version of Windows installed on my MacBook Pro but had to use XP (under VMWare) to access the device and software. The good thing is the manufacturer is updating the software pretty regularly and once you do export the gps data, you can use it on anything. I’ve been playing around with my Whitehorse trip data file in Google Earth on my Mac. I haven’t had a chance to explore other gps apps that can accept the *.GPX data files. Also, while the geotagging option for photos is nice, I shoot RAW so I would have had to convert them down to jpegs then sync them with the software before being able to upload them somewhere like Flickr – a few too many steps for my workflow but I know lots of photogs that like the idea of being able to geotag without an expensive addon like the GP-1 (or they have a non-Nikon camera).

Overall I’m pretty happy with the device. I’ll be taking it with me to Austin later this week to track my SXSW attendance too.

UPDATE: Looks like a software update now allows the device to work with 64-bit Windows 7 and an open source tool called iGotu2gpx for direct access to the *.GPX files on a Mac or Linux machine (thanks Eric in the comments!)

So this weekend, I picked up a Delkin Fat Gecko Mini-Mount (Amazon link although I bought mine from London Drugs):

It’s a beefy suction cup mount for attaching your camera to all kinds of things…like your car:

I know what you’re thinking…but this mount is much more robust than the $12 mount I found on ebay (which I overloaded).

I wanted to try it out with some ‘safer’ positions first that I could keep an eye on but after spending some time today with it stuck all over my car, driving at different speeds (including taking it on the highway) I trust it to carry my smaller cameras like the Kodak Zx1 and even my trusty Nikon P6000 pretty much while attached in any position to my car, inside or out. Driving from my home to downtown (about 30 minutes on the highway) over all kinds of turns and bumps resulted in no problems with the mount…it’s solid.

Here’s a video showing some of the different angles I shot during my ‘test drive’ today:

The mount also comes with an extension arm which lets you get out and away from the attach point better so I’ll be trying that next. I also need to dig out my wide angle and fisheye lenses to make the field of view on the Zx1 even wider.

UPDATE: Found my fisheye lens and added the extension arm to the Fat Gecko….the results are pretty awesome:

The form factor of the Juice Pack Air is very similar to the iPhone…it’s a similar shiny hard plastic case that completely envelops the iPhone. I kind of wish it wasn’t so shiny as for a case, it doesn’t offer any slip protection like most cases do. I’d prefer a matte finish or even a rubberized coating. All the iPhone’s buttons and switches are still accessible except the dock connector:

In its place is a micro USB port and a slider switch. The Juice Pack comes with the necessary micro USB cable that facilitates charging the Juice Pack and allows you to sync your iPhone while in the case. I wish it was a more common mini USB cable but at least it’s not a proprietary plug/cable although I don’t believe I have any other devices (or cables) that are micro USB so it’s one more cable you need to carry and hope you don’t lose. At least Mophie sells replacement cables inexpensively on their website.

The switch allows you to control when the iPhone receives its charge from the Juice Pack. You can charge it up and leave it in standby mode until you need it.

As I mentioned earlier, everyone on the iPhone is still available to use, including the camera as you can see above. The photo should also give you a good idea of how much extra bulk the case/battery adds to the iPhone. I have to say, when I first held a Juice Pack, it seemed bulky but after having this one for a couple of days, it’s really not a big deal.

The Juice Pack has a ‘fuel gauge’ and button on the back of the case:

This is similar to Apple laptops that display how much power is left in the battery. While charging, these light up and blink to indicate how far along the charge is. Press the button at any time and you’ll know how much juice is left in the case.

The only real shortcoming this device has is the inability to charge the iPhone battery directly through the case while plugged into your computer (or similar USB power port). You can only charge up the Juice Pack and then charge the iPhone by depleting the Juice Pack. I would have preferred to be able to charge up both (sequentially is fine) so that you have both fully charged up before heading out. The way it is now, you have to charge them separately. Removing the iPhone from the case is easy enough but it would be easier if you didn’t have to.

I don’t plan on using the case all the time, just on those days that I know I’ll be out for an extended time and don’t want to worry about my iPhone dying while using it heavily.

UPDATE (Jan 7, 2010): Thanks to C.K.’s suggestion in the comments, it does appear that the syncing while in the Juice Pack Air issue is related to a bad cable. I swapped cables and it worked fine. Contact Mophie’s support to get a replacement. Mine is on it’s way.

That’s when I stumbled across the Griffin PowerJolt Reserve ($45 @ Future Shop) which seemed to be the perfect thing. It’s a small little battery pack that ‘lives’ on a dock that you leave in your car which also has a pass-thru USB port in case you want to actually charge your iPhone while driving too which is a nice touch. Even cooler is the dock actually uses inductive charging to top up the battery pack – it literally just sits on the dock – no cables or pins to line up and it magnetically stays put while charging it up.

It charges while you drive and then when you get to that night time outing after a day of work, you just grab the battery pack and take it with you. If you run low on juice, plug it in…no bulky case to weigh you down.

I actually mentioned this item when I was on Couch Beers with Jordan…I had actually just bought it minutes before being on the show and hadn’t even opened the package or tried it yet so this is the follow up review.

The battery pack has a single button on it which lights up the five leds on it to let you know how much juice is left in the battery pack. On my iPhone 3GS it seemed to charge it up at a rate of about 1% per minute – while still using it. I’ve used it a couple of times now when my iPhone is down to about 20% and a fully charged battery pack will easily get me beyond 50% in no time while I’m still using the device.

It has a kind of strange shape when not in the dock but easily goes into your pocket while charging it up without too much trouble.

Another added bonus of this pack being small and not a full sized case – you can easily share it with your iPhone toting friends. I was out for drinks with a bunch of folks and we were all running low on juice and we just passed the pack around each grabbing a few minutes of charge each….not a full charge but certainly enough to finish out the night or to make it through the bus ride home.

Griffin also makes a wall plug version, called the PowerBlock Reserve as well as a Powerduo Reserve which includes both the car charger dock and the wall plug dock. Had I seen the Duo first, I would have probably bought that instead.

I’m pretty happy with this item and I don’t have to worry about charging my iPhone on the go after a long day of use. I bought mine at Future Shop but it seems you can find these anywhere that sells iPhone stuff – I’ve seen them at the Apple Store, Walmart, Best Buy, etc.

The most notable difference is price. One of my main (if not only) issue with Nikon’s unit was it’s price. Listed at £95 on the Phottix UK site, it’s a fair bit cheaper than the Nikon version which comes in at slightly more than double that price. (I couldn’t find any North American pricing or availability – I’ll update the post once it is).

Like the GP-1, the Geo One comes with cables to connect it to a number of Nikon DSLR models including the D90 and D300 among others. It also has similar ports to the GP-1 except that the package also includes a wired remote shutter release which connects to the GPS module using a mini jack connection. A nice bonus that makes the price even more compelling since you have to purchase the Nikon cable separately.

As you can see in the photo above, the Geo One is slightly larger than the GP-1. This is barely noticible on the camera.

So how does it perform? Pretty much exactly like the Nikon version. Very fast satellite acquisition time, similar build quality and seamless interaction with the camera. EXIF data was captured exactly like the GP-1 and I had no trouble uploading photos to Flickr with the geotags being picked up and mapped correctly:

It also comes with a similar plastic strap clip to allow you to move the module from the hot shoe if you need to use it with a flash. As the module has the same USB port as the GP-1, you can use it with your computer and even came with a mini cd with some navigation software but I haven’t tried since it won’t fit in my MacBook Pro’s dvd drive.

Overall, an impressive module, if not a near exact copy of the GP-1. Assuming North American pricing is consistant with the UK, it should prove to be a nice inexpensive alternative to the Nikon module and I’m sure they’ll sell a ton of them. A lot of people seem interested in my GP-1…until I tell them what it’s worth. Phottix just may have hit the sweet spot with it’s extras and lower cost.

Basically, someone bought a bag bigger than they needed and I wanted an upgrade so thanks to Craigslist, a deal was made. Both of us had barely used the bags – I only bought mine a couple of months ago and only used it once. I wanted the Brazillion because it’s a great bag to store ALL of your gear at home and for dragging everything to a studio shoot…basically you wouldn’t want to use this for a photowalk (you don’t really need everything when you’re walking around anyways) but it’s great for car trips if you want to take it all with you.

The main difference between the two bags is size…the Brazillion is HUGE. It has a large internal cavity that can be configured using the big pile of inserts any way you need for your gear:

It also has an internal pocket that can hold up to a 17″ laptop. The lid of the bag can actually be used as a laptop stand – it’s quite rigid and has a strap you can put around the laptop to keep it snug. It also has external zippered pockets to hold all kinds of gear like cables, flash units, memory cards, etc.

The one thing it didn’t come with is a manual! Seriously there are a million ways to configure this bag and at least a few example setup photos would be helpful. I’ve been trolling around online looking to see how other people have set up theirs.

Here’s the Brazillion next to my 5 Million Dollar Home bag which I usually use for small photowalks when I only need a couple of lenses and my DSLR:

To give you a better idea of what this bag is capable of, check out this video (the first half anyways) from PMA a few years ago where Ben Richards from Crumpler demonstrates some of it’s features….and check out that snappy tux Ben’s wearing…classy, just like the bags:

I’ll post a photo or two once I’ve got it setup the way I like…which could take awhile.

UPDATE: Here’s the bag fully loaded after my first attempt at configuring it and all the gear that fit inside (click the bottom photo to see the gear notes on Flickr). There is still tons of room inside as well…so it’s not truly ‘fully’ loaded:

Update: Here’s some pix of my configuration –

top layer:

bottom layer:

Click on the photos to see gear notes.

While the cameras aren’t perfectly lined up, the video below should demonstrate low light well enough. Both clips were shot at 60 fps.

Kodak Zi6 vs Zx1 low light test from John Biehler on Vimeo.

I think that the Zi6 is marginally better in low light than the Zx1…but the Zx1 seems a little less noisy. My Zi6 has the 1.1.0 firmware update which was supposed to improve low light performance and I think it did…even if they simply turned up the gain a little.

It seems to me that both cameras share the same image sensor and the only real difference between them is the firmware tweaks to the image processing and the form factor changes. I still like the Zx1 better even if the video is the same. The form factor is very comfortable and the buttons are much easier to use than on the Zi6.

Both cameras are great for their price point and features, but the Zx1 is slightly greater to me.

I was particularly interested in the Cork & Fork which is a carry-on bag with a removable camera backpack inside. It was like getting two bags in one…although they are quite pricey, they are in line with the price of their other bags.

The Cork & Fork is basically the Period Charmer bag plus an innovative backpack (which doesn’t appear to be sold separately) meant for carrying camera gear that can be removed from the main bag.

I actually bought the Cork & Fork awhile ago but didn’t have the opportunity to use it on a trip until recently during the holidays.

Most airlines allow two carry-on bags…usually a ‘proper’ carry-on bag (for the overheard compartment) along with a laptop, camera or similar bag that can be stowed under the seat in front of you. As you can see in the photo to the right, the two bags didn’t quite fit into the guide at the airport but I never had an issue from the flight crew onboard. The main bag easily went into the overhead compartment and the camera backpack fit perfectly under the seat in front.

Thanks to a baggage mishap I had awhile ago, I’ve been extra weary of checking anything in my bags except the basics like clothes. I always try to carry on any gear I want to have on a trip.

As you can see, the camera section can carry a lot of gear. It has a large main section along with a small zippered section with a mesh cover so you can easily see inside. This little section is perfect for batteries, memory cards, cords and other small items. For those curious, this shot contains my Nikon D90 with battery grip and 50mm lens attached, SB-600 speedlight, SB-400 speedlight, Kodak Zi6 HD camera, 18-105mm lens, 10.5mm Fisheye lens, Lensbaby Composer, Rocket blower, Gorillapod and Ultrapod mini-tripods, wide/tele lens adaptors, an Airport Express, Belkin travel power adaptor, Sanyo Eneloop + Nikon battery chargers plus a pile of smaller gear in the mesh compartment.

The larger main section is divided into three areas that can be customized with the included ‘snake’ dividers and removable velcro tabs. Unlike other bags, the fact that the velcro can be moved around makes it really easy to customize the layout of the bag for all your gear. It actually took a number of attempts playing with all the options to find a layout that made the most sense for my stuff. The backpack has a number of external pockets and straps for attaching tripods or whatever to it. One external pocket contains a rain cover for the backpack and the other is large enough to fit my Macbook Air or a magazine or two. Not sure if a regular Macbook would fit.

As the backpack section is meant to fit inside the main bag, I’ve found the backpack straps to be a little on the small side and not as comfortable as the other Crumpler dedicated backpacks are to wear. But for lugging around an airport, they work great. The bag also features some very beefy and sturdy wheels.

This is the first wheeled bag I’ve owned that doesn’t fall over when upright regardless of load inside. This appears to be due to some very well placed rubber feet underneth as well as on the back so that you can lay it flat when you want to get something out of it.

The retractable handle is very strong and I used it many times as a coat holder during my unplanned and extended visit to the airport (thanks to a snowstorm). It extends quite far and never feels like it’s going to break or buckle.

The inside of the main compartment of the carry-on is lined with a number of small pockets for stashing stuff and a full size internal pocket you unfurl to cover and zip over the main cavity which I think is meant for dirtly clothes. Since it’s not removable, it can’t be washed so I didn’t use it for laundry.

The outside of the main bag has a number of slot pockets for things like a laptop (up to a 15″ at least), magazines and large, open pocket that is secured by velcro and the outer buckles. You wouldn’t want to put something like a laptop in this pocket but it’s good for a jacket or some other loose item that can’t fall out.

Overall, I’ve very happy with the Cork & Fork. My only issue with the bag is the cost…there is no denying it’s expensive. I even hesitated at first and then I went and looked at other higher quality carry-on bags and it’s actually pretty comparable for a solid bag plus you get the internal camera backpack. Take a look in any ‘outdoor’ store that carries luggage and you’ll see what I mean.

While not really an issue, I would have also liked some more color options for the luggage….baby blue isn’t my favorite color but I can live with it.

Disclosure: I purchased this luggage at a small discount when the luggage line was launched via a special offer because I’ve bought from Crumpler before.

Nikon has been somewhat mysterious in when it would be available with no firm shipping date. I was at a photography show and chatted with a Nikon rep that told me the GP-1 was in their warehouses and that I’d just need to order one from a camera store. I wasn’t expecting it to arrive as quickly as it did (only a few days after I ordered it). I’m still surprised why something like this is so hard to pin down a shipping date. It’s not like Nikon is new at this.

Don’t expect many stores to have stock of this item if you’re interested, you may have to simply order it. I think given the price point ($275 Cdn) and the type of gadget this is, there won’t be a huge market so many stores won’t carry stock. You will probably be able to find it cheaper online anyways.

As you can see from the above photo, it’s pretty small. This was one of the appealing features of this unit over some of the other options out there, not to mention the fact that it’s from Nikon and meant to work with Nikon DSLR cameras.

It comes with a cable specifically for the D90 which has a GPS port and a more standard cable for use on the other cameras which plugs into the left side of the unit. At the rear of the GP-1 is a mini-USB port that allows you to connect it to a laptop to use as a navigation GPS if you have the appropriate software. I haven’t tried this yet as I already have an in car GPS unit so I don’t really have a need to do this but it’s a nice bonus. On the right side, there is a pass through port for the wired MC-DC2 remote release cable should you wish to use it and the GP-1 at the same time.

The only other thing it comes with is the GP1-CL1 which is Nikon’s fancy name for a piece of plastic you can attach to your camera strap that has a plastic hotshoe spot for you to attach the GP-1 in case you want to use a flash at the same time. It actually works quite well and helps get the cable out of your way. I store my hotshoe cover (the hilariously named BS-1) there most of the time as you can see in the photo above. The cable is a little longer and stiffer than I’d like but it’s not too unruly.

When you first plug in the GP-1, the LED on the top glows red since it hasn’t acquired any satellites yet. Once it gets 3, it will blink green and when it has 4 or more, it will be solid green. That’s the extent of the satellite indications you get. With a cold start, it can take anywhere from 1-5 minutes to acquire a signal depending on the view of the sky (it doesn’t work so great indoors as you would expect). Warm starts are usually only 10-20 seconds to get a signal. When you navigate to the GPS menu on the camera itself, you have a choice of ‘Auto meter’ and ‘Position’. Auto Meter is simply an on/off option and means if the GP-1 is connected via cable, should it continue to track your location regardless of whether or not the camera is on. Of course, if it’s off and you’re not using it for awhile, it will drain your battery. When you choose the ‘Position’ option you see this screen:

Unfortunately, the Heading option never populates, even when moving. I’m not sure why this is but perhaps Nikon will fix this with a firmware update. You’ll also notice the time at the bottom is in UTC which doesn’t get stamped into your photo as a ‘taken on’ date….it’s simply for the GPS.

When you review a geo-tagged photo, this is what your display looks like if you cycle through the metadata options upon playback:

When you upload your photo to Flickr, the embedded EXIF data looks like this:

and when you click on the ‘map’ button on the bottom right corner of the photo page on Flickr:

I don’t use the Nikon software (ViewNX) which is also supposed to display the GPS data…since it’s a feature on Flickr, I simply upload directly there since that’s where it matters more.

A GPS icon get displayed on the INFO displays on the camera including the top LCD when you have a solid location fix:

Just make sure you see that icon before you start shooting (or look for the green LED) and all your photos will be geo-tagged.

Overall I’m very happy with the GP-1. I had researched other options out there and it just made more sense to go with this product rather than the others. There are third party products that do almost exactly the same thing except have on board batteries (great, something else to charge) and there has been numerous reports online of shoddy build quality on some of these third party units. I’d rather pay a little more for a first party product that is solidly built and just works.

Early on (before the GP-1 was announced), another option was using a geo tracker. These are simple GPS receivers you would attach to yourself somehow (hat, backpack, jacket, etc) that would always record it’s location. Then using some software on your computer, it would correlate the timestamp on your photos with the timestamp on the gps coordinates. Considering the gps trackers are barely $100 less than the Nikon unit and you have to use additional software to fix it all, I just figured my time was worth more than that and sprang for the GP-1.

I haven’t noticed any drastic battery usage having the GP-1 connected but I also have the MB-80 battery grip with two batteries attached to my D90 so power isn’t a big concern for me.

Unlike my Coolpix P6000 camera (also from Nikon and features onboard GPS), if there is no GPS fix or the GP-1 is not connected, you don’t get zeroed out gps location data. This results in photos on Flickr being geo-tagged at 0°0’00″N, 0°0’00″W which is apparently ‘a place with no name’ according to Yahoo Maps. But that’s an issue for my review of that camera which is forthcoming.

Bottomline is that the GP-1 a great accessory for your camera if you want to geo-tag and can stomach the fairly high price point and somewhat limited featureset.

Unfortunately it was only available in Europe. So after a lot of trolling and tracking down, I found one.

Like all Crumplers, it is incredibly well padded and comfortable to wear on your back. It has a unique split zipper design that cuts the bag in half if you unzip it all the way. It has one huge main compartment with one external deep side pocket (great for keys and stuff that you need to access quickly) and one internal mesh pocket perfect for memory cards, batteries, filters and other small gear.

One nice feature is that while it is a Nikon branded bag, the Nikon logo is actually hidden since it’s on the side of the backpack that rests against your back so like other Crumpler bags, it doesn’t scream camera gear inside.

It has a removable camera ‘bucket’ that velcros into the bottom of the backpack which is also branded with the Nikon logo:

It easily carries my D90, 50mm lens, Lensbaby Composer, 10.5mm Fisheye lens, SB-400 flash, Zi6 videocamera and GPS unit with lots of room above inside for some other stuff like a light jacket, lunch, etc. It’s the perfect backpack for a photowalk.

I had initially came across this video on Youtube which sold me on the backpack and shows how it all ‘works’ together:

The only downside with this bag is that because it’s made by a different company than the Crumpler that is available in North America, it’s got a few minor differences. The main one worth mentioning is that all the bags I have from North American Crumpler have nice, solid metal zipper pulls with the logo embossed on them. This backpack (and another bag I have from Europe) has plastic zipper pulls. The North American ones just seem beefier. A minor issue to be sure but a difference nonetheless.

I love this backpack.

It’s a network connected storage device. What does that mean? It means that you can put two SATA hard drives inside it, plug it into your network and access those drives anywhere on your local network.

Until recently, I had two 500gb SATA drives inside my PowerMac G5 tower that I was using as a file server. Unfortunately, the videocard (among other things) seems to be dying and a replacement is pretty expensive. I can’t even remote into the box anymore. Actually the replacement seems to be about the price of the DNS-323 (around $150 Cdn which doesn’t include any drives) so it seemed like a sensible way to upgrade. You can setup the drives to work as one giant drive or in a number of other Raid configurations. I’m currently only using one drive in there until I get a chance to clean off the other 500gb drive I have. I haven’t read any limitations on drive size but I’m sure they exist.

The main (big) selling point for me is the fact that it has a built in bit torrent client with a web based interface that you can interact with from any device on your network. This completely replaces the PowerMac for me – at least how I was using that machine as primarily a file server and bit torrent client box.

Unfortunately, the downsides I’ve come across so far include crappy Safari support so I have to use Firefox to initiate torrents. Also, the firmware likes to forget some settings when you reboot the device. Fortunately, the firmware seems to be actively updated and the settings bug is an acknowledged issue that will be addressed soon. The initial setup also required a PC to configure. I did this via VMWare but had to tweak my network settings so that the bridged connection could actually see the DNS-323.

Once it was all setup though, it worked like a charm. It just pops up as a network server on all my Macs and fully accessible. I’m not currently using it as my Time Machine backup system but I could easily set it up to do it.

The device also has a USB port but that’s reserved to function as a wireless printer port only so you can’t plug the toaster into your computer and access files via USB.

I haven’t set it up yet, but it also can run as an iTunes server which might be handy for those with multiple computers and one giant library.

Overall, I’m very happy with the DNS-323. It does what it says it will do and after a little setup, can literally be left alone like a toaster. Check out the manual, driver and firmware details on the D-Link support site.

I came across the Sony Speaker Dock/Clock Radio at both London Drugs and Future Shop. The fact that the box specifically states that is made for the iPhone (complete with official logo) seemed like a good thing:

I also came across a similar unit at Costco but there is a very subtle difference in that the model at Costco (and the display model at Future Shop) are the older version that isn’t certified for the iPhone so make sure you get this model number: ICF-C1iPMK2 (MK2 = Mark 2).

Here’s a couple of points about the device:

Pro:

• very nice sounding and can go very loud without distortion – almost too much for a clock radio
• comes with a small remote that lets you easily navigate your iPod/iPhone menus, choose playlists, etc as well as control volume.
• iPhone playback works through speaker dock regardless of whether or not the mute switch is on or off the iPhone
• you can set independent volume levels for each of the two alarms. You can have the radio alarm volume at one level and the iPod/iPhone level at another when used as an alarm
• you can play the iPod at night and put a sleep timer on it and everything shuts down nicely when specified
• it’s cheap! I got my unit for $79 during a weekend sale. Regular price is $99 everywhere which is still cheaper than other similar units with less features
• the dock can even accommodate my iPhone in it’s Speck Pixel case which is probably one of the bulkiest covers you can get
• it has an AUX In so it can be used with my Zune ;)

Cons:

• the clock display is too bright – despite having three brightness options, the lowest is too much in a dark room
• the snooze button is behind the iPhone – not a huge deal but a little awkward to reach while half asleep

As you can see, there is a lot to like about this dock. It would make a decent kitchen radio as well and comes in black or white too.

I was wondering how you use the iPhone with the alarm feature. Previous iPod’s had a wake/sleep to music option but the iPhone, strangely, does not. If you don’t already have something selected, the alarm will simply play the first song in your library. If you select a playlist the night before, the alarm will start up on whichever song/playlist you left off at which is pretty slick.

Check out the full specs on the Apple Store as well as the positive reviews.

First of all, be careful what you plug your shiny new iPhone into! Plenty of things are meant for iPods only and can actually fry your iPhone. Many iPod accessories do work with iPhones but unless you want to try out the warranty replacement program, do a quick google search about whatever device you are hoping is compatible. You’ve been warned!

Secondly, many old iPod accessories (and some 1st gen iPhone ones) use firewire as their method of powering/charging. Apple switched to USB power fairly recently so this is why many of these older devices won’t work with a newer iPod or iPhone. You will most likely get some variation on this message “This accessory is not compatible with your iPhone”.

You should be able to use any USB based car charging device – basically it’s a cigarette adaptor that has a USB port on the end. These tend to come with many gadgets these days – one came with a kit for my Nintendo DS, another with my GPS, etc. Simply plug in the USB cable that came with your iPhone 3G and you should be good to go. I didn’t want to have to lug that cable around so I simply picked up the Griffin PowerJolt (version 2) on my last trip to the Apple Store for $20. It comes with the USB plug and a black USB to Dock cable.

The ring around the USB port lights up green when powered.

and red when charging.

and here it’s connected in the car to my iPhone which is sporting my new green Speck PixelSkin cover and sitting in my Palm ‘Universal PDA holder’ which previously held my Treo 650.

So far so good…it completely charged my iPhone while driving home tonight.

Update: The PowerJolt works fine with my iPhone 3GS.