Simon's 'stuff of the year' Christmas fiasco!

Everyone else is doing it, I thought I'd write you up a quick post, letting you know what I've used this year and what worked well...

Here's a picture of the *real santa in a mountain cave in Cuba... True story!

I will say up front that the links are AMAZON affiliate links, and i'll tell you what I do with any Amazon affiliate cash ($14 in the last six months, I thank you!) ....I buy more disk space for my steadily growing habit image library... So, if you buy something through one of my links, you're entitled to a high res digital file of any image I've taken that a. won't get me locked up or b. won't get someone else locked up OR c. won't get me slapped by a bride I've photographed (unless she's uber hot... then I might still give you the file)

Right... Stuff! This year has been filled with random "stuff" and some of it has been awesome, some of it less awesome!

1. I think my favourite camera bag of the year (I work for thinkTank, but I use their stuff as a photographer) is the Retrospective 40 - I can pop my 13" MacBook Air in and my 5DMKIII with the grip on - a couple of lenses (including a 70-200 f/2.8) and loads of other stuff.

2. The Evo 2 tripod system from 3 Legged Thing has just hit the market, even here in Aus, and is simply brilliant - I've had 3 Legged Thing gear since the very first version of 'Brian' and I have to say that this Evo 2 gear is 'the mutts'

3. I've swapped to a little MacBook Air 13" (2012 model) for a lot of my 'on the go' social media work and when I'm not wanting to be tied to my desk with this, the 'big' computer.. SSD makes everything amazing - SO fast, small, battery life like a 65 year old with a can of viagra..

I got an iPhone 5, it's boring...

4. The Sony RX100 is not only the best compact camera I've used this year, it's the best compact camera I've ever had - it is simply awesome. My favourite feature, aside from really very nice raw image output, is the little flash - you can bend it backwards and fill your subject by bouncing light, rather than killing them with a laser beam.

5. Audio this year was brought to you by the RODE PodcasterFor a USB mic that most people use for simply talking into, the RODE is sweet enough to record your favourite hits, trust me.. I tried it... I take requests!

BUT, it's not all about expensive bits of camera and non-camera tech, oh no, the second five are dedicated to things you could simply click and buy RIGHT NOW without having to speak to your 'bank manager' first....

6. Nice Industries, the same people that brought you the wildly awesome 'Aviator Travel Jib' also produced a little wonder called the "Nice Clip" and it's super awesome.... You wait until you have seven cables you want to keep handy on the edge of your desk...

7. The best $35 you'll spend, a Lexar USB 3.0 CF / SD reader has made my 'ingest' soooo much faster, but only on my Mac Air as it's the only thing I have with USB 3.0... Next Amazon purchase is a G-Tech USB 3.0 external drive.... Oh yes....

8. Another recent love is the Capture Clip System from Peak Design - I use it on almost every shoot with my ProSpeed Belt - a sweet combo - saves shoulders, mental state, cameras etc.... try it, you might just wanna kiss me for the suggestion... ewww...

9. This year we got NASTY.... Nasty Clamps have change my life.... I can pretty much attach anything to anything else anywhere. For that, Nasty Clamps, I salute you.

10. ....speaking of rugged and portable, the drive of the year award goes to the ioSafe Rugged Portable... It's rugged and portable! I have a FW800 500gb version, and it's a toss up (only based on price) between the G-Tech and ioSafe for next drive to arrive.. The ioSafe is a great drive for those of you with just ONE external backup - it has lots of 'peace of mind' attached to it. Included recovery and the ability to withstand the crushing grip of Chuck Norris....

There you have it, 10 things you could blow some cash on... These are things I've actually used and STILL use - not some list of crap purely designed to make you click so I get PAID.... [Though, enough to buy a large clock with a gold chain to hang around my neck would be good, ta]

 

 

A DigitalRev kind of Christmas...

In a brief survey of readers, we've come up with eight items for upto £1000.00 that you'd like for Christmas. Yesterday I wanted a Canon G11, but today I think I've changed that to the Canon Powershot S90

Anyway, enough about me... what would YOU buy yourself for Christmas?

1. Nikon Nikkor AF 85mm f/1.4 D

2. Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Lens

3. Sony SAL1635ZA 16-35mm f/2.8 ZA SSM Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T*

4. Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM

5. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

6. Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 with LUMIX G 20mm f/1.7 Aspherical Lens

7. Nikon AF-S DX MICRO NIKKOR 85MM F/3.5G VR

8. Canon Extender TeleConverter 2.0X MK II

What do you want SANTA to bring you?

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Jingle Bells, Batman smells...

It's getting closer, that fun time when we spend too much, eat too much and some of us even make resolutions we'll never keep despite trying... Do you even remember what yours was from last year? I want to see how many of you managed it... List your resolution (If it was "listable!") and let me know, did you keep it or not?... Best kept resolution wins an ExpoImaging - expoaperture2 depth of field guide... I was going to give it out with my newsletter (Coming later this week!) but I've not been able to write it as yet due to some training I'm doing. SO... Let me have it...

By the way, My resolution was to lose weight and stop spending money on Starbucks... I've lost weight, finally, and I make my coffee at home / work now - and very rarely have Starbucks, though, I did find a way to "Have a Starbucks" if one was required... I stole one of their mugs!

Happy Coffee and Cake - Please comment (even anonymously!) with your resolution and outcome!

Looks like a Starbucks, Doesn't taste like one though!