Author Archive
Planning a Trip?
by Andrew Macpherson on Jan.22, 2012, under Camera Club, Off the wall, Travel
The "Stuck On Earth" iPad App
The Camera Club is heading out in early May (Bank Holiday Weekend) to Bodelwydnn Castle Hotel, North Wales, and there were a couple of spots that are on my “Must See” list for the trip, In particular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct the new World Heritage Site, and Sir Clough William Ellis’ famous Portmeirion Village, background for the cult TV series “The Prisoner,” after that it is simply a case of where the whim takes one… or is it?
Trey Radcliff famous for his HDR style, and “Stuck in Customs” travel photography blog, has had an iPad & Android App built called “Stuck on Earth” which uses Flickr geotagged photos, and various cool aspects of Flickr’s organisation and cataloguing to pick some existing images to find the spots & shots others have shared, and challenge one to do better. It downloads the photos one picks out as trip markers to the portable device so that the challenge remains with one, even when out of WiFi range, or failing again with mobile data networks. (BTW go into a trip and the add image interface will let you remove shots)
I haven’t found out how to edit the spelling of a failed search (vs retyping from scratch) but otherwise I’m finding it fairly useful for picking out some potentially interesting spots.
Seasonal Toys & Games
by Andrew Macpherson on Jan.21, 2012, under Equipment, Learning, Off the wall
It’s very useful having a wish list somewhere that your friends and family can consult before the holidays or your birthday. Luckily for me some did just that, so now I am the proud owner of Pixel TD-381 external 8 cell battery packs for 2 of my speedlights, that reduce the recycle time down to well under 2 seconds, from the unenhanced 7 seconds, a Wex 5-in-1 diffuser/reflector (which will not need explanation), and a Powerex 8 cell Ni-Mh charger/conditioner
The battery packs each have 2 banks of 4 cells, so you can use 4 or 8 cells in each pack, and when attached to the speedlight, these are what powers the flash high voltage / power section, while the internal batteries only run the logic and control circuitry. Pixel suggests that they can run your speedlight for over 500 full flashes before needing recharged, (possibly more with the newer 2900 mAh cells) and another big advantage is that being flat they also have better heat loss properties than the bundle inside the speedlight, (and also a thermal cut-out) so reducing your chance of melting that expensive flash unit.
The plug fits both Canon 580, 580 MkII and Nissin Di866 Mk II. There is a different model number for the Nikon and Sony compatible versions.
As for Games, I’m going to try to keep up with the LensProToGo 52 week challenge on Flickr, come and join in — as the adage goes “It’s not about winning, it’s about taking part” and maybe we’ll all be stretched along the way.
Related Posts
- Macro and short depth of field
- For want of a nail — a belated review of the TrekPod Go
- Help my menu settings keep vanishing!
- So… What is “Pro” a code for?
- Photo Selection Slideshows
- International Power
- Eye-Fi vs Shooting Tethered
- YN565 E-TTL Flash Speedlite fails with Canon ST-E2
- Another Speedlight replacement
- Seasonal Toys & Games
- Pixel Wired Off-Camera Extender
- Tethering (Continued)
The All Year Challenge
by Andrew Macpherson on Jan.14, 2012, under Competitions, Learning, Off the wall
Lens Pro To Go, a US equipment rental company, have thrown down a challenge.
Joint them for a photo-per-week challenge on themes they set. My photos will accumulate in this flickr set, and the whole set of entries is in the Lens Pro To Go 52 week challenge. The exercises are are as hard, or easy as you let them be, so it’s great fun.
Why not join in?
Free airport camera bag filled with goodies #TTPIAB
by Andrew Macpherson on Dec.07, 2011, under Equipment, Travel
Think Tank Photo who make rather good camera bags, are doing an advent accumulator with their “In a Bag” promotion.
It’s free to enter, so probably worth following this link and filling in the entry form to get a chance to win. I quite fancy the bag itself, but there are already a whole lot of really worthwhile goodies added, and a daily chance at one of their superior shoulder bags
Good luck!
Another Speedlight replacement
by Andrew Macpherson on Oct.22, 2011, under Equipment, Off the wall
New Nissin Flash
After the problems with the YN565 I was a little more circumspect when looking for an affordable slave flash, and checked with the vendor that the unit I was considering would indeed work with my Canon ST-E2. With a positive response I went for the NISSIN Digital Di866 Mk II this unit operates both in the hotshoe, and as an IR triggered Slave. Missing features would seem to be
- High Speed sync Button — only available from the Camera menu
- Second Curtain Sync, also only on menu.
As is usual with high end flashes, there will be various sets of things that don’t get used by individual photographers — at the moment I don’t see myself using Multi for instance, but so far I’m pleased with a unit that’s half the price of the Canon equivalent, it “just works”
A note for Mac users: be prepared to go online to download the manual, as it is delivered on a mini-CD incompatible with the mechanised media slots on Macs.
Related Posts
- Macro and short depth of field
- For want of a nail — a belated review of the TrekPod Go
- Help my menu settings keep vanishing!
- So… What is “Pro” a code for?
- Photo Selection Slideshows
- International Power
- Eye-Fi vs Shooting Tethered
- YN565 E-TTL Flash Speedlite fails with Canon ST-E2
- Another Speedlight replacement
- Seasonal Toys & Games
- Pixel Wired Off-Camera Extender
- Tethering (Continued)
YN565 E-TTL Flash Speedlite fails with Canon ST-E2
by Andrew Macpherson on Oct.04, 2011, under Equipment, Off the wall, On Site
At £102, tax paid,this looks like a real bargain, and for some people it may be.
The Speedlite works in hotshoe mode perfectly, has no flash master mode, but makes up for that with 3 Slave modes. ETTL (Canon and Nikon), plus S1 and S2 (S2 is supposed to ignore pre-flash).
It’s billed as working with the ST-E2 which is what Canon call their Speedlite trigger. It turns out that Yongnuo make their own ST-E2, and any attempt to use it with my Canon transmitter results in a premature flash (it does recognise which channel is in use though) It also ignores the test firing signal from the ST-E2, but does operate with DoF preview (button to the left below the lens on Canon).
My Speedlite 580 is out of commission (with Canon for £104 fixed price repair) so I did not test it using that as Master, but as the whole point was to have 2 powerful speedlites for off camera use, it would be unsatisfactory even if that worked.
The EBay trader who sold it to me accepted the return, but was unable to furnish me with a unit that would work with the Canon transmitter, so refunded my payment. I’m left £3.50 lighter (return postage), so I hope this will help anyone else looking to use this unit who might also be misled by the description.
Anyone got any other suggestions for a lower cost unit? (Already got EX430)
Related Posts
- Macro and short depth of field
- For want of a nail — a belated review of the TrekPod Go
- Help my menu settings keep vanishing!
- So… What is “Pro” a code for?
- Photo Selection Slideshows
- International Power
- Eye-Fi vs Shooting Tethered
- YN565 E-TTL Flash Speedlite fails with Canon ST-E2
- Another Speedlight replacement
- Seasonal Toys & Games
- Pixel Wired Off-Camera Extender
- Tethering (Continued)
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Hello, I'm Andrew Macpherson
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I live in Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, Great Britain. If you're looking for the Hollywood, California, USofA brilliant professional photographer and author of "2 Million Miles" try here.
