Sliders

Posted on Aug 19, 2010 in Accessories, DP Slider, Featured, Gear, Glidetrack, Kessler Crane, Reviews | 1 comment

I’ve been looking into getting a “slider.”  It seems the three top choices for me are the DP Slider, Glidetrack, and the Kessler Crane Cineslider or Pocket Dolly.

After looking at the different products from all three companies I decided on the Kessler Crane PocketDolly.  The primary reason I went with the PocketDolly is that it is has a belt drive system and has the option of adding a motor drive that can be controlled with a remote control.  Both the DP Slider and Glidetrack sliders are only controlled by hand which could result in inconsistant results if you’re after repeatable precision.  The Kessler products also have a hand crank as another option for moving the camera.  I went with the PocketDolly over the CineSlider for one simple reason: cost.  While I’m sure the CineSlider is much sturdier than the PocketDolly it’s also nearly twice the price.

Backblaze – Unlimited Offsite Storage

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 in Featured, Reviews, Tech | 12 comments

I just signed up for the cloud based offsite data storage service Backblaze.  If it works the way they  say, the service is actually pretty unbelievable since you get unlimited offsite storage for only $5 a month (less if you prepay for 1-2 years).

Their application works much the same way Apple’s Time Machine works, just over the internet.  Your initial backup will send all your files to the Backblaze server.  Backups after the initial backup will be incremental, only sending files that have changed since your last backup.  All files are encrypted for security.  Like Time Machine there are a number of settings to determine what is and isn’t backed up.

Restoring files that have been lost is as simple as going to the Backblaze website and selecting the files you want restored and downloading them.  If you’ve had a total catastrophie and lost all your data you can have Backblaze send you a DVD or external hard drive will your data.  There are additional charges for this: $99 for a DVD that holds 4.2 gigabytes and  $189 for a USB drive that holds 400 gigabytes.

Video Killed The Radio Star

Posted on Aug 4, 2010 in Cameras, Canon 5D mark II, Featured, Gear, Reviews, Tech, Videos | 3 comments

I’m a commercial and editorial photographer and to date I’ve been apprehensive about jumping on the video bandwagon.  My thought was always, why should I start shooting motion just because a stills camera now shoots high def video. If I wanted to do motion I could have been doing it all along with traditional motion cameras.

Well, I’ve finally decided that I do want to start playing around with video so I went ahead and purchased my first motion camera, the Canon 5D MarkII. What will I do with it… I have no idea just yet. That’s what I’m trying to figure out now that I have this video capable camera starting me in the face. For now, as I think about what I want to do with video, I’m laying the educational and technological ground work. Because, as anyone who’s shot video can tell you, just because you have the camera doesn’t mean you’re ready to get out there and do something with it. Video is a bit more complicated that stills. With stills I could walk out and shoot great pictures with a $20 plastic camera and a roll of film. Video is a little more tricky… you can still go out with just the camera and get good footage but there is a lot more to it if you want to do something that doesn’t look like your dad shooting home movies in the back yard.