For the first time in an age, I managed not to schedule any meetings and take myself off to the Tuttle Club this morning. In fact, I've been so bad at going that I have missed the ICA phase entirely, leaping straight from the Coach and Horses to Leon in Spitalfields.
I'd blocked out the morning in my diary anyway, but I was delighted to learn from Lloyd that Canon would be sponsoring the morning, as I'm a long term Canon SLR and DSLR user, and getting the opportunity to play with their new kit was too good to be missed.
On the whole, people at work tend to know me as a champion of the "quick'n'dirty" approach to photos and videos in reporting. And I think that's valid. The social media era is pushing journalists towards being multi-media workers, and basic kit is (a) great for learning (b) easier to use, and thus gets used more and (c) often enough for most journos. But there are specialist tasks and situations which demand better kit. And some journalists will continue to have a bias towards particular elements of multimedia.
I'd blocked out the morning in my diary anyway, but I was delighted to learn from Lloyd that Canon would be sponsoring the morning, as I'm a long term Canon SLR and DSLR user, and getting the opportunity to play with their new kit was too good to be missed.
On the whole, people at work tend to know me as a champion of the "quick'n'dirty" approach to photos and videos in reporting. And I think that's valid. The social media era is pushing journalists towards being multi-media workers, and basic kit is (a) great for learning (b) easier to use, and thus gets used more and (c) often enough for most journos. But there are specialist tasks and situations which demand better kit. And some journalists will continue to have a bias towards particular elements of multimedia.
For example, my conference photography often gets noticed (eg),
and I'm normally shooting that on a DSLR on the long end of a telephoto
zoom, with the ISO pushed as high as it will go. You can't do that on a compact.
For them, the new breed of DSLRs with built-in video recording look like great tools, if you're prepared to put in the time and effort to learn them. I had the chance to play with both the 500D, 5D and 7D, all of which can shoot HD video, and they're seriously interesting pieces of kit. The paradigm of using the video recording is nothing like using a traditional camcorder, and challenging to get your head around, but I'm really looking forward to experimenting with the 500D's video capabilities in the near future (because, no matter how great my lust for them is, there's no way I can justify spending the moolah on the higher spec models right now). The prospect of tight focus in video, using great Canon glass is really appealing...
The good folks from CanonCameraBuzz said they'll be sticking the results of our experimentation online at some point, and I'm really looking forwards to seeing how they turn out.
(All photos from my iPhone, not swish Canon kit.)
For them, the new breed of DSLRs with built-in video recording look like great tools, if you're prepared to put in the time and effort to learn them. I had the chance to play with both the 500D, 5D and 7D, all of which can shoot HD video, and they're seriously interesting pieces of kit. The paradigm of using the video recording is nothing like using a traditional camcorder, and challenging to get your head around, but I'm really looking forward to experimenting with the 500D's video capabilities in the near future (because, no matter how great my lust for them is, there's no way I can justify spending the moolah on the higher spec models right now). The prospect of tight focus in video, using great Canon glass is really appealing...
The good folks from CanonCameraBuzz said they'll be sticking the results of our experimentation online at some point, and I'm really looking forwards to seeing how they turn out.
(All photos from my iPhone, not swish Canon kit.)
Tuttle club - anything to do with Brazil?
Named from it, yes. :-)
I often go to Tuttle, but I wasn't at the Canon-sponsored session. I did catch up with the Canon kit last week, though, when some of it was being returned at Tuttle.
I used to use Canon SLRs - I have two thirty year old AT1s, which I love. When I went digital a few years back, I moved to Nikon - my old Canon lenses didn't fit the new bodies, and I preferred the feel of the Nikons.
Last week, I was surprised at the weight of the top end Canons - they felt much heavier than my D90. I don't know if it was the lens or the body, but I would have felt it heaving them about all day!