So this is Cabela's

I recently took a trip to Washington and saw a Cabela's store for the first time. I'd heard of the place before, but was still pretty overwhelming. It's kind of like a redneck-y Disneyland without any rides, complete with a parking lot specifically for tour buses and a food court where you can get an elk sandwich. While there, my sister and I had a little contest to find the strangest products for sale in the store. Both involve extruded meat, call it a draw?


First up we have the Jerky Blaster. Looks like you can squeeze off some jerky patties and then seal your bathtub.



My sister spotted this one just as we were about to leave. I'd make a crack about chewing on a dead man's meat stick for ten bucks, but that would be gross. Plus it must be good- "a great snack" is its second feature!

Timbug2

Cool! Timbuk2, makers of bespoke and indestructible bags, included one of my photos on their blog. I also have a few more of the curious praying mantis on my Flickr site.

Windows Vista is awesome.

Today I was lucky enough to get to restore Vista on a Sony VAIO notebook today. I could probably think of a worse way to waste time, but it would probably involve physical pain. I received the error above a couple hours in and had to start over. Seems like everyone in the IT field (that doesn't swallow MS marketing) talks about how Vista sux0rs, but seriously. After you get used to the pretty semitransparent windows (takes about 30 seconds), there just isn't anything it improves upon over windows XP that can justify its stupefying slowness. If the aesthetics matter, get an Apple and do it right. Sheesh.

cool picture of the moment

I woke this morning to a bunch of dogs barking and what sounded like turkeys. Turns out a squadron of a couple dozen were passing through. I always thought turkeys were mostly flightless, but these ones seemed to be getting around just fine!

Fun with flashes

Thought I'd dust off the ol' weblog to bang out some thoughts I've got on my new photo toy- a Canon Speedlite 580EX II.

I've been into phtography for ever, but have had the bug really bad since I got my Canon S5 a couple weeks back. The lens and picture quality are awesome for the price of the camera (less than most EF lenses) and I've been having a blast shooting pictures with it. Like most bridge cameras, it has a lot of strengths (long zoom, smallish, easy to use) and a few weaknesses (horrible viewfinder, noisy sensor at ISO >200, weak flash.)

The S5 is Canon's first PowerShot camera with a hotshoe besides the G-series and the odd PowerShot 'Pro' cameras. Like most cameras, the built in flash is garbage. Canon doesn't even spec a guide number, but it's just strong enough to give red eyes to people about 10 or 15' away. Recycle time is listed at 12 seconds (!)- conservative but it still takes 6-10 seconds using a fresh set of Eneloops. Definitely room for improvement.

Upon opening the 580EX II's box, I was amazed at the size. I did lots of reading about Canon's flash lineup, but it never ocurred to me that I never saw a picture of the flash on a camera. I suppose its size would be proportional to an EOS 1, but it positively dwarfs my S5 in size and weight. I'm curious now how it compares to the 430EX. The main differences that the 580 gets over the 430 are a control dial instead of buttons, slave flash transmitter, more power, tougher build, configurable from late-model EOS bodies, and the option for an external power pack. Recycle time is less than the 2-second review I use on the camera so flash shots can be more spontaneous which is great for all the test shots (hundreds!) I took of the cats.

The LED-backlit LCD screen on the flash shows all the essentials including power level, focal length, range, etc. Controls are pretty straightforward with a few buttons and a control dial. The LCD display is a bit primitive when compared with Nikon's SB800, but it's just as useful once you get used to its peculiarities. For example, a blinking 'speedlite' icon means that the flash head is pointed 7° down. If the entire screen is blinking, the 14mm wide angle diffuser is out. The most baffling part of using the flash are the custom functions. There are about a dozen settings that can be adjusted which vary from power saving modes to subtle control tweaks. Nice, but counter intuitive.

I'm just getting started with the new light, but I never expected I'd see as big an improvement with indoor shots as I have. Depending on the size of the room, lighting 90° or 180° to the side and 45° up looks as good as sunlight. 90° up with the catchlight looks good too. If the flash is the primary source of light shots still look pretty stark, but I'm excited to see what I get for closeish outdoor shots for fill light. I'll post more once I get more shooting in, but here are some pros and cons I've seen so far:


Raves:
1. Tons of power makes indoor bounce flash shots easy
2. Zoom function matches correctly with the S5's focal length
3. Built-in catchlight is good for close subjects without using a diffuser
4. Excellent foot and mounting latch
5. Fine manual control over power makes using a fill flash easier for tricky shots
6. Excellent build quality- it will probably outlast the camera it's attached to

Rants:
1. Autofocus illuminator is completely unused with the S5
2. Primitive LCD display
3. Stiff control dial
4. Big and heavy
5. Flash zoom motor is noisier than the lens motor
6. Cryptic 'custom' settings menu

Cool picture of the moment

A tower of the GG bridge looming overhead. A soggy day and a long commute!

Oh hell, hell yes.

Yum. The Porsche 997 GT3RS is a beautiful, beautiful machine. The 911 really is the perfect car. With 15 variants there's something for everyone!

Carrera - Join the 300HP club with style

Carrera S - To one-up your neighbor with a Carrera

Carrera 4 - If you like to haul ass in the snow and rain

Carrera 4S - Nothing wrong with more grip and speed

Carrera Cab - If you like to drive and tan

Carrera S Cab - For tanning quickly

Carrera 4 Cab - Because they can

Carrera 4S Cab - Has everything except turbo-lag.

Turbo - Bar-none, the best car $122,000 can buy.

Turbo S - A turbo with more tech goodies, more leather, and a little more power for a lot more money. A 997 version is probably already in the werks.

Turbo Cab - There was a 996 version, is a 997 on the way?

Targa - Porsche's glasstop cabriolet is pretty unique. Hope it returns in 997 form.

GT3 - 115HP per liter, no turbo. The best Porsche engine in production today.

GT3-RS - Lighter and faster is always a Good Thing.

GT2 - A RWD turbocharged brute for the deep-pocketed or sponsored.