Singing In The Rain

With an eye to the current atmosphere today in Perth...don't look up.

If you are determined to be out in it I would recommend that you put a cover over your camera and lens. Promaster, Aquatec, and Think Tank make sturdy custom covers for even long lenses and large cameras - if you just need an emergency wrap try the Op/tec ones. You get two in a bag and they can save a lifetime of trouble with a wet camera.

Remember as well, that if they keep water out, they can also keep it in. Once you are safely housed please remove the camera and make sure the inside of the cover gets a chance to air out.

Suspending Your Disbelief With A New Strap

I used to laugh at all the people who made a collection of camera bags - until I counted how many I own. And all of them necessary, you understand. I went silent.

Then I took to laughing at the people who bought new straps for their cameras - replacing perfectly good manufacturer's straps. Then I looked in the various bags and counted the aftermarket straps...

So why? Why did I spend perfectly good drinking money on camera straps - and don't say it was just because I work in a camera shop. I can be as tight with my money as any of you. I did it because they all do something different.

Let me start with the manufacturer's contributions. Good for the most part, but comprised chiefly of nylon webbing with a hard edge and an advertising logo on the back. I can stand the advertisement but the hard edge of the webbing digs into my elegant swan-like neck something chronic. The camera end of one of them has a series of protective covers to prevent something - I find it chiefly prevents me getting the damn camera to my eye.

So I have an Op/Tec Classic padded strap to spare my neck. It suspends the heavy Nikon DSLR well enough to let me do 8 hours of bride-hunting. If I need to do an equal time with heavier artillery-  a long lens to capture the sword fighting - I use a Balck Rapid RS-4 and sling the thing off my left shoulder like a dragoon carbine.

All this is very well when utility is the go, but what do I do when there is a need for prestige and elegance - at the opening of the yacht club or the investiture at the palace? Why I just fasten the Artist and Artisan pure eco-friendly cotton strap grown on the south slope of the Cote des Straps and hand crafted by people with hands. I try to forget how much it costs, unless someone else seems to have a better one, then I tell them. It is a VERY good strap.

But I may have to change my tune. Think Tank have a new strap that is made up of cotton webbing and leather ends that feed into steel O-rings. It looks like it could be used as a lifting strap for panels on a tilt-up building site. And the webbing has a wavy pattern of soft plastic designed to grip on a slippery jacket and prevent the strap sliding free. I don't really need it, but....

Now You See It - Now You Don't...The Art Of The Travelling Camera

No good me poking fun at you, like I did in my last post, without holding out some hope for the future. In the future I will also poke fun at you...

No, folks, what I mean is we do have some really good solutions down here at the shop for the tourist who wants to travel light and safe, and bring back good images.

First - cameras. Well, I favour my Fuji X -10. Other people love their Leica D-lux or their Panasonic Lumix cameras. Canon make the ever-popular G 15 and it is ever-popular because it is a great tourist camera. The Olympus Pen people also know the value of a lot of good in a small package. Pick one that you like and can afford and go with confidence

But the business of taking it along is what we are considering here - I mentioned the heavy-lift thing in the last post. If you have eschewed that look at some of the pictures of camera bags from different manufacturers that are being used to house the same example camera.

The camera is the Fuji X-20. Soooo nice. If I could think of a plausible reason to get it as well as the X-10 I would buy one, but so far...

1. Kata ZP-6 DL

A classic square bag with the addition of a sewn finger loop at one corner and a nylon neck- cord. Battery/card pocket and nice padding. $ 22.00.

2. Think Tank Lens Changer 15 V2.0

Round drop pouch with drawstring top and a very sturdy belt loop in back - reinforced with a nylon bar to rest on your belt. $ 29.50.

3. Lowepro ILC 50 Classic

Traditional box pouch with a heavy shoulder strap - the roomiest option here and well suited for quick grabs of the camera. Plenty of room inside and on an outside pocket for cards and batteries. $ 45.00.

4. Op/Tec Digital D-Shortie Soft Pouch

Wrap the camera in this soft neoprene case ad you can safely bundle it into a pocket or your main luggage. There is a harness strap that lets you pop the camera out for use but still tether it to the case.
$ 24.20.

And the model in the leading image? Jo Armstrong. I just included her because everybody needs to see beautiful girls sometime...