Transparent Agenda

The Library of Congress on Flickr?

Posted by admin under gfurry

Yes they are. Looks like some interesting photos posted. Check it out here

Mini Clubman ad

Posted by admin under gfurry

Mini is almost the only company selling cars these days. Here is an interesting ad that is starting to generate some buzz

Nikon D90 vs Canon 50D the launch

Posted by admin under gfurry

Yesterday it was the Canon 50D, today Nikon fires back with the D90. Nikon bias aside I have to say Nikon blew Canon away on this release. I am not even talking about cameras here. Yesterday Canon fired off a press release and updated their website. Nothing special, just another page on the site along with 50 other cameras. To dilute the message even further on the same day they also introduced a few really boring point and shoot cameras that were barley worth mentioning. Nikon has all kinds of info including a cool video from pro photographer Chase Jarvis as well as pages and pages worth of data, sample pix and videos. Nice job Nikon.

Both cameras look great if you are in the market for a medium end DSLR. One word of advice, don’t listen to me. Go get your hands on any camera you are thinking about buying and try it out. If you stick with Nikon or Canon you really can’t go wrong.

Another week another new camera?

Posted by admin under gfurry

Last week Nikon introduced the D700. I am still waiting to see some real reviews before deciding to make the jump to the new model. This week Panasonic announced the Lumix DMC-LX3 to compete with the Canon G9 and possibly the Coolpix 6000 should it actually be anything more than a rumor. What do I like about the new Panasonic? Well here is the short list. For all the details head over DPreview for a great description along with a few hi-res product shots.

Why would I be looking at a new camera when I am still happy with my G9? First on the list is size. I love my Canon G9 as a great take everywhere camera but it is still a brick. Here is a quick size comparison I did over at sizeasy.com. Looks like the DMC-LX3 is considerably smaller than the G9 and much more pocketable Dimensions 108.7 x 59.5 x 27.1 mm Weight (with battery) 265 g

Next up is the wide angled bright lens. Shoots Wide (35mm Equiv.: 24-60mm) at• F2.0 - F8.0 The LX3 captures approx.213% larger viewing space compared to that of a normal 35mm camera, and even approx.136% larger compared to what a 28mm wide-angle lens can do. The G9 is 35-210mm f/2.8-4.8. The F2.0 lens on the LX-3 is about twice as bright as the F2.8 lens.

The LX-3 Boldly defies the trend to cram in the most pixels possible, Panasonic limited the LX3’s large 1/1.63-inch CCD to 10.1 megapixels. This made it possible to make each pixel around 45% larger than those in ordinary 10-megapixel cameras. As a result, both sensitivity and saturation is around 40% higher than in ordinary models, giving the LX3 exquisite image quality with both excellent sensitivity and a wide dynamic range.

And finally upon initial inspection along with shooting RAW (as must) the LX-3 captures dynamic HD video in 1280 x 720p at a smooth 24 fps, in addition to WVGA (848 x 480) and normal VGA (640 x 480) using QuickTime Motion JPEG instead of the crappy AVI of the Canon.

The down sides seem to be a short zoom lens and no immediate time lapse feature which I have fun with my G9. Oh yeah and the fact that it has a ridiculous name. Canon G9, now that is a good camera name. LX-3 isn’t bad but Lumix! Come on. I know it is Lumix like luminance but I can’t help thinking of Lumicks every time I look at it. Which in my made up world is a big clumsy dumb guy. Maybe it is just me.

Google directions with street view

Posted by admin under gfurry

Kind of cool. Not sure how useful.

linked from googlemaps mania