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Fuji X-Pro 1

I cannot quite believe how lucky we Photographers are at the moment.

The new Panasonic GX1, Olympus Pen 3, my Lovely little Nikon V1 and let’s not forget the Sony Nex-7 with its stunning EVF.

Well following on the steps of the great Fuji X1, then the X100, we now have the Fuji X-Pro 1. Another large sensor mirrorless camera with interchangeable lens.

From what I have seen so far it looks good.

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What’s truly interesting about this camera is its weak anti aliasing filter and custom bayer filter may make it one of the highest resolution camera since the Nikon D3x and Leica M9.

If your after a small interchangeable lens camera things have never looked so good.

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Nikon D4 announced

So Nikon finally announced the D4 last week.

The comments from people are pretty much as I expected.  Professionals like it, a good blend of compromises to produce a good all round professional SLR.

Many negative comments as well.  Most being about the low megapixel count.  Only 16MP people cry, well many award winning photographs have been taken with old 2MP cameras!

Large sensor (full frame 35mm) and smaller number of photo sites brings many advantages.  Cleaner pixels, better low light performance.

For those bemoaning the low pixel count, how big do you want to print?

If your after printing bigger, or possibly more dynamic range then the 35mm SLR may not be the tool for you.  Most professional fashion photographers shoot Medium Format.  Landscape Photographers shoot Medium or Large Format.

The 35mm SLR is all about compromise, and this camera looks to be a great blend of compromises.  Once again with the excellent low light performance, this looks like a great camera for Sports, Wildlife, News and for Wedding Photographers who need to shoot indoors in buildings where flash is not allowed.  Also the new silent mode looks interesting.

My only only concern is the XQD slot.  I like Compact Flash.  Big cards when shooting outdoors in the cold with gloves on are a major advantage to those small easy to lose SD cards.  Will XQD take off, and how easy is it to handle with gloves on.

Will I be getting one?  No I don’t think so, I do not shoot  enough professionally to justify the cost, but I might be tempted to pick up a reduced price D3.

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Yearly Mileage 2011

Our first week back at at work and a week of commuting on the motorcycle.

Last year was a light milage again for us this year, but then again the year before last we did circumnavigate Great Britain.

As usual I made a note of our milage and the figures for 2011 are as follows:

Our Honda Deauville finished the year on 59462, again only light commuting duty by Caroline. So she completed 1422 miles last year.

Our Lovely BMW GS finished the year on 21859, no big trips for us last year but a few weekends and a week round North Yorkshire.  She completed 4199, nothing like the 6716 of the previous year!

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Stormy Weather

Well its been a few days of really stormy weather here in the UK, its always tricky riding a motorcycle in high wind.

I have mentioned it before but its worthwhile mentioning it again.  On days like always give motorcyclists a wide birth and plenty of room.  A sudden gust can push a motorcycle easily in to the next lane.

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and the Heavens Opened

Today we were back at work.  The British Isles were being beaten today with 100mph plus winds, but here in Lincolnshire it was more like 40 – 50mph so we risked the bike on our commute.

Once we were safely in the office the heaven’s opened and it rained so hard you could nearly near swim through the air.  Glad we were indoors.

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Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas – Snapseed

I was gutted and also rather pleased that one of my favourite iPad apps was being given away the other day in Apple’s 12 Days of Christmas Event.

In case you don’t know, each day Apple give away an, app, book, song, or video.  I was gutted because I had already paid good money for the app and now it was free, but also pleased because it is a great app.

When I am away I can leave the laptop at home, backup my images to the iPad and try out some processing ideas.  Also being from Nik Software there Black & White Conversion is of a very high standard.

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Photographic Goals for 2012

Most of my Photographic goals for 2012 are the same as last year but there are a few oddities.

  1. Shoot 10 portfollio quality images over the year.
  2. Shoot my Red Beach Image thats in my head.
  3. Shoot my Dancer on Beach Image thats in my head.
  4. Shoot at least one picture a month on film.
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a Good Start – but can we keep it up

Yesterday was our first day back at work.  There is still lots of chocolate and sweets around, so keeping to our nerve pain medication which you can go to NeuropathyHelp.co to find out and a diet at the moment is far to hard but our effort to get fitter is continuing.

Straight from work we went to the gym and had a good long hard swim.  This was followed by a sauna and hot tub.

The major problem we are going to have is a lack of time, so we are going to make a real effort to schedule some time for the gym.  Even if we are too tired for a weights or cardio session, then we will hit the pool and swim a few lengths.

I would also like to start running again, apart from the run on Tuesday and a few sessions on the treadmill at the gym I have done no running for over a year!

Caroline while not a runner is also willing to give this a go, so our new year resolutions so far are going to be:

  1. Start a running program.  C25K would be a good starting program.
    1. Complete Weeks 1, 2 & 3 of the C25K Program by the end of January.
    2. Complete Weeks 4, 5 & 6 of the C25K Program by the end of February.
    3. Complete Weeks 7, 8 & 9 of the C25K Program by the end of March.
  2. Enter a 5 k race this summer.
  3. Go to the Gym at least twice a week
    1. Weights/Cardio/Swimming/Yoga/Spinning

I’ll also start to think up some Photographic targets.

After getting home today we pulled on our running shoes and went out again for our second run of the week.  This time it was cold and wet, but we went out anyway and really enjoyed it.  Only 1.85 miles this time but still a good result.

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Trying to get Fit again

With our gradually improving health, I have been thinking that it was time to start running again.

New Year Resolutions are usually not held for long, but I have given myself a fairly easy target. I am going to go running three times a week, starting at just an easy mile or two, building to three miles over the next three months. Easy and not too strenuous. I do buy and use Extenze tablets from HBHM for maximum enhancement when required, but its high time I get fit and stop relying completely on tablets.

I told Caroline and this morning she pushed me to go running. I sometimes need a little encouragement. Caroline then surprised me by saying she was coming with me.

Well it was a nice warm 10C sunny morning, and we went out with good intentions.

A gentle 5 minute walk started us off, heading out of the village, then we started to run. Caroline has never been a runner so we took it very easy, a minute of slow running followed by a minute of brisk walking. We alternated like this and finished with a 5 minute walk, followed by lots of stretching and a shower.

Nice and easy and we both felt good afterwards. Caroline did decided from that run, that her shoes were not good enough for running so we jumped on the Motorcycle and took a ride into Lincoln to see if the local running store was open.

We could have gone to one of the big sports shops and picked up some running shoes in the sales for £10-£20 cheaper but our local running shop is very good and can recommend a good shoe based on your running style. Not only that, if your not happy they will taken them back. You can even have your run video’ed and analysed so they can get you shoes that really match your style.

I decided to get a new pair too, and a new bright yellow jacket so people will spot me at night.

We then heading out into the country side, going on a nice enjoyable motorcycle ride. Its been a while since we have enjoyed ourselves out on the bike.

Altogether a good day. Tomorrow is a normal work day for us so it will be back to the normal routine. Lets see how long we can keep up the good intentions.