• I was hoping to have a lengthy review of the Canon S90 having recently taken it on vacation to Mexico.  Unfortunately the camera was stolen 2/3 through my stay there.  I will get a replacement but the review will have to wait a bit. Sadly I had taken a few hundred photos with it before it was taken, which would have been perfect illustration of this cameras abilities. C’est la vie i guess.  My experience with the S90 was overwhelmingly positive though.  Truly a pocket-sized camera unlike the G10 or G11.  I was continually amazed by the quality of the shots I was getting and also the accuracy of the exposure metering in even the most complex of lighting situations.  Flash exposure with backlit subjects was particularly impressive.
• After the unexpected popularity of the Cliff Trampoline video (thanks to all that posted it on various websites) I have uploaded a full sized 1920×1080 version to my smugmug account.  For those with sufficiently fast internet connections, you might want to check it out. Smugmug still has to do a fair amount of compression as their max file size is 600mb but nonetheless it is still pretty impressive.  CLICK HERE FOR 1080P VERSION

• Some readers might have noticed that I now have a Facebook page for people to follow.  If you are a regular Facebook user then this might be a good way for you to keep up to date with what i’m up to.  I regularly post photos to that page that I do not post on here as it is simple and quick to do so.  You can find the Facebook page HERE
• The famous underwater surf housing manufacturer SPL have started selling their new housings for the Canon 7d. HERE Looks great, especially with the Tokina 10-17 lens on board.  Should be a decent choice for surf photogs out there.  Wish i had an excuse to buy one…..
• As I begin to see more of a use for video in my work I have been experimenting a bit with some more equipment.  I wanted to construct some sort dolly to see how it looked with the Canon 7d and 5dMKII.  With a bit of research on the internet I came across a type of do-it-yourself tripod rail system nicknamed the “ZaZaSlider”.  I purchased the raw parts for it and constructed it today.  Below if a few test shots to see if i was heading in the right direction.  It seems to work pretty well but needs a bit of tweaking.  Once I have it fully dialled i’m going to do a full post on how to make one and what parts you are going to need.  I wasn’t going to post this as it was really just for me to see how it was working but i thought why not…. no particular editing going on here but you can get an idea for whats going on.  Its a very portable solution which can be carried if I am skiing.  More info in coming weeks once I have refined things a bit more.  This was shot with the 7d by the way, not the 5d

ZaZa slider 1st test footage. from Dan Carr on Vimeo.

• Lots of people asking about the 7d too and I’m working on writing down some thoughts about that within the next couple of weeks.  Also stay tuned for reviews of some more video equipment that i’m testing out this week.
• I feel like posting a photo too as this is a photography blog after all.  This is a shot of Charley Ager that was in last months issue of SBC Skier in Canada.  Shot in Whistler BC with the Poorboyz crew.

Canon 1dMKIIN, 200mm on a 70-200 f4L IS 1/1250 , f7.1

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Canon PowerShot S90IS 10MP Digital Camera with 3.8x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 3-inch LCD
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• Adobe have released Lightroom 3 BETA as a free download on their website.  Users can download it and try it out for free until the release candidate hits the shelves in the first half of 2010.  There are some nice updates but the whole thing is very buggy right now.  I would recommend trying it but not using it to replace LR2 just yet.
• Yesterday I received my new Canon S90 from B&H photo.  This little camera has the same sensor as the new Canon G11 and offers full manual control and RAW shooting.  I wanted a high quality P&S camera and found it hard to choose between the s90 and the G11 but i’m glad I went with this.  It is incredibly small.  I would have no problem having this in a pocket all day, you’d never know, which is something that can’t be said for the G11.
• I’m heading to Mexico for a week and i’ll be taking some time to test the S90 while i’m away, expect more info when i get back.
• I’m also taking my Canon 7d with me.  I’m just going to take the one lens as photography is not the reason for my trip but I wanted a simple case to put it in so that i could safely pack it into my F-Stop Satori along with some clothes.  I picked up a Neoprene case from LensCoat called the bodybag and i’m impressed with the quality.  The stitching seems to be very sturdy and if you need a simple case to protect a body and a lens from scratches then this is a great option.  They make a variety of cases for lenses and bodies in different combinations and I was so impressed by this one that I ordered a couple of cases to hold camera bodies on their own for a little added protection when inside your regular camera bag.