Continuing my love affair with messenger bags, I spotted this Manfrotto Unica VII in the local Best Buy. It was $99, but I found it on Amazon.com for $79, and then later on at Costco.com for only $39! I sold my REI Transit bag to a friend and moved all my stuff into this one.

First off, the new bag is big. It’s has a top zipper for quick access to the main compartment and also has a regular flip-open type flap, which is secured by a large metal buckle and also velcro. The main compartment is pretty roomy, but I was disappointed that there are velcro strips only on one half of the compartment. What this means is that you cannot put dividers all along the whole compartment. Right now I just put my dSLRr with lens, and an extra lens in the camera side. This side is lined with some nice soft fabric, and the velcro actually grabs on to this securely. The other side is a more durable nylon-type material. I put my camera battery charger, Kindle, and have space to throw my keys and wallet in. I did try an alternate configuration so that the main compartment is totally dedicated to camera gear, and fit in the dslr with lens, two extra lenses, and my flash gun. It would have been better if I could have used more velcro dividers, but oh well.

On the side of the main compartment, there is a slot that can hold a pretty big laptop. My Dell is 11” so it fits with plenty of room to spare. I can even put my Kindle in that pocket with the laptop if I wanted. On the outside back, there’s another slim compartment that is good for holding papers or a magazine.

On the other side, underneath the main flap is a zippered area for pens, wallet, laptop mouse, and other small items. It’s nice that it is zippered for security, but you can also leave it unzippered and the flap hangs open.

The last compartment is really cool. It’s on the bottom of the bag, and it’s big enough for a compact tripod. I have my trusty Velbon Ultra MAXi SF tripod in there, plus I have space for the laptop charger and miscellaneous cables. It’s pretty cool to have this compartment on the bottom, but it does add a lot of heft to the bag.

There are a few things that I don’t like about the bag. Besides the aforementioned lack of velcro in the main compartment, the strap seems really stiff. Plus there are no swivels on the straps so that it’s kind of easy to get it all twisted. I wish I could switch the strap easily. As it is now, I’d have to cut the current strap to get it off. If I find another nice strap, I might just do that. Also, there should have been a couple outside pockets for cellphone and small water bottle. The REI Transit bag is definitely a better-quality bag in this respect. Also, the Manfrotto bag seems bigger than it should be. I guess it’s the extra protection (it really is well-padded), but the Transit bag seemed a lot smaller. When carrying using the shoulder-strap, the bag feels really stiff and awkward. It’s very box-like, and not very comfortable to carry. The transit bag, in comparison, was curved so that it fit to your hip and was super-comfy. I’m hoping that this bag will “break-in” but I’m not counting on it. Like I mentioned before, there is a lot of padding on it, and it does in fact hold a lot more than other bags so it should be expected. Lastly, the big metal buckle is really not needed. It’s really nice and strong and adds a bit of class to the bag, but a couple times when flipping the cover back, the buckly hits the table top and rings like a bell. Way too conspicuous.

Overall, I’m happy with this bag and for only $40 it’s a great deal. I definitely wouldn’t spend $99 for it though. While the Transit bag had some advantages, the Manfrotto bag holds the camera gear snugly, but without being cramped like the Transit was. And the bottom compartment for tripod is really excellent.

Check out the Flickr Set with notes on most of the photos.

So last night I decided to go room-by-room and search every inch for these two items. Unfortunately, my search came up empty. However, I did find a few other things that I had lost or forgot that I even owned! Firstly, I found my two “hanko” or signature stamps. My grandfather gave me one of them when I started painting back in my teens, and I picked up the other one during a visit to Hong Kong. I’ve been thinking of creating a watermark for photos using these, but didn’t know where they were. Secondly, I found a nice 72mm circular polarizing filter. I bought this around 1989 for an old zoom lens. My new 16-50mm lens uses this same filter size so that was a bit of a score.

I’m happy that I found these two things, but still kind of perplexed about where the mp3 player and tripod post could be. I checked all my pockets of all my clothes for the mp3 player, and then all the places that I would think I would put the tripod post for safe-keeping but no dice. A mystery!

And if I want to take a shot even closer to the ground, I can just bend over and lower the camera; no need to get down on my stomach to look thru the viewfinder! In fact, these are the kinds of shots that I would never take before because they were just such a hassle that I wouldn’t even think of doing it. Not only can I take kids-level photos, but now even dog-level photos!

Here’s a shot where I flipped the viewfinder out and then sideways. I should have leveled it a bit, but still, I like the angle.

I’ve been using my second pair of Sony MDR-V6 headphones for a couple years now, and the fake leather on the earpads started deteriorating. My first pair of V6s had the same problem and I ended up throwing them away. I remember finding little black pieces of fabric around my ear and on my shoulder and wondering what they were! That was way back in the early 90’s before the Internet became popular. This time, however, I did some research online and found out that not only is this a widespread problem, but there is a widespread solution as well. Basically, ditch the Sony earpads and buy some new ones (even before the Sony ones go bad). The most popular pads are Beyerdynamic DT250/DT280 Replacement Earpads. They are made for a different brand/model, but they fit the Sonys perfectly. I bought mine from Sweetwater for about $19. Installing them was very easy — just pull off the old Sony pads and you will see how the new ones fit. Next, place the foam cover over the speaker and then carefully stretch the new pads over the rim. The pads came with another plastic part which is not needed and can go in the trash. The velour pads feel so good compared to the old pleather (although they do get a little hotter than the stock pads) and the sound really improves! This improved sound quality is why people recommend getting rid of the Sony pads immediately. At any rate, I’m very happy with the new pads and the headphones are now better than new!

I uploaded a photo last week of my old Minolta camera straps and trying to decide which one to use on my new Sony A77. I ended up going with the smaller one because I wanted my camera rig to be more compact. Plus I like that the Sony (especially the 7-series) has Minolta DNA. To add to the brand confusion, I attached a folded piece of exposed 35mm film over the Sony logo using some gaffer’s tape and now the camera is really in “stealth mode”. It’s not that I intentionally want to hide the Sony logo — that piece of exposed film has a practical purpose! I’ll explain below.

This past weekend had a little photoshoot in which I could try the new camera out with studio lighting. I have an Alien Bees AB-800 strobe with a shoot thru umbrella. I use that as the key light (main light), and then use my Sony HVL-F56AM flash unit as a back light to blowout the background or as a fill light. To trigger the AB-800, I connect it directly to the camera with the PC Sync cord. To trigger the flash gun, I use the camera’s built-in wireless flash system which basically uses the onboard flash to send signals to trigger the flash unit. This signal is not itself supposed to be strong enough to affect the exposure, however if you are close to the subject I’ve seen that it can leave a little bit of shadow. This has been the case with the Minolta wireless system since it was introduced back in 1992.

To get around this, Minolta photographers have been using the ol’ “exposed film over the onboard flash trick”. The flash signal will still travel through the film to the external flash unit, but it blocks out any light that might affect the exposure. It’s an effective hack that has been used for a long time now and it really works! It makes the camera look a bit less pretty, and more of a workhorse, which I kind of prefer.

Six years is a long time in terms of camera technology. Not only has image quality improved, but Sony has invested in a new kind of system (SLT) which has some great advantages over the traditional SLR mechanics. The SLT system’s mirror does not flip up to let light hit the sensor. Instead, it is a semi-transparent mirror which reflects some light to an Electronic Viewfinder, and the rest to the main imaging sensor. Because the main sensor is always evaluating the scene (it has no traditional mirror blocking it), it can constantly autofocus, even while shooting video. Plus the FPS has been increased to 12 FPS even at full 24 Megapixels. The Electronic Viewfinder is OLED and is supposedly almost as good as a traditional optical viewfinder. The advantage of the EVF is that information can be overlaid onto the image and it shows you pretty much how the photo will turn out (white balance, aperture, exposure). Also, the viewfinder is as large as a full-frame camera’s and it shows 100% of the captured image.

Here’s a small list of the things I am looking forward to on the A77:

• GPS: It’s cool that the camera can geotag photos, but what’s really neat is that it can auto-adjust the date and time. I know, it’s silly, but so convenient!
• High ISO: With a range of 50-16,000 ISO low-light images will be much better than my 7D
• Peaking Mode: When you are manual focusing, the EVF will draw highlights around the parts of the image that are in focus. This is going to be a pleasure to use when I attach my old manual focus Minolta Rokkor lenses. I can’t wait to use my 135mm f/2!
• 3D Panorama: We recently got a 3D tv, and have looked at a few 3D images using it (and the PS3). It will be fun to make my own 3D images.
• Flash: My 7D never was able to get consistent exposures with my HVL-F56AM flash unit. I am anxious to be able to use it with confidence now.
• Weather Sealing: It’s not waterproof like my Panasonic Lumix, but it will be more resistant to rain and dirt than my 7D.

I’m sure everything about the A77 will be an improvement over the 7D, but I will miss a couple things about the ol Konica-Minolta; the beefy dials. These are so well-made and fun to use, that I don’t think anything can compare. It’s got a button on the top which you need to push in order to turn the dial. It’s so high-quality and I think it looks pro. It’s actually got two dials, one hidden below the main one which is turned by a lever. It’s so slick. I wish Sony would have kept them. I know the exposure compensation dial is probably unnecessary (I had re-programmed the rear control dial to adjust exposure anyways) but it looks so cool!

Thankfully Sony has kept many of the buttons in the same place from the 7D to the A700 and now to the A77, most importantly the AEL and AF/MF buttons. Of course most of these can be programmed to do most any function, but it will be great to not have to relearn them.

The new camera should be delivered soon and after I have some time playing around with it, I’ll write a follow up post with my impressions.

Backing up to the external drive can be as simple as dragging and dropping, then choosing “replace” when it comes across an existing file. This is the easiest backup to do. However, there are some disadvantages. First, since you are copying everything each time you backup, it can take a long time (depending on how much data you have). Also, if you delete data from your source location, it won’t automatically be deleted from the destination. This may or may not be what you want. If you want to keep them in sync, then you’d have to completely delete your backup data and do a full copy. There’s that small window between deleting the backup and making the copy when you will only have a single instance of the data.

Fortunately there are several free pieces of software out there that can help. I’m using Windows, so I have no experience with Mac backup software, but I also don’t have any experience with the built-in Windows backup software, but I generally want something that creates a backup folder that I can treat like a regular data drive. In other words, I don’t want the backed-up data to be encrypted or compressed or in some wacky format that I cannot do anything with unless I use the backup software. GFI Backup is pretty good in that you can specify what folders you want backed up and where you want them backed up to. It also has scheduling and options to overwrite files only if different, keep two files, delete files in the destination directory if it no longer exists in the source, etc. I used it when my hard drive failed and it restored all my files with ease. It also keeps track of what files change in the source and destination so that the backups are quick (doesn’t have to copy everything).

A few months ago, the GFI software was updated, and it started asking for Windows permissions. Even though I put in my password, this never worked and I soon gave up on GFI. I did a little research and found another program called SyncBack and it does much the same thing. It’s even simpler than GFI, and I love it. The explanations of what files will be copied and what will happen when it encounters a conflict are written in easily understood language. It seems pretty quick and is also lightweight.

I’ve also tried the online backup service Mozy, and while the idea was great, the execution was lacking. First of all, I have about 1TB of data to back up so the initial upload took a few weeks. Also, the Mozy system tray program was slowing down my system. It also cost about $6 per month. The price of my 2 TB drive was $69, so as long as it lasts more than a year, it will be cheaper than Mozy. Of course Mozy will keep the backup up-to-date whereas my system is once-per-month, but that’s a tradeoff I can live with.

This past summer I was trying to describe to my family in California this wonderful shamoji (rice spoon) that we’ve been using, but I guess it came out sounding gimicky. I think I mentioned that it had feet which is why it sounded like a toy or something. So I decided a blog post was in order since I really love this shamoji and it deserves a better explanation! We’ve had a few different kinds of shamoji through the years, from a plain black plastic one (used when I was growing up) to a white plastic one with “teeth”, and then shomoji with the small raised dots. The small raised dots work great to keep the rice from sticking. But our latest shamoji goes a step further by having a nice base that it balances on when not in use. This is super-convenient! No longer do you have to look for a place to rest the spoon, whether it’s a spoon holder on the side of the rice cooker, or just laying it on top of something (and getting that something dirty). Even if there are some grains of rice still stuck on the spoon, they won’t get stuck on anything since the spoon is standing vertically. It’s so simple but so convenient. I love it! I’m not sure where you can get one, but I think it is definitely worth the effort to seek one out. Ours looks like a little fish, doesn’t it? Or a smiling cyclops…

Another bonus is that the little clip has holes in it which seem perfect for attaching a cell phone strap. I went through our collection of keitai straps and found this Totoro strap. The colors match nicely, I think! BTW, I gave my other two laptop bags to Bay and Koa. Luckily there was no fighting over who got which one since the each took a liking to different bags. Whew!

On another bag note, I ironed on my Ravenclaw patch to my canvas camera bag. The colors don’t match so well, but I like it anyways.

I’m not a huge fan of the Muppets, but Animal just cracks me up! I’m hoping this movie is good.

There’s a watch store called Mr. Time in my old hometown of Torrance. It’s located on the corner of Sepulveda and Crenshaw and just about always has a “20-50%-Off Sale” sign hanging outside of it. It’s kind of a running joke between myself and Mariko because I always remind her that next time we visit family in California, I’ll buy a new watch. I’d estimate that it’s more like half of the visits we make to Torrance I buy a new watch and the other half of the time I just window shop. Well, this past summer I decided that I wanted to get a watch with a metal wristband. This would be a first for me! I’ve always prefered a black plastic/rubber wristband and the guy at Mr. Time always offers to switch the bands on any watch. When I bought my Waveceptor watch I had him replace the metal wristband with a black one. But I was looking in my drawer that I keep my watches in and I noticed that there were a few in there that were kind of just dead-in-the-water now because the original black wristband had broken and the replacement wristbands either did not exist anymore or didn’t fit too well. Because of this, I decided to go for a metal wristband.

I looked at a few really nice Seiko models but they were too expensive so I fell back on good ol Casio. I like the designs and they are pretty inexpensive. Quality is good as well. The Casio name isn’t going to impress anyone but I like them anyways. The model I decided on isn’t anything special but it does have analog hands and a digital face which I like. It’s also simple to use. I think I can adjust most everything without having to break out the manual, which is something I have to do whenever I want to adjust my Waveceptor. The new watch also has markers for North South East and West, but there’s no actual compass on the watch. The letters do make it look a little more sophisticated at least. It’s also waterproof down to 200 meters.

Like I mentioned above, I’ve never had a watch with a metal watchband before so it took a little while to get used to. But I really like it now and the peace of mind that it will last much longer than the rubber watchbands is a real plus. Now I am thinking about trying to find a metal watchband for my other watches. I bet Mr. Time could help me out. If anyone can do it, he can!