SIM Eject Tool

What do you open?

Hidalgo and Metro Manila Camera Shops

# Aperture Trading Corporation
Address: 5th Flr., Prosperity Bldg., 395 Banaue St., Quezon City
Tel: 732-8991, 731-1708
Fax: 741-9743 (telefax)
E: aperturetrade@yahoo.com
Contact: Frank Tsai
Products: Visio, Falcon Eyes, Nikon, Canon, Tamrac, Image Tank, Compact Drive,

Avenue Photo Supply
Address: 712 R. Hidalgo St., Quiapo, Manila
Tel: 733-2761, 733-5474, 734-3307
E: avenue98@info.com.ph
Contact: Wilson Lu
Products: Quantum, Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Slik, China brand lights, Radio receivers, Bulbs, Flash bulbs, Tamron, Tiffen, Domke, Kodak, Fuji, Ilford Film, Widest range of Lighting equiptment in Hidalgo.

Fotohaus
Address: 713 R. Hidalgo St., Quiapo, Manila
Tel: 734-4471, 734-3304 to 05, 733-4565, 733-5531
Fax: 733-5528
E: fotolam@vasia.com
Contact: Lety C. Uy
Products: Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Kodak, Rechargeable batteries, Lamination equiptment, Film, Dry boxes

Henry's Photo Supply
Address: 310 P. Gomez St., Quiapo, Manila
Tel: 733-7723, 734-6198
Fax: 734-4018
E: henryscamera@yahoo.com
Contact: Henry Ong
Products: Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Assorted Studio lighting and lots of batteries

Jerry Tieng
E: jerry@photos.ph
Products: Nikon, Canon, Olympus, good source of 2nd hand Lenses.

JT Photoworld
Address: 1132 Pedro Gil St., Paco, Manila
Tel: 523-4396, 536-6590, 536-6591
Fax: 521-3621
E: inquiry@jtphotoworld.com
Contact: Jerome Tan
Products: Distributes Sigma products, Cameras and Lenses for Nikon, Canon also has Flashes.

Mayer Photo
Address: 111, 113, 115 C. Palanca St., Quiapo, Manila
Tel: 733-7598, 733-7722
Look for: Ramon Ong
Products: Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, good source for high end lenses.

Watson Photo Shop
Address: 312 P. Gomez St., Quiapo, Manila
Tel: 733-7697
Look for: Philip King Tan Tang
Products: Nikon, Canon, Sony, Fuji, Sunpak, Olympus

Updated Website... Again?!?

http://www.randytamayo.com/cf_index.html

Review: Canon EOS 40D Unabridged

After months of feverish anticipation, Canon released in September 2007 the new EOS 40D. It is the fifth generation in Canon's perennially popular prosumer EOS DSLRs.

The 40D advances Canon's mid-range Digital SLR by a big leap forward - making it the no brainer choice for advanced amateur photographers and enthusiasts as well as a second body to the photo professional.

10.1 Megapixels and DIGIC III
The camera sports a 10.1-megapixel CMOS imaging sensor matched by the super-efficient DIGIC III image processor. This is about a 2-megapixel jump from the 30D (and 20D) and now shares the same resolution as the EOS 400D.

The DIGIC III Image Processor is the latest advancement to Canon's proprietary DIGIC technology which delivers superior image quality, ultra-responsive performance and extended battery life. DIGIC III also is said to provide a speedier interface to the memory card.

6.5 FPS
A big news for most is the.5 frames per second shooting mode. This lets you capture bursts of up to 75 Large/Fine JPEGs or 17 RAW images. Using a 2GB Sandisk Ultra II CF card, I managed to capture 18 RAW images in burst before the camera slowed down. For JPEGs, I stopped shooting after I hit about 10 seconds shooting non-stop in hi-speed burst. With the 1.6x FOV crop that 'lengthens' the reach of telephoto lenses combined with the rapid-firing 6.5 frames a second, sports photographers and birders will love this camera. Wedding photographers won't go wrong with this one either. While we won't all be Henri Cartier-Bressons, this snappy offering from Canon gives us more opportunities to catch that 'decisive moment.'

3-inch LCD
The 40D borrows the 3-inch LCD of its bigger cousin the Canon 1D Mark III. It is bright and images are clear and visible even in daylight. The color on the LCD is also one of the best as far as Canon camera LCDs are concerned. The image colors on the LCD almost always appear similar when viewed on a calibrated monitor. With the large LCD space, there is now room to allow you to view the RGB and Luminosity histograms at the same time.

There are reports that the LCD of the 40D shows soft images. It does not mean that the captured images are soft pre se but on the contrary, the captured images are tack sharp. My theory about the "soft looking" LCD images stem from the smallish thumbnail the camera generates to display the captured image. The thumbnail generator seems to be producing small thumbnails that are a little soft for mosts taste. I say that it must be the thumbnail because images on the LCD when in Live View are very sharp. So when you do some elimination, the images are sharp when viewed on the computer, the LCD is sharp when in Live View but the image appear soft on the LCD when previewing, it could only be the thumbnails.

When shooting in the field this could be deceiving as you are presented with soft images but what you really have are sharp images.

Viewfinder and Autofocus
The 40D boasts of an improved viewfinder. For the first time in a prosumer EOS DSLR camera, the ISO can now be seen in the viewfinder. The 40Ds viewfinder is also slightly bigger and brighter than the previous model it replaces.

Aside from the improved viewfinder, Canon also made the focus points more sensitive making focusing faster even when using slower lenses.

The auto-focus points retain the 9-point diamond layout of the 30D. Another new feature of the 40D is the ability to use interchangeable focusing screens. You can opt to replace the standard Precision Matte screen with a Grid-Type focus screen to make your rule-of-thirds/golden mean compositions easier or a Super-Precision Matte screen to make manual focusing so much sweeter.

Sensor Cleaning
First introduced with the 400D, Canon's Integrated Cleaning System also made it's way to the 40D. The cleaning works by making the anti-alias filter vibrate in ultrasonic movements to shake off dust particles and grime that cling to the filter. The cleaning which takes about 2 seconds each time and it happens when you power-up the camera and when you shut it down. It can also be called upon manually whenever you want to do some ultrasonic cleaning.

Aside from the ultrasonic integrated cleaning system, the 40D also has dust mapping built into the camera. This allows you to pinpoint which part of the sensor has dust and the Canon DPP software that comes with the camera will later use that data to 'remove' the dust from the images. And finally, there is still the good-old manual way to do it using your favorite dust blower and/or sensor swab (not recommended.)

Live View
Another feature the 40D shares with the 1D Mark III is Live View. Live View turns the 40Ds 3-inch LCD display into an electronic viewfinder - almost as if it were a point and shoot camera. The Live View mode of the 40D is more advanced than the Live View mode of either the 1D Mark III or the 1Ds Mark III as it allows you to enable auto-focus even when in Live View mode. Its 1-series cousins does not allow you to auto-focus while in Live View mode.

When the 40D was with me, I did not get to use the Live View feature much aside from checking that it really does auto-focus with it activated; and for showing the feature to a friend who asked what Live View was. I was concerned about a couple of things. Sensor Heat and Noise. We all know that keeping the sensor 'On' for an extended period of time causes the sensor to heat up. And a hot sensor will generally make noisier images than a colder sensor. This is similar to the reason you run noise reduction on your image after doing a long/bulb exposure, like say a night shot.

With that in mind, Live View is more of a novelty and a use-only-once-in-a-while feature.

Some Weather Sealing
Weather sealing is now also starting to inch its way to the lower-end models of Canon's DSLR line-up. This feature used to be solely in the territory of the 1-series EOS DSLRs. Not even the EOS 5D has it. In the 40D, Canon opted to weather proof the battery door and CF compartment.

And while we are speaking of the CF card compartment, the 40D no longer shuts down without warning when you open the CF door and making you lose data, unlike previous models. If the camera is currently writing data to the CF card and you open the CF door, the camera makes a beeping sound and warns you that data is still being written unto the CF card. This should give you enough warning to delay for a few moments popping the CF card out and replacing it with a fresh one.

Handling
Canon reduced the size of their mid-range DSLR starting with the 20D. The 30D saw further reduction in cameral volume. The 40D however brought back the volume of the camera to 10D sizes. It is also a close size to the 5D. For some, the size may be too big and too heavy - especially for smaller hands. For me, it handles very well and makes perfect balance with my EF24-70L f/2.8 and EF70-200L f/2.8 - even without a battery-grip. It has some heft into it but it gives you that feeling of a finely built and rugged, sturdy camera.

Image Quality and Color Fidelity
The new buzz in DSLRs is the use of a 14-bit A/D converter. In theory this increases the number of colour and luminance values available four times! This should mean smoother tonalities and less banding especially when extending the dynamic range of an image.

Also, an new addition to Canon's file formats is sRAW. It is basically a RAW file, only smaller. In sRAW mode, the number of pixels is reduced to one-fourth that of a standard RAW image and the file size is cut in half, while retaining all of the flexibility and creative possibilities associated with full-size, conventional RAW images.

With the brief time I had with the 40D, I can say that the images it produces are excellent which goes without saying that it leverages the industry-leading results Canon has given its faithful users the past 6 years. Images coming from the 40D can hold their own beside images coming from a 5D, which is the current benchmark for DSLR image quality across all ISO ranges. The colors coming from the camera are wonderful - even in the standard setting.

A few rainy days with a state-of-the-art camera does not really do it justice. In spite of that, I fell in-love with the camera so much I did not want to return it. I was making petty excuses just to hold off returning the camera for a few more days. I shall soon get one for myself.

Leopard Boot Camp: Change NTFS Volume Name

Ok so you have Leopard and have installed Windows Vista on Boot Camp.

Problem is, whenever you go to you Mac OS X OS, you see an Untitled drive on your desktop and no matter how much you click on it to change its name, it won't allow you. Not even Get Info will do the trick. Annoying isn't it?

So what do you do now?

You can either unmount it. Or...

Hide it... Or...

Change it's name... in Vista.

Here is what you do:

1. Boot into Vista (or XP)
2. Open Windows Explorer
3. Right-Click your Boot Camp drive
4. Select Properties
5. Put a meaningful name to your Drive (I put "Vista" on mine)
6. Re-boot back to Mac OS X and you should have a new name for you Boot Camp drive.

Apple Macbook Pro 15" 2.2Ghz

I upgraded my 3-year old plus Titanium laptop to a new Apple MacBook Pro last Sunday.


It is definitely overdue. And definitely worth it.

I got the entry level 15" MBP. It ought to be enough for my needs.

Specs:
15.4" LED Backlit Widescreen LCD
2,2GHz Core 2 Duo (Santa Rosa)
120GB HD
2GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 128MB card
iSight
Keyboard lighting

With Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard of course!

More here:
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro

What can I say, I am a Mac nut.

Canon EOS 40D

I succumbed to upgrading my 400D to a higher end 40D.

This should give me enough power to do whatever it is I need to do.

Here are a few stuff from the camera:
10.1 megapixels
DIGIC III
3.0" LCD
14-bit imager
6.5FPS
Self Cleaning Sensor
Live View Mode
9-point AF

A review will be out soon - by me of course.

I was considering getting an Apple iPhone previously but decided to upgrade my cam instead.

15" MBP 2.2Ghz + Canon EOS 40D

'nuff said.

On The 1st Of October 2007

Glorietta.

Slim And Lite And White

Ahem.

Retirement: Close Your Eyes...

From:
Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by.
It's not about living forever. It's about living with yourself forever.

To:
If I wasn't mad, this would probably never work.
Thank goodness for that!

Review: Canon M80 Unabridged

In September of 2006, Canon launched the portable Canon Media Storage Viewer M30 and M80 with Canon EOS photographers in mind.

Both units feature a huge 3.7” TFT screen at VGA (640x480 pixels) with 160º viewing angle for image and video viewing. It uses 18-bits to render color with a screen contrast ratio of 250:1. The M30 comes with a 30Gb hard drive and the M80 comes with 80Gb to store digital images, movie and sound files in varying file formats. They both have a USB 2.0 Hi-Speed interface and slots for CF and SDHC cards.

The unit I have is the higher capacity model. With its tough magnesium alloy bodie and a navigation system very familiar to EOS owners, the devices add a vital link to the workflow of professional photojournalists and location and outdoor photographers.

In the box, the unit itself; the BP511A battery and charger with cables; a pouch; a stand (M80 only); A/V cable; and the manuals (simple manual is printed, the advanced manual is in the CD in PDF.)

The M80 looks absolutely lovely for a product that looks so manly. It is in matte black with a rubber grip on the right side. Several buttons are logically laid out at the sides of the huge screen which takes up most of the M80s face. On top is the built-in speaker; the USB, headphone and power ports behind a plastic cap; and the quick backup button. The right side of the M80 has to latches where a lanyard can be placed.
The bottom side has the SD and CF ports as well as the battery door latch.

Navigating around.
As mentioned earlier, the buttons has the familiar EOS DSLR layout. The left edge has the Menu, Info and Delete buttons. The Menu button shows the related options in the section you are in in the device. The Info button cycles through the various viewing modes while previewing images. It has the plain view (no information is displayed; the luminosity histogram view; and the basic view which shows the file name, date of the shot; image size etc.

The right edge has the zoom out and zoom in buttons; the 4-way navigator with the Set button in the middle; the Cancel button; the direct print via PictBridge button and the On/Off/Hold switch. The zoom-out and zoom-in buttons works the same way as the EOS DSLRs. The 4-way navigation button allows you to navigate around menus; scroll through image lists; and pan around an image in zoom view. The Set button activates your choice. Cancel is used to cancel processes as well as go back to a higher level menu.

When the M80 is turn on, you are brought to the Home menu. From the Home menu you can opt to: do a backup; preview images; play music; play movies or change the M80s settings.

Doing a Backup.
This is half of the main purpose of the M80. It allows you to store the images you have in your memory card so that you can re-use it in case you need to take more photos.
There are 2 general ways to do a backup. First is with the memory card in the M80, press the Backup button at the top of the device for 2 seconds. It will automatically do a full backup of the memory card in place. The second way it to go to the Home menu and manually select to do the backup. You are asked if you wish to backup all the images in the memory card or backup the selected ones only.

A backup of a 2Gb Sandisk Ultra II compact flash card takes almost 8 minutes without verification. With verification, the time is almost doubled. For those anal about data integrity, there is an option to verify the data backed up. This option is turned on by default but you can cancel the verification after the backup if you wish. There is also a Setup option to turn off verification.

The backup automatically creates folders where the files are saved. The folders are named by date of back-up and an incremental extension name for the number of the backup for the day. The M80 does not check if the memory card has already been backed up.

Previewing Images.
This mode is the other half of the M80. This is where you view the images already stored in the M80. It is not meant to replace a properly calibrated screen, rather it provides a larger than camera LCD preview for the images you have taken. You can view JPG, TIFF as well sa Canon Camera RAW files which you can zoom for up to 6 zoom levels. There is a slight lag at the first image zoom level but the succeeding levels are fairly better.

This is obviously a Canon product and as such, it cannot display RAW files for non Canon cameras. So potential users should check if their camera RAW files work with this product from Canon.

When previewing images, you can cycle through the different viewing modes mentioned above using the Info button. At this point you can also delete unwanted images or have them directly printed to a compitable printer. The direct print button requires that a USB printer is connected for it to function, otherwise, it is just a functionless button on the M80.

Playing Movies and Music.
For the true multimedia experience, Canon added the capability of playing both movies and music on the M80. The M80 plays music MP3s and Wave (WAV) files. You can either play it through the built in speaker or using a headphone. For movies, it plays MPEG 1/2/4 and Motion JPEG. It does not however play DivX or Quicktime movies. You can also view movies and images on a TV with a supplied A/V cable.

Device Options.
The M80 has tons of settings you can modify to tweak the device to your liking. In the Display options, it allows you to set the LCD brightness and the length of time it takes before the LCD powers down to save energy. The Backup option allows you to set if you intent to also format the memory card after the backup as well as turn the backup verification on or off. It also allows you to set the language and the date and time for the device.

There is also an option to verify the integrity of the hard drive as well as format it. With regular use of this feature, you should be able to check the reliability of the M80. There is also an option to set a security PIN to secure your device from prying eyes.

Battery and Battery Life.
The M80 uses the common Canon DSLR battery the BP511A. It is the same battery used by the EOS 20D, EOS 30D, EOS 5D and other Canon accessories. On paper, Canon claims that you can download 37 1GB compact flash cards and 32 1GB SD cards into the device. It also says an average of 4.5 hours playing audio. The M80 obviously cannot replace your portable music player with its less than 5 hours playing time.

Conclusion.
This is Canons first foray into a portable media storage device. I can say that Canon is taking baby steps at this point. Much in the same way when they released the Canon D30 October 2000. And in s span of 7 years, Canon has improved by leaps and bounds. I can say the same thing for the Canon M80. It is first generation for a product with several competitors in the market who led the bandwagon long before Canon thought they would take the same path.

It does what it is required to do. And then some. After a week with the device, I can see several points where Canon can improve it: faster image viewing; faster backup times; RGB histogram; histogram overlayed on the image at any magnification (on demand histogram); headphone jack outside the ports hatch; support for more movie formats; support for 8Gb plus memory cards.

ReadMe

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

Jack Spade

There is this Jack Spade bag I have been so wanting for as long as I can remember. I was not getting it as it was a tad below 5000 Php.

Well, I finally got it over the weekend. I got the chocolate color. It's super nice.


Now I want the full leather version.

I also got a Nokia 6300. Loving it so far. Thin and it comes in metal.

mJ

Shot using a borrowed Nokia N95.

Si Joan.

Mukha akong mestizo. Sabi ko. Kapal. Bleeh!

Hey Now, The Dream IS Over

It is one of the times when you can't fight fire with fire.

Let's just say, I fell short of her expectations. So to speak.

Hey now, the dream is over.

On YES!

Thank you so much. I will do my best and promise never to hurt you.

Compromise

We do it her way with the following terms:
1. A proper introduction is due
2. Honesty is a requirement

If #1 gets a "funny idea" my terms apply to the specific.


Caveat:
Since there is no binding relationship, the above agreement is basically moot and academic.

But she agreed.

:scratches head:

Back to the negotiating table.

LSS

There is freedom within, there is freedom without
Try to catch the deluge in a paper cup
Theres a battle ahead, many battles are lost
But youll never see the end of the road
While youre travelling with me

Now Im towing my car, theres a hole in the roof
My possessions are causing me suspicion but theres no proof
In the paper today tales of war and of waste
But you turn right over to the t.v. page

Now Im walking again to the beat of a drum
And Im counting the steps to the door of your heart
Only shadows ahead barely clearing the roof
Get to know the feeling of liberation and relief

Hey now, hey now
Dont dream its over
Hey now, hey now
When the world comes in
They come, they come
To build a wall between us
Dont ever let them win

Re-Post: Lonely No More

The last. Didn't last.

I, Stupid

To honestly believe I could love and be loved.


Alone still, and waiting. The loneliness and the biting cold are very dear friends. Oh, and the last Harry Potter book (Deathly Hallows) is keeping me company too.

Officemates

...No-No.

2 answers. Both negative. As if to drive the point straight home.

So it is back to square one, I guess.



- Closing my eyes and pretending it is all a bad dream.

Mental Notes

*When should the past weigh more the the future?

*When are friends dearer than loved ones?

*Why can't there be only one?

Happiness Ends Here

she: i can't bear seeing you leaving...

he: and i can't bear losing you to your friends...

she: parang ang hirap ng gusto mong ipagawa sa akin. nabibigla ako.

she (cont): alam mo kung talagang wala sa akin you have to trust me. anyway, magkaiba tayo. thank you.

he: the thing is i've already trusted a girl who said there was nothing between she and her friend. mag asawa na sila ngayon at lonely pa rin ako.

he (cont): alam ko mahirap gawin. it is a necessary evil. but it is the utmost show of loyalty. like i said, it only takes one other guy or girl to ruin it all. nyt. luv you.

Days Of Future Past

They say living in what might have been is like driving a car with the foot on the brakes while you are looking at the rear view mirror with the gas tank empty. You wonder why you are not moving forward yet you are looking at the wrong direction.

Shit happens. Sometimes it is us who caused it. Other times it is because there is evil in this world. But know this, bad things happen to good people.

Just think of it this way: When you were not able to get the good one in the past, you are given a chance to get a better one in the future.

And that's what I do. When pretending it's all bad dream does not seem to get me by.

Ghost In The Closet: Ex-Re-Animation

I still remember when the burning started.

The supposedly "friendly" SMS messages. She does this. And it scares the shit out of me. Paranoia I guess.

Then again, I was paranoid then, and it came back at me clawing and biting. I just wished she'd stop. So I am still paranoid now.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. So they say.

You Never Really Not Love

I was under the impression that loving for me is close to impossible. And so I thought.

Not true.

I recently found out that there is still love in me. And lots of it.

Honey, I know you read my blog. Know that I love you. As much as you love me.

Lonely No More

The last. At last.

Retirement: A.I.I.

From:
A.I.I: She Who Brings Warmth When It Is Cold
The warm air that melts away the cold left by a love best forgotten. The flaming coal that softens even the hardest steel to re-forge even Excalibur.

To:
Close your eyes and pretend it's all a bad dream. That's how I get by.
It's not about living forever. It's about living with yourself forever.

Review: Epson P-3000 Unabridged

"An essential tool for the professional photographer." That is how Epson decribes the Epson Multimedia Storage Viewer P-3000.

Featuring the world's first 4-color LCD to deliver Adobe RGB support, the Epson P-3000 is the perfect pair for any digital SLR camera. The Epson P-3000 enables users to store and play-back photos, music and videos without the need of a computer. It features a 4-inch LCD with a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels that displays over 16.7 millions colors more than twice as fast as the model it replaces.

True to its name, the Epson P-3000 is a multimedia powerhouse. It is able to display JPEG and RAW camera files and play MP3, WMA, ACC music files as well as DivX, MPEG1/2, MPEG4, WMV9 and Quicktime h.264 video formats. It also takes an assortment of Compact Flash (CF), Secure Digital (SD) and MultiMedia Cards (MMC), for other storage formats (like xD or Memory Stick) a CF adapter is needed. Images on the device are downloaded to the computer via High-Speed USB 2.0 but is also backwards compatible to the older and slower USB 1.1. On top of that, the Epson P-3000 sports a USB port that allows direct download of files from a camera, an external hard drive and a USB thumbdrive to it. That pretty much covers the stuff on paper, but how does it perform in the real world?

Opening the box reveals the warranty cards and manual for the device. Underneath the removable carton rack, the Epson P-3000 is wrapped in a bubble wrap sleeve. Also in the box is the lanyard, neoprene sleeve, battery, USB cable, charger, and charger outlet cord (which in my unit is for the Japanese market.)

Looking at the unit, it is bulkier than the previous models but it is definitely smaller than a 12" laptop. The 4-inch screen takes most of the face of the device. To the right of the screen are the control keys and the Hold and Power On/Off switch. On top are the media slots and headphone port; and hidden under rubber flaps on the left side are the USB ports and the A/C port. There is also a blue light on the left side to indicate activity in the device. At the the right bottom side is the battery door latch.

Buttons
The left side of the screen contains all the navigation and menu options to control the device. There is a 4-way ring that allows you to traverse menu options or image thumbnails with an OK button set in the center of it. On top of the 4-way ring are two buttons marked with a minus and plus sign respectively which function as the zoom-in and zoom-out buttons when viewing images or the volume control when viewing movies.

Below the 4-way ring is the Back button that allows you to go back to the previous menu or cancel from viewing an image or movie or from listening to music. Under that is the Menu button which displays the options related to the current viewing mode. Below that is the Display button which cycles you through the various display modes. And the last button in front in the Star button. It allows you to rate your music, movies and or photos from 1 to 5 stars.

To the edge of the right is the Power/Hold button. You slide the switch Down to turn on or off the unit and slide the switch Up to put it on Hold, it clicks into place. Putting it on hold disables all the buttons to prevent accidental pressing. Sliding the button down releases the Hold. Under the rubber flaps on the left side are the A/V Out port, USB Host port, USB Slave port, Reset Button and the A/C port.

Powering up the unit, the Epson logo takes the screen and then goes straight to the main menu. Gone is the icon based menu of the P-2000/P-4000; what there is now is a text based vertical menu with options for music, video, photos, backup, memory card, USB device and settings.

Music
This menu allows you to play the music files you loaded into the device. The quickest way to load music is to connect the Epson P-3000 to the computer via USB. On a Mac it mounts as another drive and you can then drag your music files to the Music folder. When you go to the music menu option, it will then ask you if you want to create a playlist of the music files. One caveat is that you need to use the Epson Link2 software that comes in the Epson P-3000 hard drive.

Videos
Loading videos is similar to loading music files with the exception that the files should be places in the videos folder - sub folders are allowed. There are several file formats it supports as mentioned earlier. The video files recognized by the Epson P-3000 will have the label VIDEO on them while unrecognized video formats will have a big question mark icon. Video files can be deleted in the device via the Menu button. As with the music function, the volume of the built-in speaker is quite low when watching movies.

Photos
Photos are also loaded the same way and it allows the organization of photos by using sub-folders. This menu option is where images shown to clients, collegues and/or friends is displayed. What is immediately noticeable is that the Epson P-3000 screen is optimzed for the 3:4 image aspect ratio instead of the 2:3 image aspect ratio more common to the 135mm camera formats.

A nifty feature to the photos folder is that by default, the Epson P-3000 generates a background displaying thumbnails of the selected sub-folder contents so that there is no need to go into the folder and look at whats inside. Genius!

Once inside the selected folder, pressing Display cycles through list, small thumbails and large thumbnails views. This also works in the backup folders. The left and right points on the 4-way ring cycle through the images and when zoomed in, it pans around the image. The best viewing mode for me is the large thumbnail mode as it shows the image file type, a preview and the filename.

Backup
This menu option contains all the folders of the images from the camera loaded into the device arranged by date and download number. The Epson P-3000 is built around this feature. Unlike other viewers that were designed to play multimedia files with a photostorage feature, the Epson P-3000 was designed primarily as a photo storage device with a plethora of multimedia features thrown in.

Upon inserting a media to the Epson P-3000, it automatically displays a menu asking whether to download the contents of the media or to simply browse through its contents.

Backing up a Sandisk Ultra II 2GB CF card with 1.9GB of images takes almost 5 minutes to complete. After completing, the screen is filled up with the small thumbnails of the images just downloaded. And you can now start reviewing them or start using the CF again. Deleting images or folders is available by pressing the Menu button in the device.

The Epson P-3000 will warn you that the backup process may not complete if it determines that the battery charge is too low. It does not give you an option though to cancel the backup process at this point. It still proceeds to backing up the media which you can then cancel. At this point a new folder is already created and depending on how soon you pressed the Back button to cancel the download, images already got transferred and you would have to delete the newly created folder if you did not want the incomplete backup. Of note, even with the warning message before the backup process, the Epson P-3000 still was able to transfer not one, not two but 4 2GB of data to it. When dowloading and the battery dies, it stops where the last file was being transferred. I was shooting for a 5th 2GB download but the Epson P-3000 shut down after loading 98MB. So be warned, your mileage may vary. When in doubt, re-charge.

To note, the Epson P-3000 does not recognise if the media has already been backed-up. If you remove the media after backup and re-insert it again, it will ask you if you wish to do a backup. If you select yes, it creates another folder and downloads the media contents. The idea may seem odd as it uses excessive space but in terms of having an incremental backup of the cards, it becomes a temporary storage space waste well appreciated.

When viewing images, the Epson P-3000 allows you to zoom into JPEG files up to 400% (full image, 25%, 50%, 100%, 200% and 400%) while RAW files get zoom up to 100% (full image, 25%, 50%, 100%) although not all RAW files seem to have the 25% zoom. Zooming RAW files is a new feature for the Epson P-3000 which was not present in the earlier models. Pressing the Display button cycles through displaying the current image only (default), with filename or with the EXIF data including a Luminosity histogram. Moving to another image takes you back to the default viewing mode which is image only.

Memory Card
This menu option allows you to manually backup or browse the contents of the media inserted. This is used when you cancelled the pop menu when the media was freshly inserted to the device. It has the same options as when inserting a media card to one of the slots.

USB Device
The USB Device menu option allows you to plug a USB thumb drive, a powered external hard drive or another camera directly to the Epson P-3000 and download all or selected contents of the connected device. The connected device must be formatted in FAT or FAT32 to be recognised.

Backed-up data are also located in the Backup menu option. You can opt to display unsupported files to display non-image, non-music and non-supported video files in your backup folder and USB Device as this allows you to verify the files available and that you have indeed created a backup of the files you need.

Just for fun, I connected my Sony PSP to the P3000 wih a USB cable, set the PSP to USB Connection and the Epson P-3000 to USB Device mode and what do you know, I can browse the contents of the memory stick in the PSP on the Epson P-3000!!!

Settings
This menu option lets you customize the Epson P-3000. It allows you the set the date and time, language, a wallpaper, set the beep tones, display brightness, LCD color mode (sRGB or aRGB), video mode. It also allows you to check the usage of the hard drive. What would be a nice addition is a check on how much battery life is left in minutes or in a ratio. There are other option you can set in the setting menu.

Viewing On The TV
One of the ports of the Epson P-3000 is an A/V out port. This allows you to view your images or movies on a TV. Handy when you want to show off your portfolio to a larger crowd and a telly is available.

As you can see, the Epson P-3000 is truly a mutimedia device. The only thing lacking would be wireless connection (in the future maybe.)

Holding the device is easy as the back panel sports a rib which also serves as its foot when set on the table and it allows for a better grip to the device. It looks and feels rugged enough but I won't advice that you drop this on any hard (or wet) surface.

With digital SLR resolution rapidly going bigger, portable on-site storage solutions is becoming more of a necessity than a luxury. Although the Epson P-3000 will not replace your camera storage media, it allows you to have less of them. Aside from that, it allows you to shoot more images especially on long-haul haul shoots where more shots need to be taken than that is available with your CF/SD/MMC cards.

In cases where you have enough media to fit the whole shoot, the Epson P-3000 provides a secondary data storage for redundancy with a lovely preview screen to quickly scan through the images you have just taken.

If I have to nitpick on the device, it would be the following things:
1. The interface could be a little faster when moving from one option to the other.
2. The rubber flaps on the power and connections ports should open going down towards the back instead of going up towards the LCD. It always gets in the way and I really have to look at the device sideways to determine that I am plugging the right plug to the right port.
3. The Epson Link2 software could use a little more usability and interface work. And the holy grail would be to enable me to sync my iTunes music to my Epson P-3000 including my playlists.
4. A belt attachment for the neoprene sleeve would be nice.

Other than that, with a 4-inch clear and vibrant LCD capable of displaying the whole Adobe RGB color gamut with 40GB of storage in a handy package, the Epson Multimedia Storage Viewer P-3000 truly is an essential tool for the professional photographer.

10-20

When you finally
found someone you
want to spend
your life with,
wouldn't you want
to spend it
with her right away?

PSP 3.51 M33

Dark Alex the author or the OE-x firmwares left the PSP scene very abruptly.

There are however several people who are trying to fill the shoes he left. One of the is M33. Here is their 3.51 update: http://psp-news.dcemu.co.uk/psp-custom-firmware-v3-51-m33-68592.html

Homebrew lives.

Silence

Whoa, tagal ko nang walang may sinabi...

Toys For The Big Boys

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM

Epson Multimedia Storage Viewer P-3000

Dream Two

Epson Photo Viewer P-3000

The dreaming ends here.

EF24-70 Focus Test

Looks good!

Dream One

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

Amen. 'Nuff said.

Looking For: Epson P-3000

I went around looking for one this PM.

@V: PS1
me (to guy1 at the V entrance): hi, do you have the Epson Photo Viewer P-3000?
guy1: (looks at the Epson Printer Boxes)...
me: no, it is not a printer
guy2 (interrupting): sir, it is by order...
me: ok, if i order what do i need?
guy2: sir, it is 29995, it is 6 mos, zero interest, but you have to make a deposit of 2K refundable when you pick it up it will be available in 3 working days
me (talking to himself): hmm, how come Mr J.A., did not have to give d/p?
me (cont): ok, let me get back to you...

@E: PS1
me (to girl): hi, do you have the Epson P-3000 Photo Viewer?
girl: sir, we have HP. it is cheaper
me: no, I want the Epson one
girl: sir, we only have HP and Creative.
me: ok, thanks

@SV: PS1
me (to girl): hi, do you have the Epson Photo Viewer P-3000?
girl: (looks at the Epson Printer Boxes)...
me: no, it is not a printer
girl: sir, sorry, we do not have what you are looking for
me: ok, thanks

@V: MM
me (to guy at the V counter): hi, do you have the Epson Photo Viewer P-3000?
guy: (looks at the Epson Printer Boxes)...
me: no, it is not a printer, it is Photo Viewer
guy: sir, let me check the stocks
[guy comes out with a bunch of index cards]
guy (cont): sir, its 29995.
me: is it still 6mos 0 interest?
guy (calls the store supervisor and gets back to me): yes sir!
me: what do I need to do?
guy: you need 2K downpayment
me (curious): hmm, how come my friend got it here with no downpayment?
guy: is your friend Mr. J.A.?
me: yes, he is
guy: sir, you still need d/p
[supervisor interrupts]
sv: sir, it is really like that, you need to make d/p before we place the order, we will refund it back.
me: ok, thanks, let me think about it...

@EPSON SR: MM
me: hi, where can I get an Epson Photo Viewer P-3000?
guy: sir, we do not have it here
me: i know, so which store should I order it from?
guy: sir, try Infomax, I saw one on display there
me: is their unit Epson PH warrantied?
guy: smirk
me: where can I get a P-3000 with an Epson PH warranty?
guy: sir, try SV or V, but it is by order...
me: ok, thanks!

@SV: MM
me (to girl): hi, do you have the Epson Photo Viewer P-3000?
girl (shouting): where is my Epson folder?!?
girl (comes back with folder): sir, how does it look like?
me: like that (pointing to Creative Archos)
girl: sir, how is it used?
me: you use it by inserting the CF card into it and it downloads the CF contents to the P-3000 HD
girl: oh, here it is, sir, it is P-2000
me: i want the P-3000
girl: sir, sorry, we only have P-2000, i can call the warehouse to ask if we have stocks
me: thanks, but nevermind, im looking for another model...

*Im such a cheapskate I know. I just couldn't get myself to shell out the 2K d/p. Haha... Well, not if others can get it with no d/p at all...

Im still looking for a P-3000. Then again, maybe, it is really not for me.

I sure had a good laugh today looking for one.

PSP: 3.40 OE-A Here We Go!!!

Get the original Sony FW here:
http://us.playstation.com/PSP/Downloads/SystemUpdate/pc.html

Get 3.40 OE-A updater here:
http://exophase.com/files/psp/340_oea.rar

You know the drill - except this time you name the 3.40
EBOOT.PBP to 340.PBP

PS: You should by now already have Sony FW 1.50 somewhere, right? You need that too.

Canon Stuff

Canon EOS 400D 1.0.5 Firmware update:
http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/eosdigital3/e4kr3_firmware-e.html

Canon Picture Styles:
http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/picturestyle/

Canon Software Updates:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=DownloadIndexAct

Change Location

27F / Tower 1 / RCBC Plaza / Makati City / The Philippines

Vier Und Dreisig

Vier Und Dreisig

Adobe Creative Suite 3 Now?

I found the following images on the web. And the product is supposed to be launched first week of May 2007. Man, they are fast.

Happy Birthday Kux

12 April 2007

Hi Kux,

It is that time of the year again when, whether you like it or not, you have to turn another page. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
{LOTSA HUGZ [KISSES OPTIONAL]}

I know the past year was not like the one before it. You went back to school, LAW SCHOOL.

OK, let me take back what I said earlier that last year was not like the one before it... in my books, it is somewhat similar... you are still the hardest person to get a hold of... - it stresses me the way you suddenly go 'dark' - unreachable...

Well at least I know that the girl I know now is still the knew I knew then.

So my dearest, here is to another great year ahead!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Still, with lot's of love,
Randy

PS: Remember, the light at the end of the tunnel maybe you.

Casualties of 2007 Elections?

And what did the constitution say on the Philippine Flag again?

Shot taken on April 9, 2007 (Araw ng Kagitingan/Bataan Day - how ironic) in front of San Fernando Cathedral in Pampanga, as some people were preparing for an event later in the day.

Speed Cubing

This is my Speed Cubing stats. I sure hope on improving it.

The timer I used is here: http://rubiks.tw/timer/timer.php

The timer gives you by default a 25-move scramble for the default 3x3 Rubik's Cube. Scramble the Cube as given by the code (the bold upper case letters in the page.) You then press your computers Space Bar to give you a 15-second countdown review (no solving yet) then when it reaches zero, solve the Cube as fast as you can and press the Space Bar when finished. No cheating!!!

Here is a screen of the start:


Here is a screen of my best time (04.06.07):

History:
94.7 seconds - 04-03-07
115.7 seconds - 04.01.07

That time is crappy at best... and is nowhere near the times logged by my officemates - they who influenced me to take up the game (Pap-C and Jeff) - the two, log times in the less than 25-second ballpark area. Pap-C's personal best is at 15 seconds I am told.

I guess I have to go back again and again to that Joel van Nort file Pap-C gave me...

exGMA

As of 1800 HRS 30-MAR-2007. Kapuso no more.

Rubik Studio: Buvos Kocka

I piggy-backed on a couple of officemates who ordered Rubik's Cubes about a month ago. The cubes come from Budapest, Hungary - where the original cube was invented by Erno Rubik.

They say that a Rubik Studio cube is the original of the originals. I got 2.




I have some Rubik Studio cube porn in my mobile phone and will upload them as soon as I figure out how to enable the BT on my laptop. The images were taken while my officemate lubed the cube for me.

As promised, Rubik Studio pr0n:

5 Million Dollar Home

Long have I used a bag not designed for photography equipment for my photogear. I was using a North Face messenger bag for that purpose previously, and padding was a big problem. That ended yesterday when I got a Crumpler 5 Million Dollar Home photo bag.

Just big enough to fit a camera body and 2 lenses (3 if you manage to mount a lens on the camera that fits the compartment.)


It looks mighty cool!

Movie: Pathfinder

An action-adventure set in the time when Vikings tried to conquer North America, "Pathfinder" tells the heroic story of a young Norse boy left behind after his clan shipwrecks on the Eastern shores. Despite his lineage, the boy is raised by the very Indians his kinsmen set out to destroy. Now, as the Vikings return to stage another barbaric raid on his village, the 25 year-old Norse warrior wages a personal war to stop the Vikings' trail of death and destruction. Forging his own path, his destiny is revealed and his identity re-claimed.

Three of Five Stars.