Top Gloves

Santa brought some inspirational Christmas presents this year. I'd even suspect he might have looked at my Amazon wish list.....These gloves are made for the outdoor sporting community and offered the promise of resistance to rain, dexterity and ability to manage small controls despite being wet. In my experience all of these promises are fulfilled together with one obvious extra. Despite being thin, they also keep your hands warm, doing a  decent job of being wind proof.They are a slim fit and allow the cuff to be tightened in using velcro and once worn are soon forgotten. There haven't been many times that I've needed to take them off to gain dexterity. Removing one Lee Seven5 filter from the holder while leaving one in place was tricky but seemed to get easier.Too soon to comment on how hard wearing they are but so far they seem the ideal glove for photographers working in standard British conditions. I suspect that they may be slipped under large mitts in extreme cold conditions but no opportunity to try as yet.  

Lee Seven5 storage solution

 A quick Google of cases and storage solutions for the Lee Seven5 filter system swiftly reveals many people seeking in vain for a sensible way of keeping their filters safe when in the camera bag.This is particularly so when one owns a rare and valuable Lee Big Stopper which, being glass, is prone to emerging from the camera bag in pieces. Lee themselves have no sensible offering and the alternative manufacturers have yet to decided that the numbers warrant the design and investment in new products.It is easy to find a huge case and even easier to find something that lack the necessary protective qualities. However there seems to be not a  single advertised, usable solution.Enter the humble 2.5" external hard drive case, These are sold for a few pounds on the usual sites and to me seem to do the job very well until a more specialist item appears. One half of the clam shell holds adapter rings while the other holds at least three and perhaps as many as five Lee Seven5 filters. There is little wasted space and I think just about enough protection for the glass filters. I would prefer a specialised model that holds the filters separately and without their Lee wraps but for now this seems a great solution. if anyone has found a better solution, I'd be really keen to hear.

New Year, New Resolution, New Camera...

Just before the end of 2013, I bit the bullet and ditched all my Nikon DX kit in favour of a nice shiny Fuji X-Pro 1. This leaves me with the Nikon FX setup (back of cupboard in the really huge/heavy bag..) compact cameras and the Fuji. The Fuji has the 14mm/18mm/35mm and 18-55mm lenses. All seem good but I'm not yet sure which are functionally redundant or whether all will stay.There is an immediate joy in the small size and weight and for now I'm happy leaving the big stuff behind while I get used to the Fuji. There are already some minor annoyances of which only some seem to have cropped up elsewhere.Once the auto power off has cut in, it takes an age for recovery. It is quicker to just switch off and back on again.The shutter release is very recessed if wearing gloves. I've added soft shutter releases, they work, but fall out with disturbing regularity.I like the feel of the camera, the solid metal body inspires confidence and the generally retro feel is pleasant - there are always going to be echoes of the M series Leicas and in truth they are much better looking cameras. The functions are reasonably intuitive and most controls seem to fall naturally under the finger. I do occasionally find myself accidentally pressing rear buttons when wearing gloves but much less of a problem when not. I appreciate the live histogram while composing and selecting aperture shutter combinations and the newly arrived focus peaking is a joy.For my brand of photography I would have liked to be able either to use an electronic remote release with timer or to be able to set a longer ranger of speeds through the T setting. Offsetting this is the delightful counter that pops up automatically when the b setting is used. I can't believe this would be hard to fix with firmware and would make the whole long exposure process better. One final enhancement would be if the image on the review screen emerged gradually as with the Olympus cameras.Is the X-pro flawless? No. Do I enjoy using it? yes definitely.Am I positive about having let all Nikon DX go? Yes.