SnapperTalk

June 17th, 2005

RadTech NeoCase

Posted by Ben in Gear

neocase

A long time ago there used to be a laptop case called the “Kensington Wetsuit”… It was made of neoprene wetsuit material like almost every other laptop sleeve on the market - the big difference was that when you opened it up you could actually work on the laptop without removing the case because it opened fully and had straps to keep it in place. They’d stopped making them by the time I got my Powerbook G3 (running at a whopping 333Mhz)… but I managed to import something similar from Japan and for two years the laptop survived all sorts of conditions with not even a scratch. The design was perfect for photographers. But then it became unavailable and for years I could never understand why there are thousands of different laptop sleeves on the market, but no-one had thought to make one in this style such that you can actually work out of it.

Thankfully RadTech has now brought out the NeoCase

UPDATE 28/10/05: Radtech have also released a similar Tekstyl Omni case which one can top-load or operate-in.

June 9th, 2005

R-BGAN Extended coverage

Posted by Ben in Communications, Satphones

BGAN extended coverage

The date for the start of Regional BGAN transition to the Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellite has been set for Saturday, July 9, 2005. What does this mean for end-users?

There will be a much greater coverage area including almost all of Africa (not just above the equator as now) and most of Asia too. It also means that some users may have to upgrade the software in their R-BGAN terminals in order to continue using the service.
Note the warning - “Do not complete the upgrade before the specified date otherwise you will lose service”.

Extended coverage map
Extended coverage map - more detailed [PDF, 429kb]
Instructions on how to make the transition and upgrade terminals

June 8th, 2005

Non-SLR photojournalism

Posted by Ben in Gear, Photojournalism

Speed Graphic/Canon 20D

Interesting article/interview, complete with audio slideshow, over at the NY Times site with David Burnett talking about film vs. digital and why he still likes to shoot with a Speed Graphic, as well as his Canon 20D.

And at Rob Galbraith’s site there’s an article about Magnum photographer Alex Majoli and his use of only Olympus point-and-shoot cameras on assignment - such as the C-8080.