Laterals for the win..

Ξ October 30th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Husted.cc |

Hat Tip to my friend Squidly…

Oh YES, it will be mine…..

Ξ October 20th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Olympus, Photography |

The Olympus E-3. I currently use an Olympus E-500 dSLR and am very happy with it. I’m a big fan of Olympus cameras and the Four-Thirds format in general. The new E-3 is Oly’s new professional body dSLR and the specs meet all my expectations. Olympus’ last professional body is old by technology standards, the E-1, yet is still a very fine camera. I figure a street price in the $1,500 range for the body only, but I will find a way to fund it dammit!

Speed

• World’s fastest autofocus* for quick and precise image capture
• Fully-biaxial high-speed 11-point AF system
• 1/8000th sec. high-speed and high-precision shutter control, X: 1/250
• 5fps sequential shooting with 19 image RAW buffer

Image Quality

• High-performance built-in image stabiliser to stabilise all lenses
  (up to 5 EV steps) with two modes
• High Speed 10 Megapixel Live MOS sensor
• Qualified image processing with new TruePic III
• High image quality with a variety of bright dedicated-to-digital ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses

Live View

• 2.5”/6.4cm multi-angle HyperCrystal LCD for greatest flexibility
• Real-time effect monitoring
• Pre-control over white balance and exposure compensation
• Preview of Shadow Adjustment Technology (SAT)
• 5x/7x/10x magnified view for precise focusing – especially for macro shots

Reliability

• Large viewfinder with professional-level coverage of 100% and 1.15x magnification for accurate image control
• Spotless photography with most effective dust reduction system (Supersonic Wave Filter)
• Splashproof body and lens system
• Professional quality shutter life of 150K operations

Additional features of the Olympus E-3:

• Based on the Four Thirds Standard
• Ergonomic design of body, control buttons and GUI for easy operation
• AE/AF lock functionality for individual customisation
• Second display for Super Control Panel
• ISO 100-3200 for wide-ranging sensitivity
• Accurate white balance with two sensors
• Built-in flash (GN13) and wireless flash control directly from the camera body.
• Wireless flash control in up to 3 groups (separate press release available for Olympus FL-50R and FL-36R flash units)
• High-speed USB 2.0 interface
• High-speed data writing and lossless RAW compression for quick processing
• Simultaneous writing of RAW and JPEG
• Dual memory slot for CompactFlash and xD-Picture Cards
  (incl. support for UDMA High-Speed CF cards and Microdrive)

New accessories for the Olympus E-3:

• Power Grip HLD-4 for ideal portrait shooting and long battery life
• Wireless flash units FL-50R and FL-36R
• Soft rubber dioptre-correcting Eye-cups DE-P3 (+3m-1)
  and DE-N3 (+3m-1)
• Focusing Screen FS-3 grid matte screen dividing image area in 4 x 6 sections. (Purchase & installation via Olympus Service Dept. only)

What a difference a couple of weeks makes…

Ξ October 20th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Football, Hokies, NFL, Seattle Seahawks |

The last time I posted about football, I was pretty up-beat about the Seahawks prospects. They were sitting at 3-1, a botched play from 4-0, and the defense was playing extremely well. Now, they are 3-3 and the offense is a disaster. Injuries to the WR corp including Branch and Hackett have left the passing game spotty and the cast on Alexander’s wrist has him running like Niles Crane. Hopefully the team can pull out a win against the depleted Rams this week and go into the bye week at 4-3 and get a bit healthy. Perhaps get Alexander with the cast off and get Branch and Hackett back into playing form.

College football has been very entertaining this year. It seems like nobody wants to claim the top spots in the rankings. The top 10 teams seem to be “upset” on a regular basis and the Hokies who were once buried out around 20th now have a legitimate shot to shoot up into the top 10, perhaps top 5 if they can pull of an upset of Boston College in Blacksburgh next week. Their offense is still inconsistent and the running game isn’t there, but their special teams is fantastic and the defense is stepping up when it has too.

The leaves are falling, the fall air is cool and refreshing, and there is great football on every weekend with an abundance of choices from games to choose from. I LOVE this time of the year.

Seattle Seahawks

Ξ October 4th, 2007 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Seattle Seahawks |

It’s a quarter of the way through the NFL football season and I haven’t made a post regarding the Seahawks yet! 50 lashes for me.

The Seahawks have not played particularly well on offense, but are still only a gaffed hand-off away from being 4-0. The defense has played extremely strong ‘bend but don’t brake’ football. For example, the ‘Hawks defense is ranked 17th in the NFL for yards given up, however they are ranked 5th for points per game allowed.

I think Matt Hasselbeck has played very well at QB and Deion Branch has really come on strong as the #1 WR. It’s a shame that D.J. Hackett went down with an injury, as I’d really have liked to see how Branch, Hackett, and Engram played in 3WR sets along with Nate Burleson who has also played pretty well this year and is starting to make an impact.

Our running game has been lackluster. I read alot from fans who don’t like the way Shaun Alexander ‘falls down’ or how he collapses before being tackled. Yet, he’s still in the top 10 for running backs in the NFL – all while playing with a cracked left wrist and wearing a cast! I can’t imagine trying to play RB with one arm. He isn’t using his left hand to stiff arm, move the ball to the left side when taking on blockers from the right, etc… yet he is not fumbling the ball. If there is one big criticism for Alexander is that he is not much of a threat out of the backfield at all – even when he isn’t wearing a cast.

This week the ‘Hawks are in Pittsburgh to play the ‘Stealers’.

Coming off from a loss, they’ve probably contributed extra funds to the refs coffers by now!