Sorry for the long wait for an update. Internet in Italy is rather slow and I was not around the computer much.
Lots of exploring to do here.
I have now arrived in Paris to spend some time and shoot it extensively.
Today was the famous French Bastille day. The military parade was amazing. Photos to come soon.

Having the right camera strap is – for us photographers – like the search for the holy grail. Most of them truly suck.
However I believe I have found it so read on.

I have had it for a while, but usually I do not do street photography, and my camera is mounted on my Gitzo tripod most of the time.
So I never really used it much. A guy on my Antarctica trip had one, and told me about it and I have to tell you, after using it for a day I have come to love it!

You wear it diagonally across and the camera sort of hangs to your side…attached to a screw and some sort of hook. Sounds flimsy, but works perfectly. No chance of losing the camera or having it ripped off your shoulder.
When you then pull it up to your face, it sort of runs along the cord it is attached to, which is so cool.
It is the quickest way to draw your camera, promised. When you are done, just let it hang down at your side again and this is where it stays.
The mechanism is so simple, it is hard to imagine, that no one thought of it a long time ago.
Price is rather high (and I believe the increased it recently). You have to fork up $54 for it plus shipping, however I really believe it is worth it. If you are still looking for the right camera strap – and I know you do -  look no further.

Will post a few shots from here soon.

It was time again for a point and shoot camera. Which one? I was going forth and back between the Canon G10 and the Panasonic Lumix LX3.
They are similar in many ways and I would consider them both top of their class.
Here are my reasons for choosing the Panasonic LX3 over the G10. The most important feature to me was the capability to shoot raw as well as a full manual mode. Both can do that, same with video, however the LX3 offers a few additional features that – to me – mattered a lot:

• The LX3 can shoot HD Video – important to me for this blog
• a max. exposure time of 60 seconds – the G10 just offers 15 secs. Not enough for long exposure nocturnal photography, such as city shots at night
• a full stop faster lens (f/2) which is amazing for such a little camera – in low light situations it will make the difference between shooting ISO 200 and ISO 400 for example (and noise is a big problem with those little sensors)
• 24mm wide angle. Does not sound much different to a 28mm lens. But in the world of a landscape or architecture photographer this is a huge difference
• High quality Leica lens – as good as it gets

Initially I was really missing a viewfinder. However it seems the the viewfinder of the G10 is pretty much unusable.
So there you have it. On a trip to Italy I will test this little camera extensively and I am quite happy to leave my big guns at home for a change.

Will write about my experiences once I am back.

The latest two Nikon prosumer cameras: The older D300 and the newer D700 are some of Nikon’s finest and most affordable cameras, with the D700 offering 95% of the features of the D3.
As many readers know, I have been to Antarctica at the beginning of this year. In my luggage was a D300, a D700 and even the good ol’ D2h.
Spending a few days in Buenos Aires before and after the trip, I did not want to risk flashing around my two high end cameras and surprisingly the D2h resulted in wonderful images from this place (although I would not dare to shoot above ISO200).

But I digress… I was thinking about upgrading my D300 to the D700 and the trip to Antarctica was supposed to solve my question: Is it worth the extra money to buy the D700?

In my opinion a clear no! Don’t get me wrong – the D700 is an outstanding camera and in many aspects slightly superior to the D300.
An objective answer is: It depends. My shooting style is low light landscapes. I rarely shoot above ISO200. Most of my shots are at least 1-2 seconds of exposure time and can go up to several minutes (10 minutes was my longest exposure so far).

I always shoot with Nikon’s 14 bit option, on the D300 this results in slower frame rates. For many this is a real downer. Not for me – I do not need to rip shots as a landscape photographer. Different story for wildlife – the more frames you can rip, the better.

A landscape photographer composes the shot. The decision what goes in the frame is most important. Which brings us to the next point why I prefer the D300 over the D700: It has a 100% viewfinder. This is underestimated by many, but is very important when it comes to composition. What you see in your viewfinder is what you get on your monitor back home. No adding, no subtracting and – if you are careful and really know what you want to include in the frame – no cropping in post.

Lastly I have to say I love the Nikon 14-24mm and shot with it in Antarctica. However I have an equivalent lens on my DX sensor: The Sigma 10-20mm. Almost as wide as the 14-24 and it accepts filters which is very important for my type of shooting style. Not to mention that the Sigma is about 5 times cheaper and I can not really see sharpness differences around the sweet spot (f/8-f11) either.
If you know how to handle the Sigma, I doubt you will see any differences between the two lenses.

So in summary, the reasons why I decided to sell my D700 and keep my D300 are the following:

• D700 offers about 1 more usable stop in ISO performance which does not matter to my shooting style
• D300 offers a 100% viewfinder unlike the D700 (only a 95%vf)
• I do not mind the frame rate restriction on the D300 when shooting in 14 bit mode
• Last but not least the price difference between the two cameras

I hope my approach may help you in deciding which camera to get.

Should you upgrade from a D200 and you don’t mind a 95% viewfinder, I would definitely pick the D700.

Upgrading from a D300 to a D700 is trickier. For me as a landscape shooter it was an easy pick – the D300. For a wildlife shooter, the D700 has a clear advantage.