The Canon EOS 1D/1Ds Mark III dSLRs have been what the Vista operating system has been to Microsoft: plagued by problems and bad press. So rather than releasing a 1D Mark IIIn (essentially a mid-year update), Canon has released, what many of us Canon photographers hope, is our saving bliss: a brand new model.So what does the new Canon EOS 1D Mark IV have in terms of features? Of course none of us can help but compare, so let’s see how things stack up against Nikon’s latest professional dSLR release, the Nikon D3s:

So some of the most exciting new features are: the insane high ISO capabilities, the ability to select any one of the 45-point AF points (the Mark III only let you select a cluster of 19-AF points)  and HD movie. There was a bit of internet speculation as to what Canon was going to do with the APS-H (27.9 x 18.6 mm) sensor; some thought that because Nikon had decidedly went full-frame with both their photojournalist/sports camera as their high resolution studio camera, that Canon would follow suite and ax the APS-H, but looks like Canon is not ready to give up on that sensor size just yet. It would have been nice if they had done full-frame and given us a crop option of 1.3x like the D3s does with 1.2x and 1.5x (DX). Having shot full-frame for a long time now, I’m actually starting to like the semi-cropped sensor size again. My biggest complaint with full-frame is that all the auto-focus sensors are clustered in the center of the frame making it extremely difficult to use fast glass (f/2.0 and faster), frame a subject or object in the far outer frames and lock focus on the eyes, etc. With the crop sensor, the auto-focus sensor cluster is still in the same area, but the surface area has gotten smaller meaning that there is much better AF coverage.

I’m glad that Canon pulled out all the stops with this release. With the Canon EOS 1D Mark III, Canon thought that Nikon would not touch it’s high ISO capabilities and only released the ability to shoot up to ISO 6400, so they were in for an obvious shock when the Nikon D3 was released with a high ISO capability of 25,600. Then Canon released the 1Ds Mark III with ISO up to 3200 (same as the 1Ds Mark II) and then Nikon released the D3x capable of ISO 6400. If Canon had released the Mark IV with ISO up to 25,600 or even 51,200, I think that would have been the nail in the coffin, but fortunately this time, they have pulled out all the stops. As a wedding photographer, high ISO is a must, especially given how precarious lighting is for receptions.

The addition of a video feature is also great. With the latest craze of “fusion”, photography and videography combined, this feature will be an added benefit for wedding photographers like us.

Now finally, the auto-focus points and focusing. I’m disappointed that Canon hasn’t upped the 45-focus points to something like 51 or more, but given all the focusing issues with the Mark III series, I’m hoping they redesigned or readjusted the auto-focus system. Having used the 1D/1Ds Mark III auto-focus system, I can say the auto-focus acquisition is certainly noticeably faster than my 1D/1Ds Mark II even in lower light conditions. One of the biggest mistakes Canon made with the Mark III was that limiting of auto-focus selection points. Whereas previous 1D series allowed us to manually select any of the 45-points, the new Mark III series only allowed us to select 19 of the 45-points which was extremely annoying for me when it came to framing. It would always be right in between what I needed and I would have to recompose the frame in a way that I didn’t want and had to crop the image in post. That’s a bad design when you force the photographer to have to change their framing just to make the tool work for you. Also having 39 cross-types is very nice compared to the 19 on the Mark III and 7 on the Mark II.

Looking purely at the specs, it’s as if the sleeping giant has awaken. But we won’t know for sure until we see some production image samples and if Canon can finally rid itself of the embarrassing focusing issues. But for the moment, I applaud Canon for releasing a potent new tool, at least on paper. I’ll be ordering mine if and when positive reviews start appearing…

Check out Rob Galbraith’s site for more in-depth information and also DPReview has some stuff on their website too. Also check out the AMAZING video by Vincent LaForet here. Read the official press release here and enjoy the pictures below:

I am very impressed with Nikon and their ability to keep up the ante. I’m still hopefully that Canon has heard Nikon (and the photographers’) message loud and clear and will give us professional photographers a solid professional digital SLR in the soon-to-be released Canon EOS 1D Mark IV. Signs are hopefully at Canon given the release of the Canon EOS 7D with many features one would not expect to see in the pro-sumer level including the ability to trigger Canon Speedlites remotely with the built-on flash (which Nikon has had for what seems like decades).

So what is the most exciting features of the new Nikon D3s besides it being new? The biggest one I see is the insane ISO range: 100-102,400! At this point, many people would argue, would there be a need for flash anymore?! Personally I still say yes, but that’s a discussion for a whole different post. It also does video at 24 fps at 720p with Stereo sound. It also features a new “crop” feature of 1.2x in addition to it’s 1.5x crop feature.

How does the new Nikon D3s compare to the Nikon D3, and is it worth upgrading? Let’s see:

I definitely think it’s worth upgrading if you currently have a D3, or at least adding a D3s to your arsenal. The new features such as video, higher ISO, larger buffer, and a Quiet Mode, just to list some of the new features, will make this an amazing camera to have, especially in wedding photography.

With Nikon’s track record, the Nikon D3s will be a killer digital SLR for photojournalist, wedding photographers, and rich hobbyist. I wonder what Canon has in store… In the meantime, read Nikon’s press release for the D3s here and a brief hands-on review by DPReview here. Also be sure to check out the sample images here. Enjoy the camera porn until the camera is released:

Nikon D3s Gallery

LovEvolution (formerly known as LoveFest) will descend upon San Francisco this Saturday, October 3 for the 6th year in the row. It promises to be bigger, better, and beefier than the year before and we at Bui Photography can’t wait as this will be our first year covering this amazing event! Armed with our media passes, cameras, and lots of bottled water, we’re definitely excited for LovEvolution, and look forward to shooting up a storm, capturing all the fun and excitement through our lenses. You can see past events we’ve attend in our galleries here.

For those who have never been to or heard of LovEvolution, it is a huge dance music parade and festival that takes place annually in San Francisco starting at 2nd Street & Market Street and goes all the way to Civic Center Plaza; billed as the largest electronic dance music event in America. Born from the infamous Berlin Love Parade, LovEvolution seeks to promote peace, understanding, tolerance, diversity, love, and respect through dance and celebration.

A massive live  stage setup in front of San Francisco City Hall that will feature the 11-piece dance orchestra, The Mutaytor, along with 15 other great performance artists including LA Riots, Kenji Williams, Star Culture and more! There will be floats and lots of people!

If you are around or in San Francisco, come on by this Saturday and partake in what will be a very fun and exciting event! Parade starts at 12 PM. There is also a $10 fee to get in at the Civic Center Plaza festival gates that goes toward supporting many worthy organizations such as Friends of the Main Library, Next Aid, Aids Housing Alliance, The Center for Sex and Culture, Beat University Scholarship Fund, Bay Area Young Positives, SF Suicide Prevention/HIV AIDs Nightline and more.

See you there!

October 07, 2009 UPDATE: My pics from the 2009 lovEvolution are now available at http://bit.ly/lovevolution. Links to other photographer’s galleries to follow.

Click inside to see the pictures.

If you are interested in getting married at the Ritz Carlton Half Moon Bay, we highly suggest contacting Amy Monroe, the Manager for Meetings & Special Events (650-712-7683), she was incredible to work with and kept personal and constant contact with the bride and groom to ensure everything was going smoothly.

Congrats Adine and Konstatin on your amazing wedding and may both of you have everlasting health and happiness.

[UPDATE] It’s with sad news that I received a phone call from Adine, Konstatin’s father recently passed. It’s very heart-wrenching to lose someone so close and so important. Fortunately he did see his son get married and he had a great time at their wedding. He will be sorely missed.

Click in to see some photos of the great fun-filled night!

I’ll be adding a few more pictures, so save this link and continue to check back for more treats.

Congratulations Maritza and Erasmus and thank you for allowing Bui Photography the privilege of witnessing your beautiful day.

It was a great event, we had lots of fun. Read more and see pictures inside from Sac-Anime.

Eric, Elbert, and I were joined by Rendy Lai of Rendy Lai Photography and we only were able to attend the Saturday part of the two day event, but it was still very fun never-the-less. We arrived around 9 AM and didn’t leave until close to 7 PM doing only private photo shoots the entire time. Here are some of my favorites from the event (with more coming, full gallery here) and a links to the other photographer’s pics (to come):

The selection of Kelley Park in San Jose was an excellent choice for venue. Those who were at this year’s Spring gathering will remember it was held at Hakone Gardens which was also a great choice. Kudos to Oscar for always choosing excellent venues. It has ample parking, vast lands with plenty of foliage, lots of picturesque settings, an old town setting, and a Japanese Tea Garden; couldn’t possible ask for more back-drops. The weather was nice and warm and fortunately there were plenty of areas with lots of shade so we can avoid being sunburned and/or sweating profusely.

There were probably some 80+ cosplayers and photographers who showed up. The event was advertised on both Facebook and Cosplay.com. Lately we at Bui Photography have been doing less and less private photo shoots at these events, focusing rather on quality than quantity. Obviously for an event this large, it would be nearly impossible in the limited time and with limited resources to photograph every single person with different backgrounds and poses. I’m sorry to those who wanted a photo shoot with us and we weren’t able to get to you, but we will be SacAnime this year and we will try to get you there, but we also are fully booked on private photo shoots there also. You can also skip ahead and just see all the pictures here.

For this event, I photographed KittyKatChi, Shinobi Yukari, and Bekalou. KittyKatChi had just finished her costume last minute and it turned out great. She cosplayed as Rogue from X-Men:

Shinobi Yukari cosplayed as Ulquiorra from my favorite anime, Bleach:

Bekalou cosplayed as Syaoran from the anime Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles:

Once Eric and Lynn have finished processing their pics, You can see their sets by visiting http://buiphotography.com/Events/860209. You can see the rest of the pictures I took by clicking here.

Here are some highlights of shots that Eric Lee took:

And here are some highlights of shots that Lynn Truong took:

You can see the other photographer’s pictures here (if I missed anyone, shoot me an email and I’ll include it here):

• OscarC – http://photo.oscarc.net/gallery/9293919_ZjB2D?referrer=9hP1vNoXtyi3E&ref=nf#621082184_Dbws4
• Michael Tang – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32340&id=1150639645&ref=share
• Traveling Valentine – http://travelingvalentine.com/coverage/norcalpicnic2009/index.htm
• Stormfalcon – http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j73/Stormfalcon_sj/NorCal%20Summer%202009%20Cosplay%20Gathering/Digital/
• Kagelump – http://picasaweb.google.com/kagelump/Norcal2009#
• Ginryuu – http://ginriru-tatsu.deviantart.com/gallery/#Washed-Away
• Wingdrabbit2005 – http://keitsubasa.deviantart.com/journal/26646463/
• Kimu – http://s942.photobucket.com/albums/ad266/kimu_cosplay/NorCal%20Summer%20Picnic%2009/?start=0
• lalaxmink – http://sc-x-kazuha.tabulas.com/gallery/20090815-norcal-summer-gathering/
• Shinjixikari – http://winterwish.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=4626&g2_page=1
• WithinIllusion – http://www.flickr.com/withinillusion
• Misoshiru – http://www.flickr.com/photos/38865848@N07/sets/72157622058837860/
• Katsumiyo – http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa318/heroonadonkey/NorCal%20Summer%20Picnic%202009/
• Tenchi Fan – http://faidoi.smugmug.com/gallery/9291884_YpURN

Design

Bui Photography logo embroidered by COVERITALLCO.

Unlike other bag manufactures, I find Think Tank Photo’s design to be very clean, sleek, and unassuming in way that doesn’t scream “steal me” (well right up until I had the Bui Photography logo stitched on it anyways…). Many of their bags contain plenty of pockets (including hidden pockets) for things such as pens, phone, business cards, memory cards, etc. Some people may notice that some of the Think Tank Photo bags look similar to Lowepro bags and that might be because Think Tank Photo CEO, Doug Murdoch, used to be lead designer for Lowepro; but that’s not to mean that Think Tank Photo bags are merely imitation in design, but rather I find they are superior in design.

The Think Tank Photo Glass Taxi is a unique backpack in that it can function as either a backpack or a shoulder/sling bag, although it doesn’t have the quick access convenience like the SlingShots. I haven’t used the Glass Taxi as a shoulder/sling bag much, but much prefer to use it as a backpack to evenly distribute the weight on both my shoulders. One very cool feature of the Glass Taxi is the “self locking” YKK large zippers that prevents the front flap from accidentally opening resulting in an expensive repair bill.

The Think Tank Photo Glass Taxi Backpack can also house a small-to-medium monopod and/or tripod on either side of the bag. It has a little pouch on both sides that you put the top or bottom of the tripod/monopod in and then using the supplied straps, you secure it to the sides. I rarely carry along a tripod/monopod and instead use the side expandable pouches to hold bottled water or snacks.

On the front of the Glass Taxi, in them middle, is a mini rail that you can attach Skin or Modular components to, which is great as the Glass Taxi is a small backpack in itself. By adding the Pro Speed Belt and/or Skin/Modular component to the rail, you can expand the carry capacity when needed, but travel light when necessary.

Think Tank Photo Speed Strap being attached to Glass Taxi. Photo courtesy of Think Tank Photo.

Another great advantage of the Glass Taxi is the ability to use it with the Think Tank Photo Pro Speed Belt that allows attachment of Modular or Skin components such as the Lens Changer 25, Whip It Out, and so on. The Pro Speed Belt attaches securely (and nicely) to the Glass Taxi via an ingenious Velcro backing on the backpack which also helps keep the backpack planted to your body. You can also remove the backpack from the Pro Speed Belt without removing the Pro Speed Belt by pulling open the secure Velcro backing. Be warned, there are no zippered pockets anywhere on the outsize of the bag. If you need outsize zippered pockets, I would suggest you consider the Think Tank Photo Streetwalker, which is similar in size, but slightly larger.

Despite being a smaller backpack, the Glass Taxi is capable of carrying any number of lens/camera configurations. At the largest lens configuration, it can securely fit either a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM or Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM with hood reversed with no SLR attached. It also fits the Canon/Nikon 200mm f/2 lens. You can carry a 300mm f/2.8 with SLR attached. I use the Glass Taxi most often when I need to travel light and can’t set anything down to lock it up such as event photography. My typical configuration is to have my Canon EOS 1D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS with hood reversed on the right side of the bag. There is actually enough room to mount the hood in the “ready” position, but I usually put a Canon 580EX II in that little space. On the right hand, I’ll have my Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, body only. Below it houses my Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM without hood or my Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM without hood. Above the 1Ds Mark II, I 2-3 carry extra 1D batteries. I also have enough space for some gaffer’s tape, a Sto-Fen diffuser, Wigley’s 5 spearmint gum, and some model releases.

Utility

Despite it’s compact size, the Glass Taxi is very expandable. There is a simple rail on the front using Think Tank Photo’s trademark modular system which can take any single number of pouches from their Skin or Modular system. I commonly use the 35 as it fits either a wide angle lens or 3-4 PocketWizard transceivers and cables. On the each side of the Glass Taxi are expandable pouches to hold a small tripod or monopod with included straps to tie them the bag. They are a number of D-rings for clipping the shoulder strap or media passes (as I do) and/or credentials.

There is a single, small Velcro webbed pouch on the front, inside flap that can hold business cards, front lens cap, additional memory card holders, and/or cleaning cloths.

By unclipping one of the shoulder straps and slinging the other shoulder strap over, the Glass Taxi can become a sling bag. While neat it is quite useless as this does not give the Glass Taxi the quick access that a sling bag (such as the Lowepro Slingshots) generally has. But it’s nice to have choices.

You can also add Think Tank Pro Speed Belt which attaches nicely to the Glass Taxi and add Think Tank Modular or Skin pouches.

The Glass Taxi does not have a laptop slot anywhere. If you need a portable bag that also carries a laptop, I highly recommend that you consider the StreetWalker HardDrive or maybe even the Think Tank Shape Shifter, but they are certainly larger.

Comfort

The Glass Taxi is comfortable of a backpack that you can wear for extended periods of time, even when carrying a heavy lens like the 200mm f/2 or 300mm f/2.8 because the weight is better distributed on your back then on one shoulder. There are also plenty of padded cushions on the back of the backpack that rest up against your back so your equipment isn’t hitting up against your back as you’re moving around.

Another feature of the Think Tank Photo bags is that you can purchase Camera Support Straps that allows you to hook your camera to your bag to balance the weight on the backpack as opposed to your shoulders or neck; you may need to purchase their camera strap if your existing strap does not have a large enough o-ring to snap the buckles into.

I use the Glass Taxi a lot when I’m doing event photography because there really isn’t any place to set down my equipment to come back and forth for like a wedding reception. Carrying the backpack around for 3-4 hours isn’t too much of a strain with most of the equipment unloaded. This backpack isn’t meant to carry everything you own.

Conclusion

I’ve had the Think Tank Photo Glass Taxi Backpack for a couple of months and use it primarily for event photography or cases where I need to pack a camera, few lenses, small accessories (camera batteries), and a flash. For daily use, I often use my Think Tank Photo Urban Disguise 60 as it has a slot to carry my MacBook Pro.

I’ve had many people ask me this: no, Think Tank Photo does not do custom stitching or embroidery on their bags. The amazing embroidery of the Bui Photography logo was done by COVERITALLCO, an amazing local Bay Area company that does all the embroidery for our apparel.

Also if you are looking for a local Bay Area dealer that has Think Tank Photo bags on display to try and buy, go to Bear Images Photographic, Inc. located at 417 Lambert Avenue, Palo Alto, CA. Their phone number is 1-650-321-2327.  They have virtually every Think Tank bag and the customer service is top-notch. I’ve purchased from them a couple of time and have been very satisfied. Note that Think Tank Photo does not sale their bags in person, only online at their website. So you have to go to a retailer to be able to handle and try the bags. Calumet in San Francisco has a very dismal selection compared to Bear Images.

Think Tank Photo Glass Taxi Images