Today, a client did the unthinkable and handed me THE digital camera.....a Canon D1s. I've got it sitting on my floor at home. It came with a 550EX flash unit, a 28-70 L and a 70-200 IS L white little baby.

He didnt think my squirty Olympus 5060 and the toy-like Contax rangefinder cameras could do the job and thus let me borrow his techno wonder....if it were me, I'd rather give away my first born than part company with the D1s, if it were mine to own.

First words from Lester Ledesma back home in the Philippines were 'Thats a mean Fuc+++ of a camera u go!t' as the drool transmitted itself over the phone SMS.

My first impressions after the initial half hour figuring out its controls and menus......its not a complicated camera but it sure is heavy as a lead weight or two.....or three. I guess I'm too used to a light and compact outfit like the Contax G rangefinder or the Leica M6.

Many of the controls and the logic of its interface were along the same lines as the Canon G3/5 .....so my previous ownership of these little cameras helped alot in getting me settled in quickly with the D1s.

After 48hours with the D1s......apart from the controls related to digital imaging, its basically a digital EOS 1v. The image quality for digital output is nothing short of stunning and compared to the output with my tiny CCD equipped G3/5 and the 5060, its great to see 100% outputs with no signs of CA.

The exposure latitude continues to be really tight at about 2 stops max. I had problems shooting without the help of a flash unit subjects that were darkskinned wearing a light colored shirt.

One odd thing about its metering is that when set at neutral exposure compensation, images come out (for this camera in my hands) underexposed by about a stop. I dialed up the exposure compensation by a stop and images witnessed a very marked improvement in exposures.

Writing speed is relatively slow but the camera's buffer handled rapid multiple exposures with little problem.

The one cool thing with the D1s is that within its onboard menu, there are sensor cleaning instructions!

This outfit (body+28-70L+550EX) is giving my poor arm muscles a painful workout......my hands were shaking after hardly a dozen exposures.

I'm getting out of bed extra early morning to sneak in an hour of street use before the shoot continues.

-------

I'm leading a group of 16 photographers from 2 Singapore photo forums, Offstone and Clubsnap, to Indonesia to rendevous with the leading Indonesian photo forum, Fotografer.Net

From 20-23 May, this event will sow the first seeds of inter regional integration and co-operation between major photography forums in the South East Asian region. We'll be converging at Yogjakarta, the Javanese cultural heartland and home to the magnificent Boroburdur temple complex.

The Indonesians have proposed a killer iteneary (see below) that sees 2 mornings of 3am set-offs and wall to wall shoots from dawn to dusk for the entire duration of the pow wow. This has sent shivers down the spines of photographers all round and I hope they tone down the activities to at least allow us to catch 6 hours of sleep daily.

Day 1 - Thursday May 20, 2004

Afternoon
Arrived in Jogja
Check-in Saphir Hotel
Sunset in Prambanan Temple

Evening
Ice breaking dinner


Day 2 - Friday May 21, 2004

Morning
Leave hotel at 3 AM
Sunrise in Borobudur
Breakfast around Borobudur or Muntilan/Magelang

Noon
Kotagede silversmith or Kasongan pottery village
Lunch

Afternoon
Parangkusumo - sand dunes dan model shoot

Evening
Dinner - traditional grilled seafood in TPI Depok, Parangkusumo
Slideshow in Hotel

Day 3 - Saturday May 22, 2004

Morning
Early breakfast, leave hotel in 5:30 AM
Pundong - bamboo bridge and traditional market

Noon
Keraton and Fort Vredeburg
or jathilan (to be confirmed)
or batik factory (to be confirmed)
Lunch

Afternoon
Ngasem bird market
Model shoot in Tamansari water castle or Ratu Boko Temple

Evening
Dinner - gudeg or other traditional meals
Slideshow in hotel

Day 4 - Sunday May 23, 2004

Morning
Leave hotel at 3 AM
Sunrise in Rawa Pening natural dam, Ambarawa
Breakfast with breakfast box or in nearby fishermen's canteen

Noon
Check out from Saphir Hotel
Farewell lunch in Rempah/Rumah Mertua/Wong Solo/Moro Lejar
Free time
Shopping in Malioboro

Afternoon
Leaving Jogja

I think we have some time somewhere inside the iteneary to go to the toilet occassionally, perhaps eat and maybe sleep an hour or two within the 4 days. These Indonesians are gung-ho!

The Offstone and Clubsnap group are young and enthusiastic with an overall great portfolio. Looks like almost everyone will be shooting digital except maybe me and one other guy.

----------

Works really bogging me down and I'll keep this edition short and end it here. Promise more.....much more.....on the next installation

end