WARNING: This post is somewhat technical about cameras, so you will have no idea what you are reading if you are not familiar with them.
I was over at a friends house yesterday, and I discovered a bunch of cool lenses and such. They all have FD lens mounts, an older kind of Canon lens mount from the 70's-80's. Anyway, they were some pretty cool lenses with aperture on the lens, instead of controlled by the camera.
Maybe if I am lucky I'll buy an adapter and be able to use the lenses on my camera. But maybe not.
My friend also had a Canon A-1 (Top), and a Canon T1i (Bottom), the original Rebel camera. Interestingly, it is the third DSLR to have video capability, and it also shoots 1080p video at 20 fps. Kind of an odd number to be shooting at. In other news, Canon has sent out invites for a press release on March 21st in the Czech Republic, where they will probably release the Canon 70D, which I may buy depending on the price and specs. Or, I might wait and get the Canon 7Dmk ii, which they may release in this upcoming show, but I doubt it. The 7Dmk ii will probably be released in the second half of this year. You can check out the Canon invitation, and all other rumors concerning the Canon 70D over at canonrumors.com, or just click here."I'm obsessed.For real.It's just that cameras,They're such a big deal." -Zephyr
1:
C-SPAN will be announcing the winners to their Student Cam Documentary Competition this Wednesday, March 6th. If my group (Max, Sam, and I) win the grand prize, we win $5000; $1,666 each. You can see our documentary below.
1.5:
If we win the documentary, I'm going to spend it all on a new camera, either a Canon EOS 7Dmk ii, or a Canon EOS 70D. In english, that means one of two really nice Canon DSLRs. Also, I need a glidecam and maybe another lens, and a gopro hero 3. All of this will total around $3,500. Yeah, I'm making a big investment.
2:
Have you checked out the youtube channel devinsupertramp? If not, then go check it out right now. He has some pretty awesome videos, all with essentially the same vibe, but are nonetheless well edited, well shot, and are very good. I hope to take some of his camera techniques and use them in my videos.
Check out denvinsupertramp's channel here. Or if you are too lazy, check out the video below.
3:
I was accepted onto Silver Chips Online Photo Staff! (Our school newspaper).
Today, Montgomery Blair Crew had four boats race in the Head of the Occoquan Regatta (HOTO) at the Occoquan Reservoir. The team raced a Men's Varsity 4, Men's Varsity 8, and two Women's Varsity 8s.
The Men's Varsity 8, comprised mostly of first year Varsity members, did fairly well. They placed 22nd out of 26, which isn't too good, but, compared to their last season where they placed last every race save one, this race is a major improvement. (See all of the race results here).
Some reasons for this less-than-prime performance are that the best Men's Rowers were put into the Men's Varsity 4, in an attempt to create one great race lineup, and one OK race lineup. In addition the Men's Varsity 8 rowed with two freshman novice rowers, who were not as experienced nor as physically tall and big as other Varsity rowers.
Even though the Blair Men's Varsity 8 went into the race with suboptimal conditions, they managed to keep their focus and power up throughout the whole 5 kilometer or ~3.5 mile race; a problem that had plagued them in practices.
(For a the definition of rowing terms used below, see bottom)
During their post-race meeting, rowers shared what they thought went well and what they could improve on. "For a plus: we definitely kept the power up, especially during the power tens, but we should have had a smoother transition from arms to legs. But in general power was good. For a negative, our set in the boat was off, and ports were dragging their paddles on the recovery because of it, which slowed us down. So we need to have better handle heights. Also, we could have slowed the slide down and increased the speed of our drive".
The team's fall season is over, and workouts begin in December. Rowers will then start their spring season in March, which consists on the water practice and shorter 2 kilometer races.
EXTRA INFORMATION
Power 10: Ten, hard, good, 100% effort strokes to re-focus the boat and speed up.
Set: Wether the boat is leaning to port, starboard, or is balanced. (Set is off when the boat is tilted).
Handle Heights: How high or low the oar is in the rower's hands during both the drive and the recovery.
Recovery: The stage where a rower prepares to take another stroke.
Dragging: When the oar skims or skips across the top of the water on the recovery, caused by improper handle heights and bad set.
For further info about rowing technique and rowing in general, check these three videos/websites out:
I was over at a friends house yesterday, and I discovered a bunch of cool lenses and such. They all have FD lens mounts, an older kind of Canon lens mount from the 70's-80's. Anyway, they were some pretty cool lenses with aperture on the lens, instead of controlled by the camera.
My friend also had a Canon A-1 (Top), and a Canon T1i (Bottom), the original Rebel camera. Interestingly, it is the third DSLR to have video capability, and it also shoots 1080p video at 20 fps. Kind of an odd number to be shooting at. 
