Jon Adair

"The French call it pain perdu, ‘lost bread’, which I quite like - I have this image of..."

Thu, 17 May 2012 13:29:00 +0100

““The French call it pain perdu, ‘lost bread’, which I quite like - I have this image of the lost souls of countless loaves wandering bread purgatory until their redeeming kitchen angel decides to save them through a good baptism of milk and egg.””

- Nutmegs, seven: Strawberry French toast with basil sugar

This looks delicious – recommended for all fans of French toast.

Messing about with Mum’s old Olympus OM-10. She remarked...

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:45:35 +0100

Messing about with Mum’s old Olympus OM-10. She remarked how good it still looked and how it looks like a quality camera compared to modern day cameras. I have to agree. If, in 25 years, any of my digital cameras are still able to produce an image, I’ll be genuinely amazed.

The lens is the standard 50mm Zuiko f/1.8. I’d love to get my hands on the f/1.4 or a 23 or 35mm f/2.

Taken from my Fuji X-Pro 1 and processed in iPhoto for iPad.

Modifying my Fuji X100

Fri, 04 May 2012 07:25:48 +0100

I’ve had my Fujifilm X100 for a good few months now and I feel like I’ve really gotten to know it. When I first purchased the camera, I felt like I was constantly battling with it. I struggled with the slow AF, the exposure metering was different to what I was used to and the frame lines in the optical viewfinder were nothing more than a ‘best guess’ of what would end up in the final image. However, as I continued to use it, I started getting used to its quirks. I learned to slow my style of shooting down from what I was used to with my big DSLR. When using the DSLR, I always felt under pressure to get my shot and move on, as if at any moment I was going to be arrested for photographing something I shouldn’t. I eventually began to realise that people didn’t care that I was taking time to compose my images with the X100. Apart from the occasional envious or inquisitive glance from another photographer, people didn’t pay me any attention at all.

When you slow down with the X100, something fantastic happens. All of the parts of the camera that you found you were fighting against when trying to shoot it like a DSLR suddenly started working. Autofocus works well if you choose your AF point carefully and consider the parallax error when using the OVF (optical viewfinder). The live histogram gives you real-time exposure information and, when using the Auto ISO function, you can also set Auto Dynamic Range which will give you much greater detail in the shadows of bright scenes. The framelines in the OVF move once you’ve locked focus so sometimes you just have to adjust your composition slightly to allow for the parallax error. For shots where framing is critical, you can always use the EVF (electronic viewfinder).

Some of my favourite photos have been taken with the X100. I feel like it’s really improved my photography, particularly in terms of composition and I think I owe a lot of thanks to the wonderful OVF. Being able to see outside of the frame is really helpful when lining up your shots, especially if you’re used to shooting with a DSLR as I was. It helps that the OVF is so big and bright and that you get an (almost) instant preview of your images directly in the eyepiece. For portrait work, this means that you can snap away without removing the camera from your eye so your subject is often none the wiser that you’re taking more than one shot. The fact that the X100 is nearly silent when taking pictures is another great point (although I do miss the satisfying shutter noise from a DSLR).

All-in-all I love almost everything about my X100. However, there were a few things that I found annoying:

The included Fuji X100 strap is horrible
The lens hood (and lens cap) is a nightmare to keep attached
The ergonomics for the shutter button aren’t perfect

Fortunately, I’ve found a solution to each of the above problems.

The first isn’t so much a problem as a matter of personal taste. To me, the included X100 strap is fine but I felt like it let down the appearance and also the feel of what is otherwise a beautiful camera. It’s also quite thin and not very flexible. Luckily, there are hundreds of third party camera straps to choose from. I recommend one with soft leather ends to protect the camera from the metal attachment rings, otherwise you’ll end up with a horribly scratched top plate. I went with a black Artisan & Artist ACAM-103N. It’s made from woven fabric wtih leather ends and a sliding leather loop (in red on the black strap) to keep the ‘tail’ of the strap in check. It’s adjustable in length and looks more like a strap from a messenger bag than a camera.

It looks great, is comfortable to wear over the shoulder, around the neck or even across the body. It can be quite hard to come by o![nline and it’s not even listed on the A&A website but at the time of writing, there were a few available on eBay in red, black or white.

The lens hood is a more troublesome issue. I admit that I went for a much cheaper third party lens hood from JJC (Amazon affiliate link), rather than the official Fuji one which could be the source of my problem, but it’s almost impossible to keep the lens hood attached. I really like the look of the camera with the hood and I also appreciate the extra protection given to the lens/filter, not to mention the additional resistance to lens flare or ghosting, however I had grown accustomed to the metallic tinkle of the lens hood hitting the floor if carrying the X100 over my shoulder. I got a great tip from @PhotographyMark to keep the hood attached, however. It’s as simple as taking a pair of pliers and gently bending the attachment slots to make them slightly narrower. It seems to work really well and is much less drastic than the superglue approach I was considering.

The last issue I had was again down to personal preference, but I felt that the shutter release was just not quite right for me. Luckily, the X100 has a threaded shutter release, just like the film cameras of old which means you can use one of the thousands of shutter soft releases (“softies”) available. I went with an Abrahamsson mini soft release from RapidWinder (available in the UK from Peter Walnes).

The soft release effectively raises the shutter release button by a centimetre or so and allows you to wrap your index finger over the top of it. This means you can apply a more even pressure to the shutter button, minimising camera shake. Plus, in red, I think it looks great. Apparently, with practice, you can go one or two stops slower with your shutter speed and still get sharp images.

So I’ve customised my X100 a little bit but not overly so and I think the small changes really do help to improve the camera and, perhaps more importantly, they improve my enjoyment of the camera. I’d say that’s even more important.

Have you customised your X100 or have you got a different camera that you’ve modified somehow? Share your ‘upgrades’ in the comments below.

Update (4 May 2012): Steve Huff had a very similar idea almost exactly a year ago. Credit to him for getting there first. Although I wish I hadn’t seen that red strap. It’s beautiful…

During a very brief respite in last week’s April showers,...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:04:54 +0100

During a very brief respite in last week’s April showers, the evening sun caught a blossom tree in our office car park at just the right angle.

I only had time to grab a couple of shots as the light was fading but this one came out pretty well.

Taken with my Fuji X100 and tweaked slightly in iPhoto for iPad.

Review: The OneCable from MobileFun

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:01:00 +0100

The lovely people at MobileFun have sent me one of their latest accessories to review: The OneCable. Branded as the ‘only cable you’ll ever need’, OneCable is designed to be the only USB charging/syncing/data transfer cable you need to carry around with you. While listed under their iPad accessories section, this device would be useful for any smartphone or tablet owner.

Read on to find out if it really is time to ditch all of your other cables.

The OneCable is based around the fairly common and fairly cheap retractable USB cable, but where OneCable differs is that it doesn’t have a single interface like Mini- or Micro-USB or an Apple Dock Connector, it has all three, daisychained together.

The idea is fantastic and really rather simple. Each connector plugs into the next, transferring power and/or data up the line to the next. Obviously this means you can only plug one device into the cable at a time, but most USB ports can only support and power one device anyway. It’s one of those things where you ask yourself why no-one has thought of it before.

Obviously you pay a slight premium for the triple interface (currently OneCable is on sale for £9.99 at MobileFun – normal price £14.99) however if you use multiple devices, the convenience of carrying just one sync cable will be immediately obvious. I plan to use my OneCable in the car where I have a single USB port in the centre console that I primarily use for charging my iPhone. Until now, I’ve been using a standard Apple USB sync cable wrapped up as neatly as I could manage. OneCable is a much more elegant solution and it also means I can charge other devices such as a Bluetooth headset or my work Blackberry if I needed to. The fact that OneCable also retracts neatly for storage when not in use just makes it easier to keep things organised.

I’ve not done any testing around the data transfer rate – I’m not sure if the daisychaining of so the three connectors would affect this – but if you’re looking for a mobile solution for transferring large amounts of data, you might want to ask the MobileFun guys first. If, however, you want to use the cable for charging and the occasional data transfer (I copied the photos for this review using a memory card reader and OneCable and the transfer speed seemed fine) then I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to you. OneCable with a cheap USB mains adaptor or 12-volt car adaptor would make for a great mobile charging solution.

Long-term, I might worry about the durability of the connectors, especially if you are constantly plugging and unplugging them and tossing OneCable into a laptop bag but as MobileFun offer a one year warranty, that hopefully won’t be an issue.

Overall, OneCable looks like a great solution to carrying lots of messy cables around with you, especially in the car or in a laptop bag. If you find yourself needing to charge multiple devices on the go or transfer data from devices with different connections, then OneCable could indeed be the only cable you need!

Update: MobileFun confirmed with the manufacturer that there is very little, if any, reduction in data transfer speed when using OneCable. Great news!

Review: UltraGlass screen protector for iPhone

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 09:11:59 +0100

I was asked to review the UltraGlass Protective Screen Cover during a week of adventurous training with the Royal Navy in Scotland. I’m not normally a fan of screen protectors of any kind for several reasons: they inevitably leave bubbles on the display when you apply them, they never feel as good as the iPhone’s glass display and they are often more reflective or gather more fingerprints than the glass display. However, in an active lifestyle where your iPhone is being thrown into a kitbag with lots of other gear, it’s important to make sure that your investment is well protected.

The UltraGlass Protective Screen Cover from Nest41 (available from MobileFun, along with lots of other mobile phone screen protectors) is an all-glass screen protector for the front of your iPhone 4/4S and features precision cut-outs for the speaker and home button, along with clear sections for the front-facing camera and the proximity sensor, to ensure that your iPhone functions normally. The screen protector itself is actually much thicker than the ones I’ve seen and used in the past (the traditional plastic types). The packaging promises that the screen protector will be ‘easy to apply with no bubbles’ under the display. For me, that’s encouraging since I can’t stand it for more than a few days when you get an air bubble under your display and I normally end up ripping the whole thing off. Same with dust and peeling edges. Maybe I’m just extra picky, but I can’t help but think that the tactile nature of the iPhone is all part of using it, so it’s important to me that this is preserved.

The top and bottom sections of the cover, as well as the two sides are actually painted black to match the iPhone’s bezel and this adds to the classy feel of the product. It’s also available in white if you bought a white iPhone or if for some reason you want to add a white one to your black iPhone. I’m not sure that’d look great but it might be an interesting effect.

I’ve had the UltraGlass protector on my iPhone for a little over a week now and it’s not showing any signs of peeling or gathering dust at the edges like I’ve seen with other screen protectors, especially if you use a case. While the protector does add a little bit of height to the phone (this is particularly noticable around the home button), all of the cases that I’ve tried have fitted, this includes Apple’s bumper case. I can’t say for sure if all cases will fit, though.

When looking at the device with the protector attached straight-on, the only way you can tell there’s a screen protector attached is the very slight edge you can see around the home button and speaker. At certain angles you can also see a repeating grid pattern of dots. I’m not sure if these are on the protector itself or if it just makes it easier to see the dots on the screen of the iPhone itself. Either way, this doesn’t affect the use of your iPhone as you can’t see them when the screen is switched on. The glass surface feels great, although it’s not quite as resistant to finger prints as the glass on the screen. Still, it’s better than most other screen protectors I’ve found, apart from the matte ones.

While the glass surface of the protector feels great, it’s not quite as sensitive as the bare iPhone glass. Or perhaps the sensitivity is just a little different – initially I was missing the odd input, especially while typing. Either way, it takes a while to get used to the difference, but after a few days you shouldn’t notice. It’s also worth noting that the extra layer of glass does make the screen slightly more reflective, particularly in bright sunlight – you might just need to bump up the brightness a little bit. Another interesting effect of the UltraGlass is that the screen appears to be ‘deeper’ into the device. On an iPhone 4/4S, the LCD panel is bonded directly to the glass of the device, whereas on an iPhone 3G/3GS/iPad, there’s an air gap. Using an UltraGlass protector, the display looks more like a 3G/3GS one. Obviously this effect will occur with any screen protector to a greater or lesser extent.

Each of the points above might suggest that I dislike the UltraGlass screen protector. I don’t. It’s by far the best looking, feeling and protective screen protector I’ve ever seen or used on a touchscreen device. Its resistance to scratches is much much better than a plastic screen protector, meaning that it’s going to look better for longer and it’s also going to give some level of impact protection as well. So far, mine isn’t showing any signs of scratching or scuffing, despite being thrown in my day pack for a 6 hour hike up a Scottish mountain and a tough 30km mountain bike ride.

Priced at £22.95, the UltraGlass screen protector is quite a bit more expensive than the traditional plastic type (which normally retail for between £5 and £15 depending on quality), however as I have already mentioned, this screen protector is made to last and it should continue to look good beyond the first, second and probably third plastic screen protector. For this reason, I’d recommend the UltraGlass screen protector to anyone with an iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S who is looking for a screen protector. There is also an UltraGlass screen protector available for select Android phones.

I decided that the only camera I would take with me on a...

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 10:03:14 +0100

I decided that the only camera I would take with me on a week-long tour of Italy was my Fuji X100, instead of my Canon 5D Mk II and a bag full of lenses. The result was that I enjoyed walking round a lot more than I would have and looked for photo opportunities that suited the X100, instead of grabbing a photo of everything in sight.

I’m now seriously considering trading the 5D in for a new Fuji X-Pro 1 kit. Anyone else thinking the same?

Street in Parma, Italy on Flickr.

Daffodils in Spring Shot in macro mode with my Fuji X100. Every...

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 22:50:25 +0000

Daffodils in Spring

Shot in macro mode with my Fuji X100. Every time I use this camera, I get to know it a little better and I feel like it’s more in my control.

"The screen readability problem will be solved in the future, since screens with 300 dpi resolution..."

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:23:00 +0000

““The screen readability problem will be solved in the future, since screens with 300 dpi resolution have been invented and have been found to have as good readability as paper.””

- — Jakob Nielsen, March 15 1997

The first of these screens that will truly make reading the web as good as reading on paper is about to arrive. I wonder if it’s too late to change the habits of users who don’t read text on websites?

Via Writing for the Web (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox)

The beginnings of Spring are here, although I don’t even...

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 18:40:21 +0000

The beginnings of Spring are here, although I don’t even really feel like we’ve had a proper winter yet…

Shot with a Fuji X100 and Elly from Nutmegs, seven.

View full-size on Flickr

"The technology means that taking typically sized shots (say, 5 megapixels) the camera can use..."

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:37:00 +0000

“

The technology means that taking typically sized shots (say, 5 megapixels) the camera can use oversampling to combine up to seven pixels into one “pure” pixel, eliminating the visual noise found on other mobile phone cameras. On top of that, you can zoom in up to 3X without losing any of the details in your shot – and there’s no artificially created pixels in your picture, either.

Otherwise, you can use ‘Creative Shooting Mode’ to capture images at high resolution – 38 megapixels; then reframe, crop and zoom to find the best “picture within the picture” after the image has been shot and before saving it at convenient sizes for sharing and storage.

”

- — On the Nokia PureView 41MP camera phone

Good luck explaining that to your average consumer. It sounds like the kind of technology that would be great in a point-and-shoot or a mirrorless camera, but in a camera phone, users just want to snap a quick picture, maybe apply a filter and share it with their friends.

Conversations by Nokia via Ben Brooks

Mirror image at Ely near Cambridge.

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 21:42:32 +0000

Mirror image at Ely near Cambridge.

GORUCK: bringing strangers together via the Internet and a...

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 23:06:24 +0000

GORUCK: bringing strangers together via the Internet and a common love of bags.

The GR1 (leftmost) is mine, the Radio Ruck (middle) belongs to Anil and the GR Echo (rightmost) was mine until I sold it at this meeting. Unfortunately, as the amount of gear I have to carry on a daily basis has increased, I’ve had to upscale my everyday bag to the GR1.

GORUCK GR Echo initial thoughts

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:23:35 +0000

The GORUCK GR Echo that I ordered a couple of weeks ago just arrived (I also ordered its bigger brother, the GR2, ~~but it’s still in transit and is somewhere in California at present~~ read my review here). I haven’t found that many reviews of it online so I thought I’d post some pictures and first impressions.

I wanted the GR Echo as a small daypack sized bag for carrying around my iPad and/or MacBook Air along with a few other items (HDD, charger, cables, Kindle, Canon S90 etc) to and from the office and also for longer trips away. I’ve read that the GR Echo makes the perfect companion to the GR2 which is designed as a long-weekend sized bag, fitting neatly inside.

I’d also read about the legendary build quality and attention to detail of the GORUCK bags. I was not misled. This bag is tough. It looks like it would withstand almost anything. The stitching is perfect and the heavy duty fabric is, at the moment, really stiff and thick. I have no doubt that the fabric will wear in nicely while hopefully retaining its waterproof characteristics.

The styling of the bag is also ideal for my needs; functional yet minimal. There are no extra straps dangling or silly whistles built into buckles. The only stylistic statement on the outside is the velcro patch. There’s also a ‘slash’ front pocket where you could slip thinner items that you wanted easy access to like a point-and-shoot camera, travel documents or a map.

Inside, there are two pockets on the front ‘lid’, some MOLLE straps on the back side and an elasticated webbing pouch big enough to hold an iPad or an A5 sized Moleskine notebook. The pouches on the front easily hold a LaCie rugged portable FireWire hard drive, some cables and other bits and pieces. The rear of the bag has the hydration pouch which doubles as a secure laptop stowage, easily big enough for my 11-inch MacBook Air. I’m not sure if you would get a 13-inch MacBook Pro in there but the larger Air might just fit.

Update (7 July 2011): Tried the GR Echo with a 13-inch MacBook Pro and it does fit – just. It’s a snug fit but perfectly usable and would probably become easier over time as the fabric softens up.

The carry handle on top of the bag will come in handy if you find yourself in a crowded situation like on a train, although this bag is extremely slim.

All of the zippers are heavy duty YKK with a shiny silver finish. The traditional metal zip pulls have been replaced with black (or sand-coloured for the inside top pocket) paracord and rubber hosing to make them completely silent – another nice touch.

While the GR Echo looks out of place next to my Billingham Hadley Pro, it looks great with casual or sports wear but due to its minimal styling, it also goes well with a suit. Far more so than something more technical looking like a North Face or Berghaus bag.

I can see myself using the GR Echo for work on a daily basis, at weekends on countryside walks and also for skiing in place of my North Face Big Shot. It’s not quite wide enough to fit my 5D Mark II comfortably, but a smaller DSLR like a 550D would probably fit nicely.

Overall, this is a great little bag. If you are looking to pack it full of bulky items, you might be better served by the larger (and less slimline) Radio Ruck or even the GR1. On the other hand, if you just want to carry the essentials, or you want to pack it inside another bag for a longer trip, the GR Echo is a fine choice.

Wintery walk on Flickr.

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:52:00 +0000

Wintery walk on Flickr.

OmniFocus Forecast and Start Dates | Bridging the Nerd Gap

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:31:00 +0000

OmniFocus Forecast and Start Dates | Bridging the Nerd Gap:

David Sparks:

A surprising number of attendees at my Macworld talk about OmniFocus were not aware that you could show start date items in the iPad version’s Forecast View.

He isn’t joking. Myself and a number of my fellow OmniFocus nerds who were in attendance had no idea this setting existed. Incredibly useful if you spend any time in OmniFocus for iPad’s Forecast view.

I had no idea about this either – but it’s awesome. This should be switched on by default.

Via Bridging the Nerd Gap

"When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don’t notice the individual..."

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:15:47 +0000

“When I start reading, the form of the book quickly disappears. Just as I don’t notice the individual letters in each word, I stop noticing the layout, the font, the paper, the binding, and every other physical artifact because I’m focused on the writing.”

- This is why the Kindle is the perfect reading device, even though it may not be the perfect device. There are no distractions while you are reading, allowing you to get lost in your book.

Do you have the paperback or the hardcover? – Marco.org

Tough sking in La Vallée Perdue, Tignes

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:29:35 +0000

Tough sking in La Vallée Perdue, Tignes

New year's resolution #1

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:21:22 +0000

re·spon·sive

Adjective: Reacting quickly and positively.

I’m happy to say that the redesigned look and feel for the site is up and running – this was one of my new year’s resolutions and I’m proud to say that it’s only taken a week to get it coded from scratch to live on the site.

I have to give some credit to the great Tumblr custom theme documentation, Twitter Bootstrap and the amazingly useful 320 and up project. There are so many great frameworks out there for kickstarting your development and I highly recommend giving them a look. The Twitter Bootstrap in particular (version 1.4.0 at present) has an upcoming 2.0 update which introduces fully responsive CSS.

Anyway – I hope you like the new look. If you have any comments, or spot a bug, send me a tweet or leave a comment.

Stealthy but patriotic. A new patch for my GORUCK GR1.

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 22:57:18 +0000

Stealthy but patriotic. A new patch for my GORUCK GR1.