Equipment->News: October 2008 Archives

Here is a piece of camera gear that Cool Tools posted about. It is touted as a more portable alternative to using a monopod.

Pocket-size stabilizer: Strap Pod

In the case of museums or some public spaces, tripods are simply not allowed (though you can sometimes get away with a monopod by pretending it is a 'walking stick'). But again, hauling a monopod around is sometimes clumsy, frowned upon, or outright discouraged in certain environs. The Strap Pod is much less intrusive and bulky, so I'm more likely to toss it into my pocket or my camera bag and bring it along.

Just a heads up on a New York Times article about the Panasonic DMC-G1, which is the result of an attempt "to put the photographic quality of an S.L.R. into a compact body."

Pro Quality Without Reflex Lens

Most people -- about 92 percent of us -- buy little pocket cameras that take so-so photos. Only about 8 percent buy those big, black, heavy S.L.R. (single-lens reflex) cameras that take magazine-worthy photos.

It's not that people don't want better pictures. It's just that they're not willing to hang an anvil around their necks to get them.

Next month, however, Panasonic will offer the first camera in a new format called Micro Four Thirds. Its mission: to put the photographic quality of an S.L.R. into a compact body. If it works, then these cameras will surely earn adjectives like "revolutionary," "important" and "popular."