tag:duncandavidson.com,2008-09-21://1 2008-10-10T03:49:13Z Photographer and technologist based on the West Coast of the United States. Movable Type Pro 4.21-en tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.101 2008-10-08T09:25:16Z 2008-10-10T03:49:13Z

After owning a D700 for a bit over 24 hours, I’ve started to assemble a pretty long list of first impressions. Of course, in the first day or so of owning a new camera, it’s easy to be infatuated with all of the new bells and whistles. But, so far, I'm very impressed indeed.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.100 2008-10-08T05:27:51Z 2008-10-08T06:26:30Z

I watched the first two debates of the season alone. Tonight, for the third debate I went over to David and Julie Wheeler’s house and watched it with a group of people.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.99 2008-10-07T22:03:36Z 2008-10-07T22:48:32Z

Last year, Lee Dryburgh refused to let the community that had formed around the Emerging Telephony and created eComm 2008. The conference returns in 2009 to Burlingame, California.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.98 2008-10-07T02:17:36Z 2008-10-08T10:49:32Z

The Canon versus Nikon debates have raged for years. All Brand X versus Brand Y discussions are fueled by both facts and myths. I'm going past the debate and going dual system.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.96 2008-10-01T06:00:00Z 2008-10-01T06:16:28Z

In conversations about multi-point autofocus systems, a frequent question that comes up is, "Why would you want all those points?" The answer is that if you select your point manually, you can use all those points effectively.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.95 2008-09-29T23:49:31Z 2008-10-01T05:40:26Z

Focus and recompose is a frequently used technique by many photographers. It is often used when a photographer wants to compose their subject in an area of the frame which doesn’t have an autofocus point nearby. It's use, however, is not without risk.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.94 2008-09-27T23:39:30Z 2008-09-30T19:14:30Z

There are a lot of people around the Internet that aren’t happy with the specifications of the autofocus on the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II. There are also a lot of people that have chimed in saying that it’s a bit too early to pass judgement. After all, the camera hasn’t even shipped yet.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.93 2008-09-27T19:10:59Z 2008-09-27T19:52:33Z

O’Reilly has a new conference in the works coming up this November called iPhone Live. I’m sure the Apple NDA will get in the way of some things, but it’ll be interesting to see how it comes together.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.91 2008-09-25T20:00:00Z 2008-09-26T19:27:51Z

Six years ago this month, O’Reilly Media released my book Learning Cocoa with Objective-C. I won't be revising this book, but there are lots of great options coming on the scene, including a new book by Daniel Steinberg from the Pragramatic Programmers.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.90 2008-09-24T23:00:56Z 2008-09-28T02:52:19Z

The headline feature of the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is certainly its capability for recording video. Thanks to the full frame sensor and Canon’s extensive lens setup, the video can be shot with the kinds of depth of field effects that just, well, awesome to view. This is, however, just one step along a bigger trend line.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.89 2008-09-23T03:02:16Z 2008-09-23T04:26:58Z

It was interesting being in New York last week while Wall Street was completely blowing out. It affected everyone to some degree, even if most people were completely confused as to what was really going on.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.88 2008-09-22T03:20:19Z 2008-09-29T07:14:14Z

The Canon EOS 5D Mark II brings a 21 megapixel sensor to the game. On paper, there's much to like about this new camera. But, there are a couple of major points that make this release bittersweet, at least for me.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.87 2008-08-21T14:09:45Z 2008-08-21T14:16:21Z

After such a rocky start to the trip, boy was I happy to check into the Mövenpick in Amsterdam. We arrived a bit before check in time, but after waiting for a while, we finally took up residence in our room. We even got the view I wanted.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.86 2008-08-21T13:31:10Z 2008-08-21T13:41:47Z

I've travelled a lot in my life and had some interesting experiences along the way. In a half million miles of flying, however, August 20th is a day that will stand out, and not in a good light.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com tag:duncandavidson.com,2008://1.85 2008-08-18T03:41:40Z 2008-08-18T04:09:49Z

My Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro has had several scary incidents of late. There's been no concrete verdict on the issue, but it seems like a bad hard drive. After the latest little scare, I took a hint and picked up a 320GB replacement drive.

James Duncan Davidson http://duncandavidson.com