Grab extra chances to win a Nikon D2H!

I am running a Twitter/web competition to win a used but working Nikon D2H body - info on the competition is here and pics of the actual camera (and my ugly mug!) are here.

To increase your chances three-fold follow the instructions below.

1. Retweet this tweet by clicking here (easy to do, already filled in!)
2. Head over to my website at www.cameronlaird.com and have a look at some of my pics.
3. Put a link to my website on your blog or website (link to Cameron Laird - Photographer http://www.cameronlaird.com)
4. Send an email to websitelink@cameronlaird.com with details of where you have placed the link.

To increase your chances five-fold follow the instructions below.

1. Retweet this tweet by clicking here (easy to do, already filled in!)
2. Head over to my website at www.cameronlaird.com and have a look at some of my pics.
3. Write a post on your blog or website about my photography, mention I am a commercial and editorial photographer from Townsville, Australia and include a link to my website in the post and also in the links section of your blog or website (link to Cameron Laird - Photographer http://www.cameronlaird.com)
4. Send an email to websitelink@cameronlaird.com with details of the post and where you have placed the link.

Best of luck guys, make sure you are following me on Twitter to see who wins, it will be revealed in coming days!

Pics of the Nikon D2H I am giving away

As you may have read yesterday on my blog post here I am giving away a much loved working Nikon D2H. I thought it only fair that I posted a few pics of the actual camera and document the condition.

As I mentioned previously it has served me well and just prior to switching brands the LCD screen cover on the top display was damaged by an over-zealous baggage inspector. The LCD works faultlessly, just try not to go in pelting rain! The only other noticeable issue is with the card-door rubber. Unfortunately this is virtually an inevitable problem with Nikon D1 and D2 models, the card door rubber fell of a majority of these cameras due to poor adhesive. You can read a bit more about it here. It makes NO difference to the operation of the camera whatsoever. Nikon replaced this rubber twice during regular servicing and it would just keep falling off, in the end I just figured it was destined to stay that way!

Still interested in winning this camera? Simply follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Cammo and click this link to retweet and get your first entry.

Compact Flash card reader speeds investigated

I thought I would do a bit of my own research into the difference in speeds between various card readers as I have been a bit disappointed in the transfer speeds of my photos when working on deadlines on my laptop. My test consisted of an arbitrary 1.36Gb of files transferred using three different card readers. A Sandisk Extreme USB2.0 reader, an Apacer MegaSteno USB2.0 all-in-one reader and another badged "mrgadget.com.au" 12-in-1 USB2.0 reader. I did all the tests using a brand new Sandisk Extreme IV 4Gb CF card.

Transfer files to computer using	(seconds)
Sandisk Extreme USB2.0	88
Apacer MegaSteno USB2.0	174
"mrgadget.com.au" 12-in-1 USB2.0	207
Transfer files to CF card using
Sandisk Extreme USB2.0	139
Apacer MegaSteno USB2.0	171
"mrgadget.com.au" 12-in-1 USB2.0	265

I also gave the quickest reader (Sandisk Extreme USB2.0) a try with a Sandisk Ultra II CF Card with the results listed below.

Transfer files to computer using	(seconds)
Sandisk Extreme USB2.0	136
Transfer files to CF card using
Sandisk Extreme USB2.0	154

So all in all, pretty happy with the transfer speed of the Extreme card reader when combined with the Extreme IV CF card. The Extreme Firewire reader is quite a lot quicker however unfortunately it only works with 6 pin and 9 pin firewire connections which rules out a LOT of laptops on the market (those equipped with only 4 pin connections)