On Tuesday (03/03/2009), Canon released the new firmware for Canon 1D Mark III (firmware 1.2.5) and 1Ds Mark III (firmware 1.1.4). The new firmware fixes some minor bugs and additional error codes.

1. Corrects a phenomenon associated with image display during Live View shooting. Corrects a phenomenon in which a displayed image becomes pitch-black if it is zoomed in during Live View shooting.

2. Improves reliability of USB communication. Corrects a phenomenon in which “busy” may continue to appear on the camera, if the USB cable is disconnected during USB communication.

3. Changes the error indications that are displayed on the camera. In previous firmware, if an error is detected “Err 99″ is displayed on the camera in most cases.

I haven’t touched my DSLR camera for almost a whole year. The weather in Southern California is getting better and I decided to do some outshooting at Bolsa Bay, which is pretty closed to the Huntington Beach, CA. Check out more of my works @Flickr.

If Pixelmator is my choice of Photoshop replacement on Mac OS X, Paint.Net definitely the same choice on the Windows platform. Pixelmator still costs 50 bucks, but Paint.Net is completely free!!! It supports layers, filter (effects), brushes, etc. I know a lot of people suggest The GIMP as the Photoshop alternative. However, The GIMP is pretty hard to use for most of the people although it is free of charge as well.

Pixelmator just released version 1.4 recently. It was started as a very light weight photo editor tool using OS X Cocoa framework and the power of CoreGraphic. The new version has obvious performance improvements and adding Adobe Photoshop brushes compatibility. You can now not only using brushes but you can import Photoshop brushes as well. In addition, the new clouds generator can generate realistic clouds.

[smartads]

I escaped from the city and went to Lake Arrowhead with my girl friend during the President’s Day long weekend. As I mentioned from my previous post, I only brought the Acer Aspire One with the 6-cell and 9-cell battery (no charger) and my photography equipments (Canon 1D Mark III, EF 100mm/2.8f, EF 17-40mm/4.0f, 580EX Flash).

I love the weight and the size of the AA1. I didn’t need to carry an extra notebook bag for it so I have the carry-on size luggage plus a camera shoulder bag.

The 6-cell and 9-cell battery totally can last for about 15-16 hours. I mainly used the AA1 for checking emails, restaurant reservation, map, and reading blogs (when my girl friend prepares herself). I also used the AA1 as photo backup using the right side SD slot (My Canon 1D Mark III supports both CF and SD. I store RAW in the CF and JPEG in the SD). My girl friend and I also watched an episode of Japanese TV Drama using the AA1. On the departure day, my AA1 still have 30% of battery left on the 9-cell battery.

The only down side of the AA1 during the trip is still about the screen size. Plus, I still do not get used to use Putty to access the Linux hosts. I am still debating I should bring the AA1 or MBP for my Java conference in Las Vegas in March.

What would you carry for conference? A small and light weight AA1 or a full feature but heavier 15 MBP?

I miss the day having the 12″ Powerbook G4. It is a perfect notebook computer for traveling. Since Apple switches over to Intel architecture, I do not have much size choice for professional Mac notebook. I bought a 15″ Intel based Macbook Pro last year and carry it around for all my trips. If you are using DSLR, you might know how painful to carry the 15″ MBP along with the luggage plus the camera gears. To be worse, my camera equipments (Canon 1D Mark III plus some lenses and tripod) can be easy added up to over 10 pounds!!!

Apple releases the unibody 13″ Macbook, which has more power than the 12″ Powerbook G4 in the old days. However, I have bought a 15″ MBP already and I do not have budget to get the additional 13″ Macbook. At the end of last year, I bought a 8.9″ Acer Aspire One and use it a lot while I’m on the go. Here are the list why the Acer Aspire One is better than the Macbook/MBP while traveling:

Weight

The 13″ Apple Macbook is 4.5lbs and the 15″ Apple Macbook Pro is 5.5lbs. On the other hand, the Acer Aspire One is a lot lighter than the MB or MBP, which is only around 2.2lbs without the battery. It is HALF of the weight of the 13″ MB!!!

Cost

You can get the Acer Aspire One for around US$300 online. You may want to grab the additional 6-cell battery for US$70 or 9-cell battery for US$90. On the other hard, the cheapest 13″ Apple Macbook is slight below US$1000 but any additional battery costs more than US$100. In addition, since the Aspire One is so cheap, I won’t feel too much if it got stolen while traveling.

Battery Life

This is the best part of having an Atom based notebook computer. With a 6-cell battery, the Acer Aspire One can last for 7 hours with Wifi and around 5.5 hours with USB 3G modem. I don’t have a 13″ Apple Macbook so I don’t have experience with it. The 15″ Apple Macbook Pro can last around 2.5 hrs with Wifi and around 1.5 hrs with USB 3G modem.

Of course, there are a lot of disadvantage using the Acer Aspire One over the Mac notebook:

Screen Size/Resolution

The Aspire One only has a 8.9″ LCD screen with only 1024×600 resolution. It is really TOO SMALL to do anything at all. Reading Google Reader in Firefox is a pain even in full screen mode. Doing slightly photo editing is almost impossible. I barely able to manage using it for blogging and checking emails.

Speed

The Intel Atom is good for average user doing simple daily tasks such as email checking and check out something quick on the web. It is also good enough for simple document editing. However, it is very slow to do anything else (at least for me).

Conclusion

I don’t want to get into the PC is better or Mac is better fame war. I love my 15″ MBP for photo editing and my 17″ MBP at work for writing software. I have a PowerMac Dual G5 at home as the multimedia hub. However, I just want to pick up the right tool for the task. I’m leaving to Lake Arrowhead this weekend for a 2-day short trip. I am going to leave my 15″ MBP at home and will bring the Acer Aspire One with a 6-cell and 9-cell batteries. I will give a review on the Acer Aspire One after this trip and see if I can use the similar setup for my business trip next month to Las Vegas.

Do you feel your Apple Macbook / Macbook Pro too heavy when traveling? What is your solution? Please leave some feedback here!

Just a funny photo from my photo album @ Flickr.