Black Diamond Productions

Nikon Fog Eliminator cloths are reusable, individually wrapped wipes impregnated with a breakthrough anti fog compound that stops condensation from forming on lens surfaces – regardless of the reason for the condensation (drastic temperature changes, body moisture or from human breath).

The honest answer from me is that I have one and well I have had multiple issues with it over the past year plus I have had it.

I have the Drobo Pro – Actually won it in an online contest so I am not complaining but here is the list of issues both related and none related to the Drobo itself.

1. Tons of issues with getting iSCSI setup – when it finally worked after about 6 firmware and software / dashboard updates it does work well – but there were definitely growing pains early on with WIN XP especially – it’s much easier to use on WIN7 now.

2. It’s pretty loud – just take it into consideration – I know it has to be loud but if you are putting it in your room vs. an office it is a constant fan drone you will hear.

3. I had massive drive failure issues with Seagate – Not related to Drobo – I purchased 8 Seagate drives for it and basically all of them failed in the first month of operation – Seagate replaced them all but this was pretty scary and I am very lucky I setup the pro in double redundancy or I would have lost data.

4. Speed – Unlike some here the speed over iSCSI is actually good – it’s not like a local drive but it’s good.

5. Virus Scanning – Some virus scanning software will severely affect transfer rates – you can in some exclude the Drobo location – so if you are moving files the scanner will scan them and thus slow your transfer way down..

6. Cool Feature: If you are using Backblaze etc – it will look at this drive on iSCSI as just more local drives and back it all up – that said Backblaze can get a bit overwhelmed with this much data and can cause your system to run slow when it is producing file lists each day. If that happens call Backblaze… I had to re-upload all my data twice so far to backblaze because of issues locally with the config files.

7. Support – Support for Drobo is good – thou in the beginning it was not so good – the people are great but even they did not have answers to the questions I had – after some time we got the issues worked out thou.

Pretty sure I have many other things to add – Watch this post for other issues as I remember them – Sadly one of the issues of having a blog for me is so i can post things so I remember them. To do this thou you need to remember to actually post them in the first place!

Some Application photos – Just a side note I tool these horrible shots with my HTC Incredible – Not exactly incredible at taking pictures as it might want to make you think:

Very Low Profile	Still Fits in a Lowepro G-RES 10

Modo Pocket is the world’s smallest tripod, a result of Manfrotto’s sensitivity and years of experience in the world of photography. Modo Pocket gives a wide variety of solutions for the amateur photographer, providing an answer to the need to have stable, yet very versatile support whatever the situation may be.

http://www.manfrotto.com/Jahia/site/manfrotto/pid/16411

** This is the best mini tripod I have used… Great with the Canon G10 **

CPS-H1 Self-Leveling Camera Head

Every photographer knows that image composition requires your full attention, especially on minute details in the scene. Nothing can be left to chance. On location, lighting conditions can change quickly and might never come back. In the studio, accurate equipment speeds production and simplifies work.

The Acadalus CPS-H1 is a rugged self-leveling camera head. Its innovative approach integrates state of the art sensor and microchip technology, giving you a new level of control and speed in setting the camera position. This allows you to devote yourself more to the scene with fewer distractions than ever before.

More on their website