Ovidiu Predescu's Weblog

Canon 5D

I just received a brand new Canon 5D! I ordered it two days ago from B&H. Even though it was not supposed to be in stores until October, I briefly checked B&H's web site to see what the status was. I was very surprised to see it in stock, so I placed an order immediately. I was lucky, half an hour later they ran out of stock, I guess other people noticed it too.

The camera feels like 20D's big brother, and is much better than the dream camera I was thinking about a little over a year ago. Few things would have been nice to have, or at least to be different:

• weather sealing would be good
• the depth preview button is in the wrong place. It should be on the right hand side, just like on EOS 1v and all the 1Ds. This way you could press it with the same hand used to hold the camera, without the need to have both hands on the camera.

The camera is otherwise impressive. I am going to have a really hard time reaching for my EOS 1V film camera instead of the 5D. Shooting slide film is still nice, especially when you want to project the results. But getting the results faster has its advantages, especially when you're in the field and can make adjustments to get a better image. But I cannot complain, it's a decision is nice to be able to make.

Not so wild west

Mr. Basescu, the Romanian President, made a quick stop to Casa Romana in Hayward this evening. He was welcomed by members of the local Romanian community, gathered to meet the president.

During a speech he gave, Mr. Basescu described some of the changes that are happening in Romania these days as being the end of the transition period. He was referring to the transition from communism to a more capitalistic economy, in a country which some describe as Wild Wild East, where everything goes and until not long ago the corruption seemed to be rampant. Mr. Basescu addressed some of the concerns related to corruption and how the current government is fighting against it.

He also talked about the presence of Romanian forces in Iraq, and said a withdrawal will not occur until the coallition forces decide it's time to move out. This is a fairly interesting position, as it risks alienating some of the EU countries, most of which decided to stay away from the conflict or withdrew their forces.

During the visit, he was offered a cowboy hat and told Mr. President, when you go back to Bucharest, you now need to find a horse!

Custom hardware parts on demand

If you want to design your own parts, and have them machine-made for you, this is very interesting: emachineshop.com. You design the part using a program they provide, upload the design to their site and have the part shipped to you later. Really cool!