iPhone 4

I've been doing quite a bit of research into the cost of upgrading my current iPhone 3GS to the newly announced iPhone 4.

My problem is that I’m under contract with O2 in the UK until mid December. I was hoping that O2 would allow early transfer to a new contract at a minimal, or even no cost. This however, is not the case. They want an up front payment of £20 for every remaining month. This would add a further £100 to my upgrade cost - a charge I’m not willing to stand. Thanks to @PaulWestlake and @donmcallister on Twitter for all the information and costings that they have posted, it seems as though I am best to wait until my £35 a month, subsidised phone contract ends in mid December, then to transfer to O2s Simplicity contract, giving calls and data only, for £15 a month. I will then be free to buy my own iPhone and to transfer the sim from the 3GS to it. Firstly, I must check that this is possible, as I believe that the iPhone 4 uses the smaller, micro-sim format. I will need to check that O2 will issue one of these, tied to my current number. If not, I’ve heard that it is possible to cut the standard sim down to size, very carefully.

My next thought is, is it really worth buying a new iPhone in December, when it’s likely that there will be a new, improved model again, the following June. After all, I will be able to run the new iOS4 operating system on my current 3GS and take advantage of virtually all of it’s functionality. Much as I’m drooling over the new hardware, the most sensible decision would be to sit on the Simplicity tarrif until next June and then buy the latest and greatest that Apple has to offer. The trouble is… I’m not always particularly sensible.

Please note, this blog post was made from the Tumblr app on my iPhone. Any mistakes or spelling errors will be corrected when I can see it in full on a computer screen.

I love my iPhone, until this happens.

A new photo set, "The secret garden" is available to view on my Flickr stream.

Click on the photograph to link to it.

General Election day in the UK.

A new photo set is now available to view on my Flickr photo stream.

A selection of floral studies, taken on my new Canon 550D.

Please click on the photograph to link to the photo set.

What now seems to be a lifetime ago, I was passionate about photography. My interest was sparked during a foundation course in art and design, prior to studying for a degree in visual communications (graphic design), where I specialised in photography, with the intention of making a career as a studio photographer. Throughout this time I loved nothing more, than setting off with my camera and lenses and capturing images. Barren, open landscapes, cityscapes, images of urban decay, people, graphic and textural studies. Experimenting with exposure and different film types, more often than not, using black and white, which I felt complemented my style, then returning to the darkroom and processing these images with great care and attention to detail.

Unfortunately, I never worked as a professional photographer, taking a job in graphic design instead, which gave me a huge variety of work and experience. I spent almost twenty years art directing photograpic sessions, but hardly ever touched a camera myself, except for holiday snapshots.

Now, I feel the urge to create my own photographic images again. Of course technology has moved on significantly over recent years and I believe that now is the time to invest in some new, digital equipment and hopefully re-kindle my passion.

I have a lot of 35mm film cameras and lenses which will have to be sold, though there is no value at all in them now.

I've decided to go for the new Canon 550D DSLR with an 18 - 135mm zoom lens (shown above) this gives a good balance of pro features in a top end amateur camera. I had thought about the 5D MKII which gets rave reviews in the photographic press, but at almost £2,500 (€2,850), it's a little too expensive for my first footsteps into photography for many years.

The 550D should be ideal for what I want, it captures raw images at 18 megapixels, has a wide ISO range and a wealth of controls and settings, including the ability to capture full 1080p high definition video with stereo sound.

I've created both a Flickr photostream and a Youtube channel to display my work. I also have other gallery sites ready to come online as soon as I have the images to post. All details and links will follow in a future post on this blog.

I know that here are lots of cute "cat playing piano" videos on YouTube, but this one caught my eye. A cat playing with an iPad

Honda Jazz 2009

I recently had the opportunity to drive a new Honda Jazz for a day. This came equipped with Honda's i-Shift, 6 speed automatic gearbox. Although the Jazz gets consistently good reviews in the motoring press, I can honestly say that it is the worst car I have ever driven. Maybe I should be more specific. I know that the Jazz is a great little car, I drive a three year old one regularly and it combines good performance, economy, accommodation and build quality. My main gripe with the new model was the i-shift gearbox. I've never been a lover of automatic gearboxes - I find the lag, and hunting for the right gear at certain speeds annoying. The i-Shift takes this to a whole new level.

The car is equipped with three different methods for changing gear. Full automatic, a gear lever, which is pushed forwards to change up and pulled backwards to change down and the infamous "flappy paddle" controls on the steering wheel, so hated by Jeremy Clarkson.

Starting the engine was my first challenge, mainly because it wouldn't. I had to find the instruction manual to read up on the startup procedure, which involved depressing the brake pedal while turning the key.

Setting off in heavy traffic I found that I was stuck in first gear. My instinctive reaction was to pull the gear lever backwards to get into second, but nothing happened, because to change up, it should be pushed forwards. My next instinctive move was to want to change into third. Tapping the lever to the left and pushing up, I found myself in full automatic mode. Surely this would be more straightforward, until I was able to get off the busy dual carriageway… but no, it was far worse. This small, 1.4 litre car has a six speed gearbox which really didn't know which gear it wanted to be in. Every time there was a gear change, the car seemed to almost come to a halt. There was a two or three second wait before the next gear was engaged, causing drivers behind me to wonder what on earth I was doing, while trying to avoid running into the back of me. Throughout the whole day, I found the full automatic mode to be almost impossible to use, verging on dangerous.

Once off the main road, I decided to give the steering wheel mounted paddle shifters a try. Set off in first, pull the right paddle towards me and up into second, then third. Great, no problem. Dropping back through the gearbox was equally smooth and simple, using the left hand paddle. Wonderful! Finally a method that seemed to work well. I then came to a road junction, I looked both ways - all clear. Turned left onto the main road and stretched out my fingers to change up… No paddle! The paddles had rotated with the wheel so they were now at the top and bottom and not where my hands were, on either side. With the engine revving at high speed in first gear I grabbed the floor mounted gear lever and once again pulled it backwards for second gear. Of course nothing happened.

I know that given a little time it would all feel far more natural, but my initial impressions were the ones that shaped my opinions about the car. I would never get used to the full automatic mode, it was just far too laggy. The pauses between changes felt like missed heartbeats; each time, a slightly disconcerting breathless moment.

I also found the layout of instruments and controls to be rather haphazard and counterintuitive. On the plus side, the car was comfortable and the steering and handling felt tight and agile.

I was certainly glad to hand the Jazz back at the end of the day.

Flickr

I've created a linked gallery of my photographs on Flickr. Please keep watching for updates and feel free to comment.

Following the same theme as the Honda Accord advertisement in one of my posts last November, this caught my attention, on YouTube.

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