Here are a few really neat shots taken by Paul Octavious of spinning records.  I love the motion that he captured and the different colours of the labels blurring together.   Prints are available through his store here.

A while ago I wanted to get some UV filters to protect the front element of my lenses and a circular polarizing filter to cut back reflections on water and to bring out the colour in my landscapes.  As always with camera related purchases I started with what I always start with: research (it’s half the fun!).  I had heard that it’s worth the money to buy high-quality filters so they don’t degrade the optical quality of the lens but I wanted to know what the price/performance ratio was for the different filters/brands.  Sure I could buy the Rolls-Royse of filters but that didn’t quite fit the budget – I wanted to know what filters would give me the most bang for my buck.  That’s when I came across lenstip.com.

Lenstip conducted a very thorough test of 20 UV filters and 23 circular polarizing filters.  What I found interesting about the test results (particularly with the UV filters) is that many of the more expensive filters (B+W), while performing well, were beat by less expensive filters (Hoya, Kenko) in some of the tests.  

The results are sorted in two ways: overall performance, and value.  This is quite useful for finding the best filter that fits your budget (note: prices are listed in Polish zloty – divide by ~3 to get to Canadian dollars).  

Check out the UV filter test results here and the circular polarizing filter results here.

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Side note: Camera stores have little markup on cameras and lenses, but make lots of money selling filters and accessories.  This means you can get a much better price (~25-50% cheaper) if you shop around online.  I get most of my filters from either eBay, or the websites of large eBay retailers such as MaxSaver.net

So apparently there is a new attraction in Toronto where people can walk outside the CN Tower along the circumference of the roof.  I have a hard enough time stepping on to the glass floor let alone climbing outside and hanging off the edge!  Not my cup of tea but to each his own.

More here

-Jonathan M

Japanese band 'androp' used 250 Canon 60D DSLR cameras with flashes as pixels in a pretty impressive light show for their song 'Bright Siren'.  Apparently each camera/flash combo is individually controlled by a computer program and timed to sync to the music.  I can think of a couple of more cost effective ways to do this...but then again, where's the fun in that ;)

-Jonathan M.

Source: Petapixel via Hack a Day  

If you've ever spent time trying to find the best deal on a particular item online, you're well aware that it can be quite frustrating.  Not only are there dozens of sites that might sell the particular item, extra fees such as: shipping, tax and duty charges can make price comparison from site-to-site difficult and time consuming.

Luckily for Canadians, there is PhotoPrice.ca.  Photoprice scans websites of all of the major camera retailers (Henry's, B&H, Vistek, Adorama, The Camera Store etc.) for a particular item to provide the final price of the item you're looking for (including shipping, taxes, duty etc.).  This makes it much easier to sort the results to find the lowest price.  If you prefer to shop 'in person', the listed prices can be used to price-match at many of the larger camera shops. 

The Photoprice.ca support is great as well.  I once requested an item to be added to the database and it was added within a few hours of my request.

I'm not getting paid to say any of this...I just wanted to spread the news of this great site that I've used many times in the past to save money on photographic equipment.

Keep up the good work Photoprice.ca!

Ever since Google Earth came out, I have often found myself 'flying' around the Arctic looking at all the strange looking landscapes and features in this part of the world.  Some regions look so foreign it's hard to believe they're from Earth.  These photos were taken by Robert B. Haas and can be viewed over at National Geographic.

There's something nostalgic about NASA's space shuttles and to be honest, it's a little sad to see them 'retire' from service.  Boston.com's 'The Big Picture' has gathered another fantastic set of photos documenting the final launch of the space shuttle Atlantis.  Here are some of my favourites:

Source: Boston.com

Microsoft has finally released a free codec pack for Windows 7/Vista that adds the ability to open and work with RAW files from 120+ camera models.  A quick scan, however, shows that they are little bit behind model-wise (the newest Nikon DSLR line is missing - D3100, D5100, D7000, and D3s).  Hopefully more camera models will be added soon in a future update.

Source: PetaPixel via 1001 Noisy Cameras

(Photo credit: Siddhartha Saha, Your Shot)

According to the National Geographic, there is supposed to be a "celestial traffic jam" as "two meteor showers combine forces to put on a brilliant sky show" and should peak on August 12, 2011.  The showers are supposed to produce between 15 and 30 shooting stars per hour (under clear, dark skies); however, a bright full moon might make it difficult to see them.

All might not be lost however.  The 'pre-show' (Delta Aquarid meteor shower) is expected to peak this Friday, July 29 2011, and could be one of the "best meteor showers of the year".

Read more about it here.

-Jonathan M

Thanks to Kenley B. for the link

(Photo credit: Laurent Cipriani/AP)

Boston.com has added another great set of photos - this time of the Tour de France.  Take a moment to check it out!

- Jonathan M