Looking Into the iPad 2, WiFi File Transfer from Leica M240 to iPad 2. from William Palank on Vimeo.

BTS Leica M240 Lingerie shoot wirelessly through WiFi SD to iPad 2. from William Palank on Vimeo.

Just before leaving I was lucky enough to be at the Apple Store where they had just got a new product by the most popular maker of discreet Bluetooth headsets for the iPhone, Jawbone. Their newest product is a small portable speaker system that can connect via analogue cable to your iPodnano, shuffle, or smartphone. Not only that, but it is blue tooth friendly with such devices as an iPhone or iPad. Testing it out in my house with multiple walls I could connect my iPhone and iPad and walk more than thirty feet away. Well enough, the name of the device is the Jambox. It’s also rated up to 85 db.

Just to give you an idea of it’s small size I took a picture  next to my iPhone and connected via the analogue connector (which is supplied) to my iPodnano. (Below)

Jambox with Nano

It also comes with a very slim-fit durable neoprene like case with magnetic flaps to keep the doors shut (below).

Case

To round out my system I bought a pair of the Klipsch in-ear headphones. It comes with a nice felt bag in to which I can also keep my analogue connector, iPodnano, as well as the ear phones. Just to keep my traveling music bundle as small and portable as possible.

Klipsch felt bag

All in all, I found it to be an excellent as well as durable system. The charging time for the Jambox is less than 1 hour and gives up to 6 hours of playtime before a new charge is needed. You can adjust the volume from your music device and/or the top of the Jambox with a simple + and – raised buttons. I think this is a must get item for any of our travelers that miss the high quality of their music systems at home. At around US $200, it may not be the cheapest alternative out there but it could be the best based on sound quality, size and ergonomics.

Useless Dividers

So what I did with my larger Retrospective 10 (Pinestone) is take the thick and plush inserts provided with my Artisan and Artists “Oskar One Day Bag”, which I wasn’t using and put it in the Retrospective Bag (see below).

Unfortunately, this particular insert is way to big for the much smaller Retrospective 5.

While reading the Leica User Forum I was informed of a fairly new line of products from bag maker Crumpler in a Thread started by Forum member MarkP. The Australian Camera Bag maker has recently introduced the Haven line, a kind of sack with well padded inserts in sizes Small, Medium and Large.

San Francisco actually has a Crumpler Boutique about two blocks from my gym at the Four Seasons, so I brought my Retro 5 in for a quick fitting. I found that the Medium or (M) size was perfect for the bag. I could easily get the M9 with lens attached along with two other M-lenses in the bag (below).

Empty Retrospective 5

Camera on Top

Sack Closed

Once you pull the sack string tight, the Retrospective Bag easily closes with it’s velcro fasteners.

Haven Closed, Front View

Retrospective 5 Closed

Here’s a shot of the Haven outside the Think tank Bag with multiple elastic pockets for SD Cards and extra batteries.

Haven Sack

Now you might think, “Why is this guy obsessing over dividers in his bag?” Good question! I like to think of the padding in my bag as sort of an insurance policy. Sure you might of thought ahead and packed all your gear nice and tight so that you can carry it into the aircraft cabin, but if something gets broken or misaligned along the way, well…… their aren’t a lot of Leica stores or camera repair shops in the Lower Omo, Ethiopia (actually NONE).

I just put this system together and haven’t really field tested it but I think Crumpler has come up with a great product at a fairly reasonable price ($50 US). As a warning, i just want to state that both people working at the boutique that these items are selling out as quick as they come in. They come in neon green or orange. I would have preferred the orange but they have no idea when the next shipment is coming in. “A Bird in the Hand….”

Ethiopia (Click)

Please watch recent post “Packing Video 1″ first.

Just a note: all “Prescription Medications” go in my carry-on along with at least one pair of underwear.

Here is the link to the Tumi Bag (click on the word “Tumi”, it is a hyperlink). The dimensions are on the website.

Link to Eagle Creek (hyperlink) cube products. In the US, The Container Store carries a large selection of the Eagle Creek products as does Edward’s Luggage.

Anyway, if you guys want me to do the followup video, which has two other great Eagle Creek Products, I’ll need 5 comments on the blog (spam not included).

Here’s a direct link to the video on Vimeo in case anyone is having problems viewing it on the Blog.

If you travel internationally at all, you might find your camera bag and/or luggage filled with a multitude of electrical plug adapters especially if there are numerous countries on your itinerary. As illustrated in the image above, not an easy organizational feat by any means. That is until now….

Under the Christmas tree just recently, I found a gift from my lovely wife, a wonderful device from Tumi. (OK, OK, I left plenty of hints with a Tumi brochure with the above item circled and a printed MapQuest search with the location of the nearest Tumi store).

Anyway, the item is listed as a “USB Cellphone Charger Kit” but does much more.  It acts as a USB Charger and electrical adaptor. It will handle 110-220 V and the four different plug configurations it provides are advertised to work in over 150 countries, all within one compact kit with beautifully constructed carrying case.

It comes standard with a multitude of tip-adapters that will most likely fit most popular cell phone brands to date and also a self retracting USB chord and automobile cigarette lighter adapter.

The above kit as described sells for roughly $95 USD. I you feel the removable USB portion is not for you, there is another Tumi electric adapter (only) with it’s own case that sells for about $50. You can bet that I will be making room for this functional little device in my international carry-on  from now on.

As we buy smaller and more compact camera bags to guarantee our entire camera kits make it on our flights as carry-ons, one has to wonder if we are affording enough padding and protection for these very valuable and sensitive items. Quite often I find it impossible to find  specific smaller bags for my camera bodies and lenses. That is until I discovered the Domke F34  protective wrap. As it is basically a padded square with four velcro corners, you can mold and fold them to fit almost any expensive or delicate photography item. It comes in 3 different sizes and a variety of colors.

I was introduced to the item by the Ken down at Bear Images as we were looking for a solution to protect my Broncolor A2R pack charger. I found I could use the same wrap to secure a Leica M9 or 24mm ASPH Summilux lens. You won’t find me leaving home without it.

Baskets

Tachileik, Mae Sot and Myawaddy (June 2008)

It didn’t take Siri long to navigate the countless tricycle rickshaw drivers to reach the outskirts of Tachileik.

“Ohhhh…” she screamed as she gently tapped the brake as to not draw too much attention. I could see immediately that she was peering forward at a brigade of Burmese soldiers about 50 yards up the road thoroughly checking every truck and auto trying to make it out of the city.

“Any other ideas?” I asked. She reluctantly swung her head slowly back and forth  suggesting ”no”. I surmised that my plans to pass unnoticed beyond the city’s boundary had been thwarted.

Siri dropped Tau and I off near the border crossing booth we checked in with only a couple hours earlier. The two hugged each other goodbye and Tau and I somberly made it back to the van. The driver smiled, once again exposing his gold laden central incisor and handed me a bottled water. On our way back to the hotel Tau asked me numerous questions about life in the United States. I still remember her utter shock and disbelief when I mentioned that my television Cable-box had more than 200 stations.

Back at the Legend Hotel Chiang Rai I said my goodbyes to Tau and the driver. She asked me if I still had plans to enter Burma. “Yes”, I said, albeit a bit more reluctantly this time.

The Golden Pagoda and longhi clad citizens had given me even a deeper thirst for exploring this culture somehow frozen in time even further.

After a short phone call to Bangkok and the owner of the Thai Travel Agency, Ms Didi, I was promised a plane ticket to the western Thai city on the border of Burma, Mae Sot. As the reservation was for early the next morning, I started packing my camera gear and clothing.

This time my air transport out of Northern Thailand was what we here in the US refer to as a “Puddle-jumper”. Rather than jet engines, the small aircraft was propelled by twin rotary propellors, one on each wing. After climbing the stairs and entering the fuselage, I was surprised to see that the flight was wide-open (maybe ten other passengers on an aircraft built to seat fifty or sixty). My blue cloth covered seat was about as tattered and lumpy as a bus I had taken in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico I had the misfortune of taking years before. All that was missing were the chickens in the aisle.

After roaring to a stop in Mae Sot, I grabbed my bags and ordered a taxi for the hotel Ms Didi had booked for me. She warned me over and over that it was not very luxurious but about as good as it gets in these parts of Thailand.

After checking into the Central Mae Sot Hill Hotel, I immediately made my way to the concierge and tried to arrange a guide for the nearby Burmese city of Myawaddy. She warned me that US nationals were not being allowed across the border at this time. I stated that I understood but asked if she might arrange to have a guide meet me anyway. She nodded and reached into her purse for her cell phone. After speaking to someone in Thai, she courteously covered the hand-piece and asked me if 45 minutes would be too soon. I said that would be fine.

It was hard to believe it had been less than a week ago that I was denied a Visa by the Burmese consulate in Bangkok. So now it had come down to being set up with a Burmese fixer in the Thai border city of Mae Sot by a concierge I had known for less than thirty seconds.

When the fixer arrived, the concierge suggested I meet him in the humid outdoor dining space of the hotel’s lobby. She had coffee and tea sent out to our table as we got to know one and other.  He introduced himself as Toni in perfect English and had long black hair, a large diamond stud in his right earlobe and a shiny white pair of Air Jordans with laces fashionably untied. He confirmed that the Burmese militia was no longer issuing day passes into the border city of Myawaddy. “We shouldn’t have a problem”, he exclaimed but asked if I wouldn’t mind laying down in the back of his van just before and after the border crossing. I was in.

In a deserted alley about 100 yards shy of the Friendship Bridge into Burma, Toni helped fold me in between tattered boxes in the back of his van and then covered me with a dirty black sheet that smelled like mustard. As we stopped at the crossing I could hear him joking with one of the guards and then we promptly drove on. After being given the all clear I was still a bit leery when he stopped the van so that I could get into the front passenger seat. He explained everything was safe as the town was actually run by Karen forces, more in line with the Thai government, that presently had a truce with the Burmese generals.

Driving through the dusty open lanes of Myawaddy was like stepping back half a century. Both women and men wore longhis and many painted their face with tanaka root in almost tribalistic fashion. Balancing baskets on their head, women carried fresh produce from the local market and tricycle rickshaw drivers pedaled their patrons through the congested streets. Young boys short of even being teenagers, rode in the back of pickup trucks bracing automatic weapons between their legs (it was explained to me that these were the young recruits of the Karen forces). I was in the wild wild west, I thought to myself!

After finding a local street market, Toni allowed me to get out and take some pictures. Unfortunately, my stroll didn’t last for long as I had attracted a bit of attention from the locals, many who evidently hadn’t seen a white person before. Toni suggested we visit a Pagoda just outside town hidden in a fairly desolate area. “Let’s go for it!”, I stated.

Child Monk

We made our way to the small pagoda and I got out of the van. In the main temple area I was introduced to the local tortoise slowly meandering among the monks. One of them gave me a small bit of vegetable to feed it. Then from about twenty yards I spotted a young monk dressed in a traditional red robe sitting on the teak floor of an open portion of the temple. Sunlight streaming through a small portal of light behind illuminated the incense smoke that engulfed him. I reverently bowed, focused and got off two frames with my Leica M8 before he was called away. It wasn’t until I got back to the US that I noticed the large scar over his right shoulder.

Disneyland gone awry?

Just after shooting the young monk, Toni motioned towards the van and I nodded back as I knew it was time to go. On our drive out I noticed the monolithic facade of a crocodile’s mouth that would make any Theme Park envious. From there we headed out to the main road leading to the Burmese delta region to see if the path was clear. Once again my attempt to get deeper into the Burmese countryside was blocked by a truck load of Burmese militia conspicuously going through trucks and autos in the distance on the two-laned dirt road. At Toni’s suggestion, we turned back and headed  for Thailand. It was just after getting out of the back of the van once we were safely over the Thai border that he suggested we visit a Burmese refugee camp supported by an international NGO about 45 minutes north of Mae Sot. Since getting past the Burmese border was looking impossible , I regrettably agreed.

(To be continued….)