Saturday, January 03, 2009

plane bug + new lens

I knew that! That lady sitting next to me on the plane was coughing too much...

After a great first day in Maui in the water with a double surf and sail session, I'm now lying in bed with a cold and a fever. Oh well, could be worse...
Yesterday though, before getting really sick, I managed to sit on the bluff and test the new lens I bought for my Sony.
Check out the results, starting from Graham Ezzy in Maui for the Christmas holidays. Nice shirt/sail color combo.


Super gusty/offshore wind and what seemed to me like mostly a wind swell... at least I didn't miss anything epic (even though the pro always make it look epic).
This is Levi on his new Goya sails.


KP hitting the lip with board, sail and body.


This time, instead, hitting a clean aerial.


Mark Angulo doing his thing.


I like this one because it seems almost black and white with only the pink left as the only color. This guys is at Middles... how's the zoom?


Not a fun moment.


Here's a slide with a few more pics. Check the zoom on # 6 and 7.



And here's the 1.7 magnifying lens I bought (less than 100 bucks).


First quick feedback after one hour of use: it rocks and it's exactly what I needed.
The light was horrible, so don't be fooled by that.
The images are still sharp even at max optical zoom. When I dig in with the digital zoom I can get into skin pores and body parts (stay tuned for the first duck dive shots...).
It added a little weight, but it's still light enough to be carried at all times in my backpack and to be held by hand without the need of a tripod.
In other words, I love it. The Canon is going back as soon as I get out of bed...
Costo customer service, I'm coming!

Oh, a unexpected advantage that I didn't even think of: at full optical zoom, even the movies are now close enough. Here's a short clip of Mark Angulo (at Middles).
But I enjoy taking photos much better though, so don't get used to them...


As the weather map clearly shows, the strong offshore (can I add ugly?) wind will continue. That low on the left, instead, will send a big WNW swell around Tuesday. How big it will be in Maui, that'll depend on the amount of blockage the other islands will provide... always a very difficult thing to forecast.
Will I be well by then?


Checking the long term modelled maps, it seems that more big waves (this time from a more North and close source and with no much trade wind) will hit starting towards the end of next week into 10 days from now. God, I hope I'll be well by then!!!

PS. As a reader pointed out in a comment on last post, it seems that somebody in Italy read my comment about the lack of smiles (or more likely just shared my opinion and found a smart way of pumping up the business). This shop owner in Grosseto is now giving 10% discount to the clients who enter his shop with a smile...

7 comments:

benjaminpink said...

nice photos GP. thanks.
I noticed that the 2nd shot of KP he doesn't have his front foot in the strap...did he land it?
-Ben

Anonymous said...

Feed a cold and starve a fever GP, ergo - make yourself a big bowl of pasta, take some Lemsip, go to bed ALONE and you'll be well in no time at all.

Free advice, given with a smile so I don't need a 10% discount:-)

Anne x

Anonymous said...

che figata queste foto... il nuovo zoom mi pare funzioni davvero ...ma quindi non usi una reflex digitale (srl) bensi una digitale dotata di zoom ottico 12x con un obiettivo moltiplicatore 1.7
invece notavo che il più stiloso di tutti (Levi )con le nuove goya "piotta" ancora di + ...sembrano belle ma molto potenti rispetto alle neilpryde che usava ! ( lo notavo sul video appena aggiunto da maui windsurfing blog)
una curiosità: ma le tavole che usa Levi sono molto simili a quelle di serie , ovvero con prua molto larga e poppa sottile o diverse? perchè a vederle sono davvero brutte ...rispetto ad una goya per esempio che pare molto più equilibrata nello shape....dacci qualche gossip/dettaglio tecnico dai !! ciao grande giampaolo
M.P.

cammar said...

Ben,
I noticed that too, but I don't remember if he landed it... maybe you should ask him on his blog!

Anne,
thanks for the wise advice.

M.P.,
I'll answer in English so that everyone will understand.
Most pros I know use custom boards that have little or nothing to do with production boards... and that makes a lot of sense to me.
A guy like Levi sure has different needs than an average sailor like me.
Conversely, I do know a few pros who use production boards.
In general, I'd say not to watch too closely what the pros ride, because we're all different and we all have different needs and skills and sail different conditions.
Ask your buddies on your local beach to let you try their gear and you'll have a better fell of what works for you...
Sails: no doubt Goya has made a good move by acquiring Jason Diffin as a designer, but... what would you expect Levi to say about their sails... "they suck"?? Or "Yeah, they're ok, but I liked NP better"???
Come on...
At that level you choose whoever pays you more. Nothing wrong with that, since that's their job: to be paid to sail with some gear instead of some other. And that's a pretty damn good job IMO.
Said this, I personally tried and liked the Goya Gurus.
But I sail with the Superfreaks. And for my skill and preference, there's nothing like it out there.
Nothing.
And the gap is getting bigger now with the Ultralight material.
Stay tuned for a Superfreak post very soon.
If I only could get over this cold! Damn, it's Monday morning and I'm still in bed!!

Anonymous said...

nice pics; i think this is the first picture i've ever seen of graham ezzy without his helmet, have you ever seen him without.
p.

Anonymous said...

ok I see what U say about Levi's boards ...and sails as well
and ..just a curiosity, what means , speaking about money, a good contract for a pro like Levi or Kauli...I can't even immagine if it's something like 15.000$ or 30.000$....or whAT !?
just to understand and compere with a normal job .... bye !
guarisci senò qua ci mancheranno le tue super foto :-)!
ciaoo
M.P.

cammar said...

P.,
you're right. Hey Graham, if you read this, tell us... you no like helmet no more?

M.P..
absolutely no idea about that. But I saw the house that a pro windsurfer (not telling who) was able to buy with what he earned thanks to windsurfing and that was pretty impressive...
For sure a pro windsurfer earned way more a few years ago than now.
Still just crums, compared to what a top pro surfer makes...

Tuesday morning, looks like some energies are coming back, but I still have an annoying cuogh...

Fortunately, I don't see the new WNW pulse hitting the NW buoy yet... it will be here tomorrow. We'll see how I feel...