Got an awesome new camera strap from Gordy’s last week, so I had to be excessive and take a portrait of my GH1 with the strap.

I have no fancy lighting, so I set a long exposure (3 seconds… the max on my point and shoot) and lit the scene with my MacBook Pro’s screen (the up-lighting) and an iPod Touch (which I had to wave about above the camera). Reflections in the lens are from me waving about a LED keychain with my other hand. Pink highlights are from my magenta hoodie. Worked out quite well!

Also, I’m loving the strap. The new leather starts out stiff and rough, but should wear down nicely (it’s already softening up). The neck pad would feel rough on the skin, except I wear it across my body (one arm through the strap), so it doesn’t even touch the back of my neck. More about it when I actually get to use it more!

Was wandering around Bic Camera in Sapporo with barely enough time to catch the train back, and ended up impulse-buying the Supreme SS from Etsumi (4780 JPY) for my Panny GH1.

Great little bag, actually! Fits the GH1 + an extra lens (or my wallet + a battery + my filter case) perfectly in the main compartment. The front pocket fits filters, batteries, pens (with dedicated pockets)… whatever. The flap over the front pocket can fit memory cards. The right side pocket can fit a cellphone, iPod, or ultra-compact camera. The left side has a water bottle holder that zips up and out of the way. There’s also a flat velcro pocket on the back.

It’s all nicely padded, with a hard bottom and dense foam padding along the sides, so should protect my gear nicely. And I like the looks of it enough to even just use it as a mid-sized casual bag. I’d been considering the black Golla SLR bag, but the Golla bags are bigger, have softer padding, and kooky patterns on the front flap that I’m not exactly crazy about. The Etsumi bag meets my requirements of 1) fitting my camera and a few other things perfectly, 2) being water resistant, 3) having a bunch of useful pockets, and 4) not screaming “I’M FULL OF EXPENSIVE GEAR!!”

Extreme boredom at the office means I start Photoshopping Pixelmating (okay, that sounds dirty) together camera accessories I want. But seriously, would not the above go together SO SEXILY?

I don’t understand why they don’t sell this in Japan yet.

Freaking love this bag: it’s actually a carrying bag for smaller DSLRs, designed by Akihiro Kumagaya (who is only two years older than me?!) and commissioned by Olympus. It is all I can do to NOT order this $200 overblown case… or maybe I should just give in to compulsive consumerism and spend my Japanese stimulus money on it.

Looking forward to Golla’s summer iPod/MacBook line-up, especially the sleek MacBook Pro bags.