Although not that compact, it has been an affordable solution as regards to getting a 3G internet connection shared across all my devices, no matter where I may be. With an ever increasing bag of gadgets to lug about though, I’m always looking for ways to minimize my tech burden.

The moment the Novatel MiFi 2352 personal wireless hotspot came through the door I knew things had just got simpler, easier and much more compact.

The Website lists these features:
• Connects up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices simultaneously
• Computers, PDA’s, cameras, music players, personal and game players and more
• Rechargeable Lithium Ion Battery
• GPS- enabled
• Advanced internal antenna system
• NovaSpeed® capable
• Auto-install and auto-connectivity
• 10M (30 ft) range of network coverage

So far I love it. Whether I’m using it with my iPhone, laptop, camera enabled with an Eye-Fi card or all of them together! It takes up little to no space, weighs next to nothing and makes it really easy to give the gift of a wifi connection to those around you, no matter where you may be.

I look forward to the possibility of a future device that can take multiple sims and auto select the carrier with the fastest connection or perhaps even allow streaming across more than one network.

For more information on the MiFi 2352 and other Personal WiFi Hotspot devices by Novatel Wireless, check out their website at http://www.NovatelWireless.com

Those of us versed in these new ways of online communication know that any political figure who can truly and completely adopt social media methods would have a formidable secret weapon in their arsenal. A weapon that would have to be adopted across all the battling parties or they would quickly fall by the wayside.

Obama has come the closest at showing the world how to effectively use social and new media in a political campaign with great success.

With podcasts, viral videos, twitter streams and Flickr groups there seemed to be no corner of the Internet where Obama wasn’t being talked about. Who knows how much of this was actually orchestrated by Obama’s people themselves? Does it really matter? The conversations were happening and it seemed Obama’s supporters were the most clued up as to how to keep the ball rolling.

Here in the UK, David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party has been dabbling in social media too. You may have seen ‘Webcameron‘ and his Twitter feed.

He certainly has the people around him capable of pulling this off. Hell, he’s even  young enough to make it look like his idea.

Take a look at both parties current web presence though and you will see their pages filled with MySpace style jibes. Social media should be used more for engaging rather than bickering.

After myself and Sizemore documented Gordon Brown’s visit to the Reuters head office in London. Ilicco (Head of Reuters mobile) thought we should take it a step further for a visit by David Cameron.

So, come the morning of the 15th of December (Tomorrow) at 10 am, a team of UK social media practitioners shall be in position to document Cameron and the day in more channels than are usually exercised.

This time the team has grown. Behind the scenes we will now have the technical support of two very well known social media mavens, Nik Butler (@Loudmouthman) and Phil Campbell (@PhilCampbell). As Nik uses some code he has built to trawl the twittersphere for questions and comments relating to Cameron’s talk, Phil Campbell will be at the digital helm of his invention Rezpondr at http://Newsmaker.Rezpondr.com. On the Reuters side of things will be @Chris_Parker and @MarkJones manning @Reuters_co_uk

Myself and Mike we be on the ground as last time. Taking pix, shooting film, streaming live and using our Mac’s to live blog the mornings event.

If we can get enough coffee inside us prior to Cameron’s arrival, between the four of us we should be able to extract as much as possible from the 60 minutes at our disposal.

I shall have my N95 for Qiking, my iPhone for tweeting pix, my Kodak Zi6 for HD video blogging, my Nikon D3 for raw pix and new to the arsenal a Nikon D90 equipped with an Eye-Fi SD card streaming photo’s straight into my Eye-Fi flicker account. Obviously it may be a bit of a struggle using all these devices at once and some will argue that I could consolidate some of this kit as certain items are able to multi task. That may well be so, but this is a test. We are once again undertaking an experiment in extreme social media. We are here to make mistakes and to learn from them.

It could be that I concentrate on streaming video and photos and save the rest for either side of Cameron’s visit. Who know what will happen on the day.

All I know is we have an amazing array of technology at our disposal and some hugely capable minds to tie it all in. All this so as the people excluded from the opportunity to participate can truly be a part of the conversation.

In the future this will be the norm and we will wonder why it took so long for politics and journalism to catch on to this.

Oh.. and in answer to my initial question. I think not.. but some of their aides will no doubt do it for them.

Although compact compared to other 12.3 Megapixel DSLR’s it has most of the guts of the D300. It’s a DX format sensor and shoots up to 4.5 FPS with ISO settings up to 3200. More than most consumer users will need and enough to keep even some pros happy.

The screen is a hi-res 3″ LCD, and is a long way from what I remember on my first Nikon DSLR, the D100.

The sensor has vibrating dust removal and on the whole, the camera feels good in my hands, even if the layout of the controls is very different to my normal everyday camera.

It would be a great tool in the hands of any keen amateur and even a great back up camera for any pro.

This was not my reason for buying it though. The reason I bought this camera was that it’s the world’s first DSLR with HD video capability.

Shooting film on the D90 is easy. Press the rear Lv button to get Live View, and then press the OK button.

There is no auto focus whilst filming so capturing anything that moves requires so much skill if you can manage it well, you have the dexterity of a professional Focus Puller.

This did not deter me in the least. This is for me to play with, to put some art back into my images and give me a different perspective when looking at scenes before me.

Get used to things being out of focus occasionally and instead enjoy the colours, shapes and textures captured by Nikons great glass in a way you may not have experienced before.. Moving. I have lenses 10 years old that still that cost more than this camera is today. Getting to put them on the front and shoot video is going to be a real adventure.

It is important to remember that this camera is just the first step. I think many of the much needed additional features may have been held back for the D3x or even the D4. Like more control over the exposure. I have managed to get over the randomly adjusting exposure by assigning the function button to hold the exposure when pressed. This is another moment where i’ve had to stop and think about what i’m doing. This is not a bad thing at all. We get far too snap happy and end up deleting a ton of pix. Why not take some extra time. You may even feel your photography improves through it.

I am not so keen on using the rear LCD as a viewfinder as this can be difficult in focusing, but it has made me return to looking at the markings on my lens which I have not done for an age.

The video clips are limited to five minutes, this apparently is so the cost can be kept down as the camera is classed as a stills camera that has video capability and not a video camera as such. I don’t mind as it keeps your clips easy to import/edit and stops things getting boring.

The sound captured by the internal microphone is a bit naff but ok just for an ambient holiday video postcard or the occasional blog post but I wish Nikon had had the foresight to add a mic input like Canon have.. Perhaps this will be another feature that comes out on the next model.

720p/24 is more than enough for the web and this is what i intend to use this camera for.

The main thing you see with the video results is how easy it is to throw backgrounds out of focus. This is what I had the most fun with.

I almost forgot during the test that this is a really competent stills camera. It more than holds it’s own with the D300 and is a great back up for the D3.

For the test film embedded, I only used the camera with a 50mm f1.4 AFD but the D90 works with every AF lens made since 1986.

If you want it to be wifi enabled you will need the amazing Eye-Fi card and you can expect your SD card to fill up in movie at a rate of 21.4MB for a 10 second clip set at 720p. If you don’t get the Eye-Fi explore with the built in GPS tagging, Nikon has a compact GPS sensor that can be fitted on the flash shoe and plugged into the side of the camera.

Keep checking back to the blog to see new photos and video shot with the D90. I have some Lumiere projects in mind and on the whole, having a lighter camera in my bag is going to mean my back feels the benefit.

Although pleasantly enjoying the present I am already saving for whatever amazing amalgamation of stills and video that may be on the horizon. Next year expect some really exciting developments from both Canon, Nikon and Red. I am not a purist when it comes to photography. A movie is just lots of stills.

In the not to distant future, we will be extracting out photographs from movie footage and the quality of these images will blow our minds.

Big thanks go to Ben Read for letting me spend longer in the bathroom than normal.. Mainly as I was filming it.

Don’t forget you can support this blog and then i can bring you more reviews, interviews and of course eat!

At the bottom of this post are a few links to tales of photographic woe and more cases of people’s civil liberties being ignored as more often we are told “No Photos!”.

Should we continue to raise awareness with blogging, protesting and flash mobs?
Maybe we can do what this guy is doing..

Personally I think all of the above but also.. Prepare yourself for the worst. If the situation does start getting more and more difficult for photographers and video makers in public places, then at the very least I want to protect my media.

It used to be that I carried a crappy 16 meg memory card in my back pocket, just in case some over jealous policeman in a far off land tried to confiscate my data.

Now with some of the new technologies at our disposal we can safely stream our content either back to our laptops or straight to the web as we continue shooting.

I am not talking about the Pro range of Wifi kit available to sports photographers using top of the range Nikon and Canon cameras. I am talking about off the shelf consumer software and hardware like Qik.com for mobile streaming and the Eye-Fi card for rapid transmission of stills from almost any compact camera.

If these two methods of shifting data from your camera to the web are just the beginning, we are in for some exciting times.

I for one will continue to put both systems through their paces and do so while actively shooting footage and taking stills in any public place i find myself in.

If we don’t exercise our civil liberties, they will atrophy.

http://photorights.org/blog/42-days-and-hand-over-your-flash-card

http://maximumsorrow.com/writing/whyineverprintmyphotos.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/29/nyregion/29camera.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

http://trinyprada.wordpress.com

Big thanks to Photo Mart for lending me the Eye Fi to test.