Review: EW-83J Lens Hood Clone

EW-83J lens hood on my Canon lens

Lens hoods are a useful accessory for your camera. They serve a couple of purposes - keeping side light from reflecting off your lens and causing problems, and protecting the end of the lens. Normally when you buy a lens, it comes with a cap but no hood. Mid to high end lenses, like my Canon 70-200mm f/4 L lens, often come with a lens hood. However, my 17-55mm f/2.8 lens did not come with a hood.

You can buy one from Canon, but it's around $75 Canadian, which is ridiculous for a piece of plastic. So several manufacturers have made similar hoods for the same lens. I bought the BlueBeach version of the EW-83J.

At the time of writing, it's $12 Canadian, which is much more reasonable for a shaped piece of plastic. Shipping is extra, of course, unless you add enough to your order to get free shipping.

Please note: if you buy anything from the Amazon links in this post, I receive a small percentage of anything you buy as a commission, at no extra cost to you.

EW-83J lens hood

The hood comes in a plastic bag - actually one bag inside another, for some reason - and is just the hood with no instructions. Here are my instructions.

1. Take it out of the bags.
2. Screw it onto the end of your lens.
3. Twist it until it doesn't obscure your photo.
4. Go take some photos.

It's pretty simple.

Some Amazon reviewers have complained that it doesn't fit quite right, and they had to trim it a bit with a hobby knife to make it fit. I found it was a snug fit on my lens - which is good - and so far it has stayed on and done its job. I've been using it for a few weeks now.

To be honest, it fits just as well as the Canon lens hood that came with my 70-200mm lens. That Canon hood sometimes doesn't thread right on the first try, so I have to back it out and try again. Not a big deal, as you normally aren't slapping a hood on in a hurry.

EW-83J lens hood on the Canon 17-55mm lens

It has kind of a petal shape. Make sure you orient it right so that it doesn't block anything in your view. If you have it 90 degrees out of whack, it will cause a little vignetting, just like the "real" Canon hood does.

I'm very satisfied with my lens hood. If you need a hood for your Canon 17-55mm EF-S f/2.8 lens, you might want to buy this one!

You can browse all lens hoods on Amazon, but I really recommend that you search for your particular lens to find a hood made specifically for it. You want a good fit, and read the reviews to ensure people are happy with it. In the end, it's just a piece of plastic, so all that can really go wrong is that it doesn't fit right.

Good shooting!

Ready to photograph!

See all my reviews

Book Review: Canadian National Steam Power

Canadian National Steam Power book

I recently read the book "Canadian National Steam Power", written by Anthony Clegg and Ray Corley. This book was an authoritative work on CN's steam locomotives. It was written in 1969 and is a little dated, perhaps. I am not a steam locomotive expert by any means, but it was an interesting read.

The book starts with a brief history of CN, especially of its major founding railways - the Canadian Government Railways, the Grand Trunk Railway and Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, the Canadian Northern Railway, and the Central Vermont Railway. All of these railways eventually became part of the Canadian National Railways, which became today's CN.

There was a lot of discussion about renumbering of locomotives as the railways merged together, along with different classes of steam locomotives and retirement of old locomotives as the CNR came into being.

Other, smaller, railways were also merged into the CNR, such as the Kent Northern in New Brunswick and the Inverness Railway in Nova Scotia.

There is a tremendous amount of data in this book. As I said, I'm not a steam fan, but I think it would be a great resource for those who enjoy steam locomotives.

I enjoyed reading the first half of the book, with the details on the history of the CNR and the steam locomotives that were acquired by the CNR both before and after it was formed.

The data section left me a little cold, but at the risk of repeating myself, I'm not a steam fan.

You can find this book on Amazon and maybe at your local library.

PS - you could instead buy Canadian National Steam! by Donald R. McQueen, which is based on this book based on Clegg and Corley's original book. There are also eight roster books that follow on to that book.

See my other book reviews

Book Review: Heckman's Canadian Pacific

This is a review of the book "Heckman's Canadian Pacific: A Photographic Journey" by Ralph Beaumont. If you like Canadian trains, and especially the CPR, you'll want this book!

Joseph Heckman was an engineer turned photographer who worked for Canadian Pacific Railway around the turn of the century (between 1898 and 1915), well before the more famous CPR photographer Nicholas Morant.

Heckman took several thousand black and white photos for engineering purposes, and this has turned out to be a treasure trove of images of the early CPR. These images were collected - presumably by Heckman - into a series of books.

The images show bridges, culverts, stations and other engineering works. One of the defining features of Heckman's photos is that they usually include people posing in them, such as a station agent and his family, or railway maintenance personnel. Heckman usually traveled by motorcar or handcar and his vehicle is also often in the photo.

Here's a typical image, showing his handcar with crewman, plus the station agent and his family. This is Chaplin, Saskatchewan, July 13, 1890.

Heckman kept extensive field notes, and the author used those to help identify the locations and other context around the photos.

Author Ralph Beaumont has winnowed these images down to several hundred excellent images, and he has provided an extensive caption for each photo to provide context. Beaumont also describes each book of photos. It appears that not much was known about Heckman, but Beaumont has done some extensive research to discover details about the man and his life.

This is a remarkable book about a remarkable collection, taken by a remarkable man.

My thanks go out to Ralph Beaumont for the tremendous amount of work that obviously went into making this book.

You can try buying this on Amazon (if it's in stock), through Canadian Express Online (at time of writing, they have 1 in stock), or see if it's in your local library. It's in the Winnipeg library...

Other reviews of this book:

• Photographic Historical Society of Canada
• Canadian Geographic

Book Review: VIA Rail - A History of Canada's National Passenger Rail Service

This is a review of the book "VIA Rail  - A History of Canada's National Passenger Rail Service" by Christopher C.N. Greenlaw.

I've been meaning to read this book for some time. I borrowed it from Winnipeg's excellent library system and devoured it over the course of a few days.

As the subtitle says, it is a history of VIA Rail. It's not a picture book. It's a scholarly and definitive look at the origins of VIA Rail, from the passenger services of CN and CP through the formation of VIA in the mid 1970s through to 2007, the publication date of the book.

The book goes into detail on many of the decisions that were made by CN, CP and the federal government that led to the formation of VIA Rail, first as a "company within a company" in CN and then as a crown corporation. I knew the overall timeline already, but the book really delved into the reasoning and the political pressures and realities that led to the VIA we have today.

One of the main problems with VIA Rail today, and indeed ever since it was founded, is that it is a political football, subject to the whims of the government in power. It was formed through a "back door" political maneuver (an Order in Council) rather than through a bill passed in Parliament. This has hamstrung VIA from the start and really prevents a lot of long-term planning, as VIA's funding is dependent on how the current government feels about passenger rail and other competing funding priorities. The book goes into a lot of detail on why this came about and why it continues to persist to this day.

The book talks about the start of VIA, dealing with the passenger fleets of CN and CP for the first few years, and then talks about the devastating cuts of 1981 and 1990. The book is new enough to be able to talk about the Renaissance period at the turn of the century, but not new enough for the refurbishment of VIA's F40 and LRC fleet.

The book has a multitude of photos illustrating VIA throughout the ages. As I said, it's not a picture book, but there are many photos and they complement the text very well.

If you are a fan of passenger rail, or Canadian railways in general, you should read this book. It's one of the few books on VIA Rail and is well worth a read. You can buy it on Amazon or perhaps get it from your local library.

My Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you buy anything from Amazon after using this link, at no additional cost to you.

See Also

• The Greenlaw-Gagnon Exchange (Trackside Treasure)
• Book Review: Trackside with VIA (Research and Recollections)
• All my book reviews

Book Review: Heartland

"Heartland", by Greg McDonnell

I'm ashamed to say that I had never read Greg McDonnell's classic book "Heartland" until last month. This book was published in 1993, for goodness' sakes!

I rectified that error, and I'm glad I did. This is a book about railroading in the heartland of the United States of America - the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. The book features hundreds of photos by Mr. McDonnell and many other talented photographers, together with the author's engaging and informative captions and essays.

Greg McDonnell has a certain style of writing. It conveys a breathless excitement for the power and history of railroading, and one can't help but be drawn into the glory and excitement of railroading and the courage and determination of the men and women who work with trains.

I would say a solid 80-90 percent of the photos in this book are great. They are great by virtue of the subject matter - rare locomotives or long-abandoned locations - or by the setting and composition. I'd say there are a few "meh" photos, but art is in the eye of the beholder.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book. You can buy it on Amazon, or even better yet, find it in your local library like I did.

See all my book reviews

This post contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Book Review: Trains and Grains (Volumes 1 and 2)

Trains and Grains, at the La Salle, Manitoba grain elevator. Sadly no train came along to complete the picture.

This is a review of Trains and Grains Volumes 1 and 2 by Eric Gagnon. I've been eagerly awaiting these two books since Eric announced them back in September 2017. I love both trains and grain elevators, so it almost felt like these books were written for me... or at least people like me.

I'll put a few disclaimers here - I received these books for free as a "thank you" for writing the foreword for volume 2. I also consider Eric a friend. I wouldn't let either of these stop me from writing an honest review. Finally, I received no compensation for writing this review nor do I receive anything for recommending the books, and Eric didn't ask me to write a review. 

These two books are centered around Eric's visits to Manitoba and Saskatchewan between 1976 and 1986. Eric's aunt and uncle lived in Portage la Prairie and he did a lot of railfanning during the days he was in Portage. Later, he visited many of Saskatchewan's elevators, realizing that they were disappearing fast.

Eric had so many photos to share from that decade that he split them into two books!

Volume 1

Volume 1 is subtitled "Trackside Observations in Manitoba 1976-1986". The first half of the book features trains that Eric recorded in and near Portage la Prairie, Manitoba during that period while visiting his aunt and uncle. Eric is a meticulous record keeper and the captions of the many black and white photos are detailed, interesting and absolutely alliteral, again and again.

The train photos were shot from a variety of angles, most from the ground, with some overhead views from the Tupper Street overpass.

The second half features a variety of short articles, such as:

• Grain car consists
• Details on CN, CP, federal and provincial grain fleets
• Several pages of colour photos
• An article by Mark Perry on "Working CN Grain Wayfreights"
• An article by Charles Bohi on Prairie train stations

The foreword is by Randy O'Brien.

This is a great book, chock full of interesting photos and interesting details. It took me a while to read due to the dense information content, and I plan to read it again to catch the things I missed the first time.

Volume 2

Volume 2 is subtitled "Grain Elevators in Manitoba and Saskatchewan 1976-1986". The first portion of the book talks about the history of the grain industry in Canada, and how grain elevators are built and operate. This section is relatively brief, and more than half of the book features black and white photos of grain elevators from Eric's trips to Manitoba and Saskatchewan to document many of the wooden elevators still standing.

The foreword is by yours truly.

I would honestly consider volume 2 a companion to volume 1. There is a lot less text in volume 2 and I read it much faster than volume 1 because of that. I don't consider it any less valuable, though!

Photography

The photographs in this book are what I would call "documentary". They were clearly taken with the intent of documenting the trains and grain elevators - and the scene around them. These are not "coffee table" picture books full of lovely sunset photos.

That doesn't make them any less valuable - in fact, I would argue they are more valuable than "arty" photos because they thoroughly document the trains and grain elevators of an era long past.

Reference

These books are fantastic reference materials for anyone interested in understanding the mid 1970s to mid 1980s railroad scene, and especially for the modeler (like me) who wants to run realistic trains. I was surprised by several photos - for example, a few stock cars were still in evidence, even though I had thought the railways were out of the livestock business by then.

The grain elevator photos are especially valuable as many of these elevators simply do not exist today, so there is no opportunity to see them in person. Volume 2 in particular provides a way to experience the elevators of the past.

Summary

Both of these books are well worth purchasing by anyone interested in Canadian railway history or Canadian grain elevators.

You can buy the books from Eric at https://trainsandgrains.blogspot.com/ - the order form is there, or you can email Eric using the email at top right of that page.

See my other book reviews

Canon 77D - First Thoughts

The Canon 77D camera

I bought a new camera body a while ago - a Canon 77D. Since I bought my previous body in June 2010, it was time for an upgrade.

In this article, I'll go through my reasons for upgrading, my camera selection process, general comments about the camera and my experience with low light photography with the 77D.

Why Upgrade?

Night photo with Canon 77D

My Canon T1i was and is a great camera. I've taken close to 60,000 photos with it, and I still use it on occasion for video or as a second camera. In fact, I just used it to shoot a half marathon.

However, it had a few weaknesses that were really bugging me. The biggest one was that it had poor low light performance.

When it's dark, you have only three ways to get a decent exposure for a photo:

1. Open the aperture up (limited by your lens);
2. Slow the shutter speed (need a tripod and a stationary subject); and/or
3. Increase the ISO (increases digital noise).

The problem with the T1i is that above ISO 400, it got very noisy and was pretty much unusable above ISO 800. This meant that I couldn't take star photos, especially not Milky Way photos. Also, sports photography in dim rinks weren't really successful.

My Canon T1i didn't have a flip out LCD screen either. Beyond the obvious selfie potential, I could see that as being useful for composing shots when the camera was on the ground or other positions where I can't look through the viewfinder.

Choosing a Model

Top view of Canon 77D

I had decided to continue with a Canon body. If I was starting fresh, I'd pick a mirrorless camera instead of an SLR, but I have a big investment in good glass (lenses) so I am sticking with Canon.

I didn't want a full-frame SLR, because one of my two good lens isn't compatible and I had already decided that it was unnecessary for my needs. I had been lusting after a Canon 7D Mk II for a while, but after a little research, I found that the Canon 80D was a better camera for a lower price!

A little more investigation showed me that there were three very similar cameras in Canon's lineup:

1. Canon T7i, consumer grade
2. Canon 77D, prosumer grade
3. Canon 80D, semi-professional grade

Here's a table comparing those three camera bodies, along with my old T1i on the left.

	Canon T1i	Canon T7i	Canon 77D	Canon 80D
Megapixels	15	24	24	24
Max ISO	3,200	25,600	25,600	16,000
Focus Points	9	45	45	45
LCD	Fixed 3"	Flip-out 3"	Flip-out 3"	Flip-out 3"
Frames/second	3.4	6	6	7
Video	1920x1080, 20 fps	1920x1080, 60 fps	1920x1080, 60 fps	1920x1080, 60 fps
Other features	-	-	Built-in interval and bulb timers; top LCD panel	Weather sealing; pentaprism viewfinder
Price	Discontinued	$	$$	$$$
Amazon		Buy on Amazon	Buy on Amazon	Buy on Amazon

You can see there are more similarities than differences between the three "7" cameras. I didn't want the T7i because I wanted a higher-end body to resist weather. The 80D seems like the superior camera but its ISO performance isn't as strong as the T7i or the 77D, because it has an older processor in the camera.

I went to Henry's and asked to look at the 77D and 80D. I held them for a few minutes then bought the 77D.

General Comments

Controls on the Canon 77D

So far I've taken a little over 3,000 photos with the 77D and I am very impressed with it. It operates very much like the T1i, being another Canon product, but it has some definite improvements.

The focusing performance seems better on the 77D, presumably due to the dual-pixel technology that these cameras have. I rarely have a focus miss now, something that I had fairly frequently when using my 70-200mm lens in lower light. I'm also impressed by how well it focuses in lower light, where my T1i would hunt and not focus.

One small thing is that the shutter sound is much quieter on the 77D. My T1i's shutter was super noisy, loud enough that it would sometimes turn heads if I took a photo in a quiet room. The 77D is by no means silent but the shutter isn't very loud.

A few controls have moved - notably, the power switch - but in general, it wasn't a big learning curve for me to move to this camera. I like that there is a separate button to change the ISO. I wish there was a button to change the focus type between "one shot" and "AI Servo".

The 77D has a touch screen. To be honest, I have not used this at all. I've locked it out for the moment, as I am afraid I am going to touch it and change settings that I don't mean to change. Maybe I should try enabling it, as I could change the focus type pretty quickly using the touch screen.

This camera has wireless (wifi and Bluetooth). I've used the app on my phone to receive photos from the camera, but I haven't played with it much. I think it will be more useful as a remote trigger for the camera. More to come.

Low Light Performance

Ooooh, stars!

Here's the important part. I bought the 77D primarily to get better low light performance, and it delivers. I'm very impressed by how much better it is in low light, both when shooting at a low ISO and also how well it performs when I shoot at ISO 1600 or higher.

Here's a photo at a ridiculous ISO 25600 - something I would never ever attempt with the T1i. In fact, you couldn't even select it on the T1i.

ISO 25600 photo with Canon 77D

There's some quality issues, but it is still quite usable at such a high ISO. I was also shooting from across the rink!

In case you're wondering what's going on here, this was a little game they were playing in the stands during a curling competition in Portage la Prairie. The person who could get the most tissues out of the box won a prize.

Here's a more reasonable ISO - ISO 1600. My friend Jason Paul Sailer is giving the wave to a train at sunrise.

ISO 1600 photo of a train with Canon 77D

I'm very happy with the quality of this photo.

Another ISO 1600 photo - curler Kaitlyn Lawes' intensity is apparent as she is delivering a shot at the Canadian Mixed Doubles Curling Trials in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba.

Kaitlyn Lawes throwing a curling stone

I am super happy with the low light performance of this camera.

Summary

I love my new camera! The Canon 77D has met my expectations for low light performance and I've been impressed by its focusing capability and picture quality. I have very few complaints.

I was not compensated in any way to write this article. I just want to share my experience with the camera!

Book Review: Faces and Places Along the Railway

Faces and Places Along the Railway

I recently found Elizabeth A. Willmot's book Faces and Places along the Railway at a used book store here in Winnipeg. You can consider it a sequel to her better-known book, Meet Me at the Station, and continues the same theme of an affectionate look back at railways in Ontario during the steam age.

The book is copyright 1979, so it is a little out of date, but since she was writing about the early days of railways it doesn't matter a lot.

A little over half of the book is devoted to photos and stories about 17 railway towns or topics, from Amherstburg through Kingston and Owen Sound and featuring locations like the Hog Bay Trestle and the Brockville railway tunnel. Each town or topic gets at least one photo and a few pages of history and stories about the railways that went through the town and the people who worked on them.

The latter portion of the book is more photo-heavy, with photos of "Faces From the Steam Era" with short captions, and 12 railway stations in the "Meet Me at the Next Station" section with full page photos of each station and a one or two sentence caption for each.

I freely admit that I don't know much about railways in Ontario, so this book was a great introduction to towns I have never been to. It also helped draw together the little bits and pieces I have learned about Ontario's railway history into a more coherent story. I have been to Amherstburg, Ingersoll and Woodstock, but I still enjoyed seeing the photos of those stations from the 1970s.

All photographs are in black and white.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in Canadian railway history, and especially to those interested in Ontario's railway history in particular. It's an easy read.

Find Faces and Places along the Railway on Amazon.ca, or on Amazon.com.
Disclosure: If you buy the book using the Amazon links provided, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

See all my book reviews

Book Review: Railways of New Brunswick

Railways of New Brunswick
by Dan Soucoup

I've wanted to read Dan Soucoup's Railways of New Brunswick for some time now.

As you may know, I lived in New Brunswick for many years and had a deep interest in the railroads of the province. For many years, the most authoritative book on the topic was the book (with the same name, Railways of New Brunswick) by David Nason. I was looking forward to another perspective on New Brunswick's rich railway history.

This book starts with a brief overview of the history of railways in New Brunswick, followed by a capsule summary of the major railways that existed prior to the great mergers into CN and CP and subsequent abandonments.

The majority of the book features a series of historic photos, each with about a page of text either explaining the photo or inspired by the photo. An example would be page 44, with a photo of the Intercolonial Railway station in Moncton around 1900. The text below it talks about the design and construction of the station.

Some of the photos are familiar to students of New Brunswick railway history, as most of the photos came from the Provincial Archives. For example, the photo at left (not from Soucoup's book, his reproduction is better) is an often-reproduced photo of a priest at the Bathurst train station.

The text under the photo in Soucoup's book talks about the criminal William Gagnier and a gunfight among the railway cars in the yard in 1914.

The book is a good read but I wouldn't call it a scholarly work. The list of sources in the back shows a list of town history books like Historic St. Andrews by Ronald Rees, the excellent Cinders and Saltwater by Shirley Woods, and even Railways of New Brunswick by David Nason. So this book is built on secondary sources, which is fine for reading but it's not an academic history book.

I was very frustrated by the number of typographical errors in the book. This book needed an editor. There aren't any misspelled words; I'm sure it passed the spell checker but there are a lot of errors. A few examples might help illustrate this. On page 163 the author talks about the end of the Valley Railway due to the opening of the Mactaquac Dam in 1867.. it was opened in 1967. More egregious were sentences like this: "it wasn't so much that Nova Scotia won but that Britain got its' way" and a passage that meant to say "under siege" but read "under seize". Maybe most people wouldn't notice these, but my proofreader's eye picked quite a few out.

This book would have benefited from more maps. There is one historical map at the start of the book but there aren't any others. A few maps showing the major railways like the Intercolonial Railway and the New Brunswick Railway would have been beneficial.

I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. It's an easy read and the pictures are quite varied and interesting, with good illustrative text under them. The typos in the book were a distraction, but in general I would recommend this book as a good introduction to New Brunswick's great railway history.

Buy Railways of New Brunswick

My Amazon links in this post are affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you buy anything from Amazon after using this link, at no additional cost to you.


Other book reviews

Book Review: On the Right Track

On the Right Track, by Gary De Bock

I was contacted by Gary De Bock, the author of the book On the Right Track, a few weeks ago. I'll be honest and say I had never heard his name before. He sent me a free copy of his book and I said I would share my honest opinions on it.

It's a rather unique book.

The subtitle for this book is "A Guide to Stronger Railroad Photography" and I think it is very apt. This book is an encouragement to think "outside the box" and to take unique photos that others have not already taken.

It is not a "how to" book, nor is it a series of photo essays. I find the book a bit hard to classify into a neat category, and I think that would please the author.

The first few chapters go into the author's history. He used to race in Motocross, then got into racing photography for a number of years. He talks about how he learned from the racing photographers how to go for the unique angles, the special lighting conditions, and to take photos that differ from the run of the mill "easy" shots.

There are sections on planning your photos, camera settings to achieve the look you want, eliminating clutter, and a lot of exhortation to practice, practice, practice.

On the Right Track has a few "how I got this shot" type essays, including the great VIA photo above. I would have liked more of these in the book to show the author's approach to taking that particular photograph.

I think this book is best for intermediate to advanced photographers who are looking for inspiration to take their photography "to the next level". It is a great inspiration to try harder to take better, more impactful photos. I would not recommend it for entry level photographers.

I have one main criticism of this book. It could benefit from some editing. It's a bit hard to read in places - especially near the beginning of the book - and an editor could clean it up and make it more readable. Some more section breaks within a chapter would help, as would some more photographs.

The author has some very strong opinions on railfan photographers, social networks, and photo sharing sites. You might not share those opinions - I have a more positive view of social networks, I think - but kudos to the author for putting his opinions out there.

In general I think this book will be a good inspirational source for railway photographers to take better photos.

Order this book from Blurb. You can preview the book at that link.

I did not receive any compensation for writing this review, other than a free book, and I don't receive any compensation if you buy this book.

Review: Anker PowerCore Portable Battery

The Anker PowerCore battery

My wife and I were recently in Italy for vacation and we took a lot of photos. I took well over 3,000 photos with my Canon DSLR (and a few with my iPhone) and my wife took about 1,500 photos with her iPhone. One thing that really helped her (and I) was a portable battery to keep her phone charged, and we used the Anker PowerCore 20,000 mAh portable charger for that.

The need for this really came to light a few years ago when we were in London. We had just walked across the Tower Bridge in the rain, and were walking along the Thames River. We looked back and saw a double rainbow over the Tower Bridge. I hauled out my SLR and started taking photos, and my wife took maybe two photos and then her phone's battery died. No more!

When we returned to Canada, we bought a cigarette-pack sized battery which did a decent job but didn't really hold enough of a charge for vacationing.

Enter the Anker PowerCore 20,000 mAh charger. This beefy portable battery can charge an iPhone numerous times, and even completely recharge a dead iPad 2. It has a lot of juice.

Two USB ports and a charge port

The PowerCore has two USB ports on it so it can simultaneously charge two devices. We haven't really used this feature but it is there. You plug your device's USB cable into it and plug the other end into your phone or tablet, and off it goes.

The one button

Note: you do have to press a button on the Anker to turn it on. If you don't do this, it won't charge your device. Once you do this, the Anker will stay on until the device is fully charged.

The PowerCore is pretty plain to look at - a heavy black pack with three ports on one end (two USB and a micro USB for charging the Anker), a single button on the side, and LED indicator lights to show how much charge the Anker has in it. Pressing the button lights the LED, with 1-4 lights indicating the relative charge in the Anker. The LEDs also stay on while charging.

The PowerCore comes in a classy box with a travel bag, a micro USB cable, and a manual. You have to supply the appropriate USB cables to connect your devices, and your own USB wall charger to charge the PowerCore.

Almost empty!

Note that it takes a long time to recharge the PowerCore. Overnight might be enough to top it up but it might take 24 hours to fully recharge an empty PowerCore. It takes a long time to run one of these down but it takes a long time to fill them back up! Use a good USB wall charger that puts out at least 2A; the cheap 0.5A USB devices will take forever to charge this battery. You could use an Anker PowerPort 4 (40W) to charge it.

The 20,000 mAh version is heavy - 354g or almost 0.8 pounds - and long. It's a little big to fit in a pocket of your pants without getting in the way. I keep it in a pocket of my camera bag and it's fine there.

If that's too big for you, get the 10,000 mAh version at half the weight and smaller than a deck of cards. It only has one USB port but otherwise it's the same... just with half the capacity.

I highly recommend this portable battery. You need to keep your devices charged and Anker is a premiere brand in the portable charger space.

We used this extensively on our recent trip to Italy. My wife often had it in her pocket, keeping her iPhone at 100% charge. If she didn't have pockets, I put it in a pouch in my camera bag and we brought it out at meals to give our devices a boost. We never ran out of power.

In Canada this usually lives in our van where it can charge one of our phones while the others' phone is plugged into the van's power outlet. It gets a lot of use.

Buy Anker PowerCore 20,000 mAh battery: Canada or USA
Buy Anker PowerCore 10,000 mAh battery: Canada or USA

PS - Italy was awesome. I promise, photos are coming.

Me on top of the Duomo in Florence, Italy

This post contains affiliate links that earn me a commission when you purchase something after clicking the link, at no additional cost to you.

Book Review: Trackside with VIA: Research and Recollections

Research and Recollections Review

As soon as I could, I ordered Eric Gagnon's fourth VIA Rail book, "Trackside with VIA: Research and Recollections". Eric had been writing about his upcoming book for a while at his book blog, and my anticipation was growing and growing. Eric is a good salesman!

Pssst... Read to the bottom for a giveaway!

I placed my order and paid via e-transfer (his first!) and in a few days the book arrived in the mail. As requested Eric had signed the interior, and to my surprise it was numbered Copy #001.

Research and Recollections is a soft-cover perfect bound book with 124 pages plus the title page and table of contents page. The book contains a lot of text, as well as numerous small photos (mostly black and white) and a number of tables. This is not a coffee-table picture book, but it is very accessible and easy to read.

After several introductory pages (including a foreword by Tim Hayman and a dedication to the author's father) the book launches into a series of trip reports. These really set the tone for the book and draw the reader into the world of VIA Rail in the 1980s. Eric is a meticulous record keeper and it shows in his stories. The level of detail - what he ate, what he paid for it, for example - is impressive, yet it doesn't detract from the stories. In fact, I would say the details add to the stories and really place you in the moment.

These stories take up about 40% of the book, and include black and white photos related to the stories, as well as several "triVIA" boxes featuring.. well, trivia about VIA Rail.

After the stories are numerous research articles, from vice-regal cars to sleeper car swaps in Winnipeg to the IC3 Flexliner trial, and much more. Maybe the book title should really be Recollections and Research to be in the proper order! These articles are very engaging and each could easily be expanded into a quality magazine article.

Guest contributors Tim Hayman, Mark Sampson and Mark Perry have their own sections in the book. Maybe in book five Eric might invite a transplanted Easterner to contribute... what do you think? ;)

After the guest contributions follows what is, in my opinion, the weakest part of the book. There are 26 pages of consist information, a full 20% of the book. I know Eric loves consists, and so do many other railfans, but for me that was 26 pages of fast forwarding. Maybe that's why I read the book so fast the first time!

This section is followed by 10 pages of colour photos, six per page. Many are Eric's but other photographers are also represented. Full advantage is taken of the colour to show VIA's many wraps, from Home Hardware VIA 6429 to the Grey Cup train to today's Canada 150 wraps. A huge variety of VIA equipment is shown, including F units, RDCs, the blue and yellow fleet, Renaissance... VIA certainly has had quite a variety!

The final few pages of the book include some reference material and tables to finish it off.

Summary

I think by now you can tell that I really like Research and Recollections. The stories at the front really give a good flavour for what travelling on VIA Rail was like in the 1980s, and the many research pieces and photos - especially the colour ones - provide a great deal of deep information on many aspects of VIA past and present. I'm not interested in the consist tables, but I'm sure many people are. Even if those pages were completely blank, I'd still recommend this book!

It's affordably priced at $35 for Canadians, shipped, and $40 shipped to the US (prices in Canadian dollars); contact Eric for international shipping costs. You can download and print the order form, or Canadians can send Eric an Interac e-transfer to his email address, listed at top right of this site.

If you are a Canadian railfan, you need to buy this book.

Giveaway!

I like this book so much that I am going to do my very first giveaway in almost 12 years of blogging. The winner will receive a free copy of Trackside with VIA: Research and Recollections, shipped to any address within Canada or the US. Here are the rules:

• Everyone on my mailing list by the end of Monday, May 8, 2017, Central time will be eligible. If you're not on my list yet, you have a few days to join!
• I will randomly choose one person from my mailing list and email them to get address information.
• If for some reason I'm not able to contact the winner, I'll draw again.
• If the winner is outside Canada or the US, we'll talk.

Join my list if you're not already on for a chance to win!

Good luck!

This review was written on WestJet flight WS 202 from Calgary to Winnipeg. I was not asked to review this book and I have no financial incentive to promote it.

AmazonBasics DSLR and Laptop Backpack Review

I've had a sling-type camera bag for a while, but I wanted to get a larger bag that also included a spot for a laptop. A few blogs had mentioned the Amazon Basics DSLR and Laptop Backpack so I decided to give it a shot.

I lucked into a little sale and got it for $45.99 (Canadian) with free shipping. It arrived quickly and I took a little video while I unboxed it.
The backpack has three compartments - a slot for a laptop up to 17" in size, the main compartment with sections for camera bodies and lenses, and a smaller accessory compartment with pockets and slots for cables, pens, etc.

The Camera Compartment

The main compartment has dividers that you can move to fit your own equipment. I would say that you could easily fit two complete cameras in here.

In my backpack, I've put my camera, with my two main lenses (and my "nifty fifty"), a flash, battery charger, rain cover, and a few other doodads. There is room for more.

I can fit my camera with a telephoto lens on it very comfortably in here.

I think I will be fiddling around with the compartments a little more to get just what I want. I may wish to have the camera closer to the top so I can just unzip the top and slip the camera out, rather than having to open the compartment fully to get the camera out.

The Laptop Compartment

There's not a lot to say about the laptop part. Most laptops will fit here no problem at all. I have two laptops, a giant 17" Dell workstation and a smaller 14" laptop. Needless to say, the 14" computer fits in with no issues. The Dell, however... it's a tight fit. The zippers do close but just barely.

You should keep in mind that my 17" Dell is a large laptop and most people comment on its size when they first see it. There's a tasteless joke in here somewhere.

Here's a photo of my smaller laptop in the bag.

I'm confident that the vast majority of laptops will fit in this bag.

The Front Compartment

Front compartment

The front compartment is for all the miscellaneous doo-dads that you carry around. Laptop charger, cables, pens, business cards, breath mints, whatever you normally carry along when travelling.

The compartment zips open about 60% of the way. The rest forms a deep pocket to retain larger items.

You can see from the photo that half of the compartment is a large mesh bag, closed with a zipper. I plan to use that for passports, boarding passes and other documentation that I don't want to lose.

The other half has a pouch with a number of small pockets for pens and small items, as well as a clip thingie to attach keys or carabiners to. I would use this to attach the little key generator devices I have to carry around for customers' VPNs.

Other Features

The backpack has straps on the outside for securing a tripod to the backpack. I tried this for a little while and it does work, but I generally don't carry a tripod around and I found the tripod was banging into things as I wore the backpack. To me this isn't a very useful feature but "your mileage may vary".

The backpack comes with a rain cover bag. I haven't had the opportunity to use it yet but it's nice to have. I pretty sure the backpack is not waterproof so you would want to use the bag in heavy rain. I know I have used the integrated rain cover on my Lowepro SlingShot a few times.

Wearing the Backpack

Of course I had to try the backpack on to see how it feels. It has the normal backpack shoulder straps and also has straps to go around the waist.

Wearing the backpack

I don't think I will wear the waist straps.

It's comfortable enough and you can see the shoulder straps are nice and broad so it shouldn't dig into my shoulders.

Dislikes

I can't say I have any real dislikes for the backpack, other than it is different than my Lowepro SlingShot 102AW. I am used to wearing the SlingShot and being able to slide it around to the front and get my camera out fast. With a backpack, you have to actually take the pack off and set it down somewhere before you can take the camera out.

I really see different uses for my backpack and my sling pack. The backpack is for travelling and for having on the passenger seat next to me while driving. I think that is an excellent use for it as everything will be accessible. The sling pack is good for being a tourist - to have the camera easily accessible - but not good for carrying a lot of stuff.

Summary

This backpack does exactly what it promises to do - carry a DSLR and a laptop in a backpack. The price is great and it is a good basic backpack for carrying your computer and camera around. I'm happy with my purchase.

Buy the DSLR / Laptop Backpack

(The Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning that I receive a small commission if you follow the link and purchase something on Amazon, at no additional cost to you. I was not compensated for this review in any way, nor did anyone ask me to review the backpack. I just wanted to share my experience.)

Video Review: Canadian National's Western Manitoba Mains

I recently received a copy of Big E Production's "Canadian National's Western Manitoba Mains" DVD set, and I'd like to review it.

The two DVDs cover sections of CN's two western Manitoba main lines: the CN Rivers subdivision near Miniota, and the CN Togo subdivision between Dutton Siding and Roblin, MB. The Rivers subdivision is on the first DVD and part of the second, with the Togo footage on the remainder of the second DVD.

Big E advertises "no more mindless runbys" meaning that they show the entire train. When you start the DVD you are given the choice of two audio tracks - just the train sounds, or train sounds accompanied by narration. I watched the narrated version as I personally feel that watching a DVD of just trains going by is a bit boring.

The narration really adds value to the DVD. There are details on each train, including train symbols, origin and destination, and some comments on the consist. The narration also covers the history of the line and interesting features of the area. I thought it was excellent.

Big E usually shows 24 hours of action in a location and this DVD did the same. I believe there were about a dozen trains each way on the Rivers subdivision and only a few each way on the Togo - they were lucky to see a couple of diverted trains. Since it was shot over 24 hours, many of the trains were shot at night.

The power on the trains wasn't exceptional - mostly CN units with a few BC Rail units of various colours, one black Illinois Central "death star" unit, blue IC 2459, and the VIA Rail Canadian.

I have a couple of negative things to say about the DVDs. First off, the weather wasn't great so there are mostly gray skies in the DVDs.

The larger negative I would say is that the choice of locations wasn't great. The majority were shot at rural crossings and there's nothing really to say "prairie" in the shots. I definitely would have liked to see some grain elevators or the nearby Uno trestle.

I enjoyed watching the DVDs and I would recommend them to anyone who wanted to see a typical day on CN's western main lines in Manitoba (Big E web site).

Disclaimer: Dick Eisfeller, the big "E", had asked me for a few details about the area to provide background material for the DVDs, and in thanks he sent me the two-disc set. He didn't ask me to write a review, nor am I receiving any compensation for writing this review, but I decided to write a review because I like writing reviews.

Product Review: Freehands Gloves

I wanted to post a quick review of the gloves I wear when photographing outside in cold weather, Freehands Gloves. These gloves are made with Thinsulate insulation and are great for keeping your hands from freezing when you're outside snapping photos.

They are not bulky at all so they go on easy and feel very natural. You could use them as driving gloves and in fact I often leave them on when I get back to the car and drive off to the next photo location.

The tips of the index fingers and thumbs fold back so you can use those fingers for manipulating your camera, using your phone, and so forth. There are circular magnets embedded in the gloves that keep the tips folded back and out of the way, which is pretty neat in my opinion.

They are definitely not a replacement for proper winter mitts. If it's below -20C/-4F, these will not keep your hands warm long-term. If it's really cold I will wear my winter "skidoo" mittens over top and just slip those off to shoot.

One thing, good and bad, is that the material over the thumbs and index fingers is quite thin. I keep the fingers "on" when using my camera as I can feel the camera controls through the material and don't need to flip them back. However, that means they aren't insulating very well and I can end up with a couple of really cold fingers after a while. Thicker material would mean I'd have to flip them up to use my camera and bare skin is not good in Winnipeg's winter. I don't know what the solution is.

These are fairly inexpensive - see them on Amazon or at your local camera store. I have fairly large hands and I use the XL size.

I heartily recommend these or similar gloves for shooting in winter.

See them on Amazon

Note: I do receive a commission if you follow the Amazon link and purchase something. I only recommend products that I have personally used or come highly recommended to me.

Book Review: Westbound by Mike Chandler

Review: Westbound: A Portfolio of Western Railroading by Mike Chandler.

I stumbled across this book last week in a used book store. The cover grabbed my attention with VIA's train at Morant's Curve. I flipped through it briefly and bought it within minutes.

As the author, Mike Chandler, says in the foreword, the book is "with minimal text". This is mostly a picture book. The pictures are excellent - lots of "behind the scenes" photos from the author's long career with CN.

I really like how the book is organized. It has the following sections:

• Off the Main
• Across the Flatlands
• At the Depot
• On the Shop Track
• Through the Mountains
• Against the Elements
• In the Yard
• Along the Line

The majority of the photos were taken in Canada, but there are a few American photos as well. The photography is excellent and varied - from panoramic shots like the cover to close-up "Greg McDonnell" style photos (and I say that as a compliment).

If I'm not mistaken, this Master Model Railroader is Mike Chandler.

I highly recommend this book. Westbound: A Portfolio of Western Railroading (Amazon affiliate link).

Note that you can buy the book directly from the publisher at: Bonaventure Press, 1101-720 Hamilton Street, New Westminster, B.C., Canada V3M 7A6.The purchase price of $39.95 is all inclusive.Thanks to the author for this information.

Book Review: The Box

I recently read The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger and I wanted to say a few words about the book.

Most people are familiar with the shipping container, that big steel box that you see on ships, trains and trucks everywhere. This book is the story of the humble container, from its humble beginnings in the 1950s through its transformation of the shipping industry in the 1970s, to today.

The Box takes you through all that, in a very readable and interesting way. The author, Mark Levinson, is an economist and it is evident that he understands the shipping economy very well. I enjoyed reading the book and I learned a lot about the container and how it came to be so ubiquitous.

Did you know that an American truck company owner, Malcom McLean, is often called the father of containerization? He owned a large truck company and saw an opportunity to improve how items were shipped. At the time, cargo was sent over the seas in "break bulk" ships. Items were sent to ports in trucks, unloaded, then custom-packed into ships' holds by longshoremen. At the other side of the ocean, the reverse was done. The unpacking and repacking was very time-consuming and therefore expensive, and Malcom saw an opportunity to avoid that work. He did not invent the container but he was the catalyst of the container revolution. He founded Sea-Land Service (now Horizon Lines) and grew to prominence during the Vietnam War delivering containers to the U.S. military.

The book focuses quite heavily on ocean shipping. Railways are mentioned a number of times, but they were late to the containerization game and do not receive a lot of attention in this book.

The first half of the book deals with the rise of the container and the latter half details how containerization transformed ports and shipping in general. The container can be held responsible for the rise of previously unknown ports like Oakland, Felixstowe, Rotterdam as well as the demise of traditional ports such as New York City, London, and San Francisco.

If you are at all interested in transportation and/or shipping, I recommend The Box.

PS - this infographic from CNN shows the current state of shipping in the world. It is instructive to see that the top 10 container ports in the world (by volume) are all in Asia.