I plan to upgrade my equipment in January. A new camera and some high-end lenses are on the wish list.

Just when I thought I’d decided what to get Canon go & release the new 5D MkII. This has kind of set the cat amongst the pigeons as far as my new camera goes. I’d planned on replacing the 20D with either the 1D Mk III or even the 1Ds Mk III. The 5D has upped the ante with its new 21mp full-frame sensor, expanded ISO rating up to 25,600 & HD video recording mode. It now equals the 1Ds MK III in terms of resolution & is over two grand cheaper.

The dilemma now is that the 1D Mk III is being left behind, Sony have just released the Alpha 900 with 24mega pixels. If I get the 1D Mk III, am I buying in to old technology?

Visit any of the camera forums & they are rife with rumour & suggestion that Canon will be replacing the Mk IIIs in 2009. Anything from 16mp up to 34 are being suggested with further rumours that Canon may release a 50mp DSLR. Some suggestions are leaning towards a February release, they say Canon will need to release a replacement for the Mk IIIs as they are already getting left behind by the Nikon D3, among others.

So, do I go with a Mk III or hold off on the basis of these rumours for the replacement which may not even come next year?

I suppose I could get a 5D Mk II in the meantime & then see whatever replaces the Mk IIIs. You can read more on the Canon replacements at Northlight Images’ Rumour Section.

Three weeks ago I was fortunate enough to get a ride along with the Chopper Coppers of the Chiltern Air Support Unit from their base at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire, and I got to take my camera!

The Chiltern Air Support Unit is a consortium of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire & Thames Valley Police which share two helicopters to provide air support for police operations across the three police districts.

The unit came to fruition in 1992 when the three forces came together to share helicopter facilities. In 1996 a second helicopter was purchased. The two helicopters are currently based at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire & RAF Henlow, although the unit has been at Henlow less than a year having been previously based at Luton Airport.

I went with the crew on a day shift from 8am to 4pm & spent my time with a Hertfordshire PC, a Bedfordshire PC who form the unit’s observers & a civilian pilot provided to the unit by a private company. The weather was pretty poor & it even looked like we might have to be grounded for the day, the cloud cover was so heavy.

Unfortunately, as luck would have it, I managed to get the crew on a particularly quiet shift. We only got to lift for two jobs during the whole ten hour shift. Total flying time was around 90 minutes.

We flew down to Hertford to assist local police officers who were searching for a male who had run off from police in a busy housing estate. We circled about the houses & schools for some time using the chopper’s camera system to try & track down the offender. He managed to escape for another day so we returned to the base in Bedfordshire taking a direct flight path from Hertford, across Stevenage & into the unit’s new purpose-built facilities at RAF Henlow.

Our second shout came only a few minutes later when we were called to Luton to assist in the search for a male who had made off from police on a scooter. It was suspected that the scooter may have been stolen.

Unfortunately, we were again unable to track the rider or scooter down & returned to base. This was to be the last flight of the day.

The Eurocopter EC-135T-1 comes equipped with the latest thermal imaging camera, skyshout loud-haler system & powerful spotlighting unit. It has up-to-date mapping which can guide the pilot direct to an individual address anywhere in the three force areas. Crewed by two police officers who act as observers & work the complicated radio, mapping & camera systems. Several of the private pilots are ex-military. There is space for a stretcher for med-evac duties.

Although it would have been great to have got some more flying in, I really I enjoyed my time with the unit. It’s always great to take photos in a completely different, & exciting setting!

On Saturday 4th October I spent the morning at the Cat Survival Trust in Welwyn, Hertfordshire.

The trust occupies 11 acres of land behind a pet food store just outside Welwyn Village on the B656 to Hitchin. It’s not open to the public but members of the trust can visit by arrangement. I visited with fellow Letchworth photographer, mark Tiller, who has been associated with the trust for the last couple of years & organises photo shoots for other photographers.

They have over 30 cats of various protected species from around the world. Most of them are rescued from other organisations in danger of being put down due to old age, lack of space or the closing of the organisation.

The Caracal, above, is often known as the desert lynx. It comes from Africa & the Middle East. The Trust currently has two males & two females.

The Bobcat is found almost exclusively in the USA & looks much like a very large domestic cat.

One of the most beautiful examples of the big cats has to be the Snow Leopard. Unfortunately, while I was there the snow leopards were engaged in a heavy bout of sleeping, we were treated to only a brief period of open eyes, their curiosity in our presence very short-lived.

The Trust provides opportunities for photographers on group trips during which they can have access to the inner sanctum of some of the pens. Most of then pens have a single cage and you can, with care, shoot through the bars. Other pens have a double cage with a path between the inner & outer. It’s impossible to eliminate the inner bars photographing through the double cages. With a group session a member of staff can allow photographers in to the inner section.

Unfortunately, two people pulled out of our visit at the last moment so as there were only two of us we couldn’t shoot some of the cats (photographically!) as the trust has to provide a member of staff to accompany the group.

The Cat Survival Trust is run entirely by volunteers; they have no paid staff. Part of their work & fund-raising goes to support their reserve in Argentina.

Their website (which is currently quite old & being redeveloped) can be found at www.catsurvivaltrust.org.

I should be at Duxford today for the Autumn Airshow. Unfortunately, not for the first time this year, the appalling weather has put paid to my plans. I got up at 8 and it was pouring with rain so rather than make the journey, pay £25 & stand in the rain all day hoping for some kind of show I decided to knock it on the head.

Military aviation is one of my favourite photographic subjects & it’s really disappointing that three of the shows I would normally attend have been unavailable; I couldn’t attend the summer Duxford show because it was on the same day as the Royal International Air Tattoo – which was also cancelled.

Still, there’s always next year.