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When the SonyEricsson P800 came out in 2002 i bought this smartphone as soon as it was available. I was totally hooked and i loved it. Finally i had a phone, a perfect calendar, and a mobile internet device all combined in a small nifty device. I took of the keypad the moment i bought it to never put it on again. A large touchscreen was all i needed.

So after i made the switch to Apple i was sad the original iphone was not available in Belgium. I know a lot of people who imported one and used it jailbroken. But i wanted all the support so i decided to wait for it launch in Belgium.

Because i left for a trip to russia just after the iphone 3G launch on july 11th i decided to wait until my return to buy one.

I was back in Belgium on august 15th and ever since i been trying to get hold of a 16Gb Black Iphone 3G. The iphone is availble through Apple premium resellers, Mobistar shops and the Mobistar online store. Or at least thats what is advertised … I contacted all premium resellers, and all of them had a long list of people who had pre-ordered the phone but could not give any estimate of when they would receive their phone. The same story at the Mobistar shops in and around Ghent … a waitinglist without an end. The mobistar shop in my hometown didn’t keep a list, i had to call them to ask if they had any in store that day. I gave up after 3 weeks of calling them twice a day.

My only hope was the the mobistar online shop. But for a long time none were available there. They don’t work with pre-orders, the website should be ‘first-come first-served’. They offer a mailinglist that informs you when the phones are available for purchase at the website. So when i got the mail informing me that phones were available on friday 10th of september i was delighted and ordered one quickly. I got the confirmation mail and when i checked back on the site the phones were already sold out again. I was with the lucky ones who had managed to place their order. Or so i thought.

Until today … i have not received my iphone, tho my creditcard has been charged. At their website mobistar has a page explaining why one would want to buy at their online store.

“Shipment within 24 hours“:

Whatever article you order, it will be shipped within 24 hours (workdays) after your placed your order. So you can make use of your purchased item as soon as possible.

Also found in the FAQ section of the Iphone3G minisite:

Once you order has been confirmed, it will be processed by our logistic team. If all details have been filled in properly, your order will be prepared for shipment and delivered within 3 to 4 work days.

After those 4 days i contacted Mobistar using their contact form. Only to hear back from them that they have problems with supplies and that they recently changed logistic partner. I would receive my phone as soon as possible.

In the mean time, i know of at least two friends who ordered their iphones online days after i did and already had them delivered. This raises serious questions about their ‘first-come, first-served’ policy. Their online shop has the feature to mark a certain type of phone as ‘no longer available’. So you would think, that if you order one that is available, you receive a confirmation mail and your credit card being charged would all mean they have those Iphone 3G Black phones in stock, ready for shipping to their customers. Whey else the whole circus of sending out mails “The iphone 3G back in stock, hurry up!” ??

To be continued … or so i hope.

UPDATE 16/09: Sent a registered letter to Mobistar to let them know they are failing to comply with their Terms of Service.

UPDATE 17/09: The letter has been received and signed for by Mobistar.

UPDATE 18/09: My Iphone finally arrived … after 13 days.

The price of prosumer DSLR’s has been dropping for the past years so they are now within reach for most of us. Once you get bitten by the digital photography bug you start collecting more and more gear. All those lenses, strobes, cable releases, filters, … have to be lugged around quite often. You’ll never know what you need when, so you better take as much with you when you decide to go for a photoshoot. Thats why i bought this Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW (AW stands for all weather).

Lowepro has some great camerabags for everyones needs. I love the CompuTrekker because it not only holds all my photography stuff, it also holds my laptop and all the cables, powerbricks, chargers and everything that goes with all the techy things. So with that backpack i am prepared for any photography challenge. But it comes to a price … lugging everything around adds on to the total weight, fully loaded it reaches 16kilos (35 pounds). And thats not something you want to carry around every single day.

Thats why i bought a Lowepro SlingShot 200 AW for everyday use.

I decided to try to take my camera always with me to avoid the ‘i missed a great shot‘ opportunity. This ’sling bag’ (it has just a single strap that goes diagonally over your chest) makes it possible to get access to your camera really quick by just letting the bag slide to the font. Mine holds my DSLR, 4 lenses, a strobe and a small point and shoot digital camera. The spacious top compartment contains my diabetes medicines and other small stuff i want to have around at all times.

So basicly switching between these two bags have suited me quite well during the past 2 years on most occasions. When traveling both bags classify as carry on luggage on airplanes. While moving about with both the CompuTrekker and a normal suitcase is ok for going small distances, to and from the airport, trainstation and taxi to the hotel, it is not the ideal solution for a more active way of traveling.

I was looking for a new backpack (after 14 years, the previous one was up for replacement) for an upcoming trekking trip that would hold hold all the usual things (changes of clothes, tent, sleepingbag, and all the other camping gear) but also a has room for some photography tools. I spent many evenings browsing the web for such a solution but i found none … I couldn’t believe that Lowepro never thought about teaming up with their sister company Lowe Alpine to make this kind of trekking backpack. Their combined experience should be able to lead to a perfect backpack for the trekking and backpacking photography enthusiasts out there.

So sadly i had to let that idea go and i went for one of the best regular backpacks out there, the Deuter AirContact PRO 60+15.

I am going to try to find a solution on how to store my camera and some selected lenses in there in a way they are protected as good as in the Lowepro bags.