Trials and tribulations @ Carburn Park

[Matt K.]

Went for a short walk with wifey today, trying out several things.

First of all my new backpack. Bought it on eBay. It is a knock off of a Lowepro, sorta. Holds all my gear (2 bodies, 70-200mm lens, 300mm lens, 150mm lens, 12-24mm lens, 35mm lens, 17-70mm lens, 1.7 teleconverter, flash, batteries, filters, cables, GPS unit, laptop .... ) plus I can put my tripod on the back of it. And all for around 50 bucks. I like it. It has two shoulder straps, a chest strap and a hip strap. The way the tripod attaches is a bit mickey mouse, but does the trick. so far so good.

Second my new GPS unit for the D300s (works with my D5000 as well). Came with two cables, so I can attach it to either camera, plus a remote, so the plug that is used to power the remote does not have to be emptied for the remote. Kinda handy. Thing worked flawless, took about a minute to acquire satellite signal, but after that is was a breeze. Nice and small, so it does not look very ostentatious. I like it. About 50 bucks on eBay.

Third my new Gimbal head. Again eBay, around 100 bucks +/-. Comes, who would have guessed, also from China. It is alsoa knock off, but for the price it works really well, and has ample adjustments. My Feisol (Swiss Arca) plates fit in the clamp, so I did not have to change the plates. Whew. Easy to operate, and makes a heck of a difference when shooting. Beats a ball head hands down when you have a longer lens mounted.

Fourth my teleconverter. Wanted to try out how good the images would be when attached to the 300mm f4 lens. This makes the lens a 500mm f6.7 lens, wowzers ... and in order to eliminate motion shake (you have no idea how much movement a shutter can cause ...) I need to shoot @ minimum of 1/500; better yet, 1/1000 or higher. But for this one would need good light. For sure. At ISO 200 a challenge. anyway, here are a couple of images with that combination; the Kingbird was pretty close, I'd say within 20 feet or so, the Cormorants were considerably further away, my guess is 300-400 feet. By the way, if anyone can tell me how to get the distance shown in the EXIF file, I would be very thankful.

Eastern Kingbird (HBG, I am counting on you for correction :wall-an:)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7673652546_fd381dbb23_b.jpg

Cormorants on dead Tree

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8141/7673653662_8fc7b3e53a_b.jpg

And this one was taken with the 70-200 f2.8. No idea what kind of butterfly or moth this is, but I liked it sitting on the thistle ...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8421/7673655458_7d7814c588_b.jpg

[mbrager]

Everything but the kitchen sink. Congratulations on all your new stuff. (Pushing the "envy button" especially for the teleconverter) These photos look great to me. All nice and sharp. By the way, don't you have a remote shutter release, either corded or wireless? Saves touching the camera to press the shutter. I notice that in the Flickr exif data (accessed by clicking on the camera type in the upper right corner by the photo) there is an entry for approximate focus distance quite far down the list that would give you the distance. But the exif data doesn't show up on the forum files when using a link to upload.

[chrisflees]

like your kingbird

[Hillbillygirl]

Sounding like a kid in a candy store. As you should. Looks like you are doing very well with all the new equipment matt. Love that Kingbird also, especially with that beautiful bokeh, but all are very sharp, detailed captures for sure. Well done Matt.

[AcadieLibre]

Looks like you had a great time, I used to carry that amount of equipment with me but no more unfortunately, but I always think better to have too much then not enough lol.

[Iguanasan]

Looks like all your gear is treating you well. I've made a few eBay purchases myself. Lots of cheap but very functional gear can be purchased from our Chinese friends.