Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Best Camera Bag Ever...

Think Tank Rotation 360

Think Tank is a company that makes photo accessories focusing more on bags, cases and they proud themselves by being the brand that a lot of professionals use. A lot of their bag designs take into consideration input from professionals either sports photography, nature, etc. I will tell you right now, that they are pricey, very pricey but as you will see in my view they are worth the $$.

They have a lot of models for carrying on the field, bags for transporting equipment on airports, etc. I wasn't specifically looking for another bag, but the Rotation 360 caught my eye.

The bag is a very comfortable backpack which it also has a waist buckle. This becomes a deep "fanny" bag that rotates by detaching itself from the main body of the backpack. This rotational bag is very deep and can hold a lot of stuff. You can put lenses, batteries, filters without having to remove it, making access to your equipment much, much easier, better and more comfortable that a slingshot concept. The other major differential for this bag is that it can be enhanced with different attachment containers that can be used to stored extra lenses, filters, etc. I bought an expandable digital holster that can be attached to the bag belt. There are other minor features that are great, the construction is outstanding (zippers, Velcro, etc) other than that is a common backpack.

Setting up the bag

The camera has some features that require some setup, but they are great.

Camera strap: The bag comes with a special camera strap. So in order to use the camera support strap on your back pack, you need to use their camera strap. The camera strap is comfortable, it has some rings that allows you to attach it to the backpack for support.

Camera Support Strap: These are a set of 2 snap clips that go into the shoulder straps in the bag, this takes 2 minutes to setup.

Attaching One Camera: Basically you put your camera around your neck, use the snap clips on the backpack to clip to the rings on the camera strap. This allows your camera not to hang, or jump around giving your hands some freedom of movement.

Attaching 2 cameras: Same approach as before, you can attach one camera a single support strap on one side, and another camera on the other.

Hold down strap: the camera also comes with a strap that can be attached to the buckles on the shoulder straps. This long lens strap joins the shoulder straps together so when your camera is hanging on your chest you put this hold down strap over the camera forcing the lens to point downwards.

Loading the bag.

The bag can hold A LOT of equipment. Here is a list of what I was able to carry:

Top part:

After arranging the strong velcro dividers here is what I was able to put in:

Olympus E3 Flash FR-36 2.0X Teleconverter
Energizer Batteries Set of Filters (Polarizer different sizes) Zuiko 50-200mm 2.8 lens
  IMGP1100  

Front Bag

Cokin ND filters ND filter attachment rings Storm Jacket
     

Rotation Bag

Olympus 410 with 8mm Fish eye lens attached Sigma 30mm lens Zuiko 11-22mm lens
3 Tripod quick release plates Camera Batteries 2 pouches with memory cards
IMGP1106   IMGP1107

The camera has a rain cover that wraps the entire backpack around, and finally you can comfortable set a tripod with a buckle on top of the bag and using the net pocket at the bottom of the bag.

Now, I didn’t use the expandable holster which can fit my

Sigma 50-500mm.

I did not manage to fill up the bag, specially the top part, which could fit still a lot more small stuff like cable release, levels, etc.

IMGP1105

Hauling the bag around

The bag is very comfortable to carry around. I took it out of for a 3 hour spin and my back or shoulders felt great. Obviously the best thing is the waist bag. Here is how it works:

Once you have de attached the bag buckles that holds it in place, you need to pull this strap from the bag waist belt which shifts a velcro IMGP1109 mechanism in place inside the bag. This allows the free motion around the waist allowing the bag to rotate to the front. Once you have done this, you have free access to the waist bag that opens with a zipper. You can use this bag for easy access to reach lenses, another camera body, batteries, etc.  In order to put it back you just need to pull this lock strap again to the lock position (this makes the velcro inside the body bag to appear again) and push the waist back with the handles back into position "shake it" a couple of times so the velcro attaches again, and you are good to go.

The only thing missing from this bag is the capability to carry a small laptop, but overall is the most comfortable, better built camera I own. Is great for long photo walks, nature and hauling equipment for any event.

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Finalmente!.. Olympus 8mm Fish Eye..

Por fin llego mi nueva adqusición en cuanto a lentes. Aunque no lo he probado completamente, aqui esta la ceremonia de apertura de la caja y unas primeras fotos comparativas con algunos otros lentes.

Compre el lente en B&H en línea ya que por lo general los precios ahí son mas bajos, si alguna vez visitan la ciudad de New York, debe de ser prioridad una visita a la tienda.

He aqui lo que viene en la caja del lente...

IMGP1087 IMGP1089 IMGP1090
La Caja4/3 YES!!!Garantía mundial
IMGP1091 IMGP1095 IMGP1097
El LenteConcavoJunto al 11-22mm

Lo puse a prueba para tener una referencia de los grados con los que se puede tomar con el lente, Aqui unas pequeñas muestras...

P8233284-1 P8233282-3 P8233280-5
50 mm macro11 mm8 mm

Y obviamente no sería un test completo sin probar

las capacidades de distorción.. el único modelo disponible.. Lulú

P8233288-1 P8233291-1

Voy a planear un proyecto para poner el lente a prueba probablemente al centro de la ciudad de Seattle para tomar buenas fotos de edificios...

Saturday, August 2, 2008

DSLR Magazine Review

While you are trying to hone your photography skills is good to have a good set of books to help you try out new things, but I have found magazines to be a good resource as well. If you go to your local bookstore there are tons of them and can be a little overwhelming. Here is a small review of photography magazines mostly focus for digital and that are manufacturer independent (probably because nobody focuses on Olympus ;) )

Unfortunately I haven't found a magazine from the US that really meets my needs, I think that the UK based ones are much professional, offer better reviews and provide lots of trips and tricks. On top of that, almost every UK magazine comes with a CD which includes videos, sample images from the magazine articles to which you can apply the lessons learned. Very Cool....

So here are the magazines I have read at least twice and I have highlighted the ones I get on a regular basis

  • Digital Photo Pro
  • Digital Photo
  • What Digital Camera
  • Outdoor Photography
  • Outdoor Photographer
  • American Photo
  • ShutterBug
  • Photography Monthly
  • Digital Camera World
  • Digital SLR User
  • Digital SLR Photography
  • Practical Photography
  • Digital Photographer
  • Popular Photography

I buy Photography magazines almost every time I go to Borders or B&N. I look for magazines that provide tips and recommendations for different shooting scenarios (outdoor, concerts, studio, action...) as well as to practical tips on how to improve your workflow specially Lightroom and Adobe Elements. All up, UK's magazines are much better in that respect. When I find a good tip I put one of those color stickers on the page and move it to my "photo notes" book.. ( I will write about that some day soon) ("Yes sadly I am that much of a geek)

Here are my 2 cents before you go on and subscribe to any of them:

Digital Photo Pro: (6 out of 10)

I actually own a subscription to this one, is OK if you are looking to get inspired from other people's portfolios. The articles are good a little bit too technical some times. The quality of the pictures and magazine itself is great, but looking at my box of magazines I dont have a single "sticker" on any of them, meaning I havent gotten something practical to remember when I go out shooting that I would like to put on my nerd book

Digital Photo (UK, 8 out of 10)

This one is actually quite good, I dont buy it very often, I would say that they spend 50% on product reviews, 50% on articles. I think they make up for it, with this amazing website to find a lot of answers. Out of 4 numbers that I own I have taken quite a few tips around travel photography, good ideas to try on the studio, etc.

What Digital Camera (UK 3 out of 10)

If you are unsure what camera to buy, get 3 or 4 numbers from the magazine read it, and then never buy it again. This magazine offers great unbias reviews but no more.

Outdoor Photography (UK, 5 out of 10)

I am not that into outdoor photography thats why I dont rate it very high, the quality of the magazine itself is average (compared to the rest of the ones from the UK)Their articles are OK

American Photo (US, 8 out of 10)

Now, this is a very good American Photo Magazine, great articles, and the stories and showcased portfolios are very good. They provide good tips but the size and quality of the print is not that exciting. If you want to subscribe to something from the US this is very good

Shutterbug (US, 7 out of 10)

Shutterbug is good, I dont find the quality of the pictures amazing, but the articles are good. The content is heavy on product reviews as well as some techniques. I am a subscriber and their subscription department provides good service. After 7 months I dont have that many practical tips taken from it, but it makes for excellent bathroom reading or while you are waiting for your wife outside of Banana Republic, I would subscribe.

Photography Monthly (UK, 5 out of 10)

OK magazine, I think they are always behind the curve. While a magazine like Digital SLR have an article on HDR, the following month Photography monthly might have something similar. I have read it twice and I am not impressed, maybe because the content is always 2 steps behind

Digital Camera World (UK, 8 out of 10)

This one, I make a point to buy it every month from Borders. The articles are very good and they have a very good mix of product reviews (25%), then take on a specific subject like travel photography (50%) with information to take to the field and the rest of the magazine is dedicated on how you can improve it on the digital dark room, they spend most of their time on Elements 6.0 or Photoshop. I have taken lots of tips from this publications such as landscape, sailing, concerts, etc. They have a very cool section when they pair a reader with a pro-photographer on a specific topic. They both go on assignment, share equipment and tips. I find this very useful.

Digital SLR User (UK, 7 out of 10)

Very similar to Digital Camera World, but for some reason I have managed to get less tips that from other magazines. They just recently changed their frontpage layout making it more attractive. Overall magazine quality is very good, and the articles are interesting. I think that if you buy Digital Camera World, you might not need this one. On a good note, the pictures and the quality of the print is fantastic

Digital SLR Photography (UK 8 out of 10)

This one I make a point to buy every month as well. I have managed to pick up lots of articles and tips that I transfer to my "geek-book".The quality of the print is fantastic. They spent a good chunk of pages on showcasing amateur photographers (that judging by their pics they ought to be professionals). Very good un-bias reviews every month. You should get this one if you can.

Practical Photography (UK, 9 out of 10)

Looking at my magazine box I can tell you, this one has by far the most geek labels that I have transferred to my note book. The quality is at par with the best of them, for my taste they spend the right amount of pages doing reviews (less than 25%) and the rest is devoted to very good articles, tips. Only downside to this one is that they dont talk much about the digital darkroom and not a lot on elements which is what I use. Otherwise great articles that can be applicable to your every day photography situations.

Digital Photographer (UK, 10 out of 10)

To me, this is the best magazine out there, I manage to pick up 4 or 5 tips for every issue. From book reviews, to ideas for the studio as well as to ideas and tips on how to use Elements to enhance what you did on the field. On my end, I believe this is a most specially if you are getting started, like I am ( I have been shooting 1 year). Best of all, every 6 mos or so, they publish a book, with close to 200 pages dedicated to a single subject. I have only seen one dedicated to Travel and Macro Photography. These books are very useful and almost every single page contains good tips on the subject matter.

Popular Photography (US, 8 out 10)

I own a subscription to this one and is a very good well written magazine. I have managed to pick up quite a few good tips. It has the right mix of the reviews, articles. Not so much on workflow, but still the articles are very interesting. Only downside is that is not as well constructed in terms of cover and paper quality as the ones for the UK and therefore the quality of the prints suffers. But overall I would keep my subscription

Hope this helps you make a decision on what to spend your precious hobby money....

Places I've shot in