Last week I posted 10 essentials for the traveling photographer.  This week we are moving up the scale a bit to check out some things that you don’t necessarily need, but would be awesome to have if you have everything else on the previous list!

1. G-Tech Hard Drives

In the essentials list I put hard drives and recommended the LaCie Rugged drives.  If you are going to take a step up though then you have to check out the G-Raid Mini from G-Tech.  This tiny enclosure houses 2 hard drives that can be configured in any Raid configuration meaning that with RAID 1 setting you have totally redundant backup of your data without having to worry about manually copying data onto 2 different drives.  In this configuration though you should still copy to your laptop internal drive though and store the G-Raid and the laptop in different places just in case one gets stolen if you are flying.  But if you travel nationally by car and can always have your gear on you this may not be such a worry to you.  The next option is to get a pair of G-Drive mini SSDs. The solid state drives are WAY more expensive than regular drives but being SSDs there is far less to go wrong inside so you can in theory subject them to way more, and they have the added bonus of being much faster than regular mechanical drives!

2. Really Right Stuff TVC-24 Carbon Fiber tripod

In my opinion Really Right Stuff makes the best camera support gear on the market.  I have written before about the awesome BH-40 ballhead and I also have a selection of RRS quick release plates on all my long lenses and cameras.  At the end of last year RRS released the TVC-33 tripod.  A no-nonsense tripod built purely to be the best, with no compromise in the quality of the design or the parts used to construct it.  It came at a price though, $925! The TVC-33 though was designed to be paired with the fairly hefty BH-55 ballhead which is not the best option for a traveler due to the weight and bulk.  The BH-40 makes much more sense though and just a couple of weeks ago RRS announced the new TVC-24 tripod designed to be the perfect partner to the BH-40.  The TVC-24 is lighter than its bigger brother and also has a 4-section leg design making it much more compact when fully closed.  Only 18.7″ in length compared with the 26″ of the TVC-33.  A much nicer package to travel with.  It also carries a very impressive load rating, matching up to a 3 series Gitzo tripod but in a considerably smaller and lighter package.  Again the price is high at $910 but with these guys you get what you pay for.  This is the tripod you buy once in your career.

3. Apple Airport Express

Sick of using hotel room internet chained to the tiny desk with the awkwardly small chair ?  For some reason there are still a lot of hotels around the world that insist on using standard network cables to provide you with internet.  If you are like me then maybe you prefer to sit on the bed while you check your mail or browse your favorite sites.  Well then the Airport Express is for you then.  With this little plug in device you can create your own simple wireless network in your hotel room and easily browse the web from the comfort of the bed, or even the bath!  If you are sharing a room with someone then you can also both use the same connection simultaneously instead of waiting in line to get the next turn with the blue cable!

4. Hyperdrive Album

I have an extensive review of the Hyperdrive Colorspace UDMA on my site already but the Hyperdrive Album is an updated version with a new form factor and a much bigger 4.8″ screen.  The Album is available in several different drive sizes from 160GB up to 500GB or you can buy the empty case and put whichever drive you want in it.  This makes it great for future proofing it as you can upgrade in the future. All the best features of the Colorspace are carried over so you have the ability to recover damaged or deleted photos from your cards as well as checking the integrity of the files as they are copied from your card.  Having one of these with you is a great way to backup one set of shots from your trip.  When I travel I have one copy of my shots on my laptop and one copy on my Colorspace, but if I was in the market for one I would definitely grab the new larger screened Album version.

5. Hypermac Battery packs

These Hypermac packs are actually from the same company as the above mentioned Hyperdrive.  Again they are available in a variety of sizes to suit, and they will give your laptop or USB powered devices a few more hours of juice for those long trips with lots of time in the airport or on planes that do not have built in power to the seats.  They will even power your iPad for hours and hours of movie watching.  The exact amount of extra powered time you will get depends on the size you get but even the smallest one witll give you 34 hours of power to your iPad and the largest one will even power 17″ macbook pro for 26 hours!  They have a use port too so you can charge your iPod or camera while you are using your laptop.  Awesome is the word.  They even have new smaller versions that are designed specifically to be used with iPhone or iPod.

6. Travel scales

I wasn’t sure whether to put this in the essentials section of the luxury.  If you are like me then you are always on the borderline of allowable baggage.  No matter where I travel I always end up in the terminal next to the check in gate weighing my bags on the scales and trying to balance things out so I don’t get charged excess fees.  In fact a lot of times I am already committed to the excess fee and am simply trying to get the bags under the maximum allowable weight so they don’t have to go as freight.  I really need to pick up one of these scales for my home so I can figure it all out before I leave…..  There is a huge selection of luggage scales available from Amazon.  All different sizes and styles from portable ones that travel with you, to massive semi-permanent ones to leave in your garage.  Very useful if you are packing heavy!

7. Leica M9 + 35mm f1.4 summilux II

I did say this was a list of luxuries right?  For the photographer who already has everything else the Leica M9 must surely be on the bucket buying list.  Leica’s very first full frame digital camera has been met with nothing but praise from those who test it.  Every one of it’s 18 megapixels rendered beautifully by the legendary Leica M lenses.  To fit a full frame sensor in such a small package is a remarkable achievement and this is what makes it good for people who travel.  Its discreet looks and low weight make it an ideal street camera.  Combined with the brand new version of the 35mm f1.4 summilux lens you have a lens+camera combination that can capture detail you never thought possible.  But it comes at a price!  $6995 for the camera another $6000 for the lens!

8.  Apple iPad

For the moment I think the iPad must still stay on the luxuries list.  I have written before about the potential uses of an iPad for photographers. That article was written in the run up to the launch and since that day there have indeed been many photographers integrating the iPad into their workflow in one way or another.  To be honest though, until there is a little more development into some of these applications the main benefits of an iPad are travel related rather than photography related.  Being able to carry many travel books, phrase books and guides all in a small package is useful.  Not to mention the entertainment provided by the movies and games that are available.  The limited storage space on the device is still a problem, but using it as a preview device has some mileage.  Mamiya just recently announced their new RZ33 medium format camera for example, and at the same time an iPad application that allows remote viewing of the photos on an iPhone or iPad.  This is certainly a potential usage but i’m waiting for some of the larger companies to jump into the arena before I consider it a necessity.  In the meantime though, its still an great device to travel with if you need books, music and movies all in one place.

9.  HPRC Hard Cases

I only recently discovered HPRC cases as they are an Italian company with fewer distributors in N.America than Pelican or other such hard cases.  Nonetheless they are now available from some of the larger online photo stores such as B&H photo.  Sp what makes these so special then?  I often travel with some gear in a pelican case.  Sometimes it is unavoidable but it always causes trouble trying to get within weigh limits for airline travel.  My Pelican 1610 for example weight 24lbs EMPTY !  And that right there is the main problem I have with the pelican cases, sometimes they are just too heavy.  Well the HPRC cases are designed to be up to %25 lighter than equivalent competitors cases.  I checked out a few examples on their site and compared them to the Pelican equivalents.  Sure enough, every single one of them came in several pounds lighter.  But they are still rated to be pretty much indestructible and whats more, they are almost all available with modular camera inserts.  Various models have the usual wheels for easier transport and even those ones come in much lighter than other cases on the market.  They have a carryon legal wheeled case to rival the Pelican 1510, called the 2550w and they also have carry bags to put the cases into to make them look less conspicuous and add shoulder straps to those that have no wheels!  This last part is fantastic because a hard case sticks out on a baggage carousel like a sore thumb and can often be a worry for photographers.  It looks like it contains expensive gear and for slipping through customs without much hassle I often put a pelican case in a duffel bag.  I have nothing to hide of course!  But I prefer to get in and out of the airports as quickly as possible.  HPRC have this covered though and a multitude of accessories are available for all the cases!

10.  Zoom H1 Digital Audio Recorder

Depending on your exact position in the professional photographic world (if indeed you are professional) this item may soon move from the luxury to the necessary list.  More and more photographers are being asked to shoot multimedia assignments for their clients.  Video or audio to be combined with image slideshows and interviews are now something that many people need to consider when they are traveling.  Audio from built in mics on cameras such as the Canon or Nikon DSLRs is poor at best so a separate audio recorder is the way to go.  The brand new Zoom H1 is a perfect pocket sized partner.  You can either record stereo audio onto the SD card in the device , or use the stereo mic in the H1 to record a signal straight into your camera.  I have written much more about the H1 on my blog before so if this one interests you then check it out.

I traveled a lot this year, much more than previous years.  This is a quick list of what I would consider to be essential items for a photographer on the road.

1. Power Strips

If you’ve ever spent prolonged periods bouncing from one hotel to the next then you’ll know that the one thing they all have in common is a lack of power sockets.  By the time you take into account a couple of camera battery chargers, a laptop, flash battery chargers, phone charger, iPod, point and shoot camera, audio recorder and video camera you can imagine how many things you might need to plug in a one time.  A power strip is an absolute necessity!  Make sure that you get one that is rated for both 110v and 240v or even up to 250v to take into account fluctuation voltages in some less developed areas.  One of the best solutions I have found so far is the 3 Port + USB Outlets to Go model from Monster cable.  It offers 3 power sockets and a USB charger all in one package, complete with a built in cable management system.  The best part about the design is that the 3 sockets are spaced well apart, with one on the back and two on the front.  This means that even with the biggest power brick, you can still get something into the socket next to it.  It can be had from Amazon for less than $15 and at that price you just can’t complain!  Make sure of course that the device you are plugging into the power strip can also handle 240 volts!

2. Plug adapters

You are going to need to adapt the plug on the end of your power strip to fit the local socket type so decent plug adapter is also a necessity.  The Warrior Go!Con adapter is a crazy looking device but I have seen it recommended in a few places if you can get hold of it.  They come from Japan and whilst you can order them from their website, they are not so cheap.  You can also order them from this other Japanese website and pay in US$ this looks like it would be the easiest.  It looks complex to arrange, but it does seem to have the biggest variety of plug adaptions that I have ever seen and the whole thing folds flat and fits in your pocket!  Quite amazing if you can find one.  If you want to find something a little closer to home then take a look at this universal adapter from the online travel store Magellans.

3. External Hard Drives

No matter where you go you should always be backing up your photos.  When I’m on the road I use the LaCie Rugged line of drives which I have written about before. So far no problems with them at all and no failures.  Prices have come down a bit now and the top of the line triple interface 500gb drive can be had for under $140.  Keep an eye out for USB 3.0 drives in the near future though.  Right now not many laptops support USB 3.0 but that will all change within the year so expect companies like LaCie to follow that up with new drives.  There are drives that are physically smaller but the rubber bumper and internal rubber suspension gives me a little piece of mind.  I tend to travel with 2 of these, one of which I format before each trip to use for photos, and the other one contains my music and movie collection.  If you keep one set of photos on your laptop and one on your external drive, make sure you don’t have them in the same bag when you are traveling.  That way you can’t lose all your shots if the bag gets lost or stolen.

4. Camera Insurance

If you are traveling with professional gear than more than likely the maximum value of gear you have will well exceed any travel insurance policy that you have.  A lot of regular policies also won’t cover gear being used for business so you should think about getting everything insured by a specialist.  Some people find that adding gear to an existing home insurance policy is an option but finding a company that specializes in camera insurance has a lot of advantages.  There is a couple of ways you can insure things with most people, either a worldwide policy that insures your gear wherever you travel for a single rate, or have a policy that cover things when you are home and then add a rider to your policy for each trip that you take.  Depending on how much you travel, one of these will work better for you.  If you travel a lot then go for the full package and you have one less thing to organize before your trip.

Two important things to look for in the policy; does it cover your gear when it is locked in a car?  And does it cover the rental cost of gear if your gear gets lost or stolen?  The latter is extremely important.  Make sure that if any of your gear gets lost by the airline, you are covered to rent gear to get the job done.  Again, specialist companies will have this kind of thing in place already and they will have procedures for solving these problems.  Also check with the company to make sure you can easily add more gear to your list as you buy more.  Living in Canada I can’t really speak for insurers in other countries but my gear is insured by CG&B Group.  Whilst its hard to track down on their site, they do have a specific policy for pro photographers and so far they have been great to deal with.

5. Rechargeable Batteries (NiMH)

It’s pretty fair to say that you will have something in you kit that needs AA batteries, most likely a flash.  I much prefer using rechargeable batteries to save the hassle of having to find some in a hurry in an area that you do not know.  Sanyo Eneloop batteries are particularly good for one main reason, they maintain their charge.  Most rechargeable batteries loose their charge over time.  If you have a lot of batteries then maybe there are some that dont get used so often.  With my old Energizer NiMH batteries I would often find batteries in my bag that had lost their charge and that can be a bit frustrating if you have forgotten to top them all up.  With the Eneloops though you can leave them for a whole year and they will still have maintained 85% of their charge.  They also make a pretty neat little dual battery charger that will top up a pair of Eneloops via the USB port on your laptop or by using one of the above mentioned power strips that has a USB port.  This is very handy if you are running low on power sockets in a hotel room.

6.  Have your equipment registered by customs

This information will vary from country to country but I will cover Canad and the USA.  I would assume that similar systems are in place in most countries so you might have to do a little research.  Note that this is not eh same as the ATA Carnet program.  For enormous amounts of equipment the Carnet would still be the way to go but for anything that one person can carry I have not found it necessary.  Instead in Canada there is a simple procedure you can do at the airport to register your equipment with customs officials.  Called the Y38 form (”Identification of Articles for Temporary Exportation”), all you have to do is show your equipment serial numbers to the customs agent in the departure terminal and they will record it on the form.  It is then signed and stamped as proof that you did indeed have that equipment in Canada.  One one piece of your equipment is listed the Y38 form is valid for life so you do not need to keep re-registering your gear.  Just keep the forms in your travel bag for next time.  Upon re-entering Canada if you are questioned about whether you purchased any of your gear while you are away, you can show them the forms to prove that you had it when you left.  Note that you can still be asked for proof of purchase in Canada if they want, but I have never been asked.  Generally they are just pleased that you were organized enough to get the forms filled out before you left!

In the USA there is a very similar system but the form is called the US Customs form 4457.  The procedure is identical, simply find the customs office in the departure terminal and get the to record your serial numbers of your lenses and cameras.  The forms are good for life so get them done and keep them safe.

7. Card Reader

You can plug a USB cable directly into a camera to retrieve you images but you will experience download speeds of anything up to 3 times slower than you will get if you use a dedicated card reader and a regular card.  If you are using UDMA high speed memory cards then the difference will be even more pronounced.  Even though I typically try to take as little gear as possible with me, a card reader is one of those things where I value the speed and time saving it gives me over the relatively small bulk+weight added to my bag.  There are hundreds and hundreds of different readers out there but I like to keep it simple with a Compact Flash card reader only.  None of this 78-in-1 reader business.  All my main cameras shoot CF cards and whilst my Canon s90 point and shoot is SD card I shoot relatively few shots with that camera so it’s not a big deal.  I use a Sandisk Cards and a Sandisk Extreme CF card reader.  I know that a lot of micro four thirds and Canon Rebel series cameras do shoot SD card though so if you have one of those, or a combination of CF and SD cards then take a look at the Lexard Dual slot reader that is UDMA compatible, or the Hoodman USB 2.0 UDMA reader.

8. Laptop Computer

Lets face it, if you shoot digital then you need a laptop computer.  There are far too many possibilities out there for me to run through them all.  The type of laptop that is suitable will depend on what you need to do to your images while you are on the road.  Some people just need something to download their memory cards and maybe upload shots to a server.  In this case you could get away with a small cheaper netbook.  Some people need to be able to edit their photos in Lightroom and Photoshop while they are away so something a little more powerful is necessary.  By far the most popular choice for creative professionals is the Apple Macbook Pro though. I’m not sure what overall worldwide percentages is but in my industry I would say 90% of people travel with an Apple laptop.  For myself I actually do very little editing while I am away but I do like to catalog in Lightroom and I also appreciate the 15″ screen on my macbook for watching movies and TV shows while I am on the plane or at the hotel.

9. At least one short prime lens

I would consider a short prime to be something in the 50mm -24mm range and however light I’m packing I always make sure there is at least one prime in my kit. Why ?  Well if it were possible I would only have prime lenses due to their increases contrast and image sharpness.  But a kit of primes is far heavier than a zoom + prime kit and due to the type of photography I do weight is a factor.  Short prime lenses tend to have a much larger aperture though and having at least one lens with an aperture in the f1.8 -f1.4 range is very useful for nigh time photography in whatever city you find yourself in or photography inside buildings such as museums, cathedrals, restaurants.  I often take my best photos when I go for a walk with just one prime lens because it really makes you focus on what you are shooting.  On my 5dMKII I prefer a 35mm or 50mm lens but mostly I carry my 1dMKIV with a 24mm f1.4 II mounted on it.  If it has to be really lightweight then a 50mm 1.8 on the 5dMKII will do just fine.  And photos shot on primes with wider apertures have a very different look to typical shots from most zoom lenses so it really helps to bring some diversity to your shots from a particular trip.

10. Rocket blower sensor cleaner

Even though newer cameras have automatic micro-vibrating sensor cleaning functions, they don’t keep all the dust off. There are several similar products available but the Giottos products do a great job and are available in many different sizes. Due to their grenade-like appearance, expect to get some funny looks from airport security personnel though! Continually changing lenses outdoors means that you will get dust buildup around the mirror mechanism but a few squeezes with the blower and you will prevent that dust from ever getting to the lens. If you have more persistent particles check out the products from Visibledust. I use their wet cleaning fluids every few months and also their statically charged brushes if the blower can’t shift the dirt. Gitottos also do some kits that include blowers cloths and some lens cleaning solution that you can get from B&H

10.5 Local knowledge

I’ll call this 10.5 because this is a small thing and somewhat dependent on what the purpose of your travels are, but if I have been sent half way around the world on a commercial shoot then I always take the time to research local camera stores and equipment rental places.  If my gear goes down and needs replacing in a hurry, or the airline loses my pelican case then I already know exactly who I’m going to call.

This past winter I decided to purchase a 300mm f2.8 L IS.  My dream lens.  At the time I was using a 300mm f4 L IS to shoot skiing with and whilst I was never disappointed with the quality of the shots from that lens on its own, I wanted to see a little more from it when used with teleconverters. After buying the 2.8 I still had the f4 for a couple of weeks before I sold it on so I took the opportunity to shoot a few tests to compare the two.  Details of my testing were as follows;

• I tested the lenses without teleconverters. In my opinion the f4 is just not worth testing using with TCs.  See my recent article for examples of the 2x TC on the 2.8
• I mounted a $5 bill out of direct sunlight on a flat piece of cardboard and made sure that to the best of my ability the $5 bill was perpendicular to the focal plane of the lens
• For each possible aperture throughout the lens’ range I took 4 shots and then picked the best one
• I focused manually using live view at the max. magnification
• I shot with the mirror locked up AND using a cable release to try and eliminate mirror slap
• I used a solid tripod and ballhead from Really Right Stuff
• No extra sharpening was applied to the images, they were shot in RAW and processed in LR3
• I AM human and I do not have a professional testing lab so there may me some errors along the way.  Take this a useful guide but not necessarily gospel! That’s all it is, a bit of fun.  But I tried my best to do a decent enough test that some general conclusions can be drawn.

Physical Comparison

The physical size differences between the 2 lenses are considerable.  The f4 weighs in at 1.19 KG and the 2.8 is a hefty 2.55 KG.  The later is not a lens that you can carry around with you without noticing! You really need to have a solid purpose for carrying such a large lens around and often for me it feels even heavier than 2 times the weight of the f4 version because you have such a huge mass concentrated into a small part of your camera bag.  The f4 comes with a convenient pull out hood which is my favorite type , you can never forget it and it hardly adds anything to the bulk of the lens.  The 2.8 on the other hand comes with the enormous hood that you see in the picture at the top.  It adds considerable bulk to the lens in your bag, though it is very lightweight for it’ s size.

Center Sharpness

Corner Sharpness

To test corner sharpness I lined up roughly the same area of the bill with the upper left corner of the frame.  I’m going to post a few less examples this time because once diffraction is occurring I think we can all use the center sharpness test to gauge the results.

Conclusion

Comparing center sharpness the 2.8 lens is much sharper wide open at f2.8 than the f4 lens at f4.  I would not hesitate to use the 2.8 wide open in any situation at that aperture, it is very sharp.  Stopping it down a little to f4 produces an image that is as sharp as any image from the other f4 lens at any aperture.  On the other hand though when the f4 lens is wide open it produces a very soft image that I would not be happy with.  It does improve dramatically by f5.6 though to create a very sharp image.  The f4 lens at f5.6 is similar in sharpness to the 2.8 lens when it is wide open and at all apertures the 2.8 displays better contrast.  Between f5.6 and f8 , the 2.8 lens displays the kind of detail and sharpness that makes it so legendary and there is only a small drop off as it approaches f11.  Beyond f11 both lenses soften up due to diffraction and around f16 have degraded considerably.  Comparing any lens to the 300mm f2.8 L IS is tough because it will have a tendency to pale in comparison.  The f4 L IS is still a VERY good lens , between f5.6 and f8 you will get stunning details and beautifully sharp images for the price of the lens, the 300mm f4 L IS is an often overlooked bargain.

The amazing thing about the corner sharpness test is that the f2.8 lens is just as sharp in the corners wide open as it is in the center.  I don’t think there is another lens out there that I have seen that comes close to getting such similar sharpness in the corners as the center.  There is a small amount of vignetting but nothing close to the amount displayed by the f4 lens when that is wide open.  Throughout the whole range of apertures there is a much bigger difference in sharpness between the 2 lenses in the corners than there was at the center.  You have to look pretty hard to see any difference in the corners and the center with the f2.8 L IS, but the difference is clear on the f4 lens.  This is probably the most disappointing feature of the 300mm f4 L IS.  Though I would still consider the results to be fairly good, its a shame that it is much better at f8 because the center sharpness sweet spot is a little before that and the corners at f5.6 are not great.

The 300mm f2.8 L IS is a legendary lens though.  Many people say the best Canon has ever made.  In fact I have only recently seen a lens that comes close to this (and maybe sharper in some situations) and that is the new 100mm f2.8 L IS Macro which I will also be reviewing very shortly.  The 2.8 has versatility on its side due to excellent performance with both the 1.4X and 2X teleconverters and as you would hope for a lens of this price, it is tack sharp wide open.  Something which is a little harder to test and show is the auto focus speed.  You’ll just have to trust me on this one when I say that the 2.8 is like lightening.  The f4 IS on the other hand seems to struggle a bit with fast moving objects at closer ranges, particularly if they are coming straight towards the camera.  Of course you also get to use the lens at f2.8 giving you a shutter speed that is twice that of the f4 when shooting in the same lighting conditions, or simply giving you the beautiful isolation that is possible wide open at 300mm f2.8.  If you need the reach but cant afford the 2.8 you will very happy with the f4 IS.  If you need to use teleconverters and shoot things like sports in low light situations then the 2.8 is for you, its performance in lower light from f2.8 to f5.6 is astounding.  It’s a lens you will probably keep for a lifetime.

Sometimes I get in the mood to do big technical tests on gear and lenses.  I have a few of those in the works right now but for this one I’m going to keep it simple.  Teleconverters have a fairly bad reputation and my first foray into their use was with my original 70-200 2.8 L IS.  I picked up a 1.4x II thinking that it might be useful for getting me near the 300mm mark on the cheap.  Long story short, I tried it a couple of times and then swore never to put a teleconverter anywhere near my beloved 70-200 ever again.  Then I sold the 70-200 2.8 and swapped it for a 70-200 f4 L IS. The newer f4 IS was much sharper than its older 2.8 cousin so I tried the 1.4x on that and was a little more impressed, though by that time I already had a 300mm f4 IS , so the 280mm reach of the 70-200 + 1.4 TC was a bit redundant.  I also tried the 1.4x on the 300 f4 and was a little disappointed with that combination.  So my initial experiences with teleconverters were very mixed and I never found a combination that I would be happy using in anything less than an emergency.  Apart from the degradation of the image quality, there was also noticeable decrease in auto focus speed and accuracy.  But what about the legendary 300mm f2.8 L IS ?

This past winter though I swapped out my 300mm f4 IS for the legendary 300mm f2.8 L IS.  A lot of people call this one of the best lenses ever made, and when you see the resulting photos it’s hard to argue with that.  One of my main reasons for upgrading was the supposed compatibility with Canon’s teleconverters.  General consensus is that image quality and focus speed suffer very little with the 1.4X TC on so that gives you a nice 420mm f4.  My shooting with this combination recently in Alaska confirms this, no surprise there.  But one thing that I was intrigued about was the lens’ apparently impressive performance with the much maligned 2X teleconverter.  I have never found any photographer anywhere say anything nice about the 2X TC on any lens EXCEPT the 300 2.8.  In fact I came across several photographers who swore by the combination, calling it the most versatile long lens on the market.  A brilliant 300mm, 420mm and 600mm all rolled into one ? I was pretty skeptical though because frankly the performance of the 2X TC on any other lens is pretty terrible.  But the teleconverters were designed alongside the 300mm 2.8 L IS and apparently this is enough to give it enough of an advantage to make it a very usable combination.  So I grabbed a 2X TC when I picked up my new 300mm and headed off to Alaska.  For the majority of the time I didn’t need the 2X anyway but there were a couple of times where for one reason or another, our shooting position was quite some distance away………  Anyway I’m just going to let the photos speak for themselves.  I have a couple of examples below.  Both the images have been processed in Lightroom 3 and a minimal amount of sharpening has been applied, no more than I would do with any other image.  Please also take into account the rest of the exposure details that I have included and the camera that was used.  I think you will agree that the results are very impressive.

This is a photo taken from my shooting position for the next shot.  The lines the guys are scoping out are a long way off, I wouldn’t even like to take a guess how far away.

This shot of Dane Tudor was taken with the 2xTC on the 300mm f3.8 L IS

Canon 1dMKIV ISO 500, f11, 1/1250 , 600mm

100% crop of detail from Dane’s shot

This next shot was taken at a dragon boat race in my home town of Whistler,BC.  I had specifically wanted to test this combination again, this time on the 5dMKII

Canon 5dMKII ISO 1000 , f6.3 , 1/2000

The 5dMKII produces stunning photos at ISO 1000.  Like I said, these are real world examples so I have run them through my usual processing which contains a small amount of noise reduction.  But that would normally result in a loss of sharpness anyway and clearly this lens is not lacking that.  I wholeheartedly agree with those that swear by this lens combination.  This is easily the best value 600mm lens you could lay your hands on.  I never thought that I would be more than mildly impressed with the 2X TC but frankly i’m blown away by its performance.  I would not hesitate to use this combination.  Considering my testing at the boat race was also on the slow focusing 5dMKII, I was also perfectly happy with the focus speed too.  The skiing shots i took with it were stopped down quite a long way because I was worried about the performance.  When I saw the results I new I had to try shooting with a wider aperture.  With the 2X TC you can get it opened to f5.6 so the shot above is only stopped down marginally.  Wow! One final thing to be said is that I have heard a few mixed reports on peoples experience with these TCs on this lens.  Mine was perfect right out of the box, but many people suggest sending the lens in to Canon to get it calibrated to YOUR teleconverter.  This can improve things a little bit if you are not getting quite such good results.

Torrential rain or prolonged periods of snow do not generally go hand in hand with photography and camera equipment.  Sometimes it has to be avoided to prevent damage to equipment but sometimes it cannot be avoided while on assignment to cover a particular event.  If you find yourself in that situation you might want to think about using a specially designed camera cover such as this very cleverly designed one from  ThinkTank Photo. The first thing I noticed about the Hydrophobia is that even packed into its storage pouch it is not small and weighs in at about 400g.  I also have another rain cover from ThinkTank called the Remote 10 (pictured to the right) which is designed for using on remote cameras and it is roughly 1/3 of the size and weight of the Hydrophobia which initially caught me by surprise.  The Hydrophobia comes packed into a separate mesh bag which allows it to breathe a bit if you have to fold it up before it has dried out.  The bag has a couple of loops on top which allow you to attach a shoulder strap to it but I have to say that I am surprised that there is not an additional cylindrical mesh bag designed to hold the cover on their modular component system.  A small mesh bag similar to the R U Thirsty, designed specifically for the Hydrophobia and their very popular belt system would have been great for the sports shooters and photojournalists out there that are using the belt system and want to add a rain cover.  Packing into your rolling bag, suitcase backpack in the square bag is fine, but it seems awkward to carry around if you are using a belt system.

When you purchase the rain cover you also need to buy a suitable eyepiece that is compatible with your particular camera.  The specialized eyepieces help to complete the waterproofing on the cover by connecting with the rain-proof rubber gusset that goes round the eyepiece.  There are currently 4 different eyepieces available, 2 for Canon and 2 for Nikon.  Combined with the flap that comes down to cover the eyepiece, this part of the whole cover is a great piece of design.  My initial concerns with the durability of the rubber gusset have so far proven unfounded, it feels a bit odd to stretch the hole in the rubber wide open to poke the eyepiece through but so far it has shown no sign of deterioration.  The Hydrophobia 70-200 itself retails for $139 for the standard version and $145 for the flash compatible version that I was testing.  The compulsory eyepieces though sell for $35 a piece and for me that feels pretty expensive for just the eyepiece.  The price of the covers themselves is immediately justifiable when you inspect the quality of construction and detail of design, but the eyepieces are priced too high in my opinion.  If you have 2 types of camera like I do ( a Canon 1dMKIV and a 5DMKII) then you need 2 different eyepieces totaling $70.  Half the cost again of the cover, and for that all you get is a couple of pieces of molded plastic.  Canon replacement eyecups vary from $10 to $15 so more than two or three times the price for such things seem too much and is definitely worth bearing in mind when you are thinking about the overall price of buying into the Hydrophobia system.  Once you have taken your regular factory fitted eyepiece off the camera and exchanged it for the ThinkTank one, they have thoughtfully included a small pocket on the side of the rain cover that neatly stores the unused eyepiece until it is time to switch them back again (see photo below).  The neatly designed and cleverly thought out little details like this are the sort of thing pros have come to expect from ThinkTank.  All the gear is designed and tested heavily by a top selection of working sports and news shooters.

As I mentioned before the Hydrophobia is available in 2 versions.  The difference is simply the ability to use a camera mounted flash with one of them.  The plastic cover for the flash is permanently attached to the cover and folded into a pocket on the top of the lens when not in use.  The 2 photos below show the flash cover in and out of its pocket.

In practice I found the flash cover to be quite big. Even with my Canon 580EX’s head pointing vertically instead of in the forward position that you would use in most situations, there was a couple of inches of room left above the flash even with an omnibounce attached.  The Nikon SB-900 is quite a bit larger than the 580 EX so I guess the extra room must be needed for that.  I had originally hoped that getting the flash version of the Hydrophobia would allow more flexibility for using it but without any disadvantages.  This proved not to be the case though because the plastic used for the flash cover is thick and fairly bulky in itself.  It adds noticeable bulk to the whole cover when it is folded into the top pocket and prevents the use of the cover with lenses smaller than a 70-200 f4.  This was the factor that I had not considered.  The cover is obviously designed around the 70-200 2.8 lens but it works just as well with a 70-200 f4 and also with a Canon 300mm f4.  I had hoped that you would also be able to use it with smaller zoom lenses like the 16-35 or perhaps a prime like 24mm 1.4.  Lenses with front elements that extend out during zooming might be tricky to use but I had read that some smaller lenses work with Hydrophobia. Albeit with the excess material that normally surrounds the lens barrel, bunched up towards the camera body.  A bit of material bunching up would be a small price for the flexibility of using a few more lenses and it even mentions on the ThinkTank website that it is “Compatible with shorter focal length lenses, depending on size”.  Unfortunately while this might be the case with the standard Hydrophobia 70-200, the flash compatible variant does not fair so well because the bulk of plastic flash cover does not compress and bunch up like the rip-stop nylon of the rest of the cover.  With the flash cover in its pocket I could not get it to work in a satisfactory way with any of my smaller lenses it simply could not bunch far enough back leave a clear opening for the lens.  Pulling the flash cover out of it pocket though and simulating a regular Hydrophobia, I can see that it would be possible to use small zooms with that version, but unless you are also using your flash at the time it does not work with this version.  A bonus that I did discover though was that the front opening of the lens sleeve was wide enough to poke a 300mm f2.8 though.  It wasn’t wide enough or long enough to go around the hood of the 300mm, but you can do it up around the front of the lens and then put the hood on the front of that.  You lose a small amount of waterproofing at the front of the lens, but the 300mm f2.8 is well weather sealed anyway so I would consider this a usable option and very useful if you do not own anything longer than a 300mm and don’t wish to purchase the bigger brother, the Hydrophobia 300-600.

Continuing on though with the clever details of the rain cover you can see an elastic loop on the underside in the photo above.  This is a where you fold away your regular camera shoulder strap because the Hydrophobia comes with its own shoulder strap.  The provided strap is one of ThinkTanks regular straps which are a low profile kind of strap.  Personally I already use these straps on all my cameras because I appreciate how little room they take up in my bag and they have a nice solid rubber grip on the back, but those that prefer a wider strap to spread the weight a little bit might want to add a custom strap in its place if you think you might spend a lot of time with the camera round your neck in the cover.

The strap attaches to a solid rubber mounting point on the topside that sits just in front of the camera body.  Further forwards that you would normally have it attached, but in a perfect spot for balancing the camera and a 70-200 2.8.  On the underside of the rubber mounting point, inside the the rain cover, you will find a strap that needs to be attached around the lens.  This transfers the weight of the camera to the external strap.  If you pick up the rain cover by its strap without doing up this under-strap you will see your beloved camera fall very quickly to the floor so double and triple check this!!  The buckle has a rubber pad between itself and the lens to prevent any damage and it can be adjusted to suit the width of different lenses.

The Hydrophobia is made from a form of rip-stop nylon coated with a waterproofing agent.  The overall feel of the material is that of a high quality ski jacket and all of the material seams are taped and sealed on the inside and the main entry zipper for inserting the camera is seam-sealed as well.  With everything done up as it should be there is no way your camera is getting wet, even in the heaviest deluge or the nastiest snow storm.  If you find yourself in particularly dusty and sandy situation the cover would also work well to prevent sandy particles from getting into every nook and cranny.  The front of the cover is secured via a rubber backed velcro strap that grips and tightens around the lens hood.  If you have some down time and wish to leave the cover in place there is also a handy front cover for the lens that is secured to the main cover and stowed away in its own pouch when not needed.

Access to the camera while in the cover is done via two hand sleeves.  The left hand one is in a slightly forward positioning to allow you to have one hand on the lens and also allow the use of a monopod or tripod if the lens collar is used for the mounting point and not the camera base.  The right-hand sleeve is in position to allow easy access to all of the camera bodies main controls and both sleeves have elasticated entries to keep the rain/snow/dust out.  The main zipper runs right along the bottom of the camera body which allows easy access to memory card slots and batteries both on pro bodies which are removed on the left, and smaller bodies like the Canon 5d MKII where batteries are dropped out from the bottom of the right hand side.  If you are caught in a storm and need to change either of these things your gear will still remain protected.  The clear plastic back panel is large enough to view the whole of the camera body and the plastic is clear enough to chimp a decent enough look at the LCD screen to make sure you are getting what you need.

Pros

• Extremely waterproof
• Well constructed from very sturdy materials
• Large plastic back is easy to see all the controls
• Easy to change batteries and memory cards under the cover
• Usable with a 300mm 2.8 ( see note above though)
• Drawstring around sleeves great for keeping the cold and snow out
• Front lens cover very useful during non-shooting time
• Usable with a monopod or tripod with collared lenses
• Cleverly designed built in neck strap.

Cons

• Very expensive eyepiece(s) need to be purchase separately for varying cameras
• Thick plastic material to cover flash prevents usage with shorter lenses than a 70-200 f4 (Hydrophobia 70-200 Flash version only)
• Not an un-noticeable amount of extra bulk to put into your camera bag
• No easy attachment to store on TT belt system

Conclusion

Pro level cameras these days are well weather sealed but still not designed for prolonged use in heavy rain.  If you shoot with a pro body/lens combination then chances are you are being paid to do a job and you can’t afford to fail because your gear gave up or because you were hiding from the elements.  The Hydrophobia will undoubtedly protect your camera, the quality of the materials easily lives up to the standards set by other ThinkTank gear.  I was pleased to see that I could get it to work with my 300mm f2.8 but disappointed to see that I could not get it to work with smaller lenses than a 70-200 f4.  I feel like the regular non-flash compatible version would be a far better purchase for 90% of people because of the potential to use it with these smaller lenses.  When I originally thought about which one I would rather use I actually chose the flash version not because I wanted to use a flash with it ( I hardly ever use an on-camera flash for my work) but because I often find myself using a pocketwizard in snowy or rainy conditions.  In practice though, for the number of times I do this it is not worth having the flash version I think.  It just adds too much bulk to the whole thing.  What would have been a perfect solution is one single version of the Hydrophobia, with separate velco-on flash or pocketwizzard attachments that you could keep in your bag and use when needed.  I’m sure a watertight solution of that sort would have been tricky to manufacture though because it would compromise the integrity of the waterproofing directly above the camera.  Perhaps a nylon flash sleeve could have worked though with only a small plastic window at the top where the light is emitted.  Functionally though, the flash sleeve is my only complaint.  Everything else works perfectly and there are lots of clever little details that justify the fairly high price tag.  I have seen lots of people wrap cameras in plastic bags and they might work in a pinch, but if you want total piece of mind all day long then this is the way to go.  For most people I would recommend the regular Hydrophobia and not the Flash version unless you are absolutely convinced that you will use an on-camera flash in the rain on a very regular basis, bearing in mind that if you do, you will only be able to use a 70-200 lens with it, nothing shorter.

As readers of my blog everyone that spends more that $50 in the ThinkTank online web store is entitled to a free accessory bag when they complete the checkout process.  Choose from cable management bags or lens bags and access the store by clicking this link!

Direct links to Hydrophobia products

Hydrophobia 70-200

Hydrophobia 70-200 Flash

Hydrophobia 300-600

If you have taken more than a passing interest into the video capabilities of your DSLR camera then you will probably have thought about getting some sort of viewfinder for the LCD screen.  With the DSLR cameras lacking the ergonomics of traditional video camera design, such viewfinders are probably the most useful accessory to aid video shooting.  Not only do they permit easier manual focusing with a clear view of the screen, but they also add stability to hand held shooting with an extra point of contact to your body.

In fact with a  well shaped rubber eyepiece they add more stability than you might imagine at first, as long as you can press it it comfortably against your face.  The original Z-Finder was one of the first that became available after Canon launched the 5dMKII. Zacuto was already a well respected manufacturer of high-end cine accessories and these two facts combined to turn the original z-finder into one of the first ubiquitous 5d accessories.  Since its first launch the Z-Finder has gone through a couple of variations and with the most recent one, Zacuto has split the line in two offering the Z-Finder Jr and the Z-Finder Pro.  The Jr carries a recommended price tag of $265 and the Pro a slightly loftier one of $395.  It should be noted that these are the prices charged by Zacuto’s own online store, but B&H photo does offer a good discount on those prices.

For the higher price, the Pro comes equipped with Zacuto’s new Gorilla plate,adjustable diopter for people who wear glasses and also an anti-fog coating on the lens.  The question is though, does the Jr version omit luxuries or necessities ?  If you wear glasses then there is a set of extender frames available that move the finder further away from the screen to suit your vision, but the other two main feature differentials needed a little more testing.  The Gorilla plate of the Pro is a baseplate that mounts permanently to the bottom of your camera.  The Z-Finder is then attached to a low profile quick release plate that slots onto the baseplate when the viewfinder is needed.  Previous versions of the Z-Finder mounted directly to the camera via a semi-permanently attached plastic frame that was stuck onto the camera.  Many people were not so happy with sticking things to their camera so these new versions forgo that particular mounting method, although they are still backwards compatible with it should you prefer it.

The metal mounting bracket for the Z-Fidner Jr is attached by sandwiching it between a tripod plate and the base of your camera and is frankly a bizarre choice of design.  Ideally you want to be able to quickly remove the Z-finder should you wish to switch to shooting stills, or for reviewing video footage on the LCD screen with several people.  Whilst you can extract the Z-Finder itself in a relatively quick fashion, it leaves the mounting bracket in place making it impossible to raise the camera to your eye to shoot a photo, and similarly obstructing a view of the LCD screen. I also found the bracket cumbersome to transport due to the sharp metal edged design.  Stowing it with the Z-finder in the provided case  resulted in many marks on the scratch-prone z-finder body so careful storage elsewhere in my camera bag was needed to prevent damage to other equipment as well.  After only a couple of uses, the rubber grip on the bracket started to peel off and the the whole thing needed regular re-bending to keep it in shape.  In fact it even arrived in the box bent well out of shape.

The shape of the bracket also had me somewhat puzzled in the way that the U-shaped grip to hold just behind the eyepiece, barely had anything to purchase on.  The width of that part of the bracket looked as if it was designed to hold something far wider, with rubber extending right to the edge. But as you can see from the two photos below, the majority of this area goes untouched and the Z-Finder is pressed up against your camera with contact from only the smallest area.  And don’t get any ideas about attaching this to your 1dmkIV or your D3s either.  Unlike the Pro version there is no adapter for “tall” DSLRs.  Perhaps it’s because my background is in engineering and design, but I just couldn’t find anything good to say about this bracket and mounting method.

So now you have the Z-Finder attached and you excitedly pop the handy eyepiece cover off and bring it up to your eye to create your cinematic masterpiece. WOW this looks great!  You can finally focus with your f1.4 aperture lens wide open, everything is so clear untill………WHITEOUT.  Suddenly everything through the viewfinder takes on a hazy, dreamy look and fog rolls across the lens.  By the way, in case you hadn’t  figured it out this is exactly how it played out when I put the Z-Finder on my camera.  Hmm I thought to myself, that’s odd, maybe my camera was cold ?  I put everything aside for half an hour thinking that something was either hot or cold and things needed to even themselves out.  Returning to complete my cinematic masterpiece a little later I found the same thing happened about 30-45 seconds after raising it to my eye.  This is crazy I thought, surely it can’t only be designed for shooting things less than 30 seconds long!  I did some checking up on the internet among the forums and even Zacuto’s own website.  It seemed that the fogging issue was well documented in the previous version of the Z-Finder.  Zacuto states that it can happen when moving between extreme environments but I was just sitting at my desk in my office, hardly extreme.  So I went outside and tried it again on several occasions with the same outcome.  To this day I have not been able to shoot a shot with it longer than 1 minute in length without it fogging up. AHA Zacuto says!  But we sell anti-fogging wipes in our store to prevent this!  Oh you do do you?!  How about throwing in a lifetimes supply of those when people buy the Z-Finder then ?  Well if you don’t want to buy the wipes, you can always buy the Z-Finder Pro for $150 more which has a permanent anti-fog coating on it! Wow.

The big problem I have with this is that the fogging problem was well documented with the previous version of the Z-Finder.  Somewhere in the development of these new Z-Finders, somebody would have had to have made the call that they would not address this issue with the lower priced Jr version and therefore they were deliberately putting out a product that they knew would perform to a below-par standard.  Where par is simply being able to use the product for what it is designed for.  And it’s not as though its a cheap product at $265 for a few bits of plastic and rubber.  I expected more from a company as distinguished as Zacuto.  I have seen several people rave about how good the anti-fogging coating is on the Z-Finder Pro, and I thought at the time that they were getting awfully excited by a chemical coating on some glass.  But now I understand it!  They were just overjoyed that it worked better than the previous version they owned.  So why not put the coating on the Jr version then ?  Did they really need that extra point of differentiation between the Jr and the Pro ?  I think not.  The Gorilla plate mounting system and the diopter would have been just fine for separating the two.  Sure it might have added a couple of dollars to the production cost, but for something that works right out of the box I think it would have been well worth it.

In the interest of a fair and balanced review though, when I could see the LCD through the eyepiece it was a clear image and critical focusing was much much easier.  The image I could see was much clearer than through my other viewfinder, the Hoodman Hoodloupe 3.0 which tends to have softer edges around the image.  The Z-Finder Jr features a 2.5x magnification lens after the 3x was deemed a little too much in the previous version.  Though there is both a 2.5x AND 3x version of the Z-Finder Pro , I think the 2.5x is right on the money in terms of seeing everything without having to look around inside the viewfinder. Whilst I don’t own a 3x one, I have tried it and you do have to physically look left and right to scan the whole frame as it seems much bigger.  This might help you a little with focusing accuracy, but personally I thought the 2.5x to be perfect.comparison.  The large rubber eyepiece is also a good shape for blocking the light and, as I mentioned at the top of the review, comfortable enough to brace on yourself for added stability.

Conclusion

I was super excited to try this product out initially, but left with some pretty mixed feelings at the end of it. Every deficiency that I have talked about seems to have been solved with the Z-Finder Pro.  Anti-fog coating and a quick release system that enables you to quickly change to either a stills photo setup or to simply see the LCD screen clearly without obstruction.  The Gorilla plate of the Pro can also be left on the camera all the time if you use the Z-Finder a lot, whereas the mounting bracket of the Jr is just frustrating right out of the box.  There is no way that I would recommend the Z-Finder Jr to someone unless they were on a very very strict budget and didn’t mind judicious usage of anti-fog wipes.  Even then I would tell them to toss the mounting bracket in the junk and just go back to using the stick on method from the original Z-Finders.  For a $265 product though I was hoping for a lot more, especially from a company that has a reputation for making high-end cine accessories.  My overall judgment on Zacuto gear will have to wait a bit longer until I have sampled some more of their products.  Lots of people rave about their gear but in this particular product all I can see is shortcuts and poor engineering.  What is even more frustrating though is that they knew about the fogging issue and decided to only implement a fix in the higher-priced product.  Even before you realize that you can’t see through the fog though, you definitely don’t have that feeling that you have a good value product in your hand.  At the lower price point it still feels overpriced, so to recommend the Pro at $150 more, is something I can only do to those who really don’t worry about the cost of such things.  I think the Z-Finder Pro will solve all these problems but personally my disappointment in this product is going to have me looking elsewhere for an LCD viewing solution for the moment.

Samson Tech stumbled onto something great with the ubiquitous Zoom H4N audio recorder.  When the DSLR video craze kicked off, people quickly realized that whilst the video was stunning to look at, the on-board audio sucked.  All professional films use separate audio recorders though, and the HDSLR crowd quickly fell in love with the full featured Zoom H4N.  Built in stereo mics and 2 XLR inputs meant 4 track recording was possible in a device that was only $300.  Samson was in the right place at the right time with the right price, the H4N was and still is everywhere.  But many of the features of the H4N were unnecessary to the “run and gun” photo journalist who just want to record some background audio for a multimedia piece, or just use one extra microphone like a shotgun to get slightly more directional pickup.  Well the folks at Samson heard your calls and today announced their first piece of audio gear that was actually designed with DSLRs in mind.  The Zoom H1.  The full feature list is below, and it looks like this little device will give you just what you need for journalistic applications, in a frankly beautifully designed package.  But here is the crazy thing, they only want $99 for it!!

All of Samsons previous audio devices have received glowing reviews when it comes to audio quality, so I’m not expecting anything less on that front.  If you already have a shotgun mic for your DSLR then it will plug in to the H1 just fine in the 1/8″ jack.  The H1 does forgo the XLR input so if you need that then the H4N is still the way to go.  But for people using a sennheiser MKE400 or RODE videomic (of which there are plenty), this is the next logical step up in audio quality as you can continue to use the same mic, but now have the quality of separate audio and the freedom to position the mic where you want.  For stills photographers looking to add to their arsenal its diminutive size is far more appealing than the clunky H4N and I will definitely be ordering one.

• Stereo X/Y mic configuration captures perfect stereo images
• Same frequency and SPL handling as popular Zoom H2
• Records Broadcast WAV (BWF) at 96kHz/48kHz/44.1kHz at 16-bit or 24-bit
• Records MP3 from 48 to 320kbps for maximum recording time
• Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port
• Built-in reference speaker
• Includes 2GB microSD card and one AA battery
• One AA size battery allows 10 hours operation
• Accommodates up to 32GB microSDHC memory cards
• Track marker function
• Low cut filter
• Built-in tripod mount
• 1/8″ external mic input
• Stereo 1/8″ line output
• Auto record level

The Zoom H1 recorder is currently available for pre-order from B&H photo.

Manfrotto tripod heads are perhaps the most prolific video heads around.  They are easily available and offer a solution for every budget and nearly every type of camera.  I have touched on the lightweight, DSLR friendly 701HDV before but I recently had the chance to try out it’s bigger brother. The 503 HDV.  The 503 skips over the middle sibling, the 501HDV and adds quite a few extra features and improved weight capacity.

Manfrotto 701 HDV compared to a 503 HDV

Features

• Continuously-variable fluid drag

• Multi-spring 3 step counterbalance

• Sliding balance plate with 58mm of travel

• Replaceable dual pan arm rosettes

• Illuminated bubble level

When you pick a fluid head there are important considerations.  Firstly and most obviously you need to get one that is rated to hold the maximum amount of weight you are likely to put on it.  Now these capacities in the table above are suggested limits provided by Manfrotto.  If you exceed these limits then there will likely be a noticeable degradation in the quality of the fluid movement, but it’s not going to instantly dismantle itself before your eyes.  So you have a choice that needs to be made based on the weight of your gear and then how portable you need your setup to be.  For a lot of my work I have been using the 701 HDV because I need to travel with it amongst a stills setup and my DSLR kit.  So size and weight is important to me.  But when loaded up with a 300mm 2.8 and a Canon 1D MKIV, it definitely suffers when panning.  The 503 HDV on the other hand still has room to spare with that setup and its max. capacity of 8kg.

Of course panning is noticeably smoother on the 503 than the 701 as you would expect.  Both tilt and pan motions were free from any “sticky” feeling and change of direction was handled well in the horizontal direction, especially at lower drag setting.  Tilt motion suffers from a bit of initial play in the movement though so vertical changes in motion are not handled as well as horizontal.  For pans with longer focal lengths, it did definitely take a bit of practice to get it perfectly smooth.  I appreciated the much longer length of the adjustable pan handle for this, and got some pretty good results by using the old elastic band attached to the handle trick.  Pulling on the band to ramp up the panning motion. Again, obviously you can buy a Miller head or a Sachtler and not have to try this, but they cost WAY more.  I didn’t feel the stickiness that I sometimes feel on my portable 701HDV and the panning lock did a good solid job with no play in it.  One feature that I disliked immensely though was the tilt lock which got stuck on several occasions and the ergonomics of its positioning are just way off.  For some reason they decided to put it around the tilt drag nob but I found myself constantly reaching for the wrong part of the nob when making an adjustment while looking at the camera.  The pan drag nob is located underneath the mounting plate and realistically only reachable if you tilt the head fully forwards. Fine if you have no camera on the head, but slightly annoying if you have a huge rig on top with all manner of additional monitors and sound gear sticking off it in all directions.  For a head that costs twice the price of my 701HDV I was also unimpressed with the solidity of the parts.  The pan drag nob is sticky in its motion and the 3 stage counterbalance feels far from solidly built too. The tilt drag nob also has a displeasing resistance too it.  I prefer to feel a resistance that ramps up in a linear fashion so you can get an idea for how much drag you are setting simply from the feel of the nob.  The nob on the 503 though is sticky and jerky in its motion.  More resistance on the “loose” end than in the middle.

Who is the 503 HDV for ?

I know a lot of readers of my site are making movies with HDSLRs and if you are producing a professional product with cameras like that then definitely take a look at the 503HDV if you need something budget friendly.  It will handle the weight of pretty much any possible DSLR video setup that I can think of, even if you are attaching many extras like monitors and audio gear.  If on the other hand you are just making movies for fun, then I would look at either the 701 or the 501 depending on how much weight you want to carry in your bag.  For professional camera usage with cameras larger than a DSLR setup then the 503 probably represents the very bottom possible option for you, perhaps someone who is on a bit of a budget.  It will certainly produce professional looking movements with careful panning but there are definitely better heads out there if you want to only buy one head for the rest of your career.  You might also want to take a look at the newly announced Manfrotto 504HD which weighs quite a bit more than the 503, though it has a similar capacity.  If you are shooting with larger cameras such as the RED One or a built up Scarlet setup then again, the 503 will do the job at a pinch but you might want to look elsewhere.  For users of something similar in size to a Panasonic HVX or XH-A1  setup though this would be a good match I think.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a head in this price range that has the capacity to hold up to 8KG of load then this might be your only option.  For a professional on a bit of a budget then you can make it work with some practice.  For amateurs delving a bit deeper into filming , perhaps with a DSLR setup then it will likely be all that you need and more.  Overall build quality was less than impressive though and the cheaper 501 and 701 HDV represent far greater value for money, as long as they hold enough weight for your setup.  The ergonomics of the head were also not to my liking with the tilt lock and and drag nobs being oversimplified into the same place, and the pan drag being hidden away beneath the mounting plate.  Most professional grade fluid heads are far far more expensive than the 503 though and if you can put up with its ergonomic foibles, with a bit of practice you can get decent results for the price.

I picked up a HD Helmet HERO helmet package back in January and have taken it with me in my camera bag for most of the winter.  The Hero camera is available in several different packages depending on what you want to document.  I picked the Hero Helmet package as I primarily wanted to have it with me when I was skiing.  But you can also buy an HD Motorsports Hero if you want to record some laps at your local track day, an HD Surf Hero if you want to show your off your surf skills from your summer holiday. Or simply get the HD Naked Hero which forgoes any possible mounting options and allows you to pick and choose the mounts that best suit you from the web store.  All of the packages contain the same GoPro HD HERO Camera and the fully waterproof housing that you can see in the photo on the left here.  On top of that the Helmet package contains multiple methods to attach it to your helmet, and also a head strap that allows you to wear it without a helmet. The Motorsports package contains a large suction mount and several connectors to allow you to easily adjust positioning and the Surf pack contains a much wider and flatter suction mount to stick it to the front of your surfboard.  Helmet and Motorsports packages retail for $299.99 while the Surf comes in at only $269.99.  Naked is $259.99 and all the mounting options are available separately from the web store.

Out of the box the most impressive thing to begin with is how sturdy the waterproof housing seems.  I think it’s fair to say that the GoPro’s main competitor is the Contour HD which although is fairly weatherproof, does not come with a fully waterproof housing.  I wanted something that I could use in the winter and also take surfing in the summer.  One small gripe I have with the GoPro housing is that the latch to close it can come off sometimes when you un-clip it, but once its closed and ready to shoot it is very solid and I have no qualms about tossing it into the ocean or strapping to my board while I get pummeled by waves.  For engineering simplicity, all the controls are handled by two buttons.  One turns the GoPro on and off and the other cycles through menu options and acts as the record button.  Whilst the operation of the menus in this way is fairly clunky I can appreciate why it was done on such a small device, but one thing I would really like to see in future updates is to speed up the menu.  There is a huge lag between button press and menu action and I often find myself pressing a button a second time thinking that I didn’t press it hard enough the first time, only to find it then skips through two menu items.

I found though that the majority of the menu items I set when I first got the camera, and after that the only one that I regularly returned to was the video resolution.

The Hero has 5 resolution settings

• 1080p = 1920×1080 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 15 Mbit/s data rate
• 960p = 1280×960 pixels (4:3), 30 fps, 12 Mbit/s data rate
• 720p = 1280×720 pixels (16:9), 60 fps, 15 Mbit/s data rate
• 720p = 1280×720 pixels (16:9), 30 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate
• WVGA = 848×480 pixels (16:9), 60 fps, 8 Mbit/s data rate

I put an 8GB Sandisk SD card in mine and found that it was just about big enough on most days to record in full 1080p without worrying.  I would rather shoot in the highest possible resolution and then down-res as necessary when I get home but this is a personal preference.  One interesting thing to note though with the Hero is that the 960p setting actually gives you a wider field of view than the other settings.  Horizontally it is the same, but the 4:3 aspect ratio shows more vertically.  If you have it mounted on your helmet while you are skiing for example, you will see your feet much more easily with the 960p setting although I still preferred the look of the 1080p.  Another factor in this decision is that if you are editing your footage afterward, it is much more time consuming and less visually pleasing to mix footage from two aspect ratios into the same video.  The video below shows you a quick example of the field of view captured but the GoPro in 960p mode.  For people reading the RSS feed please click through to the site in order to see the embedded videos!

960P mode with the GoPro® HD Helmet HERO™ Camera

http://vimeo.com/9256836

If you are shooting short clips of yourself doing something crazy then you might want to switch to 720P mode at 60fps which will allow you to play back the clip as half the regular speed.

Generally speaking the video quality that the camera produces is very impressive in my opinion.  When you take the Hero out of the waterproof housing you can really appreciate just how small the camera is.  To cram all the functionality into this package is quite an achievement.  The best way to see this though is to check out some more footage that I shot.  On a trip to Alaska this year I mounted the Hero to a chest mount (available separately from their web store) and captured some shots of what I was doing up there while I shot some stills images for some magazines and other clients.  The video has been posted on my site before so some of you may have seen it, but it shows the cameras performance in a variety of lighting situations.  Click through to the Vimeo site if you want to watch it in full HD.

1080P mode with the GoPro® HD Helmet HERO™ Camera

http://vimeo.com/10519454

Pretty impressive I think you will agree!

One thing that I did experience problems with was the interior of the housing fogging up around the lens.  If you leave the camera switched on for a long period of time, even without recording it gets quite warm.  Combined with cold temperatures while skiing and a few times I missed some good shots because I did not realize that it had fogged up.  If you put the camera in it’s case while you are at home, it worth opening the case at the top of the mountain to equalize the pressures and relative humidity between the outside air and what is inside the case.  When I remembered to crack open the case occasionally, and switch it off when not in use, I didn’t have any troubles.

Apart from the video settings, the GoPro also has a few bonus tricks up its sleeve.  It can be set to take photos up to 1920×1080 px , and even set to shoot a timelapse.  In timelapse mode, one photo is captured every 3 seconds and these are all stored in a folder on the card.  It does not natively produce a timelapse video, but you can drag the folder of photos into Quicktime Pro and it will create the HD video for you in a matter of a few seconds.  Not a function you will probably use very often but for making some quick, fun videos for the internet its a nice feature to have and setting it up only takes a few seconds.  The video below is a timelapse I captured in this manner in a Restaurant in Japan earlier in the winter.  You can see that the camera struggled with the white balance (but even my $5000 canon camera struggles with that sometimes) and occasionally flickering of the exposure signals some confusion caused by the number of interior lights, but overall it did OK in a demanding situation.

Timelapse with the GoPro Hero HD

http://vimeo.com/9989756

Conclusion

I purchased this camera with a very open mind and fairly low expectations of the video quality but it has far exceeded my expectations and I find myself grabbing the camera all the time.  While traveling around Japan earlier in the winter I would often take it out of its waterproof casing and slip it in my pocket in place of my point and shoot camera to capture some fun videos to remember my trip by.  I ended up shooting more than 100GB of video with it on that trip!!  In some scenarios is certainly has uses in the professional video field.  I know many of the top ski and snowboard film makers have been using them extensively this past winter to capture helmet mounted shots for their movies and in that sort of capacity its well worth the money.  I would even go so far as to recommend it to someone who needs to travel light but wants to capture some video on a backpacking trip or something similar, it really is a fun little camera to have around and you barely notice its in your bag.  On the back

Positive points

• Price , starting at $259.99 I think it is great value
• Size , decently small package
• Large assortment of attachment options
• Video quality is excellent for such a small sensor
• 60fps slow motion is nice to have
• Expansion port on the back leaves room for upcoming accessories like a screen and a remote control!!

Negative points

• Slow and clunky menu system
• Needs an anti-fogging coating inside the housing
• Housing closure clip can come loose when the housing is not closed
• Video files need converting from h.264 codec for video editing

My Score :  8/10

Users of pocketwizards and Elinchrom or Alien Bees flashes rejoice!  A couple of days ago Pocketwizard announced a couple of pretty cool sounding new products.  The PowerST4 and the AC9 adapter for Elinchrom and Alien Bees strobes respectively.  They both work in different ways so let me break it down differently…

Pocketwizard AC9

Firstly if you have just purchased the new Paul C Buff Einstein lights let me break your heart now and let you know the AC9 does not work with those lights (though intriguingly Paul himself has hinted that there is something else in the works that we dont know about yet).  The new AC9 works by connecting a TT5 transceiver to the RJ11 jack on the Alien Bees and White lighting strobes, the Einstein lights do not support the RJ11 and instead communicate using a transceiver.

The recommended pricing for the AC9 is $55 BUT you need to pair it with a TT5 transceiver for it to work.  These currently sell for about $230 so if you don’t already own a TT5 the system is going to set you back $285 which is pretty steep but it has potential to save you a lot of running around during a shoot.  Thankfully the Elinchrom solution is much cheaper but I’ll get to that in a bit.  Plugging the AC9 into the hot-shoe on top of your TT5 and connecting it to the RJ11 jack on your Alien Bess light enables you to remotely control the power on your strobe so long as you are using a MinniTT1 transmitter or a FlexTT5 transceiver as the transmitter on your camera.

By adding a Pocketwizard AC3 Zone controller to the transmitter on the camera, you can actually control the power of up to 3 groups of flashes.  Very cool.  If you do not wish to use the zone controller you can simply use the flash exposure compensation dial on your camera to control just one light or one group of lights. Pretty clever implementation.  But it doesn’t stop there, the clever boffins at LPA designs have gone one further by introducing a sort of pseudo TTL functionality to the whole affair.  They call it power tracking.  Basically what you have to do it get the initial exposure correct yourself.  Once you have done that you can have the pocketwizard automatically compensate for any changes you make on the camera, to create the same final exposure.  If you change your ISO or aperture, the AC9 will automatically send a signal to the flash and adjust it’s power accordingly to produce the same exposure on your image.

A final party trick for the AC9, it requires no batteries and simply takes its power from the TT5 which is sweet because there is nothing I hate more than forgetting to turn off a receiver and finding it flat when you show up to your next shoot!  One less thing to worry about.

Pocketwizard Power ST4

Now on to the new receiver for Elinchrom Strobes.  You’ll notice I called this one a “receiver”  and that indicates the first bit of good news.  The Power ST4 does not require you to use it in conjunction with a TT5 transceiver, it can handle the receiving all on its own.  RRP for the ST4 is $120 but not needing a TT5 makes this solution half the price of the Alien Bees one.  That’s good news for me because I shoot with Elinchrom gear.  Much as I smashed the dreams of the Einstein strobe owners though, I’m afraid I have to do something similar again.  The Power ST4 will not work with your shiny new Elinchrom Ranger Quadra RX that you just bought.  The ST4 works by plugging into the remote socket that is found on many Elinchrom flashes, unfortunately the the new Quadras have a built in skyport receiver and as such, do not have the needed remote socket for this to work.

If you have any of the other Elinchrom strobes though you can do a little dance now as you will be just fine.  The ST4 is backwards compatible with all previous Pocketwizard transmitters so even if you just want simple triggering from a standard PW PLUSII on your camera then the cheap ST4 provides a good solution.   If you want to have the remotely adjustable power options you will need a TT1 or TT5 on the camera as with the AC9, and things are run the same way by using the flash compensation dial or adding an AC3 to control multiple flashes all at once.  You can also set the zone of the receiver so a Multimax zone system can be used too.

The ST4 is powered directly by the battery pack and the firmware is totally upgradeable using the USB port.  The low profile of the ST4 is another appealing feature.  Hopefully the usable range on the receiver is good enough to make this as useful a product as it sounds.  As an owner of a couple of Elinchrom products (and a big bag full of pocketwizards) i’m going to try my hardest to get hold of one of these PowerST4s for review so stay tuned.