Gear Check: Nemo Designs Fillo Pillow

June 9, 2019September 2, 2015 by Dan Carr

A video review of an awesome new piece of gear that I discovered recently. This is now in my “essential travel gear” list! A must-have item for people who travel a lot or like to go camping with their cameras.

Gear Check: Sony RX10 II in the House!

July 15, 2021August 31, 2015 by Dan Carr

I’ve been using the awesome little Sony RX100 IV compact camera for the last month or so. Here’s a quick look at it.

Cool new battery pack from Goal Zero!

December 3, 2016August 31, 2015 by Dan Carr

Ove on my other website, Shutter Muse, I just posted a Goal Zero Venture 30 battery pack review. You can head over there for the full rundown, or you can watch the video review from YouTube right here on the blog. Cool piece of kit!

Back up your photos! Another SSD failure

December 3, 2016August 21, 2015 by Dan Carr

My annual reminder for you guys to backup your photos is usually triggered by one of my own drives failing. This time it was my SSD that failed…again….

Gear Check: Giottos Mini Rocket Blower

June 8, 2019August 20, 2015 by Dan Carr

I’ve been on a pretty big kick recently to lighten my load when I’m on the road, and I’ve added this Giottos mini Rocket Blower to my travel kit (under $10 from Amazon). Now, technically this doesn’t shave too much weight from my kit, but in this case it does cut down the volume by about 50% from my other standard sized Rocket Blower. As airlines continue to decrease baggage allowances, every little helps. Why carry a Rocket Blower anyway? Whilst all cameras these days come with a built-in sensor vibration function to shake off dust, every now and again …

7D Mark II High ISO Thoughts

October 11, 2023July 28, 2015 by Dan Carr

7D Mark II, ISO 6400, f/4.5 250mm 1/250 I’m still in the Canadian Rockies at the moment and shooting a mixture of landscape and wildlife stuff, as well as working on this cool project with Adobe. I’ve settled into a routine of using the 7D Mark II for the wildlife stuff, even though I have my full-frame 5D Mark III here as well. Originally I had planned to only use the 7D when I need extra reach on my 200-400 f/4 L IS 1.4ext lens. In fact, I’ve quickly become much more confident with its image quality than I was …

My New Pocket Camera – Sony RX100 IV

July 15, 2021July 20, 2015 by Dan Carr

I’ve been on the lookout for a camera that would serve a specific purpose; I wanted something that would literally always be with me. Enter the Sony RX100 IV The camera was to serve two main purposes: #1 – I like to share my adventures on the blog, my social media accounts and on Shutter Muse, as well as creating plenty of behind-the-scenes type images for reviews and articles that I write. It needed to be good enough quality that I could publish large images from it and also connect to it via WiFi so that I can upload to social …

New MindShift Gear First Light Packs! Exclusive First Look

December 3, 2016July 2, 2015 by Dan Carr

Over on Shutter Muse, I’ve just published a super in-depth look at the brand new MindShift First Light backpack series. This is a new series of packs that’s designed specifically for outdoor/adventure/wildlife photographers, and they’re perfect for super telephoto lenses up to 600mm. The bags just launched yesterday, but I’ve been using them for some time so my MindShift First Light review is already posted! Check out the full review on Shutter Muse.

Checking Out The New Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM

July 15, 2021June 4, 2015 by Dan Carr

The so-called “Nifty Fifty” has been around for 24 years, so it’s high time Canon came out with an upgrade! The new Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM will replace the f/1.8 II, and began shipping a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t sure if I was going to take a look at this lens, but I came across one in a nearby store so I thought, why not? I know a ton of people will be curious about it, and I’m always recommending the old version to beginners since it’s such a great way to learn about shooting with a shallow …

“Macro” With The Canon 100-400 L IS II

October 10, 2023May 30, 2015 by Dan Carr

Investigating the near-macro capabilities of the new Canon 100-400mm on a recent trip to Vancouver Island.

Tamron 150-600 Samples

July 15, 2021April 21, 2015 by Dan Carr

I’ve been playing with the Tamron 150-600 f/5-6.3 for a while now and I’ve had it out with me on a couple of good wildlife trips alongside my Canon 200-400 f/4. It might seem like an odd pairing but I’ve been curious to see how the seemingly incredible value Tamron lens compares with the cream of the crop. There’s no doubt this Tamron lens is a bit of an anomaly, it’s incredibly sharp for such a ‘cheap’ lens. I use cheap in the relative sense, of course, because $1060 isn’t small change, but compared to the other options out there, …

Gear I Like: Senal Headphones

July 15, 2021April 17, 2015 by Dan Carr

Sometimes I stumble across some gear that’s useful, and I want to share it with you guys. I’ve been using these Senal SMH-1000 headphones for my video and audio work for over a year now and they do a really great job at a good price point (under $100). I use them plugged into my Canon XA-20, or into my Sound Devices Mix Pre-D when I’m recording tutorial videos at my computer. They have a detachable cable which is great because if the cable or plugs ever fail, you don’t have to replace the entire set of headphones, just get …