Why not Follow Me?

So here is a digest of what’s been catching my interest in the world of twitter this week. From some excellent articles on the artistry of photography and how to improve yours, to your rights and getting paid when infringed, a pinch of Apple geekery along with a study to support Coffee drinking; and some nice images along the way.

• How to Find Your Unique Voice As a Photographer (via @Pocket) #longreads http://t.co/oCM9WNzC 09:01:40, 2012-05-12
• Seeking Out Definitive Moments in Outdoor, Nature, and Travel Photography (via @Pocket) #longreads http://t.co/1V8HJ6Cr 09:22:15, 2012-05-12
• Camera Dojo – The Problem With Many Awards Programs http://t.co/x1VtIsFD 22:16:43, 2012-05-12
• So true. No one cares how hard you worked, but you still need to | The Ctein Corollary (via @Pocket) http://t.co/1OdclR68 12:41:42, 2012-05-13
• Photo Releases – Your Rights and Obligations (via @Pocket) #longreads http://t.co/rXAmP0OW 12:59:12, 2012-05-13
• PetaPixel – 1923 Leica O-Series Sets A New Record For Most Expensive Camera Ever Sold http://t.co/2L0nu8VV 20:03:49, 2012-05-14
• Does anyone still use Flickr? I quit in Dec 2011. | Yahoo! and the Decline and Fall of Flickr http://t.co/f90iZzPp via @petapixel 11:05:25, 2012-05-16
• Ha, like! | Marc Jacobs Slaps Graffitied Store Photo onto Shirt, Gets Last Laugh http://t.co/tW53cdxj via @petapixel 11:06:44, 2012-05-16
• Very very cool | [Pics] Rarely Seen Behind The Scenes Shots From Star Wars http://t.co/YLMQoOJX via @fstoppers 17:43:29, 2012-05-16
• Perfect, I needed an excuse RT @svenseebeck: Yay! “@ABC: Coffee Drinkers Have Lower Risk of Overall Death, Study Shows http://t.co/OWBCGUL4” 07:49:26, 2012-05-17
• Another #photo from my visit to Lough Bray in Wicklow | Tranquility Upon the Lake – #Wicklow, #Ireland http://t.co/XNsvX3H8 #Landscape 07:51:55, 2012-05-17
• Apple teases hardware-specific "special features" in upcoming OS X Mountain Lion builds http://t.co/eIJaWyk8 via @9to5mac 13:20:03, 2012-05-17
• Is anyone actually waiting for OSX 10.8? | Apple issues developers new beta build of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion http://t.co/kIVdSNRR 13:23:42, 2012-05-17
• Cool | Dodge http://t.co/55C7jEv1 via @petapixel #geekery 14:11:44, 2012-05-17
• And the plot thickens… | Facebook Acquires Lightbox Team on its Way to Photo Sharing Supremacy http://t.co/unj46NL8 via @petapixel 14:13:11, 2012-05-17
• Ah yes indeed, I think we're all waiting for that one | RT @endacavanagh: I'm actually waiting for Apple IOS 14.5 hippopotamus 20:40:54, 2012-05-17
• How to Confront a Newspaper Editor Over Copyright Infringement (and Get Paid) http://t.co/jEsnoKyN via @petapixel 21:21:52, 2012-05-17
• Giant Portraits Printed onto Grass with the Help of Photosynthesis http://t.co/83sbEKjm 08:52:23, 2012-05-18

In follow up to my post last week sharing the first image from my evening visit to Lower Lough Bray in Wicklow I thought I would share just one more image from that trip.

I already spoke about just how calm the evening was with just a whisper of wind caressing the lakes surface where the wind found a gap between the trees of the nearby forest. But what a difference 10 minutes can make eh! Stillness Upon the Lough was captured at 19:16 and was all vibrant blues and greens; wonderful definitions in the clouds reflected in the glass-like lake. And here we are at 19:26 on the same evening with a very different image. The sun has just dropped beneath the mountain and suddenly we are looking at a different landscape. Those vibrant blues and greens have been replaced by a much more muted palette. The image suddenly becomes more about shape and form then colour. The rocks standing sentinel like draw the viewer towards where the sun has just been lost behind the mountain, almost mournfully. What do you think?

• Hope we see this from #Apple for the #iPad -> This is how Apple can improve text editing in iOS [Video] http://t.co/C1mct1t6 via @9to5mac 07:42:50, 2012-05-05
• Adobe issues emergency update to fix cross-platform Flash exploit http://t.co/3fA5KnGR 07:47:32, 2012-05-05
• Is this a little retro-futuristic? | Futuristic Drag and Drop Concept for Transferring Photos and Media http://t.co/V9ld2PoX via @petapixel 07:57:05, 2012-05-05
• Bug in Mac OS X 10.7.3 exposes passwords in plain text http://t.co/NhxfLauu 16:50:27, 2012-05-07
• Follow-up to last weeks article covering the rest of my new gear http://t.co/JWaPpfIO including @fstopgear and @thinkTANKphoto bags 21:59:58, 2012-05-08
• @adaynotwasted my first of either Lee but impressed by both so far. They'll need a couple of months of hard labour before I pass judgement. in reply to ADayNotWasted 07:31:59, 2012-05-09
• Should be interesting to follow… | Copyright Suit Against Tumblr May Affect All Photo Sharing Sites http://t.co/A73TdqJt via @petapixel 13:57:38, 2012-05-09
• A New #Wicklow #Landscape Image | Stillness Upon the Lough – Wicklow, #Ireland http://t.co/JwWLLFr7 #Photo 08:27:33, 2012-05-10
• No mention of improved FullScreen functionality for multi-monitor setups | Apple releases OS X Lion 10.7.4 http://t.co/INf4fG9w 11:08:42, 2012-05-10
• And still no iPad version >:-( | iOS Google+ app gets major overhaul http://t.co/16uGsp2S 11:10:36, 2012-05-10
• 20 iPad Tips – Simple Ways To Get The Best From Your iPad http://t.co/PD17hjJA via @TheTop10Blog @glitterglitzer 11:26:30, 2012-05-10
• Simulated Battlefield Photo Sells for $3.6 Million, Sets Canadian Record http://t.co/aj52oKI0 11:56:13, 2012-05-10
• eh WTH? RT @strobist: Appearance on http://t.co/vjZ3QL81 in 3… 2… 1… http://t.co/76F8QR9v (via @SamSpratt) 16:12:43, 2012-05-10
• Finally a fix for "'Unable to purchase' alert" for my iPad RT @jimgoldstein: iOS 5.1.1 is out for the iPhone and iPad http://t.co/6HZ3ABxz 16:13:55, 2012-05-10
• #ThankYou all for the RT's and kind words @debbieaguiar @celticlady1953 @emeralds82 @meljd46 #HappyFriday 07:25:04, 2012-05-11
• Very very smart advise ->RT @josephcristina: via @asmp Pick Me, Pick Me, Pick Me http://t.co/7pIIM757 @photography 10:10:48, 2012-05-11
• Very interested to hear hands on | RT @jimgoldstein: Got an early copy of the Triggertrap to play with. Should be fun ( http://t.co/6tIvpNDZ ) 10:14:03, 2012-05-11
• Feel so much safer now. Have @arqbackup backing up my images to #Amazon #S3 Servers. 75GB of client and personal work securely off site. 11:56:34, 2012-05-11
• Another insightful article from Ctein | Art is a Popularity Contest, Not a Democracy (via @Pocket) http://t.co/TDyJhJiP 21:18:27, 2012-05-11
• An insightful albeit sobering reality check | Copyright in the 21st century (via @Pocket) #longreads http://t.co/mg59OT0T 22:02:24, 2012-05-11

Well with all this recent talk of new camera equipment (and here) I thought I need to really get out there and start shooting! I mentioned last week that we had one of the wettest and coldest April’s since 1989 and May has not started much better. However we have had pockets of lovely sunshine and one of those was last Saturday evening. So I packed the car and headed up to a place that has been on my list to photograph for over a year now. In fact this was my third attempt to do this location any justice with an image. The previous occasions the light or weather conditions just weren’t right. And there lies a lesson for any nature photographer. We are all at the mercy of the weather and light at a chosen location. If these conditions don’t support your vision for the image you want to produce sometimes you need to step away and come back another time. Obviously this is much easier when these locations are in your back yard; which happily this one is for me.

So where is this? It is known as Lower Lough Bray and it is part of a series of Loughs dotted across the Wicklow mountains. I have captured a number of images over the years around the Wicklow mountains including several around another Lough in the area known as Lough Tay or the Guinness Lake. However this is the 1st time I have produced an image of this small sheltered lake.

This little lake is sheltered on two sides by high cliffs and on another side by a forest and leaves just one side open for entry. Thankfully this side is easily accessible and just a short walk from the road. With the mountains on all sides we lose the sun relatively early behind the cliffs, about an hour before sunset so you will be pretty disappointed if you plan to enjoy a sunset here. Arriving here on a dull or overcast day you will be greeted by an entirely unremarkable landscape; however to arrive on a day like the one above and you are greeted by an entirely different scene. There was barely a whisper of air movement which left the lake glass like and reflecting both the mountains and the clouds above, while the light began to soften as the sun slipped below the surrounding mountains.

Welcome to the second part of this two part article on my new photographic equipment. Last week I introduced you to what I described as a cornucopia of new gear I acquired during April. I talked a little about my view on camera equipment as a tool vs the level of obsessiveness some of my fellow photographers can at times display. This is not to say I do not lust after the new and shiny but I just don’t let the perceived lack of anything get in the way of me producing images. As I noted last week “I much prefer to produce ‘something’ with what I have then to procrastinate over what I don’t have and produce nothing.”

I did however observe that there will come a time when the actual lack of something in your gear bag will become a limitation, particularly when you shoot commercially. It is at times like this that it does become prudent to invest. And I do view any spend I make in photography equipment as an investment; and therefore I expect a return.

See I don’t buy a huge amount of equipment and what I do buy I want it to last me a long time; the last time I made any significant investment in camera equipment was in 2009. Thankfully I don’t tend to fall in to the trap of upgrade-itis.

So last week I discussed 4 of the major camera equipment acquisitions I made during last month, namely a Canon 70-200mm f/4L USM, a Canon 24-105mm f4L IS USM, a Feisol CT-3442 Rapid Tournament Tripod and a Arca Swiss p0 Monoball. In this post I will step you through the remainder of the items pictured above.

Ah the perfect bag, the ultimate in elusive perfect gear. In bags I think photographers share an affinity with a great many women. I actually know photographers who own 10 or more camera bags! While I am always keeping my eye out for the potentially perfect bag I rarely pull the trigger and buy one. Actually up until now I have only owned two. Both of them being made by Kata. My 1st bag I quickly outgrew as it was a day bag built to carry just a single small body and lens. My next bag, a Kata R-103 however has been in use since 2008 and it is still in absolute perfect condition. Kata; who also make military grade protective clothing by the way, know how to make bags that last. However as all things come to pass I outgrew the bag which can no longer carry all my gear, yet is too big for just the pick-up-and-go kit.

And so another search was started. The problem with camera bags in general is that they are just that – camera bags. They are not designed to carry anything else. And that’s perfect if that’s all you need. However I need more and this is where I struggled with the Kata Bag. If I’m going on a hike, or traveling but don’t want to check-in luggage I need a bag that can carry more then just my camera equipment.

With that in mind I landed on F-stop’s website. Yet another company I never heard of yet once I found them I also found a large following of photographers who were passionate about the bags F-stop produced. After reading lot’s of reviews and studying the spec sheets of their bags I was convinced I had found potentially the perfect bag that would balance my needs of carrying camera equipment and all the other stuff I needed to carry whether it was for a back country hike or jumping on a flight abroad for a few days.

Why was it such a fit? In a word, modularity. The core of the F-stop bags are that they are back-country hiking bags; made of high quality water and rip proof nylon materials, weather sealed zips, aluminium frame, proper carrying harnesses, and super light. However what sets them apart from all the other BC bag manufactures is they are designed around photographers needs.

How? Well through what they call ICU’s or In Camera Units. Essentially these are a range of separate bags that are designed to carry your camera gear with the usual soft padding and dividers you find in all specialist camera bags.

Eh I’m not sure I’m following John, so they make two types of bags? Well kind of. However the ICU’s are designed to fit inside their BC Bags. They offer their ICU’s in a range of sizes to best meet your gear needs, or indeed allow you to strike a balance between carrying your camera gear and other stuff. I’m doing a terrible job of describing these so until such time as I write a complete review and provide pictures I suggest you pop over to their website for a better understanding.

After reviewing the sizes and options available I decided upon the Loka which was the exact size I can carry-on on the most stringent of European Airlines, Ryan Air. I picked up a Large Pro ICU which will allow me to carry all my photography gear along with extra clothing layers, snacks, etc when I am off hiking. I also however got the medium ICU which will allow me to carry a good bit of my camera equipment along with a lot more other stuff like laptop, clothes, etc if I need to jump on a flight and travel to somewhere for a few days.

I have only just started to use the bag and have figured out a workable layout with the large ICU. It certainly feels comfortable with great weight distribution between shoulders and hips. Build quality is also very high. The real test however will be long trips, fully laden in poor weather conditions; or jumping on a flight somewhere for a few days. You can expect a review at some point over the next couple of months.

Wow two bags in one go, that’s just greedy. Well this one is a bit of a cheat as I got it back in December. In fact Santa (my wife) brought it to me. I mentioned earlier that I had outgrown my Kata R-103 bag which was now too small to carry everything but too big to serve the needs of holding my pick-up-and-go kit. The F-stop above now serves the carry everything need and this bag will act as my pick-up-and-go bag.

So while I have had the bag for 4 months I have not really used it, or at least in the way I planned too. The reason for that is I was awaiting some of the items above in order to create my pick-up-and-go gear list; mainly the 24-105 Lens and the lighter Tripod and Head.

I have used it on and off however to carry most of my equipment and it has impressed. It is deceptively large inside and the build quality and attention to detail is 2nd to none. However its a sling bag and suffers from the same issues as all sling bags, too much weight gives you a sore neck. While the design allows you to alternate the shoulder the bag is hung from you are just delaying the onset of discomfort I have found. However it is unfair for me to judge it on this as that is not the reason I bought it, I mean Santa made it for me. While it is big inside I have a very specific list of gear I plan to carry in it and I will hold judgement until I have tested it with this gear alone.

Filters; this is another example of where the statement “gear doesn’t matter” is not always correct. If you need to manage reflections in water a Poloriser is the only thing that can do that and you do ‘need’ one. If you want to shoot long exposures or create that silky effect in water you do ‘need’ ND Filters. If you want to balance bright sky and shaded foreground in-camera you do ‘need’ ND Grad filters. No matter how many times photographers tell other photographers its not about the gear, it does get to a point where gear becomes important.

For me and my landscape work my Polariser, ND’s and ND Grads are a critical part in producing those final images. I decided after much deliberation to bite the bullet and purchase a 10-stop Neutral Density Filter. I landed on the Hitech version as I have used their 1, 2 & 3 Stop ND Filters for about 2 years now and have been very happy. I actually have a Lee ProGlass 2 stop filter and have done side-by-side comparisons and can find no differences in the final images. The ProGlass is definitely tougher and more scratch resistant then the Hitech’s resin based filters but I can replace a Hitech filter three times for less then the Lee ProGlass costs, and I am very very careful with my gear anyway. I also decided to bolster my Lee ND Grads and purchased a set of Hitech 1, 2 & 3 Stop Soft Edge filters. Finally to round out this collection I picked up a Lee 67mm Adapter Ring to fit the new 70-200mm f4L.

Reflectors are in the same boat in terms of gear requirements for my Macro Floral work. I use a reflector and strobe a lot in the field. I have used a 5-in-1 reflector I acquired years ago which worked well apart from it’s size. At 85cm when opened it is perfect for shooting portraits; however trying to walk around in the open during a windy day with it was a pain. The size was overkill for the delicate work of photographing flowers. So a smaller one was in order and so I picked up a pair of them. One is a smaller version of the 5-in-1 I have today, weighting in at a svelte 50cm when open; and I also picked up a Silver/Gold reflector with a diminutive size of 30cm.

So we close this two part post. I opened up last week by talking about Gear and it’s place in a photographers life. The fact that many photographers will state “Gear Doesn’t Matter” without qualifying that statement. For my part “Gear Doesn’t Matter” can be true, but not always. When you are starting out the object should be to just get out there and shoot, with what ever you have. It is about discovery; finding yourself as an artist. However as you progress from snapping everything and arrive at “specific intent” in your photography i.e. working on “creating” pre-visualised images, then gear may become important. But, gear does not matter that much! What I mean by that is there are always alternatives; if you want to shoot Macro but cannot yet afford a specialist lens you can buy cheap macro filters. If you need a reflector but cannot afford to buy it you can always make one.

So gear can matter, but never use the perceived lack of it for an excuse for not producing images. Equally if you have managed to acquire lots of wonderful camera equipment get out there and use it, stop obsessing over your next upgrade; step away from those MTF charts! It has taken me over three years to become truly comfortable with my Canon 5DII, my lenses and all my other equipment. I can now pick up anything I own and know how it works without having to think, it’s like muscle memory. A photographer must reach this level to be effective, to be able to focus their energies on their vision rather then fumble with their gear. You can never reach that level of comfort if you are constantly upgrading or adding to your kit bag.

I know I have a couple of years ahead of me to truly learn the 24-105, and how the f/4 version of the 70-200 differs from the f/2.8; and how best to use my new Feisol Tripod and Arca-Swiss p0 Ball Head. And I would be lying if I said it all wasn’t exciting, but I also know I have a core amount of equipment in my bag that is second nature to me and will form the backbone of my workflow as I slowly learn to use the new equipment. I look forward to sharing that journey with you.

Please feel free share your thoughts below, or to ask a question.

Note
I have provided links to the locations I purchased these items. I have no relationship with any of these vendors at the time of publishing this article other than being a customer. This is not meant in any way as an endorsement of their services but it does reflect that I had a positive customer experience.

Well here’s one from the past, October 2010 to be exact. While we may be in the first few days of Summer Ireland is just stepping out of the wettest and coldest April since 1989. May is not starting off much better unfortunately but I live in hope of a nice summer.

This was captured during an early morning walk while visiting Cavan a couple of winters ago. It was one of the coldest winters on record for Ireland with snow and ice. It was brilliant The frost was so delicate and melting fast. Just standing close to these leaves had the frost quickly turning to water. I loved though how the early morning sun was drenching this scene in bright light and how that light was reflecting of the ice. I new choosing a very wide aperture would maximise this by creating lots of lovely bokeh which my 100mm Macro lens is magic for.

Wow, positively a cornucopia of new photographic equipment on display here. Welcome to this the first in a two-part article discussing the what and the why of some recent photographic equipment purchases. If you have followed my blog for any period of time you will know I rarely talk about “gear”. Although if you follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ that trend was certainly reversed over the last couple of weeks! For me however photographic equipment of any sort are just tools of the trade, an important part of the trade but not the be all and end all. As David duChemin says “Gear is good, vision is better”.

That is not to say I live in a ivory tower and look down with disdain on all those poor people who lust after the newest and shiniest of photographic equipment. No I am down there too, I just don’t let it get in the way. I have followed with great interest Nikon’s recent announcements of both their new D4 and their ground breaking (at least in my opinion) D800; Canon and there recently announced 1Dx and the replacement for my Camera body, the 5D Mark III. I have equally followed the launch of the Phase One IQ Medium Format digital backs and the more recent announcement from Leaf of their new Credo MFDB. On top of that there has been numerous new and revised lenses launched from all the major players, not to mention the burgeoning 4/3rds range. It’s enough to make your head spin if you let it. It can also become a major distraction from actually producing photographs, the reason you have a camera in the first place! For those who are familiar with how obsessive photographers can become with gear, and indeed those of you who might not be I’ll point you to this very humorous discussion on buying hammers as a taste of how bad we can be.

In saying all of that however the perceived lack of something has never held me back from creating images. My gear bag is ‘relatively’ modest; I say ‘relative’ somewhat tongue and cheek as of course relative to what? Let me say that over the course of my photographic journey there has been a great many occasions where I knew if I had X attachment or Y peripheral it would have made the production of an image faster/easier/better; but the lack of it did not stop me. I much prefer to produce ‘something’ with what I have then to procrastinate over what I don’t have and produce nothing.

So with that long lead in I am actually about to talk about gear! See many photographers (while all the above obsessiveness is going on) will say gear does not matter. And to a point that is true, particularly if you are just starting out; certainly the perceived lack of something should never hold you back. Hell look at the stuff folks are producing on their iPhones. So vision is first, in this I completely agree with David. There does come a time however when the ‘gear’ does play an increasingly important role. Whether it is because you are beginning to specialise and that Macro or Tilt-shift lens becomes critical for you; or allows you to speed up your workflow because of time constraints and demanding clients (one of the reasons behind my iMac upgrade last year); or simply to allow you to operate at a certain level within a specific industry, say the role Medium Format seems to play in high-end beauty/fashion. There are a myriad of reasons why gear can become important but I strongly believe that the lack of it should never stop you. The gear/equipment/tools should help augment your vision but never limit it.

The last time I made any significant investment in photographic equipment was 2009 when I purchased my Canon 5D Mark II and a number of L lenses. These have stood the test of time and are still the core of my photography. I spent a long time researching each purchase; reading the spec sheets and all the reviews I could find. However once the decision was made and the equipment was in my hands the spec sheets and reviews were forgotten. It was time to use them, every chance I got. I have only made minor additions since then, such as a cheap (but great) manual strobe. But there were a number of additional items I wanted to add along with a couple of gear changes and so April 2012 became the date I invested further in my kit bag. So let me step you through the first part of what’s in the above picture and explain the reason behind each purchase.

But don’t you have one of those already John. Yes indeed I have (had) the f/2.8 IS version of this lens that I picked up in 2009. My relationship with this lens however has been somewhat of a love/hate affair. Love; optically this lens is amazing. Hate; damn it’s heavy! Whenever I was going on a serious walk or hike I really needed to sit down and have a conversation with myself about whether I should take the lens with me or not. At nearly 1.5kg (3.3lbs) I quickly felt its weight in my kit bag. And as for around your neck, 2.3Kg with the 5DII; give that an hour. Ouch! But that alone was not going to have me rid myself of this superb lens.

I was however acutely aware that this lens was also available in an f/4 flavour and was substantially lighter. So did I need the extra stop of light. Well the answer to that ended up being no! I reviewed the last few years of images I shot with this lens and realised that very few were shot wide open. I don’t shoot sports or wildlife so shutter speed and therefore that extra stop of light was an issue. And for the very few times I do need it the ISO performance is so good on the 5DII that I was not worried about bumping to 400 or even 800. Hell I shot an entire corporate event in low light at ISO1600 and after some clean up the images were great.

As you know I do shoot a lot of shallow depth-of-field floral images with this lens but very few of those are below f/4. So the f/2.8 was overkill for my shooting style as it is today. When I think back to my thought pattern when I originally decided upon the f/2.8 version over the f/4 was the idea that I could add a 2x extender to reach 400mm and still get f/5.6. However after actually owning a 2x extender for 2 years guess how many times I used it for a final image? Twice!

So with the need for the 2.8 knocked on the head what about IS? Again, a review of my Aperture library over the past three years showed that I very rarely shot handheld at a shutter speed that would require the assistance if image stabilisation and if it does arise the logic applied around ISO above still applies here. So decision made, sell the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS and buy the considerably cheaper but equally optically brilliant (some pixel peepers would say better) f/4 non-IS version. Oh and since I never used it I went and found a good home for the Canon 2x Extender as well.

Will I change my mind sometime in the future? Not sure tbh. It is certainly a well known trend for owners of the f/4 version to upgrade to the f/2.8 at some point, I’ve just taken the opposite direction. For right now though this is the right decision.

This lens has been on the top of my shopping list for a long time, pretty much since shortly after I moved to the full-frame Canon 5D Mark II back in 2009. And I have talked about wanting it on several occasions including my year in review posts from both 2010 and 2011. For me, and many others this focal range represents the perfect walk-around lens. It also manages to fill the focal gap I’ve had between the 17-40 and 70-200 since 2009; which will be nice. There is also the excellent 24-70mm f/2.8 from Canon however with no IS and no overlap on the long end with the 70-200 I dismissed it over the more flexible 24-105 lens.

The great thing was by selling my 70-200mm f/2.8 IS and never used 2x Extender I actually funded the entire purchase of both of these new lenses. Interestingly enough to my earlier point around weight, both of these new lens combined weigh less than the outgoing 70-200mm f/2.8 IS!

I’ve used a Giottos aluminium tripod for over 6 years and loved it. It travelled with me everywhere, was rock solid and never let me down. Well built, solid construction; and very importantly, twist locks. So if it is/was so great why replace it? eh Weight (see the trend here?). Actually the Tripod wasn’t that heavy at 1.6kg (3.5lbs) but combined with the head I was using it came in around 2.3kg (5lbs). In addition, as it was a 3 section tripod it was relatively tall when packed down, at 57cm (22.5″) and I wanted something shorter. And lastly, still talking about height it had a very poor minimum height, with the head it was about 52cm (20.5″) off the ground. I shoot so much ground level macro this was a real hindrance.

So I began a long and arduous search for the perfect replacement. 1st stop was Giottos themselves since I was so happy with the current one from them. Nothing jumped out from them in terms of weight or folded height. They did offer a nice range of Twist Locks but I could not find any stockists in Europe, they only seemed to stock the flip lock versions.

Twist lock, flip lock? What am I talking about? Well, the locking mechanism for the legs. It comes down to a personal preference and I can’t stand flip locks. I have tried them on a number of friends tripods and I would not want to be fumbling with those on a freezing cold morning with stiff fingers. No, twist lock always seemed a better solution.

So with Giottos out of the way I continued my search. Manfrotto which seems omnipotent in Europe was quickly discarded as they only do flip locks. Gitzo produce impressive tripods however I was unable to justify their cost.

So my search eventually led me to a Taiwanese company called Feisol. Never heard of them? Yea neither did I until I really started to dig. They are in fact first and foremost a carbon fibre tube manufacturer and decided to start designing and manufacturing tripods about a decade ago. Yes you did read that right, they have been making tripods for since 2002!

After some research on there European website, reading numerous reviews, and some very helpful answers from their sales staff I decided upon their 4 section Tournament Tripod. It arrived in last week and first impressions are very positive; great build quality & very rigid in a very light package – 1kg light. I’ll be putting it through its paces over the next couple of months though so expect a full review.

Unlike my love affair with my old tripod (apart from the weight, folded height and minimum height of course); the story with my head could not be more polar. I purchased a Manfortto 322RC Pistol Grip sometime in 2008 based on a recommendation from a fellow photographer, and I pretty much hated it from the 2nd month of ownership. BTW this is an extremely popular head, so this is just my personal experience! Squeezing that trigger during very cold mornings was not fun, neither was the awkwardness of trying to line up the camera with any type of precision while squeezing said trigger. And lets not mention that after I actually got the camera set up to my liking and after releasing the trigger it would drift. The drift might be only 1mm or so but on Macro images that was a lot. Add to that the weight, at 700g (1.5lbs) this was not a light head. So why did I end up using it for 4 years? Good question and I’m not sure tbh.

However change it I did. And just like the Tripod decision a lot of research ensued. Like every one of my decisions in photography gear it is always a trade-off between weight, quality and price. As you will no doubt have surmised by now though I don’t change/upgrade my gear often so I view it very much as an investment. I have zero issue spending the money if I am going to derive a long-term value out of the equipment. So based on my poor experience with my last head I wanted easy & precise adjustment with zero drift in a light, high build quality package.

Hmm seems like I wanted too much, precision really means a geared head and they don’t come light. There is the very well-respected Manfrotto 410 but it weighs 1.2kg (2.6lbs) and it’s two bigger brothers weigh even more! That’s not very portable for long hikes. I did however come across a simply astounding piece of engineering from the masters of ball-heads, Arca-Swiss. They have managed to develop an incredibly light and compact geared head in the d4. Remember the trade-off I mentioned earlier? At €1,000 this light, compact precision device does not come cheap. Plus extended delivery times sent me to look at alternatives but I stuck with Arca-Swiss and came upon their ingenious Monoball p0.

The p0 is a reverse ball head design using the same elliptical ball they were famous for on the Z and older B series ball heads. Because it is a reverse ball head the panning plate is on top which is far more useful. It is operated via a single control collar that runs the circumference of the head, rather than the dual knob setup of most other ball heads. The collar utilises a planetary gear mechanism to ensure equal tension around the ball, so zero drift. At 350g (0.75lbs) it certainly met the weight criteria and now that I have it in my hands build quality is superb. Just like everything else here though it needs months of hard work in the field before I am prepared to write a review and offer my final opinion.

So there you have it part one of a two-part series outlining some fairly significant investment in new photographic equipment. I hope this has proved useful in as much as it shares with you the very specific reason I chose to purchase each of these items.

Stay tuned next week for part two where I’ll outline the reasons behind not just one but two camera bags along with some additional filters and reflectors.

Note
I have provided links to the locations I purchased these items. I have no relationship with any of these vendors at the time of publishing this article other than being a customer. This is not meant in any way as an endorsement of their services but it does reflect that I had a positive customer experience.