sai

<p>Steven, thank you for that information about Japan! Actually, <strong><em>I'm</em></strong> starting my trip there :)</p>

<p>I had decided that I was going to travel with the Gorillapod Focus and that I wouldn't think more about the issue. But the MeFoto DayTrip looks great, and now I'm rethinking this again, ahhh! But thanks Steven this MeFoto tripod is well worth it, especially its folded length (9.4'' / 24 cm) and its light weight (1.8 lb / 800 gr, with head), and its higher extension of 24'' (61 cm).</p>

<p>My reasons for choosing the Gorillapod Focus were the following:</p>

<p>First of all, I already own the Gorillapod and I have been very happy with the results I get once I've found a place to place it. As I said before, it worked great with my Canon 6D and a Canon 100-400mm when I was taking pictures of the last lunar eclipse. Sure, the pictures were not long exposures but it was solid while holding my gear. I've also taken 30 second shots and see no camera movement.</p>

<p>Second, I figured out that because the Gorillapod is so adjustable, I can actually bend all three legs in half ( pointing towards the head, more or less forming a ball) and it reduces from 14'' down to 7''. That's very small and it fits in the front pocket of my dayback.</p>

<p>Third, it's extremely light at only 1.56 lb (712 gr) including the head.<br>

<br />The Gorillapod is a great travel companion but there are tradeoffs, mainly being restricted to find something to put it on or to shoot from a very low angle - 14'' (35cm) from the ground. However, backpacking for 7 month is hard and carrying things gets old. I backpacked for 10 months once before and 4 months or so into the trip I ditched my cheap aluminum tripod. Yes, it was great to have for panorama pictures and for some low light photos, but it was not worth the weight on my shoulders.</p>

<p>I recommend people to read this great Photo.net article on "<a href="/learning/travel/mistakes-in-travel-photography/">The Mistakes in Travel Photography</a>" by <a href="http://kamps.org/" target="_blank">Haje Jan Kamps</a>. This article was the deciding factor when I bought the Gorillapod one year ago, specially the end, which I've quoted here: "The next time I get on the road, I’ll bring a light-weight, full-frame sensor (Canon 6D, probably), my trusty 50mm f/1.4, my Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro, and a Gorillapod."</p>

<p>As I said, there are tradeoff by traveling with a Gorillapod but it might be worth it.</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the comments!</p>

<p>Thanks Dieter, unfortunately I <em>do</em> have a budget and it's $250 for only the legs. The MeFoto series looks great but they are a little bit heavier than what I'd like to carry (3.6lb - 4.6lb). The one lighter that they have MeFoto Backpacker (2.6 lb) has the center column extended all the time and I don't know if I want that. The other brands are outside my budget. I'll think a bit more about the last one MeFoto Backpacker though.<br>

Thanks for the comments! </p>

<p>Thanks Jos. I backpacked through Asia once already for 10 months or so and after some months I ended up leaving my tripod behind. It was useful for panorama pictures in the Himalayas but didn't use it much more than that. However, I'm a bit more experienced now and I think I'll be able to take more advantage of a tripod now (time lapses, star trailing...) and that's why I'm wrecking my brain with this issue.<br>

The Gorillapod is definitively a good option except for its very low height, which would be less than ideal for taking pictures of myself or for when having a couple of extra inches would make it a better shot.</p>

<p>Still debating... Comments anyone?</p>

<p>Hi all,<br>

I'll be on a 7 month backpacking trip through Asia (Japan, Philippines, South East Asia, India, Sri Lanka) soon and I'm looking for a light, compact, and robust tripod. I'll be doing all sorts of photography, including night, low light, sunrise/sunsets etc., where a tripod is really a must.</p>

<p>I bough a Joby Gorillapod Focus/Ballhead X Bundle (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/680973-REG/Joby_GP8_BHEN_Gorillapod_Focus_Ballhead_X_Bundle.html) thinking it would be great because of its weight (1.68 lb including the head) and it's compactness (~15''). It supports my Canon 6D and a Canon 100-400mm like a champ, but recently during a trip through the Pacific Northwest I noticed that I'll might need something a bit higher than the max 15'' of the Gorillapod (great for low ground shots though!).</p>

<p>I read a review on an Oben tripod and it sounds like an amazing brand and they have a tripod that fits my needs pretty well, the Oben CT-2331 3-Section Carbon Fiber Tripod (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/864593-REG/oben_ct_2331_3_section_carbon_fiber.html) and the Oben CT-2431 4-Section Carbon Fiber Tripod (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/864600-REG/oben_ct_2431_4_section_carbon_fiber.html). These are 1.65 and 1.7 lb respectively, compact to 20'' and 18'', support the same weight, and are pretty much the same price. The only other tripod that I'm looking at is the Slik Pro 624 CF 4-Section Carbon Fiber Tripod (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/720698-REG/Slik_611_615_Pro_624_4_Section_Carbon.html), which is the same weight (1.8lb) but compacts to 14'', and get really low 3.5''! I'll use the Focus Ballhead X with any of these tripods.</p>

<p>Do you guys have any insights about these tripods at all? Is there something I'm missing that makes one of these better than the other? Should I even get another tripod or will the Gorillapod be enough?</p>

<p>Thanks for any comments on this in advance!<br>

Cheers,<br>

Simon</p>

<p>Thank you parv.! This is turning out to be a more complicated than I though it would be.<br>

<br />Last night I did an experiment: I created a directory with a couple subdirectories within it. I place the same image in all of them, as well as that same image with a different name, a a copy where I edited the image, i.e., original file, original file with different names, duplicated original files, edited files. Lightroom was only able to identify the files with the same name but not the edited ones or some of the ones with different names... <br>

I then did the same experiment using a nice piece of free software that I found online, dupeGuru http://www.hardcoded.net/dupeguru/, and it was able to find all copies of the file incuding the ones with different names, I'm guessing it's doing checksum. It did of course not find the edited version of the file since this file is effectively not a duplicate anymore.<br>

I think that I will have to do this slowly and on a directory to directory basis, using dupeGuru or other piece of software that does some sort of checksum, and not in a giant batch mode. Probably better and safer this way anyways. <br>

<br />Thank you all for the multiple suggestions!<br>

<br />Cheers,<br>

Simon</p>

<p>Thanks for the input Colin. Unfortunately, I'm using a Mac and VisiPics only runs on Windows. I'll do some searching around for a similar program for Mac.<br>

After I trimmed my collection from obvious duplicates I end up with 'only' 1Tb of images. I'll do some more testing around with dummy sets using LR and other software and report back!</p>

<p>Thanks for the warning Jeff! Definitively don't want that!<br>

However, don't these type of programs (including Lightroom) look for many different types of information to identify duplicates, e.g., file name, date, camera, shutter speed, etc?</p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestions Brooks, I'll give them a try! Yes, I'll definitively have a back up of a back up before trying anything.</p>

<p>Hi Chas, <br>

I actually did a test with a few photos, i.e., duplicate photos with different names in different folders in my computer, and when I tried to import the duplicated version it was "greyed out" and I wasn't able to select it. Do you not see this? <br>

I though that LR looked at various types of data (file name, time stamp, and other Exif and other metadata) to compare files.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi all,<br>

I have multiple hard drives that I have accumulated over time and there are multiple duplicated photos in all of them.I've managed to put every file in a 4Tb hard drive, manually deleting a great number of obvious duplicated photos.<br>

Now, here is my plan to get rid off all of the other 'not-so-obvious' duplicates, e.g., file with different file names. I'll start a brand new Lightroom 5 catalog, using both the option to copy the files to a new location and the option to not import suspected duplicates. In theory, at least in my head, this will go through all the files I compiled in the 4Tb drive and copy them to the new location while skipping duplicated ones.<br>

Does this make sense to anyone else than me? Any other suggestions on how to accomplish this?<br>

<br />Thanks,<br>

Simon</p>

Sorry what I meant was that a good walk around lens and a normal tele are definitively a must.

I trekked for two month in the Himalayas with the following:

Canon 350D

Canon 18-55 attached

Canon 90-300

Peleng 8 mm

All inside a Lowepro Mini Orion Beltpack.

I know you are going to go for Nikkon, but this is just for you to know the amount of things I was carrying. It was very comfortable and not very heavy.

I also traveled with the same Kit for 10 month through Asia and S. America. Great Kit, not very heavy, really flexible.

 

Enjoy!

But only 3.9fps? I though they would go for 5 or 6. Impressive anyhow

I'm in love...

I think it's all about getting a good flash, bounce or diffuse it. You'll stop the movement with the flash and then you play with the available light for the background.

 

cheers!

hahahahahaha LOL,

sorry guys, Joe that was hilarious!

I have a 30 minutes charger and 4 2900 µAh NiMh batteries. They work very well with my 430. And if they discharge well its only 30 minutes to charge them again (if electricity is available of course)

I agree with Amol. The weather cover is the only thing that the Fastpack series is missing. I forgot to add as Amol did that the Fastpack 350 carries a laptop on the back up to 17'. I carry my 350D, 17-85, 50 f/1.8, Peleng 8mm, Canon 100-400, Tamron 180 macro and a Macbookpro 15'. The bag is awesome!

I traveled continuously for 10 months thought many countries and although I loved the pictures I was taking sometimes the camera its a pain in the bum. I traveled with my 350D and a 17-85mm a 90-300 and a Peleng 8mm in a beltpack that I didn't take off in the whole time. I would keep the 350 for traveling. get a better lens and your all set.

Believe me when you are in Laos doing tubing in the Mae kong river, drinking beer and jumping from platforms waht you want is a "normal" size camera.

http://blogs.bootsnall.com/SimonUribeConvers/beautiful-and-colonial-luang-prabang.html

Sorry I forgot the link http://products.lowepro.com/product/Fastpack-350,2087,14.htm

I bought the lowepro Fastpack 350. I used to own the Lowepro Minitrekker 250 and although it has a lot of room, you need to take it off and put it on the floor to access your gear. the Fastpack swings if you take one of the straps and you can take your camera with your main lens in less than two seconds. Lowepro it's a great brand I think, waterproof, durable and well built. Lifetime warranty. Highly recommend it

Thanks guys! That made it very clear to me. I'll go for the Canon 430 EX. Then whenever I'm in the need, I'll follow with the EX580, who knows.

Thanks again

I'm looking for a flash for amateur purposes. I don't need a Master flash so lets keep the EX580 out of the

question (Although the strobe function is tempting).

I'm looking at the Canon 430EX, the Metz 48 AF-1and the Sigma EF530 Super.

If I'm not mistaken, they all zoom automatically, have more or less the same power, all bounce and swivel.

 

I'll be using it for portraits and probably for macro shots with a shoe cord (DotLine I think).

 

Any advantages on any of these?

 

The Metz says wireless triggered via Camera...

 

thanks!

Thank you to all for the responses. I bought the Tamron 180mm f/3.5 today and I think I love it. I had the Sigma 150 beside the Tamron, and tried them both but I liked the Tamron better. Also Tamron has $50 rebate and the price is just $10 more than the Sigma, and 30mm longer focal distance.

 

Thank you again

 

Simon

So it's all about companies taking their chances. That makes sense.

But now, for example Mac, you do the whole rebate process online and you only give them your receipt numbers and BUM 5 days later there's a cheque in your mailbox.

Thank guys!