Tuesday thoughts

9 years, 11 months ago 26
Posted in: Pilgrim's Chronicles

 

I got a chance to try out a new camera back pack from Guru Gear when in Florida and it is a very interesting and different animal.  The Guru Gear Uinta 30L is a medium size back pack made of extremely high end materials, that are also very light weight.  What makes it unique compared to the hundreds of other backpacks is that it is hollow and comes with “modules” that can be customized to hold whatever gear you are planning to carry.  The bag will hold two modules and they come in two sizes a medium and small.  The modules can hold lenses, bodies, flashes, and accessories.  Now here is the cool part, let’s say you are going out to hike and maybe take a few images, you could put the small module in with a body and just a couple of lenses and have the rest of the bag open for your lunch, a rain jacket and a polar fleece if it gets cool!  This is a well thought out bag that has a great frame, and hold anywhere from a few items to an enormous amount of gear!  It can be set up to open the interior section from the front or the back and has several spacious outer pockets.  It also has a wonderful accessory for carrying your tripod, that really works, unlike some  others I’ve tried.  Bottom line is would I buy it?  Yes, if I needed to carry a great deal of gear, comfortably and securely!  Through the years I’ve used bags from Domke, Lowpro, Think Tank, and Guru Gear, they all are great in their own way.  Domke is a throw back bag, old school, made of older materials, but built to really last and their shoulder bags are still among the best I’ve ever used.  Lowepro makes the most variety of bags and is a good place to look if your needs are very specific, if  you need something very specific, they probably have it!  Think Tank builds stuff that are as tough as well, a “tank”.  I’ve found them to be nearly indestructible and very well designed!  Guru Gear came onto the scene making very good bags, well thought out, made of quality materials and once again cleverly designed, and the new Uinta 30L is a winner.

 

 

 

 

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Don’t miss this!!!  The Nashville Event is really coming together with some incredible guests.  In addition to Jim Begley, Nick Coury, of course, Ricky Skaggs, and I, we will be joined by the the fantastic Pete Collins of KelbyOne, super pastor, and great guy, Scotty Smith, and my dear buddy, brother, and killer shooter Vinny Colucci!!!  This event will be limited to only a dozen students with this many leaders!!!!  This will be a wonderful event and we still have 5 spots available.

 

 

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Another super thing I’m loving about the Fuji X System.

While Fuji is working hard to bring a great series of lenses to the table, as of today, they still don’t have a long (200mm focal length) Macro lens, or a fast long conventional lens.  Because I love to shoot long lenses and Fuji doesn’t have any, I’ve found a great alternative!!  The Fuji system allows using manual focus lenses from any other camera systems via inexpensive lens adapters.  I happen to own a very large collection of classic, legendary sharp Nikkor glass and because the new Fuji X-T1 has a very novel, and extremely effective manual focusing system that allows very precise focusing, it works great!!!  So if your subject is not moving, and very few of mine are, the X-T1 works great on these lenses.  I’m currently using three lenses the most, the 200mm Micro Nikkor, the 300mm f 4.5 IF-ED, and the 400mm f 3.5 IF-ED.  Keep  in mind because of the 1.5 factor of the APS-C size sensor they are a 300mm Micro, 450mm and 600 mm all at their original f stops!!!  That makes the 400mm a 600mm f 3.5!!!!  Imagine a 600mm f 3.5!!!!!  Does it work?  Check these out, and decide for yourself.  ….and keep in mind I’m really not a bird shooter!  Of course  you’ll know that pretty soon!

 

The youngsters X-T1 400mm f 3.5

 

Here’s lookin’ at you Babe’  X-T1, 400mm f 3.5

 

Sleeping off a big meal….  Fuji X-T1, 400mm f 3.5

 

Long day for Mom,  XT-1,  400mm f 3.5

 

Fellow shooter.  Fuji X-T1, 400mm f 3.5

 

Dew Drops on grass – Great Smokies  –  XE-2  Nikkor 200mm Micro

 

 

Drops on leaves – Great Smokies – Nikkor 200mm Micro on Fuji X-E2

 

 

Stink bug, Great Smokies – Fuji X-E2 Nikkor 200mm Micro Nikkor

 

So, there is more than one way to skin a cat.  Isn’t this fun!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2014 at 2:43 pm

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26 Responses

  1. Joshua Boldt says:
    May 13, 2014 at 4:32 pm

    Thank you for sharing!

  2. Bob Jensen says:
    May 13, 2014 at 6:15 pm

    Thanks for the reminder. I’ve been thinking about getting an adapter for my X-T1 so I could use my big Canon and Nikon lenses. I just ordered one so I could use my Olympus macro system with the Fuji. I see a number of brands with varying price ranges. Which one did you get for your Nikon lenses?

  3. Bob Jensen says:
    May 13, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    Thanks again. I have the old Nikkor 500 F4 so will only need a ringless adapter for that, but may need one with an adapter for my Canon. The 500 lens with a Fuji body is gonna look strange!

    • the pilgrim says:
      May 13, 2014 at 11:44 pm

      Yes, the 500 if it is a manual lens was the P model which is very sharp, a great lens. Mount it on the tripod and then attach the body to and from the mounted lens, Love yo know how it goes, should be great! That would be a 750 f 4!!!

  4. Tom Marriage says:
    May 14, 2014 at 10:23 am

    Bill,
    Thanks for the info. I really want to add long glass to my XT-1 and am patiently waiting for Fuji to release a long lens. In the meantime I think I will try what you are doing. Would you mind going over the menu setup in the XT-1 for shooting manual lenses such as yours. I think I understand but would like to double check (Mount adaptor setting: enter in focal length and Shoot without lens is on).
    Thanks
    Tom

    • admin says:
      May 14, 2014 at 12:09 pm

      Yes turn front dial on camera to M for manual
      in the menus, turn on shoot without lens and then dial in the focal length of the lens you are using,
      that’s it!

  5. Lynn Rogers says:
    May 14, 2014 at 1:36 pm

    Killer images, Bill!

  6. Paul says:
    May 15, 2014 at 1:33 pm

    I love your blog with its helpful info and inspiration. I’ve been intrigued by your adoption of the Fuji X system and it’s superior quality. Since the motivation for your move to Fuji was weight, I wonder about your current feelings about tripods. Your famous quote, which I cannot recall verbatim, said that there were 2 types of tripods: light easy to carry ones, and good ones. I wonder if high ISO and Fuji OIS or Nikon VR have changed your feeling at all. Specifically, do you now carry a lighter tripod or even leave the tripod in the trunk in situations you previously would have schlepped a “good” tripod? Does image stabilization and excellent high ISO which permits faster shutter speeds let you leave the tripod behind very often? It is certainly a heavy and unwieldy burden for someone trying to travel light.
    Thanks!

    • the pilgrim says:
      May 15, 2014 at 8:35 pm

      Paul,
      Thanks for a great and pertinent question! Yes, at least for me it has caused a change of behavior! First to tripods, I recently last few years have started using Induro tripods, my friend Vincent Versace started appearing in their ads and after a conversation with him I ordered two different models from them: the light weight CT-214 and the medium weight CT-314. When I’m traveling and really want yo cut the weight I take the CT-214 with Really Right Stuff’s middle size ball head. It works very well and if used judiciously, it can handle the Fuji cameras fine. If I’m traveling by car I prefer the heavier CT-314 and the RRS BH-55. It will come up, so I’ll deal with it now, why not Gitzo? I have a 1348 that served me well for almost 20 years, but it has the old type twist locks that require a lot of turns! When I tried the Induro units I loved how well made they were and how smooth they operated, so that’s what I use now!

      Hand holding???? You bet, I still try to use a tripod anytime I can, but we all know sometimes it’s just not possible! I am finding that with higher available ISOs and OIS I am making a lot of tack sharp images without the tripod! I still think a tripod will increase the percentage of sharp images, but it is nice to be able to go without it from time to time!

      …….and thanks for your kind words!

      • Dick Ginkowski says:
        May 16, 2014 at 4:49 am

        Paul and Bill, if my recollection is correct, Induro and Benro tripods are the same. Almost all of my photo travel is by air so size/weight has always been an issue. My carbon fiber Gitzo 1228 with an Arca-Swiss B1 was able to hold a Canon 500mm and the 1228 could fit into a “legal” carryon bag. The Fuji gear fits very comfortably on somewhat smaller Markins and Sirui ballheads without being “judicious” at all (even though I play a judge in real life).

        The bad news is that the 1228 is discontinued and mine was stolen in the Smokies. Gitzo’s replacement is somewhat larger and does not quite fit in the bag. I got a decent Benro which is somewhat bulkier while I tried to find a used 1228. Walked into a camera store in Monterey. No luck but another customer was curious why I specifically wanted the 1228 “instead of one of our newer models.” I explained the size issue and this foreign gentleman told me he had a mint/barely used 1228 he no longer uses. Bought him a round of golf at Pebble Beach and I got an almost new 1228. Turns out he was the CEO of Manfrotto!!! Talk about a “rest of the story!”

  7. Vinny Colucci says:
    May 21, 2014 at 3:07 pm

    Bill, It was great shooting and teaching in St Augustine. The fuji shots look great. I shared some of mine with you through Face Book