{"id":2991,"date":"2011-09-26T19:15:53","date_gmt":"2011-09-26T19:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=2991"},"modified":"2011-10-03T17:54:12","modified_gmt":"2011-10-03T17:54:12","slug":"gear-for-field-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=2991","title":{"rendered":"Gear for Field Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Welcome to the very first Learning Center post for the new website. \u00a0This is an article that ran in the Pilgrim’s Chronicles blog back some time ago but I wanted to update and thought this would be a good lead off session. \u00a0I’ve struggled for years with how to be ready for any situation in the field and yet have a small enough package that I didn’t feel burdened with too much to carry. \u00a0First I want to keep my bag or pack to below 25 lbs., actually as far below as possible. \u00a0My current field kit comes in complete at 23 lbs.<\/span> \u00a0That’s good enough for now. \u00a0the older I get the further down it will have to come.<\/p>\n

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To put together a kit you need to identify what you need the gear to do, here is my list:<\/p>\n

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1. \u00a0I need a camera body<\/span> that has sufficient resolution (at least 12 mega pixels) and all the features I use like mirror lock-up, etc.. For me the D7000 at 16 mega pixels and all the needed features works fine<\/p>\n

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2. \u00a0I need to cover focal length equivalents of from 20mm to over 400mm. \u00a0With the Nikon 12-24 AF-S<\/span> \u00a0WA zoom, the Nikon 24-120 AF-S VR<\/span> Mid-range zoom, and the Nikon 70-300 AF-S VR<\/span> longer range zoom I get everything from \u00a018mm to 450mm covered in three lenses. \u00a0And of course my trusty Len Baby Composer with close-up lenses as well!<\/p>\n

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3. \u00a0I really want to be able to shoot close-up to 4 times life-size. \u00a0The handy, compact, \u00a0and very sharp (and reasonably priced), 85mm Micro-Nikkor AF-S VR f3.5<\/span> lens is perfect, add to that 3T and 4T diopters<\/span> and you have a killer close-up system. \u00a0I also carry the Canon 500D<\/span> for the 24-120 and Automatic extension tubes and I’m more than good to go.<\/p>\n

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4. \u00a0The Lowe Pro Stealth Reporter 400 AW<\/span> or the Trekker 300 AW backpack each hold all this gear and stay in my weight range (the backpack is a hair heavier but is easier since you carry it on your back.<\/p>\n

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5. Tucked away in either bag is a Nikon Coolpix P300<\/span> for those grab shots when the gang and I are whoofing down a burger!<\/p>\n

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6. \u00a0In the illustration above the 85mm Micro Nikkor is replaced with the 85mm f1.8 lens<\/span> when I need to work in low available light.<\/p>\n

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7. \u00a0Polarizers for all lenses, a Singh Ray Variable Neutral Density<\/span> filter, a small table top tripod<\/span>, charger and spare batteries, mini flash light, plus cleaning supplies and allen wrenches and you’re good to go! \u00a0To pad things in the bag I also stuff in a dozen or so micro fiber cloths.<\/p>\n

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8. \u00a0Of course a full size tripod and ball head<\/span> are salted away in the back of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

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9. \u00a0A spare body, a D700<\/span>, \u00a0and it’s dedicated wide angle, the Nikkor 16-35 AF-S VF f4<\/span> lens will be packed with the computer roll on bag.
\nSo there you have it, a full compliment of lenses and a very capable body ready to tackle almost any subject.<\/span><\/em> \u00a0Since I won’t be worried carrying it all I will get better images! \u00a0At least that’s the plan. \u00a0This is the system I will use in New England in two weeks, we’ll see how it does!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Welcome to the very first Learning Center post for the new website. \u00a0This is an article that ran in the Pilgrim’s Chronicles blog back some time ago but I wanted to update and thought this would be a good lead off session. \u00a0I’ve struggled for years with how to be ready for any situation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learning"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2991"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3007,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions\/3007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}