Jul 3, 2014 | Field Reports
I’ve been on the search for the perfect mic to connect to the D4s for recording wildlife sounds with the video. And I’ve found it, the killer mic, the MS-77 Mini Shotgun Microphone! As you can see above how small it is. It’s self contained using #377 batteries and not needing phantom power. It comes with the shock hotshoe mount and two connecting cables. The most important thing is its sound quality. For that, I offer up the following video.
Shot at the Black Skimmer colony in FL, there were photographers on either side of me talking and shooting while I was recording. I was lying on the ground shooting with the D4s / 800mm on the Panning Plate. If you’re looking for a great mic for recording wildlife sounds (or vocals for that matter), I HIGHLY recommend the Senal!
Jul 3, 2014 | Field Reports
The Xuma 8000 got me so excited and has worked so dang great, I went and got the 11000 mAh Xuma. As you can see, it can charge/run a WHOLE bunch of devices (coming with 10 tips plus accepting your basic USB cord you already own):
Now recharging I think it just the starting point for the 11000 model. I believe it will power for example the GoPro Hero+ for a L O N G time as well as some other devices. So I’ll spending some of my weekend testing. Oh, the best part, it’s only $69! If you’re looking for portable power and I mean power, you might want to check out the Xuma 11000!
Jul 2, 2014 | Field Reports
Got a gear question you want/need answered? I want to help and answer it. Send your gear questions to me at Gear Questions and I’ll do my best every Wednesday to answer as many questions as I can. Keep in mind the answers are just my $.02 worth and you have to take what works for you and your photography and embrace it and ignore the rest. So here’s this weeks questions ….
Thanks for your insight into so many subjects. My question is about memory cards.
Had a 3 year old Scandisk Extreme III 16GB CF card give me an issue. “Card cannot be opened”. After some sweating and file recovery software, I recovered all the NEF’s along with what appears to be most of every NEF ever taken on the card. I reformat when I put any card in my D700 and usually limit my cards to about 500 shots before downloading and reformatting. Do you do something different or limit your cards to a certain life? Do they need to be “retired” after so many files?
Thanks
Frank
Frank, sorry to hear you had card issues. Knock on wood, but I’ve not had card issues and that could be for a number of reasons. I use Lexar and right now, shoot with the 256CF / 64XQD in the D4s and the 128SD in the Df. I do nothing to “limit” them and regularly in the D4s hit 5000 images from a shoot in one card. I also ALWAYS format my cards in the computer and don’t rely on the format in the camera. Using PhotoMechanic, I use the settings that automatically Erase and Eject cards after ingest is finished. I have always done this and it has never let me down. And the only time I “retire” a card is when bigger and faster come along.
Moose
You seem to have lots of questions about long lenses but nearly none on wide angle lenses. Why is that? I’m in the market for a wide angle zoom and have narrowed down my preferences between the lens you write about alot, the 18-35 and the wildly popular 16-35. Is there a difference between the two I should know about?
Thanks
Jeff
Jeff, I don’t think many ask about wide angle lenses because in general, they aren’t as scary a purchase. When it comes to the two lenses you’re inquiring about, the 18-35AFS and 16-35AFS, the one big difference you might not be aware about is the price and weight. The 18-35 costs less and is lighter than the 16-35. After that the 16-35 is a tad wider and the wide end. After that is comes down to personal preference and for what it’s worth, I don’t think you can go wrong with either lens!
Jun 30, 2014 | Field Reports
Next issue of the BT Journal on photographing Moab, UT is now available. This 70pg gigantic issue (normally they are only 28pgs!) is chuck full of photographic technique, gear, where and when to shoot in this amazing landscape. It includes Brent’s signature GPS magic leaving you no doubt on your visit where I’m suggesting you shoot. Subscribers (and thank you!) should see the new issue appear in their app. Those not subscribing can follow the links to get their copy.
And we want to thank the HUNDREDS of you who subscribed over the weekend to take advantage of our free BACK ISSUE offer. Some of emailed to say thanks and ask if we’ll be doing something like that again. To be honest, I don’t know what cool things Brent has in store for all of us but I have no doubt, we’ll do something to say thanks to our subscribers in the future.
Jun 26, 2014 | Field Reports
Yeap, the D810 and before you think it’s just an upgrade, think again. I’ve seen the comparison charts and I can tell you that they don’t EVEN come close to really speaking what the upgrade really means. And here’s the shocker for you, I think so much of what I’ve been told about the D810 (preorder link) that I have already ordered one. That’s right, the guy who wasn’t a D800 fan has one on order. That’s because it for no other reason, the video portion of the D810 is to die for. I don’t have one in my my hands but as soon as I do, well you know the drill :-)
More D810 goodness is here
Jun 25, 2014 | Field Reports
Got a gear question you want/need answered? I want to help and answer it. Send your gear questions to me at Gear Questions and I’ll do my best every Wednesday to answer as many questions as I can. My apologies, but it’s a little short this week because so many of the questions were repeats of ones already answered here. I simply don’t have the time to repost already answered questions. Keep in mind the answers are just my $.02 worth and you have to take what works for you and your photography and embrace it and ignore the rest. So here’s this weeks questions ….
Hi Moose,
I just saw your video on tripod maintenance and it was very informative. I saw that you have a Gitzo carbon fiber tripod and it has knuckles (g-locks) to lock the leg sections in place. I have a Giotto carbon fiber which also has knuckle leg section locks. The problem I have is that the locks are very hard to turn in cold weather say around freezing and the leg sections do not lock into place. My brother has a Silk carbon fiber tripod with knuckle leg section locks and he has a similar problem. Is this a problem common to carbon fiber tripods and knuckle leg locks? I really don’t like flip locks so don’t want to switch to them. Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bob
Bob, what a great question! I’ve taken my Gitzo 3540XLS and Gitzo 5561SGT and Really Right Stuff TVC33 Tripod to as low as -42 and not had that issue. I don’t know the insides of the tripods you’re talking about, but for them to literally freeze, there must me a moisture content to freeze. The three I mention here there is none. When I’m working in cold country, I am really anal about making sure that after a day in the cold and wet, the tripod goes inside and gets all the TLC is needs to not have any moisture from the day’s shoot getting into those knuckles. It’s what a hair dryer was made for, right?
Moose:
I have been a Tahoe follower for a few years. I am interested in how you use your I Pad in your workflow development. Would such a purchase help me in my photography workflow when I travel. I own a D 800e and my present portable computer will simply not handle my NEF Raw files without a struggle.
Thank you for your interest …
Roger
Roger, many are thinking about and looking at the iPad in such a way. The iPad is a very important business tool for us, but I don’t use it all for mainline photography. You can’t upload to the iPad, can’t edit on the iPad directly and there is no open file folder structure to organize images. I’ve seen the D800 files take down many a notebook, I think the iPad would simply disappear in a puff of smoke with just one D800 Nef. Now there are many solutions with CC Cloud for working your Nefs via the cloud which might be a solution for you. It’s not for me because of the volume of images I shoot and that internet with the speed is usually nowhere to be found where I work.
Hi Moose,
I have been a nature photographer since age 11, and since then I have really only been able to dabble in landscape and macro photography due to the fact that my finances have stopped me from purchasing the glass needed for high quality wildlife photos. I have always been able to get rather close to wild animals (especially birds), but glass has always been my limiting factor in capturing beautiful images of wildlife. I am now in my early 20’s and I am ready to purchase a lens so I can start to get more serious about photographing wildlife (mainly birds and mammals). So, my question to you is, what would be the ideal lens for someone who is able to get close to wildlife, and has a budget of under 2000 dollars?
Thanks,
Leo
Leo, you ask the questions hundreds of others ask. I wish I had the answer as I’ve talked about this a lot on GearHead Wednesday. With the limit of $2k, it leaves out the one lens I would recommend, the 80-400VR3. With that limit, I would go with the 300f4AFS and TC-14 1.4x. That’s a killer combo that I’ve used for a longtime. After those two, not sure what else I’ve not already mentioned before.
