Ed Rooney Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 We all have out favorites . . . and we all have those things we bought and paid for and now wonder: "What was I thinking?" One of my favs is a compass. Another is the UpStrap I use on my camera bag, usually a Domke bag. What are your loves and hates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I'm sorry, what's a compose? Edit: OK Ed, now everyone's going to wonder what I was asking about and think I'm crazy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 I'm sorry. I thought I typed "compass." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I'm sorry, what's a compose? It helps with composition - some call it a viewfinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I actually find a compass quite useful when travelling. Upon arriving in a new place. I'll often walk around with my compass scoping out landmarks, etc. to see if they will make better morning or afternoon/evening shots. A compass, of course, isn't nearly as useful if you don't travel much and know your 'hood inside out. I carry a tiny but mighty flashlight that comes in handy for seeing camera controls at night. I've also used it in dimly lit caves, ruins, and washrooms (best not to go there). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I had a really nice compass years ago and may still have it somewhere. Now I have a compass app on my cell phone and of course the new mini compass on my walking stick. Two of my favs are my easy-slide Black Rapid camera strap that screws into the base of the camera and my Lowepro adjustable hobo-style camera bag. I can carry both fully loaded all day without neck or back pain. My less favorite list includes a couple of traditional camera bags and a multitude of unneeded accessories that only serve to clutter my camera bag. Edit: Good one Phil, and like John a small but powerful flashlight is a favorite item in my bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 I bought a fishing tackle bag from Lidl last year for £20. Took the insides out, put in some cardboard dividers, it's got the most comfortable shoulder strap of any 'camera bag' I've owned and is the only one that can take a Nikon with a 170-500 zoom vertically. Good investment (and I got all the little plastic boxes that came with it for storing small things, not, in my case, fishing tackle). http://www.lidl.com.mt/cps/rde/SID-D391F162-95DAD370/www_lidl_mt/hs.xsl/Offers.htm?action=showDetail&id=2593 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Least used bit of kit - Monopod. Most used - pair of disposable Pound Shop reading glasses, they hang around my neck. Preserves my expensive bi-focals for reading and using the computer in the house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 Least used bit of kit - Monopod. Most used - pair of disposable Pound Shop reading glasses, they hang around my neck. Preserves my expensive bi-focals for reading and using the computer in the house. I forgot to mention those. I've reached that stage as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted March 8, 2014 Share Posted March 8, 2014 These are the strap and bag I favor, the strap is specifically designed for women. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Rapid-Womans-Camera-Strap/dp/B003OXOV1O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394316781&sr=8-4&keywords=black+rapid+camera+strap Also, I like camera bags that don't cry out camera bag, steal me! Plus, as a woman I need a smaller bag if I'm going to carry it all day. http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-Passport-Sling-Camera-Bag-Mica/dp/B0039NLS3I/ref=pd_sim_p_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1B3QTVVKP6WG3JFXMFNW I also carry inexpensive readers and rarely carry the monopod or tripod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 Hey, things are starting to heat-up, after I corrected my typo. After 9/11, I bought very powerful, high-quality pocket flashlight. I figured I would be trying to find my way out of the Subway in the dark soon. But I always have had a small torch in my bag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linda Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 These are the strap and bag I favor, the strap is specifically designed for women. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Rapid-Womans-Camera-Strap/dp/B003OXOV1O/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394316781&sr=8-4&keywords=black+rapid+camera+strap Also, I like camera bags that don't cry out camera bag, steal me! Plus, as a woman I need a smaller bag if I'm going to carry it all day. http://www.amazon.com/Lowepro-Passport-Sling-Camera-Bag-Mica/dp/B0039NLS3I/ref=pd_sim_p_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=1B3QTVVKP6WG3JFXMFNW I also carry inexpensive readers and rarely carry the monopod or tripod. I won't carry a bag that scream CAMERA either. I bought a purse that hold my stuff nicely and can dress up or dress down.The straps are thief proof and it's lined and has outside pockets. If I can get it out of my closet and see the tag,I will let you know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 I'm sorry, what's a compose? Edit: OK Ed, now everyone's going to wonder what I was asking about and think I'm crazy. Actually, what's crazy is this new spell checker that we've had running for the past few years -- it auto-corrects before you finish a word, thus assuming it knows what you want to say. Don't worry, Lynn. I've told the forum many times that I suffer from dyslexia. (No, I'm not joking.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Worse Ed, it changes the words AFTER you correctly spell them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Best purchase: Domke F2 bags (I have bought three, the first two were stolen) I've been using the F2 bag since 1984 and it is the only sholder bag I will use. I was once going through security at the Kremlin and they pulled out a huge (2+inches) Russian cockroach, they kidded me about that for years..... Worst purchase a GITZO tripod, when I bought it for $650.00 USD it was guaranteed for "One lifetime and a reincarnation", I sent it in three or four times for repair and then after Bogen bought the US distribution rights for GITZO. When I sent it in to Bogen in the late 1990's Bogen told me that they wanted $310.00 to repair the broken leg. It is now a really great monopod..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Canon E1 hand strap. I have had them on all my cameras that have a strap lug on the base. I tend to carry my camera in my hand and the strap allows me to have secure hold with a very relaxed grip. When I buy my Fuji X-T1 I will probably buy the vertical grip (even tho' it compromises compactness) so I can continue to use a hand strap - even checked it will be possible, thanks Duncan. Rarely used: monopod and powerful flash. But I don't regret buying them, when I need them they are essential. Can't remember when I last used one of my three tripods... And as for bags - I keep hoping to find the ideal bag. I too like non-camera bags unfortunately limited choice especially that will take a pro DSLR. Women have much better options. I have a little cheap and ordinary canvas bag (Spootnic) bought in France, made in China that takes my Fuji outfit, a notebook and pen and all the other bits and pieces. Cost me about $15 No readers, I can read without my varifocal glasses, I am short-sighted so age has come to my rescue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Fave bit is my Plamp - have been using it for years and best value 'cheap' bit of kit I ever got. Worst, or least fave, is my Crumpler Backpack which is used for work where I have to walk a lot. It opens the wrong way, i.e. the side nearest your back is the opening. It tends to lie down on the large pockets which you need access to.... I thought it was well designed untill I started using it......hmmm. I have a compass for my floor plan work, I never use it though.....Google earth is much better IME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I'm no gadget freak, but this is 'the business'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 My least used equipment is also probably a monopod. However, last summer I did four days tennis photography and it was invaluable. In fact I did the first day without it and could barely move my arms afterwards. It will probably stay propped up in the corner until the tennis season now, but I'm glad it's there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I'm no gadget freak, but this is 'the business'... Got one, very useful for landscape format but a bit of a pig for portrait. If I were buying again I might plump for a regular ballhead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SShep Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 RRS Quick release system - easy change from landscape to portrait, and it solves the problem of lens droop with a telephoto in portrait format. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 Notice how this thread is slipping into a choice of equipment we prefer? We've done that 1,000 times. Let's try to aim for non-photographic items that we feel we need while shooting. Shoes? No no, let's not get that basic. But how about the way you take notes? Way back, I used a pocket notebook and a few pens that click-closed securely. Then I switched to a cassette recorder (too big) and then to a mini-cassette recorder. That worked (but as you may have noticed, I talk too much). I tried a digital pocket recorded and then the digital recorder on my iPhone: both were too fiddley with too many steps to preform. Soooo . . . you guessed it: I'm back to carrying a note book and pens. I like the smaller, thinner Moleskin notebooks (good enough for Hemingway is good enough for me). What I actually do now, more often than not, because I'm not traveling anymore, is take one-word notes and look up the place on Google when I get home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Morrison Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 Notice how this thread is slipping into a choice of equipment we prefer? We've done that 1,000 times. Let's try to aim for non-photographic items that we feel we need while shooting. Shoes? No no, let's not get that basic. But how about the way you take notes? Way back, I used a pocket notebook and a few pens that click-closed securely. Then I switched to a cassette recorder (too big) and then to a mini-cassette recorder. That worked (but as you may have noticed, I talk too much). I tried a digital pocket recorded and then the digital recorder on my iPhone: both were too fiddley with too many steps to preform. Soooo . . . you guessed it: I'm back to carrying a note book and pens. I like the smaller, thinner Moleskin notebooks (good enough for Hemingway is good enough for me). What I actually do now, more often than not, because I'm not traveling anymore, is take one-word notes and look up the place on Google when I get home. This is my 'do everything' recorder, which is always in my pocket: captions, locations, ideas, shopping lists, the lot. Very simple: press one button to record and another to play. Couldn't do without it. When I need another one, I look on eBay (generally for less than £5 each). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynn Palmer Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 rain poncho and plastic bag(s) A cheap plastic poncho folded up is tiny in my bag but it's big enough to protect me and the bags/cameras I'm carrying during a rain storm. Not so much now, but I used to carry a large, clear plastic bag for the camera. I would screw the filter on over it cutting through the plastic. I then pulled out the plastic in front of the lens and voilà, a waterproof camera! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted March 9, 2014 Share Posted March 9, 2014 I find most cameras and camera grips too small. My Nikon grips are covered with tennis-racket handle stuff - foam-backed rubber grips, cut to lengths and liberally applied. It looks a bit ridiculous but gives a much more solid grasp and is a lot more comfortable if you've got long fingers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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