The main reason to use a belt system is easy access. You don’t have to dig through your bag in search of what you need because you can just spin the belt to the appropriate pouch, grab, and shoot. If you’re in a studio shooting fashion, table top, or even family portraits, it would be pretty silly to use a belt system. But if you’re shooting news, weddings, or any kind of event photography and you haven’t tried a belt system, you are missing out. As a bonus, you’ll have less distractions as all the hot ladies (or gents) that usually accost you for your phone number, hammering you with questions like, “I know we just met, but will you impregnate me?” will be looking the other way on account of you looking like a weirdo with the most futuristic looking, oversized, fanny pack ever created.

Almost as important as easy access is range of motion. Try running from a crowd as they stampede to get away from a suddenly inflamed bride with a messenger style camera bag. Keeping the weight low around your waist and keeping straps off your shoulders, neck, and back, keeps you nimble and in most cases far more comfortable.

In short, camera belt systems from any manufacturer are great for shooting in fast changing environments, but terrible for seducing the ladies.

Now back to the Think Tank Photo modular belt system.

The Pro Speed Belt V2.0 is the base layer that holds everything together. Think Tank makes the most comfortable belt I’ve ever used. This is important as you’re going to carry a lot of weight around your waist (and I’m not talking about that spare tire). The buckles are oversized and hardcore. The belt includes buckle stops so once you get the adjustments locked in it ain’t going anywhere (size creep was a significant problem on another company’s belt system). The belt has a row of webbing on the outside that lets you use the “Rotate or Lock” feature that I love. Basically you slip an integrated plastic piece from the bag you’re adding into the webbing to lock its position on the belt. Or you can loop it around the webbing allowing the bag to slide freely along the belt. It’s great to have that option and be able to switch back and forth depending on the environment and gear you have with you that day.

To hold my 5D mii I added the Digital Holster 20 (they have all kinds of sizes, so take your pick). It fits snug to your body which is great when you are sprinting down a railroad track for no apparent reason. It comes with a shoulder strap for when you want to use it solo. And it’s a nice one, too. There are additional connection points so you can attach it on the front of certain back packs with some extra do-dads (I haven’t done that yet) so it won’t bounce around. The only room for improvement I could find with this holster is the included rain cover. It’s a great cover. But it takes up a lot of space so I usually leave it at home. I’m not sure how they would make it smaller and keep it so heavy duty, but I’ll bet they could figure it out. One of my favorite things about the bag is the zipper bottom that lets you magically add an additional four inches when you want to leave your lens hood in the shooting position or if you have a longer lens. There when you need it, gone when you don’t. Very nice touch.

I never leave home without at least one flash. That’s where the Lightning Fast comes to the rescue. This insanely over engineered bag easily swallows up my 580 EXII. If you take out the padded sleeve you can even get two in there! A small zippered pouch on the front is just the right size to hold four AA batteries. There’s even a pouch on the inside to hold the included rain cover. If there were awards for sexy flash bags (and their should be), the Lighting Fast would be the reigning champ.

The Lens Changer 50 with it’s seam sealed rain cover and easy access pouch for lens caps is a must have for multi-lens shooters. It has a draw string top rather than a flap leaving nothing in your way. It keeps your second lens at the ready so you can do a change over faster than a bride can go from just smoldering a bit to completely engulfed in flames.

The Speed Changer has a handy front organizing pocket for pens, CF card, release forms, and room for more. Behind that is a zipper top padded compartment with movable dividers and a pocket for the rain cover. This is a great bag for holding extra lenses that you want to have with you, but you may not need instant access to. It’s also great for an audio recorder, extra batteries, etc.

The All The Other Stuff bag is perfect for holding your mobile phone, sun glasses, wallet, food bars, zombie repellent, back up zombie repellent, burn salve for the bride, etc. There isn’t any padding in this one, but there are lots of compartments to help you stay organized.

Think Tank Photo Bags are a gear lovers dream come true with extra pockets hidden about. With the multiple adjustments and configurations you could spend days just playing around with it, fine tuning it to match your every whim! They come with a lifetime warranty which Think Tank probably aren’t sweating over as I’ve been pretty abusive to these fellas and they show no signs of giving up the ghost. You can buy them from select photography stores, at Amazon via the links provided, or direct from Think Tank Photo.

Even if you’re not a belt shooter kind of photog keep in mind these bags work great inside of larger bags or even non photo bags to keep your gear where you can find it. And if you are a belt shooter kind of photog you won’t find a better made, more comfortable system anywhere in the universe.

Nice!

————-

*All items were provided for the review without charge by the manufacturer and were tested by author in real world conditions.

INT. BACKROOM OF A SEEDY POOL HALL – NIGHT

Under the flicker of a dieing florescent light bulb, folding chairs form a circle where a group of weathered photographers sit slumped, drained of money, time, and purpose. The room reeks of chewing gum, gaffers tape, and new bag.

ZEKE, mid-thirties, velcro tennies, dirty jeans, and moth-eaten thrift shop T-shirt, for the first time in nearly a year of attendance finds the strength – or is it desperation – to stand and mutter the words.

ZEKE
Hi. My name is Zeke. I’m a bag-a-holic.

EVERYONE
Hi Zeke.

I know a lot of photographers. I mean, like, too many. And there is only one thing it seems that we all have in common. No, not a love for photography, sadly. A love for camera bags. Ever wonder why that might be?

I think there is some cross over with your average photogs gear addiction. But there are distinct differences in my opinion. Heck, everything on this blog is my opinion, so just factor that in. I think part of the gear addiction sickness, at least in its most severe cases, stems from a form of escapism to say it nicely, or copping out-ism to not be so nice. The idea that, “I can start coming up with creative ideas and finding models and making that short film I’ve always wanted to make or that photo series I’ve been talking about as soon as I get that better camera or faster lens or carbon fiber tripod (and if you aren’t lusting after a carbon fiber tripod, you should be—shame on me!).” That excuse is hokum. That’s right. I said, “hokum!” It’s just risk delay. Delaying the risk that the idea, or worse, the photographer might just suck.

There is always better gear out there or soon will be and if you wait until you have it to get to work, you won’t have learned the skills either creatively or technically to do the idea justice no matter how cool you look holding that $5,000 lens that I really, really want. But I digress.

I doubt many, if any, think that a new camera bag will make their images better. So why the unhealthy accumulation?

I figured it out. It’s potential.

A new camera bag isn’t empty, it’s filled to overflowing the all the potential images and adventures that come along with it. “I’ll put my gear in that camera backpack and take star trail long exposure shots at Moab—just me and coyotes!” “That wheely camera bag will join me as I sprint from the Sky Club lounge breezing through airport security to my first class seat next to Scarlett Johansson on our way to that shoot in London. Scarlett, please! Hands! I’m a happily married man.” Lots of potential.

Sure, part of the reason to get a new bag is you need a different size, or you just never got over those quirks in your current go-to bag. But I’ve had enough bags to know that no bag is going to have all the pockets I want in the spot I want them. And if it did, I’d end up changing the way I work in a couple months and then it wouldn’t. If it was just size and usability I’d bet most of the people reading this could have had several bags custom made to their specifications for less money than they’ve spent for that pile of bags in the closet. But that’s not why why love bags, is it? Not because of how they work. It’s the potential of the future work.

Maybe the motivation for your addiction is different. Maybe you aren’t addicted at all (the first step is to admit that you have a problem). Maybe I just haven’t dove deep enough into my own psyche, and the it has something to do with my childhood of living out of suitcases on the run from the law, washing my feet in bus station toilets. Maybe if just invested in some counseling I’d get to the “real” reason. Honestly, I’d rather spend the money on this new bag I’ve had my eye on.

That said, I’ve got an enormous pile of camera bags, some from companies you’re already familiar with, some from little guys I think you’ll enjoy. Just don’t tell your sponsor I told you where to get them. Soon I’ll start sharing with you my unique take on each—their construction quality, usability, style, and most importantly: Potential.

Nice!

Hang on— 1½?

Yep. There is a brand new Strobist Trade Secret Cards (Volume 2) and Vol. 1 has been reprinted to match the new larger format. I won’t get into it too much here as you can read all the details over at Trade Secret Cards, but the general idea here is the original sets from Trade Secret Cards were the size of baseball cards. The new sets are post card size and thickness. They are bound into a book, but they are perforated so you can easily tear them out and take them one at a time if you like with you on your shoots.

Here’s a comparison shot with the new format on the left.

The best part is this larger format are being co-published and distributed by Peachpit (the company who publishes all of Joe McNalley’s books and a million other high profile folks). They are a division of Pearson – the largest educational publisher in the world. That means you can buy them not only online, but almost every book store and camera store in the world will either have them or can order them for you.

A brief description for the people who have no idea what the heck I’m talking about:

Trade Secret Cards is all about giving you the inspiration and tools to help make your photographs the best they can be. It doesn’t take hundreds of pages or piles of complicated theories to take great photographs. Trade Secret Cards uses Micro-Lessons—an inspiring image on one side with simple to understand diagrams, tips, and descriptions on the other side—so you can spend less time reading and more time shooting.

Amazon: Vol 1, Vol 2
Barnes & Noble: Vol 1, Vol 2
Peachpit: Strobist Photo Trade Secrets, Volume 2: Portraits (shipping in a few weeks)
Strobist Photo Trade Secrets Volume 1: Expert Lighting Techniques (ships right away)

Just to make it extra clear for previous buyers of our first set: Strobist Favorites Gallery Vol. 1. Strobist Photo Trade Secrets Vol. 1 has the same information and images as Strobist Favorites Gallery Vol. 1 but has been reprinted in this bound and perforated postcard-size format. Strobist Photo Trade Secrets, Volume 2: Portraits is all new images and information.

Now that it’s all done I hope to have more time to dedicate to getting the blog back up to snuff.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nice!

If you can’t tell from the design of Nice Photography Magazine that I have a viceral connection to items from the first half of the 20th century, you aren’t paying very close attention. 1920′s newsboy hat? Extra, extra, read all about it. Zeke buys it! Two foot fold out brass and wood ruler date stamped 1942? Measure my empty wallet because I just bought you. 1930′s garage sale ball peen hammer give me a boner? Yep. Pardon my French.

I own lots and lots of digital cameras and a fair amount of vintage film cameras, too. But that doens’t change the fact that I want more and what I need is a compact large sensor camera. No, none of the current offerings do it for me. I’ve done extensive testing and they all fall flat with some critical flaw that keeps me shooting with my big 5D mII or my cell phone camera, and on occasion my G9 that is too big to put in a pocket, but not good enough quality that if I’m going to bother I might as well bring the 5D. Feel my pain?

Fuji has done one better, way better in my opinion, in not just bringing in a compact large sensor camera, but it going way back to the past for it’s styling and functionality (lots of manual dials). Word is it’s going to be just under a grand and be available March 2011. Will I buy one the first day it is humanly possible. Oh yes I will.

Does this camera work for you? Depends how you work. Fixed lens (can’t swap it out with another or zoom it) 35mm equivalent. F2. Shoots HD video, too.

Full specks here: http://www.dpreview.com/news/1009/10091910fujifilmx100.asp

Could anything stop me from buying this camera. Only one thing comes to mind: A Canon surprise. Likely. Hmm…. could be.

Nice!

It’s like candy for your workflow.

These are my first reactions to the Radiopopper flash communication extender accessory thing-a-ma-jig. I plan to do an updated review in a few months after I’ve beat them up prison style and made ‘m my flash slaves. The comments are based on my use for just these two separate photo shoots with a total of about 300 exposures.The two images here were taken with the aid of the Radiopopper.

As you may have seen in this video, I received my Radio Poppers last Thursday. First, first impression: Nice and tiny. It came with industrial Velcro and even a slab of gaffers tape. I can just see Kevin (I don’t actually know what he looks like, but I can imagine) sitting there staring through his coke bottle glasses surrounded by tech stolen from area 52, scratching his six-pack abs, pushing his albino dreads back over his horribly super-sized cranium, swearing off food or drink, mumbling to his concerned followers, “No, I’ve still got 3,268 more squares of gaffers tape to cut.” Well, with what these little critters do, I’m afraid you’re going to be cutting lots more of that sticky black stuff.

Bottom line: Radiopopper – it does exactly what it’s supposed to. Maybe you don’t know or understand what that is. So briefly… it makes your Canon or Nikon flashes do what you probably thought they did when you first bought them, talk to each other so you didn’t have to do all the talking. If that doesn’t make sense, go to the radiopopper site and you’ll see what I mean.

They work. Oh, I already said that. I know, it’s frustrating that you have to buy yet another camera accessory to make what you already bought do what it should already have done, but once you get over that passionate anger at Canon and Nikon, you’ll probably want to send candy hearts to the Radiopopper folk.

Now, just to make it clear, I don’t use TTL, ETTL, or ROTFL, I like to shoot manual. So why bother with radiopoppers? Well, now I can put a flash in the shower, in another room, on another floor, in a car, wherever and not have to run over and unpack it to adjust the brightness. I can dial it in all from the 580ex flash on my camera. This saves me a massive amount of creative energy. I can stay focused on getting what I want out of the images and not on running around making slight power adjustments.

Any Popper Problems? Nothing serious. I did notice when I walked with the transmitter on the camera in front of one of the flashes with a receiver, the flash would sometimes drip out a little flash pop. Not a problem, but weird. It was never a bright flash, just an itty bitty one. Every time I wanted the flash to fire, it did. Well, except for once. On one shoot I did find that if I laid the flash on the floor (to shoot under a bed in a room down the hall from the room I was shooting in) the flash would not always fire. It had a blinky link light so popper was warning me that I had found some sort of Bermuda Triangle of a radio vacuum. As soon as the flash was a foot off the ground I got a steady link light. And just to check, the same flash on the floor in another room worked fine. That’s it? No other problems? Well not with reliability. However…

I really, I mean really don’t like that you have to unscrew the cute little bugger every time you want to change the battery. I know, they sip juice like it’s bathwater, but it still makes me coo-coo bananas. Fortunately this is an easy fix. At some point hopefully RP will offer a replacement back cover with a slip off battery cover (PLEASE!). I’m also not a fan of the “Tape It To My Flash” idea. You Velcro the receiver to the flash, but you tape the light transmitting doodad (to use a technical term) over the flash sensor. Uh, you do? Yep. I don’t like it. It works great, but I don’t want to put tape on my flash and worse, every time I want to pack up my flash I have to untape it. That’s not how I do things. UPDATE: I have come up with a SUPER easy mod to fix this issue. You can read how to do it on the Radiopopper Mod Post.

Hopefully this is another thing that will get ironed out soon. Perhaps a little suction cup that mounts the doo-dad to the flash so I can quickly set up and tear down. If they don’t offer one, I’ll have to DIY it.

There’s no way I’m going to finish a gig and watch Suzanne Somers, Gordon Sumner, and Sumner Redstone chatting away about what a brilliant photographer I am, finishing off the apple pie and ice cream in the hot tub with my assistant while I’m pealing gaffers tape off of my flashes. Never again!

I have to give Radiopopper a HUGE “way to go”. They did what suckers said can’t be done. I’ll still use my Pocket Wizards for my studio strobes, but I can’t imagine ever using them with my 580ex flashes again. And I haven’t even started using the high speed sync! More on that in the update. Nice.

Update: Strobist has mentioned this article. And the Radiopopper site now has a page where they are listing reviews of the poppers including this one. Thanks guys!

]]> http://www.nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/radiopopper-review/feed 7 http://www.nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/the-best-pocket-digital-camera-ever http://www.nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/the-best-pocket-digital-camera-ever#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:16:39 +0000 Zeke Kamm http://www.nicephotomag.com/?p=94

I do give a damn.

Red Digital Cinema, makers of the impressive Red One ultra High Def movie camera have announced the more than double high def UNCOMPRESSED movie camera that could fit in your pocket… if you pocket is HUGE. It looks like it’s bigger than a DSLR especailly once you put the extra handles and bits on it, but it’s still a very small package for what you get.

The most important part for me? It’s uncompressed video. What does that mean? It’s like the difference between RAW and JPEG (or film vs. prints). I want to have the most control and the highest quality when I sit down to edit. Don’t you? Capturing uncompressed video is the only way to do it.

SPECIFICATIONS:

• NEW 2/3″ MYSTERIUM X SENSOR
• 1-120 FPS (180FPS BURST)
• UP TO 100 MB/SEC REDCODE RAW AND RGB RECORDING TO DUAL COMPACT FLASH
• 4.8″ LCD
• 8X T2.8 RED ZOOM LENS
• FULL AUTO OR FULL MANUAL SHOOTING MODES
• HDMI and HD-SDI
• FIREWIRE 800 and USB2
• STILL MODE
• COMPATIBLE WITH MANY RED ONE ACCESSORIES
• WI-FI CONTROL

They’re saying it will come out early 2009. So sad. I want it now. The happy news is it’s supposed to come out for under $3000. Sounds good to me.

Now we wait.

Are we there yet?

]]> http://www.nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/the-best-pocket-digital-camera-ever/feed 2 http://www.nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/perfect-bag-for-bogen-compact-lightstand-or-ticket-to-your-funeral http://www.nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/perfect-bag-for-bogen-compact-lightstand-or-ticket-to-your-funeral#comments Mon, 24 Mar 2008 06:43:08 +0000 Zeke Kamm http://nicephotomag.com/photo-equipment/perfect-bag-for-bogen-compact-lightstand-or-ticket-to-your-funeral

Giottos makes a padded tripod case that measures 7″ x 22″ and sells for a cool twenty dollar bill. Must be crap, right? Well about two years ago I bought it figuring, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Well, let me warn you right now: DO NOT EAT THIS BAG!

This tripod bag come light stand bag was just a month old when it watched me marry my lovely wife (sorry ladies). I whisked my wife off to Hawaii the next day for the honeymoon. Long story short, the amount of gear that came with us was a compromise that all parties negotiated to a fair and equitable volume. So 5D, 24-105 L, 580ex, and the things they needed to work took up all the space alloted. Since we were supposed to be on a honeymoon and not a photo excursion, the only other thing I insisted on bringing was one compact light stand and umbrella.

Guess where they slept every night: right, inside the Giottos tripod bag.

Well, Hawaii is Hawaii and volcanoes it turns out are volcanoes. And for some reason it’s a very long walk to see an actual lava flow up close. Very long. Like 9 miles each way long. A 9 mile WALK along 20 foot high frozen waves of glass shards they call volcanic rock. To make an 18 mile romantic stroll more horrifying, by the time we got to the lava it turned out we would be walking the 9 miles back along the rolling death mounds in PITCH BLACK. Yes, night had fallen. We hadn’t eaten in hours. Our mortal coils were in real live danger of being extinguised and picked apart by lizards under a trail of moonlight. Why do I mention all this? Well, despite a lack of drinking water (we had brought two small bottles, but they evaporated down our throats in the first hour), or even a raisin to eat, I did have my camera gear along with my lovely Giottos bag. So, should you ever find yourself in this situation, I hope you’ll recall this camera gear review.

So, how do I feel about this tripod bag?

This bag tastes terrible. I couldn’t chew through the rugged ballistic-type nylon exterior. The over sized zipper is big enough to choke on! There is a place on the outside to stick your personal information under a clear vinyl window in case another foolish hiker should stumble over your picked clean, sun bleached bones and need to identify the body. So that’s nice. There is also a zippered pocket on the inside for small accessories (pc cords, AA’s etc.) just teasing your taste buds to dive in. RESIST!

This bag is sized as close to perfect as you can get to hold the strobist-made-famous combination of light stand (the 6′ retractable), umbrella holder, and collapsible westcott umbrella. I even manage to get a 5 lb. Boa Bag in there for those less than fresh days. But don’t let the apparently waterproof seams fool you, dipping it in a puddle of your own sweat will not improve the flavor. There is an adequate handle in the middle of the bag that hasn’t given me any trouble and a simple shoulder strap that is good enough, but if you load your bag down, you may find yourself adding a padded strap down the road. That is if you don’t starve to death first!

If you’re looking for an attractive, rugged padded bag that doesn’t add length or girth to your compact cool-guy lifestyle, and you’ve got a sawbuck to spare, this could be the sling for your thing. If, however, you find yourself lost on the razor sharp rocks of Mt. Kilauea with a starving wife and nothing but half truths keeping you from giving up all hope of survival, you might be better served wrapping your light stand with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and one of those water bladder things because you can’t drink the bag either.

Available through Amazon for $19.95 or through Adorama for the same price.