Archive for May, 2008
Bagsutra !
Always plan as “Carry On”, cameras & lenses.
Option 1 : All in One Bag Carry On Approach :
The Think Tank Airport Security ( a roller bag) or, the Airport Addicted which is a backpack. Both these bags will take all of the 600mm with lens hood reversed and then some more. Even though the “Airport Security” is a roller, the weight with all the gear in one bag can be a big issue especially if you have a weak back or, not physically fit enough.
Its about the 8 inches: With the Nikon 600mm if you want to include the reversed lens hood you need a bag which has a depth of 8 inches on one side and a total length of 19 inches the lens itself being 17.5 inches in length.
Here are the Nikon 600 VR measurements:
Length of Lens without Lens Hood : 17.5 inches
Maximum Diameter of Lens without Lens Hood: 6.5 inches
Length of Lens with Lens Hood in reversed position: 19 inches.
Length of Lens with Lens hood attached for shooting: 25 inches
Length of Lens Hood when stored one inside the other : 7 inches
Max Diameter of Lens Hood : 8 inches
Max Diameter of Nikon Supplied Lens Hood Cover: 9 inches
So you can use the Airport Security but then its only for transport in “civilised” conditions and I doubt one can use it under field conditions. Though I guess you can use this to work out of, when in a car or vehicle.
Option 2: The Two Bag Carry On Approach:
How about if we split the load into two bags ? One a backpack say a Lowepro Photo Trekker AW / Lowepro Vertex 300. One could carry all the small stuff in this backpack not including the Lens hood for the 600mm. The lens hood soft black cover from Nikon has a 9 inch diameter. Lens hood alone is 7.75 inches in diameter. Another option is to check in the Lens Hood in the third bag along with your clothes.
The second bag I’d recommend is a, Pelican 1510 or, a Stormcase iM2500 . Both are Airline carry on size hard cases. The Stormcase iM2500 is available at about INR 4000 and, the Pelican should be about the same as well. I wouldn’t bother with the divider set since that eats up the space. What one can do is wrap up ( with bath towels) the 600mm without the lens hood say along with a 300mm2.8 + one body in this case. On the 600 & 300 I will use a lens coat hoodie to protect the front element. 600 hoodie is the XXX model and the 300 hoodie is the X model. Maybe wrap the lens in towels and add a large canvas bag as a backup inside this hard case. Large canvas bag so that when in the field you can use the bag if needed. Additionally if you do get into airport carriage one bag restrictions, you are able to pile in stuff from both the backpack and the hard case into one bag and still board the aircraft with the canvas bag as a one bag carry on. If I was working from boats, a hard case would be handy. The military green hard case in the pic below is the Stormcase. This is the Stormcase iM2500 in which I took both my 600 & 300 on a boat at Mahul. The camera and small stuff was in the Lowepro Mini Trekker AW (the black and green backpack on the left, and the lens hoods went into the grey knapsack on the right). If I had the photo trekker or the Vertex 300, I would have had only one backpack.
The picture below shows the 600VR and the 300mm 2.8 VR lenses in the Stormcase without their lens hoods.
The two bag strategy will reduce weight by splitting the load and, give you the flexibility to also use the bag - hard case combo in the field. Typically in the field, you will mount up the 600 on the tripod and carry the second body with the 300 attached. The smaller stuff either goes into the backpack or the photo vest. The hard case would remain back in the room. I carry a bunch of large plastic bags ( a few always readily accessible in my pocket/ backpack outer pouch) so that if caught out in rain, I can quickly secure my gear instantly , without bothering to put them inside a regular photo bag.
The two bag strategy works really well when you have a non photographer partner along on a trip who usually doubles as your lens caddy 
I dare say, I do know of a few “pretty sherpas” who, are called on to help ( if I may put that mildly that is ) on trips !!!
Besides the hard cases can be used for regular storage since they are air tight. But, all the same I store my lenses in a cupboard where I have a few low wattage bulbs permanently switched on. This keeps the temperature a little high and reduces the ambient humidity thus preventing fungus on the lens.
For the Long Lens Bag/ case, one could choose a Lowepro Lens Trekker 600 or the Kinesis Long Lens Bag or this one Long Lens Bag for Safaris.The reason I did not choose these bags is because you end up with two backpacks and, that gets difficult to manage by one person, say in an airport. But if there are two of you (assuming one of you is traveling relatively light/ is a non photographer) or, you want to carry just a big lens, one body and maybe one wide, the single long lens case is probably the best option.
So two options for the 2 Bag strategy
Option-A : Backpack + Roller Bag/ Roller Hardcase
Option-B : Backpack + Long Lens Case
The “Check In” bag
Of course you will need to check in the tripod, the wimberley, maybe the chargers along with your clothes & toiletries etc. These items will go into the check in bag. You could also keep the large lens hood in this check in bag. If you did that, you could just about squeeze the 600mm inside the Photo Trekker back pack. But now you would have a very heavy backpack.
In the Field:
Typically the 600mm is on a tripod and carried over the shoulder. The second body is sometimes slung across with either a 300 or a 70-200. TCs get into the pockets. On occasions, there could be a backpack with some of the small stuff / with the second body with lens mounted inside.
Here is an old dpreview thread on “Packing the big glass”
If this helps you in resolving some of your gear carting issues or, if you are working any other bag strategy ….do drop me a comment, I would be keen to know !
No commentsWhat else do you need when you get a big lens ?
Lately I am being asked, what else one needs when you get hold of a big 400mm/ 500mm/ 600mm / 800mm lens. So here is my list of typical long lens accessories that you might need.
I am sure there will be substitutes but, for this list, I have stuck to whatever is “top of the line” as of today. So when you plan a long lense, also plan for a few of these essentials in your budget ! I use a Nikon 600mm VR so some of these are matched for particularly to that lens. You will need to find the exact one for your lens for those specific items.
A lot of folks are unaware that when you use a gimbal head like the Wimberley or Jobu or the Mongoose, one cannot mount the lense on the system with the manufacturer’s original lens foot. The Gimbal mounts and also some of the best ballheads like the RRS / Arca Swiss/ Kirk/ Markins have a groove system ( scroll to the pics at the bottom on the link) originally thought out by Arca swiss. The lens foot usually needs to be changed to an Arca swiss compatible replacement foot ( usually a good idea since the replacement foot will lower the height thus lowering the centre of gravity of the lens and hence providing more stability and, also have the groove to fit the Arca swiss quick release system. Alternately you could use a simple lens plate which attaches below the manufacturers lens foot.
Perhaps its a good idea to get the 1, 2 & 3 before you get the lens so that, you can get used to the setup. Much better than fumbling with all the knobs while setting the big lens for the first time !
Ok…here goes the list. You absolutely absolutely need items 1, 2,3 & 4
1.
Sachtler is a favourite with the video crowd and, it has good recommendations to handle a long lens. The leg locking system is unique and, can handled with one hand. Check these links Sachtler-1 , Sachtler
4. Lowepro Lens Trekker 600AW OR Kinesis Long Lens Case .I have a discussion on this very topic in the post called “Bagsutra”.
You will additionally need the following when you want to use a flash with the Wimberley.
Bean Bag Prototype for Lens Support
I sat down and drew up a bean bag design and got a “Prototype” stitched. Here is how it looks as of now.
No fancy material, just out of thin cotton as of now just to get the things right. Final colour would be dull Khaki/ Jungle Green/ Camo and material Nylon/ Canvas/ Rexine and a combo of sorts. Bag was filled with Rice just for this one time Eventually will use for poly/ plastic beads as fill in.
On the left is as seen from the outside , Right pic is the top of the bean bag. Lens would be laid from right to left with reference to the top view pic.
The bag would straddle the car window like pic below.
Couple of things I need to modify
* Broaden the width of the top
* Move the Zipper to the bottom
* Give the top a curvature to cradle the lens along the length
* Engineer a removable strap to hold the lens securely to the bean bag.
4 commentsSnipe-r Snipe-r Snipe-r !
Scooted off to Uran today along with Adesh Shivkar. And we got them Snipes…tons of them ! Well, first off we got this Wood Sandpiper takin a morning dip
First The Female Painted Snipe and on the Right is the Male.
This here is the Common Snipe.
Then there was this wonderful Spotted Redshank in full Breeding plumage
Got a whole lot more which you can see by Clicking Here
Babel Fish - Flying Fish !!! - Mahul, 1st May 2008
We made a trip to Mahul to watch flamingos from the boat. Rakesh and Tushar joined in for the boatride. I carted both, the 600 F4 VR and the 300 F2.8 VR in a Stormcase iM2500. Both the lens hoods were in a separate knapsack. Rakesh used the 300 2.8 today.
Boy it is tough handling the 600 but, all my gym efforts paid off today! No tripod on this shoot…but took along a cushion to use as a bean bag. For short instance you “could” do a 600 handheld . Also, I used a TC 14EII for the first time today on the 600.
For few of the flamingo shots, we transferred into a small canoe. The canoe can only seat max three ( one behind the other) including the boatman who is the paddler at the rear. The tide was coming in and the water was choppy. There was a steady some 12-15 knots South Westerly breeze as well..indicating the monsoon approach next month. The South West monsoon breaks over Mumbai usually on the 1st of June. I sat in the centre of the canoe , pulled my knees up, put the cushion on my knees and rested the 600 on the cushion and shot for almost an hour. Not the best of positions but thats the only thing that could work on a bobbing small fisherman’s canoe.
Yes got a little splashed with waves, but thanks to Adesh’s tip had, carried a towel for just that possibility. After I got back home I wiped down the lens and camera with a damp cloth, blow dried it with a hair dryer and stored them away in the air tight Stormcase after refreshing the desiccant ( silica gel).
Here is an interesting Flying Fish Shot, HSC mode and shot a long burst in the general area the fishes were jumping . BTW Bable Fish is the exotic translator from the Douglas Adams “Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”.
“The practical upshot of all this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any form of language.”
—The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams.
A word about the Mahul jetty. We saw a bus load of flamingo watchers organised by some tour company at Mahul. What is a complete let down is that they dispose styrofoam plates righ besides the jetty. Wonder why the locals cannot enforce some cleanliness. So much for the eco tour operator. Now that was a complete let down. It is a rather quaint village and, it has potential to get on the tourist map.
To see all the pics from this trip Click Here
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