I recently wrote about the really nice tripod that I put together, but I didn't talk much about how I arrived at the mix of components I got, nor about how I'll use them.
What to Buy?
Deciding on components is a balance among a lot of things, including:
- Size (how easy is it to schlep, pack in luggage, etc.)
- Size (is it tall enough that you can use it comfortably?)
- Size (can you get low enough to the ground with it?)
- Price (isn't it always?)
- Ease of Use (how easy is it to adjust the tripod's height, where the camera points, camera orientation, etc.?)
- Support (how much equipment can it support, in what orientations?)
Those are just the most very basic issues (there are plenty more), but one thing these points have in common is that, generally speaking, the more you optimize for them, the less stable (more shaky) the tripod becomes. And lest we forget, stability is the whole point of using a tripod in the first place, which is why it's so difficult to put together a good one without compromising.
Other items in the decision-making mix include:
- Education (do you really know all your options and what you're buying?)
- Availability (some components are great, but always seem to be out of stock)
- Expandability / Compatibility (tying yourself to a closed system?)
- Needs (Simple photos, fast-moving sports/wildlife, panoramas, stereograms, with or without flash?....)
- Future proofing (Will it handle the largest lens you have now, or the largest lens you'll likely to have in the next five or ten years?)
- Price (It's worth mentioning twice)
I'm no expert on tripods, so I'm sure that there are plenty more things that I should be listing.
Most or all of these sets of points come into play with each component. For example, I opted for a tall set of legs (Gitzo 3540XLS) because I'm sort of tall myself, but in doing so I gave up the ability to pack it in all but my largest suitcase (and even at that, I have to disassemble it to get it in there). Also, its size makes it trouble enough to carry around without having the added hassle of it being really heavy, so I had to spend more to get a lower-weight (yet still stable) material.
How to Use?
Anyway, once you have the stuff, there are still questions about how to use it....
- If you have a center column, does using it reduce stability enough to matter?
- How important is it to use a remote shutter release?
- How important is using mirror lock up?
- Should you use your lens' image stabilization?
- Should you hang weight from the tripod to add stability?
- How much stability do you lose by extending all the tripod leg sections?
I don't know how to answer these questions myself, but I want to. My next post, Tripod Stability Tests, Part I, looks into the tests I've done to try to find out.
The other day I showed an elderly couple harvesting rice from a small field with a small combine. Rice has been farmed a lot longer than combines and gasoline have been around, and it's still common to see rice harvested old-school style, especially small fields.
While on yesterday's drive into the mountains northwest of Kyoto, we came upon such a harvest, where the rice plant is cut and hung, rice kernels still attached....
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
The Rice Harvest, Old-Style
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Collecting a Rice Bundles
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Bringing it to The Racks
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/350 sec, f/4.5, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanging Rice
(here, “Hanging” is a verb)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 80mm — 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Long Field; Lotsa' Rice
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Hanging Rice
(here, “Hanging” is an adjective)
It's hard to see the actual rice kernels in the shot above, so below is a full-resolution crop from near the center...
Full-Resolution Crop
I'm not sure the exact process, but I'd guess that they're hung so that the rice plant will wither, making it easier to separate the rice kernels simply by shaking it. I don't know.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 17mm — 1/180 sec, f/8, ISO 100 — map & image data — nearby photos
Entire Field
The next field (not visible, behind me in the shot above) was already harvested, but the one next to it hadn't been started yet, so it made for a pretty picture, It think...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/1000 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Harvested (foreground),
Waiting (background)
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/350 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Singin' in the Rain
We went for a drive in the mountains toward the Oono Dam (大野ダム), to enjoy a nice drive and to visit a bread shop Fumie had seen on TV. Sadly, the proprietor was rude and unfriendly which sort of put a damper on the whole thing, but we took our bread and stopped by a little spot nearby to sit in a gazebo and watch some seniors play croquet. Surrounded by rice fields, it was quite a pleasant spot.
It started raining just when we were arriving, so the seniors left, and at some point Anthony decided to go onto the croquet field and dance in the rain.
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 98mm — 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 105mm — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm — 1/400 sec, f/5, ISO 400 — map & image data — nearby photos
Afterwards, we enjoyed some lovely rainbows (although nothing on the order of the amazing rainbow we saw last week).
On the way to the airport at the end of my summer trip to Ohio, we stopped in Ravenna for mass, and I was struck by the amount of history that could be seen in the wall of a building facing the parking lot...
Nikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f/2.8 @ 19mm — 1/90 sec, f/5, ISO 200 — map & image data — nearby photos
Lot'a History
I don't know how old the wall is, but the town was founded in 1799, so it's not older than 208 years old. But you can see several generations in the various brickworks, where windows were added then bricked up, then made into windows again.
I'd guess that the brick arches are from the earliest windows, and that others have been cut into the wall at various times.
Adobe has just released a minor update to its Lightroom photo-workflow software. Version 1.2 includes some bug fixes and support for additional cameras:
- Canon EOS 40D
- Canon G9 (unofficial)
- Fuji FinePix IS-1
- Leaf Aptus 17
- Leaf Aptus 54s
- Leaf Aptus 75s
- Olympus EVOLT E-510
- Panasonic DMC-FZ18
- Pentax K100D Super
- Phase One P 20 +
- Phase One P 21 +
- Phase One P 25 +
- Phase One P 30 +
- Phase One P 45 +
- Sony A700
Unlike the 1.0 → 1.1 update, this free update does not contain a lot of new features other than the support for additional cameras.
I've a number of different posts on (interesting?) Lightroom topics in my Lightroom category.
More information and the free update are available at Adobe's Lightroom site.