The Land of the Thunder Dragon part 2 - The treks

[emydura]

Incredible.
I can feel the vibes from the last image. But my favorite is the one before it. Dreamy sunset.

David, when one does a 30 day trip, how much memory did you bring?
Did you back up images with external hard drive while there?
I know what camera you have, are you using 64gb card?
As for the lenses, please tell what you brought, and what you used the most.

Thanks David.
Killer thread.

Thanks Clark

I love that sunset photo as well for a few reasons, especially the criss-crossing mountain ridges that seem to go on forever. That was close to the end of the holiday and I remember sitting there watching the sunset for a long time reflecting on a wonderful month. I like it from a sentimental reason as well.

I took a lot of memory cards, around half a terabyte I think. When you have a 36 mp camera and you shoot in raw, you fill up the cards pretty quickly. I had four 64gb cards and a whole heap of 32gb cards. They are pretty cheap now. We were also going over to Sikkim and Nepal for another month, so Bhutan was only half the holiday. I did have an external hard drive which I backed some of the cards up to, but the hard drive wasn't big enough to back up everything. Just the important photos.

My camera is the Nikon D800. I took three lens. Nikon 24-120 f4, Nikon 16-35 f4 and Nikon 50mm f1.4. Because of the high resolution, Nikon only recommend a handful of lens with the D800 and the first two are on the list. The one I used most was the 24-120. Its zoom range meant it was a great walk around lens that would cover most situations. A great lens that is very sharp. Excellent quality for the price. It would have been nice to have a zoom lens with more reach but weight makes that difficult. The 16-35 was used more for the wide angled landscapes.

The combination of the D800 and one of those lens makes for a very heavy camera. Carrying it around you neck all day while trekking is impractical and if you leave it in your bag you will keep missing photo opportunities. For this trip I bought the Cotton Carrier camera vest. It is one of the best camera accessories I have purchased. I could walk all day with it and barely notice it on me. With just the flick of the wrist my camera was available for a photograph. You can also get an attachment that enables you to put your tripod plate on (which I bought). Highly recommended if you get a sore neck from carrying a heavy camera. For what it is, it is a bit expensive, but it seems to be the best on the market.

Here is some more information -

http://septicscompanion.com/blog/2010/05/review-of-the-cotton-carrier-camera-harness/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...ier_635_RTL_S_Cotton_Carrier_Camera_Vest.html

I also took a Slik 614CF Carbon Fibre tripod (weighs less than a kg) and a Markins tripod head.

While I'm talking about gear hear is another cool camera accessory - the SMDV remote wireless. It works fantastically well and is only a fraction of the price of the Nikon equivalent - ($70 against $300-400).

http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/rfn-4s-new-favorite-wireless-remote.html

 

[Ozpaph]

David, again amazing photos. Lovely composition and great sharpness.
I use Canon gear and found, like you, that carrying the 24-105mm lens covers most situations. Otherwise all you carry is camera gear!
Thanks for the great tips.

 

[Ozpaph]

Cant you use your iphone as a remote with Nikon???

 

[Clark]

David, thank you for most thorough response.

I'm liking that Cotton Carrier. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Ray]

Both of these threads are fantastic. Thank you for sharing, David.


Ray Barkalow
firstrays.com

 

[emydura]

Cant you use your iphone as a remote with Nikon???

The D800 doesn't have an internal receiver, so you cannot use an iphone with it. But I believe you can use an iphone with those Nikon cameras that do have a built-in receiver.

 

[Ozpaph]

So the D800 doesnt have GPS loging either?

 

[emydura]

So the D800 doesnt have GPS loging either?

No, although you can buy accessories that enables you to collect GPS data. See the bottom of this thread -

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3233644

 

[Ozpaph]

Thanks
Again, great photos.

 

[Ozpaph]

I bought the Cotton Carrier on your advice - very well made and nice fit even for a big guy. Will use it in Tassie in a couple of months time if my wife doesnt think it looks to 'dorky'.

 

[emydura]

I bought the Cotton Carrier on your advice - very well made and nice fit even for a big guy. Will use it in Tassie in a couple of months time if my wife doesnt think it looks to 'dorky'.

You might be forced to walk behind.

I find it useful to keep an allen key in your pocket as the camera mount becomes loose as you use it, so it needs the occasional tightening from time to time.

Enjoy your trip to Tasmania. That is a beautiful part of the world. Are you doing any thing specific or just a trip around the island?