The Wilds of Utah accessories review.

[Mallee Boy]

The Marc Langille "Wilds of Utah" workshop bought together 8 people (6 males & 2 females) from three countries across two hemispheres, and with them came a variety of equipment.

All participants bar 1 flew in so equipment weight and portability were factors, along with durability, ease of use, comfort and practicality.

In this thread each of the participants is invited to give their views on the their equipment with respect to the above parameters (along with any other comments they wish to make).

This thread is offered in the spirit of helping others with first hand, 'in the field' experiences.
(It may take a day or two to complete these reports so please be patient & no doubt they will be added to as we go along).

[daacon]

To start us off here are few of my thoughts.

Luggage - Lowepro CompuTrekker Plus AW Camera Backpack fully loaded about 35lbs Carry on. The trick to this is keep the front zipper compartment as flat as possible. I stored the flash diffuser, rocket blower, extra batterries ,etc in my check-in luggage and transferred to the bag once we arrived.

One Check in Bag it was 47 pounds (tripod ,ball head , and a bottle of Baileys haha were in there) - the luggage had two compartments which was nice the upper had shirts , socks and stuff, the lower had the pants , extra shoes (not needed) and the tripod and ball head. An earlier model to This Roots Bag

One 17" Dell XPS Laptop Carry on

Took a puddle jumper from Edmonton to Salt Lake - Camera bag was no where close to fitting in the overhead , however it fit comfortably under the seat.

Airline (Delta) allowed two free check in bags, as we found out later (and fixed) overweight bag was $150.00 US extra so make sure. They may only weigh the bags one way (ie: on the way back) so check with your carrier and be prepared to move stuff if need be or have an extra bag - all of this is airline dependant - Delta allowed 50lbs per pag - I have flown charters where it is 2 free bags but 20 kilos (about 44lbs) total so make sure you know.

Interesting fact - cuticle clippers or a nail file may be not allowed through security as a carry on - however a 9lb steel tripod is not a problem ....sheeeeeesh

If you need a car reserve it. Who would have thought on a Wednesday, mid September in Salt Lake all the car agencies were sold out !! Luckly we had a reservation and more importantly they actually kept it (it's a Seinfeld thing)

This is for Canadians mostly - I am with Telus - Cell Phone Plan - my carrier had about 4 International / North Amercian options all confusing as heck even the agents I talked to were not sure of what was included and what was not. After about 40 minutes on the phone we finally figured it out. I paid an extra $40 for 60 minutes in the US all in, this was a montly feature that had to be disabled when I got back, otherwise I would keep paying it. This was all in no additional roaming, long distance , anything charges. When I got back I simply phoned them , told them I was back in Canada , cancelled that feature and I was credited $33 of the $40. I had no reservations using my phone. This is only an issue of course if you are international , the point is read carefully there are some plans to get ya (for example initially I wanted a $15 for 100 North Amercian minutes .... turns out that plan was only good for calls orginating in Canada .....fine print is key). And of course in Canada we pay way more and have less choices (it's the population thing).

I also have 4 of those two way radio's John brought some. I should have brought mine. With at least two vehciles eveytime, sometimes 3 and people stopping all the time at various places, and when we all stopped some wandered futher than others , it would have been a great way to keep in touch. I use them in Mexico all the time, just forgot about them for this trip.

I love music so I brought my ipod and radio adpater. Radio stations come and go and it was nice (for me anyway haha) to be able to listen to the music I liked all the time.

Utah Capitol Reef Analysis

Camera Gear

Interesting statistics – I kept (so far) 444 shots (I have another 100 or so unprocessed) the break down for me is:
DA 10-17 - 2.5%
DA 12-24 –50%
DA* 16-50 – 32%
Sigma 105 - 0.5%
DA* 50-135 - 9%
Tamron 70-200 – 6 %

Leave the Bigma at home - long glass not required - even if we saw some wildlife 98% of the shots were landscapes. 70-200 would be enough (with a TC) The DA 10-17 statistics will go up a bit as I would say one third of the unprocessed shots were with the fisheye

Macro - we did not really do much macro work - no real need for that.

Filters - after seeing the Conklin set up - preferred that to all the Kenko pro screw on filters I had.

If using a screw on filters, have a dedicated CPL for each lens screwing, unscrewing wasted time, finger prints and dust.

Grip head - wish I had one - ball head was ok, but with wide lenses (I.E. small and light) the grip head seemed so much more efficient.

I puposely bought a wider, padded neck strap from my K20D - it was $30.00 well spent much more comfortable walking around. It was a Lowepro Transporter Camera Strap

Tripod – the heavy Manfrotto 055XPROB I had was not an issue - however we did not go on any long treks , I was worried about it , but it was fine. Still may look at a Carbon Fibre one just for overall luggage weight alone (my Tripod and Ball head the Cullmann 40200 came in at around 10lbs).

Had over 70GB of cards was more than enough – there was not one day that went by that I filled up a 16 GB card and I dumped the files every night to my Laptop and an external drive just in case.

Brought a flash and a difuser never used it , probably could have in the cave and some places , but there were not that many - so it was not as important as I initially thought.

Other Gear / Tips

Flashlight was key - I thought we were going to do some fancy sky writing and long exposures little did I know it was so we did not trip over things in the dark! I liked the green LCD pen light.

Loved Marc’s backpack and will be purchasing one A Naneupro K4L. What I liked is the compartment to store non camera stuff (clothes, snacks, etc) and it was big enough to also throw in a 70-200f2.8 if need be. The lower camera department really made you think about what to bring. Also being on the tall side, all the weight rested on the hips / butt , was very comfortable with 30 lbs. The tripod holder was the best. It held mine securely and out of harms way. Much better than my bag. Here is a shot of Marc wearing it The man and his backpack

Should have brought a smaller bag for those treks where all my gear was not required. For example I have a Crumpler 7 million dollar bag that would have been perfect for some of the treks ,. Leave the LowePro Compu Trekker AW+ in the vehicle and load up the smaller bag for walks.

Make sure your bags are well marked in case you have the same bag as someone (Jim and I had identical backpacks)

The straps Gary had RS-5 version of the R-Strap and a The RS DR-1 Double Strap (did not try the doube strap , John did will let him comment) were nice for a shoot out where a tripod was not required. It is a great walkabout strap. It screwed into the tripod holder of the camera , so it was a PIA to take off and mount the quick release plate.

Good sunglasses a must , highly recommend polarized lenses, along with the idiot string to hang them around your neck for quick taking them off and not worry where to put them as you look through the viewfinder.

Hat was key kept the mid day sun off my baked balding head haha.

Water proof shell or pouncho was handy.

Bring something (Computer, storage device) to back up your photos daily, dump the card(s) nightly.

There were way less bugs than I expected not sure that was fall related or that environment was just not suited for them. Long sleeve and bug spray not really required.

Good Boots were key - not so much we did miles of walking, but were on our feet most of the day. (I am a desk jockey by day.... )

Bring Water - bring enough for everyone. Day 1 we did not have water - thankfully John and Rhonda had enough to share. Next day we bought a case and shared with everyone.

Tempatures (F) ranged from about low 40's in the morning to as high as low 80's in mid day. Personally these were comfortable for me , but the low 40's can be cold if you are not accustomed to ohhh let's say -40 below haha (C and F meet there). Anyyway layering clothes is a good idea and a few us had that pants where the bottom of the legs unzip to make shorts. Good idea.

We could have done a better job of coridinating car rentals. We had 3 4 wheel drives (rentals) and Gary had his own. With 8 of us , only two 4 wheel drives were required , could have saved some money there. (we still needed 3 rental vehicles however only 1 4x4 was required )

Insure your gear - n'ough said

Get the 'walk away' insurance on the rental car (we did that was an extra $30 / day but well worth it, we did not need it , but it just saves so much hassel if you DO need it) ha-ha returning ours (even without the pre inspection) - they did not even blink with all the caked on Mud and that mark on the quarter panel that was there before, but there was some concern I was going to have to fight them on that one (becuase we never did do a pre inspection ) . IF you don't opt for the insurance make sure you have a comprehensive Pre Inspection report.

[skinja]

Great ideal Grant, sorry I didn't respond to your PM.

Dave what camera strap did you buy? not sure I looked at it. Great information in your list. Make and Models of the stuff you really liked and or the stuff you hated may be helpful.

I will get on my list here soon. I will say, I really liked the double sling harness that Gary brought and I will provide that info in my equipment list.

[Mallee Boy]

Camera case / bag:
Initially opted for a Storm case which I intended to check in, over my well travelled Delsey Pro Backpack which has a nett wt of 4+ kg, making the 7kg carry on allowance a challenge with 2 bodies and a laptop to pack.

Then I came across a Delsey Go Pix backpack bag, nett wt was 1.35 kg, which carried the following:
K20D, K200D, Tokina 235, DA 17-70, DA14, DA 21, FA 43, Tam 70-300 & DFA 100. plus the Mac book.....and I was a touch over the 7kg...so no arguements pending with over zealous airline staff having a bad day.

The Delsey Go Pix is a basic bag, but gets the job done efficiently, the only downsides I found were the very small bits & pieces pocket was fiddly to get into and when hiking, my back soon got wet as the back padding was not 'raised' allowing ventilation, not a big issue, other than that it was very comfortable and functionable.

I had cause to use the rain cover provided which worked well and went on quickly.

I will endeavour to post some pics of the bag.

Tripod was the Manfrotto 055DB with the 222 Joystick Head. It worked, but I find the 055DB bulky....love the 222. So I am on the hunt for a Carbon Fibre or the new aluminum tripod with certain portability features that I can expand on later(initial research says this will not be a cheap exercise) .

Like Dave I packed the flash and never took it out of its case.

Backup: My system was to download to the Macbook each night and in turn back that up to a WD portable drive. I only had to recycle one 8 gig card, so had that as a back up also.

Monopod I could have left home as the tripod went everywhere.

Will add more to this later via edit.

Lens useage: approx
Tokina 20-35 f2.8...50%
DA 14 f2.8.............15%
DA 21 f3.2..............15%
DA* 200MM.............5%
FA 43.......................5%
Schneider 50-200....5%
DFA 100 & Tamron 70-300....the balance.
Dave's 16-50 also used, sadly had to return it, great lens.

Anne: Pentax 17-70... 99.9% (think she did try the Tamron for a couple of shots).

Torch: never gave this much thought, I purchased a small maglite for the trip which was next to useless for what we did. On the lookout for one those pen lights that Marc had....they were great.

Clothes: I'm a fan of Columbia and Gondwana brands, materials are moisture wicking and quick dry, cool & comfortable...with lots of pockets. Also found myself using my 'vest of many pockets' a lot, weather permitting.
As Dave said, footwear very important and the hat, dont forget the hat!!

Filters:
Reading Dave & Johns reviews reminds me. I was not a big fan of filters, but having now been instructed in their proper and approriate use I see the need (or is it the light ?). I'm not convinced on the Cokin sytem but will keep an open mind. I am inclined to go with the "filter on each lens" approach as I too found it fiddly and time consuming to be changeing filters from one lens to another.

[daacon]

Nice review Grant, that is also one of the things I liked about Marc's bag - very well raised shoulder blade and lower back cusions to allow good ventilation on your back. Funny on the monopod , that is about the only thing I think I left home (and I struggled with that haha). I have updated content in my review as per John's suggestion and some more things I thought about.

[skinja]

Hi all, Like the rest of the group, I way over packed for this trip. Here is what I brought with me and anything I used will have notes next to it

Pentax K20D, 65% of the time.
Pentax K10D, 35%

Pentax DA* 16-50, 55% of the time, I really like this lens! I did have to send the first copy back, but it was worth the headaches.

Sigma 70-200, 10% very pleased with this lens

Sigma 10-20 30% of the time, another lens that will never leave my kit.

Tamron 28-75, 5% I would have used this more but I didn't have it with me most of the time. I would go off on these little walks with the 10-20 on one body and the 16-50 on the other. The other reason is I didn't prepare well enough for this lens, no CPL and no adapter ring for the Z pro.

Giottos MH 1300, I really like this ball head, much better then my previous two.

Dynatran AT-CF92, I'm very pleased with this cheap, light carbon fiber tripod. I have had this for two years and it has never let me down. I was concerned with how it would compare with some of the others on this trip, I almost replaced it. I am glad I didn't.

Pentax Grip D-BG2, It's nice, it's cool, but I took it off after the first day of the work shop and never put it back on, just didn't need the extra battery capacity for the type of shooting we were doing.

Conkin Z pro holder with a variety of Hitech 4x5 and 4x4 filters, I really liked this set up it was easy to use and convenient, Just be aware if you mount the filter holder to a CPL and then to the lens you will get some vignetting at wide angles like 10mm on the 10-20 and 16mm on the 16-50. it was usually in that 5% of the view finder that you don't get to see, but shows up when you upload. I think I could have avoided most of this problem had I used an ultra thin CPL.

CPL I would recommend one per lens, I can't count the number of times I switched between one lens to the other

Lacie 250 gig HD
Apple Lap top

42 GB of various cards. Filled everyone. backed up every night on to the lap top. I waited until I got home to load all the cards on my home computer before I deleted anything.

Gear that I took with, that I just didn't find the time to use. I think I needed another month or so.

Pentax FA 31mm
Pentax FA 50mm
Sigma 70MM Macro
Sigma 50-500
Tamron 18-250
Lens Baby 3-G
Manfrotto 680 B
Pentax Flash AF-360FGZ
Vivitar Flash 285 HV

Hope this is some help.

[Mallee Boy]

Originally Posted by daacon

Nice review Grant, that is also one of the things I liked about Marc's bag - very well raised shoulder blade and lower back cusions to allow good ventilation on your back. Funny on the monopod , that is about the only thing I think I left home (and I struggled with that haha). I have updated content in my review as per John's suggestion and some more things I thought about.

Thanks Dave.
I used the monopod around the Nth Rim, but more as a hiking pole than a monopod. Its something that I would consider carrying depending on where I was going. The little Gitzo is a beauty.

[daacon]

Originally Posted by Mallee Boy

Thanks Dave.
I used the monopod around the Nth Rim, but more as a hiking pole than a monopod. Its something that I would consider carrying depending on where I was going. The little Gitzo is a beauty.

Good point I need to get use to it not very steady takes some pratice. And as a sidenote when I said I am a fan of the Conklin Filters it was for the ND not the CPL - The CPL I am a fan of the thin screw on - I just need to get a couple more 77's.

Be interesting to see what Jim thinks of that SingRay Color enhancer he bought. That was a pretty penny

[Mallee Boy]

Personally I found the wide array of gear on show on the workshop quite interesting and helpful in comparing your own gear against others.
One of the things we have changed as a result of the trip, that others may find useful.

Anne (Mallee Girl) used an older aluminium tripod with a manfrottos ball head. She found the tripod heavy and awkward to use, and jammed her finger a number of times on the ball head.....so that was for up for review!! (believe me...break a nail and its war!!! )

The tripod she chose after trying out quite a few was the Slik CF 713. While it comes with a Slik panning head, she was after a pistol grip head and did not like any of the Manfrotto offerings, finding the trigger pressure too hard to operate (something we mere males we wouldn't consider as a problem). There was a Slik tripod & pistol grip combo on the workshop that had caught her attention and she was unable to come up with anything better.....so it just goes to show the "power" of this type of thing when it comes to marketing.

After a bit of searching she was headed again down the Slik path when we came across the Tristar PG 01 Pistol Grip head....which looks like a copy of the Slik to me, even the quick release plates are the same....but a lot cheaper.
Time will tell if its "cheap & nasty" or just cheaper.
Cheers
Grant
PS: I should add the CF 814 was also a very impressive tool....and more my size

[Lowell Goudge]

It's funny, when I look at the list of equipment.

My only visit to Utah was to Zion, Bryce, and the Grand canyon in 05. I took SMC-FAJ 18-35 F4-5.6, SMC-FA 28-105 F4-5.6, Sigma APO 70-200 F2.8 EX and Sigma APO 1.4x EX TC. (anyone who knows my current kit, knows I have upgraded the wide and medium zooms significantly since then)

Carried *istD and PZ-1 bodies, with the PZ1 used only with the SMC-FAJ 18-35 for really wide angle shots. This would be same FOV as someone using the 12-24 mm on a DSLR.

Also took AF500FTZ flash. No tripod

What I wish I had taken was my SMC 300 F4 and 1.7x AF TC, because 280mm just was not long enough. I still managed to get a lot of wild life shots in the early morning, all done with sigma lens and TC plus flash.

I am surpised here no one who has yet posted took/used any long lenses.

p.s A tripod also would have been handy but no room

[Mallee Boy]

Hi Lowell,
There were a couple of Bigma's in bags, I left the Sig 135-400 home and took the Tammy 70-300, and it rarely saw daylight.
We really didn't have occasion to reach for longer glass...I can't recall seeing any wildlife at all, and I think we were totally mesmerised by the red rock formations anyway.

...now, when we go to Yellowstone that is going to be a whole different story.......
Cheers.

[Marc Langille]

Originally Posted by Mallee Boy

Hi Lowell,
There were a couple of Bigma's in bags, I left the Sig 135-400 home and took the Tammy 70-300, and it rarely saw daylight.
We really didn't have occasion to reach for longer glass...I can't recall seeing any wildlife at all, and I think we were totally mesmerised by the red rock formations anyway.

...now, when we go to Yellowstone that is going to be a whole different story.......
Cheers.

Agreed! For Utah, my FA* 300/2.8 came on the first trip and I left it home on the second trip. No need for it where we were photographing!

Grant is correct about Yellowstone: it will definitely be a variety of UWA to longer telephotos in use.

BTW, I am writing up a review of the K4L plus a summary of equipment used/reviewed which I'll post after I give my Utah trip/workshop presentation tomorrow night for the photo society.

Regards,
Marc