As I continue to pack (mentally) for Nepal, Bhutan and India before departing in 11 days, I have the good fortune to have a number of fun items to test while on the road. Because of my writing gigs with Digital Photography School and TutsPlus, I often have the opportunity to test photography products and then write about them before often sending the item back. While it is work to actually test things and think about how to write something intelligent about the experience, it’s still fun. On this trip there are a number of products I will be playing with.
Pentax Optio WG-1 GPS
The fine folks at Pentax are lending me this newer point and shoot that is all ruggedized, perfect for this trip. I have only had it for a day to play with, but having GPS (and an alarm!) will be awesome. The camera is crushproof, coldproof, water proof to 33′ for 2 hours and dust proof (which is kinda redundant, since, if water can’t get it, neither can dust). It’s proof. And it feels good in my hands. It will take me a bit to relearn using zoom in a different location than my trust Canon SD1300 IS, but it looks like it should fit the bill.
Sabrina and I have been playing with the smile detection technology and it’s kinda fun. The camera waits for you to smile before shooting. It also has a super close Macro mode as well as a self portrait assist mode, where it can show you how you are framed when holding the camera out for a self portrait. Looks to be fun. Have I mentioned fun enough? The GPS can pull down the batteries so I bought a travel charger, because the charger with the camera is actually bigger than the camera!! It has a cord and that will not work when trying to pack light.
Eye-Fi Pro X2 wifi SDHC card
After finding out I will have the Pentax WG-1 GPS to test, I contacted Eye-Fi to see if I can wrangle a card of theirs. It will be an 8GB card and if you don’t know about Eye-Fi, the idea is pretty cool. The card has a wireless transmitter and can be set up to use wifi to transfer pictures to the internet (and shared out to the likes of Flickr, Picasa, Facebook, etc…), to your laptop and apps for the iPad, iPhone and Android. I am a bit skeptical how it will work on the road as I will have to set it up with new wifi credentials each time (it’s meant to work best at home, where it already knows the network info and password), but the Pro X2 version comes with support to use AT&T’s network such as at Starbucks and the like.
Still, I’ll be in some remote areas. One feature I do like is ‘endless shooting’. Once the card knows it has transferred files and they are safe, it will then write over them without you needing to format the card. I have big hopes for this card with USA based travel, but we’ll see how it does in Asia.
Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye Lens
The fine folks at BorrowLenses.com are lending me a fun and new (to me) lens to write about. The Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye lens is intended for crop sensors, like my Canon 7D, and will show a circle view inside the normal rectangle sensor area. It covers 180 degrees and as fellow photographer Jim Goldstein put it “…avoid getting your feet in the frame by accident. Very easy to do! “. I look to play around with this lens in different situations and to see how far I can push the usefulness of it. It’s a different look on the world and I’m thankful for the chance to try it out in such diverse locations!
Rent the Sigma 4.5mm Fisheye Lens from BorrowLenses.com
Western Digital My Passport Essentials 500GB Portable Drive
This little device was my own purchase. I want something to backup photos while on the road. I considered a ruggedized version, like the LeCie 500GB unit, but in the end the price point was a deal breaker. Maybe I’ll regret my decision, but, for me, as long as the drive parks the head away from the discs while not powered on, there should be little hard impacts on this trip. Hopefully. My plan is to keep my cards with the original data on them and then backup to this drive, through a computer.
Originally there were other items on this list. The tripod was not shipped in time, the boots rubbed but only on one foot (I did not try them on before having them shipped), the time-lapse camera is just too big and the f-stop Gear will not arrive in time due to being held in Customs. So is the way of gear testing.
I hope to have the tripod and bags to test in Peru in November. Until then, the above devices make for more than enough to play with.
The Pentax camera looks cool. I’d be curious to see the image quality.
I’m using the Eye-Fi card with the Pentax now and having it auto post to Flickr and Google+
https://plus.google.com/photos/116329861123872939292/albums/5653056691764369041
That album will grow as I have it post automatically, so that will give you a good idea of unedited images. It’s only uploading 1024 though, to save bandwidth while traveling next month.
Hi Peter… sounds like a great path is ahead of you, I am sure you will take it all “in” throughout the many facets presented to you. I use “Goal0″ solar on the road. They have many different packages depending how much room you have. (!!!). I use my smart phone (Incredible X2) to write everything with the “evernote” software which synchs with my laptop. The phone is easy to recharge, the batteries last a long time anyhow specially off line. I have been using my PC now only for photos and publish my Journal. Just a thought.
Be well… Always.
Ara & Spirit
Ara! It’s great ot hear from you and to see you are still on the road. It’s been a while since I checked in on you and I appreciate the comment.