Posts for: Basil
Dec 22, 2023 02:53:27 #
Orphoto wrote:
Basil, since we are spending your money for you. Take a look at the Williams Optics base for the sky guider pro. Much beefier and solid. Polar alignments are easier and much more stable. I use a 500mm lens and it handles an unwieldy setup with double counterweights much more elegantly. Have fun.
Thanks I’ll have a look
Dec 21, 2023 23:01:14 #
Basil_O wrote:
I would also suggest a leveling base as well if you don't already have one. It is much easier than trying level things by adjusting the legs. It makes panos a breeze. If you are going to spend the money on the tripod, you might as well just bite the bullet and get everything you need at once.
I hear ya! As a matter of fact, the Tripod I'm looking at is the TR344LBL which ships with a leveling base. That's a must have regardless of which tripod I end up with. As for the head, I already have a decent ball head and a nice carbon Fiber gimbal, but have been looking seriously at this for the Astro and Landscape work:
https://www.adorama.com/sughproii.html
Dec 21, 2023 21:19:57 #
Basil_O wrote:
That astro tracker set up looks similar to the one I use. I would agree that your current Sirui isn't the best option, especially in the wind. I would be hesitant to have that much weigh hanging over the center point of that base without a sturdier front leg. The PMG will serve you fine if that is what you intend to use it for. you can always lower the legs to make it more stable. that means a chair or camp stool, unless your knees are in better shape than mine. LOL
That Sirui is fine for a lot of things, but you're right, it's not great for my Milky Way Pano set up. If I'm not doing panos, and just shooting a single frame tracked Milky Way, then I either just mount the ball head on the front of the tracker, or, sometimes I'll use the counter balance arm with a counter weight to balance the camera and lens (I like this method because it doesn't block the center polar alignment scope, which I like to get fine tuned after I have the camera and everything mounted.
Dec 21, 2023 17:05:42 #
Basil_O wrote:
My question for you is this: would you better served looking at the larger 4 series PMG? It's a tradeoff between more weight and a sturdier platform. But depending on what you are shooting with, it could pay dividends.
That's a great question. My current tripod is a Sirui 4-section with upper leg diameter of 28mm. I find this tripod size "ok" for most situations I shoot, but just felt I wanted something a little beefier while still being relatively easy to pack into the back country. I want to have something that is a little sturdier in wind and in water, but don't feel I need to go overboard on the size since I don't shoot with any huge lenses. Most of what I shoot is landscapes and astro (night sky). When I'm shooting night sky, I often use a star tracker, in which case I find the Sirui barely adequate (see picture attached). The PMG 4-series tripods are about 2 lbs heavier than their 34 series and, while I'm sure they are super nice and super sturdy, I just think that size would be a bit of overkill for my needs.
My typical set up for shooting tracked Milky Way panos (Rube Goldberg would be proud)
Dec 20, 2023 14:48:56 #
I am wondering if any UUH folks currently or have in the past used any of the Pro Media Gear Tripods? I've seen lots of video reviews, but those can often be biased (even when they say they aren't). I have a PMG L-bracket with an offset vertical part and I'm very impressed with this piece of kit.
I've been thinking about getting a new, sturdier tripod than the Sirui I typically use for landscapes and astro. I have been intrigued by the PMG tripods, but they are on the pricy side. I'm like to hear opinions from anyone who actually has first-hand experience with the PMG tripods. The specific Tripod I'm looking at is the TR344LBL, but interested in hearing any first-hand experience with any of their tripods and how they compare to other makes, such as RRS and Gitzo (and I know both of those are top tier)
I've been thinking about getting a new, sturdier tripod than the Sirui I typically use for landscapes and astro. I have been intrigued by the PMG tripods, but they are on the pricy side. I'm like to hear opinions from anyone who actually has first-hand experience with the PMG tripods. The specific Tripod I'm looking at is the TR344LBL, but interested in hearing any first-hand experience with any of their tripods and how they compare to other makes, such as RRS and Gitzo (and I know both of those are top tier)
Dec 12, 2023 20:13:37 #
Dec 12, 2023 18:26:20 #
Retired CPO wrote:
I hear you! We were there a couple days before they left and got some nice photos. One day later, they were gone! 
South to where??
South to where??
Mexico. Actually it was probably a benefit they were not there for the sunset shots.
Dec 12, 2023 15:23:43 #
Curmudgeon wrote:
Cool set Basil. Where are all the birds?
Most of them had already moved south. Had we gone a couple weeks earlier there would have been millions of them. They will be back in early Spring.
Dec 12, 2023 13:54:45 #
Dec 12, 2023 12:45:31 #
We went to Bosque Del Apache day before yesterday. I was disappointed in the lack of birds (some Cranes and Ducks and few Geese, but most had already left). Didn't get any good bird shots, but did get a few sunset images.
Dec 8, 2023 18:20:22 #
User ID wrote:
At any capacity, the jump from V60 to V90 is kinda pricey. I always shoot raw + xfine, and usually 45MP but, after checking out the write speed of my cameras, I learned that V90 was faster than my cameras could write. V60 is an exact speed match.
Its usually worth checking out your cameras limits. Lately picked up an a9. Found it writes no faster than V60, and maxes out at 512gb.
Its usually worth checking out your cameras limits. Lately picked up an a9. Found it writes no faster than V60, and maxes out at 512gb.
For shooting individual stills, there is virtually no difference for me. For video, with my R5, no SD card is suitable for 8K or 4K ALL-I (Only IPB) but V60 is sufficient for everything else except 8K IPB 10-Bit which requires V90. Since I only shoot video to the CFExpress card anyway, these limitations don't concern me.
I had been getting V90 cards just because I assumed faster is better, even for stills, and it is - but not that much better. I recently bought a 512GB V60 Lexar card and (I posted about this in a different post) I decided to do a little test to compare performance between the V60 and my V90 cards. What I found was, the V60 cards would hit the buffer on High Speed shooting slightly sooner, but within a half second of the V90. With the V60 I could capture about 67 RAW images before hitting the buffer, while the V90 would capture ~73. The biggest difference was in the time it takes to clear the buffer. With the V60 it took about 14 seconds to clear the buffer, but the V90 wood clear in about 9 seconds. (This wasn't a scientific test by any stretch). Anyway, I concluded that for virtually all of my shooting, the V60 cards are more than adequate and as you said, the jump to V90 is kinda pricey. I still have a few V90 cards, but I think going forward, I will stick to getting V60 cards.
Dec 8, 2023 12:21:44 #
R.G. wrote:
If a card fails you lose everything on it. The sm... (show quote)
I agree with you about the possibility of losing a lot if a larger card fails. There is a definite risk. Even though I've never, in many years of shooting, had a card go bad such that I lost everything, but I do take a laptop with me and backup my images often to an external drive. I suppose it's just personal preference, but I just like having the larger capacity as I like to keep images on the card as an additional backup, at least for a while, till I get home from a trip and get images backed up onto my BackBlaze backup as well. What I typically do is have folders for each month of shooting. I name the folders OCT23, NOV23, DEC23, etc. Probably not the most scientific way to do it, but it works for me.
I just took a look at some of my shoots at Bosque Del Apache and saw that I had in the neighborhood of 1200-1500 shots in a single day. When I shoot RAW, I'd say the average file size is around 45MP, so on a 128GB card I could get at least a couple days shooting without changing card.
Dec 8, 2023 11:00:56 #
I typically use SD cards that are 32.0×24.0×2.1 mm. But seriously, I have a mix of cards. For my SD cards, I have a couple 512GB and a few 128GB. For the CFExpress slot I have 512GB and a 256GB as a backup (these I use for video).
Dec 5, 2023 09:21:00 #
I’m not a Sony shooter so I don’t have a feel for how well your A7riiia is when shooting higher ISO. If it’s anything like my R5 then F4 should be fine in most situations. I shot my niece’s HS graduation with a 70-200 f4. It was indoors in horrible lighting. I ended up shooting at a higher ISO than I’d have liked but the images came out fine.
You might get more noise in those images but Lightroom or Topaz can make short work of that.
Maybe before you go find something like a local church with less that good lighting and take some practice shots with those lenses and sufficient ISO and see how the images come out.
You might get more noise in those images but Lightroom or Topaz can make short work of that.
Maybe before you go find something like a local church with less that good lighting and take some practice shots with those lenses and sufficient ISO and see how the images come out.
Dec 3, 2023 13:14:04 #
I like my Panasonic LUMIX LX100! Great little retro camera that is fun to use and has some cool built in filters. Can pocket carry in a jacket