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Jun 10, 2021 06:34:53   #
ialvarez50 wrote:
Thank you but, do you know if generators create a pure sine wave? Any device like a flash, is very susceptible to the corrent produced by the device. It can be damaged.

In South Africa we do get generators that produce pure sinewave, most generators are manufactured in the east so you will get one in the USA. But pending what type of photography you are aiming at noise can be a problem, generators are ALL noisy! However they are easy to carry or push but you always have to remember to carry enough gas with you and every 50 hours runtime you need to replace the oil. Battery backup is another way to go. Work out how many power you will need for the day or night shoot. This will give you an idea how much batteries you will need, then get a electrical wall charger to charge the batteries or get solar. With solar you need a solar regulator as charger for the batteries. You can make your own battery box with electrical charger input and solar charge input and an output for your sinewave invertor. Type of batteries is up to you as lithium batteries are great but damn expensive. Yes to build a setup yourself is rewarding and can be cheaper than buying. This type of setup are done by many overlanders to power their camping equipment especially in Africa and Australia.
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Apr 30, 2021 10:54:20   #
"I'm in love with Sony A99 - Can I travel with it?" This is a type of question that upsets me, no further info! Sometimes I think people posts to brag regarding their equipment or is bored at home and post this just to get some reaction! That is a great piece of camera so use it when ever possible! I'm now retired and can no longer invest in "fancy" cameras but I know my gear , love them and use them. Travel? No mention of means or where! A few years ago I hiked a mountain for three nights, had a backback stuffed with food, two sets of clothing - cool and warm - a jacket and raincoat. Plus a small light tent, sleeping bag and one of those so called self inflating mattresses. One camera body HAD to go with and one close-up lens and a short zoom plus spare battery! Half way the first day I could feel the weight and at the end of the trail I took 20plus photos and no close-up and only used 1 battery! During 2016 and 18 I went solo on a month trip into the very remote Namibia in my own vehicle with all my lenses, tripod plus mono and all camera bodies with laptop and three USB drives. Main camera body the battery lasted three days and I could charge it inside the vehicle at any time. Took thousands of photos. Around 2014 our family went oversees and I took one body, three lenses and spare battery which I never used as I charged the camera battery every night in the hotel and only used one lens! Came home with under a hundred photos and never used the strobe as well. So, the moral of my story: all depends on your mode of transport, region and nature of your visit! Currently planning for a three month solo trip again to far northern Namibia via my own vehicle and the reason: explore, photograph and experience!
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Jun 22, 2020 11:40:51   #
Nancysc wrote:
I first noticed the use of "image" about ten years ago at a photography workshop. Now I hear it all the time in YouTube videos about photography. Is there a reason for this usage?


I think that thoughts are changing by the years! A photographer captures scenes or memories with his camera and the final product is called a photo. In the Dot Com World today an iminator(?) takes his digitizer to collect images and the output is called images or graphic art! Will we say today we are going on an Images Safari to capture images of wildlife? I’m old school in the Dot Com World! I call myself a photographer, using a camera (digital) to capture photos and edit them on a computer (modern darkroom) and if the work (image as the pc calls them images in the various directories) stays on the pc I still refer to it as photos. MTC.
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Apr 28, 2020 13:41:54   #
A friend recently contacted me regarding some advice regarding photography and computers. He recently retired and has a big interest in birds and insects and finance is also a bit tight. He wants a camera that is better than his cellular to take photos of birds and insects so that he can go back to his home to view and identify the said photos.

We in South Africa is blessed with a large number of LBJ and other bird species and a large selection of insects! He currently lives in a small village surrounded with various habitats. This will keep him busy hoping that this will turn into an active hobby. My advice to him regarding a suitable camera is a hybrid with a good built-in telephoto lens as a DSLR setup will be to expensive, keep in mind we in South Africa pays a premium for cameras and related lenses!

There are many suitable cameras available. Regarding a pc, I told him to forget about a laptop other than a gaming one which is very expensive and don’t even think about Apple, apart being very expensive all the attached things are expensive like a stand-alone bigger monitor! My advice is to build his own desktop with a powerful video card, an i7 with ssd drive with external harddrives to store his photos. He also wants to do VHS transfers to video.

I also do a lot of photography and travel fairly a lot into the wilderness and take an old laptop with me to transfer data from my cameras to portable drives. I thought to do some editing in the bush but the laptop screen is not great. My desktop and laptop are abought the same age: about 15yrs! Bove were expensive new, bought to be able to do video and photography. The desktop I upgraded over the years trying to keep in step with chances in technology but the laptop I could only replace the current harddrive with a SSD but could not upgrade the current memory as the type of memory are no longer available for the laptop, but the desktop it was not a problem!

Over the years I upgraded my desktop monitor which you could not do for the laptop. I prefer to work with my desktop to do photography and at home and use the laptop when I travel with my vehicle into the bush. My 2 cents.
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Apr 26, 2020 15:08:09   #
Quote:
Hello! I’m looking for some advice. I have a friend that lives in Africa and is a safari guide. He has tons of opportunity to take incredible photos, but has never had a “real camera”, only his phone.

I have an old Canon Rebel T2i I plan to give him, and was looking for a decent lens to pair it with. I found the Sigma 50-500, (I wanted him to have ONE lens with as much range as possible), it’s the Sigma Ex 50-500mm 4-6.3 APO lens for Canon (NOT OS).


A fantastic gift! Do not stress about the stabilizing things, he just needs to keep the camera steady. You mentioned he is a guide then that 500mm lens is a problem, too big while he is guiding! A 70-300mm by far better for walking and vehicle guiding.When he is on his own then he can use the 500mm. I live in Southern Africa and is also a vehicle guide and I also take one camera with me and use the 70-300mm a lot for capturing wildlife and the guests. As a photo guide you give 100% opportunity to your guests first and you try to capture the scene through the back of guests heads and shoulders! But when you are alone to can do what you want and with what lens you want, then you have the time for using a tripod.

Apart from the camera and 500mm lense, please try and get a 70-300mm lens as well. Plus a polarized filter, extra battery, 220v battery charger and memory cards and maybe a memory card reader. A vehicle charger is nice but he will not need it as he needs to concentrate on his guiding and I have ever had the need to charge my camera on a game drive!

In Africa, camera equipment is very expensive as most are imported from the USA and currently in my country it's more than 20x the price excluding shipping if I need to import it!!!!

Try and get a manual for the camera, even if you need to down load and print for him as many lodges don't have internet access and internet in general is very expensive overall Africa and guides don't always have the luxury to spend hours searching and reading manuals. Again you are a special person to give such a wonderful gift.
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Mar 22, 2020 15:33:45   #
fjdarling wrote:
Nice job! You will be glad you used a piano hinge - they are very strong for their weight. If I may be so bold, I'd like to suggest you add a washer under each of the screws that attach the handle. They won't look nice, but they will prevent the handle material from splitting around the screw heads. Just a thought.


Thank you for that advice regarding the washer, will certainly do it!
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Mar 17, 2020 17:26:52   #
I do travel a fair amount to the remote and arid parts of Southern Africa for weeks and need to take my laptop with me. The soft bag is not ideal as it does not protect the content as such and as there are limited hiding places for computer and camera gear inside a Land Rover Defender when parking at villages, I needed a strong carry case.

Do have one of those huge, thick and airtight cases but they are far to bulky! Had some plywood in the workshop and made this case. Designed it to accommodate the 15inch laptop, power cables and charger, portable drives and a bag for pens, cleaning equipment, mouse etc.

I am very happy with the final product as it is quite strong as I stood on it to test it if it can hold me if I need a little bit of height to take a photo! The handle is from the original soft bag which I had to retire due to faulty zippers. Although it has about 5 layers of varnish (looks very nice) I do realize there will be scratches due to the rough trails of arid parts of Namibia and Botswana which I don’t mind at all. Was built to protect content after all. It’s slightly heavier than a thick plastic or aluminum flight case and I could not find a suitable locking system. Can lock the Land Rover! Hope fellow over-landers like my idea!

Top view with handle and my engraving effort! "Oupa (Grand Dad) Landy (Land Rover)


The bottom of the case


Side bottom of the case. I used piano hinges.


Open lid reveals the laptop with straps.


Once the laptop is removed there is a board separating the laptop and the contents below.


Once the board is removed there are holding sections for other computer gear.

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Dec 27, 2019 15:24:37   #
When I don't want to show data (like camera data) of my photos, I create a new canvas, drag or copy the original photo to the new canvas and save it with the original file info with ED (edit) at the end. You effectively created a new photo from a clean canvas without any camera or effects data!
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Nov 9, 2019 08:18:21   #
My personal experience are: saw them in action on the water, their accommodation in Kasane and their vehicle operated in Chobe, they have exclusive access to a bunker at a waterhole in Chobe. In South Africa they are highly recommended, have communicated with them regarding a possible tour with them but it's out of my pocket range! They are no fly-by-knight operators even their guides are photographers!
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Nov 9, 2019 06:58:54   #
If you are seriously want to take wedding videos for extra income go for a proper and dedicated video camera with external audio inputs (not introduction handycams!)
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Nov 9, 2019 06:55:55   #
Pangolin Photo Safari Co. is an excellent company catering for photographers but not a cheap operator. They also can supply camera bodies and zoom lenses as far as I know for free. Saw them operating on the Chobe River in their own boat which is well equip for photographers only (with their touring friends) you don't share their boats or vehicles with other tourists. Can recommend them.
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Nov 6, 2019 15:26:24   #
If you won a prize GO! What is weather for a photographer? Various opportunities! You mentioned Durban and a few guys mentioned Zambia, Kruger and so forth. Durban is in SOUTH AFRICA at the bottom of the AFRICAN continent!!!! Personally I don't like Durban, summer, autumn, winter or spring. It's a city along the coast and I don't like cities either. Been a wedding and press photographer for years but today can not photograph people or cities. If you can get away from the city there are many nice wilderness regions to explore. You get snakes and bugs all season so what, you can photograph them!!
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Oct 4, 2019 16:14:42   #
Chris, Africa is a huge continent! The Swahili word safari means journey, originally a Arabic word. Modern times the word safari relates to a journey where you can see wild animals. There are three main “safari” destinations: central Africa eg. Kenya and Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa. Followed by Namibia and Zimbabwe while the latter is currently bit of a problem but more on logistics.

Central Africa is expensive and overcrowded more like a rat race especially during the migration season. Botswana is far better as most of the camps are not fenced and wildlife can walk through and give some tourist the shock of their lives! South Africa has some wonderful parks, fantastic for wildlife photography and experienced with modern facilities with fenced camps or accommodation.

Also there are some good private reserves but at inflated prices however somehow the drivers of the gamedrive vehicles are “allowed” to go off-road or drive off the main track just like central Africa. These practices are not allowed as it damages the environment and drivers can get a massive fine! But suddenly environ “sensitive” from America and Europe with their cameras don’t care and allow the driver to bush whacking and the driver gladly do it because he except a good tip at the end of the day. This is also very dangerous especially in the company of elephants and lions!

Tourists are vehicle bound while animals are free to move the opposite of a zoo. No one, but no one can determine where a lion will be at any given time, after all Kruger National Park is nearly 2 million hectares! Agree, a good guide can read tracks; a guide will do pre-safari research from info gathered by other guides, and time of season and day plays a huge role in sightings.

A good guide will ensure that photographers get the best possible option to photograph any sighting and that is important. Safari is not only about wildlife it also includes various insects, birds and plants, it’s about nature!

If you are serious about nature and really want to capture great photos of nature then you have to go a private safari where you pay for the privilege to be in nature and not pay mega money for fantastic accommodation! The fancy safari operators make their money through their accommodation and offer guest’s two game drives per day and sometimes at additional costs a night drive which is better for experience of live in the wilderness at night than for photography.

The private operator takes his or her guests to the same area if it’s in national parks. A different kind of situation when a private guide takes his guests to a private game reserve in South Africa or Namibia, there he hands over his guests to local guides.

I am a registered adventure tour guide focusing on photography and I don’t care what camera make or type you have as long as you have the urge to take wonderful nature photos. Obviously you will need a camera that has the ability to bring a subject closer – zoom lens. Not from 1000 meters but from 100 meters or even closer from the vehicle. A long lens is not going to help if some of the animals are closer to the vehicle therefore you need a shorter zoom. Around the campsite you will need a different lens to capture the activities.

My camp setup is at public camps, canvas tents, meals around campfire where you are welcome to participate. You will experience a real safari experience as you are very much part of the activities and much closer to nature! In Botswana my camp setup is in public places without any fences and elephant do visit while you are enjoying afternoon coffee! Sometimes the public campsites are huge and you are more than 150-200 meters away from other people!

To sum up, Africa is huge so be more specific where you want to go to! There are various types of photographical “safaris” private versus with other non-hobby or professional photographers that does not have the same urge and patients you might have. “Just another kudu, driver can we move on please!” Then there are the Big Five “hunters” and nothing else counts, a nightmare for those who wants to take photos of wildlife! Southern Africa has more to offer than central Africa!

I shoot with three Pentax cameras with a mix of various lenses by various manufacturers. I stopped shooting video as I prefer still photography. Been in the Television industry for years and used my free time to take guests into southern African wilderness. Now a full time adventure mobile tour guide with the focus on photography, fauna and flora.
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Sep 22, 2019 16:51:21   #
All I can say is: WOW!
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Sep 1, 2019 12:41:35   #
Restoring VHS, as mentioned by others the video colour does not degrade over time however it can be influenced by magnetic fields which for most armatures is rare. You can enhance the colour of the video but you need to be very careful not to over kill it. The more correct term is to colour correct or colour grading.

The following info from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VHS: “NTSC VHS is roughly equivalent to 333×480 pixels luma and 40×480 chroma resolutions (333×480 pixels=159,840 pixels or 0.16MP (1/6 of a MegaPixel)). Compare to today’s digital video cameras it is very low and noisy! However a lot of video material especially home recordings are important for many to share with the family and needed to be digitized.

I’m currently trying to get my setup to work at home to digitize Betacam Sp, VHS and DV tapes for a friend of mine. The Betacam has Component and Composite output and to find a device to convert the signal to digital between the Betacam / VHS machines and my PC is very difficult. There are a few video cards available with either one of the mentioned outputs but some very expensive (currency wise as I live in South Africa) and the small USB devices are really rubbish to use! Needless to say, it’s a nightmare.

A few years ago it was so easy, equipment was available in many shops but with the rapid development of technology they disappeared like mist in the sun. There are some dim light in the tunnel where a friend of a friend of a friend still has a Moja box that was used for the Pinnacle video editing system that can do the job. Just to need time to pay the guy a visit and hopefully its in a working condition!

If you still have a VHS machine with all the cables and a device - analog to digital converter- that can change the signal to electronic fields in order to record on to your PC do it quickly! Thereafter there are various video editing software available to edit and to enhance the colour, some easy and free to use and some more difficult but more professional at a cost.
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