~Gochoco

got the nikkor AF 35mm F2.0 yesterday. mounted it on the FM3a. I'm planning to have this as my walkaround setup. Can't get out for any of that because of the bloody rain.

saw a few Henri Cartier Bresson photos in newsweek today. that dude knew his shit.

got a new new shoulder rig for my gear too. i went back to one after using backpacks for a little over two years. you just can't work out of a backpack on the move. i ca't carry as much gear but the setup works very well for shooting on the go.

hope this fucking rain stops already.

i've always tried to go light when moving around. hauling a boatload of cameras and lenses doesn't really help the creative process. so i'm cutting down.

the new load out i'm trying out is this:

D200
D2H
12-24
28-70
70-200
SB-600
P-2000 (for when 3 gig isn't enough)
extra AA batteries

i don't carry spares for the cameras, the D2H battery gives me more juice than i'll need for a few days worth of casual shooting or a day and a half of heavy use. and with a bit of discipline the D200 has more than enough power for a day's worth of work.

looking forward to getting a 17-35 soon to replace both the wide lenses to further reduce weight.

oh, and all the small items,flash, and extra lens goes into a lowepro belt system with a dropleg pouch.

Got the D2H before the Indonesia trip. Damn, eight frames per second really rocks.

One little caveat, the meter was dead out of the box. Didn't have time to have it serviced before we left but i took it with me instead of the D100 anyway. The D100's been acting up and I'm sensing its impending death. In the end it was about having a camera with a dead meter than a dead camera.

Had the thing serviced when i got back, dropped it off at the store where I got it, Columbia at Glorieta. They shipped it off to the service center the next day and I was able to get the body back in the afternoon four days later. Apparently there's a documented problem with meter death on this particular model so the folks at Nikon knew what to do off the bat.

I think its a good testament to the folks at the service center. Cheers to that. Nikon's been having alot of trouble with service and support, enough so that some folks have switched to Canon, which enjoys an excellent service reputation.

Anyway, shooting without a meter wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. brought home alot of nice frames from the camera. The eight fps helped with bracket shots.

With the meter, the thing is dead on for exposure. Focus is really fast, but not magical as some online posters would imply. I'm still a little nervous about color and white balance. But as with my first camera, the D100, I'll have to shoot more to get a proper feel for it. The monitor is a bit off too, but I'm getting used to it.

Build is beautiful. I hope the rubber grips stay on properly though, Nikon has a problem with those. My D200 grips started coming off less than a month after I started using it. The thing is solid, feels like a rock to the touch. Something I haven't heard alot about is the weather sealing, considering its supposed to be a pro body, I'm thinking it's sealed up to the in yang. Is it as good as the Canon bodies? I don't know. But i've subjected my D100 to light rain, splashes of seawater and its still got the job done. True the D100's been a little quirky lately, but that seems to be more a problem of old age rather than abuse.

Anyway, you'll be seeing quite a few more images from this puppy as I'm keeping on it as much as possible to get all the settings right. And there are quite a few settings on the thing. AF options to kazoo. I've yet to figure out which ones get the best results but the only thing that will solve that is more shooting.

Hope this reaches you all ok.

Cheers and keep shooting

Went to Indonesia with my aunt and cousin for a week and a half. Jakarta, Borobudur, Kuta, and Ubud.

Jakarta wasn't all that special, much like manila but with a whole shitload more motorcycles on the road. Found a nice cable for my portable speakers, took a few pictures, ate some REALLY spicy shit, and had a bit of fun with all the toilet signs in the area. Didn't bode well for the local cuisine.

Borobudur was fun, had a bit of a run there. Great coincidence though. I signed up for a sunrise pass of the place on our second day and a guy named Lama Serri (atleast I think that's how you spell it). The dude was in yellow and red drab which made for really cool pictures.

Kuta was a bummer, Raffy--my cousin--had fun though. First night there we went to a club called Kamasutra. The place had no fucking beer, considering the amount of advertising outside the club for Carlsberg. How can you run a bar and not have beer? I would have gone for the local stuff which wasn't that bad, but a Heineken would have really done the job, it was our first night there and I really needed a beer. Raffy did some surfing and I got some nice beach photos.

Ubud was the highlight of the trip. Great food, lots of choices, and we found a place that would let us order off-menu.

All in all a pretty good trip.

Pictures to follow soon.

Hope this reaches you all well.

Cheers

got a new pack, saw it at a store the other day and i thought i'd give it a go.

it's a national geographic medium backpack

liked the feel. its made of hemp and cotton so the entire thing feels like a domke.

started stuffing it with equipment and was surprised to see it fit all the crap from my naturetrekker II.

my main reason for getting it was the size. i've been having trouble of late with the lowepro on the domestic carriers that i'm always on. the overheads are a little tight for the bag and while getting it in isn't a problem. getting it out is.

so far, the NG's doing great. i've been walking around with it alot and it's suprisingly comfortable. the lowepro's harness system is a thing of beauty but the NG molds to the back pretty well.

the two compartment deal works pretty well. the top compartment hold all both bodies while the bottom one, the one with the dividers takes all the lenses. the numerous pockets hold cables, chargers, a speedlight, and batteries. for serious work, i can throw in another speedlight and a film body.

over all the thing comes out to be alot less massive than the lowepro which is difficult to move around with. the hemp/cotton mix also seems to be treated for exposure but i don't think it'll perform anywhere near as well as the lowepro in inclement weather.

looking forward to travelling with this baby. about the only gripe i have with this bag, if you can call it that, is the National Geographic embroidered on the front panel. it could use a bit of anonimity though it doesn't scream camera bag like the lowepro.

cheers to all! hope this was useful to someone