Safariwise Australia - Reviews and Thoughts

The following are short reviews of equipment and tools to help you understand photography. Remember that I am offering a personal perspective. However, it is a perspective from experience having owned or used the equipment myself. I also see a lot of equipment used in the field regularly. It is important that you run your own tests before buying any new equipment.

1. Canon
Overall Canon has been and is a great camera equipment manufacturer. They are smart, innovative, progressive and balance their equipment to 'the big picture' of a photographers needs. This starts with all cameras (handling etc.) through to fantastic lenses and very usable accessories. Canon has a very long list of firsts of which the main stand outs for me was the introduction of auto TTL fill-flash with the T90 camera. I bought two in 1986 and it instantly changed my photography. The EOS system was, and still is, amazing in its range from base enthusiast cameras to the top line professional models. Combined with marketing savy - this is why Canon has the largest share of the market.

I swapped back to Canon in 2004 after several years with Nikon. Will I stay with Canon? Who knows. Equipment for me is more about the person behind the camera (using the right kit for them) rather than a brand. I have swapped back and forth from Nikon to Canon four times and feel confident that I could use any brand on the market with the same results. Perhaps too much hype is placed on this facet of photography. The biggest, quickest, best looking - but can you use it?

2. Nikon
Great gear - but they (the distributor & to a lesser extent Nikon) have always been a "little frustrating" to deal with over the years. Late releases of equipment, average back up service etc. Perhaps the release of the D3X and D300 has ushered in a new era? Great lenses, accessories and top line cameras will offer you good working tools. I'm interested ...

3. Tripods
I have been a Manfrotto tripod user for over 20 years. The best currently is the Manfrotto 190PRO with 322 head. Manfrotto offers outstanding quality and versatility in the field. One of my great frustrations over the years is the fact that most customers are sold the wrong tripod - first up. This leads to upset photographers and a slowing down of the education process. Lets not forget the wasted money! I must put most of the blame squarely on the photo retail market. A lack of knowledge from field experience is the key problem. In fact many (but not all) retailers rarely take photos themself! This is an industry problem.

The key for purchasing a good tripod that suits your needs is to find a store with a good range. Or go to www.manfrotto.com.au - and look at weight, how high they rise and how low do they go. If you have specialist needs, do they meet that need? Finally, look at price. What is the good of buying a cheaper tripod that does not meet your needs?

My suggestion is to consider the Manfrotto 190 series (PRO in particular) with lever lock legs and a 322 head. Get yourself at least one spare quick release shoe.

Recently I had the chance to try the Gitzo (owned by Manfrotto) Carbon 6X series tripod. It is excellent! But with the Manfrotto 322 head. I tried the Gitzo ball head and - well, it just isn't me ...

My personal key points for a great tripod are:
1. It must fit in my travel suitcase, with head on.
2. Lightweight, but strong and durable.
3. Flexible to shoot high for my 6'2" frame or down low for the smallest flower.
4. I can set it up fast!

4. Storage Devices & Backup
This changes every couple of years for me. I started with a PhotoTainer. Then a Fortress external drive plus Epson 4500. Now I use 2 Lacie 160GB travel drives. They are thin, light weight and user friendly. The only risk I have is if my computer is stolen or breaks down. You need a computer to run each device. I bank on the fact that I usually travel with several photopgraphers. We would work out a way ...

At home, I run external 1TB drives. One for day-to-day access and back-up. The other duplicates the first every few days or after an important download like a shoot. This means I have a duplicate at all times. If one device crashes, I still have a copy. The most important point is that I do not need to go hunting through, or backing up disks. I can access the drives as though they were a normal feature of my computer. External drives are now very affordable.

5. Computer Systems
Personal choice like your camera systems. However, the key, especially for PC buyers, is to understand that photographers require a far better working system than the average computer owner. Often, a PC store does not understand this! Get as much hard drive space as you can afford with the maximum RAM the machine will take and a fast and 'grunty' Graphic Card. Try to buy a unit that pushes your budget and this will guarantee you a unit that will suit your needs for the next few years.

6. Software
Another personal choice. My philosphy is very simple - KIS - Keep it simple. I use as few programs as possible. This cuts back learning time which can be very time draining, saves money and less space on your hard drive. Obviously I use other programs for web browsing etc. but the following are my work tools:

1. Adobe LightRoom - is my key image processing and data workflow program. The first version is not perfect but the next will iron out a few features we need. Get to know it now as it will be a big tool for many years to come.
2. Adobe PhotoShop - I first started at 2.5 in 1994. I generally suggest to customers to update PhotoShop every second version released. If you can not afford the pro version, PhotoShop Elements will make an excellent alternative.
3. Keynote Speaker - fantastic MAC program for Audio Visuals. I generaly recommend - Pro Show Gold for PC users.
4. Garage Band - outstanding sound program that allows you to work in layers and blend music, special effects and voice to form a very professional sound track for AV's etc.
5. FileMaker Pro - Controls my database of photographers from around the world. I only use it in base form but it is a very powerful tool for adding special notes, collating specific address locations etc.

Lots more programs out and about - but ask yourself - do you need them? Will they make a difference to your work? Apart from the dollar factor, they are time-consuming to learn, this distracting you from the key point of photography - getting out and shooting!

Want to see Darran's work?
Visit WildVisions for fine art photography by Darran Leal.