Photography Bay

Digital Camera News, Reviews and Tips

Gitzo G-1560 Monotrek Monopod Review

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Gitzo G-1560 Monotrek Monopod

The Gitzo G-1560 Monotrek is a lightweight monopod and hiking stick combo.  It has a small built-in ball head with a plastic cover for the head when not in use.  I recently took it with me on a 9-mile hike along with the Think Tank Photo Rotation 360 backpack.

As a hiking stick, it works well.  I generally don’t hike with such a stick, but I could be persuaded to making it a more regular practice.  I found that I really used the Gitzo G-1560 on inclines, which turned out to be quite a bit with over 2900′ elevation gain on the trip.  The grip and wrist strap are comfortable and caused no problems for me over the course of my 9-miler.

At 1.0 lb, the Gitzo is a little heavier than some of the other top-rated walking sticks out there, which are commonly in the 10-11 oz. range.  I figure that most of the difference, however, is a result of the small, yet effective, ball head that comes with the G-1560. [Read more…]

 

Manfrotto 190XB Tripod and 486RC2 Head Review

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Manfrotto 190XB Tripod and 486RC2 Head

The Manfrotto 190XB is a 3-section aluminum tripod that carries a reasonable price tag around $130.  The Manfrotto 486RC2 tripod head is a ball head with a quick release plate that runs about $75.  The 190XB and 486RC2 is an everyman’s kind of combo.  It’s not as light as the Gitzo Traveler 6x carbon fiber tripod; however, it gets the job done almost as smoothly. [Read more…]

Think Tank Photo Rotation 360 Camera Backpack Review

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Think Tank Photo Rotation 360

The Think Tank Rotation 360 camera backpack is a pretty amazing contraption. It’s a new take on the camera backpack concept.  We’ve seen sling bags and other variations on the backpack.  As far as I know though, the Rotation 360 is the only one that lets you keep the backpack completely on your back while retrieving your camera. [Read more…]

PhotoFast CF and SD Cards Review

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I have been using a few memory cards from PhotoFast over the past few weeks alongside my usual mix of Lexar, Kingston and SanDisk cards. Specifically, the PhotoFast GMonster 533x 32GB and 533x Plus 16GB CF cards have spent a lot of time in my Canon 5D Mark II and a Nikon D300s that I’ve had on hand.  Additionally, I’ve tried out the PhotoFast 16GB Class 10 SD/SDHC card. [Read more…]

Kodak EasyShare Z980 Review at PhotographyBLOG

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PhotographyBLOG has posted a review of the Kodak EasyShare Z980.

Image quality is at the heart of any camera, but unfortunately it’s also at the top of the Z980’s list of problems. Noise is evident even at the slowest ISO speed of 64, and it will become apparent even in prints at ISO 400 and faster, limiting the Z980 to hand-held use in good lighting conditions only.

Crumpler 8 Million Dollar Home Review

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Cool, Tough, Trendy are the three words I first used when describing this bag to photographer friend of mine looking for a new bag to take with him on trips that he could also utilize for other purposes, and this bag fills that requirement perfectly.

The Crumpler 8 Million Dollar Home is plenty big for a large kit, but also small enough and disguised enough to carry around without shouting to the world that you are a photographer. The bag has a small handle on its top and a large and comfortable shoulder strap that is big enough to be worn across the chest for extra comfort and security. The stitching throughout the bag is sturdy and it appears it could hold quite a load of equipment without worry. [Read more…]

Gorillapod SLR-Zoom Review

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The Joby Gorillapod SLR-Zoom is one of the more recent additions to the popular Gorillapod line.  The previous Gorillapod SLR offered the ability to mount your DSLR and small lightweight lens onto it with a maximum capacity of 1.75 pounds.  The new Gorillapod SLR-Zoom allows you to drop a big lens on the camera (like the 70-200mm f/2.8 above) for a maximum capacity of 6.6 pounds. [Read more…]

Ricoh CX1 Review at Digicam Review

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Digicam Review has posted a review of the Ricoh CX1.

Image quality is generally very good – with good colour, saturation and contrast. Noise is noticable but photos come out quite smooth with few hot pixels, compared to the competition, and detail is generally good (until ISO800 and above).

For more news and reviews, check out Photography Bay’s Ricoh CX1 Reviews and Resources.