New Tripod - Manfrotto 190CXPRO4

During our last trip to Comox, I lost my tripod. I think I left it at the museum. That tripod has accompanied me on every single trip since mid 2004. The tripod itself was almost due for replacement, because it didn't provide enough support anymore for my current gear.

So, I decided to buy another tripod. This time, I want to buy a pro tripod within my price range, because I will bring it for sure in most of my trip. Speaking of pro tripod, there are only two brands in my mind: Gitzo and Manfrotto. I browse online trying to make a decision. It's hard to decide when you don't touch the actual item. Hence, I visited my camera store and spent sometimes playing with various tripods from these two manufacturers.

There is one Gitzo tripod that I really like; however, due to price constraint, I had to go with Manfrotto carbon fiber tripod, 190CXPRO4. This model was released this year on March 2008.



One cool feature for this tripod is the "Manfrotto’s innovative and award-winning Q90° (Quick Center Column System)". It allows the center column to be rotated to horizontal position with a simple motion.


The tripod is 100% carbon fiber and it utilizes magnesium alloy for the top plate.


Most pro tripod doesn't come with tripod head, so I have to purchase the head as well. As for the tripod head, I am open to any brands. My requirement is fairly simple: it can handle the load of my camera and one of my heaviest lens, plus a quick release. After playing around with several brands, I decided to go with Giotto MH1301.


It is a ball-head type. I prefer ball head compare to three way head when it comes to photography. There are two rotating dial for controlling the friction of the ball. There is one rotating dial for adjusting the rotation angle that will come useful when taking panoramic.


That's it. I haven't used the tripod intensively. I can't hardly wait for my next trip :)

New Gadget - Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash

I got this card from Best Buy, it cost me $70 + tax. It was pretty good deal compare to the other stores. At its maximum speed (15 MB/S), this card could only support 4.5 fps; my D200 could go at 5 fps. At this moment, it is ok because 8GB Extreme III card is still way more expensive.

8GB Sandisk CF Ultra II

We went to Comox last long weekend, which was one of the reason why I bought this card. I could shoot the whole day and I only only need to change card once. I will post our Comox trip picture later. Currently, I am still busy with work related stuffs, so I don't have time to select thousand of photos we took. Following is the preview.

Goose Spit Beach

Seal Bay Natural Park

New Toy

I finally got my first constant 2.8 aperture wide angle zoom lens. I have been doing a lot of thinking on which 2.8 lens I should get. I have considered Nikkor 17-55 DX or the new 14-24, but they are very pricey. I need to allocate my budget for other things in life as well. After reading a lot of reviews, I finally decided to buy Tamron 17-50 2.8 lens. The price is only about 1/3 of those two Nikkor lenses, and the performance is really good based on review by Thom Hogan and SLR Gear.

However, cheap stuff always comes with drawbacks. The Tamron casing is plastic, and for sure it is not as robust as the expensive Nikkor.

I got this lens at very decent price in Indonesia, it cost about $370 which is cheaper compare to price in Canada; however, it only comes with 1 year warranty. I also find out that price of camera equipments are cheaper in Indonesia compare to Canada.

Tamron 17-50, taken with Nikkor 60 2.8

Tamron 17-50, taken with Nikkor 60 2.8

Following are some photos I took using my new lens.

Sample Doraemon Shot

I am looking forward to use this lens as my main lens. I have left my Nikkor 18-70 in the hand of my brother :)