Recently, I have been working on procuring new equipment for the autumn of my photographic desires, and I am pleased to report on two “true hits” among them.
Here they are.
First, about the new tripod.
The tripod I had been using was an aluminum tripod that I bought for some thousand yen a few years ago without much thought. While being lightweight, it was susceptible to vibration. The built-in 3-way head was of a reasonable quality, and I was dissatisfied with the difficulty in holding the camera in the desired position. It was difficult to use when I wanted to follow the composition of a landscape shot, and for a long time it sat in a corner of the room and became inoperable equipment.
I had always wanted to replace it with something a little more robust, but my budget allocation did not allow for a tripod. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to renew it before the inflationary effects of a series of capital improvements that had just come down to me.
In the end, I chose this one.
Manfrotto befree Advance Carbon Tripod with Free Head Kit
Liked.
– Small and light enough when stored (41cm/1.25kg). I prefer to travel by plane or train rather than car, so portability is very important to me.
-The weight capacity is sufficient. The manufacturer’s claim of 8kg is hard to believe, but since the product is made in Europe, it is unlikely to be an extreme misrepresentation. My equipment rarely weighs more than 3 kg, so there is probably quite a bit of leeway.
-The legs are thin, but the rigidity of the body is high and it does not flex. You can tell how sturdy it is when you touch it.
-I like Manfrotto’s RC2 quick release system better than Arca Swiss compatible tripods, which are the majority in the tripod world. The Peak design Dual plate that I currently have on hand can continue to be used.
-The design of the camera is quite cool, as if it is an Italian company.
-It is somewhat cheaper than the Velbon UTC53II (also a well-made product), which I compared with the competition.
In fact, after a short trial, I can say that the lightness, robustness, and operability of the head do not betray my expectations. Now I have a tripod ready to go at any time.
Yes, the old tripod I had on hand was bought by a used gear shop. Although the purchase price was not what it should have been, I was grateful for the mental health benefits of not having to dispose of it in the garbage.
Next, let’s talk about the lens attached to the PENTAX K-3III in the photo above.
You don’t need to explain about the lens itself to Pentax users.
This is my first star lens acquisition. I have a plan to do some serious landscape photography in the near future, so I decided to buy it at this time. It was a bit pricey, but I did the math and traded in some of the lenses I had on hand that I didn’t want to part with, and finally made the purchase. It was like bungee jumping from the Kyoto Kiyomizu stage with no strings attached.
The photo above looks like the “back side” of the lens, so I took one from the opposite direction, the “front side”.
I would like to use this lens for my occasional “competition shoots” and try to get some photos that are worthy of its performance (even if they are just fluke, which is all I can do).
What I am trying to capture with my new tripod and new lens is a very primitive experiment… I’ll talk about it next time.
Equipment used for shooting: LUMIX GF10
