I'm going! celebration thread

[DVC Jen]

Mark - we check in on the 15th.. I will be looking for your "high-tech hillbilly" self.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

The only thing missing is the straitjacket that they'll put you in when they see you lugging all that!

I remain surprised that you have so much invested yet your only prime is the absolute cheapest one that money can buy. Different strokes, I guess.

I wont' be lugging most of that into the park - certainly not all at one time. I'll just pick and chose different bits to use on different days.

I do have other primes, but they are staying at home. For the shooting I plan to do at WDW, I find that good zooms meet my needs better. I rarely find myself wishing for an aperture wider than f/2.8 and often find myself wishing for more range without having to switch lenses. Like you said, different strokes. I only through in the 50mm because it is so cheap and because I think I might use it for a few video segments.

Mark, do you have any details on the Car PC setup or did I miss that thread?

I'll try to do a thread about the Car PC when I get back. Then I can give you details on how it worked. For the basics, I started with a bare box from Logic Supply, consisting of a Voom PC case, an Epia CN13000G motherboard, 1 gig of RAM, a 500 gig 2.5" drive, and an M2-ATX powersupply. I loaded a copy of Windows XP on it. I loaded Meedio (an old HTPC menu package) and several hundred movies, TV shows, and shorts (Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, etc). I use Zoom Player for playing back the video. The video is all encoded in iPod compatible MP4 files. I also loaded it with MP3 files and put iTunes on it so that the kids can sync it with their iPod Touches.

In the van, I wired the M2-ATX powersupply into the accessory power. I need to work on it so that it gets both accessory power and unswitched power so that it can shut itself down gracefully. Right now, it just drops dead when you shut off the car. I know very little about car wiring, so I haven't figured out where to tap into the unswitched power. The audio and video (component) are output to our 4x4 switch, which routes the audio to the car's head unit and the video to the kid's headrest monitors.

I also loaded a VNC server (I can't recall if I used UltraVNC or TightVNC) and Jaadu Connect on the box. I put Jaadu's Touchpad app on our iPhones and iPod Touches. For connectivity between the iPods and the Car PC, I also included a wireless router. It connects to the PC via an ethernet cable. It gets power from our DC inverter (which is also used to charge the DSes, Kindles, iPods, and iPhones). If the network CarNet shows up as available, that's us.

In our tests during the last week, it works well. It takes about 35 seconds to completely boot up. The iPhones connect easily and the control is seemless. On my iPhone, I also installed the full blown Jaadu package that allows me to see the full res screen on my phone. It's useful when I need to change settings because reading normal text on a 7" screen fed an 800x600 signal via component is challenging. The only issue so far is that if the kids don't exit a movie before we shut off the car, it doesn't remember their place in the movie. That should be fixed when I wire the power supply up properly.

While I have a high level of expertise with software, I'm not much of a hardware guy and not at all a car guy. I was really surprised that everything worked so well. For the future, I'm looking to replace the headrest monitors with a set capable of displaying 1024x768 computer video. I want to add internet connectivity. I also want to add a second car PC. With all that, the kids can watch their movies, play computer games, surf the net, talk to friends back home, etc. For now, it's basically just a movie player. It allows us to take our entire video and music collection on the road and it lets the kids control it without needing parental help switch discs around. Oh, I also want to make the power connections modular so that I can create a similar setup in my car so that we can use that for trips. I might also lend it out to friends that have video capable vehicles and want a source of movies.

 

[scoot241]

The CarPC sounds awesome. Might look into making something similar.

 

[Evad]

I started getting my gear together and ready. Here's a picture of my trip gear on the floor.

It's amazing how much equipmnet one needs to get a decent shot from a Canon!!!!

 

[pointandshoot]

It's amazing how much equipmnet one needs to get a decent shot from a Canon!!!!

Oh, that is cold!!!

All I can say is my Canon 40D went ERROR 99 my first day in the parks my last trip. Shutter assemble failed during Indy show. Luckily, I had a my Nikon D200 with a wide zoom to keep me occupied the rest of the trip. Carried tons of Canon glass that I did not use.

What I learned was all that awesome glass and no back-up DSLR to use it can short circuit a well planned photo outing. Maybe add a 40D...and a sherpa.

Chuck

 

[giantstu]

It's amazing how much equipmnet one needs to get a decent shot from a Canon!!!!

I only carry the body and a couple of lenses, a c/polarising filter and my Gorillapod SLR zoom and a flash and i seem to get some great shots.

I also carry a compact for the waterpark.

I honestly cannot see that taking all that gear is worth it for a trip to Disney,a photo specific trip maybe, but hey that's just me (and the Mrs would kill me if i took my 70-200L 2.8 IS or 100-400L IS to Dis on a family holiday!!)

 

[Todd_H]

Mark, I just read your TR from December 2006 for the first time (followed the link in your signature)... great stuff ! Reminds me of an old Tex Avery cartoon.

 

[saturndb]

Mark,

I see you have a black rapid camera strap, how do you like it? I was thinking of getting one and would love to get some feedback on it.

Dave

 

[Todd_H]

Mark,

I see you have a black rapid camera strap, how do you like it? I was thinking of getting one and would love to get some feedback on it.

Dave

Hey, Dave. I know you asked Mark directly and I am curious of his opinion as well, but I just got mine about a month ago and I love it! I carried it the other day with my 70-200 f/2.8 for a couple of hours and my back was really thanking me. It's a bit overpriced for what it is, but it works really well for me. Just my 2 cents.

 

[saturndb]

Hi Todd,

I would love to get feedback from others who use this strap. It looks like a great strap. The price is the only reason I am hesitating, If I might ask, who did you buy it from?

dave

 

[MarkBarbieri]

As for the Black Rapid strap, I love mine. I particularly like the new design. I bought a second strap so that my wife will have one.

As for having so much gear, it is worth pointing out a few facts. First, some of that stuff isn't really mine. Three of the cameras, their associated chargers, batteries, memory cards, and waterproof shells are my wife and kids. I should also point out that this is the gear that will be with us on the overall trip, not what I'll bring into the park on any given day. We're driving, so the incremental cost of throwing another lens, filter, etc into the car is rather low. It gives me more options on what to take into the park on any given day. On a typical day, I'll go in with my camera and an attached lens and flash, one other lens, and a filter or two.

My wife would be aghast if I showed up on the trip without the 70-200. It's my favorite people photography lens and most of my Disney photography is taking pictures of my kids. In fact, it will probably be my most used lens on the trip.

While I don't have any Nikon gear with me (I won't sink that low), I do have gear from Pentax, Sony, and JVC. So I'm willing to use stuff from other companies...within reason.

 

[Todd_H]

Hi Todd,

I would love to get feedback from others who use this strap. It looks like a great strap. The price is the only reason I am hesitating, If I might ask, who did you buy it from?

dave

I ordered it directly from BlackRapid.com. With shipping, I think it was $60 total, which is a ridiculous amount of money to pay for a camera strap. However, the pain it has saved my back has been well worth it already. I'm anxious to use it in WDW later this year.

One thing I'm still getting used to, though, is the way it dangles to your side right behind your hip. I find myself pulling it around and hand carrying it through tighter places or keeping my right hand on it all the time. Then again, with my neck strap, I usually had one hand on it too.

 

[Evad]

As for the Black Rapid strap, I love mine. I particularly like the new design. I bought a second strap so that my wife will have one.

As for having so much gear, it is worth pointing out a few facts. First, some of that stuff isn't really mine. Three of the cameras, their associated chargers, batteries, memory cards, and waterproof shells are my wife and kids. I should also point out that this is the gear that will be with us on the overall trip, not what I'll bring into the park on any given day. We're driving, so the incremental cost of throwing another lens, filter, etc into the car is rather low. It gives me more options on what to take into the park on any given day. On a typical day, I'll go in with my camera and an attached lens and flash, one other lens, and a filter or two.

My wife would be aghast if I showed up on the trip without the 70-200. It's my favorite people photography lens and most of my Disney photography is taking pictures of my kids. In fact, it will probably be my most used lens on the trip.

While I don't have any Nikon gear with me (I won't sink that low), I do have gear from Pentax, Sony, and JVC. So I'm willing to use stuff from other companies...within reason.

I was only kidding Mark!! I have always enjoyed and respected both your work, knowledge and your great wit as well. Have a great trip and can't wait to see the results when you get back.

 

[Experiment_626]

We're driving, so the incremental cost of throwing another lens, filter, etc into the car is rather low. It gives me more options on what to take into the park on any given day.

I agree; we always drive, and I take everything I have on every trip, though I find that I rarely use my flash. Of course, I don't have as much stuff to take; all my gear, except my tripod, will fit (very snugly, it must be said) into my Slingshot 200 bag.

I take that back -- I do have a film camera (Nikon N65) and I might decide to take it with me next time as well.

SSB

 

[zackiedawg]

If Mark's sporting a goatee lately...then I think I saw him in MK Thursday. I couldn't catch up to him, as I was waiting for someone in a store in Adventureland...but I saw a man fitting Mark's general description from behind, with a backpack, two cameras (one rigged with diffused flash) hanging on either side, and what looked like that body harness strap system. I tried yelling 'Mark!', but only got a half-turn of the head from 50 feet away, and saw a goatee. Didn't remember one from his pic...but maybe he's added one.

Anyway...two DISers almost met at MK on Thursday, if it was Mark!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

It wasn't me. I didn't get to the World until Friday. I'm also not sporting a goatee. Every few days I get kind of scraggly but then I shave it all off. I'm also wearing an equipment belt rather than a backpack.

 

[zackiedawg]

Ah...OK. There's someone else out there as crazy as us with the cameras then! I'm guessing it was the black rapid straps he had on - looked like a harness system over each shoulder and the two cameras were hanging left and right under each arm (down by the hip). One looked like a FF camera with a fat lens and a full flash unit and diffuser, the other looked like an APS-C with a shortish lens - maybe a wide or wide zoom - and no flash. The backpack was on top of the harness...and looked to have a tripod sticking out of the lid.

I only brought my A300 with 18-250 mounted, and the Sigma 30mm F1.4, and brought my smaller Tenba shoulder bag along as it will comfortably fit the camera and both lenses, plus a compact umbrella in the front pouch. I brought my Kata bag with my full kit along (not as extensive as your collection, but like you having the car makes it easy to just bring all of your gear to the room, then select what you want to bring each day).

Total gear for me was A300, 18-250mm, 50mm F1.7, 30mm F1.4, Tamron 200-500mm, HVL-F42 flash, A300 charger, Maha charger, 4 PowerEx AA batteries (for flash), 12 alkaline AA batteries (backup), lens and sensor cleaning materials, microfiber cloths, 5 filters, T100 compact camera, T100 charger, Slik tripod, Kata R102 backpack, Tenba shoulder bag, Tamrac soft mini bag (just fits camera and mounted lens - for sudden rainstorms), laptop.

Most of it stayed in the room, and I'd bring 1-2 lenses, sometimes tripod or a filter or two, and one of the two smaller bags as needed.

Sorry I missed you...hope your Disney trip's a good one!

 

[alan]

Leaving tomorrow (Saturday) for two weeks in Disneyworld. Taking both the G10 and the SLR; hoping that the G10 will be up to the job but semi-secretly expecting to be carrying the SLR most of the time. Hoping that the 24-105mm on a 1.6 crop factor camera will be wide enough...

Anyway, if you see me I'll have an LGMH lens logo (somewhat crudely) laminated and hanging from my camera bag - do say hello!

regards,
/alan

 

[YesDear]

After hundreds of visits to WDW DW and I are going to Disneyland for the first time the end of January. The main purpose of the trip is DS is moving to Orange County and mom wants to check out his living arrangements! RIGHT!!

The reason we are going is that a few weekends back DS went to Disneyland for the day. It was before his mother or his fiance went! He is in deep you know what for going on his own. He says he just walked around and only rode Its a Small World. He says he will not go back until Lisa can go with him. So I think DW wants to get there first and do everything else!!!

Any good photography tips from those that go often. I am going to borrow the D700 from my friend and take my 50 1.2 for the dark rides. Not taking the 70-200 because I do not want to be hassled for being a pro! Yeah right!!!

Any tips will be appreciated!

 

[ukcatfan]

Have a great time!!! I hope to eventually make it out there. I would just like to see where it all began.