Received the tamron 17-50 earlier this week. Pleasure doing business.

Hey all. I know nothing about tripods (particularly those available here in the UK). I'm looking to make a nice investment into a proper tripod. My favorite photography is travel based, and while traveling I live out of a backpack. Last trip was a year out of only a 40-liter backpack. Next trip is seeing a reluctant increase in pack-size, but only to accommodate more photo equipment, so size and weight and durability are of the utmost importance (price is secondary).

Can you guys recommend me some great tripod legs/setups?

Also looking to get two heads, one for stills and one for shooting video from the DSLR unless anybody knows of a head that might be able to serve double duty. Was looking to get a joystick head for the stills (love the ease of use) but might consider a regular ball head for weight/size savings. Also need suggestions on the smallest/lightest video head that will get the job done.

thanks so much for any thoughts/comments/suggestions!

if you don't mind spending some money, I'm a big fan of the lynda.com tutorials. Just remember to cancel when you're done as i think they autobill!!

Oh, and i need at least 74 days of travel coverage, just to make things simpler

I'm a tenant, and currently don't have contents cover as the only thing of value I have is my camera gear. Although maybe I'll just get contents cover just for the camera gear as what I've found so far on specialist camera insurance is not encouraging:

E&L looks like a perfect policy, but a quick internet search reveals nothing but bad reviews on these guys.

Glover & Howe won't do less than 1 year coverage with no pro-rata rebate if canceled, and won't cover for homes outside the UK. Although they are starting to look like the answer and just eat the extra months of coverage.

Photoguard's website doesn't work which doesn't fill me with confidence (are they still in business?)

Camerasure will only do 45 days travel on amateur cover. Pro cover is quite expensive (and I'm not making any money)

any other companies out there?

Trying to find insurance for my camera gear, and seeing if anyone out there knows of a place that does less than a year (OR will prorate and refund the difference if you cancel before the year is up). I looked at Glover & Howe which is recommended by this website, but they won't refund any money if canceled in less than a year. Problem is I may be moving to Spain around October, seems a waste to pay for 12 months when I only need 9.

thanks!!

Definitely take a look at strobist to start leaning about off-camera lighting. it's a great resource. If you're just starting out, I'd definitely suggest going the shoe-mount strobe route rather than getting big studio lights.

As for starting out gear, here's one take:

1) Grab a flash. You can go used or new and pick up any flash that will allow you to have manual control (used ideas: Pentax af200T, nikon SB-24, SB-25, SB-26, sb-28, sb-80dx; new on the cheap side: Yongnuo YN-560) . This will only allow you to do full manual lighting, although if you're doing portraits, this is not a problem.

2) Get a light stand. I like these small ones, but any light stand will do, and if you don't plan on traveling with it I'd suggest something significantly heavier and sturdier.

3) have someway of triggering the flash off camera. Depending on the flash you bought, it might already have a built in optical trigger, which is good enough to start with. But if it doesn't you'll need either PC-cords, or a radio trigger. Personally I'm a fan of the cheap chinese radio triggers found on ebay like these ones to start off with.

4) an umbrella adapter. this goes on top of the stand and allows you to swivel/tilt your flash, as well as mount the next item.

5) a convertible umbrella. good first light modifier to start with IMO.

p.s. I'm not saying you should get those exact things I linked, just giving you an ideas...

have fun!

LOL

not to say that pentax can't do it. But don't you find the 1/160 sync speed a bit annoying sometimes? I miss that 2/3rds of a stop on occasion, and wish I could pick up a cheap body with a electronic shutter that would take my same lenses. So yeah, i get jealous of Nikon shooters in that regard every now and then... sorry to digress from the OP

I've never had issues with batteries on the k-x. Although I believe the problem was fixed with a firmware update.

Personally I tend to buy the cheapest body with the features I need, and spend the rest of my money on glass and accessories. If you don't know that you need a feature, then you probably don't.

A bit confused as to what your current What-to-get decision is between, but here's my two cents (or whatever the English equivalent is )

If you a prime lens person, need full-frame, have gob-fulls of money and don't care about size/weight and don't mind having what everybody else has, go Canon.

If you're mostly a zoom lens person and do a lot of location off-camera lighting, go Nikon.

If the only way you'll bring your camera with you is if it's tiny but you want more control than a point-and-shoot, or you like to play with lots of different old manual lenses in different mounts, go Micro 4/3rds.

If you love well built, optically excellent prime lenses, small cameras/lenses, and great value for money, go pentax.

And I know nothing of Sony cameras, but there's gotta be a reason to buy one

personally I'd shoot a variety of systems if I had unlimited funds. But I don't and Pentax was the winner for me

Just wondering what you film guys would suggest. It'll be my for all intensive purposes my first film SLR. Just wondering if you think I should go for the ~£60 varieties that show up on ebay and take a chance on its functionality, or pick up one of the ones which have been serviced and come with a warranty for ~£160+