How Many Camera Bags Do I Need To Take? - Day 1 With Nikon

One. Or none at all, if you've got a jacket with a pocket. Hello. It's the Shrinking Photographer here. Off on another adventure to see if he can get away with not carrying a bucket full of camera gear to his latest photoshoot. He's long given up the business of the monorail 4 x 5 in the field, the 6x6 and the suitcase of lenses, the DSLR and the rolling bag, and has come down to the mirror-less Gladstone bag. Now he is trying to ditch that and go with a shoulder bag and/or padded envelope from Australia Post to contain his kit. It's not laziness - really it's not. I do lots of hard work and hobby activities that involve heavy lifting. You've no idea how much effort it takes to bombard Coolbellup from Bull Creek if you have to lift your own howitzer shells. But the increasing advances in camera and sensor performance mean that so much more can be done than heretofore with so much less weight - it's time to see if the next step is possible. I took two examples of the compact camera from the stores - both Nikon Coolpix cameras - an A900 and an A300. The A300 did not get a studio shoot, as I was short of time, but I got to run the A900 through its paces - and I was impressed. The testing procedure for most cameras at the Little Studio is to open the box and play dumb. It is not hard to do as I have a natural talent for it. But it puts me in the position of the customer who has just purchased a camera, flown off with it, and is sitting in a bar in Bali trying to figure out if he can take pictures with it before the beer curtain falls and concludes another day. If I can do it, he can do it. I read paper instructions...figuring that if they are all on a CD disk or buried somewhere on the net that people will not be able to get to them in time to do any good. Of course, I also resort to the net to see if the instruction booklet is accurate. To their credit, Nikon does a good little Quick Start book, and if that is all you have, you will come back with usable pictures as well as a tattoo and a hangover. The A300 is a pocket or purse size. It is a classic example of the compact digital with a moderate zoom, good performance, and easy operability. Think of it as a digital notebook that will produce better notes than your telephone, and make it easier to get them onto your home computer. The example I got off the shelf was red, but you can have black as well. Expect the results from the small sensor to be best in good lighting, and guard it against the Bali sand on the beaches. DO take a spare battery to keep for extra shooting, though you'll get an average day on one charge. The A900 is the super-zoom version with 35x extension at your right forefinger tip. This is a camera that is a step-up from the smallest of the compacts without getting to the interchangeable lens point. I found myself wishing at the start that it has some form of the viewfinder, but in the end, did not miss it all that much. Certainly, in the Little Studio with the Little Subjects, it proved to be a good shooter. Basic grumble, of course. No hot shoe, no flash sync port. But in this case, I decided to Pollyanna the situation and just take my tabletops by dint of the modelling lights on the Elinchrom strobes. They've a low colour temperature but much the same position of the light source within the strobe reflector so the basic lighting setup held true. As far as a professionally fussy and artistic setup, I left the camera switched to the AUTO or Scene mode to see if it could actually deliver the goods to the inexperienced. This camera - the A900 - can either charge from its own charger or from a USB port. One more or one less thing to pack in your shoe in your luggage. It is round-your-neck or in-your-coat-pocket in size. The viewing screen is hinged and bright. The lens is all you'll ever need for any tour...and all you'll need for the close-ups. You'll see...