my new toys

Updated and Edited: Scroll down to read the updates.



I bought new toys last Saturday, and they are...

A replacement to my old and entry-level tripod, which served for its last time on the late night of CNY Day 3.

Since my previous tripod was consider entry-level, which I got it about half a decade ago along with my first digital camera -- Canon Powershot A70, it was very light-weighted, and very unstable. It was even prone to shock wave from a concern stage a yard away.



So, I decided to get a serious replacement. Manfrotto is the leading brand for professional tripods and lighting stand, and its price range lies way out from my budget. -_- So I have to forget about getting that, at least for now.

So, I got a recommendation from the taukeh on this Digipod.


Somehow I feel that I've seen that Digipod logo somewhere. Don't you think so? (scroll up)

Good thing about this tripod is, it's using a ball to rotate. With that, it gives you more room and space for rotation. Hence, giving you flexibility and angles to compose your shots, especially when you're into wildlife macro. Furthermore, there is no 'stick', which you can find in the normal tripod, gets in your way. That stick, however, is more useful if you mount a video cam on it. It is need when you pan your cam.


Hmm.. I got rid of the box on the spot, and it doesn't come with other form of technical specification. So, I don't know how tall this tripod can stand at its maximum height, and how much it weighs. Dang, should have kept that box myself, but one thing for sure it exceeds 5 ft. This piece is heavier than my entry-level tripod, but it is still considered light, so it eases your convenience to bring it around for traveling. It has a S-hook at the bottom of the tripod, you can add on weight to the hook to stabilize the tripod in windy condition.

That was the first of two toys I got.

The second toy is..

Hmm.. let's just say photos look much nicer with the aid of the presence of flash. It gives better lighting to the photographs we take. All my previous photos were taken with an on-loan Speedlite EX430. I appreciate the generosity for that Speedlite owner to loan the flashgun to me for such a lengthy period of time. Thanks man!

So, I have decided it's time for me to get my own gun..

.. and I chose Canon Speedlite 580EX II.

Updated photo.

The flashgun shown above doesn't belong to me, I googled it somewhere. Hehe.

Needless to say, photos look better with flashgun.

It's a worthy buy I must say. :-)

I didn't take the picture of my flashgun, because I was using it to take pictures of my tripod. Haha. The lighting shows the presence of the speedlite already. LOL. I can only upload that Speedlite sign above there.



Updated: Since Irene lodged a feedback, here's the response to that. (click for larger view)

Both picture in the set are taken with the same camera setting, i.e. shutter speed, apertures, WB, ISO.. etc. Just that the one on left is taken with pop-up flash on the camera, while the right one is with Speedlite 580EX II. The one on right was taken with the flash bounce off my ceiling here, and the picture is bit yellowish, because I have a yellow wall here. LOL.

The example here is not that clear though, LOL my bad. The one on left should show harsher flash hit, but because I have reduced the Flash Exp Com setting within the camera menu, it's bit softer. And the one on the right shows softer flash hit, because it bounced off the ceiling here, the ceiling is already a huge piece of reflector cum diffuser.

LOL. Oops.. I just burnt a hole in my pocket! But I guess it's all good, as I have just expanded my photography inventory.