System Integration (The Frugal Way)

I hate mismatching things. Of course it could be argued that Woody Allen and any relatively feminine woman would be a mismatch, but you get the point. This was a concept that never really occurred to me when I was working with very similar in shape and size Nikon cameras. As you can see, in terms of generalities, there's not a lot to give between the D300 and D50.

Although there is a fair bit of difference in mass between the two, the general shape and how you have to deal with each one still put them in the same league in terms of handling. When you pack them for travel, or some particular event that you plan to use them at, you end up with very similar packages. Much of this has to do with their accessories being the same size.

You guys probably remember, few weeks ago when the Panasonic GF-1 arrived, one of the first things I did was to pull out the D300 and set them side-by-side. And over the course of this time, the thing that became apparent to me is that in order to not lose the gains of using a Micro 4/3rds system, I needed to match the attachments and accessories I carry. So I began thinking about what would work with, and travel well with the new camera.

The first point of discussion is of course, the choice of lenses for it. Which is one of the reasons that my first target will the the Panasonic/Lumix 20mm/f1.7. That's it on the left, not the rather large Panasonic/Leica 45mm Elmarit on the camera! 

Even with the LVF-1 finder attached, it's still a pretty small package. Yes; I already found one for $75, so I bought it. An old SLR user like me is still much more comfortable using a viewfinder, especially when outside. There's also the 14mm/f2.8 lens which is even smaller and that will probably be a target as well....eventually. But this package makes a very nice "carry around" set, capable of making images very similar to the D300 under most conditions. 

However, most of time when I travel, I not only take a camera, but a computer as well. And matching this camera with a full-sized notebook computer would be defeating the purpose of having it.

Then something occurred to me. Android being what they are (almost infinitely customizable through APPs), maybe these two would be a great traveling pair. I already had a "viewer" APP that I'm very happy with, so I spent some time looking at various image editing APPs and settled on a couple to try (I'll report back after I've used them a while). Furthermore, the ThinkPad Tablet has a very photo friendly hi-res IPS display, but also not only a full-sized SD card reader, but a full-sized USB port as well. This will allow me off-load images either by connecting a card reader and copying over to a storage SD card, or by putting the camera's card in the internal reader and connection an external drive! All this while being able to view, sort and do minor editing on the tablet. And as if there was some sort of a predestined synergy with this concept, I came across a perfectly sized bag to put it all in. Around that time, I did one of my Goodwill "fly-bys" and found a small Timbuk2 bag.....for $3. I haven't been able to find the model their website yet, but it basically looks exactly like my "daily carry" messenger bag, but half the size in every dimension. Despite the size, it fits the tablet, various cords, batteries and chargers, plus the Panasonic with lens. All this in a bag that doesn't look like camera bag, much less with a target making camera logo on it.

Next time, I'll discuss what-all I carry in the "Big Rig"....