why did I carry the wrong equipment??

wrogers · #1 (**permalink**) 24-10-2009, 10:36 PM

I went on holiday to the Peak District last week...
naturally I took my camera gear and carried it on long walks...

well to cut to the chase I went to walk in Lathkill Dale near Youlgreave..
I wanted waterfall shots, so I had my 18-55mm attached and a circular polariser, AV mode F/22 (if I remember)

I then spotted a few wagtails, I think grey wagtails, and of course wrong lens... changed lens quickly and quietly to a 150-500mm, bird flew away....

so I swapped back to short lens having missed a golden opportunity. (they were less than 4m away!!

I took some more pictures of a very dry waterfall, wiped them from my card pretty quickly.
But, as I was waiting for the card to wipe, a dipper wandered past in the stream nearby (apparently they are quite rare and recently scared away from this area by an over zealous snapper

)

then I didnt see another bird for 10 mins... until i spotted a kingfisher....
which dived and then flew off with a fish...

swapped to big lens as i walked downstream and lo and behold, I got some blurry pictures of a kingfisher because my lens didn't quite focus right, and the OS didn't like 1/250th for some reason!! (I was resting on a fencepost)

but I finally got some pictures of a heron.... so 1 out of 4 birds photographed!
and no decent pictures of waterfalls...

the moral of the story is when it has been a dry summer, photograph birds, not waterfalls!!

Will

PS heron pics coming soon!!!

DrNickBurton · #2 (**permalink**) 24-10-2009, 11:53 PM

That's some really bad luck!

You could consider buying a second body?

Badllarma · #3 (**permalink**) 25-10-2009, 11:14 AM

The beauty of digital is your not limited to 36 exposures so NEVER wipe images off cards until your in doors at home, in fact never wipe them off full stop until there in Lightroom* (*other editing packages are available)

In fact the only time I delete files off a card is when shooting events work and I've gone through a 8 gig and 5 4 gigs and have to rotate the cards again. (Not filling them all obviously

) just changing between rings, events types etc....

With hindsight you could argue the waterfall ain't going to move so if you know their maybe wild life around best keep the big lens on at all times until you get settled by your waterfall.

In my out and about kit my 120-400 will only go in one spot in my camera bag with the camera body on it so it's always on the camera as I see it if I'm going to use one of the smaller lenses (for landscape etc) I'm going to have the time to change.

Better luck next time and we all learn by our errors thats why the next time you'll shoot that great, very special image

acherontia · #4 (**permalink**) 25-10-2009, 12:44 PM

My sympathies ....'Twas ever thus' as they say round here.

Two top class bodies would be nice though wouldn't it?

Acher

wrogers · #5 (**permalink**) 25-10-2009, 04:21 PM

fair point about wiping my memory cards, but as i was on holiday, i didn't want to take my laptop in the car with two carsick dogs.... hence i only had 4Gb of memory space!

as for 2 bodies, that could be an option, but i would rather spend my money on upgrading to a 400mm F/5.6 L with a 70-200 F/2.8 L IS and a 24-70 F/2.8 L

still, at least I got some pictures!

another bonus is my mum spotted a kingfisher near home, so maybe a photo opportunity there!!

time to rearrange camera backpack to fit my 150-500 + Body in the middle!!!

Will

Badllarma · #6 (**permalink**) 26-10-2009, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrogers

fair point about wiping my memory cards, but as i was on holiday, i didn't want to take my laptop in the car with two carsick dogs.... hence i only had 4Gb of memory space!

as for 2 bodies, that could be an option, but i would rather spend my money on upgrading to a 400mm F/5.6 L with a 70-200 F/2.8 L IS and a 24-70 F/2.8 L

still, at least I got some pictures!

another bonus is my mum spotted a kingfisher near home, so maybe a photo opportunity there!!

time to rearrange camera backpack to fit my 150-500 + Body in the middle!!!

Will

First thing to spend this years Christmas/Birthday money on is more cards then Will before worrying about the lenses

4 gig Scandisc III from 7daysshop will do just fine

PMG · #7 (**permalink**) 26-10-2009, 09:44 AM

This thread has had me laughing - in recognition of the problem!!! Many many times has the wrong lens been on the camera - or worse the camera in its rucksac - or many years ago (while a corncrake walked next to my car door while I looked down out of the window at it

) it was 'safe' tucked out of sight down behind drivers seat .........

I've been slow at learning lessons but more than half way thro my 50's I'm finally getting there (tho mistakes are made these days cos I forget - not cos I don't know - just wait for that scenario to catch you up - and it will

) But now I carry 6 or 8 batteries (and on a recent fungi trip went thro all but one

cos of usisng live view and one battery got thrown in the bin - end of its rechargeable life) I also have a little bright yellow (floating!) case (bought from 7day shop) that holds 8 cards - 3 of which are 2 gigs - plus another 3 spares tucked into the special little holders in my pack .......... I won't go higher than 2 gig - I prefer to change cards - than have alll my eggs on one and find that there's a gremlin in the middle which stops me downloading ........

The big lens travels on the camera now (tho we don't always put that on as soon in a journey as we should and have missed things) and if a scene presents itself then a quick swap - but always back to the big lens - ready for the next oportunity

Pauline

Muddywalters · #8 (**permalink**) 08-09-2011, 08:26 AM

Many useful tips there - thanks folks. ;-)

Jackaroo · #9 (**permalink**) 08-09-2011, 11:29 AM

Last year I trekked up Ben Nevis (cos it woz there) and took my camera with me with the 14-42 attached. I thought that all I was going to be snapping were landscapes but after I'd reached the top and was on the way down again I came across a snow bunting. If I'd brought the 300mm I wouldn't have had to creep across the boulder-field on seriously knackered knees to get what was a pretty poor shot anyway. But, on the other hand, if I'd been carrying more weight I would probably given up 3/4 of the way up. Hobsons choice really. Maybe if I'd left that really heavy tobacco tin back at the hostel I'd have got on better lol.

In my case the "wrong equipment" was my bandy legs and clogged up bellows.

Meta menardi · #10 (**permalink**) 08-09-2011, 05:22 PM

I do sometimes just not take a camera at all, I find the lack of concern quite liberating. Casual "just going for a wander" walks can be dealt with by carrying my much loved Nikon 4500. If you're walking, walk, if your going to take photos, go loaded for bear.

I must emphasize that this is just what suits me, and not a rant to say that this is what you should do.

Similarly, when the children were still young, I did get fed up with seeing the world through a piece of glass, and cut back drastically on photos. Each one now is so much more of a memory trigger, and we don't have to watch long ordeals of many photos.