Recent content by utterdrong

Always been curious about these long spikes - does it impact stability when they're perched up on hard flooring, instead of sticking deep into soft ground?

I was more worried about the flat and wide base of each individual foot on something like irregular rocks, where the more usual rounded/tapered rubber foot might conform better. But I've never actually tried the big foot style, so I don't know if that's actually a problem.

Gitzo have a version for like £50... I can't imagine brand names matter that much for tripod feet, surely? I also found this set, in which the spikes are thread-mounted into the rubber feet. A bit more secure than a pull-off cap. Not sure about this style of big tripod feet, though. Seems like...

Thanks to everyone for chipping in. A bit of contribution from my own research: There's a (clearly incomplete) list of webcam locations at the bottom of this article. Helpful starting point, perhaps. Anyone know about Manchester? There's definitely some birds there, but I'm not sure how...

I'm in North Wales, but I don't mind traveling farther afield for better photo ops. Got a few things in mind, mainly to do with framing against the urban landscape... would love to catch them hunting within city areas, for example. Challenge myself to some panning shots, maybe. I suppose ideally...

Hey guys, any city folks able to recommend a place with well-established and reliably findable urban peregrine falcons? Got some things I want to try, but I'm nowhere near a city, so I'm hoping there's somewhere I can arrange a short trip to with reasonably good chances of getting the...

Trouble with staying in F-mount is that what exists now is all there'll ever be. It's clear by now that they aren't making anything new in the DSLR world. Some people are fine with that, but you need to know you're one of them if that's how you choose. A new DSLR will likely be your last...

The Backlight line from Think Tank should all fit the main lens+body, though you might need to get one of the bigger options if your other lenses have some size to them as well. They make these bags fairly tall relative to their overall volume, so they're good for big zooms. The rest of their...

Would you believe I didn't know that was a thing until now? Definitely gonna look into that, so thanks for the heads up. Looks like both the manufacturers above will be there. That particular one apparently only collapses down to 65 cm, a bit long for my needs, but thanks for looking out...

Hey all, I'm in the market for a travel tripod that packs small but is reasonably stable, and is (relatively) inexpensive. It'll be holding up to a Nikon 180-600mm lens, but I can accept some stability compromises at the size constraints I'm after. I've got my eye on two models at the moment...

The bino market for nature watching spans a huge range - from cheap low-contrast things to £1500++ specialist equipment. You hear about all the fancy glass and coatings that improve your image quality and all that stuff, but I was wondering what the photographers' perspective would be on these...

I've bought Kirk stuff from B&H, they sort all the import duties etc so it's not much less convenient than ordering from a local retailer... but it does end up adding a big chunk of change to your order.

There's a brand called The Heat Company that does gloves marketed for photography, you can get them off Amazon. Their products are designed for layering - it works for gloves as much as it does the rest of your cold weather kit.

Whoa, how did I not know about those? Thanks a bunch, mate.

Hi guys. I've got an extra long Easter weekend, so I was toying with the idea of doing a 3-5 day stay somewhere afield, do some bird/wildlife photography, put some new gear through its paces. Anyone know good places/opportunities during that late March-early April period? I was looking at maybe...