Equipment Advice (Peli Case, Lightmeter & Prime lenses)

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-Rob-

Say Cheese!...Oh, and call me Susan
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I’ve just been reviewing my kitbag and although I don’t really have any funds for buying anything else after just spending £900 on a Nikon 24-70mm I’ve been dreaming about what I’d buy next. I may not be able to afford it now but I will be buying this stuff at some point in the future so I’m trying to have a think about what I’ll get and how much it might cost me.

Any advice on what to get and where to get it from would be very much appreciated.

Peli Case
I currently have a fairly cheap aluminium flight case with a lump of foam in it cut by myself to fit the lenses I have. As I’ve just replaced a Tamron 17-50mm with a Nikon 24-70mm I’m going to have to replace the foam to get a new layout. Also I’m off to Spain for a wedding which I’ll be doing the photography for so I’ll I need a decent sturdy case to take on the plane with me. I know Peli cases are good and come in loads of different styles and sizes but I’ve no idea what model would be best for me. I’d like one on wheel that’s big enough to hold 2 bodies plus 3 or 4 lenses and 2 or 3 flashes. Any recommendations?

Lightmeter
I am primarily a portrait photographer and as such I shoot in studios quite a bit but I’ve never actually used a lightmeter before. I’ve been in the studio with other people that have had them and they save so much time in setting the lights up so I want to get one. I would also like to be able to use it for shooting outdoor portraits. I know there are different kind of lightmeters but can you get them for indoor studio use and outdoor ambient light? So again, recommendations and please keep in mind I’ll be on a budget with this one so keep them bottom of the range if it’s possible.

Sigma Primes
I have a Sigma 30mm f1.4 which I absolutely love. It’s by far the sharpest lens I’ve ever used and on my crop sensor it’s ideal for studio portraits. I also have a Nikon 50mm f1.4D which is very good but I’ve heard that the Sigma version is better. Is it worth the cost of an upgrade from one to the other? Also, Sigma do an 85mm f1.4 for around half the price of the Nikon version so I was wondering if this worth investing in. Is the quality as good as the 30mm and 50mm lenses?
 
Peli cases are very expensive and it doesnt really matter whether it is completely water proof etc (if its just for flying). It might be worth buying a lesser known brand and putting your money towards the other things.
 
CPC did some pretty good Peli clones for around £20-30, I have a couple and they are great for the money, not as robust as Pelis (plastic feels more brittle but mine have been fine) and no internal foam.
 
Harlequin said:
Peli cases are very expensive and it doesnt really matter whether it is completely water proof etc (if its just for flying). It might be worth buying a lesser known brand and putting your money towards the other things.
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if its for flying and your kit is going in the hold id only put my faith in a peli with the way baggage handlers throw cases around.

id like to see a lesser brand clone do the torture tests the 3rd party company performed on the pelis.
 
Harlequin said:
Peli cases are very expensive and it doesnt really matter whether it is completely water proof etc (if its just for flying). It might be worth buying a lesser known brand and putting your money towards the other things.
Click to expand...

Personally I'd buy the peli case. Yes they are expensive but if your putting thousands of pound of equipment into a case then its well worth it. Over the years I've ordered hundreds of peli cases and only had one damaged in transit. And we ship kit all over the world.

Also have a look at the Storm cases. Now renamed Peli Storm ( they merged) the cases are the same quality as Peli but with better catches.
 
-Rob- said:
To be honest I don't think I'd even consider putting my camera gear in the hold no matter what case it's in. Would a good peli case be safe to put five grands with of kit in to put on a plane in the hold?
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id put my peli in a baggage hold if i had to. i think last count i had an insurance value of £8k on my kit if not more.

still, should the worst happen and it gets lost make sure its insured... :lol:
 
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-Rob- said:
To be honest I don't think I'd even consider putting my camera gear in the hold no matter what case it's in. Would a good peli case be safe to put five grands with of kit in to put on a plane in the hold?
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In a word. Yes. We ship kit worth ten times that with no issues. But we don't use the pick 'n' pluck foam. Either custom made stuff or the divider sets.
 
Just to add I'm not shipping photographic equipment. Mainly heavy stainless steel subsea equipment. Yet to have any shipping damage to contents.
 
Rob

A Minolta IVf is a great meter to have around. It’s reliable and dead easy to use for daylight/continuous light or cabled flash and un-cabled flash.

Have a look in high street photographic shops, as people sometimes sell off their old film cameras plus accessories and just occasionally their maybe a used Minolta or Sekonic lurking in the bottom of the bag.

If you do find an old Minolta IVf that hasn’t been used for some time and it’s reading appears to be inaccurate by about 3 stops, try and get it at a price that reflects its condition. When you get it home check out the small contact pin under the incident diffuser, which, when dirty results in the 3 stop discrepancy. The problem is easily fixed by cleaning the pin contacts with a piece of card.

The incident diffuser is shown as item 10 on page 2/3 of the manual below.
http://www.cameramanuals.org/minolta_pdf/minolta_autometer_iv_f.pdf


Happy hunting
Sam-D
 
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