Monday, 6 August 2018

New Gear

So I've been a little busy lately purchasing some new gear. Some of my stuff was old and needed replacing, some was just to add to my kit and some was just to try.

My old li'l Lenovo G50 Laptop was really struggling with all the paces I was putting it through. Plus it was having issues like reading USB drives, SD cards and my much loved Samsung S9.

I'll still keep it, it'll get a service, then come in handy to take away on road trips etc. It's no good for bike trips, the 15" screen is too big to squeeze into a pannier. That's what I have my little Samsung A8 Tablet with wireless keyboard coupled to it.

I ended up purchasing a new desktop with larger monitor this time. An Acer Nitro 50 with HP 27" monitor will help, and has helped, edit videos more efficiently. It's much better looking at a larger screen when it comes to editing. It's not top of the range but is working well thus far. I'm still learning to use it, you know, which way to hold your tongue etc.



Along with the new computer I decided to do an upgrade on my editing software. Up to Power Director 16 from 15. Not alot of difference but appears to help with the larger resolution videos...or maybe it's the computer...lol

One purchase I am so loving and will continue is an upgrade in camera equipment. I am slowly getting there. I still love my Nikon D3100 DSLR but it was far too big to take touring. In the interim I was sufficing with the combination of my then Samsung S7 a little Nikon Coolpix L31. The little L31 was pretty average and especially once a change of zoom was entered.
I have now purchased a new Sony Cybershot DSC HX90V, and I have to say..."Wow. What a little beauty".
Those who know me know that this upgrade has taken some time. I was origiannly looking at the Sony A 5000, but in the end decided that I need two lenses to achieve the zoom I want, especially for stills. I do have my S9 but find the 8 x zoom lens gets a little grainy when maxed out.

The HX90 is perfect for my needs. Extremely compact, no extra lenses and super good in the quality stakes. OK, admittedly it's no RX100, but great quality in my budget range.



I upgraded my action camera some months ago and have found the Sony HDR AS50 a great little additive to my kit. Yes, I know the whole world screams Go Pro, but not me, and honestly Sony has caught up with, and possibly overtaken the Go Pro, in my opinion.
The AS50, being the base model is a great start up of a fantastic line of action cameras.



I have some new things on the way from Amazon and Wish. As mentioned before I am waiting on a little micro SQ11 action camera. This is no an upgrade but for AUD$12.00 I thought it might make a little inconspicuous helmet cam, or handlebar mounted selfie cam.



Another Wish item is a dead cat for my lavelier mic. I tried to do a cycling vlog the other day but where I had my mic mounted it caught the wind and every other sound except my voice. So, needless to say no cycling vlog. This is a real bummer as I have wanted to start these for a while, and now with my knee operation, I may have missed the boat for a few weeks.

In the Amazon parcels there is, what turned up today, a helmet mounted mirror. I love my little bar mount but when touring loaded, the panniers block my rear vision. The helmet mount may help act a combination mic mount as well.
I also have a new bike horn coming. A Hidream Loud Horn. That should stir up the headphone wearing pedestrians, and the phone gawking motorists..lol



I have a new top tube coming as well. I had a good one that served me well. Unfortunately with the change of phone to the somewhat larger Samsung S9, it was a squeeze. Actually, a squeeze to the point that the stitching tore on the phone sleeve. The one coming to replace it is only a $30.00 one, but has added side pockets, like little panniers. I thought this would be great for camera storage.

I'll do a video on all these when I get all the packages in and do a combined What's In The Box.

Anyway, there's all my updates and upgrades. Keep an eye on my YouTube channel for reviews and reveals, being on crutches I'll have plenty of time to vlog...lol

Cheers guys, and as always, ride safe.

No comments:

Post a Comment