Equipment
Cameras/Bodies
Digital
Canon 1DS Mk. II (16.7 mp)
Canon 5D (12.7 mp)
Nikon D70 (6.1 mp)
Ricoh Caplio G3 Digital Camera (3.1 mp)
-
35mm
Canon T70 body X2
Nikon F2 Photomic body/finder
Nikon FT3 body
-
Lenses
Canon EOS Mount
Canon 24mm f1.4 L
Canon 35mm f1.4 L
Canon 65mm f2.8 MP-E Macro
Canon 85mm f1.2 L
Canon 90mm f2.8 TS-E
Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro
Canon 180mm f3.5 L Macro
-
Canon FD Mount
Canon FD 50mm f1.2 L lens
Canon FD 55mm f1.2 SSC ASPH. lens
Canon FD 85mm f1.2 L lens
-
Leica-R Mount
Leica Summicron 180mm 2.0 APO
Leica Summilux-R 50mm 1.4 ROM
Leica Summilux-R 35mm 1.4 ROM
Leica APO 1.4x Tele-converter
-
Nikon F Mount
Nikon 14mm f2.8 AF-D lens
Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS lens
Nikon 50mm f1.8 AIS lens
Nikon 105mm f2.0 AF DC lens
Nikon 300mm 4.5 ED-IF AIS lens
Nikon 600mm f4.0 ED-IF AIS lens
Nikon TC-14B 1.4x Tele-converter
-
Macro
Kirk Focusing Rail (single-axis)
Canon Focusing Rail (single-axis)
Nikon Extension Tubes - PN-11 + M2
Nikon No. 6T Close-Up Attachment Lens
Nikon No. 4T Close-Up Attachment Lens
Generic Reversing ring for Nikon F mount
-
Data Storage/Cards
CompactDrive PDX-70 (80Gb)
SanDisk Extreme III 4GB CF memory
SanDisk Extreme III 2GB CF memory
SanDisk Extreme III 1GB SD memory x3
-
Cases/Bags
Lowepro Pro Trekker AWII
Lowepro Pro Stealth Reporter 650 AW
Peli Protector 1550 Hard-case w/foam interior x2
-
Editing hardware/software
Editing work-station : Intel P4-E 3Ghz (1Mb L2 cashe) - 800Mhz FSB - 3Gb DDR 400 L3 RAM - ~280Gb HDD space - DVD/CD RW - 17" CRT - Windows XP Home
Adobe Photoshop CS2
Phase One Capture One Pro
Nikon Capture 4
-
Everything else
Vixen GP-DX equatorial Mount(Astro-photography)
Gitzo 1325 Mountaineer CF tripod
Gitzo G220 tripod
Arca-Swiss B1 Ballhead
Wimberley Head
Manfronto 293 Lens Support
Large Novoflex Clamp Mount
Nikon 4000ED Film Scanner
RRS L-plate for Canon EOS-1DS Mark II
Canon Command-Back for T70
Canon Twin Lite MT24EX
Canon Speedlight 550EX
Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Controller
Canon EOS Remote Switch RS-80N3
IBM ThinkPad T42 Notebook - Intel Pentium M 1.80GHz - 15" XGA - 512MB DDR SDRAM - 80GB HDD- DVD-Writer - 56Kbps - Bluetooth Wi-Fi Gigabit Ethernet - Adaptec 1394 FireWire CardBus - Windows XP Professional
--
The GP-DX/Camera Battery
Below are some shots of the GP-DX mounted Camera battery which I used during the 2002 Leonids - Shown mounted here, in front are 2X Canon T70 cameras with 50mm 1.2 L (closest) and 55mm 1.2 SSC ASPH lenses, and at the back is a Nikon FT3 with my 28mm 2 AIS lens.
The system I use to trigger the shutters on the T70's is a scaled down version of the system developed and successfully used by Robert Haas of the DMS (see this page (which no longer exists - but try this link instead) on the DMS web site for further details) which uses a Canon Command Back 70 to trigger multiple Canon T-70's to open/close either shutters simultaneously, and hold them open for extended periods without draining the camera batteries. So far the system has worked flawlessly for me both in tests and in the field! Many thanks to Robert and the DMS for sharing this elegant solution!
Each camera is mounted on a small Hamma ball head, giving me flexibility to point the cameras in most directions. The Hamma heads are annoyingly hard to tighten up sometimes, but once properly tightened, they seem to work OK! Follow-up: I'm looking for a better alternative now that I've had them a while (and find that they do sometimes slip quite easily). Something more secure is what I need!
The ball heads are mounted on an accessory plate made by Vixen, which has various holes and slits pre-drilled to make it easy to mount almost anything to the GP-DX equatorial mount. The glaringly overexposed plate in the shot below is one I had custom made especially so as I could mount another camera in an elevated (or lowered, if the plate is reversed) position, allowing me to point the camera immediately above the FOV of the cameras in front, which might otherwise be in the way.
The shot below shows the entire mount/tripod setup and the adapter which I had custom made (machined from an aluminum block) to attach my Gitzo tripod legs to the GP-DX. It's the metallic disc directly above where the tripod legs meet(dark gray finish) - I will take some shots of it in close up, if I get the chance... Stay tuned.
For the purposes of these photos I did not include all the leads and controllers, which would otherwise clutter the photos. I also forgot to attach the counterweight to the mount. OOPS!
The Nikon 600/4 EDIF + Wimberley Mounted on the Gitzo 1325
Canon 1Ds Mk. II + Summicron 180mm 2.0 APO
Click here for Images of my custom mounting platesNew!
--
All images (C) Leo Stachowicz 1999-2007
Please send any comments, suggestions or questions here