Chicahunters.com

[Standown]

Hi All,

I have got to say this is the most complete site on travel I have seen, a really great place to learn all about the "sport" if you will. The knowledge this site imparts is invaluable to say nothing of the pictures offered up for viewing. Nearly had a heart attack!

I do have some concerns about Brazil as it appears to be not as safe as one would think, it still remains my number one choice with Columbia a close second even though Medellin and it's reputation do not escape me. I may be a little naive but, is Columbia friendly to brothers? I've heard stories....

It's like this, I just got back from the Middle East and would prefer not to walk around as if I were on Combat Patrol or sleep as if on Full Alert Status. I certainly do not want to hurt anyone or be hurt. It may not be that bad but, a wingman would be a must for me. I am not a rookie to mongering but, it has been a very long time since I've taken a trip. I'm finally done with military service after many years of duty so, I was seeking a little R&R within 3-4 months. I've got a few medical issues to address and get used to being in the states again, finding a job, you know, the whole nine yards. I do have a question. I have read, everyone brings a camera and or video recorder. Do you bring "point & shoot" cameras or DSLRs and how good a video camera? I ask because I have done professional shoots in a prior life, something I wish to re-enter.

Any feedback and advice would be highly welcomed. I do have a few pictures to share of my mongering days. I will find the proper place to post them. Thanks guys for a terrific site. I hope to contribute with trip reports and pictures.

[Pana]

Welcome aboard just start reading away at the Brasil section http://chicahunters.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=4 and than if you have any futher questions we are here to help you . If you are from a big city than Brasil should be no problem for you in my opinion.

[Coolhand]

My Brother Standown,

First off welcome home brother you guys are doing a great job over there so I owe you a beer. Im Coolhand the site admin and I would like to welcome you to Chicahunters.I thank you for your kind words the Mods and Myself have been hard at work and are glad to hear you like our work.

To answer your question as a brother myself who have traveled to Med,Colombia trust me you will have no problem there.They will not know you are not a local until you speak, and if you speak spanish they will not know until you tell them.As for safe I had no problems on either of my trips. I just advise you handle yourself as you would in any major city.

Keep us posted on your next monger trip and pair with a good wingman. Again welcome home and welcome to Chicahunters if you like what we are doing here dont forget to tell a friend. Coolhand

[Standown]

Thanks for the welcome, and sometime I hope to take you up on that beer.

I went out and bought Rosetta Stone with the most common languages, pricey devil. I'll be studying Spanish and Portugese to at least get a rudimentary understanding of the languages, it can't hurt.

Thanks for the information and I'll be sure to read, read, read.

Coolhand, again all of you have done a terrific job, hope we meet on a trip someday.

[Standown]

I thought you might like this picture I took before I left for the desert.

[Coolhand]

Perfect shot you are a pro. Looks like we will have some real grade A post pics.

[Dondi]

Daam stand what kinda camera was that........that's some real 3-D shit right there..........

[Standown]

I used a Nikon D70. It is a D-SLR and is only a 6.1 MP camera but, as you can tell it does a pretty good job. Nikon does not make the D70 anymore; you can buy the Nikon D40 6.1 MP or the D40x 10.0 MP cameras. Both are really good however, most reviews give best color reproduction to the Nikon D40.

[Dondi]

Any photo's of the camera itself ????

[Standown]

Sure I can post a photo of the camera itself. I'll check the info within the photo file to make sure it was the D70 I used. It might have been the Olympus E-500. Either way, I'll post a photo.

[Standown]

My apologies, the camera I used was the Olympus E-500. I shoot most of the time with my Nikons but I always bring a backup camera. I occasionally use the backup so I will still be familiar with the menus etc. This model Olympus is an 8.1MP D-SLR. I really like the color these cameras reproduce. When I use this camera I usually shoot in RAW or TIFF mode but, you'll see by the accompanied chart, you should have a large memory card [CF compact flash] installed. This model has also been replaced by the 10.1 MP E-510.

Here are some pictures of the camera along with some screen shots:





These are typical shots of what you can see on the menu screens and the information given by the camera when reviewing photos.







Here are a couple of charts you might be interested in:

Camera Dial Functions

Scene mode:

You choose the situation and the camera uses the appropriate settings. Choose from portrait, landscape+portrait, night+portrait, child, beach & snow, sport, landscape, night scene, fireworks, sunset, macro, high key (optimized for bright scenes), low key (optimized for dark scenes), candle, museum, documents

Night scene: Same ones as in the scene mode menu, but easier to access

Sport: "

Macro: "

Landscape: "

Portrait: "

Auto: Totally point-and-shoot; flash will pop-up as needed

Program mode: Still automatic, but flash must be popped up manually; a program shift feature lets you choose from several aperture/shutter speed combinations

Aperture Priority: You pick the aperture, the camera picks the appropriate shutter speed; this will vary depending on the lens you are using; on the 14-45 that comes with the camera it was F3.5 - F22

Shutter Priority: You choose the shutter speed and the camera picks the correct aperture. You can choose from a range of 60 - 1/4000 sec

Full Manual: You pick the aperture and shutter speed, same values as above; a bulb mode lets you take exposures as long as 8 minutes

File Type Resolution Compression Approx. file size # images on
512MB card, samll by today's standards

RAW 3264 x 2448 N/A 13.6 MB 37

TIFF 3264 x 2448 N/A 24.5 MB 20

SHQ (JPEG) 3264 x 2448 1/2.7 6.4 MB 80

HQ (JPEG) 3264 x 2448 1/4 4.5 MB 113
1/8 2.5 MB 204
1/12 1.8 MB 284

SQ (JPEG) 3200 x 2400 1/2.7 6.2 MB 82
1/4 4.4 MB 116
1/8 2.4 MB 213
1/12 1.8 MB 284

2560 x 1920 1/2.7 3.7 MB 138
1/4 2.5 MB 204
1/8 1.3 MB 393
1/12 800 KB 640

1600 x 1200 1/2.7 1.5 MB 341
1/4 1.0 MB 512
1/8 500 KB 1024
1/12 400 KB 1280

1280 x 960 1/2.7 900 KB 568
1/4 600 KB 853
1/8 300 KB 1706
1/12 200 KB 2560

1024 x 768 1/2.7 600 KB 853
1/4 400 KB 1280
1/8 200 KB 2560
1/12 200 KB 2560

640 x 480 1/2.7 300 KB 1706
1/4 200 KB 2560
1/8 100 KB 5120
1/12 100 KB 5120

Please notice in the RAW and TIFF files the N/A depicts no file compression so what is essentially happening is you get the maximum amount of information being sent to the CF card. Yoou will amost aways want to shootin these modes as it renders the best pictures.

If you have any questions about the camera ask away, I'll be happy to pull go over anything in detail with you. Please keep in mind, I rarely just go out and point and shoot. I use flash outdoors, reflectors, scrims, and a host of other equipment to get shots, that's not to say you can't get great shots from a D-SLR, you can. I like to push my creative side to see what I can come up with mistake or not. I hope this info helped.