Sirui T-2005X Tripod and K-10x Ball Head Review

First off, I've only had this tripod for about a month now so my impression may change as time passes but so far, I love it.  I replaced my Slik Sprint Pro II tripod with this one from Sirui.  It cost almost twice as much but is 10 times better, so I am really happy with it.  It is the first "professional" tripod I have ever used and I must say it is a pleasure.  It is just so much easier to use and frame the shot, also it is sturier so when it is windy I can get a clearer shot.  Sirui isn't really a brand name but my research found that Sirui provides all the features and quality of a brand name like Giotto or Gitzo at a much cheaper price.  As with all my camera gear, I am always looking to get the most bang for my buck and I think I made the right choice with Sirui.  Once I use it a bit more I will update this post with more thoughts and discussion of the features but for right now, I can definitly recommend this brand and line of tripods for taking great photos.

Here are all the photos I have posted where I used the Sirui T-2005X Tripod and K-10x Ball Head

Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizing II Filter Review

A polarizing filter screws on to the front of the camera an has two main purposes as far as I have found (for my photography)

1. Darken skies to make them look better
2. Remove glare from objects or water

#1 can be done in photoshop so it isn't worth the investment but #2 can't.  I must say, I don't use this that often but there are times when I want to take a photo of water and it adds to the photo to remove the glare and see what is actually in the water, and a polarizing filter is the only way to do that.  I splurged and purchased the Nikon version which was more expensive than other brands because I saw a lot of reviews saying the other ones can fall appart.  Also, I bought this with some money I made shooting a wedding in the summer so I was willing to splurge a bit more.  Overall I am happy with it so far and hope to find more uses for it this summer when I am up in the mountains taking photos.

To see what this filter does check out the photos I have posted where I used the Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizing II Filter.

Metz 44AF-1 Flash Review

I didn't buy an external flash until two years after I bought my Nikon D5000, before that I would just use the on camera flash.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I went with the cheapest decent quality one I could fine, which was the Metz.  I don't have much to compare it to because I have never used the Nikon brand ones that cost twice as much but I am happy with the photos it takes.  I primarily use it for taking photos of the family which I don't post here but recently all my facebook profile photos were taken with this flash.  I haven't figured out a way to take the flash off the camera yet because I think I need to buy another connector for that but I have some great photos of my daughter using this flash so I am happy with it so far.

COKIN P121 G2 Grey Graduated Filter Review

Graduated filters are used for landscape photography to make the sky darker so the whole picture is exposed properly.  I really tried to figure out a good way to use this to make good photos but never really got it figure out.  I had two problems:

1. There was always dust on the filter that I could never quite get off.  It was a like a dust magnet!  There was also dust in the carrying case that came with it so even when I spent 5 minutes to get all the dust off the filter, it was added back on when I put it back in the case.  The most annoying thing was the dust was in the case when I first opened it.
2. The photos always looked better using HDR.  The way I tested it was, I would take three photos for a HDR to be processed in Photomatix.  Then I would take some shots using this graduated filter.  I would compare the HDR to the ones shot with the graduated filter and the HDR ALWAYS looked better. So, I stopped using it.

Maybe I just got a bad brand, or maybe I just never really figured out the best way to use it but my opinion is that HDR produces better images than graduated filters so I don't use this much anymore.

Hoya 52mm ND filter Review

ND filters fit on the front of the lens and limit the number of light that enters the camera.  I bought this one to use with my Nikon 18-55mm lens and really enjoyed playing with it.  The main reason I got it was to make water look better.  If you have every seen a picture where there is a river or body of water that looks silky smooth, they probably did that with and ND filter.  I don't use it much more, only because I don't use my 18-55mm lens much since I purchased a 18-200mm lens.  The problem with these filters is they only fit on a lens of the same size (thats where the 52mm comes from), so I will probably sell this filter when I sell my 18-55mm lens and buy a new one for either my 18-200m lens or maybe the 12-24mm lens that I use for landscapes.

To get a better idea what a photo with an ND filter looks like check out the photos I have posted where I used this ND filter.