My On-The-Train Imaging Kit

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KmH

Engineer
Joined
Dec 6, 2014
Messages
2,055
Location
Is this heaven? No. It's Iowa.
Cameras
Nikon D300s DSLR - 3 batteries & charger (primary)
Samsung Galaxy Sky SmartPhone (secondary)
YI Lite 4K 150° action camera - 3 batteries & charger (tertiary)

Travel Lenses
Nikon AF 24-85mm f/2.8-4D IF
AUKEY wide-angle/macro phone camera lens

Camera Support
JOBY GorillaPod SLR Zoom
Ztylus Smartphone tripod mount w/cold shoe
Yunteng 288 Monopod w/pan/tilt fluid head and folding feet.
Action camera suction cup mount
SmallRig Clamp with small ball head

Audio
RØDE VideoMicro compact cardioid condenser microphone w/Rycote Lyre Shock Mount (works in D300s & phone)

Memory
3 SanDisk Ultra 32GB microSDHC UHS-I Card (In smartphone and action camera - 1 spare)
1 Samsung 64GB 100MB/s (U3) MicroSDXC (in D300s DSLR)

I'm booked on the CZ late this month. I'll be spending some time in Sacramento, San Francisco, and Davis.
I'll ride Amtrak California SAC to Oakland, the San Francisco Bay Ferry to SF and the Amtrak Thruway bus to Emeryville.

New to my kit is the Yi Lite, the smartphone tripod mount, the Yunteng monopod/fluid head, the suction cup, and the SmallRig.

I now have more camera mounting and shooting options.
If there is somewhere to clamp the SmallRig I can now shoot a scene from 3 camera angles/perspectives - at the same time.

Previously for the D300s I used a regular monopod - sans a head - or the Joby - sans a head.
I hand held the smartphone.
Stability was OK, but not as stable as I wanted.I could pan & tilt with the monopod, but not as smooth as I wanted.

For a really low or table top camera angle I can take the feet off the bottom of the Yunteng and mount any of my 3 cameras to the feet.
I can also take the fluid head off the Yunteng and mount it on the feet or to the Joby and then mount any of my 3 cameras.
I can mount the Yi Lite or the smartphone on the SmallRig clamp.

The RØDE external mic is a big improvement over the built-in D300s and phone mics even though it has no adjustments itself.
The wind cover (deadcat, furry cover) makes the mic look cool/odd.
The D300s pre-amp is decent, crudely adjustable, and I set the sensitivity to Medium (2).
The phone has no audio sensitivity adjustments - no surprise since it's primary function is to be a phone.

I edit video using Photoshop CC 2018 since I'm mainly a still photographer and have been using Photoshop since Ps 4.0 (1996 - code name Big Electric Cat). I'm still a beginner as far as shooting/editing video but I'm improving all the time.
 
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Edited by Ed
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