Today my new Pentax k20d body, sigma 30mm lens, and audio recorder came in the mail! I got to quickly play with the new lens and body here is my fun around the house:

Also, I leave for Kenya on Monday so I decided I should post a list of all the photographically related things I am bringing in case anybody was curious. Let me know if you have any questions about why this stuff or if you think I am silly. I’ll try and post little notes on the interesting things.

Cameras and lenses:

Pentax k10d(both my camera bodies are “weatherproof” and generally pretty tough. I’m used to Pentax and really like their color representation and they fit beautifully in my hands. It really doesn’t matter what bodies you use these days, a Nikon D90, D300, or D5000 or Canon 40d or 50d are all pretty similar. The Pentax doesn’t do video yet, but the new version coming out in July does so if you want video maybe go with the 50d or wait for the new Pentax)

Pentax k20d(just got this woot!)

Sigma 30mm 1.4(also just got this woot!)

Sigma 105mm 2.8

Sigma 10-20 4-5.6

Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5

Sigma 135-400 4.5-5.6(this lens would be awesome except there isn’t a lock so the zoom slides out. It’s also a little slow, but it’s cheap)

Ricoh R8 point and shoot(it’s my backup just in case and it can shoot video for multimedia productions.  I like it because of its wide angle lens and wide range of zoom. I wouldn’t mind having a new Canon g10 though…)

Storage:

3xSandisk 8gb Extreme III

2xSandisk 4gb Extreme III 30mb/s(these are super sweet!)

3 or 4 other random sd cards

2xBuffalo ministation 500gb externals(they are cheap and wicked small and light!)

25 pack of CD-Rs to ship to Switzerland

Computer stuff:

Ibm Lenovo x60(A macbook pro would be cool too but they are expensive and big at least its got 4gb ram and 60gb hard drive and xp instead of vista.)

T-shirt as a laptop case(I almost bought a fancy hard pelican case but decided that would make it look too fancy and somebody would steal it)

Adobe Photoshop 7(It’s not that I don’t want a fancy cs version, it’s just that I have never been able to afford it or I don’t wanna steal it…)

SoundsSlides Pro(I haven’t used this yet, but I have seen great things from it)

Audacity audio editor(Don’t really know much about audio, so I figure this is a good enough place to learn. Maybe someday I’ll buy Adobe Audition)

Firefox

Open Office

Skype

Optical mouse

Audio recording equipment:

Olympus WS-331M Digital Voice Recorder(This is a voice recorder and most “professional types” would recommend something like an Edirol or Marantz because they are much stronger recorders, but run closer to $400 while mine was ~$110. Essentially buy the best audio recorder you can afford, unless you happen to be amazing with audio editing programs)

Sony ECM-DS70P Electret Condenser Stereo Microphone(this microphone is much smaller and lighter than a real microphone, although the quality isn’t as nice as a Sennheiser)

Luggage:

REI Venturi backpack(This is a larger metal frame pack that keeps cameras and lenses from poking into your back. It’s also nice for warm weather because the pack doesn’t physically rest against your back)

Camelbak backpack(This pack is 5 or so years old and has years of fading that make it nice and inconspicuous…)

Accessories and random stuff:

6 batteries for my Pentax DSLRs(They are cheap, so why not be careful?)

Pelican sd card case(these are really cute. They are crushproof and waterproof and hold 8 sd cards securely)

Wireless shutter release

2 el cheapo ebay wireless flash triggers(These don’t compare to Pocket Wizards, but are significantly smaller and a tenth of the price)

Unlocked Motorola Razr

Guidebooks and maps of Kenya

Notebooks for taking names and contact information as well as to keep details about day to day happenings

Medicine

Clothes

Sunscreen

Bugspray