Review: Nanuk 925 Hard Case Take Two

Hey,

So I originally did a quick review of the Nanuk 925 hard case after I first bought it.  Now I will just go over some of the things since then that I want to say after using it in the "field" so to speak.

So I have been driving all over eastern Canada now and taking photos as I go and this is an amazing case to have with me.  It fits all of my gear which is great since I like having my options of what things I want to use.  I have my Lowpro bag as well just incase I want to go on a hike since a hard case isn't great for that.

It isn't great that my battery grip doesn't fit on my camera in the case.  I went over that the first time reviewing the case however I am used to not having my battery grip on now.  I stopped using the grip normally so I don't have to screw it in every time I take out my camera(which was a pain).

And now the new things.

First, I love not worrying about breaking my stuff when I have it packed into my work vehicle.  So that is a nice thing to have going for yeah.  The peace of mind knowing you wont break your camera gear with it knocking around in a vehicle.

I was on a ferry and it was outrageously foggy and the dew was forming on everything for the most part.  This would usually scare me with my camera bag however with the case I didn't fret.  I walked inside the boat and the water was on the case and I just set it down on a seat and wiped the water off of it.

Those are the two main things which were the two main reasons I got a hard case.  Additionally I have found it is very easy to open and close compared to a Pelican case.  I can open and close it with one hand which is useful.

I am very impressed with the case and I am very happy with the purchase.  My only dilemma now is if I buy any more gear... I wont have room.  So maybe in the end, that is good since it will make me think harder about buying more gear since I wont have room.

Photos: Yarmouth, NS

Hey,

Took a couple photos in Yarmouth during a sunset... hopefully I get more however I am a little swamped with work sadly.  Oh well, c'est la vie.

I only posted two photos so here they are, hope you enjoy them:

Harbour - Yarmouth, NS - 17-55mm

Boat - Yarmouth Harbour, NS - 17-55mm

Photos: Cape Forchu, NS

Hey,

I am pumping out a lot of photos because I have been able to take more photos as I travel since I have arrived at where I am working for the week.  These photos are from a very nice area with a lighthouse outside of Yarmouth called Cape Forchu.  I was really happy with these photos and they are now up on Flickr.

Also I am now using hyper links more because... well I can and it's fancy haha.

The Flickr Set:

Photos: Digby

Hey,

I have uploaded three photos from Digby, NS.  It is a small town on the northern coast of Nova Scotia and is known for their famous scallops.  While I was there I had amazing scallops at O'neils.  It was right on the water and it was a fishery so they sold their scallops along with other seafood.

Digby, NS - 17-55mm

 I will have photos from Yarmouth up soon.  I drove out to Cape Forchu yesterday to see the lighthouse and it was worth it.

Digby Flickr Set

Photos: P.E.I.

The photos from P.E.I. are not up on flickr.  I am happy with them and I hope everyone likes them as much as I do.  Here is the Flickr set:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/t​omjbh/sets/72157627071715107/

Beach, Cavandish West, P.E.I. - 17-55mm

Sneak Peak: P.E.I.

Hey,

I just tossed up the Bay of Fundy photos and I am still doing the final touches to the photos from P.E.I. however I can toss up a sneak peak tonight.  I will have the photos up tomorrow I hope.  So here is that sneak peak:

Boardwalk, P.E.I. - 17-55mm

I am excited about the P.E.I. photos, however the weather wasn't lovely but, that is what you get sometimes on the east coast.

I'll post when the photos are up on Flickr along with a link.

Stay posted,

Tom

Photos & Update: Bay of Fundy

Hey,


Finally tagged and edited and uploaded and all that jazz with my Bay of Fundy photos.  So they are now up on Flickr which I will throw he link down at the bottom of this.  The photos look good and I am happy with them.  


Some side notes:


I will have my photos from P.E.I up soon which I am also really excited for.  


Also because I just rolled into Nova Scotia today and visited P.E.I, I have now been to all the provinces in Canada and 2 of the 3 territories.  I just thought I would share that fun fact. 


Hope all is well, and here is a photo from the Flickr set and a link to it:

Sea Stack - Hopewell Rocks, NS - 17-55mm

Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomjbh/sets/72157627189903228/

Update & Sneak Peak

Hello,

I am now on the east coast of Canada and loving it.  Spent the day at Hopewell Rocks which is a section of the Bay of Fundy located on the New Brunswick side of the bay.  It is about 35ish km south from Moncton.  It was a great place with very friendly staff at the park.  It was a very nice park, one of the nicest provincial parks I have been too.  Definitely got my $7.75 worth (student rate).

A copious amount of photos were taken which I am currently sifting through.  I only have a macbook so I don't shoot in RAW usually because I feel my laptop will spontaneously combust if I do anything too too crazy on it.  However today because I want to do panoramas, I took some RAW photos and ended up having 400 something photos that added up to 1.9 GBs.   These were taken in the 8 hours I spent roaming the beach.  So there are a couple of photos to go through.  Also I plan on buying PTGui to do my stitching however I have bought it yet so I might do that in P.E.I. tomorrow.

So here is a sneak peak of what is to come from my trip to the Bay of Fundy:

Sea Stack B&W, Hopewell Rocks -Bay of Fundy, NB - 17-55mm

Sea Stack, Hopewell Rocks -Bay of Fundy, NB - 17-55mm

Daniel's Flats, Bay of Fundy, NB - 17-55mm

Quick taste of the photos I took.  Also it was terrible weather for taking photos of rock features so I decided a lot of the photos would have a better character in B&W since colour wasn't vital in these photos.  Normally I love colour photos over black and white but the weather wasn't behaving.  So I will make a set just for the B&W ones when I am done the edits.

Stay posted,

Tom

(I will add the links to Flickr when I post the photos there)

Update: 50mm f/1.4 D

I have been using the 50mm f/1.4 D a lot lately for portraits.  It is definitely growing on me from my last three shoots.  It is a great lens that lets you see each eyelash on 100% crops.  I have noticed colours can be a little off when shooting into the sun but that is normal.

From the quality of the portraits I took with the 50mm f/1.4 D, I am thinking of looking into the 85mm f1.4 D.  I love the bokeh of the 50mm f1.4 D however I know the 85mm is the lens to get for bokeh and portraits.

I am trying to get more creative with photo shoots than just beauty shots now.  Not that I don't like what I have done so far, I just want to try to keep getting better.  I took two photos lately that I really like that I think have a little more depth than some of my other portraits.

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

I just thought I would write an update about the 50mm.  It is a very good lens and I am very happy with it.

Photo Shoot: [Mel]

Hey,


Just finished a photos shoot with a gorgeous friend of mine.  I have the photos uploaded to Flickr so you should go check those out.  I have very happy with how they turned out.  These photos here are not on Flickr because I thought variety would be nice.  Hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do:

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

I was lucky enough to get in one last photo shoot before I leave for the east coast.  Also I am learning that the 50mm f/1.4 D is an amazing portrait lens and it makes me want the 85mm f/1.4 D. Sadly it has been discontinued so it may be hard to get my hands on one of those now but we shall see.  So check out my last shoot at the link below:

The Flickr Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomjbh/5913518389/in/set-72157627017787249/

Tom

Review: Nanuk 925 Hard Case (Initial)

Review: Nanuk 925 Hard Case

Thoughts and Opinions:

I just purchased the Nanuk 925 Hard Case and it is a worth while purchase so far. I decided to write a review of it now with first impressions and then do a review after I have used it awhile.  

So far I am very impressed with the case.  It is sturdy and well built, no complaints there.  The Powerclaw latches are very easy to open and close.  I have opened and close a Pelican Hard Case before and it was a chore.  You needed to push down on the top of the lid on the Pelican case to get the latches on and close the latch.  The Powerclaw system works much better and is a whole lot easier to use in my opinion. 

The cubed foam was easy to use and take out.  I did not have a difficult time setting up my case however I had one too many things to put in it but that is okay.  I bought the 925 because it is small enough to fit as a carry on for airplanes.  I highly doubt I will bring all my gear if I go for a trip.  My 35mm and 105mm will probably stay home for sure.  I would debate between the tokina, 17-55mm and the 50mm.  Probably just take the 50mm and the 17-55mm but I digress. 

I plan to use the case more to transport my gear safely and still use my bag for walks and hikes etc.  My D90 with the MB-D80 is sadly too tall for the case.  I could take off the lens and lay it flat but I lose space so I have to take off the battery grip.  If I use the case for my "bag" then I will be using it at a shoot so I can put on the battery grip and that's fine.  If I am walking around and such I dont want to keep taking the grip on and off so I would use my bag in that case.

Because of taking off the grip I lost some room in my case so I can no longer carry my chargers in the case.  This is okay because I usually don't bring my chargers with me because I have back up batteries I bring along.

The grip of the case is nice on the hands and the case is lighter than I thought it would be with all my gear in it.  That was a pleasant surprise.  The case is everything I wanted so far.

Just looking into the future a little, the case is great however it will get a little complex once I sell or get new lenses.  The foam will be a little hard to use if I  got a new lens.  I would need to swap out lenses and hope the new one fits into a space I have in the case.  I am day dreaming about a 70-200mm in the far future and for sure would need a new case if I got that.  

Due to space, my flash had to be put vertically so it's fit is a little tight but I don't think that will be an issue.  Other than that and taking off the battery grip it has been good.  But as I mentioned earlier, I bought the case for that size rather than buying a case for all my gear since it would be too large for carry on.

Usage:

So far I have just put my gear into the cubed foam but it has been good so far.  Other than packing my gear I haven't done much with it but the latches were great, as well as the construction. 

Pros:

- Easy to use latches

- Solid construction

- Nice handle grip

- Water seal is inset in the lid so you can't break the seal but rubbing against the lid

- And all the features it has (Crushproof, Waterproof, etc)

Cons:

- Couldn't fit my D90 with battery grip vertically however that was fine since I bought the case so it could be a carried onto a plane.  But if having not having all your gear with you is a issue, buy a larger case.  There are 7 sizes I believe that Nanuk makes so I am sure you can find something that could work.  I just wanted to start with one I could fly with as carry on.

Photos:

Gear in Nanuk 925 - iPhone Photo

Thought so far:

I won't make any conclusions at this point but I do like what I have seen.  It is a great hard case in my opinion.  I have only tried opening and closing a Pelican case before and the Nanuk is much easier to open and close.  Nanuk seemed to have better features than the other hard cases on the market.  Nanuk is new and because of this I think that they have rethought some of the design ideas for hard cases.  I plan to take this on a road trip with me so I will definitely put it to use.  

Later I will write another review of the case when I have used it more.

Photo Shoot: [E]

I finished editing the photos of the shoot today and I think they look great.  It was shot on a farm mostly by an abandoned house that was falling apart.  Sadly it was a little too unsafe to go into due to all the lead based paint falling off the wood everywhere.  Also the floor boards would probably give way under weight.

Anywho, great shots as I said and I do really like them.  I will put up some photos here that are not on my Flickr account just to have some variety.  My Facebook Page for photography will also have some unique photos from the shoot as well so be sure to check those out.

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - 105mm 

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4 D

 So again make sure to check out the other photos on Flickr at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomjbh/sets/72157627094657878/

And as well on my photography page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.214153681959835.51840.153882831320254

I hope you enjoy the new photos,

Tom

Sneak Peak: [E]

Hello,

I am just editing the photos from the shoot today and they look great.  I am having a difficulty with narrowing down what photos I want to use because there are so many good ones.  I thought I would post one for a sneak peak:

Portrait - 50mm f/1.4