The kit comes with a rugged plastic piece to slide over your iPhone with a maco lens on one side and a wide angle and fish eye lens on the other. To use the wide angle lens it is just a matter of unscrewing the fisheye lens from the top of it. All the lenses come with covers to protect the optics and the kit also includes a nice micro fiber bag to hold everything and provide cleaning when needed.

Wide Angle

The wide angle lens is really helpful when it tight spaces like interiors and wanting to capture more of the room. It can also be really useful in cities when trying to fit a tall building in your photo without having to do a panoramic image.

Fisheye

This lens can make for some very unique and creative shots with the 180 degree view and circle outline around the frame. That being said, the thing I found I loved most to do with this lens on the iPhone 4 was to take 720p video. The same could be done with the 5s at 120 fps/720p and give you slow motion as an additional option. The reason I liked this so much was because it would give you a full 180 perspective, but at 720p, the video does not have any vignetting. One of my favorite uses for this was the clip below of lguazu falls in Brazil. I felt like it did a much better job allowing me to share the scale and magnitude of the water flow, than the normal iPhone lens would have.

Macro

This is another lens that can really reignite your creativity and enjoyment of iphonography as it lets you see the world in a way you may never have known existed. This lens lets you focus incredibly close and pick up tons of detail. It also has a softness around the edges of the frame that can be used to nicely frame your area of central focus.

Issues

The only thing I can think of that I did not like about this iPhone lens system is something that has been fixed with Olloclips latest offerings and that is the need to take your case of to use it. During our travels I was using a life proof case to protect my iPhone from water, drop and sand. If you have ever had this case you will know that it is not made to be easily or quickly taken off so because of this, I would not use the system as much as would have liked.

It seems Olloclip was aware of this possible frustration as in 2013 They released their own iPhone case that allows for decent protection and quick and easy access to the lens area. If you are looking to purchase this kit, which I really think you will enjoy, I would reccomend looking at getting the case as well so you can actually use the system quickly and easily when out and about.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a high quality kit to allow your creativity and iphonography to expand, I would highly reccomend the Olloclip system! I have been very happy with my kit and reccomend it to anyone who asks about expanding the capabilities and creativity if their iPhone photos.

Big thanks to the team over at olloclip for providing us with their awesome iPhone three-in-one lens. This thing is so cool. It easily fits in your pocket or laptop bag, etc. and includes a macro, wide angle and fisheye lens. If you are looking for a fun and well built product to add some new excitement and interest to your iPhone photos, be sure to go check out the olloclip iPhone 3-in-1 lens.

As we got ready for the start of our around the world trip, one thing I really wanted to bring on this trip was a good solid, highly adjustable, lightweight tripod that could easily fit into my daypack along with my camera and two lenses while still leaving room for a couple other items like a jacket, sunglasses, some snacks, etc.

I started where most would probably start and that is on the GorillaPod website. I had taken a gorrilapod with me on my last trip and wanted to see what they had to offer that would work with my current DSLR and lenses. They had come out with the GorillaPod SLR since I last checked them out which was a bigger, sturdier, heavier and little more expensive version of what I took with me last time. I decided this would be a good fallback option but felt like there had to be better options available. Don’t get me wrong here, I think the GorillaPod is a great option and invention and can work in about 70% or more of the situations I would need it in, but there are many times that I want my camera higher than the less-that-two-feet the GorillaPod allows.

What I was looking for was something with the portability and size of the gorillapod, but the flexibility to allow for shots of up to, or over, 5 feet high as well as the ability to easily adjust to different terrain and angles. Does such a tripod exist anywhere other than in a travel photographers dreams? Yes it does! Read on.

After lots of searching on google, bandhphoto, adorama, amazon and the like, I finally found a company that makes not one, but more than three different versions of a tripod that is light, flexible, portable and incredibly small. It was a company I had’t heard of before, but that just may be my nievity as they have been around for more than 60+ years and have a good reputation among photographers.

The tripod I found was made by Velbon and the one I entrusted with my camera, photos and memories for this once-in-a-lifetime trip was the the UT43D. This is a 6 section tripod that fully extends to over 5 feet as a tripod and even higher as a semi-monopod and yet is able to fold down to just under 12 inches making it awesome for travel. On top of that, the weight of only 2.6 pounds makes this thing almost unnoticeable especially when compared to my camera and lenses which, combined, weigh almost 4 pounds by themselves.

FEATURES

The UT43D features an amazingly well thought out system for maximizing height and flexibility while minimizing weight and size. It uses a patented 6-Section Trunnion Shaft System which is a fancy way of saying it uses a pull and twist mechanism to allow the legs to fold over the main camera holding shaft. This is something that so many other so-called travel tripods fail to utilize at the expense of 3+ inches of collapsed length, which is huge when trying to fit something into a backpack with the rest of the gear you need for a year long trip around the world. This same ingenious mechanism also has a slider allowing for three different angles for each of the three tripod legs. Add to this the 6 sections of the tripod and you’ve got over fifty possible angles for your camera right there not even counting the infinitely changeable lengths in between via adjusting all the sections!

This flexibility has come in handy many times on this trip. One of my favorite tricks utilizing it is when trying to get a shot over a railing with my wide angle lens. Unless the camera is very close or slightly over the railing, the railing will be in the frame and distract from the image. To overcome this issue, I extend two of the legs to almost parallel to the ground and retract them all the way back. I then rest those two legs on the railing itself and fully extend the third leg to stabilize it all. This allows my lens to be right in line with the ends of the railing giving me the angle I need to capture detail below the rail without including it in the image.

This is just one example of many where having so much flexibility has allowed me to capture shots that other wise would would not have been possible.

This tripod has a lot to offer in terms of it being so small to store, tall when fully-extended and lightweight. To give you a better idea just how portable this thing is, here is a picture I took in India of the tripod next to the GorillaPod mentioned earlier. If you are considering settling for a gorillapod for your next travel and photography trip, please reconsider!

This picture was curtesy of a guy named Michael from San Francisco who happened to be photographing the same Mausoleum I was. When we put our collapsed tripods side by side after he had already seen mine at full height he wrote down the make and model of my tripod to purchase as soon as he returned home;-)

One more advantage of this tripod that could be considered a feature is again how small it packs up. Many of the sites on my travels do not allow tripods for one stupid reason or another and will normally ask those with bigger tripods to check them in at security, put them in a supplied locker or just inform them they cannot use them while visiting the area. With my tripod in my bag I never get told about the tripod rules which can sometimes leave me with about 30 seconds to one minute to get some decent tripod pictures before I get approached and shut down by security.

BUILD

The Velbon UT43D is constructed of tough, solid and light aluminum with a few rubber and plastic pieces for the extension connectors and feet. Velbon even went as far as to make the removable camera mount solid aluminum with a metal connector screw and rubber inset for keeping the camera in place without scratching it.

I have been impressed with how solid this thing is – even allowing me to get this razor sharp shot below with the tripod legs in a moving stream and the shutter open for more than a minute. With a less sturdy tripod, there could have easily been some movement making this image blurred and unusable.

I have been using this tripod for about 2 years now and is has held up very well. Everything on it is still functional and seems to be well built, save a few semi-cosmetic issues I will talk about later.

NEGATIVES

There are really very few negatives I have found about this tripod, but here they are for those interested

The first negative I saw came into existence about three months into the trip and that is that the rubber pieces that allow for easier twisting of the bottom leg piece came loose from the metal thereby making it a little annoying to tighten and loosen. Even still, a year and a half later they are still there and serve their purpose with a little pressure, so not a total waste by any means, but not ideal with them being loose.

The other negatives, and I am searching here a bit, are that sometimes the adjustable leg locks don’t always lock in place and also sometimes when they are locked in place, they can move during set up. Once in place these are non issues, but during set up these can slide. They also do show a little ware and tear and the paint has been chipped off where the metal hits each other to stop the legs from angling out to far. Lastly, if I have been carrying the tripod fully extended for a bit and then go to set it up, the legs will sometimes be loosened from the walk and will start to slid in. I don’t see this as anything really wrong with the tripod or design, but something to be aware of and I recommend you tighten the legs after walking with it for a bit.

DETAILS

Images made possible by this tripod

[click to view larger]

Big thanks to One Source Network for providing us with the Velbon UT 43D tripod as the shots in the post would not have been possible without it.

I have rested my head on everything from plush amazingness, to a couch cushion, to nothing at all. A couple of months in, I was a little worried about the possible future pillows I might encounter, but I wasn’t thrilled at the thought of lugging around a giant pillow or fighting to stuff it into my bag every morning. So, I did some research on what other travelers suggest for the best travel pillow.

This is not ideal.

This is really not ideal.

It didn’t take long to figure out that a down pillow is the way to go. Firstly, I love down stuff. If I could surround myself in down cushiness all the time, I totally would. It’s comfortable, it has a nice cooling affect and it’s lightweight. Additionally, a travel size feather pillow can fit almost anywhere. Believe me, if there is an inch of open space in my bag, I can force my travel pillow into it!

The best travel pillow I came across was from GooseFeet Gear, a one-man company that makes custom down gear including everything from down socks to pants to pretty much anything you want.

I got in touch with Ben, the main man over at GooseFeet to ask about his options for a travel pillow and he quickly gave me some great advice. This guy really knows his trade. He asked me all kinds of questions about how I sleep and what I like in terms of firmness and loft in pillows, etc. By the time he was putting my pillow together, (and Griffin’s, who had to have one as well), I was getting pretty excited about it. Ben actually makes all his products by hand and to order. You can’t beat that!

Optimal.

The pillow was perfect! I chose a black color so as not to show much dirt and Ben chose a rip-stop material to make sure it was durable. The first thing I did was spend some time squishing the pillow down and checking to see how long it took to regain its shape. Then I practiced stuffing it into the smallest spaces I could find and then taking it out and shaking it back to its original form. The pillow passed every test I could throw at it, so I thought it was time for the ultimate test, sleeping. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, my hostel-provided pillow granted me a great opportunity as it was basically a rock with a pillowcase. I whipped out my down travel pillow and was ready to go. I woke up the next morning and decided Ben had done me a huge favor. The thing slept great and I woke up feeling refreshed, without the sore neck I knew would await me with the cotton rock I would have been sleeping on.

From that point on, the pillow has stayed with me on planes, trains, buses, cars, etc. I just shove it into my day pack and I’m ready to dream. It adds no weight to my bag, which is ideal, it’s withstood everything I can throw at it, and grants me the ability to sleep on those rocky overnight trains.

If you’re a traveler looking for lightweight, durable, stuffable pillow, GooseFeet Gear is the place to shop. If you’re like me and your idea of heaven has down clouds, just drop Ben a line and he can hook you up with pretty much anything you want! Don’t sleep on this advice… just get the pillow.

As we prepared for our 12+ month around-the-world-trip, we didn’t quite manage to fit everything into a carry on, but we were able to find a lot of helpful ways to reduce the size and weight of our chargers. As I’m sure we are not the only ones who are frustrated by the space and weight of these things while traveling, we thought we’d share our solutions and some other options that have since been discovered as well.

The first item we wanted to reduce was the power adapters for our two computers.

You have been lugging two computers around the world on your backs!?!

Yes. We would not recommend it for everyone and for most couples, one computer or a tablet would probably work fine, but, as Griffin is running a Design Company and Valerie’s computer weighs less than many tablets, that is conclusion we came to. That being said, we would not recommend it for most people and Griffin does not enjoy lugging around his 5+ pound behemoth of a laptop all that much.

Power Cables

We researched and tried to find a smaller, lighter option from the 45 and 85 Watt power bricks we had and found some interesting options, but nothing that seemed to be worth the time or additional money for our needs. We also knew we didn’t want to get rid of the 6 foot extension cables from our chargers as many times, they are needed to reach from outlets to our laptops. In the end we ended up going with a 6 foot extension cable to share between our two adapters and this has worked really well. We made sure to get one with three plug on the end so that we could charge two commuters, or one computer and two other devices if needed.

USB Chargers

Once we had reduced our laptop cables by one extender, it was time to move on to our USB Devices. We travel with the following USB rechargeable items:

• iPhone(2) – These have changed travel for us forever! Griffin traveled for 6 months in 2007 before the iPhone came out and had to spend hours researching online for hostels, train routes, maps, tourist information, hotel directions and more. Now with the iPhone and all the amazing travel apps that have been made for it, within about 20 minutes, we can find and book a hostel, get train directions to that city from our current city, get walking directions from the train station to the new hostel and look up things to see and do in the new city all without needing to waste paper with printing or writing all the information down.
• iOS Backup Batteries(2) – We use these on long trips to get some extra use out of our iPhones, iPods or iPad as desired.
• iPod Classic(2) – Capable of holding the most music and also has a much longer battery life than our iPhones. In addition, we use these as back up hard drives for our important documents and files as they really are just music playing multifunction hard drives.
• Kindle(1) – Valerie reads all her Jodi Picult novels on this and we also use it for internet when we have no other options as it has free 3G in most countries around the world.
• iPad(1) – Griffin uses this for all his reading as well as for quality checks when designing and testing interactive iBooks and Custom eBook Templates for his clients.
• AAA(4) & AA(2) Batteries – (These may not seem like USB rechargeable items, but we’ll get to this in a minute.)  We use the triple A batteries to charge one of our favorite travel accessories – our in-ear noise canceling Audio Technica Earphones. We keep one in each set and two charged up in the charger. The Double A is used for Griffin’s Whahl trimmer which we use to save money on hair cuts and to try and keep his beard under control.

OK, so we know this is a long list and that all of these items are wants, not needs especially for travel, but we enjoy them enough to lug them around and some of them are needed for business and sanity reasons as well. (We always seem to get the seat right next to the only crying baby on the plane, train, bus or boat no matter what!)  That being said, we have them and we needed to figure out a way to charge them with as little equipment as possible.

Let’s first look at the iOS devices since we have seen that most travelers have them and the charging systems for them, while small, can be made even smaller with a little effort and research.  Here is what we use to charge these:

Kindle USB Power Adaptor(2) – These are thinner than the standard apple USB chargers and allow us to fit two of them on the 6 foot extension cable listed above whereas we could only fit one of the Apple iPhone chargers, so we left those at home.

InCase USB Mini Cable Kit(2) – These are awesome.  They come with an iPhone/iPod/iPad charge/sync cable as well as a mini and micro USB cable and they are all only about 3 inches long, so they take up no space or weight.  We recommend this kit over other options as it is to Apple specs and works with any and all iOS cases even ones as exacting as the LifeProof Case whereas the others we have tried do not.

Retractable USB Extension Cable(2) – We use these in case we need or want a little extra length to our cables when charging.  The only downside we have found is that, possibly due to how thin they are, they sometimes are unable to sync and they also tend to fray somewhat easily.  We have replaced one of them while on this trip, but had already gotten about two years of use out of it by then, so not a big issue.  If we need to sync then we just unplug and use the short cables and are good to go.

Now you may have noticed that the above options will also work to charge any electronics that use Micro and Mini USB such as some camera, cell phones, Kindle and more.

In order to charge our batteries, we purchased the following:

AA & AAA USB Battery Charger – We use this with a set of two AA and four AAA eneloop rechargeable batteries and it works great.  It is small, compact and we like that is can easily charge both types of batteries.  As a side note, we highly recommend eneloop batteries linked above.  They are a little more expensive, but, currently, they are by far the best as far as number of charge cycles, quick recharge, and charge length.

NOTE: We also have brought along the included Apple iPad Charging brick as it is needed to quickly and fully charge the iPad.  That being said, we have seen USB adapters that claim to boost the normal USB output in order to be able to charge the iPad, but are a little skeptical as the ones we have seen all seem to be made by no-name companies in China and probably aren’t too reliable.

Alternative Options:

While we have used and are quite happy with the above system, since we have left the U.S., we have seen some new and clever alternatives become available.  They are listed below.

Apple Micro USB to iPhone Adapter – If you wanted to cut the above set up down to one less cable, you could purchase this adapter made by Apple for the European market and get rid of the purpose built iPhone adapter above.  Alternatively, you could keep the three cables and have the option to charge 1 iPhone/iPod, 1 Micro USB device, and 1 Mini USB device or 2 iPhone/iPods and one Mini USB Device with the adapter.

Innergic Magic 3 in 1 Charge Cable – We have not tried this out ourselves, but it looks like it could be a pretty cool solution with two caveats.  First, you could only charge one device at a time, which is usually not ideal and secondly, if any of the end pieces break or malfunction, you are stuck with a useless cable depending on which one it is.  For these reasons, we would not recommend this as your only charging solution except for maybe on short trips where new cables could be purchased easily if needed.

Keychain Charge & Sync Cables – These things are really compact and fold away into a self protecting plastic shell.  They come in different versions including one for Micro and Mini USB and one for iPhone/iPods, etc.  We have purchased and used the Micro and Mini USB one and can highly recommend it as an option.

Storage

While you could just store all these things in a plastic bag or something, as for the USB cables and power adapters, we have been using the smallest envelope from this Travelon set and find it works perfectly.  Initially, I was not impressed with these as the zipper seems to weigh about five pounds and seems excessive for a travel specific bag, but as we have used them over the last 11+ months they have proven to be amazingly durable and tough.

The rest of the items we throw in a zip-able mesh type bag so we can easily see what is in there, but also easily pack it by moving things around inside, if needed, to fit into a tight space.  Another cool option we have considered, but not tried, would be to use one of these cool Grid-it systems to keep it all together and organized.

Extra Outlets

If you find yourself needing more outlets, as we did, here is the best solution we have found so far:

Monster Cable Outlets To Go 3 Plug Outlet wit USB – This is the smallest, lightest, and most versatile three outlet option we could find.  This three port charger wraps nicely around itself for easy and compact storage and has one USB charging port as well.  We  don’t use this all the time, but when we need it, it is awesome and only takes up a small amount of space in our bag.

3 Prong to Two Prong Adapter – If you are going to take along the above power outlet, you may find times you will need to use it without the third ground pin (the round one), so you can either remove the ground pin (not recommended, but an option), or buy one of these for about a dollar and have both options available.

Plugging It All In

There seems to be a lot of confusion among frequent travelers and non-frequent travelers alike as to what is needed when heading off to another country in terms of being able to plug in your electronics and making sure they don’t blow up or catch on fire because of the higher voltage, etc.  Many think you need a heavy and expensive voltage converter as well as plug adapters, and, for some things that would be the case, but for 90% or more of electronic equipment, you will not be needing a heavy and expensive voltage converter.  Let me say that again.

For 90% or more of electronic equipment, you will not need a heavy and expensive voltage converter.

Not only do you most likely not need one, but there is an easy way to check each piece of equipment you have in order to make sure.  What you need to do is look for small  writing usually found of the charger for your equipment or sometimes on the actual electronic.  It is usually next to some logos and company names like the UL Listed, CE, and maybe a “do not throw away” logo, etc as seen below on the Apple iPad Charging brick.

What you are looking for are words similar to or including:

Input: 100-240v~ 50-60Hz

This means that the device can handle a range on input voltage from 100 all the way up to 240 and means you can safely use it in every country in the world without a voltage converter.  If your device reads something like Input: 100-120v~… then you cannot use it in any country with more 120v of power without a voltage converter.  Hope that helps.

Once you have determined whether or not you need a voltage adapter, the next thing you will need is a plug adapter to allow your plug to fit in a plug socket from another country.  If you are only going to be visiting one continent or country, then I would just recommend checking what those places use for plugs and buy the one you need as it will be the smallest and lightest option.  You could also just show up in that country and most likely buy an adapter from a local market or hardware store for a lot cheaper, but if you are not willing to risk it, go ahead and pre-order.  If you will be visiting a lot of countries with various socket shapes and sizes, then we can recommend universal adapters like the one below:

Universal Plug Adapter with Surge Protection – This is about as small and light as these things come and it has worked well for us all around the world.  We highly recommend you to make sure the one you buy has surge protection built in, as we were using the power plug on a train in India and it fried our adapter and, more importantly, our Apple Mag-Safe power cable and at about $90 a piece that was not a cheap mistake.  It would have been much better to have fried a 10¢ fuze.  Lesson learned.  Don’t make the same mistake we did!

In all, we were able to save several pounds of weight and a lot of space simply by changing a few things out for smaller versions. Obviously, some products are better quality than others, but we have personally tried out the things above and can recommend them to anyone looking for better electronics solutions. We hope this stuff helps you as much as it has us!

All our chargers and electronics gear ready to be packed away.

All packed up and ready for our backpacks!

When it came time to finding a lens for our one year around the world trip, I made sure to do my homework. I wanted to be able to take as many different pictures in different situations as possible, while still balancing the cost and weight of the lens. I wanted a versatile lens that would also be reasonably compact and light. When you carry all of your possessions on your back for a year, every square inch of space and ounce of weight is important.

I knew we would possibly be going to Africa, so I wanted to have a zoom lens to handle safaris and animal sightings. Something around at least 300mm zoom would be ideal for capturing elephants, lions, and zebras from a relatively far off distance. From my experience with a previous 300mm lens that did not have stabilization built in, I knew that I would either need a stabilized lens or be mostly limited to having to use a tripod or monopod at the full zoom range. My preference was to to find a lens with stabilization built in but this can usually add significant weight and size to the lens, so this was a concern. I enjoy mostly taking landscape shots, so I also wanted a lens that could zoom out to 18mm or less to capture as much of the view as possible.

Finding The Lens

With these criteria and possible trade offs in mind I started searching the internet for options. First I checked Canon’s lenses but none of them had the zoom range I was looking for and any of their stabilized lenses were usually rather large and heavier than I would have preferred so I moved on. In the end, I searched through a total of four of the top lens manufacturers in the world and was excited to find one lens that met all of my criteria and more and is actually the worlds smallest and lightest zoom lens in its class! In addition to this, it was priced in a reasonable range for such versatility and far cheaper than anything similar by most of the other manufacturers.

The lens I am talking about is the TamronThe Company who makes this lens. They are among the top four manufacturers in the world. 18-270mmThis is the zoom range in millimeters. For point and shoot users, this is equivalent o a 15X optical zoom and is almost unheard of for D-SLR Cameras F/3.5-6.3This is the lowest f-stop range of this lens. It is a measurement of how much light the lens can let in. More on f-stop later. Di IIThis is Tamron's indication that this lens is made for most consumer DSLRs and engineered for optimal image quality. VCStands for Vibration Compensation - the technology that is built into this lens to help keep images sharp. This is great for longer exposures, or highly zoomed in images as your hand can shake a little and would otherwise cause some blur. PZDStands for Piezo Drive - Tamron's breakthrough technology that allows for faster and quieter precision autofocus while also reducing the size and weight from the previous version of this lens.. To help myself and others out, I have added some tooltips to explain what all those letters and numbers mean for humans;-) Just hover your mouse over the word you want to know about and a pop-up will give you some more information about it.

Design

I am no scientist or optical expert, but, by judging from the size, shape and weight of other lenses with similar and even less capabilities, I think Tamron has made more than a few technological breakthroughs with this lens. This is actually the second version of an 18-270mm lens that Tamron has made. Their first one was also amazingly small and light, but this one took everything a step further and they were able to achieve an incredible 24% reduction in length and a 18% reduction in weight. Check out the image below for what that looks like visually. Very impressive in my opinion.

A 24% reduction in length and 18% reduction in weight from previous version


Having an Industrial Design background, I am very picky about the way things look, feel and operate. That being said, I have been very impressed with this lens given its price range and versatility.

Size & Weight

As stated earlier, this is the the world’s lightest and smallest lens in its range, so it kind of speaks for itself on that. There is no competition for this lens from a size, weight and versatility perspective. It measures 3.8″ from the tip of the lens to the base of the mount and probably a little closer to 4″ long with the lens cap and mount protector on it. It is just under 3″ in diameter and fits nicely into even my very small draw-string type daypack with many other supplies. Overall, the lens is about the size of my fist, which, for a 15X zoom SLR lens is amazing. One of the fun things about this lens due to it’s compact size is the surprised comments I get from people when they see it go from 18mm to fully zoomed. This is because as it looks about the size or smaller than most 18-50mm lenses that come standard on most DSLR Cameras when zoomed out, but is about three times longer than any of them when zoomed in. check out the picture below to see what I am talking about.

The lens weighs right under 1 pound and when handling it, feels a little on the heavy side for its size, due to its compactness. However, when fully extended the weight seems to jump to the other side and feels almost too light, but it is, in fact, well balanced. Too light from an old school weight = performance perspective, but the lighter the better from a new school travel photographer perspective.

“Illegal” Activities

One situation where this lens really helped out was when visiting the DMZ or Demilitarized Zone on the border of North and South Korea. They have a rule that no lenses with a zoom range of greater than 90mm is allowed. Normally any lens with a zoom range is rather easy to spot as it would either be a lot lot longer, or a lot wider diameter (or both) than this Tamron lens, but this lens is deceptively small. Because of this, my lens was not spotted or inspected closely and I was able to get this shot of a north Korean soldier from across the border line.

Taken using the Tamron 18-270MM-F3.5-6.3-Di-II-VC-PZD fully zoomed at 270mm.
Click to view larger, or see original image here.

To give you a better idea of the incredible zoom range of this lens, here is a picture take from the same location at 18mm.  The guard from the picture above is just barely visible next to the centered door of the building in the background.

Taken using the Tamron 18-270MM-F3.5-6.3-Di-II-VC-PZD fully zoomed out to 18mm.
Click to view larger, or see original image here

Build

The lens feels very solid and reasonably durable but is also very small and light for its capabilities, which shows in some of the build techniques as a lot of the parts of the lens are made of a high quality plastic in where other, more expensive lens might use metal. I see this as more of an advantage than a disadvantage because of the focus of this lens. Tamron set out to make the smallest, lightest and one of the most versatile lenses in the world and they could not have done that with heavier metal parts or maintained the reasonable price with less strong, but more expensive aluminum. I can tell from holding the lens and using it that this is a quality made lens and that, while made out of plastic, it will withstand reasonable abuse and has for the past 9 months of our trip so far. The only semi complaint I would have about the build quality is that he lens does seem to creep

Switches

There are three total switches on the lens including an Autofocus /Manual Focus, Vibration On/Off and a lens lock switch. All the switches feel pretty solid with the exception of the lens lock button, but it it the one that is used the most and having it be easier to moves actually makes more sense, so I wouldn’t call it a disadvantage so much, just hope it doesn’t break as it does feel less than solid overall. That being said, no issue to date that I have experienced.

Features

The biggest feature of this lens by far, is its combined size, weight and zoom range. Add to all that, the virtually silent vibration control and this is a very full featured lens.

Negatives

What? Did you think this lens was all cherries and ice cream? While this lens does have an impressive feature set and amazing versatility, there are a few trade offs that go against a possible purchase.

F-Stop

In the tooltips at the beginning I said I would touch back on f-stop later. Well now is the time. f-stop is a measurement for the amount of light a lens lets in to the camera. Below is an example of some different f-stop settings.

As you can see, the lower the f-stop, the bigger circle of light that is let into the camera. The benefits of being able to use a low f-stop like f/2 or f/1.8 as seen below this are twofold:

• First, because the lens is letting in more light, you are able to take more blur free images even in low light, or when zoomed in really far. If you have ever seen sports photographers with their lenses ten times bigger than their cameras, that is because they are zooming in really far, but still want the maximum amount of light available so they can get a blur-free photo of the winning touchdown or slam-dunk, etc.
• The second advantage of being able to use a very low f-stop is that it allows you create what is called a “shallow depth of field” in your images. Maybe you’ve seen a picture of a flower, or a professional outdoor portrait where the petals or the person’s face is in sharp focus, but the entire background of leaves, grass, trees, etc. is blurry and out of focus looking. This makes the subject of the photo stand out even more and the background visually seem to fade away and become unimportant further emphasizing the subject. This is called depth of field and the lower the aperture, the smaller the depth of field which, in turn make it easier to blur out the background and/or foreground and guide the viewer’s eye to the main subject of the image. Check out the slider below for a more visual way to understand depth of field.

LEFT = F5 | RIGHT = F32

[beforeafter] [/beforeafter]

I share all this to say that an f-stop of 3.5 is OK for low light and/or a shallow depth of field, but by no means ideal, and the minimum aperture of 6.3 is pretty difficult to use for blur free photos in all but the brightest of days and does not allow for a shallow depth of field for the most part. There are work-arounds to both of these issues such as using a tripod, a flash and placing the subject much farther away from its background, but these are more advanced techniques and not usually well known or utilized by the person this lens would generally be marketed to.

The other issue besides the f-stop for this lens that I ave found is that throughout the zoom range and especially at the 270mm range, pictures are not very in focus and sharp to a trained eye. Additionally there is some heavy vignetting at certain zoom ranges, but both of these issues should be considered while also taking into account the incredible zoom range of this lens is somewhat of a marvel in itself.

Conclusion

Overall I would highly recommend this lens to anyone who is a beginner to intermediate photographer looking for a versatile all-in-one lens for less than $1000 that is small and light. I say beginner to intermediate not because you can’t take professional pictures with this lens, but because I think it would be harder for a professional to set himself apart consistently due to the limitations of this lens. I knew the limitations to this lens going into it and have been more than pleased with what it can do and the lack of a burden it puts on my back while carrying and the lack of dents caused to my wallet when purchasing it. If you are looking for one great zoom lens that should be able to capture about 90% of the pictures you would want to take of cities, landscapes and people both close up and from a distance in bright light, then this is the lens for you!

Big thanks to Tamron USA for their support and partnership of our photography and for supplying the lens reviewed.

For more information about Tamron and the lenses we use, check out our sponsors page here.

Full Specs

*values given for Nikon AF cameras
**Length is the distance between the mount face and the tip of the lens. Entire length is the distance between the tip of the lens and the tip of the protrusion.
***The Sony mount does not include the VC image stabilization functionality, as the body of the Sony digital SLR camera includes image stabilization functionality.
Before & After demo images from flagstaffotos.com.au

What sort of things do you bring on board a plane when you travel?

Excluding gum and travel pillows, the use of certain travel necessities, namely electronics, will probably be accompanied with the need to use earphones of some kind.

For me, this is easier said than done.

Cue all crying babies… now.

Whenever I board a moving vehicle of any public nature, particularly for long voyages, I’m pretty sure there is an all-call announcement for any parents of small, fussy children to please gather around me and commence making noise. Also, loud talkers and snorers will sometimes fill in the gaps if there are any open seats near me that have not been taken by tantrum-throwing toddlers.

Since I knew we were going to be on lots of flights and trains, etc., I decided to go ahead with some noise canceling earbuds. I got them several months ago and tested them out immediately. I was amazed at what I could hear… (music), and not hear… Korean middle schoolers screaming their way down the hall. I even periodically missed bells and would be startled to look up and find my students had already begun entering the classroom. The earbuds I chose were the Audio Technica ATH ANC23. The price was right at about $70 US.

One problem: when listening to long e-books or on trans-Atlantic flights, my ears started to hurt from the shape and weight of the buds. Noise canceling earbuds, at least the kind we have, come with a two inch block in the middle of the cord to switch the function on or off. The silicon tips on the ear buds weren’t cutting it. The weight of the switch would occasionally pull from my pocket or shirt and tug the earbuds out of my ears, which was not pleasant and constantly having to reseat my earbuds was super annoying.

When Griffin ordered his earbuds, he experienced the same. So, we began looking for some more comfortable tips to bridge the gap between peace and pain.

We found the answer in Comply Foam, super comfortable foam tips to fit any buds.

There are several different options when it comes to Comply Foam tips. Do you want cylindrical shaped or spherical? Color or wax guard? Griffin and I both landed on the cylindrical shaped tips with a wax guard to keep them clean.

The tips feel a lot like your standard foam earplugs. They squish to get them into your ear and then slowly expand for a tight fit. The greatest thing I found about the Comply Foam tips is the added noise canceling effect. By providing a tighter seal inside my ear, less outside noise gets in, letting me enjoy more of the sound quality I was missing before.

They are extremely comfortable and don’t hurt my ears, even after long hours of usage. And, when something tugs they don’t pop out of my ears, allowing me to keep listening with no need to stop what I doing to put my earbuds back in.

As a matter of fact, my luxury item, if you will, while trekking to Everest Base Camp, was my iPod. Having some music to listen to relaxed me during the tough hikes and kept me from stressing. It may have also saved my husband’s life by keeping me from throwing him from the mountain for dragging me up there. On more than one occasion, my entire iPod would be worked out of my pocket and drop to my feet during a steep climb, but the Comply Foam tips held steady and I never even needed to adjust them. With Comply Foam, I feel like the earbuds work how they were intended, and maybe even a little better.

So, the next time a loud-talking mother and snoring father with a screaming baby surround me on a plane, I’ll just squish in my Comply Foam tips and cancel them right out of my world. Ahhh…

Any questions about these reviews?  Please see our Ethics Statement.

Yeah, underwear.  Why?  Well, it’s pretty important when you think about it.

Underwear doesn’t get too much attention until you’re preparing to make do with only what you can roll up and fit into your backpack for a year.  So, it may sound strange, but we did a lot of research about the subject.  To the shock and horror of our friends and family who learned of it, we chose to go with wool underwear.

WHAT?  WOOL UNDERWEAR?  ARE YOU CRAZY?

That was pretty much the response we got.  But we’re not talking about your grandmother’s wool knit caps here.  I wouldn’t want to put on crocheted undies, either. We’re talking about fine Merino Wool.  The bottom line, so to speak, is that merino wool is not itchy.  As a matter of fact, it’s some of the softest stuff you can put on.

So, why go with wool instead of other, more readily endorsed intimates?  Here are some facts about merino wool underwear that may have you giving your skivvies more scrutiny.

First, they are extremely comfortable.  Like I said before, they are not remotely itchy and they actually have a little smoother feel to them than cotton.  Comfort is the highest priority when it comes to underthings, as I think we can all agree.  They are also temperature regulating, which means warmth to me and coolness and breathability to Griffin.

Next on a backpacker’s list is care.  Sink laundry is not ideal, but it is sometimes necessary.  Hanging wool items to dry over night is all you need and, get this, they even come out wrinkle free!  Who knew?  Plus, wool is a long lasting and tough material, so I’m not going to need to mention my unmentionables to some street vender in India.

Now comes the amazing part.  Merino wool is naturally anti-microbial.  Why is that important?  Because it means that your underwear naturally fights odors.  Let me say that again:  Your panties will protect you from pungency!  I hate to tell you this, but that’s already been put to the test on our trip.  While trekking to Everest Base Camp, showers were a luxury.  For those that know me, you know that feeling dirty is something I absolutely hate.  It was nice to know that my undergarments were fighting dirtiness on my behalf.  Plus, they are moisture wicking, which is great for exercise, like trekking, or just making sure you’re comfortable on hot days exploring a new city.

After a lot of searching for the perfect panties (and boxers), we landed at PULSE Activewear, a Denver, Colorado based company specializing in wool undergarments.  What first appealed to us about PULSE Activewear was the field testing they have done to ensure the comfort and performance of their products.  They tested their designs on athletes before finalizing the product line.  Their materials come from New Zealand, world renowned for its merino wool, but the products are actually manufactured in the U.S.A.  Pulse Activewear had the pieces and designs we were looking for and at reasonable prices.

We each selected three pairs of underwear and I also decided to try out the V-Neck Sports Bra.  I’m serious when I tell you, I may never be able to wear synthetic underwear again.  We’ve both been impressed with the level of comfort that we’ve found and Griffin, in typical guy fashion, likes that they need fewer washings, if you get what I’m saying.

PULSE Activewear Men's Classic Boxer Shorts

PULSE Active Wear V-Neck Sports Bra

The only, and I do mean only, negative we have found is solely cosmetic.  The lighter colors tend to attract dyes from other fabrics, which left our beige briefs with black and blue splotches.  It doesn’t really matter since no one will see them, but you should either stick to dark colors, or be very careful with what you wear and wash with the lighter colors.

Throughout our travels, I plan to let you know about which travel products we’ve tried and which ones we recommend.  Well, tried and true, the wool underwear from Pulse Activewear is something I would recommend to everyone who wears underwear.  And if you don’t wear underwear, I don’t need to know…

P.S. Go like their Facebook page and then contact them for a 25% off discount on their products.  Tell them Valerie and Griffin sent you;-)

Any questions about these reviews?  Please see our Ethics Statement.