Items On Review

In anticipation for the holidays, I actually saved up a whole load of cash. Of course, there are those pesky loans and credit card bills... but yeah, I found enough cash to buy the items I will be testing on the trip.

Here's a little run-down of the items on the chopping block :

1. Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III DSLR camera
2. Gitzo GT3540 tripod
3. Arca Swiss Z-1 monoball (ball head)
4. Thinktank Photo Urban Disguise 20
5. Optech Proloop SLR strap
6. Navman S30 (ANZ region)

Brief Description Of Items

1. Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III SLR Camera – Technically the cream of Canon's crop, this full-frame behemoth is the continuation of Canon's 1Ds series. With a 21 megapixel sensor and stepping in as Canon's first real challenge to medium-format cameras, it weighs in at a good 1.1 kg. That's the body alone, which is made from steel and magnesium alloy. Yes, if I had to, I could probably use it to defeat legions of surly Vikings in melee combat.
    
2. Gitzo GT3540 Tripod – And I thought all that the French were good for was inciting bloody revolutions and losing wars (WW1, WW2, Vietnam, and so on). It seems that they are actually pretty good at making tripods. Arsene Gitzoven, aside from Henri Cartier Bresson, is one of the few French people I actually like. I can't make up my mind about Jacques Derrida just yet. One step down from the Systematic Series, the GT3540 Mountaineer is a 4-section tripod built from 6x carbon fibre. With steel and magnesium alloy collars and connectors, it's supposed to be one tough hombre.
    
3. Acra-Swiss Z-1 Monoball – Most things that have the name Swiss in it, like the Swiss Bear mayonnaise and Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate I used to buy, aren't even made or conceived in the land of fondue and cuckoo clocks. Well, this one is. A family-run business, this company doesn't even have a website. Unbelievable. But what they lack in pure common sense, they make up for in making legendary ball heads and one of the best large-format cameras out there, aside from Linhof Technica.
    
4. Thinktank Photo Urban Disguise 20 – Thinktank was started by an ex-designer from Lowepro. Of course, my theory is that he was actually a spy who stole all of Lowepro's awesome designs, shot all of their best designers and then blew up their R&D lab with C4. My theory was proven right by the many reviews that paint Thinktank products as incredibly well-built, practical and absurdly configurable.
    
5. OPTech USA Pro Loop Strap – We all know and love the stock Canon strap, but we also know that when it comes to the long haul, the stock straps start feeling like your mother-in-law slung around your shoulder. They have this naggy feeling, slowly chaffing away at your sanity and they're very icky when wet. The OPTech Pro Loop Strap is a replacement strap that promises to fix all of that and it even promises to make things feel lighter. Cool!
    
6. Navman S30 – Why the heck am I reviewing this? Aside from the fact that we earn by page views, I think this little gadget deserves its own little section in this review for being an extremely worthwhile buy. My tripmates nicknamed it Lola, which I keep visualizing as some cheap Hispanic prostitute from Panama. All in all, it comes with a 2.5" touch screen, voice commands and an easy-to-use menu. No, it did not spot police roadblocks or magically made my speeding tickets disappear.

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