An Added Bonus
Sunwayfoto’s CG01
With the long run of good weather having abruptly come to an end, it’s time to get some reviews written. The wonderful hot, dry conditions have been with us for about a month and it’s hard to remember how different conditions were previously.
Sorting through some photos, I came across some taken looking towards the bulk of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich and was reminded of a rare day off. The forecast hadn’t been great and I’d gone out for a nose around since bad weather can, with a big chunk of luck, herald good photo opportunities. Wall to wall sunshine might be nice for guiding work but rarely makes for cracking photos.
I’d headed out with just a smallish pack, Sunwayfot0 T3240CM tripod (review to come soon) and a single camera and prime lens. I wasn’t expecting anything great but you never know and it’s be a real kick in the teeth to experience something special and not have a camera to record it.
As I slogged up An Stac Screes, I was encased in a damp world of greyness, Coire Lagan being filled with clouds. To be honest, I wasn’t optimistic but as I reached the ridge, winds began to pick up and the unbroken wall of cloud surrounding me began to visibly shift. Parts of An Stav became intermittently visible then, as I approached Sgurr Mhic Choinnich, it’s massive bulk loomed through the broken cloud.
The thinning cloud hinted at a possible photo opportunity so I set up the T3240CM tripod along with XB52 ballhead and waited my opportunity, knowing that any glimpse of the mountain might be fleeting at best.
When I’d been asked by Sunwayfoto what gear I’d like to review I’d thrown in a couple of extras as well as the tripod. One was the CG01, which stands for “Geared Clamp.” It is a small attachment which fits on top of your existing tripod head and allows 360 degrees of rotation, thus allowing very precise adjustment via gears and a knob. As with all the Sunwayfoto gear that I have seen or used, it is of amazing quality. Well designed and superbly engineered, it has a very tactile quality and is a delight to use. It feels like a top quality tool and just begs to be used.
On top of the tripod I’d fixed my Sunwayfoto XB52ball head and fixed the GC01 to that. This simple device allows you to combine the versatility of a ball head with the precision of a geared head. Previously, I’ve been a big fan of geared heads but, having used a quality ball head, have come to love the ease and speed of adjustment. By adding the GC01, you can use you preferred head (in my case a ballhead), get things set up and level then use the GC01 to pan left or right to take multiple shots which can be combined to form a panorama.
Ages ago, before discovering geared heads, I used a ballhead and it wasn’t great for lining up shots for a panorama. The popular print I stitched using half a dozen photos taken from the summit of Sgurr na Stri is a classic example. Due to the ball head, the shots didn’t quite match up which meant a lot of subsequent work in Photoshop and a lot of wasted pixels. If only I’d had the GC01 back then, life would have been much easier.
The GC01 is a neat little bit of kit and fits easily into the ICU containing my camera kit in my back pack of choice. It’s only a small addition but it definitely makes life a lot easier especially if you anticipate you will be making a panorama where separate photos will subsequently be stitched together. I like to get as much as possible right in camera and this really helps ensure separate photos align properly and facilitates the subsequent stitching.
I like the way the GC01 has two methods of attachment. It comes with an Arca Swiss standard base plated already attached and using this you can just attach it to your existing head. It makes for a vert swift addition should you not want to fix it full time to your existing head. But, and here’s the clever bit, Sunwayfoto provide an allen key and bolt so you can remove the arca base plate and bolt the GC01 straight onto your tripod head thus saving a bit of weight, bulk and removing another layer from the potential for movement. Simple, like the best designs but so clever.
Anyhow, back to the important stuff…taking the photo. Having hurriedly set up my tripod, part of Sgurr Mhic Choinnich became visible and I snapped away happily. Things suddenly began to look brighter to my left and I realised that, with a big chunk of luck, Bla Bheinn and the Cuillin Outliers might come into view. Only having a single prime lens, a moderate wide angle, there was no way to take a wider picture except by taking a series of shots and later joining them together.
Fumbling in my ICU for the GC01, I swiftly attached it and waited for the view to develop and I wasn’t disappointed. Bla Bheinn and the Outliers came into sight. Not for a long time but enough for me to get a few photos and give me the option to stitch later should I want.
It was all simple and straight forward.
Within minutes, the clouds returned and the view was completely shut off. Things looked to be getting worse so it was a quick pack up then descending home for coffee and cake. The photos had looked good on the camera’s LCD but I always take them with a pinch of salt and prefer to defer judgement until I can look at the Raw files on a large computer screen.
On the computer, I was amazed not just with the overall atmospheric image captured but the detail contained within. Zooming in, I could see a guide and client climbing Sgurr Mhic Choinnich through a gap in the clouds. To the left, the open space, the big sky and the distant peaks of Bla Bheinn and the Cuillin Outliers only added to the overall drama.
The final shot was a stitch of three separate images which aligned perfectly thanks to the GC01. To be honest, I’m not sure if I prefer the stitched panorama or the one that just concentrates on Sgurr Mhic Choinnich. Unless looked at on a fairly large screen, the panoramic version tends to dwarf the climbers but given a big screen then the overall effect is great.
The inclusion of the two climbers was an added bonus and with the clouds coming and going, and the camera view finder misting up with condensation I hadn’t actually noticed them at the time. Once seen on the computer, they are glaringly obvious and a real bonus. A bit like the GC01 which I asked Sunwayfoto for as a bit of an afterthought and has turned out to be a really useful bit of kit, the value of which outweighs it’s diminutive size and bulk. Originally, I’d planned to lump this review in with that of the T3240CM tripod but after a fair bit of use decided that it had such merit that it deserved a review of it’s own. Combine the GC01 with a ballhead and you have the benefits of a ball head (speed and ease of use) along with those of a geared head (precision and the ability to fine tune exactly what your camera is pointing at). The GCO1 is supplied with some of Sunwayfoto’s geared heads but it’s nice that it can be bought as a stand alone product to be used with the tripod head of your choice.
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