What Worked On Vacation
I took two Sigma DP Merrill cameras, the DP1M and the DP3M. I'm still in the process of working on the photos (the Sigma software is a pain), but I really, really love the results. I took three times as many photos with the DP3M and I think I will let the DP1M go. If somebody likes wide angle lens coupled with Hasselblad IQ (image quality) in a minimalistic and pocket friendly design, please drop me a note. Sigma Merrills require two support items: spare batteries (many of them, plan at least two per day) and a tripod. I took two tripods: the Gitzo GT1550T 6x Carbon (probably the lightest full size tripod on Earth) and the Manfrotto Pixi. Both served me extremely well. Both Sigmas I had in AST Ever Ready cases that proved to be very handy, stylish and protecting the cameras very well. So did the National Geographic NG 4475 Sling Bag.
The second most often used item was the Galaxy Note II phablet. It worked perfectly, being probably the smallest possible laptop replacement. On the Note I had the Google My Tracks application running non stop. It is the most marvelous piece of software I have acquired recently. It does one job: records the GPS track (I use this to geotag the photos). But I really admire it for the battery use optimization. Having it on all day I never run short of battery power. Which is not a trivial achievement for a smartphone with a GPS receiver always on (and performing other tasks too). The Note was protected with the lovely Stilgut Ultraslim Case, probably the most precisely crafted leather case in the World. Anda apart from the My Tracks app, I used the Note for email, web, RSS reader, Twitter and even as a Kindle reader with Lonely Planet guides loaded.
I was also quite happy with the AirStash+ photo backup. It worked reasonably well, especially taking into account the large file sizes the Sigma Merrills produce. All in all I created 35GB worth of data and all was backed up wirelessly to the AirStash+. WiFi is not the fastest medium to do this but it worked. The only drawback was my Galaxy Note (which was actually the machine actively copying files from an SD card over WiFi to teh AirStash+ was draining batteries fast during the process and I could not charge it, as the phone's only port was occupied by a SD card reader).
The last piece of gear I used daily was the Kensington double USB charger. Able to provide full 2.1 Amps on BOTH ports simultaneously proved very handy (in hotels there usually is a shortage of wall sockets). My Kensington is actually a combo charger - I glued it together with the Sigma photo battery charger, so only one wall socket was enough to charge my Galaxy Note, another iPhone and My Sigma camera. One day I may consider to start manufacturing such combo chargers.
And lastly things I did not use, but would take with me again: The backup Innergie dual USB charger (chargers fail from time to time and the last thing I want is to be left out with dead batteries). For the same reason the second Sigma photo battery charger (this one would be almost impossible to buy on the road should the primary one fail...). And the Innergie backup battery. Never used (again, the Galaxy Note is doing a great job on its battery), but I was just feeling safe having it in my pocket.
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