John Pavoncello
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The reel was given to me by a friend when we visited Colorado last summer. I was taking his son with me for a day on the S. Platte and they got out the grandfather’s flyfishing gear. He had two Hardy’s, this one and a newer Hardy lightweight. I commented that the old reel was beautiful and he handed it to me and told me to keep it. It hadn’t been used in years.
There is a chip of metal missing off the frame on the handle side of the reel, but, it still works, just needs a little TLC and I’ll be putting it to use.That’s a Hardy made for Abercrombie and Fitch. As far as I can tell, the finish is original, a brushed aluminum.
I fish with both but prefer bamboo. I love the way bamboo feels in the hand and the slower cadence of casting. It’s a perfect marriage for my reason to fly fish, to slow down and relax.
Considering the Epson flatbed that we use on a daily basis has a higher resolution then the Nikon Coolscan that we used to scan with, I think the flatbed is just fine.
Flatlander,
Canon and Epson both make flatbed scanners that have the ability to scan negs or slides and are really affordable. We parted with our big $$$ Nikon scanners when we switched to new Mac’s with OSX and bought a $99 Epson. Nice thing is that you can also scan documents and other things with it so it’s not a loss after you scan all your slides.
John
Matt,
forget the Rebel, go with the 30D. No discussion on this one. If you want a camera that will last, produce great images and give you the control you need to make pro quality images, the 30D is the cat’s meow.
And as for glass, always buy the best you can afford. I always cringe when I see photogs shooting with a pro-sumer level camera and pos Quantury or other junk.
If you are looking for a thinner line, try the Cortland Sylk series. I put one of these on my Heddon bamboo rod and am thoroughly happy with it. It’s thinner then most modern lines so it shoots well through the guides, has hardly any memory and looks cool too with the classic silk line coloring.
In the early days of color photography and Kodachrome, National Geographic photographers carried a red hat and shirt with them on all their shoots to add a pop of bright color, this technique has been around for a long time.
Nikon does offer an 80-400 VR but it has a slow aperature 4-5.6 I believe. I would still go with the 300 AFS. As Eric said, the faster lens you have the better though most of us can’t afford a 300 or 400 2.8 lens.
Most of my fly fishing will be on walk in lakes. I’m thinking of an 8 weight just because I’ve been told that most of the pike are only in the 30″ range with an occasional 50. I’d use an 8 at home for bass fishing and such, but I don’t know that I’d ever use a 9 or 10 weight enough to justify the purchase. But again, I fly fish for native trout and the occasional Susquehanna River smallmouth, I really don’t know what I’m doing on the larger fish.
What would you pick for a rod/reel combo in the $300-400 range? I’m looking at Echo and maybe even building a rod from a Cabella’s or RL Winston blank.
Have no idea what reel to use and am anxiously waiting Zach’s article on reels. Hurry UP Zach! 🙂John
Zach,
I sell most of the units at Gander Mtn. so I have a good handle on what’s available and what works
Heres my two cents.There is a big difference between the auto GPS systems and the portables in mapping and direction finding. The auto versions have much better maps and screens and you can easily input an address and the unit will direct you with voice prompts and/or arrows on the screen. They also have detailed maps of the entire US or North America built in and the only thing you have to do with software is a yearly update.
The TomTom and Garmin units are the best, with the Magellan’s, most require a zip code for your address which can be a real pain if you don’t know the area in the first place.
I use a hand held unit in my truck, currently a Lowrance iFinder. With all the hand helds you have to build maps using the manufactures’ or third party software, which can be time consuming but is easy once you have the hang of it.The 300m f4 is a great lens for wildlife, especially on digital. Do spend the money and get the AFS version, it’s light, super sharp and since the 300 f4 is the perfect size for hand holding, the VR will help.
I would suggest that you do not buy the off brand converter. I have nothing against off brand, but with the AFS system you will lose focus speed with the Tamron.