Travelling birders equipment and its maintenance

As a small intermezzo I want to make a post about the equipment I use in the field on my travels. I will also post a small note on its maintenance, for that subject should not be forgotten on long travels. I will write a small review on each piece of equipment I carry at the moment. My total photographic and sound recording equipment consists of:

• Two pairs of waterproof binoculars (Bynolyt Tern 10x45 and Pentax 9x32 DCF BC)
• Canon 40D
• Canon 1100D
• Canon 300 mm F4.0 USM L (old version without IS)
• Canon teleconverter 1.4 II
• Tamron 17-50 mm F2.8 XR Di II (old version without VC)
• Canon 18-55 F3.5-5.6 EFS IS II
• Sony PCM M10 sound recorded including windcover and bag
• RadioShack Mini Amplifier/speaker including AUX cable, backup AUX cable and backup 9V battery 
• Zen Style MP3 player 4GB including basic headphones
• 2 backup BP511 batteries for 40D
• 1 Backup LP-E10 battery for 1100D
• 2 SanDisk Ultra CF cards 8GB 30 MB/s
• 1 SanDisk Ultra CF card 4GB 15 MB/s
• 4 Transcend Micro SD cards 4GB Class 10
• Asus Eee 10" Notebook
• Samsung S2 Portable 500GB 2,5" external hard drive
• CorsAir Survivor 8GB USB Stick
• Basic CF card reader
• Basic SD card reader
• Basic blower
• Sensor Swab travel kit including cleaning fluid, 4 swabs, 2 microfiber cloths and a moist microfiber cloth
• 200 grams of silica gel
• Toothbrush with soft brush
• Ortlieb 12L waterproof bag
• Optech Rain sleeve
• Vanguard Uprise 48 camera bag
• LowePro Apex 120 AW camera bag

Me, making a sound recording of Madeira Firecrest (Regulus madeirensis) (picture taken by Anna van der Kaaden)

Of almost every single piece of equipment listed above I am very happy about I took it on a two year trip. However it took a long time of saving, preparing, considering, reading and informing before I finely got to this selection. Below I will review every single piece of equipment. (keep in mind that I am in Mahajanga, Madagascar right now and don't have a lot of access to professional reviews, so my reviews are strictly personal and highly unprofessional)

• Two pairs of waterproof binoculars (Bynolyt Tern 10x45 and Pentax 9x32 DCF BC): We use two basic pairs of waterproof bins. One B-brand (Bynolyt Tern), which has a metal body and is therefore quite heavy but seems indestructible (it survived my (not so gentle) handling for the last seven years) and one C-brand (Pentax DCF BC), which is lighter, but also very robust. Both fulfill their purpose. Of course I would have preferred a Swarovski, but I do not have the money for that an I can't bear the thought of having a brand-new Swarovski snatched away from me by some street kid...
• Canon 40D: I have been using this camera for various travels and I am fairly content with it. I very much like the fact that the body is made of magnesium alloy and not of the lighter, but more vulnerable, "plastic". However the traveling is beginning to have its affect on the camera and the release button refuses to cooperate on rare occasions. Also the info button does not respond at all times and makes contact at some random moments. Besides that, the camera works perfectly, but looks heavily beaten with some spots where no paint whatsoever is left. For people with a little more budget I would advice buying a Canon 7D (or Nikon D7000, which is more or less the equivalent) which is much better isolated than the 40D and thus more resistant against dust and moisture, which is probably the reason for my electronic problems. Besides this, the 7D preforms much better in low light conditions (like in a rainforest) due to its much better ISO values. It is also a lot faster than the 40D. I think a 7D is an ideal travel camera for birdwatchers, but on the other hand, if a beat-up, old, second-hand 40D gets stolen, it is not as bad as if this would happen to a brand new 7D...
• Canon 1100D: We bought this camera new just before our departure as a camera for travel snapshots. It fulfills its purpose precisely, although a high quality compact camera like a Canon S95 or G12 would do equally well without the extra weight and size of the 1100D. However if the 40D got be stolen, we would have this one as a back-up. Beware however, the Canon 1100D is just a very basic DSLR and consequently quite vulnerable to shock, sand, dust and moisture and not very fast.
• Canon 300 mm F4.0 USM L (old version without IS): I am highly content with this lens. I use the old model without the IS, which is apparently the "worst thing" of the new lens and the older model is according to the "experts" even a bit more sharp. Besides, under (very) rough travel conditions, which are our everyday life at the moment, it will be the first thing to break anyway. The lens is fairly small for a wildlife photography lens, which means it is also quite light and does not take up to much space in my camera bag and that gives me the opportunity to put other things in the bag besides one lens. 300 mm does not seem a lot, but with a crop camera these become 480 mm (or 450 if you are a Nikonist). Besides 300 mm gives you the opportunity to shoot at fairly low shutter speeds (I still get sharp images at 1/150 second on some occasions). The animals in the tropics we have encountered so far were very often very tame, so no need for a 800 mm in my humble opinion. In the jungle the 4.0 maximum aperture can become a problem, but the 300 mm 2.8 lens is three times as expensive and twice as heavy, so it will stay a dream for me, for now. 
• Canon teleconverter 1.4 II: For the rare occasions things are little to far away and can not be approached I bought this converter. It proved to be very useful on boat rides and ferry crossings were animals are often further away. I experience no loss of quality when using the converter, however the speed of the 300 mm decreases slightly. In the jungle the thing is quite useless for you loose one stop, thus a lot of light, meaning much longer shutter speeds. I bought version II for the difference in quality between I and II seemed rather large and between II and III rather small. Version III is also 150 euro's more expensive an I don't think 3% better glass is worth that. However, annoying is the fact that version II has rubber isolation only on one side (God knows why) and III on both sides, which makes the contacts between converter and lens vulnerable.
• Tamron 17-50 mm F2.8 XR Di II (old version without VC): Like with the 300 mm we bought the older version for the same reasons. Above that, the "experts" state that this lens is apparently much sharper than the new one with VC. This lens is a hundred times sharper than the kit lens and preforms much, much better under bad light conditions and is not much more expensive. Besides, this lens is also much more robust with metal (probably a magnesium alloy) body and rubber coating., which makes it for me a very decent travel lens and a good alternative for the crazy expensive Canon equivalent.
• Canon 18-55 F3.5-5.6 EFS IS II: Just the basic kit lens. We only took it because we had it and to act as a back-up for the Tamron 17-50 mm  F2.8 and for the very rare occasions we both wanted to make travel snapshots. (which we actually did sometimes!) I would recommend almost every other lens instead of this one, but it is a cheap back-up.
• Sony PCM M10 sound recorded including wind cover and bag: For somebody who is new in the sound recording world (like me) this is an awesome little gadget. It has two microphones (resulting in high quality recordings), seems unaffected by moisture and best of all: it has a pre-rec function. Unfortunately I often forget to make use of this great function. It is also quite cheap and very small and portable. The wind cover is a great addition (although ridiculously expensive for a piece of fabric). This piece of equipment fist perfectly in a Crumpler JackPack 90, which gives you the opportunity to carry it on your belt and be able to use it very quickly. I am very glad I bought this item and made already 120 decent recordings, some of which are even new for www.xeno-canto.org. Soon the sound recordings will be available on this blog as well.
• RadioShack Mini Amplifier/speaker including AUX cable, backup AUX cable and backup 9V battery: Supposedly the best of the best for birders (http://www.birdsounds.nl/index.php?pg=productsitem&gr=0&id=798&jsd=1), mostly because of its resilience , but I already managed to destroy it. Luckily I could fix it with duct tape. I am fairly content with it. It does the job, but nothing more. I advice you to always carry a back-up AUX cable, for I already thrashed a very thick one. Always carry a back-up battery as well.
• Zen Style MP3 player 4GB including basic headphones: I use this MP3 player for personal use as well for tape-luring birds. Therefore I had some requirements when buying an MP3 player: small, a micro SD slot, easy to handle, not to easy to break and cheap. This MP3 player has all of these characteristics and consequently I am very happy with it. The Micro SD with the bird sounds on it work fantastic with this player. 
• 2 backup BP511 batteries for 40D: Two back-up batteries turned out to be perfect: I always know which one is full and which one is not and never have no full battery left. The original Canon batteries are better and work significantly longer, but are also ridiculously overpriced.
• 1 Backup LP-E10 battery for 1100D: Just one back-up is enough for our travel snapshot camera. The same thing goes for these batteries as for the BP511.
• 2 SanDisk Ultra CF cards 8GB 30 MB/s: Decent sized cards with a data transfer fast enough for a 40D. More professional cards require faster cards.
• 1 SanDisk Ultra CF card 4GB 15 MB/s: A very basic back-up card. Not used until now, but 15 MB/s is sometimes too slow for a 40D.
• 4 Transcend Micro SD cards 4GB Class 10: Decent, fast Micro SD cards which I use for tape, as back-up memory for my Sony PCM M10, to learn Russian and improve my French (using Pimsleur). Four might have been one to much, but an extra backup is never wrong and they don't weight much.
• Asus Eee 10" Notebook: I did not bring a notebook on our trip, but it turned out to be very handy, so we bought one for a reasonable price in Antananarivo, Madagascar. It is small, light and the battery lasts long enough. The Monitor could have been of better quality though. (I don't know much about computers so this review is much shorter than it should have been. Luckily there is something called Google)
• Samsung S2 Portable 500GB 2,5" external hard drive: At first we wanted to buy an expensive, shock and waterproof hard drive (http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/276265/lacie-rugged-usb-30-500gb-oranje/specificaties/), but they were out of stock for several months, so we opted for a cheaper, more basic one (http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/231134/samsung-s2-portable-500gb-zwart/specificaties/), which is still alive. I am content with it, for it is light, small and has a large enough storage capacity. Always keep it in a waterproof bag though, just to be sure.
• CorsAir Survivor 8GB USB Stick: Fairly useless back-up option due to its tiny storage capacity but virtually indestructible, unless being shot at by an assault rifle. 
• Basic CF and SD card reader: We took the most basic and small ones which turned out to be just fine and we use them weekly. They are fast enough, for me at least. No use for a USB 3 in the third world anyway...
• Basic blower: I bought a small manually operated rubber blower to remove dust from the camera sensors without the need to use one of my few swabs. It is very cheap, light and handy, but unnecessary on a short trip.
• Sensor Swab travel kit including cleaning fluid, 4 swabs, 2 microfiber cloths and a moist microfiber cloth: Not used until now, but I will probably have to in very near future. Practice at home with some one who knows how to do it, before you do it yourself during travels, for you might damage your sensor. The microfiber cloths are indispensable. I bought an extra large one (31x31 cm) from Sigma, which I am very content with. The moist microfiber cloth is completely useless and it is a mystery to me why anyone would clean a lens or, worse, a sensor with a methanol containing cloth. I threw it away a long time ago. 
• 200 grams of silica gel: Completely unnecessary. I will probably discard it in near future. Silica gel works only in air tight spaces, so it would be useful if all electronics are kept in a waterproof bag for most of the time. This is however very unhandy, due to the long time it takes before your equipment can be used.
• Toothbrush with soft brush: Extremely useful! Every photographer should carry one while traveling. It is the easiest way to clean your camera and lenses with (not the glass and sensor of course). 
• Ortlieb 12L waterproof bag: Very very handy and highly recommended! Ortlieb might be expensive, but they really are the best. Our other waterproof bags have holes already, but this one still is like new, even though it almost melted in an overheating car. 12 L is large enough to fit all my 40D with 300 mm and 1.4 convertor and a Sony PCM M10 in and it all still can fit perfectly in the normal way into my camera bag. I think it probably can contain all my electronics with ease. Maybe a 7 L would have been enough, but I wanted to be sure.
• Optech Rain Sleeve: A decent, simple rain sleeve for camera and lens (up to 400 mm) that I saved for the boat trip from Madagascar to Mauritius, but it wasn't necessary on this voyage so I can't really state wether or not it is usefull.
• Vanguard Uprise 48 camera bag: Decent, large camera bag, divided into two compartments: one with five smaller compartments for (camera) equipment and one for miscellaneous. It has a special side way opening for quick camera access. It is broad enough for a 40D with 1.4 converter and 300 mm to fit in horizontally. all equipment can fit in this bag, but makes it very heavy (10 kg). The rain cover, which is located in a small compartment in the back padding, making it asymmetrical and caused me severe back aches for several weeks (better to put it in the laptop compartment), is completely worthless. After little more than three months traveling and regular use the cover is completely destroyed and rotting. A shame, for now I have to use my raincoat instead of covering myself with it.
• LowePro Apex 120 AW camera bag: Very decent, small camera bag with very decent rain cover, although mostly used in another bag for extra protection. Therefore no more comments than this.

Me, photographing an Ethiopian Bushcrow (Zavattariornis stresemanni), Yabello, Ethiopia (picture taken by Anna van der Kaaden)

As travels on low budget can be extremely rough in Africa and Asia I clean my gear at least once a month entirely, but more often when necessary, which it mostly is. I still should do it more often, I think, for the amount of dust, lichens, moss, pieces of leaves, dead ants etc. removed from, primarily my 40D is immense. I also blow the dust out of my camera, or at least I try, every month. All glass is cleaned with more regularity. For this I advice to use only DRY microfiber cloths and never moist microfiber cloths, for they tend to leave a residue on your glass. The methanol could also have long term effects on coating. The same goes for moist paper cleaning "towels": they are even worse and the paper fibers can scratch the coating of your glass work. 

In the end all maintenance during travels is probably fairly rudimentary and you will end up breaking your stuff anyway, but it gives me the feeling that I can postpone that God-awful date a little. 

Me, photographing a Crab Plover (Dromas ardeola) in Pongwe, Zanzibar, Tanzania (picture taken by Anna van der Kaaden)

For any questions, do not hesitate to mail or comment, but I am not sure I can answer the technical questions.