Author: Scott

The mountains are calling, let me grab a jacket and my kids.

Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD: My New Favorite Power Bank

This thing will be going everywhere with me…

Regular readers here know that I am a quality over quantity kind of guy. Sometimes to a fault, my wife would say. 🤣

My wife also loves me and lets me splurge every now and then…so for Father’s Day I bought what is now my new favorite power bank…the Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD.

This isn’t the first power bank that I own. A couple years ago I purchased the Anker PowerCore+ 26800mAh PD…and it is arguably better in some ways. The Anker power bank gives you the same capacity and also comes with a 60W charger for faster charging of the power bank. (the Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD does not)

The Anker is great for traveling and saving every bit of space you can, it feels VERY durable, and just works.

BUT…

The Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD has wireless charging.

I didn’t think this was a feature that I would care much about but now that I’ve used it a few times…it’s my absolute favorite feature. I don’t have to dig through my multitude of cables for the right one – some USB-A, some USB-C. I just press that blue “wireless” button set my phone on top, and BAM! it’s charging my phone. It’s not the newest, fastest wireless charging that comes with Apple’s new wireless chargers…but it works consistently and very well.

Plus the Goal Zero has the battery read-out that tells you how much charge is left in your power bank.

Should You Get One?

Now that I own this Goal Zero power bank…I am surprised at how much I use it, even at home. I can be working on my laptop and see my phone needs a charge and just set it on top of the Sherpa 100PD and know that when I pick my phone back up, it will be charged.

It is a bit more expensive than its Anker competitor, so if $199 for the Goal Zero is out of your price range, you can currently get the Anker over on Amazon for $129.

BUT…I can now highly recommend the Goal Zero Sherpa 100PD power bank. It’s definitely a quality piece of gear and I expect it to last me a very long time and throughout many upcoming travels.

It is my new favorite power bank and worth every penny.

Sunseeker – Know Where the Sun Will Be for Your Photo Shoot

I recently received a comment on my (currently) most viewed YouTube video about the Goal Zero Yeti 200x and Nomad 50.

The commentor mentioned that the wattage gained from the Nomad 50 was much higher in Panama than here in the United States.

Kake then went on to recommend the app Sunseeker.

Sunseeker

This app is amazing!

If you look at the screenshots above, you can look up a location (or your current location) and see where the sun will be in advance. The more I have filmed over the years, the more I realize that I need (or want) to know where the sun will be when I am shooting.

Some of the reviews talk about how useful it is when/if you are looking to buy or rent a new house…as you can use this to see when the sun hits your house at various times of the day.

If I am not going out to shoot at golden hour, then this app will be in my tool belt for sure. It does cost $9.99…but for something so useful, I think it’s worth it.

If you want to download it or are curious, I recommend at least checking it out.

Download on the App Store

THE Next Vlogging Lens for the Canon R6: The Rokinon 14mm f2.8 RF

It might be yours too…

I have written numerous times here how much I would love to be able to own the super expensive Canon 15-35mm f2.8 RF lens. But let’s be honest…if I purchased that today, tomorrow my wife would probably murder me. Ha!

damn that is a good looking piece of glass

So when I had some birthday funds come my way (Amazon gift cards are amazing), I started browsing for what I could actually afford…and came across this.

Rokinon (Samyang) 14mm f.28 RF

first ever 3rd party autofocus lens for Canon RF mount!

I’m not quite sure at how I stumbled across this…I think I just searched “Canon RF lens” in Amazon and this was one of the results.

  • Good Amazon reviews? Check
  • Good YouTube reviews? Check
  • RF mount for my Canon R6? Check
  • Constant fast aperture at f2.8? Check
  • Wide angle for vlogging? Check
  • Autofocus works well? Check
  • Good build quality? Check
  • Within my budget?…

Check!!!

I have used Canon’s 10-18mm EF-S lens for many years now…it is fantastic. I’ve probably made over 100 videos using that lens alone and it is durable, clear, has great image quality, and is very tough.

That lens basically lives on my camera.

Until now?

There are a few reasons why I am feel confident that this will be my next “every day” lens.

  1. I prefer wide angle photography and videography (purely preference…but I’ve always been a sucker for wide angle shots and have owned multiple wide angle lenses over the years)
  2. I want an RF mount lens (the EF to RF lens adapter series are great, but I can’t use my 120 fps filming on my R6 unless I have an RF lens on it)
  3. Prime lenses let you focus (I never really fiddled with the 10-18mm range much unless I had a polarizer on it and had to zoom in to avoid getting the edges of the filter in my shot due to the wide angle and front filter…so being fixed at 14mm will remove that decision from me)
  4. The Rokinon has a back filter (What is that you ask? Check out the video below…but it eliminates that pesky “filter too small” issue I mentioned)

Price

This lens is a bargain for what you get!!!

It is currently going for $629 on Amazon…although I snagged an Amazon Refurbished one for $545…which made me feel better about the Haida ND Filter Kit I bought at the same time. No more worrying about filming on sunny days!!

So for 1/3 of the price of my dream Canon lens, I was able to get a lens with a fixed focal length that I would use it at 90% of the time anyways, a set of ND filters…and hopefully some wiggle room to snag a gimbal in the future.

And I would still have money left over.

I am excited to get this soon and start using it…you better believe I’ll be writing more about it here.

6 Gifts for Video Creators in 2021

Sometimes I forget they’re even coming up. More and more I can’t help but notice them on the horizon like a massive tsunami, threatening to wash away all thoughts of youthful exuberance.

While the latter hasn’t quite happened to me yet, the days leading up to most of my recent birthdays tend to be trying to figure out how to strike the balance between my kid like impulses of buying what I want…and “adulting”…i.e. not buying the expensive toys that really want.

This year, with a household move around the corner, I decided to write about the expensive toys that I can dream of buying as an outlet to counter my inner child that wants to click ‘buy now’.

Toss me a comment if you own any of these and enjoy them…or if you WANT to own any of them!

(great book 4th in a series I listened to)
(for those bright shooting days)
(no more shaky footage!!)
(record all the image data)
(mmm…drones)
(drool factor)

Notice any trend there?

Yeah, I have high quality…and pricey…taste. However, I always say you get what you pay for and that has almost never let me down when it comes to buying quality goods like the ones I listed above. (I didn’t even bother listing the pricey Peter McKinnon variable ND filters!!)

What do I expect to get? Old faithful…the Amazon Gift Card.

Totally ok with that. 😉

(works every time)

Don’t Give Up

If you keep going you won’t regret it. If you give up you will.

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If you enjoy these quotes in post every now and then, I encourage you to check out Motivation App.

It gives me a quote each morning that I can then share, favorite, save for later, etc. I’m all for some automated positivity in my life. 😉

2021’s BEST VLOGGING CAMERA

This won’t be replaced for at least 5 years…

I have to admit that I can be a bit of a gear head…but really…who isn’t? 😉

I also have to admit that I am incredibly delinquent in posting about my new favorite piece of gear…the Canon EOS R6.

Let me tell you why the R6 is the BEST camera for you!

It is what the EOS R “should have been”

The EOS R was tempting, but with the crop in 4K, the weird thumb pad on the back, and RF lenses still coming out when it was released…I decided that my Canon 80D was more than enough for my uses. (which you can get crazy cheap right now)

It is the “Goldilocks” of Cameras

I don’t need the Canon R5. It is $1,300 more, uses a CF Express card slot which also costs more (and more for another computer dongle), the file sizes are MUCH bigger (45mp sensor vs 20mp), and did I say it’s over $1,300 more than the R6?

I’d rather have 2 SD Cards slots (which the EOS R and 80D didn’t have), great 4k (now with smaller file sizes with a firmware update), and 1080p at 120 fps recording is enough for my slow motion b-roll needs. (It was good enough for Peter McKinnon for years!)

I has the same autofocus system as the R5, same IBIS system as the R5, can use the same RF Lenses (I would LOVE the RF 15-35mm f2.8…drool factor 11), same batteries (which are the same as my 80D), and more similar features!!

For most people, the only thing it DOESN’T do is 4k 120fps and 4k HD mode (which you need to watch out for overheating with).

Remind me why I waited so long?

He does the best reviews

It’s for the “Prosumer” in All of Us

The Canon R6 is honestly everything 99% of us will need. I am an absolute sucker for the upsell when it comes to quality products and companies…and I almost went for the R5, but the price difference and other downsides I saw (or “pro” level stuff I didn’t need) kept me away.

And MAN AM I HAPPY WITH THIS CAMERA!!!

I won’t ramble on…rather I will say that I can HIGHLY recommend this after filming and shooting a TON on it recently (see recent vlogs). It feels good in the hand, the 4k looks great, super solid, and I know it will last me for years.

If you’re considering the Canon EOS R6…go buy it.

Sony ZV1: The Vlogger’s Camera I Wish I Owned 3 Years Ago

This little camera completely blew me away…

I recently posted a video about starting my second YouTube channel with my wife. She’s a historian that loves seeing places of history and I found I like filming them with her.

In order to get her comfortable vlogging…and more importantly to get her a quality camera that is easy to use…I bought her the Sony ZV1.

Let me say I am IMPRESSED!!!

The picture quality if phenomenal, the ease of use is second to none, and the sound you get from it is pretty good too! You can buy the vlogger’s kit that gives you a memory card and bluetooh handle….I HIGHLY recommend it.

If you have been looking for a good starter and beyond vlogging camera (or a more video focused handheld camera) the Sony ZV1 is ABSOLUTELY the way to go.

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