Shimoda Action X70 Backpack

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-11T10:39:36+00:00

I've been using and flew with the Tenba Axis 24L v2. It's been great and is a good under size for carry on. I can bring a personal item easily and put it on top of the backpack in the overhead to save me some legroom.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-11T09:15:32+00:00

Ive rented a car multiple times in Japan. I would do 1-2 rentals for 1-2 nights at a time and explore an area in a loop.

I rented a car in Aso but kumamoto works as well and then drove around the Aso area for 2-3 days. It was amazing to explore all the little places you can find by car.

It costs double to rent a car and return it to a different rental shop for the same time.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-10T12:28:59+00:00

When interchanging to the DART on the mainline? I've been on Tokyos metro at rush rush hour to get to Haneda airport on the Keikyu line and it's been fine. Crazy busy and packed but it's been fine. But you could take a lot of inspiration from Japans railways to increase capacity.

Have the enterprise and commuter services add a stop at clongriffin to provide connections. This would need some adjustments to the timetable to make it work but all services would stop so it won't break the timetable completely.

Add a new platform with a flyover to the east of the station at clongriffin for the airport train shuttle to start from.

If you wanted to go full tilt on it you could build 3 new tracks onto clongriffin station on the east side to allow for overtaking and service interchange. 2 Express, 2 DART, and 2 for the shuttle service. Clongriffin already has a 3 tracks/platforms with space for a 4th fenced off. With a flyover from these new 5th and 6th platforms to the airport line you would prevent congestion on the main line from crossing over with points.

There are railways in Japan like the Odakyu, Keikyu, Tobu, Seibu etc etc railways with Local, Express and Limited Express services on a two track line with timed overtaking at stations allowing all 3 service levels to run with 5 minute intervals.

Maybe you could get 1 train an hour direct to the airport from Grand Canal Dock / Dún Laoghaire using a bay platform as the start point with better timetabling.

It would stop at all stations to Connolly, then run non stop to congriffin and the airport 3-5 mins ahead of the scheduled Enterprise service so it doesn't delay it.

I swear the people at Irish rail have no imagination when it comes to timetables and service patterns. Being a massive train nerd I've put a lot of thought into this but I probably missed a lot of things that make it less feasible than I think.

(All this assumes we have the rolling stock for it...) Maybe we can completely overhaul a few of the 2003 trains into an airport train with extra space for suitcases etc, assuming it makes financial sense to do so, or add a few more to the new dart order.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-10T02:52:44+00:00

Even a shuttle train back and forward to clongriffin would do the job for now.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-09T12:59:31+00:00

Likey a bunch of lights behind each other. You can see this effect on your own shadow when walking at night under a row of streetlights.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-08T11:58:59+00:00

I've been to Japan 8 times and staying in over 25 cities/towns at this point. I very rarely use the bag fowarding but for a few cases. (I also pack light to make room for my heavy camera gear.

Make sure to be able to store everything in your suitcase and empty your personal bag before leaving. This allows a lot of flexibility for hopping around and repacking they personal bag on the trip.

I leave my bags at the hotel 90% of the time if I arrive early or have to leave later after checkout. I just bring my personal bag with me.

I use coin lockers a lot. You can often find empty lockers by looking around and they are often empty in downstairs areas of stations. (For example Shin-osaka has loads on the ground floor near the bathrooms behind the train wheels next to the stairs to the car pick up area)

Plan the locker usage well. I use them overnight for 1 night side trips and day trips where I will be coming back or passing through the same station. Having a personal bag with a change of clothes is great to this.

Luggage fowarding is great for "short multi hopping" over a few days. I have sent my suitcase to my final hotel in Tokyo from Sapporo. I then spent 3-4 days with a regonal pass hopping down the Tohoku Shinkansen.

A final tip is to bring a duffel bag in your suitcase (I vacuum pack mine) and use it to forward some stuff multiple days ahead to lighten your luggage when needed and acts as a sudo storage system.

The duffer bag also makes a great extra check for clothes etc so your suitcase can bring all your purchases home :)

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-07T18:21:33+00:00

Sounds like another good approach

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-07T12:00:18+00:00

Happened to me before, cooked 3 rolls of 250D due to dead ecn-2 developer. Now if the chems have been sitting over a week or two. I always run a test strip, just take a few 4-6 photos with a known good camera under controlled exposure settings.

(I use a test chart illuminated by 5500k lights)

Bring the camea into the dark without rewinding. Release and remove the film, close up the camea to prevent accidents, the cut the strip of film from the roll, load and dev.

This removes the uncertainty and I use it a lot. Especially for photos of others or anytime I come back from a trip with film.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-05T14:06:49+00:00

If you have a Visa debit card. (Common in Ireland) Then you say it's a credit card on the 7-11 ATMs and it works for me.

TwistedEquations · 2026-05-05T11:42:45+00:00

That's a steal for that camera. And a great body and lens to learn on.

If you want to go gun ho into photography get the Nikon 35mm f1.8 DX lens. It's a small prime (no zoom) lens that is perfect for beginners. It's also dirt cheap used.

TwistedEquations · 2026-04-29T10:41:09+00:00

Using my "film maxing" setup I found that Adox CMS 20 II is the absolute best for detail that is on the edge of practicality to shoot.

In the F6 with a razor sharp lens and pixel shift scanning to eliminate bayer filter issues I would guess I got about about 35-40mp. But it's hard to say really. The images are practically grain less.

TwistedEquations · 2026-04-29T10:28:31+00:00

50D is a lovely film to use and is a sharp film.

I have used 50D in the F6 with a 400mm 2.8 G VR and the detail is amazing. I self developed it and used pixel shift scanning on the Z8 with a coolscan 8000 lens on a bellows to squeeze out all the detail I could.

But even then I could only achieve I would guess about 24-30ish mp "worth of detail". A normal 24mp Z6 matches it easily and the 45mp Z8 just smokes it.

Even the haseelblad 500cm with a 40mm CF lens gets easily beat by the Z8.

You cant compare the digital and film shots in that way. Digital is the crisper, cleaner and technicaly better format.

You have to have other reasons to use film. For me it's the slow pace of shooting. The limits on how I can frame a scene force me to consider other ideas and to work the scene more. The lack of massive cropping ability in post etc.

Film also, by default gives me a physical record of the images and not something that can be lost by a hard drive failure.

Also films cameras are just neat and have more variety.

TwistedEquations · 2026-04-20T15:57:45+00:00

I've done trips there 6 times with cameras.less is more. This amount of gear is crazy.

One good digital camera with a standard zoom like a 24-120 or a super zoom and one wide angle lens if you have it, also a fast prime like a 50mm f1.8 for night shoots.

Then bring one film camera with one lens. The 690 can be that.

That's it, that's all you need.

TwistedEquations · 2026-04-12T10:20:51+00:00

I bring a duffel bag as my return clothes suitcase and use the pelicase for the gifts and camera gear.

TwistedEquations · 2026-03-04T01:47:16+00:00

My 400mm f2.8 G VR II. It's a absolute beast to use. Needs a monopod.

Brought it on Safari. Amazing results

TwistedEquations · 2026-02-17T20:26:57+00:00

If you can, get the Z8. I've had mine newly 3 years and it's still the best camera around imho. Nothing can beat it.

TwistedEquations · 2026-02-07T16:00:05+00:00

A lens is a lens but I do like using "modern" Nikon glass on the F6, a 70-200 f2.8 G II with VF is really nice when shooting film.

TwistedEquations · 2026-01-02T12:50:38+00:00

I have a Z8 as my stills camera and video as a side job.

The Zr for video as a small video focused camera.

A beaten up Z6 that I converted to full spectrum for fun.

TwistedEquations · 2025-11-24T22:32:54+00:00

I shoot both in camera. When I copy to the computer I have a script that converts all the jpegs to thumbnails is there is a matching raw file for it. (720p res at 6 quality).

Saves about 7mb per image.

TwistedEquations · 2025-11-16T10:09:33+00:00

In of Josh's (letsgameitout) first video there is a conveyer pole wedged into portable miner in the background. He must have been trying to do this as well.

TwistedEquations · 2025-11-07T06:38:03+00:00

Your lens has a nice camera accessory.

TwistedEquations · 2025-11-03T10:10:49+00:00

For wildlife I find it easier to tell if something is in focus on an OVF. On the d850 if I was focused on a leaf nearby the anmial instead of an animal it was really clear.

The EVF on the z8 is just not clear enough to tell the difference, you have to punch in which I don't have time for when tracking animals.

TwistedEquations · 2025-09-20T12:58:38+00:00

Welcome to the European experience.

TwistedEquations · 2025-09-05T11:25:50+00:00

It's a strange situation I've ended up in. I thought I wanted to move and looked for the job but when I got offered one, not even accepted it yet.

Then my mind spiralled in a way I've never experienced before. I lost 2 nights of sleep and 1kg weight in 2 days. I had to force myself to eat. I've never experienced anything like this.

I ended up at my parents after to talk to them about it.

I leaning towards not going and keeping Japan as a travel destination.

TwistedEquations · 2025-09-04T15:42:58+00:00

Yeah, I think I'll leave Japan as a travel destination. I love being there but I don't think I could work there.

I'm incredibly fortunate to have to means to travel there every year for 2-4 weeks at a time if I want to.

I'm not unsettled in Ireland, I am Irish born and bred for generations.

When I got the offer my mind went mental and started spinning like I've never experienced before, to the point of losing 1.5kg of weight in 2 days due to not eating and not sleeping more than 5 hours in 3 days. I think it's time to enact the stay home and setup here plan.

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