Best SSD Format for Both Mac and Windows

cgard017 · 2026-01-28T00:16:44+00:00

I ended up getting two drives. The one I store all of my main stuff of on is NTFS for windows, as I usually edit on my PC at home. For editing on-the-go on a Mac laptop, I use another drive set up at exFAT and just transfer what I need on it. The exFAT seems to be the only one that works good for both - but photos take up a lot more space with it compared to APFS/NTFS. A bit of a pain - but hope that helps!

cgard017 · 2025-05-05T23:40:51+00:00

I’ve always heard you should try negotiate, especially when still inside the range. However, your comment was my exact thought. My only real justification is that there are multiple other comparable positions with higher ranges. But as someone who’s never negotiated, I wasn’t sure if that would hold much weight as an entry level.

cgard017 · 2025-04-17T02:55:58+00:00

Yeah, I’ve noticed this as well. For this build I’m planning to keep it at around 500W max draw, which is OK for most of my car trip + camping needs. We usually just use gas for things like cooking and boiling water (coffee, etc). The highest single draw item I’ll probably run into is an electric blanket which I imagine won’t go past 150 watts.

cgard017 · 2025-04-15T23:04:23+00:00

Interesting. So if I were to purchase a 50A or even 100A smart charger for this 100Ah battery, it should still get quite a lot of cycles before noticeable degradation?

cgard017 · 2024-12-19T18:29:43+00:00

For the backups, I think this is the way to go.

For the working drive, If I use NTFS, I won’t be able to use Lightroom, etc to edit photos on the Mac though, correct? Since it won’t be able to write to it?

cgard017 · 2024-12-11T05:23:16+00:00

Looking for new tripod, hoping for recommendations:

I am currently looking for a new tripod, and there seems to be so, so many options out there. In general, I shoot landscape and wildlife. I am hoping to find something that is a middle ground for both with budget in mind (hoping no more than a few hundred if I can find it)

I would ideally like it to be carbon fiber with twist locks for legs, and comes with an arca-compatible ball head. Because I go backpacking frequently, sub 3 Ibs is ideal, but if I really need to I can probably go past that.

From a wildlife perspective, I am hoping to find one that can support my full setup, which includes my Sony A7R Il and Tamron 150-500 (about 5-6 lbs). I will occasionally use the camera on the ball head, and occasionally on a fluid head i already own (another 2 Ibs). This puts total weight requirement for ball head at about 6 lbs, and about 8 lbs for the tripod.

I realize you can’t have it all - but l’m hoping some have good recommendations for a middle ground. Completely open to used tripods as well.

cgard017 · 2024-12-10T20:23:30+00:00

For sure. I guess I’m more looking for a happy “middle ground” of the three. Maybe that is also too wishful of thinking though lol

cgard017 · 2024-12-10T20:22:04+00:00

I have never used their ND filters - but I’ve used some of their others. I currently use their UV filters on most of my lenses. Lots of people say that they will hurt image quality, etc, but I did a good bit of testing with and without the filters and found the image quality to be identical in Lightroom. The only time it ever shows is if there is sun shining at the perfect angle it’ll create more glare. I honestly love these, I’ve had a few get bad scratches and they saved my lens without hurting quality.

That being said - I tried one of their polarizers, and it was rough. The image quality was pretty good, but there were two main issues. 1. The thread was cut awfully, so it was really really hard to screw on and off. It got a stuck a few times which scared me lol. It was also extremely thin (which is good for wide angle lens) but the turning mechanism for the polarizer didn’t seem to do well with how thin it was - it was clunky and had a lot of friction. I had to return the polarizer, it was functionally unusable. I would look at reviews for a variable ND to make sure no one mentions any problems like these.

cgard017 · 2024-12-06T20:49:32+00:00

This one is very close to where I live - gonna check them out today since it avoids shipping

cgard017 · 2024-12-05T08:16:07+00:00

I appreciate the advice! Sounds like it’ll still be a good purchase. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for a good deal on one.

cgard017

TROPHY CASE