Sony Nex-5N Camera

This is just going to be a camera review - no kayaking - so if that doesn't interest you, just scan through the pretty pictures below and call it a day.

As I said a little bit ago, I just got a new Sony Nex-5N camera and I've been playing around with it. I'm no professional, and this is my first professional grade camera, but I'm starting to get some good results. There are several advanced features on this thing that can create some interesting images, especially for kayak type scenes.

The Nex cameras are mirrorless. If you don't know what this means it doesn't really matter. Just know that it means the camera is small. The body for the camera is about the same size as my waterproof Panasonic Lumix TS3. It's not your typical bulky DSLR, but the image sensor inside is the APS-C which is exactly what most bse DSLR's use (it's 16.1 Mps). You get the performance and features of the large camera in a much smaller (and cheaper) package. I can fit the camera in my small Peli case which fits easily into my whitewater kayak or in my lap when sea kayaking. It's the same set up I've been using for years with my non-waterproof Lumix FZ28.

The Nex also uses interchangeable lenses. Sony makes lenses specifically for these cameras but you can also get adapters to use all the fancy glass you want. Right now I've got the basic kit lenses: 18-55mm and 55-210mm. They're decent but I'm sure there are much better options out there (for more money). They are also fairly compact - I can fit both in the Peli case with my camera, so my whole rig is with me wherever I go.

Aside from the ability to fully control the camera functions (most point and shoot cameras control things for you, shooting in auto mode), there are a couple of nice extras that really come into play when kayaking. The first is the continuous shooting speed. You can shoot up to 10 frames a second. This allows you to really capture action and sequences. Sequences are cool because it shows what is actually happening in a way that video does not. By freezing the frames we see exactly where that boof stroke was placed, and just how much under what the boat goes when it hits a hole. It also allows us to get lucky with an image - something that happens so quick that you would never get it if you were trying to react. And with the high quality images you can shoot wide and crop down for great detail.

Another feature I'm just starting to get the hang of is the High Dynamic Range function. This allows the camera to take the same picture with three different exposures and combines them. This is great when you have shadows (like in a canyon) and bright areas (like whitewater) and are trying to get detail with all of it. It doesn't work with moving subjects but is great for scenery.

And, so far, my favorite feature is another automatic trick that replaces tedious photoshop work: auto panorama. This allows you to just sweep the camera while it takes a series of photos and stitches them together into a super wide panorama shot. Again, it doesn't work well with action shots, but it does create some interesting perspectives on rapids. Getting it to shoot vertically is a little trickier, but helps for the steep drops.

And, of course, what modern camera would be complete without the ability to shoot full HD video. I'm still getting used to the fact that the video uses the camera settings. Most point and shoot cameras default to auto mode when you shoot video - it takes care of shutter speed and aperture for you. You can do the same with the Nes, but you can also control those settings just like you would for taking pictures. I haven't played around with this yet but it definitely gives you more control - which is good once you learn what you're doing.

I'm looking forward to learning more about this new camera and I'm excited to be able to get some high quality images. While it is true that a good photographer can frame a great shot with any camera, the real truth is that it's much easier with quality gear.If you want to check out more of my photos, from the new stuff with my Nex-5N to earlier stuff with cheap, waterproof cameras, check out my Picasa Page.

Is this Heaven? No, it's the Forks of the Kern

What makes a perfect kayak trip? Well, it's a lot of things. It's the paddling, the location, the weather, the people, the food, the stories, the adventure, the difficulties, the laughter, the uncertainty, the water, the sky, and more. But ultimately it's just the joy. The pure and simple of joy of the thing. The Kern is where I learned to boat the rivers. The Forks of the Kern is the best of the river. Doing an overnighter, spending a holiday weekend with old friends and new, celebrating my buddy Matt's birthday - that's what makes the perfect kayak trip.

I don't feel I have a lot more to say about the trip. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves (having a new camera that kicks ass is the cherry on top).

The two mile hike in makes a nice stroll.

The scenery starts beautiful and just gets better.

Lower Freeman's hole was forgiving at our low level.

We did a short first day, starting paddling around 4pm and finding this awesome camp site by 6pm. we had a great view of the Needles in the sunlight and a sandy beach to sleep on. Everyone had brought some goodies to share: we started with some wine and cheese, added some wasabi seaweed and colored licorice strings. Dinners ranged from fresh made pepperoni pizza to red pepper and cheese quesadillas. A nice fire and some good whiskey and no one minded the unseasonably cool weather. We woke up for a leisurely morning to start day two and cruised down before hitting the bigger rapids.

Vortex is the first of the big three and a variety of lines all led to eventual success.

We even had time for a short side hike up to Peppermint Creek.

Westwall was pretty easy at this level, but still a lot of fun.

Carson Falls is the last big one and everyone took the same line - some just made it a little more exciting.

 After we finished it up, Matt and I had to hit the road back north for work the next day. Our good friends let us rock star without running shuttle and we took advantage by driving up through the Sierras to get a view of the next drainage north: the Tule. An impressively steep river with some great creeking options. Another reminder that, while NorCal has more boaters and feels like the hub of paddling in the state, SoCal has the goods as well. And the boaters down there are gracious hosts. Can't wait to return the favor.

The video may be coming - depends on whether or not my editing software decides to stop crashing. In the meantime, here's a link to the full photo gallery.

UPDATE: video is here, though quality has suffered a little in the complicated rendering process I had to go through to make it work:

South Silver

I got on South Silver Creek the other day. It's a classic in a novelty sort of way. It drops 590 ft. in the one mile that's runnable. Lots of slides on granite, some great boofs, and most of it is relatively easy. There are a couple drops that are more significant, and with only two of us on the trip we planned to walk those. But on the portage of the first big one (Skyscraper) I slipped and took a paddle to the face. So instead of putting back in and running a few drops before the next portage we just kept walking. We had gotten the best stuff - the 300 ft. slide Autobahn at the start, and the teacups section just above Skyscraper. So we called it a good day and left satisfied.

I also got a new camera and was testing it out. It's a Sony Nex-5. I need to learn more how to use it but it takes some pretty sweet shots. It has an automatic panorama setting that works great (that's the top picture). And it also shoots at a high frame rate (10/s at full resolution). Here's a link to the pics from the day.

And here's the video from the day. All shot with my GoPro.



And here's the video I shot from my first time down four years ago. Don't know if my paddling has gotten better, but at least the video quality has improved.

Attainment

Once again, it's often the little things that make classes new and fun. I was teaching on the river over the weekend and had a common situation come up. We had a group of students in a mid-rapid eddy (class I). My partner went down to the next eddy to show how to do it and I started to send the students down. A couple students were nervous because the current was quite fast. The first student flipped on the eddy line and I followed him out to provide a bow rescue. But he got his hands backwards and in the confusion pulled out. No big deal - I just towed him into the goal eddy and he was fine.

But now the rest of the class was upstream by themselves. It was a short distance and we could make eye contact and communicate. We could have just told them to come on down, but I knew they would be nervous. So I decided to attain up to talk to them and be there for them. The river was medium high (2,500cfs on the SF American for those that know it). I've never had to attain in this spot before at this level and wasn't sure I could do it. But a little eddy hopping and one long, hard ferry got me up there. It was a great little challenge that allowed me to push myself while teaching on class I.

I reassured the students it was all good, and they just needed to hold their edge throughout the turn. The first student made it look easy. The next flipped and swam - I chased her down and got her to the eddy. We still had a couple left in the upper eddy, but this time I just waved them down. The attainment was fun but too much work to repeat.

In fact, the attainment was so fun that after we finished up for the day I grabbed the shop's demo slalom boat and walked down to the bridge. No shuttle, no problem. I paddled upstream, trying to see how far I could get. I made it up the first set of riffles rather easily, surfing one little wave forward after another. Nice to have a fast boat. But then there was the island. I tried the main channel but the eddy didn't get me close enough and the current was too fast. I tried the side channel - there was a fair bit of water so the rocks were covered and I made it up the bottom drop. But the top tier was just too shallow - I couldn't get a full blade in the water to generate any speed. So I went back to the other side and walked from the top of the bottom eddy to the bottom of the middle eddy. I refused to walk the whole way up - I got back in the boat and after what seemed like five minutes of hard paddling straight into the current I was able to get up to the flat below 'Old Scary'.

Old Scary is a class II rapid with another island in the middle. The left channel is straight and fast and shallow - no chance of getting up there. But I attained up to the middle eddy by the island, then over to the river right eddy. That got me within about twenty feet of the top. If I could make it up this rapid it would give me another half mile of upriver paddling before the next rapid. But it was rocky and fast - I tried to surf my way up but couldn't quite make it. I think it might be possible at a lower flow when the current is slower. So I turned around and floated back down to the bridge.

My what adventures we have!

Some days things just don't go right. With a day off and friends coming to town to paddle, everything should have been good. But the friends were delayed a day. No problem, there's plenty of folks around to go paddle with. Boomer was talking about doing Golden Gate on the SF American. I haven't been paddling a lot and knew it would be pushing it to run something that hard, but I was still game. But we needed a third strong paddler, preferably one who knew the run. Thought we had one the night before but by morning he was headed elsewhere. No problem, we revised to do Lover's Leap and I found a new third to join us.

Boomer's car was in the shop so I agreed to pick him up on the way and we'd meet the third en route. But once again our third decided to head north to other waters. So Boomer through a bike in the back of my truck for the shuttle. He had done the lower section of Lover's a few days prior and so we decided to do the middle section - most say it's better anyway, and even a touch easier. We locked the bike on the road just above the nasty waterfall and drove up to the put in. Flows were low but it made the pace manageable - there's very little space between the rapids on this run.

My boof off said rock

But even at the start we saw lots of signs of wood - most of it was out of play but we were taking our time and making sure everything was clear. Shortly into the run Boomer led off a nice boof but landed hard on a hidden rock and cracked his seat. He also hurt his back/ribs in the process. But we continued on. There were some fun rapids but the wood kept getting worse. Lots of scouting and some painful portages around logs. Boomer's back was hurting more and more and made paddling hard and trying to lift a boat excruciating. The quick four mile run was turning into a slow arduous journey.

Eventually we got to a river wide log jam. A big one. It looked like beavers on steroids had gone crazy. As we climbed out on the log pile (the only way to portage) we saw another jam downstream. Boomer was hurting and tired of paddling with all the dangerous wood. I wasn't really have much fun on the water, either. So we looked up and figured the road was as close here as it was likely to get for a while. So we started the hike out.

The hill was steep and covered in pine needles and crumbled granite. I could at least shoulder my boat - Boomer couldn't lift very well so he would hike up and haul his boat up with a rope. It took two hours to climb out, with the very last bit the steepest. I had gone to climbing with both hands with my boat tethered behind me when, within one handhold of the top, the log I was standing on gave we and I my boat started downhill with me tethered to it. I caught myself on tree quickly enough but I brought out the rope and finished the last pitch and pulled my boat up from the top.

So now we're back on the road but in between the bike and the car, thinking we were much closer to the bike. We tried to hitch for a while but Californians don't seem to eager to pick up dirty, ragged guys wearing paddling gear. No problem, I started walking towards the bike. Turns out the car would have been just as fast a walk. Once at the bike I rode but up to the boats and we finally caught a break and someone stopped to give us a lift. Boomer retrieved the truck while I packed up and we were loaded and back home only slightly late for dinner.

Certainly not a picture perfect day of paddling. But aside from Boomer's injuries (which appear to be nothing major, thankfully), it was a grand adventure. It's days like this that we need to appreciate what we do and what we're capable of. It's the hard and tiring slogs that we must endure to receive the reward of paddling beautiful rivers in beautiful places. It's what makes us stronger for the next time. And the next time can never come too soon.