billybunters - from a bmw z4 to a mx5 se

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:39 pm

Camera Gear

I plan to use a Panasonic lumix 1000 bridge camera for the trip. only got it about 2 or 3 months ago but reviews are pretty good. these are pretty cheap at $1000 and when they shoot in 4K video as well....gotta be a bargain.

only problem shooting in 4K video mode a 64gb card last approx. 38 minutes. so apart from 2 extra cars I also had to buy a 1tb external hard drive

plus a cable release might come in handy too

while at it today I had nothing better to do so I thought I might buy a gopro4 camera to take along too. these are really small and compact. I will run this inside the car at time ...checking engine management! :wink:

I still have my manfrotto tripod going back to the days when I had the top quality slr and made very good $$$$$ selling shots to various hunting magazines so its going too.
pretty hard to get any quality shot with a tele lens or slow shutter speed. this will cover that side of it. plus for scenery shots I will be using nd and polarising filters which should bring out the blues and reds in the centre of aust

I plan to take along my suunto gps watch. not just take it but record the trip from the very start to the finish. they have upgraded there maps again and I will be able to track all my moves.
I like this watch idea the best of them all. I have good plans for ir!

looking at this map taken from my gps watch you will see where I ran my motorcycle about 2 days ago.just a few lines on a map.

now it gets more interesting as I zoom in. which way I went and returned - how long I was gone - how far I travelled

then I zoomed in to max and you can follow my tracks as I walked or push the bike around the back yard then walked over to the bird aviary. I think this will be very handy item now the maps are so good.
I will even be able to back track to that very map and say that is the exact spot I set up the kookaburra camping toilet in the outback of aust for that great photo...LOL

Caffeine · Postby **Caffeine** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 10:46 am

Are you planning on geotagging your photos at all?

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 12:20 pm

have not thought about that one - main reason being I have never done it :lol:

I will read up on it to get a better idea

Caffeine · Postby **Caffeine** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 1:04 pm

It's pretty handy for going back through your photos and seeing what was taken in each location.

Here's an example (from my work PC, which has a very small subset of my photos)

Geotagging by CaffeineAU, on Flickr

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 3:51 pm

don't think the camera has it. not sure about the gopro4 silver - the idea is good

Caffeine · Postby **Caffeine** » Tue Jun 16, 2015 4:02 pm

billybunter wrote:don't think the camera has it. not sure about the gopro4 silver - the idea is good

I think there are apps / utilites that can look at your GPS track, and match the timestamp to the photo to automatically geotag them for you (assuming your GPS and camera times are reasonably synchronised)

Edit : like this one (I haven't tried it, but the concept is quite straightforward)

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:01 pm

had a bit of a look and something to think about that's for sure.

meanwhile just wondering from nb mx5 owners how many klm do you average to a tank of gas. say at normal speed limit cruising of 100 or 110 kph -shouldn't matter much if its turbo or not.

even though I've had my car for 4 years now I have never done a full tank run to see how far I can go. this info would be interesting and give me a rough idea on the distance I could travel which wouldn't end in some-one walking.... :lol:

I'm not saying it would be the wife walking for the gas but she is 12 years younger so would be the best choice :lol:

I might put it to her later and find out the answer :wink:

ManiacLachy · Postby **ManiacLachy** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:21 pm

I reckon you should get 500-550km, based on my drives from Brisbane to Bundaberg. I recorded ~490km using ~36L of fuel. Carsales says it's a 48L tank. Soooo let's calculate this...

I got ~7.3L/100km...

carry the 2...

That'd give a range of about 650km using the full tank. That's more than I'd think. Keep in mind, you'll be carrying more weight with your fully loaded car.

KevGoat · Postby **KevGoat** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:48 pm

For the 2928 kms we did recently, my SE averaged 7.44 L/100.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 2:51 pm

I used to get about 500km a tank when I did a lot of highway driving (country roads, so no traffic etc)

That did include driving in town when I got there, if it was just highway I'd be fairly confident in hitting 600.

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 3:21 pm

I get 7.5-8.5 but I budget for 10L/100 to give a margin for safety. In any case you need a rest break every 2 hours and for a lot of the year out West 2 hours worth of bugs is enough to force a stop too. I'd just fill up at least every 2 hours or so and save the stress about whether you make it to the next stop or not.

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Wed Jun 17, 2015 5:24 pm

ManiacLachy

more weight eh! looks like I will have to leave the wife behind :lol:

so it looks like around 500 klm would be a max safe bet. that's handy to know thanks.

meanwhile I took the car out for a run today and I think I might just have the start of a slight clutch slave cylinder leak. I noticed the clutch has always felt a bit strange on pedal pressure.
so I had a look under the bonnet and it looks a bit damp or slightly oily around the unit so I think I might get a new one fitted in a day or two.
I read somewhere on the forum that the mx5's suffer a bit from this sproblem so best i get about doing it now rather than lose my fluidly function :lol:

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Thu Jun 18, 2015 5:02 pm

the klymit v insulated sleeping mats finally arrived from the usa today. it took the best part of 2 weeks or better but worth the wait. to buy these units in oz I think they were close to the $300 mark a pair and I purchased the pair for $220 landed.
overall I think they should do the job perfectly as the reviews are very good on this mat. also found it pretty easy to blow up and very space saving once deflated and wrapped up and stored in the mx5's boot

billybunter · Postby **billybunter** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:33 pm

the compact fishing rod arrived today so hopefully I get to use it on a barra in the top end. at around $125 its not what I'd call cheap but for little room I have plus as usual reports are good on this unit I think it will do the job

bet that delivery driver gets sick of pulling up outside my place :lol:

well his days are numbered as only a couple more items to arrive

manga_blue · Postby **manga_blue** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 3:52 pm

I thought you were going to go telescopic when you said you'd get the fishing gear behind the driver. Some of them are pretty good. Didn't expect that - good luck landing a barra.