With the arrival of the XR500v yesterday, I am now fully equipped for the 2010 season.  I am paired up with both video cameras and DSLRs and will be ready to go.  The new bag I ordered doesn’t look as nice as it could be, but the setup I have pictured above will hold all the cameras and keep them protected.  That’s the key thing.  Not so worried about the look of it inside just as long as each compartment holds what it is suppose to.  The top area of the bag will hold a variety of chargers and other accessories, but I have greatly reduced the excess amount of gear I was carrying and was able to condense it all into this smaller bag.  I’ll probably purchase a few cheap small cases to hold the different chargers and cables just to keep it all sorted.  Beyond that, she’s ready to go.

I changed out to a smaller battery pack on the CX100 just to make its length more manageable.  I slapped in the NP-FH70 battery pack and put the NP-FH100 no the XR500v with the deeper battery compartment.  Again, this makes the CX100 easier to handle and store in the bag.  The XR500v will need the higher end battery just as it’ll be shot with more, but the deeper compartment on it accomodates the bigger battery better and still allows for easy handling and storage.

I bought a couple of cheap lens hoods for each video cameras as it’ll add some protection to the lenses as well as keep stray light out and hopefully do something to keep the lens dry in shooting.  I am also giving consideration to purchasing a Dicapac underwater case for the XR500v.  Obviously I don’t intend to shoot underwater, but it’ll give me protection from the rain and (some) hail.  its about half the price as the hard case for the video camera, but what I’ve read about it will easily do the job I am requiring of it.

And of course, the carry-overs from last season being my two Nikons; the D60 and D40x.  With the selling of my extra lenses, I am left with the two on the bodies.  Both Tamrons, one being the 18-200mm and the other being the all-purpose 18-270mm.  I have no plans to add anything to these guys as they do just fine for my type of shooting.

So with the gear in hand, my major purchases are done.  And thanks to Ebay, I was able to get it all basically in trade as I didn’t spend a dime out of my own pocket.  Still wrapping up a few auctions which will go toward the 5-year protection warranty on the XR500v as well as possibly the Dicapac case.  A few more days before those wrap up and I should see what allowance I have left to wrap up my shopping for the season!