Random Thoughts... [Photographic Edition]

The big capacitor for the popup flash packs a punch. I know from experience. :nod:
 
:lol:
Poor camera (even if it's a Nikon :p).
 
After a few minutes of watching him ruin a camera, I really wished the capacitor shock had hospitalized him.
 
It's never nice seeing innocent electronics meet their demise in the hands of someone so incompetent but it is nice to know exactly what would happen if I attempted anything similar (in contrast to all the other videos where it all goes to plan).

In other news Dr Kenneth Rockwellen has stated that the new Nikon 16-35 is optically better than the 14-24, the dpreview gang have been scrambled, they will bring to him their great walls of softness and barrel distortion. Or kill him. Or both.
 
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Sorry if it's a repost.
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_H8TOKcfjg[/YOUTUBE]
 
I think we were talking about that sometime last year.. :p
 
Ooh. New Tamron 70-300mm with VC and, for the first time, Tamron's own USM variant. And one XLD element and a LD element and internal focussing. That sounds undeniably better than the Canon 70-300mm that only has a USM micromotor and the focus ring and the front both rotate during AF and there's no FTM, focus isn't internal, no distance scale, only a single LD element. And Tamron consistently makes quite sharp lenses (with tons of plastic and up until now no bells and whistles), so I expect it to be a performer.
 
I've been really aching to upgrade my body since the D40 locks me out of a lot of lenses (for autofocus). But, recently, I've been thinking about just how long Nikon is going to keep their AF-D lineup before deprecating it and if it's really even worth it go out and buy a bunch of AF-D lenses. Then, I see something like this ... and I was seriously thinking about this lens in particular.

All this actually makes me think about ... are you ready for it? ... switching to a Canon setup.

Maybe I'm just over-thinking this. Are AF-D lenses worth investing in at this point?
 
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I love that they wrote "please find enclosed your lens".

Cause there's a big chance the guy wouldn't see an 80-200/2.8 in a box. Must remind him it's there. Cause it's so small.

I hate corporate letters. Be a person.
 
All this actually makes me think about ... are you ready for it? ... switching to a Canon setup.

http://img717.imageshack.**/img717/2866/f4826f62a4212dd8331ef3d.jpg

Join the Rebel Alliance. We have universal AF and metering, no matter the lens, and a modern lens mount system, not some antiquated doodad with springs and screws. And first party lenses that aren't massively overpriced for no real reason (seriously, why the bloody hell does the 17-55/2.8 DX cost $1500 USD and it doesn't even have VR. And it doesn't even perform as well as Canon's 17-55, which is $500 USD cheaper and has IS. Seriously, Nikon, seriously.)
 
A question about gradient filters.

I would like to take more landscape photos, but do not want the sky to be blown out, or the landscape too dark; obviously I would want a ND gradient filter. Any recommendations? my size is 67mm.
 
I've been really aching to upgrade my body since the D40 locks me out of a lot of lenses (for autofocus). But, recently, I've been thinking about just how long Nikon is going to keep their AF-D lineup before deprecating it and if it's really even worth it go out and buy a bunch of AF-D lenses. Then, I see something like this ... and I was seriously thinking about this lens in particular.

All this actually makes me think about ... are you ready for it? ... switching to a Canon setup.

Maybe I'm just over-thinking this. Are AF-D lenses worth investing in at this point?

It may be worth looking at this article. It covers first and third part lenses for the two major camera systems.

A question about gradient filters.

I would like to take more landscape photos, but do not want the sky to be blown out, or the landscape too dark; obviously I would want a ND gradient filter. Any recommendations? my size is 67mm.


jayhawk, the cheapest way to get into filter is to buy a Cokin P system. You will need the 67mm adapter ring and the filter holder and you can then choose which filters you wish to use. Cokin nd grads tend to have a magenta colour cast which a lot see as a bad thing but it can work really well with sunsets. If you don't want a colour cast you could consider buying some Hitech filters (85mm) to fit the Cokin system.

Grad terminology can be a bit confusing but what most manufacturers offer are grads of 1, 2, 3 and often 4 stops. As well as this you may get the option of a hard or soft gradation. Soft gradation are more useful for everyday shooting in high conrtast scenes, they are far more subtle. Hard gradation grads are much better for things like sunsets or typically where the horizon is straight and unbroken.

After some experience with grads I decided to invest in a Lee system, I can use this system on any of my lenses, both wideangle and telephoto, film or digital. The downside is that Lee filters are a hell of a lot more expensive, but you do get (in my opinion) the best performance and neutrality out of them.
 
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A question about gradient filters.

I would like to take more landscape photos, but do not want the sky to be blown out, or the landscape too dark; obviously I would want a ND gradient filter. Any recommendations? my size is 67mm.

A circular polarizing filter should also work very well for that situation. :)
 
Join the Rebel Alliance. We have universal AF and metering, no matter the lens, and a modern lens mount system, not some antiquated doodad with springs and screws. And first party lenses that aren't massively overpriced for no real reason (seriously, why the bloody hell does the 17-55/2.8 DX cost $1500 USD and it doesn't even have VR. And it doesn't even perform as well as Canon's 17-55, which is $500 USD cheaper and has IS. Seriously, Nikon, seriously.)
Somehow, I knew you were going to chirp in ;)

I do agree that Canon's system, as a whole, is better in concept; all the communication between the body and lens is electronic and metering doesn't rely on any "brains" to be in the lens.

I have heard, though, that rear-sync flash requires eTTL communication between the body and flash, which is unfortunate, as I wouldn't be able to use rear sync with my Cybersyncs (and I do that a lot). Nikons just fire the "dumb pop" signal at the end of the exposure.
 
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Come to think of it, have you considered switching to Pentax?

Gotta love their range of Limited lenses.
 
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