Moose Holiday Gift Ideas – Wildlife Photography Gear
Yeah … this might be short notice for under the tree this year, but I’m sure you’ve got a birthday coming in 2014 or, planning for next Christmas :-)
Now This is Interesting
The Nikon Df – 1st Impressions
I get it, I really do! Like many, when the Df was first announced, even though I’m an old fart, I didn’t see why I’d want a retro digital body. When the Df reached my desk, from the moment I opened the box, I started to get it. Yes, it is a digital camera, yes it have many basic design features that take you back as far as the F2, but’s it’s more than that. I mean, if I told you the Df has the O/C Key, that would mean nothing to you unless you owned a F2 and attached a motordrive. It requires the AR-3 cable release, there is no ten pin socket. I still have my AR-3 cable releases, most will scramble to see what that is. Yeah, it has dials for ISO and Exp Compensation, a dial for Shutter Speeds if in Manual, but the whole package is a great camera designed to make the photographic experience more than just … click. The Df brings to photography something I talk about … romance (it does NOT do video!)! I can honestly say that I can’t just let it sit, I want to have it in my hands and shoot.
OK, so what about quality? If you’re spending good money on a camera body, you need more than just a romantic experience. The Df delivers! It has the same sensor as the D4, an image quality that has made me a lot of money. But as we all know, the sensor depends on the software to deliver to us that quality. Well, I’ve only had the Df a couple of days, but like I said, I can’t put it down. During a break in the snow Saturday, Sharon was looking out the window at our winter wonderland. The light was gorgeous so I picked up the Df which has the 50f1.4AFS attached and made a few clicks. I focused on the closet eye and shot with a narrow DoF. You can see the over all photo above and then below, you can see a severe crop of just the eye. That quality would make any client of mine very happy, so it more than works for me! Both of these photos are right out of the camera because at this time, you can’t process them in ACR.
So what’s new an cool? The one thing I played with over the weekend is using the WU-1A Wireless which as you can see, plugs right into the side of the Df.Along with Nikon’s iPhone app, you can fire the Df remotely, the whole time seeing on your iPhone right through the lens. This is technology that only costs $54, that is simply mind boggling to me who once paid thousands to do the same thing. So this going retro might seem like pie in the sky stuff from the beginning but there is actually more to it than just looks. T
he camera feels great in your hand, its controls are simple and straight forward. The LCD on the top of the camera is useless but with a push of a button the LCD lights up with all the info you need. It takes a small battery, I loaded mine with a Lexar 128GB SDXC 600x and without even cracking the IB, been shooting up a storm. I feel it’s more than worth the price because a tool calling you to go shooting is a good thing. mtc
Nikon Df Website
Df Instruction Book
Nikon AW-1 Loves Water!
The Nikon 1 AW1 is just really cool! Being a former owner of Nikonos, it’s great to see an instruction book again that states, “Don’t change lenses underwater!” Duh! The Nikon 1 AW1 is the world’s first waterproof interchangeable lens digital camera. The AW-1 (not just a waterproof J2 on the inside) is a wonderful camera. Two brand new water/shock/freeze proof lenses have been introduced with the Nikon 1 AW1, the 11-27.5mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens and 10mm f/2.8. It features built in Wi-Fi and GPS (not functional underwater). The AW1 is fully compatible with existing Nikon 1 system optics, although these are not waterproof and shockproof (it can be dropped from 6′). It can go down to 49′ and is rated to work down to 14degrees (though it was -10 when I shot with it yesterday morning no problem). After taking the product shot you see above, I shot with the camera. The snow that stuck to the body melted and than froze onto the body and it just kept on clicking. The lens has this great metal gnarled surface that sticks to any surface no matter how wet it might be. Amazing!
The AW-1 though offers some new handling that I think is really cool. Nikon describes it like this: Shooting in less than ideal environments requires usability that extends to every facet of camera operation. Nikon 1 AW1 delivers on all fronts with new Action control — a revolutionary new interface that makes adjusting as easy as tilting the camera. Even when wearing gloves or otherwise bundled up against the elements, you can quickly change shooting modes and play back settings. You’ll also appreciate the wealth of sensing functions, including depth, GPS/GLONASS, altitude and more.
With the love affair we have with Sharon’s V2, we don’t hesitate working with Nikon mirrorless. The AW-1 is really sweet! All metal construction, small, light, waterproof and pretty amazing image quality. This can easily be the outdoor photographers best friend!
It’s the Season for Gloves
A really good question that comes in a lot, especially this time of year is “What gloves do you use? Back in the day, I would haunt every outdoor store I ventured by and gleaned the glove display trying to find the glove that kept my hands warm and permited me to shoot. Then our sons got into xcross skiing and I found the Swix gloves and fell in love. From past experience, I bought 3 pairs which until this last fall lasted me for 9yrs. Went to try and find them and found they were discontinued. The closet thing I found was B, Swix Cross Gloves. This was after I found the A, Pearl Izumi Elite Gel Bike Gloves. Now I like these gloves but in the beginning, they were stiff as a board. They have a special material on the top to cut the wind and that works but after four months of shooting, they are just starting to break in. These are the gloves I always have in my jacket and take care of the majority of my shooting. When going to extremes like when the air temp hovers around zero of lower, I turn to ice climber gloves. These seem to change every other day, they are updated and outdated almost monthly. The pair I got last year are now gone, the closest are the C, Sierra Designs Enforcer Gloves. They do look bulky but I found them to work really well. They keep the digits warm, permit basic operation and ability to push some buttons. You can push all the buttons on the D3 for example except the button inside the Selector. You cannot run a video camera with them. If you click on all the links, you’ll see they take you to REI. I have found them to have a great selection that varies a little from town to town. These are what I’ve found work for me, perhaps one will be right for you.
My favorite though are ones my family gave me years ago for ultimate in cold weather protection. These gloves mittens I love to shoot with! Actually, they are custom made trapper mittens that are strictly for cold weather use.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP7463.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
How cold? Well, at 12degrees my hands were almost uncomfortably warm, not perspiring but almost too much warmth. Working in places like Yellowstone or the Arctic in the winter, these mittens are so perfect. Yeah, I can squeeze off the shutter, no, can’t work any other feature on the body. No, can’t buy these at REI. They are a two layer mitten, a heavy wool removable liner and outer Beaver fur. I just can’t wait to get out in the cold and put them to use! Thanks family!