Jul 17, 2012 | Field Reports
When I saw the announcement for the new Nikon 18-300AFS DX lens, I thought it might be an ok knock about lens. I mean really, that’s a huge zoom range! I’ve never been a big fan of these zooms, the normal tendency is vignetting and less then tack sharp results. To say I’m more then pleased is an understatement. Being a DX lens, I shot with it on Sharon’s D7000 and for the last week, been having fun with it. First thing you’ll notice, it doesn’t vignette.
OK…it has a huge range…now what? The one thing I needed to know before moving forward, it is sharp? At 18mm, sharp really is a relative thing because at 18mm, things look sharp because they are small, you can’t really tell. Here’s the Sunday scene at Lake Mary, pretty typical for Mammoth in the summer.
Zoom out to 300mm and shoot the colorful kayaks in the center of the frame (that is an impressive range!)…
Is it really sharp? You can’t tell from these kinds of test posted on the web. You have to take the work of the reviewer. I think it’s sharp, I’m actually surprised to be saying that. Now it’s not a true zoom, you focus on a object at 18mm and then zoom out to 300mm, the focus point is not retained. The lens really expands at 300mm (there is a 18mm lock and that front does move when extended). But that’s not the point of this lens. It’s meant to be a one lens does all so you will focus every time you compose. But is it sharp? On our Sunday walk, we had a Bald Eagle grab a trout on the other side of the lake and even though it was an ugly eagle, it was a viable field test to see if the lens is sharp.
See, an ugly eagle. To give it its due, it just fledged its young for the year, it earned the right to look tired. When it flew overhead, I zoomed out to 300mm and shot. That’s what you see above. Pretty small image size but when we crop in 200%, we get this…
To be honest with you, those are results I simply did not expect. I’m totally impressed by the results of the 18-300AFS! I have no problem recommending it to you, being a great first lens, only lens or additional lens to any camera system!
Jul 16, 2012 | Field Reports
I mean really, $500 to make it feel right? Ouch! The price as come down, you can find the MB-D12 for around $400 now but still, $400? Muscle memory is something you relate to a lot of activities but personally, not one I would have attached to holding a camera body. That’s until the D800 arrived in the office and I had to get to know it, fast. I’m here to tell you, I simply had a helluva time liking the photographic experience with the D800 when it came to shooting with the body only. It felt like it was going to squirt right out of my hands. But the point of a smaller body is to have a smaller body. Adding bulk to a small camera body defeats the purpose of being a smaller body. But I just couldn’t get past the muscle memory, my hands wanted and needed the bulk to function. The D4 feels perfect, the D800 by itself, totally foreign. That left me no choice, I love the file from the D800 so I got the MB-D12.
Then there came that price tag and like so many others, I swallowed real hard when I saw the price. The knock offs are out there at a fraction of the price. I even had many say they can’t see, feel or in operation find a difference between the Nikon and the knock off. So why buy the Nikon over the knock off, why spend the extra $300? Damn if I have a good reason for you, I just know for myself why I went with Nikon. While I don’t like the price, I rather give my money to the company that not only stands behind the product but keeps creating new and better products. Now I have seen two knock offs “die” in the field, one stopped working and the other, well, was kinda comical when it imploded on itself sending parts all over the desert floor. There are plenty of times to go DIY to save money, but I just don’t think this is one.
One other question that keeps coming is, why did I go with the D800 over the D800e especially when I first thought I the 800e was the obvious choice? First reason, I could get the D800 before the D800e and I don’t know about you, but I’m not good at waiting to get new gear. I get very impatient. Once the D800 was in my hands, the files where big enough, the quality basically overkill for what I need as it is. Getting more and having the possibility of moire issues just didn’t make sense. With that all said, the D4 is still my principle body. The D800 is always with me in the bag but the body I reach for the majority of the time is the D4.
Jul 12, 2012 | Field Reports
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Jul 9, 2012 | Field Reports
I finished loading the truck yesterday at the Westin, host resort for our Short Lens Course and turned to see this. Sums up my town perfectly! Side note, shot with new 24-85VR, darn sharp lens!
Jul 9, 2012 | Field Reports
Not sure what it is, but if there is one piece of camera gear that is misunderstood, it has to be the 16Fish. The Nikon 16f2.8AF is a lens I count on all the time for many, many different types of photography. Many think of a 16Fish and this lens the bends the world and it can, but is doesn’t have to. Here’s shot coming back from a project where the project was to take a portrait using the 16Fish (you’ll see the final image later this year). And this shot taken with the D800 flying back from the project in the rear of the A36 was also taken with the 16Fish as well. When we talked about shooting with the 16Fish this weekend at Short Lens Course (GREAT group BTW, loved having you!) and then I made a shot with a participants Canon Fish, I could see on faces I had opened some minds which is why I wanted to blog about again today. Check out the video below but it comes with a warning, it might cost you money! On a side note, this is a 5 image, hand held during a bumpy ride over Owens Valley, HDR finished just with Nik’s HDR Efex Pro 2.
Jul 9, 2012 | Field Reports
Nik has released finally (it was killing me not being able to talk about it) HDR Efex Pro 2 and it’s freakin great! It’s sweeter, it’s faster, it’s better and it’s my preferred HDR program now! I’ve been using it for a while and for my style of HDR, it picks up and incorporates the subtle tones that I want from my images using HDR. You can check it out of order it here and if you do, you’ll save some money using that link. I hope to have a video up shortly on how I use it. It’s great!!!!
