02.15.10
My name is Moose, I’m a GPS addict! I have it everywhere, truck, iPhone, hiking and shooting. The GP-1 despite the cable (I carry spare because they crap out) is still my favorite unit. For me it’s a must working with biologists, it’s the fastest and easiest way to collect data. My only complaint, there is nothing to indicate when you DON’T have it attached. Because of the cable, I remove it when I travel and there are times when I forget to reattach it. I hate that!
02.15.10
This is a beautiful lens, it took only seconds shooting with it to fall in love with this new style. This lens fills out the Nikon FX f/2.8 lens trilogy, 14-24AFS, 24-70AFS and the 70-200AFS. You can’t find a sweeter trio but then, you’re paying for that. Is the 70-200VR2 sharper than the original? Is it the sharpest of all the 80-200s/70-200 series? Yes, no, maybe so, who cares. In my lonely opinion, the VR2 is a tad sharper than the previous version and of all the lenses, it’s the one I enjoy the most and that comes from its cosmetics and overall design. For my current work in the air, this lens is killer and that’s all the counts to me.
The VR2 replaces a lens that was thought of as being one of the best, that’s until the D3 was introduced. Then the vignetting problem appeared. While easily dealt with in post, that’s not the point. Does the new version take care of this problem? Ah, well, not completely. When shooting against a blue sky or snow field, setting Vignette Control in the D3x/s to High is required to deal with the vignetting. So was the problem completely curried, I don’t think so.
This will seem like a little thing, but I find it incredibly annoying about the new design, and that’s the shade. Oh, it stays on OK, that’s not the issue. The issue is Nikon rounded off the corners so standing it up like you see here isn’t possible in the real world, it will fall over. The first thing McNally told me about this lens was not sharpness, not AF performance but rather that the lens would fall over. When you’re in the habit of shooting, changing lenses and setting them down on their shade, this is annoying.
Using the Arca Swiss quick release system, you need to add a plate to the tripod foot that comes with the 70-200. RRS makes a replacement foot the LCF-10 that not only incorporates the quick release, but also weighs less so that’s a no-brainer. Now when shooting handheld, I remove the foot completely.
What about teleconverters? Personally, I rarely if ever use a teleconverter use them on the 70-200. That’s only because I have other lenses that provide that length while keeping the DOF I required. Oh, they work great on the lens and produce excellent results, it’s just not my style to use them on this particular lens.
02.15.10
This is one beautiful lens! It is so damn sharp, critically sharp that you can pull out incredible detail even wide open. It’s one of those lenses that at first I didn’t take note of because I didn’t have a need for it. But once I shot with it, I had to have it. Regrettably though, it doesn’t get much use. I own it and use it for special projects when macro is required. It is a flat field lens and that is critically important. This means that when you focus on a point, all points on that focus plane are sharp.
The 105VR goes to 1:1 and while it is a f/2.8, as you rack it out to 1:1 the f/stop does change. It’s the basic macro formula of loosing light as you increase magnification. For every 1x magnification you loose two stops of light. The engineers at Nikon cheated death because you don’t loose quite that much in exposure but if you watch your f/stop in the viewfinder as you focus out, you’ll see it change.
It does have VR and AFS which is a great combo in a micro lens. As you increase your magnification the angle of view gets narrower and narrower and camera/lens movement gets more and more amplified producing unsharp images. This is especially true when you attach a teleconverter. Yeah, the 105VR accepts the 1.4x, 1.7x and 2x and produces sweet images.
It was bloody early, I mean, it hurt to hear the alarm go off and force the eyelids open. The prior day had been a helluva long one. Like always, up prior to sunrise, checked the emails, took care of business and then met the group in the parking lot in pitch darkness. Shot and talked all day and after dinner looked at images and talked until 11PM. Went back to my room and proceeded to upload images from the day, get them filled, get two blog postings completed and scheduled and then took care of work. Two hours before the alarm went off, I had just fallen to sleep. I just hoped I was getting up and going through this to be rewarded with one helluva sunrise.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/SA0057.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I say that because many times in the past, I had paid what in my mind were my dues and was owed a great sunrise only to be served up yuck. I know, one man’s yuck is another man’s treasure but when working on just adrenaline, yuck is yuck and such words of wisdom run right off your back. I looked at the weather radar, did some quick calculations in my head and figured we were screwed. The sun would rise but it would just burst on the scene and then we’d go from darkness to light with nothing in between. We’d get up this bloody early, drive two hours (that’s the crazy part) and park on the ridge only to get skunked. Even with all of that pulsing through my mind, the engines started and off we drove.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/MB0007.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
It might just be me, but when I get in the truck and start to make such a drive, my mind begins to wander and takes me places where it normally doesn’t go just sitting at my desk. Many of my articles, workshops and project ideas come during these drives. Knowing that about myself, I always (well almost always) have pad of paper and pen with me to jot things down. The creation of DLWS & Base Camp came from the cab of my truck on a drive; the open road just seems to clear out “stuff” making room for creativity to flow. Typically, just like this morning, my mind slammed back to reality in seeing the first glimmer of light on the horizon. On this particular morning, the overcast I’d seen on the radar had broken just enough that there was a small aperture in the clouds to the east. Damn, we could be late for a great sunrise! 90mph seemed too slow but go we must. Please, no ranger in the shack, we gotta make time!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/BB0126.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Right now is when the drivers in the cars following me say something like, “Damn, Moose is a speed freak!” (or something worse) as they uncomfortably try to catch up. The drive is new and the location never before explored so they don’t know what they might be missing but with faith in me, they get up to speed and the chase is on. We make the turn off the highway and hit the country road, the rolling road giving you that Smokey & the Bandit thrill ride. Ahead is the ranger shack and entrance to the Nat’l Park. I slow for only a heartbeat when I see no one is there and then I floor it. OK, no bison, prong or sheep on the road, we keep on going. We make the bends in the road and head down the small rise and there is the parking spot. We pull in and get out of the cars. The faces of the folks looked like they just came out of a jet with no canopy. I quickly explain what gear they might want and then point and say, “It’s Comin’, GO!”
As sunrises go, it’s not killer, it’s not bad and in fact, it’s pleasant enough to suck you in for quite a while as the day’s glow climbs into the sky. It’s a good morning!
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/SFC0051.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
The calendar is about to flip a page and a New Year rises up before us tomorrow. You might be checking the radar and not seeing bright, clear skies before you. Looking back on past experiences when you’ve been skunked, you might not want to get up and tackle another day. Yet we do and as we start out towards that goal, something tends to take over. The mind clears and on that journey creativity filters in and takes over until reality snaps us back. Only speaking for myself here, but I’m not sure I would know something is great if I didn’t have that other end of the spectrum for comparison. Without that suckie sunrise, how would I know the one before me is glorious? I don’t go out seeking the yucky ones to have a measure, but I don’t let it stop me from going out the next time. No matter how bad the year might have been for you, there was surely at least one great time, experience or photograph that came from it that you will always treasure. Take that inspiration, learn from the rest and make 2010 a great year for yourself. The journey will have its ups and downs but you will be better for it. Always remember that no matter what happens, tomorrow, the sun will rise!
Happy New Year to you all!
That’s been a real popular question the last couple of days. So much so I thought I would create a quick video. Now this is not a software review or how to tutorial, but rather simply my basic approach to HDR. You’ll see the image appear like this once I’ve finished with it in Photomatix.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP7699b.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Then the image will look like this when I finish in Photoshop. The how’s and why’s, you’ll have to watch for a quick second.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP7699s.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
I hope this simple little video helps you on your visionary journey.
Pages are in the process of being updated. In the meantime you can watch our videos on our YouTube Channel as well as all Videos are available on iTunes as Podcasts!
The “miniature” is no more than an optical illusion for those who once played/play with Matchbox cars and model railroads (guilty of both). By “distorting” the foreground and background by throwing it prospectively out of focus, when you let yourself fall into the photo, your mind replaces reality with fun. I’ve attempted to explain this in the past with little success. When shooting at Laws, it came to me to try to communicate the effect by shooting a video with the D3s during the process of tilting the lens.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP7757_2.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
01.01.2013 Pages are in the process of being updated. In the meantime you can watch our videos on our YouTube Channel as well as all Videos are available on iTunes as Podcasts!
I reprocessed a couple of the HDR I did that day, like I mentioned I only liked about 50% of what I produced. While I’m liking this a little more, the feel of the “hot” Owens Valley light still doesn’t come through. More work, more experimentation, more fun ahead.
Photo captured by D3s, 24PC-E on Lexar UDMA digital film