Many have asked how the 300 PF is for a birds in flight lens. Shooting down in FL, I had the Df / 300 PF on a shoulder strap and pulled it up “quickdraw” fashion when wanting to photograph a bird on the wing. The 300PF did an amazing job of the job! It’s so light on the shoulder, it’s great! And fast focusing and sharp images … oh ya! So in answer to the question if the 300PF is great for flying birds … it sure is!
Dan and I go back a looooong ways and he is the only other photographers photographs that hangs on our home walls. Dan has always been WAY ahead of the curve, is very creative and funnier then hell! Listen closely to his craft, his knowledge is just staggering! His latest presentation just went live and it’s SOoooo worth your time to watch it! Truly, enjoy!
Got a gear question you want/need answered? I want to help and answer it. Send your gear questions to me at Gear Questions and I’ll do my best every Wednesday (use the search to check past answers). Keep in mind the answers are just my $.02 worth and you have to take what works for you and your photography and embrace it and ignore the rest. And if you want to comment, head to my FaceBook page. So here’s this weeks questions ….
Hey Moose,
I see you have used the new Profoto B1 cordless flash. I am trying to compare using one (1) B1 head verses using four (4) SB900’s utilizing high speed sync trying to knock down the ambient light and stop motion. Pricing is about the same, but portability of the speedlights seem better. Just wondering if the Profoto is that much better than a 4 – SB900 setup, just in general outdoor conditions and Is the light output generally the same on both setups? BTW, thanks for Gearhead Wednesdays, it does help us.
Thanks
Ray
Ray … bloody brilliant question! First, as to your question, IMHO the B1 most certainly is better! I can honestly say I have pounded my unit on an almost non-stop basis since I acquired them. The ease and speed of using one head and all the light shaping tools available to it to me is worth the price and weight. Above is a photo from my pilot portrait project where Alan & P-51C is lit by 1 B1 (Magnum 10% grid) and broadside of Betty’s Dream lit by another B1 (with warming gel). I really should do a video on my lighting kit since it now has 50k air miles on it. I’m not sure if you saw, but Profoto just brought out their B2 250 Air TTL camera flash. While I’ve not shot with these, I’m told they are amazing so I’m looking at get one to test. I think either solutions are better than the 4 flashes.
I’ve recently been experiencing a bunch of non sharp images using my Nikon 200-400mm. I used the lens on a d700 & a d800. I’ve been trying to figure out if it was a lens issue, a body issue or a photographer issue. In my experiments I removed some pieces of my Lenscoat coverings and now most of my images appear sharp. Have you ever experienced or heard of the Lenscoat causing this issue?
Thanks!
Steve
Steve, damn great question! Ya, heard of this problem on a 200-400VR2, 70-200VR2 and even 600f4VR2 from a LensCoat, gloves, window pods, a number of things and the majority of the time, folks have their lens set to A/M Mode. It is incredibly sensible and just the slightest resistance on the focusing ring, the AF system stops. It’s one reason why I still prefer M/A. I had this issue wearing gloves but it went away when switched to M/A. Hope that helps you.
I got a Nikon 1 v3 for that throw in camera for trips where I won’t have many shooting opportunities. I’m finding that my photos are fairly noisy and I think I must have it setup wrong. I fairly knowledgeable around Nikon bodies but this one seems to be getting the best of me. Would you mind sharing your base settings that you use for this camera?
MM
Mike
Mike, yep, I’ve found the same thing with the Nikon 1 V3 when you get the ISO over 800. I have no magical setting to deal with issue other than, don’t shoot over that ISO. Now the V3 to me is a primary camera, I shoot about 1K images a month with it, many ending up in magazines. No secret in shooting with it other than what we do with any DSLR. The photo I posted here was taken with the V3, pretty typical of my results with it. I send many of my V3 images to the iPhone for processing using the Nikon App. Noise reduction in the PS App takes care of any I have in a snap. So, wish I had some secret to share, but I don’t.
Good Day Mr. Moose
I have watched your videos about cleaning your gear. BLOT, DO NOT WIPE!!!! I have also seen your videos about being in the snow for shoots. My question is..How do you deal with dust on location?? While shooting a baseball game from the old fashioned completely open dugout last week, all my gear was covered in a silt like dust. I misted some water on a soft cotton rag to blot the dust off, am I heading down the correct path??
Thank you for being the wealth of knowledge you are.
PJ
P.S. just saw the video from when you were on The Grid with Kelby. Looks like you have a good time in that environment.
PJ, thanks for the kind words and a truly difficult question! I’ve not shot from a dugout before so I’ve not personally come across that problem to find a solution. The dust get’s in via the “gap” between the lens and body mounting ring (I’m assuming you’re not changing lenses). Knowing this, when I shoot air to air, I have a rubberband at the rear of my lens that, until knocked, acts like a gasket keeping dust from being blown in. It works perhaps 50% of the time. There is so much air rushing around in an open cockpit with lots of dust and oil, nothing is perfect. And not that it’s much help, but I’ve become a master at cleaning up the dust in post in ACR. Don’t know if you’ve seen this video of mine, it might help too. Wish I had better news for you!
When the 300PF came out I noted it doesn’t come with a tripod collar. And being the same size but less weight than the 24-70AFS which we use without a collar, why have one for the 300PF. Well, now I know why you’d want a collar. When shooting this past weekend when I needed to go vertically FAST, you simply can’t beat the speed of a tripod collar! Ya, if you have a L Plate on your camera body, you can flip it in the tripod but if you’re working with a shy subject like I had, that movement probably scare it off. You have three options, the Nikon RT-1, Vello TC-N1 Tripod Collar or the Really Right Stuff LC-A12 (the 70-200f4 & 300PF use the same collar). Now why did I go with the most expensive one?
It was real simple, when I go vertically I want the flash to remain above the lens! By using the RRS LC-A12 I can use the Flash Arm. Real simple, clean and I know it works. So why get a tripod collar for a lens that doesn’t need it for stability …. vertical and flash is why!
I’ve been taking more gear as I try to take less luggage. This means means what I do take needs to take less space and do more duties. Batteries are the heart of so much of our gear, gotta have more and more. I just found the Watson Rapid Charger and fell in love cause it works great! Besides being a low price and coming with 4 AA Watson 2300mnh batteries, it does rapid charge the batteries. But it’s physically very small and has the wall plug built into the charger that folds away when not in use. It’s the smallest and lightest package I’ve found and love it! (You can save more money getting this version which has no LCD panel.)
Part of this strategy is taking more charged batteries with me and with the Watson Rapid Charger, always having them ready to go. I picked up the Watson 8-Bay Charger kit, what a great deal and unit! The Charger itself can charge 12 AA batteries at one time, and that’s along with 2x 9v batteries! It can also charge AAA, C & D batteries (there C & D system is cool!). What I do is use this charger to cook all the batteries before I hit the road. Then rely on the Rapid Charger while on the road. The 9v batteries last my work for the entire trip so I don’t need to juice them up on the road. But the AAs get pounded and with this new Watson system, I carry less but have more power!
Our good friends at LensCoat have been looking at the problems we face in the field and have come up with two very cool new products. The first is the TravelHood (seen here on my 800mm wearing its LensCoat). Now why would you want to replace that solid lens hood on your big glass with this? Gee … let me think about this for oh, a nano second. Weight … that’s one. But what about the extra padding it provides around that front element when you’re traveling? Twice I had a knock to my 600f4 when traveling making that hard shade get a little out of round. How about speed of attaching the shade? How about extra depth the TravelHood provides over the OEM shade? Ever noticed replacement cost for the OEM shade if lost or damaged? The shade for the 800f5.6 is $1k! That’s just a couple of reasons I can think of quickly, sure there is more. This is very cool, and so it this. LensCoat is going to have a 2 week presale and during that time offer it for $10 off, the regular price. The regular price for the TravelHood Small which fits the 300 2.8, 200-400, and 500 f4 will be $109 ($99 during the presale) and the TravelHood Large will sell for $119 ($109 during the presale).
The BodyBag Sports is a really cool new coat to protect body/lens combo from life’s bumps and bruises. I particularly love it shooting air to air because of all the sharp edges inside an aircraft. The nicks normally happen getting in and out of the aircraft so that’s when I have my D4s / 80-400VR in the BodyBag (see above). It’s simple, it’s easy, it works and it protects are very precious gear. Great new products from LensCoat. Thanks Scott!