Feb 26, 2015 | Field Reports
Oh ya … the plans are shaping up just brilliantly and we can’t wait to share it all with you! We are so excited and thrilled to be making our first venture to England. We want to thank our dear friends Glyn Dewis and Michael Eleftheriades who have been instrumental in making our first visit to London huge! This what’s on the calendar:
Here’s the Passion in A Click schedule
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and for our whole visit
25 April – Passion in a Click – Full day presentation (description below)
(form to register is below, price is $79, held at Hilton London Metropole)
26 April – Warbird / Aviation all day shoot
(Registration)
28 April – Take the Yank Photowalk
(morning and evening event, free)
29 April – Evening presentation in London
We so look forward to being with you all and our mutual sharing of our passion for photography! mtc
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Feb 26, 2015 | Field Reports
Ever since the 300PF was introduced, I’ve been constantly asked … “What’s better for wildlife, the 300PF or the 80-400VR?” Now in answering this question, I’m looking just at 300mm vs. the 80-400VR at 400mm. The first at most important thing, IMHO, the 300PF and the 80-400VR are just as sharp as each other. There is no advantage over each other here. Adding the TC-14eIII to the 300PF getting to 420mm f/5.6 doesn’t change this IMHO (you can see in the photo above the length comparison, the 300 w/1.4x still much shorter than 80-400). So when answering the question, which is better, there is no help looking there. Neither is there looking at focusing speed, both focus just as fast. So in coming up with my answer which is better for wildlife photography, I bring your attention to the two lenses specs:
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Between looking at the photo above and the table, the 300PF hands down is what I think is best for wildlife (if we must select just one). Now I own both lenses. Why? If I’m going to have a lens on a second body when out photographing birds, it’s going to be the 300PF. If I’m going out after mammals or aircraft, I’m going to have the 80-400VR. The difference? The size and weight and MFD and flexibility of the lens. Those who have been asking generally have a fixed budge and looking for the most bang for their buck so they can spend the majority of their money out chasing that great photograph. I highly recommend the 300PF and if you can, get the TC-14eIII and then learn all the biology you can so you can zoom with your feet. So there you have it. Those of your who wanted that answer which lens, that’s my $.02 worth on the question.
Feb 25, 2015 | Field Reports
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 ….
Always liked the column, glad your willing to bring it back. I know it takes time from shooting! Would you give us your latest thinking on when to use or not use VR on a tripod/gimble with the latest versions of Nikons 300mm to 400mm lenses.
Thanks.
Pete
Pete, happy to bring it back! I personally don’t turn it off. If you’re asking if it’s needed or not, IMHO if you are using proper long lens technique, it’s not making any impact on your sharpness. In those situations when the lens doesn’t have a stable platform, VR can make a difference. For example, when I’m shooting air to air, I always have the 80-400VR3 in “Active” mode. Now the new 400f2.8 & 300 PF has a “Sport” mode which I’ve yet to explore. Nikon explains this as “What’s more, the lens is equipped with a SPORT vibration reduction mode optimized for tracking subjects exhibiting intense movement that can be predicted, such as athletes participating in sporting events, by compensating only for camera shake.” I don’t know if this means on a tripod, monopod or handheld
Moose, as you know, I’m an old dude, and I don’t want to store any of my photos in that new-fangled cloud. Our IT guy is kind of pushing back on this, but as inexpensive as storage capacity is these days, I want to replace the external hard drive I now use for photo file backup with something like the Buffalo drives that you’ve shown us on your web site. So I can discuss this somewhat intelligently with our IT consultant (who BTW is a great young guy and has done a super job for us here at the office) what model of Buffalo storage do you use/recommend? I think I’m looking for something like maybe 4TB.
Hope this finds everyone at the Moose household going gangbusters and look forward to seeing you this Fall.
Ron
Ron, thanks for the salutations and great question! I am not a fan of the “cloud” and have none of my assets there. Mine are all in my office where I currently have Buffalos right now, 12TB units. All of this is changing for us though. In April (next block of time I’m home long enough), we’re incredibly excited to be going to the IoSafe 1515+ Synology 60TB system. With IoSafe being fire and waterproof, its speed freakin fast and all in a comparatively small space, it rocks!! All my digital assets will then be all in one box, completely safe and with additional space easily added. We’ll be posting the entire process of moving over, setting up and organizing to the new system in April.
(whatever happened to greetings?)
Have you had any issues with manual focusing lenses damaging the lens mount on an autofocus body? Reason I ask is I was trying out my 70-210 Series E Nikkor on the D7100. After I took it off, lenses would no longer lock in place and the autofocus would not work. Inspection of the mounting ring showed the autofocus coupling and locking bayonets that normally extend through the mounting ring were flush with the ring. The body has been sent off to Nikon for repairs.
Regards,
Jay
Jay, this does not sound good! Since I neither have that body nor lens, I’ve never tried that combo. Looking up the information, this lens should work without any problem (see chart below). Glad to hear you’ve sent that lens off to Nikon, that’s what I would have recommended you do. Best of luck!
(geee … what did happened to greetings?)
Do you have a recommendation for a lightweight small travel camera. I would like one that shoots RAW and would be suitable for wet conditions instead of lugging my DSLR. I would also like something with a viewfinder as I have trouble using the LCD with my eyesight. I have not been satisfied with the smaller point and shoots due to the shutter lag.
thanks for the help.
Bill
Bill, do I! Ya, the Nikon 1 V3 simply rocks! No shutter lag, in fact it does 60FPS! Made plenty of 24×30 prints from its gorgeous Raw files and take it with me everywhere! I can’t say enough great things about it. Just shot with the 70-300 (800mm on your DLSR) and wow, what a lens and it’s only four inched long! Check ‘er out!
Hi Moose, (thanks for the salutation!)
I just purchased the Nikon D810, on your review you said when shooting HDR, to use the flat picture control setting. Do you set this mode only when you’re going to shoot HDR? Do you have any setup recommendations for the D810?
Thanks,
Wayne
Wayne, I’m not exactly sure what you’re quoting of mine. I think when it comes to the D810 or D750, if I think HDR is needed because the range of light is greater than 5 stops, you can go to the Flat Picture Control and the Matrix Highlight meter settings and expand the range of light these cameras can capture. I have mentioned a few times how this will work nearly as well as shooting with the D4s which has a 6 stop range of light capture. Since I do so very little to none HDR, I don’t have a HDR formula I use let alone outline. You bet I have recommended settings for bodies! When it comes to camera body settings for the bodies I shoot, you can find them all here for you refer to or use.
Feb 20, 2015 | Field Reports
The question keeps coming in, “shot the 300PF with the TC-14eIII?” Well now I can say I have and IMHO, it’s pretty damn amazing! The first thing I like is the balance, the D750 / 300PF / TC-14eIII is a real easy rig on the wrist & arm. Working out the window shooting the birds at the feeder, the rigs short length is great as it doesn’t scare off the critters. And of course, the sharpness, I’m lovin it!
What you see above is the full frame shot of a male, Evening Grosbeak shot with the D750 / 300PF / TC-14eIII rig. This is a Jpeg made from the Nef out of the camera. Below you can see a crop of that top image. The focus point was the eye at the f/stop was f/5.6 (lens wide open at f/4 and the 1.4x made if f/5.6). Because they were eating seed and you need at least 1/125 to get the eye sharp when they are eating, the ISO was 800. Not only can you see how sharp the 300/1.4x combo is, but also note how narrow the DoF is! The focus falls off nearly instantly in front of and behind the eye. That’s something I rather like and why I use teleconverters so often.That’s another aspect of the lens I really, really love and that’s its small MFD. Only have a couple of hours under my belt shooting with the 300PF but I am really liking all I’m seeing. mtc.
Feb 20, 2015 | Field Reports
While the 300f4 PF just arrived, it is already a very well traveled lens! It started its journey from B&H two weeks ago. Because of weather, it was delayed in getting delivered by one day. No biggie, except I wouldn’t be in the office to receive it. I was on the road. The great folks at B&H Customer Service were great to get it redirected to where I was. Well, that was great until, yep another one day delay. So, after the fourth redirect and two weeks later, it’s finally in my hands. Talk about a nail bitter, I wanted that lens. And my first impressions are … wow!
It is small, it is light and from my first clicks on the D750, it is gorgeously sharp! It’s small length (you can see it next to the 24-70AFS here) is due in large part to the incorporation of an PF (Phase Fresnel) element. While not new element technology, in the past in other manufacturer lenses, there were some issues, namely backlit flaring. A PF element can best be described as a kinda fresnel element where the element has a gazillion concentric etched circles on one side bending the light. It’s really kinda cool and with some really quick clicks, I not only see this lens being beautifully sharp, but the flaring no more than what you would expect shooting into the sun. Time will tell though as like I said, I’ve only made a couple of clicks and not seriously started to delve into this new tool.
Green element is the PF element
Why have I added this lens to my bag? The main reason are my backyard birds. The 300 PF focuses closer than my previous 300AFS (now past down to Brent). It’s much lighter, brighter, shorter and on the D750, amazingly well balanced. The barrel is like that of the 18-35AFS (now 19months old has more than proven itself), made from a some type of polycarbonate material. It comes with a shade but no tripod collar. And to be honest with you, I’m not sure it needs a tripod collar. Being the same size as the 24-70AFS and weighing perhaps a tad less (I’ve not check those weights), since it’s not needed with the 24-70AFS, perhaps the 300f4 PF doesn’t need one too? It’s 77mm front element which is very nice. Well, enough of this, I have some birds to chase and a new toy tool to play with!
Feb 20, 2015 | Field Reports
I’ve had a whole bunch of folks say they miss Gearhead Wednesdays. I’m more than happy to put it back up based on the questions. So 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 to answer as many questions as I can. 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.
