lisa_b4

<p>Thanks for the advice everyone! Looks like I dodged a bullet--after cleaning with both a q-tip with white vinegar, and then a pencil eraser, it looks like I got 99% of the corrosion and the metal connector/tab seems fine after cleaning. Lesson learned though, I will always check by reoving batteries for any future used flash purchases.</p>

<p>So, I wanted to upgrade from my SB-600 in anticipation of some upcoming shoots. I found an SB-900 on Craigslist, met the seller, powered up and fired the flash, and then paid for it. However, upon getting it home the next day, I found some corrosion in one of the four battery slots. Needless to say, I feel pretty stupid for not pulling all the batteries and checking for corrosion--I know how easy it is to store things with batteries in them, only to have the batteries leak over time and damage, if not destroy the device. The flash appears to work just fine, and it does not appear that the corrosion went beyond the powdery type of corrosion. The metal contact in the bottom of the one battery slot has a fair amount of greenish-blue corrosion on it, and I'd like to clean that off ASAP to prevent any problems using the flash as well at to stop the metal tab from continuing to corrode and possibly break off at some point.</p> <p>I cleaned the little bit of powder from the battery slot wall with a q-tip with a little bit of rubbing alcohol on it, but this did not seem to have any effect on the corrosion that's on the metal contact. What would be the best way to clean the metal contact tab?</p> <p>Many thanks!</p>

<p>+1 on the Wasabi batteries, I have used them on my D200, D7000 with factory vertical grip (seems like a fair number of aftermarket batteries don't work well with Nikon grips) and now my D800.</p>

<p>If the D810 is anything like my D7000, then it saves the video files in .MOV format. For non-stuttered playback in Premiere Pro, you need to convert them to .MPG format. You don't need any special software to do this, you just change the file extension manually. I usually do this using a batch converter app to convert all my video clips for editing--I'll hunt around to find out which one I'm using, but I'm on a Mac and you might be on a PC.</p>

<p>I'm pretty surprised with how sharp my 70-300VR is on my (new to me) D800, at least from 70-200, maybe up 250mm. Actually, I'm amazed at how well it performs on such a high resolution camera--even Thom Hogan really likes it on his D800.</p> <p>For 300mm, I think I'd go for the older Nikon 300m f/4 or perhaps the 80-400mm, but for the money and size and weight the 70-300VR is a very capable lens--depending upon what you need it for.</p>

<p>I had the 105 1.8 It was a nice lens, but it was big and bulky compared to the 105 2.5 and I felt like I had to stop it down to 2.5 or beyond to get good corner to corner sharpness--whereas the 105 2.5 is pretty darned sharp at 2.5, much more compact, and less expensive. I sold the 1.8, and I now own three 2.5's (I de-clicked one for use as a cine lens) and the three 2.5's cost me about the same as I sold the 1.8 for.</p>

<p>Well, I got my order of the TP-Link MR3040 and I'm happy to report that it works very well! I'm using qDSLRdashboard which is a free App that works on Mac, Android, Linux, and PC platforms. Note that this app only works with Nikon and Cannon. There are several other tethering apps available, here is a good summary of what's out there: <a href="http://www.tethertools.com/plugging-in/software/">http://www.tethertools.com/plugging-in/software/</a> You can download the free qDSLR dashboard app here: <a href="http://dslrdashboard.info/downloads/">http://dslrdashboard.info/downloads/</a> </p> <p>Basically, you need to buy the MR3040 ($35 on Amazon: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-MR3040-Wireless-Portable-Compatible/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419041712&sr=8-1&keywords=tp-link+mr3040">http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-MR3040-Wireless-Portable-Compatible/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419041712&sr=8-1&keywords=tp-link+mr3040</a>) and then you'll need a USB cable ($5 or so) to go from your camera to the portable router.</p> <p>Getting it all set up is a relatively simple process, but I did run into a few snags. First, once you get the MR3040 portable router you will have to flash the firmware on the router in order to use it as a camera controller. This means hooking up the router to your computer via an ethernet cable, and following the instructions at the DSLRdashboard website. It only takes about 10 minutes to do this, and really it's pretty simple, but total newbies to computers might need some help. Be sure to download the correct firmware for the version router that you get (most likely version 2 now) ask me how I know! :) After mistakenly flasing the wrong firmware initially, I was able to get the correct firmware, and flash it to the MR3040 router with no problems. Second, while DSLRdashboard is still available through the Google Play store and online in places, you really want to be sure to get qDSLRdashboard (see link above) as this is the newest version with many improvements.<br> I've only played with the setup for a few hours, but so far I'm really impressed. The wireless connection is very easy to get set up, and I had a strong signal for at least 150' and that was through an office wall. I can use the setup with my android phone, my android tablet, or my mac laptop. For about $40, this really is an amazing tool and I look forward to experimenting with it more!</p>

<p>In looking into this a bit more, it seems like you can save some money by buying a stand alone battery powered wireless LAN (like this one: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-MR3040-Wireless-Portable-Compatible/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418590792&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+powered+wireless+lan">http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-MR3040-Wireless-Portable-Compatible/dp/B0088PPFP4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418590792&sr=8-2&keywords=battery+powered+wireless+lan</a>) and then buy a USB to USB3 cable for about $5, and then use the tethering software of your liking. I believe the TP-link wireless LAN router listed above is the exact same one that Camranger uses. So basically $30 +/- for the tethering software (the sofortbildapp is FREE for Macs--see post above), $35 for the wireless LAN, and $5 for a USB cable to fit your camera, and you're good to go.<br /><br />I have all of these items on order and will report back once I've tried it all out!</p>

<p>Well, I found a free tethering app for Macs: <a href="http://www.sofortbildapp.com/">http://www.sofortbildapp.com/</a><br> I downloaded it, and will try it out later today.</p> <p>Also, here is a link to a page that lists several other companies that offer tethering software, some free: <a href="http://www.tethertools.com/plugging-in/software/">http://www.tethertools.com/plugging-in/software/</a></p>

<p>Regarding ControlmyNikon, it's my understanding that it only works with Windows/PC computers, not Macs, iPads, or Android devices. If anyone knows of a Mac version, please let me know!</p>

<p>Here's a video from B&H that highlights the many features of this device:</p> <p><br /> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oFttGCkhrPI">https://www.youtube.com/embed/oFttGCkhrPI</a></p> <p><br /> Most of my video work is for documentary films, and a lot of that is interviews. The ability to remotely view the interview on my laptop or tablet and make changes to focus, ISO, white balance, etc instead of having to do all of this on the camera's small LCD screen is HUGE. I think this would also be fantastic for macro work. It even adds many features that your camera may not have such as focus peaking, and a higher number of shots for HDR and focus stacking.</p> <p><br /> When I first heard that the D750 had built in wi-fi, I was very excited about the potential ability to control and monitor the camera remotely like the Camranger does, but I have been unable to find any stand alone apps that offer anywhere near the features that Camranger does.</p>

<p>A friend of mine recently purchased a Camranger and he just raves about it. Here are some of the details:</p> <p><a href="http://camranger.com/features/">http://camranger.com/features/</a></p> <p>Basically, you can control focus, aperture, focus stacking, live view, video, HDR, and much more, all wirelessly with about a 150-200' range. You can control your Nikon via an iphone, android, tablet, or computer. All in all, it really does sound pretty amazing both for in studio and out in the field. For in studio video or still shoots I'd probably use my laptop, but for macro, wildlife, etc out in the field on a tripod a small tablet would work just fine.</p> <p>Has anyone tried one of these? It almost sounds too good to be true.....</p>

<p>I've seen a few websites now suggesting that you should not use larger than a 16gb card in a D800 because the image files are so large that this will really slow the camera down when reviewing photos. What do others think about that advice? I've been shooting 32gb SDHC cards in my D7000, and would like to continue to use those--but I want to buy the same size CF card so I can use both slots in the D800.</p>

<p>Does anyone know the logic behind mixing card formats? I totally understand have two card slots, but I'm baffled as to why they would mix and match card formats. Adding to my confusion is the fact that the prosumer models don't use two formats, but the pro models do. Does anyone know the reason for this?</p>

<p>Shun, I think you're right that the exchange rate is playing a role in the used price of D800's. Frankly, I'm shocked that you can get so much camera for so little money! I think the combination of the release of the D810 and the D750 have put a fair number of used D800's on the market and thus prices are low. FWIW, one of the people who had a used D800 with less than 10k clicks for sale on Seattle's Craigslist said that he just got a great Black Friday deal on a new D810 where he only paid $2,300. I looked for Black Friday deals myself, and didn't see anything even close to that number.</p>