cham_saranasuriya

Thanks everyone for the quick response. I'd like to hear more ideas.

Hi,

 

I am contemplating on buying a Nikkor 500mm AFS lens for wild life

photography. I am intending to do a bit of trekking with that with a

tripod. Presently I have a Lowepro mini trekker back pack which is

only a small that fits my present gear that include F5, 17-35mm,

85mm, 200mm micro, SB80DX, Lee filters. Obviously I need a another

back pack or a lens pack. I would really appreciate the following:-

 

1) Any suggestions for back pack (preferably) or a lens pack?

 

2) Any experience with Wimberley sidekick?

 

3) Any experience with Wimberley plates that reduces the hight of the

tripod collar?

 

4) Flash brackets? RRS or Kirk?

 

Many thanks for the information.

 

Cheers

Hi,

 

I actually got some RRS quick release plates from the new owner. He is very pleasant to talk to and extremely helpful. I have never talked to the previous owner. I rang him from Australia and initially it went in to an answering machine but I did not leave a message as it is unlikely that he would ring overseas. But when I rang him the next day I told him about this and he said to leave a message next time so that he could even ring overseas!!!! I thought this is a great service.

 

I was also contemplating to buy this new clamp but was hesitant that the friction between the lever and the clamp could cause wearing off with time thereby not tightening the clamp properly eventually. This is a speculation only. Welcome any input from people actually owns this!!!

Hi Doug,

 

I basically agree with Shourya.

 

1) Eventhough the lens is an internal focus(front element does not rotate during focus or zooming) lens it does extend a bit with zooming. It would have been better if it did not. As far as water and dust concerned I have had no problems at all. But I was not keen to shoot in rain with this type of equipment without a lens cover that could be purchased.

 

2) I have had problems with flare several times initially. If you are concious enough it can be seen during shooting so you could use the lens shade or cover with a hat for example. Becuase of this the flare is easily controllable. In my experience it is not a major problem notwithstanding that I am an amateur.

 

Overall this a great lens. But now I tend to use 17-35 and 80-200 lenses more often than the 28-70 as it can be not telephoto enough and not wider enough for my style of shooting.

Hi Jon,

 

Thanks for the information. Amazing that the picure is quite good even with an ISO of 1600!!

Hi!!

 

I am interested to buy a Nikkor long telephoto lens from Hong Kong.

Either 500/4 or 300/2.8. When I checked prices it is significantly

cheaper to buy Grey market gear from Tin Cheung Camera in Nathan

road. For example Nikkor 300mm 2.8 AFSII is HK$20000(~USD2600)

whereas at other places with warranty is about HK$27000(~USD3500). I

would appreciate suggestions from someone with any experience at

shopping at Tin Cheung camera and Grey market in HK? Many thanks

Hi Jon,

 

Excellent photograph!!! Thanks for sharing it with us. Could you please let us know the ISO and shutter speed of the picture when you get a chance. Thanks again

I have been reading the Nature photography field guide by John Shaw

and was interested in wild life photography. I usually shoot

landscapes, travel photography, portraits. I apologize if these

questions are asked before.

 

Wild life photography is new to me and I do not have a long lens

apart from 80-200mm f2.8. I am keen on mammals, birds, etc in

national parks. I do not know whether I will specialise in birds in

the future. I thought of getting a Nikkor 500mm/f4 lens after

discussions and reading archives on photo.net which was very helpful.

However it is out of stock in Hong Kong, where I was going to buy it

from. This lens is also very expensive as we all know.

 

Another option is to get a Nikkor 300mm f2.8 lens with x1.4 and x2

converters to start with. This would be a better option for me as I

am very new to this telephoto range and can save some money and space

as well, without compromising the image quality too much. I hope!!!

If necessary I might sell this and eventually get 500mm/f4 and 300mm

f4 lenses in the future (which I understand to be a highly practical

combination for wild life).

 

If I am not hassling too much, I would appreciate information with

regards to 300mm f2.8 and the converters on the following:-

 

1) What is your opinion with regards to 300mm f2.8 and x2 converter

with regards to image quality? Do you get softer images due to this?

 

2) Could we get good enlargeable shots with 300/2.8 and x2TC? I

understand this could be variable according to one's standard!!!

 

3) Is a vibration a big problem when 300mm and x2 converter been used?

 

4) Is a Gitzo 1348/ ArcaB1/ W. Sidekick an adequate combination for

300mm f2.8 and x2TC? Is this even adequate if I get a 500mm/f4 in the

future as well?

 

I appreciate you time and information. Have a nice weekend!!!!

Greg, You are welcome

 

Bob, looks like you know all the tricks around, thanks for sharing your success by sticking a "Canon" label on Nikon gear!!!! It is $25 dollars less per each lens if you invest on a Nikon body now for the future!!!!

 

Leif, one of the reasons that I am reluctant to buy a white colured lens is that it appears like I am shooting Canon. This is besides the fact that it might scare the wild life!!!!

 

Any way I have enjoyed this thread so far!!!!

Hi,

 

After reading, discussions and advice from a lot of photo.netters I

have decided to buy a Nikkor 500mm/4 AFSII lens. I would like to

thank everyone who has helped me out to make the decision.

 

As I am intending to buy it from Hong Kong, which is cheaper than

Australia (where I live), apparently the black coulured version is

out of stock. But they have the white coloured version in stock.

However, I seem to prefer the black version. I would like to get

some advice on black vs white colour Nikkor 500/4 in terms of

durabilty, second hand value, advantages and disadvantages. Many

thanks for the information.

I agree with Leif in that I have learned a lot and have had some excellent advice from photo.net which otherwise could have spent hours reading books to find out.

Hi Craig,

 

As far as I am aware this is going to be your first SLR and you've got a budget of ~5000. The options depends on what exactly you want to photograph and also being freelance involves travelling, so need a reasonably light setup as well. My suggestions would be to spend much as money on the glass rather than the body. Possible options include:-

 

A) Light - F80/F100 both are great, F100 more rugged and similar to F5 in some ways. For lenses I would consider 18-35 lens, 80-400 VR zoom and 24-120 VR when available. This set up is reasonbly light and covers from 18mm to 400mm.

 

B) Heavy - F5/F100, F5 is quite heavier than F100 but it has the best metering system and very rugged. 17-35mm 2.8D lens, 80-200mm 2.8D zoom or 70-200mm VR, 60mm Micro, Teleconverter x1.4, and you can add 300mm F4 lens if required. This is a professional collection of gear with some of the best Nikon glasses.

 

The other options include considering a digital set up. But I have no idea about this area apart from there's a magnification factor of about 1.5 for these.

 

Also consider getting a very sturdy tripod eg G1228/1227 (for compactness) and Kirk BH-3 ball head. Have a look at http://www.naturfotograf.com/ for various lens reviews.

 

Good luck

Thanks Shun,

 

I had a look at that thread that you quoted, it sounded very heated. This thread is a bit different in a way, in that I am trying to compare IS and VR constructively, without trying to raise heated arguments, hopefully!!!!

 

I totally agree with you in that technology could help but there are always other means to get the same outcome. I presume you might be getting better landscape photos from Contax without having a 3D colour matrix meter especially when you enlarge!!!

 

It is very difficult to hire high end Canon/Nikon equipment in Melbourne, Australia otherwise I would have tried my self.

 

Notwithstanding that I am very naive to digital imaging, just a thought that is it a possibility to use D1X with a higher ISO sensitivity to get faster shutter speeds thereby avoiding vibrations? Even if so would they be enlargeable? If this the case it is an option to supplement a digital body for eg D100 (also free x1.4converter as well!!)? As far as I undersand Moose Peterson shoots digital.

 

Thanks again.

Hi Greg,

 

As far as I know there is no newer version of this lens as yet. It has been claimed that the tripod mount is a trouble!! Have a look at this site http://www.naturfotograf.com/index2.html for very comprehensive information. If Nikon issues a newer version I suspect it will involve VR as it is the trend at the moment!!! In that case I'll buy one too!!!

Thanks a lot for all the people that have responded so quickly!! I am waiting for a response from somone who had the chance to use both IS and VR for comparison puposes rather than Nikon vs Canon competition.

Hi Guys,

 

I am a Nikon user for many years. I am interested to buy a Nikon

500/4 for my wild life photography (mainly mammals etc also birds

occasionally) but a bit reluctant as they might soon release a VR/IS

lens eventhough they revised these lenses in 2001. I am also

considering changing to Canon because of their wider selection of IS

lenses. The following issues will help my decision either way. In

your experience on wild life photography with regards to IS/VR :-

 

1) How important is IS/VR for wlid life photography?

 

2) Would it give good exposures if even we had to use 500mm lens

with a x2 converter at slower shutter speeds without any/minimal

affect of vibrations?

 

3) Does IS work well on a tripod mounted lens? Not only during

panning, does it work when the ball head is locked as well? As far

as I know, Nikon VR system does not work if the ball head is

locked !!!

 

4) I am not familiar with the EOS system layout, but in F5 we have

an autofocus on button to focus, but this doesn't engage the VR mode

in the new 70-200 VR lens, VR is only engaged during shutter

release. This could lead to a shutter lag. So in future even Nikon

releases VR super teles this could well be a problem. Is this the

situation with Canon IS system as well or is better?

 

5) Do we miss a lot of enalargeable shots by not having VR/IS?

Many thanks for your information and time.

 

Best Regards,

Cham

Thanks Timothy, looks impressive

These are some questions for wild life shooters that use Nikon super tele lenses:-

 

1) Do you actually need VR in lenses for eg 500/4 when teleconverters are used?

 

2) Even we Nikon users eventually get VR super teles, we would not be able to use the tripod as the VR apparently not work properly when ball head locked?

 

3) If we get VR super teles (by the looks of things not too far away, especially Nikon wants to keep their customers from switching to Canon!!!) are we going to sell our ald gear to get these lenses with VR?

 

Interesting to find the answers???

I am curious to find out the future of Nikon super tele lenses. I wish they had VR as well so we could use teleconverters liberally and may be get by without perfect long lens technique. Are these new VR lenses can be used on a tripod with the ball head locked? Appreciate your opinions!!!

I am thinking of buying a 70-200 VR too any one has hands on experience as yet? In australia it is listed at AUD 3600.00 the same price for 80-200AFS.