eajames

Darron,

 

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Ever hear of the MR-3? It's a little screw-in vertical release that Nikon

makes for the MD-4 and MD-12. I purchased one from B&H for about $35

some months ago. You can also attach a standard cable release to the MR-

3 - this can be handy for some macro set-ups when the cable release

tends to dangle in front of the lens.

 

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Eric

Can anyone with firsthand experience comment on the quality of images from the Nikkor MF AIS 50-300mm F4.5 when used with the TC-14a. I'm especially interested in the performance at the long end. Any comparison of this combo's performance at 400mm compared to the Nikkor 400mm/5.6 would also be particularly helpful.

Ray Jardine has always been in favor of cutting stuff up - whether it be new granite handholds on Yosemite's El Cap or bells and whistles on his pack. I wouldn't suggest following his lead.

 

Do you really get confused with the sternum strap, etc? If so, go for it! But judging by the fine photographs on your web page I would guess that you are not truely confused by bells and whistles. I think that you will get used to the convenience of the sternum strap and waist belt.

 

The packcloth is coated on the inside so Scotchguard won't help keep your gear dry (not much anyway). Water repellent coatings applied to the surface of Gore-Hoax and other waterproof breathable garments do help the breathablity of the garment by maintaining a higher vapor pressure differential between you and the outside environment. In the case of your pack, the outer fabric may become saturated but the wetness should not penetrate appreciably.

 

I carry a small piece of plastic in my pocket to lay my pack on when I'm stationary - that way the pack stays clean and dry. Just fold up the plastic wet side in and you're good to go.

Steady,

 

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Don't sell to the local dude. Something is suspicious about the formula:

"Can't be fixed" + "I'll give you $300". I have seen old Nikon gear in nice

condition go for very high prices on ebay. Perhaps ebay would be a good

start for your research. Handle the equipment with care, take your time

researching it's worth, sell to a collector, reinvest the $$$ in modern gear,

and bank the rest.

 

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Good Luck!

Yes, it's a problem isn't it!

 

Most of my squeaks seemed to come from the shoulder straps' attachment to the D-rings. Electrician's tape worked for a while but eventually got messy.

 

My current fix is not ideal but things are much improved. I removed the clips and replaced them with 1 inch "three-bar sliders". A backpacking/camping store should have these (about 75 cents each). The squeaking disappears because you've eliminated the plastic D-ring to plastic clip contact with plastic D-ring to nylon webbing contact.

 

A better fix would be to use the three-bar sliders that allow easy on the fly adjustment. These are similar in size and shape but incorporate a thumb tab that permits you to loosen the strap by lifting the tab. Using this version of the three-bar slider will allow you adjust the load while hiking.

 

Good luck!

What is the significance of the small (~4mm diameter) black or red dots that are found on SOME Nikkor AIS lens boxes? They are located on the bottom right corners of 7 out of 8 panels. Thanks for your input.

Well, you won't find much in Forks to photograph but you will be just a hop and skip from the Hoh Rain Forest. There is a spectacular eighteen-mile long trail that ends at the getting off point for climbing Mt. Olympus. The bad news is that there is a 4500 foot climb toward the end of the trail; the good news is that the first five miles of the trail is flat and offers some of the most spectacular vistas and landscapes. To quote a friend, "if you�ve seen one mossy rock, you've seen them all." Bring along macro capability, a tripod (of course), and a bunch of Velvia. Oh, and hope for rain.

I too have used surgical gloves to help with this problem. They serve as a vapor barrier to prevent heat loss due to evaporation. If they are fit for surgery they will be more trouble than they are worth - tight gloves of any kind should be avoided.

 

Another trick I have gained more success with may seem ridiculous at first, but you'll just have to give it a try.

 

1) Go outside with your preferred set of hand insulation (I use lightweight Capilene liners from Patagonia with woolen fingerless gloves pulled over the top - once again, don't get a tight fit. When I don't need the finger control I pull on some boiled wool mitts (Dachstein of Austria makes a nice boiled wool mitten.))

 

2) Go to work. Invariably my hands will get cold and numb. So be it. Let them freeze up. (Like I said, it sounds ridiculous.) Once they are good and cold go to step three.

 

3) Now warm your hands. Go inside, or run in place, or use a chemical warming pack, whatever - just warm them completely. This I have found to be critical: every last bit of numbness and tingling must be gone. Think toasty.

 

So you are saying: "Well this guy is some kind of cube-root Einstein. I say my hands are cold and he says go inside and warm them up. Thanks a million." But wait...

 

4) Now go back to your photography work. You'll will find that you have newly-gained protection from the cold. Simple as that.

 

I believe that physiologists call this the Hunter Effect, not for the gun toatin', Bambi shootin' sorts, but for the scientist who described the intricacies of the underlying physiology. Key for me is that my hands first get very cold, and that I then find a way to warm them thoroughly. Friends and I have used this trick to rockclimb (gloveless of course, on cold rock) during Michigan winters (low 20s F). Okay, now you can call me a cube-root Einstein.

I paddled the length of the Snake River in Washington last fall with a 35-105mm lens. All my shots taken from the water looked the same - the perspective was hardly discernable from that provided by a 50mm lens. I would have been happier with a simple 50mm lens for its speed and sharpness (and a 180mm lens to pull the blue herons up a little closer). A 300mm lens without IS or a super-steady hand and water like glass wouldn't be worth bring along in my opinion.

 

I carry a Bogen 3205S behind the seat of my Feathercraft K-1 (it fits nicely there), and I carry my camera in a dry bag strapped to the deck.

 

On my next trip I will have a 24mm and 180mm lens in the deck bag and a 105 micro tucked away for use on land. In your case I think that your 50mm lens will serve you well. If you have some money to invest I would suggest a reasonably fast prime telephoto - long enough to provide a different perspective, but short enough to give you sharp images when shooting from the water.

 

As for film: You probably know that the skies of Southeast Alaska are often overcast. You might consider Fuji NHG II 800 for these conditions, and Fuji Astia (slides) or Fuji NPS 160 for sunnier days.

 

Happy paddling.

...100mm tilt-shift lens...

While "DEET or don't" is the rule for mosquito's I have been to hell and back relying on it to repel black fly's. I have suffered DEET's lack of effect in Northern Michigan, Southern Ontario, and the Cascades of Washington, so I doubt that it's a species-specific thing.

 

Since I last fed black flies I purchased a 1.25 ounce bottle of a product called "BF-100, Black Fly Repellent Solution". I have never opened the bottle although I have carried it on dozens of trips since the early 90s. Perhaps the unopened bottle is a bit of a good luck charm; I have a suspicion that if I forget it on my next trip the flies will show. You know how that goes...

 

Here is some information from the bottle:

 

Ingredients:

62.25%: 2 Ethyl-1, 3 Hexanediol; 38.75%: Dimethyl Phthalate

 

LJB Laboratories, INC

1001 E. Case Street

St. John's MI

48879

 

A price sticker covers the precautions but from what I can make out they read much like those on a bottle of DEET. Be careful!

 

I wish that I could tell you that it is great stuff (in terms of its black fly repelling properties), but alas, all I can say from experience is that DEET don't work.

I've carried a 3221 on my Photo Trekker AW and find it to be a bit of

a pain. I imagine that it would be worse for you with a heavier

ballhead and a smaller pack. When I hike with the 3221 I'm more

comfortable carrying it in my hand, even for extended distances. The

tripod is simply too heavy to be carried on the pack without

upsetting the load's balance: placed on the right or left side it

upsets the symmetry of the load; positioned on the back panel it

shifts the center of the load too far away from your

spine/hips/shoulders; also, with the tripod on the back panel, it

makes swapping lenses for handheld shooting a clumsy operation.

 

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My solution (admittedly a poor compromise for those using longer

shutter speeds, long lenses, or big glass): I hike with a Bogen 3205S

strapped to the side and pack my heavier accessories on the opposite

side - this hikes out pretty well for me. Perhaps the ideal system

(for me) would be a Gitzo 1227 strapped to the side and the Arca

Swiss B-1 packed inside. If I trade-in my 2 Bogen's I'll only be

about a $800 shy.