eajames

<p>Mine is 5953XX and the blades have always been clean and dry - doesn't really help you, does it : )</p>

<p>D300S with 180mm AIS @f4.</p><div></div>

<p>Thank you Brooks and Shun!</p>

<p>No, not anymore Shun; I haven't owned an AF lens since purchasing this camera. I suppose that I could go to a local shop but I purchased the lens online.</p>

<p>I've owned a D300s since they hit the market and after 10k clicks using manual focus AIS lenses I haven't had a problem. Today I received a 70-200mm VRII and immediately noticed a problem - not with the lens, I suspect, but with the camera's shutter release button. In single servo AF mode or continuous AF mode, depressing the button halfway is not sufficient to focus. In order to engage autofocusing I have to depress the shutter release button almost all the way such that most attempts to focus result in tripping the shutter. The AF-On button works like a charm, but I prefer to use the shutter release button for focusing.<br>

<br /> Just to clarify, the custom setting for "auto-focus activation" is set to on.<br>

<br /> Are other D300s users experience this? Any ideas before I box it up and send it off to Nikon for repair?</p>

<div></div>

<p>This one is from earlier today in snow-free Seattle (D300s with Voigtlander 58mm f1.4).</p><div></div>

<p>My buddy Matt and I traveled the frozen Kuskokwim River to Kwethluk on Sunday to visit and photograph the village. After shooting for a couple of hours we met Kira; she and a friend had been entertaining Matt's dog Ripley through the window of his Subaru. Matt, being a trusting and friendly soul, handed over his precious dSLR to Kira who went to work as if she had had formal training. I shot over fifty exposures of her with his camera - me, firing off frames like a desperate hack. Kira shot one exposure for every dozen of mine - I'd hear the Canon shutter fire “clunk", then my Nikon: tchet-tchet-tchet ... tchet-tchet-tchet, then Kira: "clunk". I thought that she was having trouble finding the shutter release and I imagined that she was capturing a typical six year old's photos: heads chopped off, wildly crooked horizons. Then, to Matt's and my surprise, she raised her right arm to compose in portrait mode. We looked at each other, jaws dropping in disbelief. Once back in Bethel we immediately backed up our cards and anxiously opened our files. All of Kira's shots were thoughtfully composed and engaging, horizons as level as can be. After a few rounds of editing most of my shots have been deleted and I'm left with this image of a little Yupik Eskimo girl enjoying her talent for photography.<br>

HaPPy WedNEsDAy<br>

(Nikon D300s with Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 @f4)</p><div></div>

<p>***HaPPy WedNEsDAy***<br>

<br />Here's another waterworld shot taken with a D300s and a 105mm f2.8 AIS; image target: reflected and refracted light at water-air, water-glass and air-glass interfaces in a glass half filled with water.<br>

Great image Janne!</p><div></div>

<p>D300s with 105mm f2.8 AIS; image target: reflected and refracted light at water-air, water-glass and air-glass interfaces in a glass half filled with water.<br /> Beautiful Narayan!<br /> Great shot Matt!<br>

And Shane, I see an amazing shot coming from you in the near future : ) Wowzers - that's great!!!</p><div></div>

<p>D300s with 105mm f2.8 AIS; image target: reflected and refracted light at water-air, water-glass and air-glass interfaces in a glass half filled with water.</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks for stepping in Matt, and for starting the tradition Jose.</p>

<p>D300s with 105mm f2.8 AIS; image target: reflected and refracted light at water-air, water-glass and air-glass interfaces in a glass half filled with water. </p><div></div>

<p>Interesting - thanks.  It takes more time for the mirror to settle down than it takes for the shutter to open (3ms).</p>

<p>Bethel Alaska resident, Aloysius the Pumpkin Eater; D300s with Voigtlander 58mm Nokton.</p><div></div>

<p>D300s @ !SO 1600 with 105mm AIS Micro Nikkor @ f16</p><div></div>

<p>I have no personal experience with that combo but I would guess that you will experience vignetting if you don't remove the outer slot. This is easy enough to accomplish with a hack saw.</p>

<p>I can't help you with the XL GND's purpose.</p>

<p>The Cokin graduated ND is supposedly neutral in color but it is reported here and elsewhere as having a blue cast. Singh Ray, HiTech and Lee GNDs are quite neutral. The HiTech are the least expensive. The colored GND filters are used for making cheesy landscape images. </p>

<p>Lex, You've reminded me of a photo Nikon used to advertise the f1.4 in a catalog of the day - do you remember the shot of the Canada geese in fading purple light?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.naturfotograf.com/lens_wide.html">Shhhhhhhh!</a></p>

<p>Thanks for starting this discussion Arthur.<br>

Stephen, look into the Voigtlander 58mm f1.4, particularly if you're after a soothing OOF rendition.<br>

http://www.cameraquest.com/Voigt_SL2.htm</p>

<p>You can stabilize the hood with a wide rubber band. Position it on the lens body just behind the rear edge of the extended hood. It's not an elegant remedy, but it prevents vignetting.</p>

<p>I agree with Gordon Moat here:<br>

http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?t=31229&highlight=canon+reverse+engineering</p>

<p>Looks like a macro shot of a snow globe Hamish - very cool!</p>

<p>...we now return you to your regularly scheduled program:<br>

http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00F/00FCiC-28092884.jpg</p>

<p>Good point Toby. Some folks are calling for a fast 24mm or 28mm lens but, (as someone one who uses wides for landscapes) I don't see the utility. Perhaps that will change as my eyes age.</p>

<p>No ZZZZZ for sure Arthur - pretty shot!</p>

<p>For all we know Steve is a trolling Canonite or a KR boycott disciple. Still, for 8K, most would expect a more versatile tool; one could come to Steve's conclusion by clicking on BHPV's specification tab.</p>