rick_helmke

Mark it's good to know the S cameras are better because the D2H is abysmal above ISO 800. I started shooting a D200 instead a couple of months ago at high school and college basketball games and the improvement was immediate. I'll still go with the D2H in daytime events, sports or news because let's face it, it's a rocket ship but otherwise its the 200 or a D1X which also does a better job.

Rick H.

Timing is everything and you need to practice. The real differences to me are in noise and AF. The D2H and presumably the Hs have horrible high ISO noise characteristics, the D200 beats my D2H to death. As for AF I'm happier with the D200 as well though I know the D2's are supposed to be better. 8fps or 5fps, not enough difference to matter. If I have to pick just one and some days I do, it would be the D200.

Rick H.

Those are so sharp I think I cut myself looking. I love abandoned places, industrial and old empty houses.

Rick H.

Okay so I stayed up too late watching the same movie for the nth time, in this

case "The Paper" by Ron Howard. I love stuff like this and actually trying to

see how Hollywood thinks it happens. Anyway, in one scene they send a female

photographer who looks to be all of 15 years old to a perp walk. She gets

knocked around but gets the shot which is all that counts. She was shooting

Canon gear as was at least one other photographer in the scene. What Canons

were they? Film bodies to be sure but which ones? Which lenses and flash?

Enquiring minds still awake at this hour want to know.

Rick H.

Nonsense. In most local gyms flash is a requirement even with a fast lens. I've taken to using ISO 1600 which lets me use flash as more of a fill and lightens the background. Some places though not often, will have a set of lights in house you can access and results can be outstanding. I've never been told I couldn't use flash indoors at a sports event.

Rick H.

I was looking for an instruction manual this morning since I am one of those

who actually reads those things or tries to and I was struck by something that

made me laugh.

My D2H manual is 260 pages in length. It covers all manner of things of course

in a very sophisticated machine but I don't know that I'll ever read all of it.

My D200 came with a book only 218 pages in length but of course I'm unable to

make voice notes on this one. My ancient D1X is 243 pages total and even less

sophisticated so why so many pages?

Nikon must have gotten into a green mode at some point as my F4s book has a

paltry 110 pages though the N90s gets a boost to 146. My ever so humble F2AS,

the last of the great mechanicals has a paltry 47 pages with another 27 in the

MD-2 manual. I noticed too that the boxes are bigger to accomodate all of the

manuals in all of the languages. Why send me instructions in German and French

on a USA market camera? It just weighs more.

I don't know it just struck me as silly. I mean, the primary technical conerns

are still shutter speed, aperture and focus. The more they make these

things 'easier' to use the harder they are to figure out. Welcome to Monday.

Rick H.

A buddy of mine working for the Birmingham News made me realize how the times

have changed the other day. I was fuming at the local wireless access and how

it kept dropping me offline and I was having a hard time getting my images sent

several hundred miles in mere seconds even though tornadoes were coming through

the area. He noted that the News building was about to undergo some renovations

and they might be geting rid of the pigeon roost. What are you talking about? I

ask, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Apparently back in the day, when News

photographers needed to get film from Legion Field back to the office during a

game, it was sent by carrier pigeon. Even 4x5 sheets. No, it didn't always make

it but the loss rate apparently wasn't too bad. True story, it's been

documented in a couple of local history books. Was this a common practice or

just a southern thing?

Rick H.

RB or a Bronica.

Rick H.

The thing is, you don't have to put all that much money into film gear to get an excellent set up. You can pick up an F4s, my personal favorite, and a bag full of good glass for less than the price of a D200. An F100 or F5 won't up the ante all that much. Good SB-26's and -28's are priced well also. Even if or when you do go to digital it won't cost you anything to keep all the film bodies.

Rick H.

I went from the 18-70/4-5.6 or whatever variable aperture hard to focus in low light #$)&$&% lens to the 17-55 and there was an instant improvement in all of my indoor stuff. Yeah, it's a little bigger and it's pricey but worth all of it and I'm glad I've got one and I think you made a good choice.

Rick H.

Gee, I'd forgotten what fun it could be on the Canon forum. Get the 5D. It won't matter what new stuff comes out, you'll have a pair of identical and very good camera bodies. The 30D becomes another backup and for any paid shoot at all a broken camera excuse doesn't cut it, ever. I never shoot anything without a back up body and one or two more in the car. It may be possible to lug around too much gear but not to actually own too much of it. Some just gets used more.

Rick H.

Damn Gene you scared me there for a second.

Rick H.

Sort of off topic but since Ron brought it up, at my current job I found an old D1 in a cabinet just sitting. It still worked but good grief!! If that had been my intro to digital I'd still be shooting film. I can't imagine trying to shoot a news or sports event with one of these things much less one of the old hybrids.

Rick H.

If they are like most of the rest of the product line then the AIS will be easier to focus manually. The focus throw is longer than the AF which needs to do as much focusing as possible with as little movement as they can get. While I do have and use AF lenses of various vintage if I had to pick just one lens it would be a manual focus. Strictly speaking I suppose metal vs. plastic doesn't have a direct linear effect on photo quality but a good solid feel can have an effect even if it is only a matter of confidence in your gear. If you feel better about it then it becomes less of an obstacle to your goal. That is true of any tool. Ask a mechanic sometime why he'll pay so much more for Snap-On or other high end tools. A ratchet is a ratchet is a ratchet. Well...no, not really.

Rick H.

If I recall, it was a Kodak DSC 460.

Rick H.

The build quality will be way better on the Nikon. It's built for pro use and it shows. It's razor sharp, fast to focus. If it's a lens you'll use a lot, get the Nikon. I always say buy the best glass you can afford and any pro-grade Nikkor or Canon lens will always be better than 3rd party gear. If money is not an overriding concern here and sounds like it may not be as much for you as for some, get the good stuff and don't look back.

Rick H.

It will be the next generation of photographers before we lose this comparison. My nephew only knows what an F4 even is because I have one. He'll probably never own a film camera and his 17-55 will be as normal as a 35-80 is to his parents. As for us, we'll muddle through the best way each of us can.

Rick H.

Gene does it ever quit being cold around there? We're dealing with storms, death and basketball here, forces of nature all.

I love the soft corners on so many of these cameras. You pay good money for that effect nowadays.

Rick H.

When I got into digital I let someone talk me into going wth Canon after decades of Nikon use. It was good gear, I got many good shots with it. Never did get completely comfortable with it though and when a D1-x showed up used for sale at the local camera store all of the Canons went up for sale. Well, some F2's and MF Nikkors were there too, all at absurdly low prices. I bought it all, just added a D200 and haven't looked back. Work as added a D1h and D2h to the bag.

Make a choice and go with it, you aren't heavily into either system and need not second guess yourself. You've got the Canon which is in the D200 class. Add the best glass you can afford, upgrade the body or add one now and again and enjoy doing what you do.

Everyone keeps saying it's all about the photographer and not the gear. Well, maybe. Of course you need talent and skill and an eye and many other nefarious qualities. I can say though that while a good photographer can produce good photos with a bad camera, he usually doesn't bother. A bad design or poorly built camera can certainly mess up anything. You find the one that fits you and quit worrying about it. Over time for me that's been the F2, F4s, D200, the RB 67 and just recently a gorgeous Bronica 2 1/4. Those units add to the process for me. A Hassleblad leaves me cold. On the other hand, I like German cars and American pick up trucks. Anything else will get me there but that's how I'd rather travel.

Rick H.

If the FG is still runnning I'd keep it. It probably won't go for much and you always need a backup. I never used to like the F3 but in the last couple of years I've enjoyed shooting it. It's one of those cameras that doesn't get in the way of the work at hand.

Rick H.

I've not been impressed with this lens. Edge sharpness and flare problems at f/4 and 2.8 make it nearly useless at those two stops and why else would I have it if not for that. I keep thinking I need to shoot it more in bright light and keep working with it but other days I just want to ship the thing off and tell them not to send it back if they can't fix it. I'll shoot my old push-pull 2.8 tonight at the tournament.

Rick H.

While shooting at a basketball tournament today a buddy with another large paper was sitting beside me. I was shooting a 17-55/2.8. He was shooting a 300/2.8 and an 80-200/2.8. One on each body, he went back and forth depending on which end of the court he was shooting. Me, I was zoomed out and putting the camera on the floor some of the time. We were both getting what we wanted so no, a 300 is NOT too long for basketball.

As for your other events, I'd say a 300 is a requirement. If you can ever find a good price on a 400, get it as well. I'm waiting on a new Sigma 300/2.8 right now. I wish they'd get it in stock. College baseball starts getting serious next week.

Rick H.

Looking back at Nikon since the early '70's tells me the D3 is inevitable and is about due. I'd always rather have a 35mm size frame but I'll not be spending $8k for it. The current size gets most things done for most people whether we want to admit it or not. The rest is marketing. Canon has it so Nikon has to have one. That's been true about these two companies and photographers for decades. I just hope Nikon gets it right to start with and doesn't have some of the issues like BGLOD in the D70 or the metering problems in the D2h. Of course no one has managed that so far but I'm hopeful.

Rick H.

I hope I'm able to do that Bob because I think she will be. Got an interesting answer to the camera question this afternoon though. My boss's boss's boss, anyway the guy at the top of the food chain in our region, asked me the other day what he ought to purchase as he is starting from scratch in digital. He's an experienced photographer though he's gotten away from it the last several years. He asked several smart questions and then went with my reccomendations to the tune of $8K or so. Keep in mind I shoot Nikon and he bought Canon. He must be happy with it so far because I still have a job and he brought me a beautiful old Bronica SLR and told me to hang on to it for a few weeks and use it. This is not insignificant because there's a lot of sentimental value to him in this piece, enough so I would not even consider asking to purchase it. What a gorgeous piece of work! It's everything I wanted the Hassleblad to be but it wasn't. This is the answer to what I need to use for this project. It is nice to use it just for its own sake. Kind of like how a Jaguar is designed for the journey and not simply the destination. I mentioned earlier I wanted a camera that didn't get in the way of what I wanted to do. I get the feeling that this old beast is going to give at least partial lie to the idea that it isn't the camera, it's the photographer. Some things add to the results by their design and execution and the fact that they are simply a pleasure to use. We'll see.

Rick H.