annbryan

<p>Hey Matt, thanks for the advice. Yeah, I do like having the extra wide angle....I'd use that only in certain situations. There would have to be strong foreground elements where I'd want some of the scenery as a backdrop. I've learned my lessons when it comes to using too wide of a lens. I love having that lens close by!</p><p><br></p><p>I tried looking for the gold-n-blue polarizer but it seems like Singh-Ray isn't currently selling them due to changes in the manufacturing process or something like that. Any idea where else I could get one?</p><p><br></p><p>For the variable ND filter...what would you recommend? I don't have any ND filters and am not really sure what to look for when it comes to buying one!</p><p><br></p><p>I'll check into that Velbon...I can't remember but I think I had one of those for a previous trip. It lasted for my year long backpacking trip but wasn't in great shape by the time I got home!<br></p>

<p>Is there any other filters that would be helpful??</p>

<p>Yeah, I'd love to get two D7000's but that's not in the budget...we'll work with what we have. The D80 and the D7000 (just found out they have one in stock for me!). I'll just have to put up with carrying two chargers.</p>

<p>For polarizers, is there much difference in the quality? I see some 77mm ones that cost as little at $70 and some that cost as much as $250. Would you recommend shooting with this on all the time while in Antarctica?<br>

Thanks very much for the tips and info! I want to make sure we have the best gear we can afford, that doesn't weight us down too much!</p>

<p>I'm leaving December 23rd. The Antarctic tour leaves Jan 1st. </p>

<p>Will pack some polarizers for sure. As far as covering metal, it could be -40 where I live so I'm hoping it'll actually be warmer in Antarctica! I'll make sure I don't stick my tongue to anything metal!</p>

<p>Don't worry Kyle, we wouldn't put the TC on the 18-200. My wife would have that lense on the D80 while I'd have the 12-24 and the 70-200. While backpacking around Chile/Argentina, we'd be able to keep the bigger heavier lens packed away in our backpacks and not have to worry about it as much and would use the 18-200 with the D7000. I really like the 70-200 and as heavy as it is, it'd be a shame to leave it at home. We'll pack light on the clothes to make sure we can take our camera gear!</p>

<p>We'll be taking a netbook and an external hard drive so we'll have extra backups. Because of the type of trip, we'll probably skip out on taking the flash but I'll do my best to squeeze a tripod onto our pack list! </p>

<p>Shun, I read through your Antarctica article and got some great info from that. I'm glad to hear that I won't need anything bigger then the 70-200! It is a pain that the batteries for the D80 and D7000 aren't compatible. I will have extra batteries for each and will bring lots of memory cards. I'm on the list with for the D7000 and they're aware that I need it for my trip so they said they'd do their best to get one to me in time! I can't wait to play with it!</p>

<p>Thanks for the tips/ideas everybody, I still have a few things to pick up before the trip and have to finalize my pack list before I can see how heavy my backpack is going to be! </p>

<p>Hey everybody, I'm just trying to narrow down what gear I should take to Antarctica. Just for some background, my wife and I are going to be spending 5 days in Buenos Aires, then flying to Ushuaia for a 12 day Antarctic peninsula tour. We'll be doing a couple of landings each day. After that, we'll be backpacking from Ushuaia to Santiago for about a month. <br>

I currently have:<br>

D80<br>

12-24mm f/4 Tokina<br>

28-75mm f/2.8 Tamron<br>

70-200mm VR f2.8.</p>

<p>I'm thinking about picking up a D7000, a 1.7x teleconverter, and an 18-200mm VR. If I get this setup, I'd probably leave my 28-75 Tamron at home. So this is what I plan on taking:<br>

D80 & D7000<br>

12-24 Tokina<br>

18-200 Nikon VR<br>

70-200 Nikon VR<br>

1.7x Teleconverter</p>

<p>Is this a good enough kit for taking to Antarctica? We want to take good gear but don't want super heavy things that we have to carry for a month afterwords. It'd be cool if I could rent some lenses in Ushuaia but I don't think you can rent any gear there! </p>

<p>Please let me know what you think. It's not often you get the chance to go to Antarctica so I don't want to mess this up! </p>

<p>Thanks!<br>

-bryan</p>

<p>I have the Tokina 12-24 and it's probably my favorite lens. Sometimes if I notice I haven't used it lately I'll take it out and go searching for a suitable subject. When I was looking for a wide angle lens, the reviews seemed to say that the Tokina was very close to the Nikon in image and build quality and that it was rated higher then the Sigma equivalent. <br>

I never leave home without this lens!<br>

Good luck on the decision!</p>

Wow, look at all the response! Thanks so much everybody! I definitely understand that these lenses server completely different purposes....70-200 vr for more serious stuff and the 18-200 for less serious work. I wanted the 18-200 for travel, and for snapshots. After reading these posts and looking at some new camera stuff, I got the idea of getting the 70-200 vr and getting the Nikon P80. I think that's cheaper, smaller, easier, bigger zoom range...etc...perfect for times when I don't want to bother with carrying big gear. What do you think? Should I get the P80 instead of picking up the 18-200 vr for snapshots?

 

Thanks again for the help!

-b

Hey, I'm looking to fill a gap in the range of my lenses...I have the Tokina 12-24 f4, the Tamron 28-75 f2.8, and some

small fast primes. I also have a cheap 70-300 but am never that happy with the results. I've been saving my pennies

and can afford the 70-200 but am worried that it'll be too big and that I won't even bother taking it with me

sometimes. At the same time, I want sharp images and don't want to spend $$ on lenses that I don't like.

 

 

Ideally, I'd get both of these lenses...then I'd have a good fast line-up of lenses for when I'm around home and a do-it-

all zoome for when I'm travelling. I would like to get more involved in event photography and have been asked by

friends to do wedding photography which I'd also like to try. (Don't worry, I told my friends they need to hire

somebody for their wedding pics!).

 

So, basically, I want the 70-200 vr but need some encouragement from people who have one...tell me it's not as

heavy at it looks...that it's worth the extra bulk!

 

Thanks for the help!

-b

Looking for help deciding on a lens combination to go with my D80:

 

I currently have the Tokina 12-24 to cover the wide end. Then I have a Tamron

28-75 f2.8 (which isn't in great shape), and I have the cheapie Nikon 70-300

non-ED zoom. I eventually want to get the 70-200 f2.8 VR or the 80-200 f2.8

and I want to get something to replace my failing Tamron 28-75. I was thinking

about going for the Nikon 24-85 f2.8-f4. The problem with doing that is that

we like to travel and taking 3 decent sized lenses would be a bit of a pain.

Then I though I should go for the Nikon 18-200 VR to replace the Tamron lense

and then we'd have a prefect travel lense. So here's the question: Would you

choose the 18-200 VR over the 24-85 f2.8-4? I think I'm leaning towards the 18-

200 VR because I've heard so many good things about it. Would anybody

recommend going for the Nikon 24-85 instead?

 

Thanks so much for your input! I've made some bad uninformed choices in the

past when it comes to buying lens so I'm trying to avoid that this time!

 

-bryan

Hey, got another question...I have a manfrotto ball head that hasn't been

working that well lately. When I tighten up the lever for the ball head the

lever bounces back a little bit which can cause my camera/lens to flop over. I

have to tighten it REALLY hard in order to make it stay. Is there any way I can

fix this? It's the Manfrotto 352RC ball head. Thanks for any suggestions! If

it's not fixable, what should I replace it with? I've been thinking the 322RC2

Grip Action Head. Anybody have experience with this?

Thanks again!

-bryan

Hey, I'm looking for a new camera bag...it'd mostly be used while hiking and

traveling. I want enough room for my D80, 3 lenses, and a flash. Just

wondering what everybody else uses and if you have any recommendations. I was

looking at the crumpler bags but I don't think they'd be that great for hiking.

Thanks for any help!

-bryan

I contacted one of the best print shops in town to find out if they do any upsizing on big enlargements. They don't so I'd have to do it. While I was talking to them, I asked how much it would cost to get a 20x30 photo printed on canvas. I haven't had many big enlargements done yet but $250 seemed like a high price for that. Is that actually what that should cost?!

 

Hey Colin, yeah, I do have photoshop. Thanks for the offer to do it for me but I'd like to learn how to do it on my own as I'm sure I'll need to do it again sometime. I don't want to have to e-mail you every time I need to do some upsizing! :-)

 

Thanks for any info!

-bryan

Hey, I was wondering if anybody knows of a good website that will help explain

how to upsize a photo from my D80 so that I can enlarge it to 20x30 or even

24x36. I've seen some of this info on here before but never as complete as I'd

like. Here's the photo I want to print off:

 

<br><a href = 'http://www.photo.net/photo/6084769'>Foggy tree

tops</a><br>

Thanks for any information!<br>

-bryan

Hey, my sister has come asking me about DSLR's and she's comparing the Digital

Rebel XTi and the D40x. I have a D80 and love it but I think the Canon might be

a better fit for her. As a new Canon DSLR owner, what would be a good, sharp,

lens to start out with. I recommended she doesn't buy the kit lenses. I'd love

to research all this stuff myself but with only 3 weeks to my wedding I really

don't have any free time at all!

Thanks for the help and suggestions!

-bryan

Hey, thanks for the info everybody. Looks like I'll try to pick one up when I head south in the next month or so! Pain in the ass that we can't get them here!

-b

Also possible to get one in Montreal or Vancouver as I'll be travelling there soon.

Thanks again!

Hey, I'm looking to buy a Tokina 12-24 lens but can't find it in Ottawa. I'm

willing to make a day trip to the US to find it. Anybody know of a good camera

store that I could call to ask about this? Thanks for any help!

-bryan

No problems here...I spent about 3 hours shooting last night at -30 celcius and everything worked great...just try not to breath out when you're taking the picture or your breath will cloud the picture!

-bryan

Yeah, the camera comes with a two year warranty. An extra $140 to make it a 4 year warranty. I guess I basically have to decide weather I'm content having the camera for just two years (worst case scenario) or weather I'm willing to invest another $140 to ensure I have it for 4 years. Does the coverage of extended warranties vary depending on who sells it to you? If they're willing to take it in and clean it for me all the time then it might be worth it. The extended warranty also extends the price protection guarantee to 45 days so if there's any price drops I get a refund.

?

I don't normally go for extended warranties of any kind. I just wanted to do a

quick survey of DSLR owners out there: For those who bought extra

warranty...was it worth it? For those who didn't buy it, did you require any

costly repairs after the Nikon warranty was expired?

Thanks a lot for the help!

-bryan

 

ps - to extend the warranty by 2 years here in Canada, it'll cost $140 CDN.

Thanks for the responses,

I know that the price will EVENTUALLY drop...I just don't want it to drop right after I buy the camera! It's selling for $1149 CDN now compared to $949 CDN for the XTI.

I finally have some money to buy a D80 but I was thinking there may be a price

drop soon. I don't need the camera right away so it's no rush. I just don't

like that the Sony and Canon 10mp DSLR's are selling for $200 less then the

Nikon. Just want to know what your predictions are for a potential price drop.

Thanks!

Thanks Sachin, do you know if there's an option in either of those programs to batch copy the filename into the description? I have thousands of photos I need this done for and going one photo at a time is rough!

I'm trying to put the file name in the EXIF data for my travel photos but I'm

not sure exactly how it works. In ACDSee I can batch set the EXIF to the file

name but in Picasa, it doesn't recognize or pick up the new EXIF data. The same

thing for the other way around...ACDSee doesn't see the EXIF data that I set in

Picasa. Is this software specific?? Do I just have to close and repoen the

applications?

Thanks for the help!

-bryan

Hey, I live in Ottawa, Canada and am looking for a good place to get a hard

cover photo book printed up. I know of a few places in the city that do this

but I'm looking for the best place. Could you recommend any websites that make

good photo books?

Thanks for the help!

-bryan