mark_haflich

I do not understand the response of Mr. Hallet. If you go to the fish pier on Sanibel in mid to late afternoon you will find fishermen throwing bits of unused bait and fish from cleaning into the water. Let's not get into a discussion of whether it would be appropriate for a non fisherman to do this. Fishermen do it, the pelicans come to get the scraps just as they do elswhere along the coast and gulf and great stop motion shots of these big birds landing on the water can be taken with a 400mm 5.6. Nothing is inappropriate in relaying this info to someone in this discussion group. IMHO. You can also great white egret shots here. The birds are really acclimated to people and you can walk right up to them on the pier railings and roof and get full frame head shots with feathers puffed out in the wind. Moose Peterson paid for a new 4 wheel vehicle with a head shot here. Now that bird is famous.

using 400F2.8 AF-I or 500F4.0 AF-I and either of my 2 F5s I get only about 15 rolls. I have a total of 4 MN30s and 1 recharger. When I go to Tanzania for a month at a time I never miss an opportunity to recharge at least 2 of the MN30s. This way I always have 2 fresh ones in the cameras. Also carry the regular battery holder that comes with the camera with your basic batteries just for an emergency. The flash gun uses the same batteries and learn to take flshlight etc that uses the same size. I think people who claim 50 rolls with an AF telephoto mostly focus manually and just trim focus AF. I watched Moose one day and that's what he did. Dragging the recharger, voltage conveter is a pain in the ____ but I've learned to do it. Miss a night charging one day and a big shooting day the next can be problems. Don't let it run down, start with a recharge every day means more fun shoooting, lessing swearing when you need to replace a battery mid day. Remember the batteries will perform better and last longer with discharging all the way. The Nikon recharger has a button that discharhes them all the way before recharging. That's what I use. Welcome to the club.

The way the f-5 meter works in the "magic" mode is to compare the RGB readings to scenes in a photo memory base (consisting of how a variety of professional photographers exposed for the scene). Something like 3000 scenes are in the memory. Most of the time my F-5 meter is right on and I have 2 F-5's and they both agree with each other. That is probably just luck. Each F-5 should be calibrated using something like Moose's Teddy bear test. The F-5 can not increase the exposure range (contrast range of a film). If one shoots a scene that exceeds the contrast range, the extremes will black out or burn out. Shoot a white bird with most of the picture background being outside the range and the F-5 will burn out the bird--no detail. If you want detail, dial in some negative exposure compensation. If you are shooting at sunset open up a bit (dial in some positive compensation) to bring out all those nice colors. Most of the time, the F-5 lets you take a photo that looks like you made a photo and knew what you were doing vis a vis exposure. However, there are times that you and not the F-5 have to make the photo. Happy taking and making.

Rumours or wish list? If this a wish list lets throw in tubes.

Deducing something from a patent is not a rumour. A rumour is you

know a guy whose brother slept with the confidential Secretary to the

vice president of new products at Nikon USA and he said that he said

that she said. That's a take it to the bank rumour in this

business. Moose may know something but he is under a confidentiality

agreement and can't even tell you that he knows but can't tell you.

So don't ask him. By the way Nikon USA is totally ignorant of what

Nikon Japan is up to or does a great job of acting like it knows

nothing. So how about a new rumour submission rule--state your

source? Meanwhile, happy turkey day everybody.

My scope pack has held up well. I use it on domestic trips. All the pockets are useful but not all are well padded. The unpadded pockets work fine for film etc. I would not send the pack as baggage. In fact, I have carried the pack almost empty in my baggage duffel bag and then just use it to protect my big lens in the car and van and for short walks.

Ditto on the scope pack. It is about the lightest I have found though I do not hike with it. Thats because I do not hike. Do take it on trips. Holds the lens a 500 or 600 with tele and F5 well in the car or van.

I've shot about 150 rolls about half of which were pushed. Mostly in East Africa in early morning and late afternoon. No color problems that you mentioned.

I watched the Oct. 9 show with Arthur Morris. Very entertaining and I learned a few things both ecological, compositional and technique wise. The Canon commercial by Arthur merely repeated his answer to a FAQ. Recommended at least when Arthur is the leader.

god forbid on an african safari you lose one of the teleextender

caps. Now I carry a spare. The problem is getting a spare. This is

truly an unique item for any store to carry. Black body caps to

replace the freebie white one that comes with the camera, yes. Extra

caps for the tele, no. That is probably why the dealer the dealer

gave you the wrong one plus the fact that until you learn all this

the hardway, one would never know. I can't tell you how I would sit

in a safari vehicle mumbling to my wife that I caouldn't thread the

damn cap.

You will be just fine with the 300 and the two tele converters. I take an 80-200 and a 400mm with the two tele converters when I go to Africa. I also carry a 24mm-120mm. The 800mm is useful for birds and cheeta hunts, that's about it. Take a two or three bean bags with you. Getting beans overthere is a timing issue. You won't find beans at a Park. I bring them with me and leave them there. My wife and I share a car with a driver/guide. You do not need image stabilization. The bean bags will do it. One for the front of the lense and one or two for the camera end. Just keep the people in the car still. Usually not possible so keep the number down. 2 plus a driver. Have a great time.

I think you are being unduly optimistic about being able to purchase

one in a month. I've had one on order since December 1998. I traded

my last version Nikon 80-200 (the one with the collar) at that time.

I've been without a 80-200 since. At the local store I frequent,

there are at least 5 people waiting and I doubt the store will see 5

of those lenses any time soon.

Well said!

 

Mark Haflich

I own both. They were purchased for shooting in Kenya and Tanzania. My wife uses one and I the other. I prefer the groofwin. We shoot almost exclusively out of a Land Cruiser (does that spoil you compared to a Land Rover). The roof is modified with rails surrounding the hatch. Bean bags (one under the Lens 400mm 2.8 often with a 2x and 500mm (DOF is no problem with the 2x on the 400mm) and one under the camera body). No Groof or Kirk needed on top. However, as a general rule, I prefer to shoot from a vantage lower than the roof level. The window. The groofwin with the brace on the outside and a bean bag sitting on top does the job. The Kirk won't clamp on -- not quite wide enough (though a slight mod back home fixed that problem) and its not a flat surface. However, both will work with a good bag. I find both companies to be good to deal with.

 

Mark Haflich

Nikon 400mm 5.6 AF-S. Nikon 600mm 4.0 AF-S with the new light-weight technology of the 400mm 2.8 AF-S. Nikon tilt shift (any). Why do we tell each other this? How can we effectively tell Nikon this and get IT to respond?

I have read Arthur's book three times now. Simply stated there is a wealth of information both as to how to shoot and where to shoot. Arthur is a paid Canon shooter and it is obvious that he likes much of Canon's equipment. He also critizes what he dislikes about it and pulls no punches. Being a great bird artist allows him to do this. He praises and critizes Nikon as well, and I believe acurately. There is much about the history and metamorphis of Morris, from school teacher to perhaps the most preeminent bird photographer today. The man is modest. He will quickly tell all how many thousands of shots he takes on each photo safari and how many shots get tossed. Many of the shots in the book are great, almost all are good. Like all of us, he has better stuff left as equipment keeps improving and he learns and improves from his experiences. If you like the latest in 35mm gear, heads, tripods etc and shoot with same, you will like his book. To learn all the secrets of his great shots, you will need to visit the locations, take your own shots and fiqure why there are better or worse. Take the Venice Rookery for example. Its relatively easy to get good shots there. But to take great shots, you need to be there at the right time of year (he tells you when), early and late light are critical, as well as getting the background right. With slide film, birds on top of the bushes on the top of the island (against the light sky) either underexpose or the sky burns out. Birds nesting against a bush make a better shot but to get the depth of a pair building a nest or a mother feeding a clutch of three, the depth of field will show some bush clutter. But pick a nest overhanging the island at the right end, where the green bushes on the otherside of the pond will give a blurred grean background that makes the birds pop, shoot lots of film, and maybe get a shot like the cover of Arthur's book. That's what I'll try next next February. Thanks Arthur.