marco_p1

<p>Any chance to see photos taken with this lens?</p>

<p>The current issue of the german magazine Naturfoto has a couple of services shot with D300 (s or not). It's one of the best magazines for nature and photography in my opinion and those photos of course look great. There seem to be little to complain with the camera or the "outdated" sensor. In the last issue one photographer had a set of underwater macro images shot with a.....<br>

D70 !!!<br>

wow! garbage camera some would say, but then again looking at the images, nothin wrong... the author recognises it 's a bit old but underwater housings cost a lot...<br>

And there are still services shot on film every now and then. Again, professionally scanned and the print quality of the magazine is good, nothing to complain.<br>

bye, Marco</p>

 

<p>When not M, i usually set A on my D300 just because I am an old FG and then F3 guy. But if you think of it, all three automated modes (A-S-P) work just the same in that moving a single dial you can choose your ideal f-stop/shutter time combination for a given iso setting and amount of light. Yes, even in P mode you can change the combination suggested by the camera to your ideal one just by turning the rear command dial, at least on the D300 but I suspect in most modern Nikons.<br>

Have fun,<br>

Marco</p>

<p>I have owned both for some time, used them on D200-D300. Both are very good lenses, close to primes for optical quality. But both are difficult to use due to MF, at least for me. The 50-153 is better built, but it's heavier and somewhat front-heavy. The 75-150 was the one which came with me on mountain trip, so I finally kept it and sold the 50-135. The humble Series E also survived a couple of 80-200 2.8 in my bag, as they were really big and heavy and had close to no advantage in image quality. ALso, AF was unreliable at close focus and 200 mm on my bodies. The current challenger is the new tamron 70-300 VC, which is almost as compact, with great performance and much more FL. Image stabilization is great, AF is dependable and image quality seems great also. Time will tell, but I can't see me parting from my 75-150.<br>

Have fun,<br>

Marco</p>

 

<p>So, nobody cares for the delay in the image you see through an electronic VF? With a mirror and a pentaprism you see what's going on in real time, the speed is that of the light. No electronic VF will ever match that performance. bye, Marco</p>

<p>You can put an extension ring between the tc14B and the lens, if the lens dosn't have enough free room to accomodate the protruding TC lens. You loose infinity focus but since we are talking about macro this may be worth it. A pk12 may be enough, maybe even the PK11A. If you already have a ring set it is worth a try. Good look, Marco</p>

<p>Hello, lots of good advice on this good lens, I also have one. I might add that I always keep at hand a couple of high quality closeup filters (nikon 3T and 4T). They give surprisingly good results with this lens, and at the same reproduction ratio you manage to have a brighter image to focus in your viewfinder compared to using the PN11. Focal length is reduced though so you loose some working distance. Have fun, Marco</p>

<p>Thank you John, Leo and Glenn, I will consider the digicams you suggested and those links Leo are incredible. The camera AXE seems particularly interesting.<br>

I am also investigating the CHDK for canon digicams, there is a motion detection feature which looks promising. If I manage to have the camera shoot only when there is activity at the feeder, i will loose no time looking at thousends useless pictures.<br>

a couple of links:<br>

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK<br>

http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,1038.0.html</p>

<p>bye,<br>

Marco</p>

 

<p>Thank youLeo, the link to your thread is very interesting and informative.<br>

In my application I have no need for quality, I just want to record the visits to the feeder. Real photographs would be done with proper equipment later, so I can settle for low resolution jpegs, even in BW mode if necessary. But at 1 shot every 5 seconds for 5 hours that's still 3600 shots, and battery power is really a problem.<br>

Marco</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thank you all for your suggestions. The device will be abandoned unattended in the wild, so using something linked to a PC is not feasible / practical / wise for this application. I will probably use some sort of digicam, my Nikon D300 could do it but I'm not leaving something that pricey alone in the wood. As Alan points out memory space will be a problem (but I can shoot at low resolution no quality needed), and power consumption also. The use of CF cards would be a plus as I already use them and I have some available at diferent capacity. As for power, an unit which works on NiMh batteries would be interesting as I have some high capacity ones available, which I use for my flashes, or I could use a couple of bigger batteries wired to the battery compartment of the camera.<br>

What about an old coolpix 990? is it timelapse capable on its own or would I need something to control it?<br>

Thank you,<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Hi to all.<br>

Simple question: i need a cheap device that can shoot a picture every second or two all day long or at least for 4-5 hours. The idea is to put it near a feeder in a remote location, just to see what comes and at what time... Does anybody know of some old, depreciated digital camera with time lapse function?<br>

thank you.<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Thank you all for your suggestions.<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Hello, I have a manfrotto 329 3D head, I have been using it for the last 4/5 years. The head has a nice feature in that you can leave the handles not completely closed and that way you get a nice frictioned head. Lastly it has lost this nice friction. I have dismounted it, cleaned it up, replaced the grease a couple of times, but its nice friction isn't back. I think the grease I used is not appropriate, something more dense would be better but what should I look for? I tried to ask Manfrotto and their reply was to send the head in for CLA as that specific grease is not a commercial one. Well i am not convinced to send the head just to have a bit of grease applied, I would be glad to do it myself. Thank you for your advice. Marco</p><div></div>

<p>Same problem with AF here, the ability of the D300 to set focus adjustments helps but does not solve the problem completly. Below about 3 mt at 200 mm focus is not reliable. At 135 mm it's fine, and with static subjects focusing at 135 and then zooming to 200 is a solution for me.<br /> And it is real that the lens at 200mm, close focus, f2.8 is weak, i mean the three conditions together, by just stopping down to 4 or 5.6 things improve dramatically. This is my second 80-200, both two ring version, and both behave the same. I sold the first because it seemed too big and heavy for my use, but recently had the chance to get the second for a good price, so I am an happy owner again, even though it has these limitations + the weight and size have not changed!<br /> Good luck. Marco</p>

<p>Thank you again, I will add Quiberon and the Belle-Ile to the map where I am locating the places worth visiting. Besides crepes (and gallettes) and cider I was advised to taste Calvados, although it's from normandy, if I understand correctly.<br>

bye,<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Please Ikka clarify that you were referring only to the video mode, and that the lack of manual control is only an assumption. It seems you scared a few people here.<br>

Pete Harlan, as I see it, the D300s is not introduced to convince D300 users to upgrade, but to give one more reason to those potential buyers which might choose another system, to buy the Nikon product. If i would not have a D300 already I would be happy to buy the new model with video, I think it's a nice way to give some new feature to an already good model which has been on the market for a couple of years and does not really need a replacement yet.<br>

ciao<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Thank you Walter, David and Peter, your help and suggestions are very appreciated!<br>

I will look at the provided links as soon as I can.<br>

Bye,<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Hi to all,<br>

As per the subject, i will be in Bretagne for two weeks, mid August.<br>

Ar there any places I should not miss? I am interested in nature photography, birdwatching. I am aware it's not the best time in the year as the nesting season is over and migration is probably not started, but that's it...<br>

Thank you very much for your help and your time.<br>

Marco</p>

<p>and I am staring with two wide open eyes!<br>

thanks Matt</p>

<p>What about correcting distortion in PP?</p>

<p>google nikonlinks, follow the links to equipment reviews, I am sure sou will find many.<br>

I own the f4, it's very good even wide open, of course the 2.8 version gives shallower DOF and the VR combined with the faster shutter speeds wide open will allow much easier work handheld.<br>

Can't you rent the lens for this specific task?<br>

Good luck,<br>

Marco</p>

<p>Colton, Gitzo has been making those big aluminium tripods for at least 3 decades now, I you look in the used market you can find the older versions for good prices now that everybody favours CF. I bought an old G-410 and it's wonedrfull, i paid less than half the price of a new G1410, which is the current model. And I still don't have the big glass! I am using it with my 300/4, and I can assure you that when I mount a TC on the lens, with the tripod extended to my eye level, the rigidity of the big tripod is a real benefit over the previous Manfrotto 055. Good luck, Marco</p>

<p>Hi to all,<br>

I am mostly interested in the oprical quality and the performance/reliability of AF.<br>

I am currently using the 300/4 AFS, with excellent results with the lens alone and the TC14E, but with the TC20E things get much more difficult. That said, when I manage to get the focus right and to keep the thing steady enough and the shutter speed outside the danger zone, I am happy with the results.<br>

I am hoping that with the 2.8 version of the 300 the same results with the 2X or hopefully even a bit better are easier to get, as the af should be within the 5.6 limit and the sutter speed one stop faster.<br>

I am aware of the shortage of replacement parts for the lens and would be interested to hear if someone actually had the lens af system fail. Also comments relative the more current AFS versions are wellcome.<br>

Thank you very much,<br>

Marco</p>

 

<p>Bill, I understand your point of view and actually thought about the same switch myself. At this point I only went half way: sold the Nikkor but did not buy the Tamron yet. At present the range is covered by the 75-150 and 180. Both MF with the consequent shortcomings, but both with wonderful quality even for closeups: the 75-150 with 3T and 4T diopters, the 180 with PK13 and PN11 tubes. I never tried the 80-200 with diopters but on its own it was really not at its best at 200mm and close focus, contrast and resolution dropped significantly, and I suspect this behaviour could be the source of the frequent focus problems of that lens. My lens did not focus properly at 200m and close focus on my D200, was sent to Nikon, checked and confirmed to be OK. Good luck and if you end up buying the Tamron please come back and share your findings! Bye, Marco</p>

Hello Tiffany, the "problem" with using a higher resolution camera is that it will show more easily your technical errors, if there are any. If you open an image on your monitor and view it at 100% you are actually looking at a higher resolution so any camera shake, misfocus, lens fault will be more visible. It's like looking at your slides with a more powerful loupe. But don't worry: the same shot with the same lens and the same technique will not print worse at the same dimension with the D200/300 vs D70. I also went from D70 to D200 a couple of years ago, and plan on keeping the D200 some more time. I had no particular problem in the transition, I enjoy the better viewfinder, monitor with higher zoom ratio, faster response, metering with my manual focus lenses, somewhat better AF. The D70 had a lesser body but produced wonderful images, not far behind my D200. Good luck with your activity. Marco