brad_vautrinot

<p>I use a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead with clamp, RRS L-bracket on the camera, mounted on a RRS TVC-33 tripod. This combo will handle any size DSLR with any size lens with ease and rock solid stability.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the responses and all of you have given me some important things to think about. I have two camera bodies - the D3 and the D3x. I have planned to use the D3x for landscape and HDR. As such, the D3x will be on a tripod, mirror up, cable release, use of native ISO (100) and anything else to minimize or remove movement. The D3 is used for everything else especially low light situations and/or high ISO settings. The 3x is new to me and I have to experiment more with it to determine its capabilities and liabilities. Some of the lenses I'll be using are the 14-24mm, 24-70mm, and the 70-200mm, all Nikkor lenses. I'll rent a Zeiss to use as a comparison and go from there. Thanks again for your input.</p>

<p>Brad in Quincy, MA</p>

<p>I've recently seen a couple of photos taken with a D3X using a <strong>Zeiss Distagon T* 21mm f/2.8 ZF.2 Lens</strong> and am duly impressed. Disregarding the hefty price tag are Zeiss lenses worth it even though they are not able to use auto focusing & focusing must be done manually? </p>

<p>Brad</p>

<strong><br /></strong>

<p>Bob Krist has used this lens and has posted his comments along with some pics, </p>

<p>http://www.bobkrist.com/blog/samples-with-the-new-af-s-nikkor-28-300mm-f3-5-5-6g-ed-vr/</p>

<p>I have a 70-300mm lens which was Nikon's best kept secret for awhile (and at less than $600.). I've used it extensively and have no complaints. It's a very sharp lens even out to 300mm. It's certainly good enough for Jay Maisel who uses one as his all-purpose street lens. </p>

<p>I have been waiting anxiously for the new 28-300 and have pre-ordered one from B + H. This will now re[place my 70-300 as an all-purpose street lens and I'm sure Maisel has already bought one. I know Moose Peterson & Joe McNally are getting one (no lightweights for sure). When the 28-300 arrives (hopefully less than 6 months from now), I'll put it through its paces and report back here.</p>

<p>Both of the above are for DX & FX formats.</p>

<p>In the meantime, I'll be keeping a lookout for others who use this lens. It seems like a real winner after looking at Krtist's report & if it's any where near as good as the 70-300, I'll be a happy camper.</p>

<p>Brad</p>

<p>AF-S VR NIKKOR 200mm f/2G IF-ED is the finest 200mm lens available, imho.<br>

Brad V.</p>

<p>

<p>Here's the one I have been using for a while and it functions flawlessly. It has all the latest electronic guts. Although it connects to your camera's 10-pin connector, the unit has a pass-through 10-pin connector on so you can still use a cable release, etc. (Built-in 10pin connector for Nikon 10pin accessories.)</p>

<p>di-GPS Pro</p>

<p>Works with the Nikon D3, D700, D3X, D300, D2XS, D2X, D2HS & D200, Fujifilm S5 Pro.</p>

<p>As small as a Zippo lighter and sits in the camera hot shoe.</p>

<p>Price - $268.00 w/ free shipping.</p>

<p>http://www.dawntech.hk/di-GPS/pro_1.htm</p>

<p>Brad</p>

<br />

</p>

<p>

<p>Garan,</p>

<p>You might want to take a look at the latest DVD from Nikon School titled:</p>

<p>A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting</p>

<p>http://www.nikonmall.com/products/educationalproducts/nikedudvd</p>

<p>It was made by Bob Krist and Joe McNally and really helps you get your head around these small flash units and explains the commander/remote usage quite well.</p>

<p>Brad</p>

<br />

</p>

<p>

<p>Either the SB-900 or SB-800 can be used as a commander. You can also use the SU-800 as a commander. Each one will control the flashes you mentioned independently. You can use an 800 as a commander to control the 600's or other 800's independently. Your camera must be CLS compatible, however.</p>

<p>Brad</p>

<br />

</p>

You need to download and install Camera Raw version 5.0 from Adobe.

Brad

"....the fact that killing is wrong..."

Even in self-defense? Even while defending your family? Even when someone's trying to kill you?

"....the potention for executing innocent people...."

It has never been proven in this country that an innocent has ever been executed. That's why it takes so long to get the deed done so all

avenues of possible innocence can be explored.

I still feel that there should be some photos of the victim's family as well as what was done to the victim (not a grisly

photo, although that might help convert some of the non-believers, but rather a newspaper headline of the crime

committed and IT'S ramifications.

BV

"Wrong, Brad! When did I say the geo-tagging came from the firmware? Please read carefully before you accuse."

Perhaps I'm reading this wrong from your post:

"I still stick to my original decision: I will not geo-tag any of images, except thru Nikon-approved hardware which supplies

the geo-tag to the firmware of the camera ...."

Arthur, I'm not following "the crowd" and I think that people on this forum are smart enough not to taken out a sub prime mortgage, but

I do process my photos via Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (that dreaded third

party software) as are many people and have had not one problem doing so.It works well for me. If programs such as

LR, Photoshop, Bridge, etc. were corrupting files no one would be using them and Adobe would be in trouble don't you

think?

Arthur, you're wrong.

I have used two different GPS devices on my D3 - a di-GPS Pro and a (Unnamed company) B2-GPS - and have had perfect

reliability and function from both. 99 percent of my photos are post processed in Lightroom (third party software). Since

the Geotagging places the GPS info in the metadata I'm able to go instantly from Lightroom to Google Earth where the

GPS data shows the exact location where the photo was taken. Never, and I mean never, have I had a problem with

this. Never had a photo damaged.

As I said above the GPS data is embedded in the photo's metadata and NOT in the camera's firmware (where did that

come from?). There is no roulette involved, Russian or otherwise. Is this a scare tactic or ad for Nikon's new GP-2 GPS

unit? Thousands have been using GPS devices and geotagging images in their Nikons for years and post-processing in

third party software without having any problems whatsoever. There is no data showing otherwise and folks wanting to

use GPS with their cameras should go right ahead without and fears of damaging anything.

Brad V.

"Ohio is averaging more executions than any state but Texas since the reinstitution of capital punishment there."

Good for Ohio! Keep up the fine work.

As Carl alluded to, the info on the victim and his/her family is conspicuously absent. Definitely one-sided, hence not fair

& balanced, hence similar to the partisan, drive-by media we see every day.

Brad V.

Hi Bernard,

When I bought my D3 I decided to go with Nikon's range of FX lenses - 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 (which I already had), and

200-400. For primes, I use the 16mm fisheye, 85mm 1.4, 200mm f/2 (was in the right place at the right time to find this

baby but that's another story), 200mm macro (awesome lens) and a 105 mm macro VR. As Bob stated this is a superb

lens and can also be used for portraits.

Brad

The Adobe camera profiles that Ilkka mentioned are very, very good. They are still beta and should be spot on when the

finals are released. They also have a DNG profile editor that is awesome and very exciting. I have used this program to

tweak Adobe's camera profiles to exactly match what I would get opening the same photo in NX2. I saved these settings

as presets in both LR 2 and ACR 4.5.

Mark, you really should upgrade to LR 2 and you'll need Adobe Camera Raw 4.5 for the above mentioned profiles to work

with your camera in LR 2 or Photoshop CS3 with ACR 4.5. There are many more great features available that are not

present in 1.4.

LR 2's output sharpening algorithms are based on those of PhotoKit Professional Sharpener and work extremely well -

for me anyway. They are much better than that used in LR 1.4. For prints ranging in size from 8 x 10 to 11x14 I use

Standard; for larger prints I use High; for smaller prints I use Low. Another thing that Jeff Schewe pointed out is that

prints should be made at a higher resolution than is native to the camera. For example, if I want to print a NEF photo

(which has a native res. of 240 ppi) he suggests that a 50 percent increase will make it look noticeably better. Any print I

make in LR 2 that has a native res. of 240 ppi, I print at 360 ppi. The prints are outstanding. IMHO, Lightroom 2 has the

best printing capabilities of any other program currently available.

NIK Software has released their new sharpening plug-in for PS and it looks great. It also uses U-poiint technology. You

can download a trial version from them.

Brad V.

Chris,

Lightroom 2 is totally non-destructive to ALL files including Nikon's NEF's and other manufacturer's RAW files. Your original files

are NEVER altered in LR. It's fast and powerful and has absolutely the best Printing module of any other software. Ever

since the start of it all photographers have complained (and rightly so) that their RAW files from their camera didn't look

the same when opened in Photoshop. Adobe has now posted camera profiles that work in Adobe's Camera RAW 4.5, Photoshop

CS3, and Lightroom 2 for every camera made, so far, so you can open your NEF RAW file in LR or Camera Raw and

have it look exactly like it would if opened in NX2. But wait, there's more. Adobe has also posted a DNG Profile Editor

that will let you make your own camera profiles in any way shape or form you want. This is powerful stuff and we're in on

the ground floor. I now do about 97+ percent of my post processing in Lightroom 2 now that I can open my NEF's exactly

as I could in NX2. I still use Photoshop CS3 when I need to do some heavy pixel wrangling and these files are then

brought back into LR. NIK Software's Viveza, SIlverEffects Pro, and Sharpener Pro 3.0 all use U-point technology and

are available as Photoshop plug-ins which makes me suspect that NIK writes the software for NX2.

Time and space won't permit a description of all that LR2 can do so I'd suggest you download a 30 day demo copy and

try it out.

Brad V.

Rene, Adobe's DNG Profile Editor has allowed me to make D3 profiles that make my RAW files look EXACTLY like they

would if opened in Capture NX2. Since I can now change my camera's profiles to anything I want I use strictly Lightroom 2

for 95 percent of my post processing. The other 5 percent is in Photoshop CS3 when I need to do some pixel mangling

(mangling said with affection). These same profiles also work in Camera Raw. One must have ACR 4.5 for these to work in

either LR or SC3.

Try this one - it's inexpensive and has excellent reviews. I have it but haven't needed to use it yet:

http://www.ecamm.com/mac/cardraider/

Brad

When I bought my 200-400 lens the first thing I did was replace Nikon's foot with one from RRS. It's more stable and also

has a slightly lower profile. My BH-55 ball head is the quick release model. It's not advisable to use VR with the camera/lens mounted on a

tripod and if the tripod is heavy enough there is no need for VR.

Brad

Charles,

Color Efex Pro 3.0 is available for Photoshop and NX2. They are two separate programs. In other words, CEF Pro for

Photoshop will not work with NX2 and vice versa.

Brad

You'll have to copy the entire link to get there. Sorry about that.

Brad

From Nikon USA:

Firmware version 2.0 upgrade for the D3

Windows:

http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?

p_faqid=15920&p_created=1214320612&p_sid=dnSPPF7j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9

JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD02LDYmcF9wcm9kcz0xOSw0NTImcF9jYXRzPTE4NiZwX3B2PTIuNDUyJnBfY3Y9MS4xODYmcF9

zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

Mac:

http://support.nikontech.com/cgi-bin/nikonusa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?

p_faqid=15921&p_created=1214332553&p_sid=dnSPPF7j&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZwX3NvcnRfYnk9

JnBfZ3JpZHNvcnQ9JnBfcm93X2NudD02LDYmcF9wcm9kcz0xOSw0NTImcF9jYXRzPTE4NiZwX3B2PTIuNDUyJnBfY3Y9MS4xODYmcF9

zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

Brad

I'm on a pre-order list for two of them but I won't be selling my seven 800's since they are totally compatible with the SB-

900. Except for those few folks with NAS, for this reason I don't see a huge influx of used 800's on the market.

Brad