rick_chen

My CLS in bright daylight, or facing sunset sometimes doesn't fire even if its 10'.....have to get like 5' for a higher chance

of firing. 30' I would say is very unreliable in daylight

If u need fill flash in day light and need to take advantage of the CLS high speed syn you need wireless system such as

flextt, minitt, photodix, yongnuo 622n, not because your pop up flash doesn't work with the sb800 but rather because

infrared of Nikon CLS hardly works in outdoor daylight over long distance.

Indoors in dancing hall, the popup commander works great esp if u have 3-4 flashes covering every corner and they

communicate well with one another.

<p>Just FYI, Nikon charged me $1000 to replace AF and VR motor on another 200 f/2 I own, and this is 2012. That's 33% value of the lens.<br>

Now I think of it....I used a 500mm f/4 VR last year for about 6 months, it has squeak as well when first started up but works perfect. Really hard to say when it's going to die out</p>

<p>Nikon service provides 90 day warranty against defects, if you are worried you should send it in again to have it checked to make sure. If something fails it's pricy to fix especially for super teles.<br>

When I had my 200mm f/2 VR and 300mm f/2.8 VR (both version one's), they both produce a little squeak when first started up. After you kept using it it goes away. I have sold them and switched to VR II's, and I havent heard of any squeak yet (maybe a few years later).<br>

So I dont think the squeak means anything is bad, perhaps it's normal I dont know. But my older super teles didnt fail on me as yet. The new ones have no squeak, but I cant say for sure it's simply because they are new...</p>

<p>28-70 f/2.8 used for about $800ish? assuming you have a full frame camera</p>

<p>I actually have the nikkor 35mm f/1.4g for several years...the nikkor and the sigma seems to be on par for me, but in low light I find the Sigma a bit sharper. In good light they are both very pleasing. You can fine tune Sigma's AF accuracy with 4 different focusing distances, and the AF speed with USB dock, and that's just a big plus. All that plus the Sigma is several hundred dollars cheaper...<br>

if you dont already own the nikkor go for the Sigma i think<br>

I use them both on D800E and D4</p>

 

<p>Thanks for the info. I will make sure to send the d600 in for repair before the warranty period ends, right now we need the camera cant afford to wait 4 weeks...<br>

I noticed the dust and oil after 500 shots or so. I figured it will continue to get worse so I plan to send it in after it gets dirty enough lol...rather than keep sending it into Nikon for 2~3 times and still not get the issue fixed, from others' example</p>

<p>wow...someone can replace their 20mm f/2.8d, 24mm f/2.8d, 28mm f/2.8d, 28mm f/1.8g, 35mm f/1.8g with this lens and not lose speed? heck of a deal :)</p>

<p>Hi all is there anyone here who knows how to use the new Yongnuo 622N transceivers?<br>

I have always used the simple Nikon CLS, which is very convenient (FEC, off camera manual control etc.) but it doesnt work well outdoors and in far distances, that's why I decided to try out the pair of affordable ittl compatible transmitter/receiver by Yongnuo for $80. Other radio triggers works great and simple but they dont support high speed syn and TTL and stuff<br>

Just got it today and the manual is of little help. I am so confused right now...anyone knows how to operate this thing?<br>

1. in master mode with a flash on camera and other speedlights off camera<br>

2. in remote off camera mode with no flash on camera<br>

3. in manual off camera mode, how do i control flash power from camera?</p>

<p>Thanks!!</p>

<p>It's just announced, $799 USD</p>

<p>Hmmm....I was curious about the difference between the 120-300's new A version and old version, online review says they are basically the same lens minus a new cosmetics plus USB dock compatibility, for $800. I can get the old version used for about $2000, certainly an interesting option.</p>

 

<p>Yes I do I have updated the firmware on both bodies. The LCD brightness are both default at "0"...ok maybe my LCD is dying out then...</p>

<p>Hi guys I have an early model D4 which I preordered and was delivered last year. I recently picked up another D4, and that's how I found out that my old D4 has one very strange issue. The images look great and does not affect my shooting at all, but when I have the liveview on, either in movie or picture mode, it is a tiny bit dimmer, as if it's 1/3 or 2/3 stop darker. It doesnt matter whether I have it in aperture or manual mode, or auto ISO, it's always dimmer than what I see and what the images will show.<br>

It's very easy to tell I would set it on a tripod, use either manual or aperture priority take 1 pic with liveview and 1 without. Both images will come out exactly the same if you play back. But the thing is when you compare the image playback with the liveview, the liveview is dimmer. It doesnt get darker when you actually take the image, but only in liveview. I have turned off monitor auto dimming, and both D4s are set to default monitor brightness.<br>

Anyone have any idea what's going on? or I might have done something wrong....<br>

Thanks!!</p>

<p>I keep the original straps sealed in case I need to sell.<br>

The straps are too rigid and too short, hurts my neck especially with all the heavy lenses. I also do not want to attract theft with the yellow D4 and D800E over my neck.<br>

I use shoulder sling straps with connections that can be exchanged quickly between different bodies</p>

All specs aside, the sb 600 has a used market value of $200 (I think?) but I think the retail of the yongnuo new is under,

like $150. So that alone is not a fair trade. Even their top of the line 568ex which supports high speed syn, high power,

Nikon CLS etc retails for $190 new , and is up for grabs on ebay for around $170. They are terrific flashes for the price,

but Nikon's worth more coz its a Nikon despite sb 600's crippled spec ( slave only, rotate angle etc)

<p>Yes..the Tamron is 1 doxmark higher, it's lighter, shorter, smaller, has VC, cheaper, tiny tad sharper, but the nikkor looks better, feels better built, faster AF speed and perhaps have more consistent sharpness.<br>

I have never owned the Tamron, but I did played around with it and a couple of other tamron lenses, they dont feel very well built. The thing I like about the nikkor is the almost instant AF, that by itself is a keeper for me.<br>

If nikon is going to release a 24-70 VR some time in the future, my wallet is gonna hurt, that will be very pricy lens.</p>

<p>Hi Guys,<br>

The 24mm f/1.4G was my wife's favorite lens when she has a D5100. I on the other hand use the 24-70 most of the time. We own them for about 2 years. After my wife switched over to full frame D600 she did not touch the 24mm again, she went to the 35mm f/1.4G and now she is in love with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for her wedding shoots. The 24-70 is my go to lens for weddings as well.<br>

I just realized I did not bring my 24mm out much at all, other than sometimes when I want to take some real estate quick snap shots and just need a light lens to bring along.<br>

My question to photographers: when do you use your 24mm f/1.4G, over the 24-70? I know you can shoot wide open at f/1.4 in a dark room, but this lens is not sharp wide open, especially if you dont shoot closeups. The lens is so rarely used in my bag, but it's a nice lens I feel like I want to keep it if I do need it some day. Perhaps I am not very good at 24mm, but please, enlighten me with how you will use it to create beautiful images? share your thoughts about when and why you would use it over the 24-70? In weddings, 24mm can have its share of distortions on the people at certain angles..<br>

Thanks for all comments</p>

<p>Pay to service? that sucks.<br>

My d600 has dust and oil after 600 shots. I was hoping they would take responsibility for that. If they are going to charge then I probably shouldnt send it in yet, wait till all the oil comes off after more use....is this the right thing to do?<br>

After all the oil and dust havent show up in images shot at f/4 or faster...so far..</p>

<p>+1 on the Sigma 35mm<br>

Although I wouldnt say it's that noticeably better than my nikkor 35mm f/1.4G, maybe it is in reviews, but real world samples I find it hard to tell. I own both. Online reviews and test charts is showing the Sigma about 10-15% better in sharpness than the nikkor, and they both have very similar characteristics in terms of center and edge sharpness.<br>

But the price is good that's for sure, at $900, a good 40-60% cheaper</p>

<p>Errmmm...u can perhaps look into buying a lensAlign and Focustune for $100 and follow instructions (a lot of test parameters, distance, constant lighting, etc. etc.) . The AF fine tuning methods described above is okay, but if you need even more precise results for pixel peepers then it's definitely worth looking into it.<br>

I came across AF fine tuning tools out there because of my D800 & D800E too. The high MP make camera shake or AF inaccuracy quite obvious...and I wasnt sure it was the AF or the wide spread "left focus" issue. Spent a lot of time looking into it, sending it to nikon, then testing it blah blah blah.....<br>

Anyways, when AF is properly fine tuned, the accuracy can easily exceed live view contrast detection autofocus, which is a generally a good benchmark to go by.<br>

Another thing I found out is that it's way easier to achieve accurate AF fine tuning with primes than the zooms, which varies according to distance, focal length etc. So after fine tuning everything you might end up with a crazy range for zooms, such as +5 to -10, while the primes are pretty much spot on everytime.<br>

Yeah like everyone else said, just go out and shoot. I have been through all that testing and tuning and it's very time consuming</p>

<p>I've never tried the Sigma. Prices aside...<br>

I "feel" better with the $1500 gold ring nano coated nikkor</p>

<p>I bought my 500mm VR II for $4000....is that a good deal or no? Have no idea about the used market</p>

<p>From my experience for upgrading from 200 f/2 VR and 300 2.8 VR to version II's, I really cant tell any difference. Perhaps 1 in every 20 shots or so the contrast might be a bit better. The shots produced by my 200-400 VR I seems to be on par with my 200, 300 and 500. Shun's right, the 1 additional stop of VR performance might not justify for that much added cost...since you definitely need a super sturdy tripod for these lenses</p>

<p>Hmmm...landscape and backpacking...ok....how about...<br>

Ultra Wide to Wide: 16-35mm (est. $1000), takes filters, lighter weight than 14-24, 17-35, comes with VR II<br>

Telephoto: 70-200mm f/4 VR III ($1400), takes filters, lightweight, VR III, versatile zoom range, or 300mm f/4 AF-S G ($1000, might need tripod) takes filters, very lightweight. 300mm on a full frame isnt really that far<br>

Not sure if you need mid range, but I find I am usually either wide or super telephoto when taking landscape shots, mid range is more for the small things I find along the hike etc...If you need it, the new kit lens with D600 is awesome and super light<br>

24-85mm VR $500</p>

<p>For better budget, 80-200mm 2.8 D ($600, it's heavy tho), 24-85mm VR. If you are shooting at f/5.6 and above, the 24mm 2.8 D shouldnt be any sharper than the kit zoom at 5.6. That lens is kinda soft wide open.</p>

 

<p>Sent in a 200mm f/2 vr for super tiny fungus cleaning on 1 element, estimated to be $400 elsewhere and I decided to try Nikon. They quoted $600, no cleaning, strictly element replacement. I agreed. Then they take the lens apart, say the AF motor doesnt work which is BS coz it has been working. Estimate jumped to $1600. We said ok. 6 weeks later lens came back, after parts hold etc., the minute I put it on D800E it froze the camera with defective VR. No sorry no shipping reimbursements, I have to send it back again. Guess what, they say the hood has damage and wants me to replace it for $45. I say ok. The hood never arrive until a week after the lens gets fixed, and I think I waited 9 weeks overall. I always have to call for updates, no one ever call or email me. It's really quite terrible. If there is any Canon user please let me know about the service on the Canon side, I seriously almost switch to the dark side if I was not so impressed by the D800E and owning all the pro lenses from nikon. They do not even qualify for better business bureau or whatever it's called</p>