kevin_nix

Maybe this will help.

 

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/content/2008/mar/tele-zoom.shtml

 

Bob Krist, a man who knows a few things about travel photography, prefers the 70-300 over the 70-200.

Check out this site.

 

http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/index.htm

 

He uses two SB-800 strapped together. It doesn't give you twice the power. With the Nikon CLS system, it allows each flash to shoot at half power and recycle faster. Easier on the flashes and more shots for you.

You do realize that as the Father, you are allowed to be on the other side of the glass, right? Also, you probably won't need the flash. The delivery room is lit up like daylight especially where the action is.

How about finding a place where you could take a shot through a window and then open the window and take another shot without changing anything. That should tell you if it's your lens or the window glass.

It's time to buy a real tripod.

 

This is going to be used for backpacking so I want to keep the weight down as

much as possible. I've made many sacrifices reducing the rest of my pack weight

so I don't want to offset all of that with a tripod that's bigger than I need. I

have a Nikon D70s with the 18-200 lens. I can't see going bigger than a D200

with a 70-200 lens in the future. If I get a 300 2.8, I'll buy a new tripod.

 

I'm going for the Acratech ballhead (~1 lb.)

 

Is the 1530 good enough?

 

The weight of the D70s with the 18-200 and ballhead is 3.5 lb.

The weight of the D200 with the 70-200 and ballhead is 6.1 lb.

 

The 1530 supports 17.6 lb and the 2530 supports 26.4 lb.

 

I've always heard the "3 to 1 ratio" rule tossed around. The current setup with

the 1530 puts it at 5 to 1 and with the D200 it's at 2.9 to 1.

 

I'm going to go and play with them this weekend but a camera in the shop behaves

differently than out in the field.

 

Anybody have any experience with this? What would you do?

Try this place:

 

http://paulsphoto.com/

 

They're in the South Bay near the Del Amo Mall. They prefer Nikons there and Paul has even written a few books about the old bodies. Great place for classes too.

This is a great question, Dan. I've wrestled with it myself for a while and done many searches on Photo.net but haven't found the perfect solution. I've gone to great lengths the drop the weight from my pack. The lighter you are, the farther you can go and the more energy you have to take pictures when you get there. I have a Nikon D70s and the 18-200 lens to go with it. My biggest quandary is where to carry the camera. I want it available at all times, but I can't carry it around my neck for 2 to 5 days at 8 hours a day. Hang it from the backpack, chest pouch, holster style from the belt? What do you guys think?

I think the results of this test show that under difficult exposure situations you need to spot meter. If you average the world together, it's about 18% grey so that's what the camera tries to do. If you have a light subject in a dark environment the camera is going to even the entire picture out by over exposing the light subject. The reverse is true if you have a dark subject in a light environment such as backlit scene. The camera will under expose the subject to try to get the whole picture at 18% grey. If you spot meter your subject or an area in the scene that is 18% grey, the exposure will be correct. There was a thread recently with a picture of a hallway that was difficult to expose. If you look down, there is a perfect 18% grey in the concrete at he photographers feet. Spot meter the concrete, recompose and shoot. Much quicker than playing with the exposure compensation.

I just went through the same quandary. I went with the 18-200 for two reasons.

 

1. I hike and backpack and one lens is lighter than two. Also, no lens changes make for less dust on the sensor.

 

2. My kids are fast. They can go from 18 to 200 pretty quickly and then be back again before I can switch the lens.

 

If you are looking to upgrade in the near future, resale value is something you should consider as well.

A week or so ago I decided to get the 18-200 VR and posted a question as to the best way to get it. I got many good answers about which list to get on online and who's website to check. A couple of people gave me the name of local camera shops and that got me thinking. I went to my local camera shop and there it was on the shelf for the same price as Adorama. It's not always going to work that way, but there are benefits to building a good relationship with your local camera shop.

When is this lens going to be widely available?!? Are there production problems?

It seems like there must be pretty low yields to still not be able to supply

enough of these. I was hoping to wait until the demand died down and have the

price drop a bit but it doesn't appear that it's going to happen any time soon.

What's the current wait time if I order it from Ritz or Adorama? Thanks.

It sounds like you need to get yourself a little point and shoot and play like a tourist this time.

This guy has a lot of good information about lighting and sports photography. Some of it is way more than most of us will ever need, but he also covers many basic concepts.

 

http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/index.htm

I've read many discussions on which lens to buy but my dilema is whether to buy

a new lens or a flash. I have a D70s with the 18-70 kit lens as well as the

50/1.8. I mostly shoot my kids age 2 1/2 and 2 months. I've been saving for the

Nikon 18-200 because I'm often at 70 with the kit lens wishing I had a little

more. I like the large zoom because things happen fast with a 2 year old and

I'll miss the shot if I'm always changing lenses. I got the 50/1.8 to take shots

inside with available light but the movement of the kids often requires the

flash and after a little research I beginning to realize the limitations of the

built-in flash. I'm sure I'll end up with both, but I can only get one now.

Which would you get?

If anyone wants to see lenses like this in the wild, check out the observation deck at the Santa Monica Airport. My son loves the airplanes and the paprazzi love taking pictures of the stars getting out of their jets.