derek_thornton1
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Posts posted by derek_thornton1
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<p>Thanks everyone, I purchased my first used lens, the Tamron 90mm f/2.8 DI SP. Cant wait to get it!</p>
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<p>Thanks Guys, no way I am buying Ebay, no offense to those who do. I have dealt with B&H for years and have had nothing but good words for them. The item is rated at 9.</p>
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<p>Being that Nikon no longer sales parts to the consumer I doubt seriously that you could get a parts manual, so I would go with the duct tape.</p>
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<p>Anyone ever bought a used lens from B&H? If so, was the lens acceptable? I have never bought used camera equipment and feel a little apprehensive. Also, it is Tamron instead of Nikon and I am not sure about the quality of the item. Stinks being on a budget!</p>
<p>Thanks,<br>
Derek</p>
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<p>Can anyone tell me what benefit it would be for one to purchase Photomatix Pro over Photomatix Essentials. From what I can see the only real difference is you can only use up to 5 bracketed photos with Essentials and as many as you want with Pro. I can not ever see needing more than 5 photos. Also, I really like having Essentials as a plugin with Photoshop Elements 11. So if anyone has experience with both versions please tell me why the Pro Version would be better than Essentials.</p>
<p>Thank You,<br>
Derek</p>
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<p>I appreciate all of the responses. Much of the conversation was unnecessary but still appreciate it. </p>
<p>I have come to the conclusion that I will trash the DVD's. I will have primary and back-up here at home and a third copy(favorites) at brothers house. I have 4 McCally cases with 1 TB Western Digital HD;s in each. They are separate external drives with a usb 3.0 hookup, nothing fancy. Over the years I have bought around 10 hard drives and have yet to have any failures. In fact, yesterday I hooked up a 14 year old Seagate that still worked great. Better to be safe than sorry!</p>
<p>Derek</p>
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<p>Since 2007 I have been backing up my work on External Hard Drive and DVD. At this point I have too many DVD's and considering using Hard Drives to back up Hard drives. Actually, the price of DVD's have gone up and they are slow as molasses, you get more GB's per dollar with the Hard Drive. Despite that I think the DVD would be less prone to failure. </p>
<p>Is there anyone here backing up their Hard Drive with other Hard Drive. The last thing I want to do is lose info, but the DVD's are piling up! I would appreciate any input for or against this method.</p>
<p>Derek</p>
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<p>My daughter will be graduating soon and I would like to get some real nice portraits of her. I am a nature/landscape photographer who knows very little about photographing people, or portrait lighting.<br>
What I have: Nikon D300, D600, SB-700, SB-600 and two SB-R200's. I also have plenty of lenses that should work well for the situation. The photographs will be done indoors.<br>
What would be the most economical way for me to do this? Do I need strobes or can I use my flashes with some large softboxes? I guess I would need a backdrop. I would most likely need some sort of trigger, since I doubt the CLS will work through a softbox. I guess wired would be cheaper than wireless? I would think that I would need two lights or softboxes. I would also need some stands, etc.<br>
I would like to get great photos without breaking the bank. I am sure the equipment will get used more than once since my wife likes photographing people. So I also do not want the cheapest equipment either.<br>
So please tell me what I need, including brand names.<br>
Thank You Much!</p>
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<p>I will not send my D600 in unless I have an issue. And, I highly doubt I will ever sell it.</p>
<p>Shun, Nikon's not mentioning oil does not mean it is not there. If it were just dust it could have been blown out, not to mention I could see it with a loupe. I should also mention that this is my second D600, the first refurbished unit was covered in dust/oil. However, it was returned because the viewfinder display was not working. Like I stated earlier my problems lasted from 4,000-7,000 actuations but wet cleaning is not that difficult. I have a feeling that had all D600 owners been a little patient their problems would have cleared after a couple thousand shots too. But, they do not have to be patient.</p>
<p>I will say the only thing that I dislike about the D600 is the very small AF coverage. For $1500.00 you will never hear me complain.</p>
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<I>
<p>Derek, please excuse me for interrupting your post and add some background information.</P>
<P>
Both Nikon Europe and Nikon USA have issued a new service advisory, offering free cleaning and free shutter assembly replacement, including shipping cost, on those D600 bodies that are affected by tiny dust spots on their sensors. This free service includes D600 cameras that have expired warranties.</p>
<ul>
<li>Nikon Europe: <a href="https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55647">https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55647</a></li>
</ul>
<P>
Those service advisories are carefully worded, e.g. the word "oil" never appears on either one of them.
</P>
<p>Shun Cheung</p>
<P>
Derek's original post follows:
</P>
</I>
<HR size=3>
<p>I bought a refurbished D600 last year. It gave me problems with dust and oil from 4000 to 7000 actuations. At 7000 actuations I wet cleaned it and it has been perfect ever since. Is a matter of fact I have had less issues with dust in my D600 than I had with my D200 and D300. <br /><br />
Should I send my camera in anyway? <br /></p>
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<p>Personally, I am a nature/landscape photographer. The only time I use a flash is for small animals, like reptiles and amphibians. Even then, I prefer to mount the camera on a tripod and use the flash as fill only. In some cases with very small animals, like Brown Snakes, I will use a couple of SB-r200 on a ring and SB-700 as the master. Even though it all seems to be plug and play I am rarely satisfied with the results if I have to step back a bit, underexposing is the norm. </p>
<p>This past weekend my wife wanted to photograph her friends baby. I tried setting up something to help her get some good shots. I used all four of my flashes as slaves to the D300's flash. I used this little Nikon gizmo to cover the D300's flash. It did not matter where I placed the flashes I got shadows. After 3 hours I gave up and put a softbox on the SB700 and told her good luck. Obviously, I have no clue to lighting and need to get some instruction. Can anyone recommend a good book that would give examples and show all the necessary setting to camera and flash.</p>
<p>Even though I am not thrilled about photographing people I hate for anything to get the better of me. I have never once had to crack open a book to learn about photography, learned it all on my own. However, this is really kicking my butt. Any help appreciated.<br>
Derek</p>
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<p>Rick, that is an expensive lens you definitely want that back. Is a matter of fact I may want to buy it. How long ago did the accident happen?</p>
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<p>Rick, if you plan on replacing that lens with the same, I would get it back. Personally, I would get it back anyway. Dismantle it and sell the parts or keep them in case you need parts in the future. I throw away everything but camera parts. Just yesterday my cat pulled my D300 off a table putting a nice dent/crack in the front(filter threads) of my Nikon 50mm f/1.4 lens. So, I will have to wait for a damaged 50mm lens to show up on ebay. Nikon will probably charge me more than the lens is worth to repair and they no longer sell parts so what can you do?</p>
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<p>Thanks, <br>
I am surprised that I did not see that, Lenstip is one of the sites I visit frequently. Even though it looks to be as good as anything else in its range, I'm a little disappointed. </p>
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<p>It looks to me like this lens is finally starting to ship. Black Friday, go figure. If any of my fellow photo.net'ers have got this lens please give us your thoughts. I would have already purchased it but would rather play it safe and wait for a review.</p>
<p>Thank You,<br>
Derek</p>
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<p>Sanjay, here is my opinion.<br>
Your equipment is perfect. I would prefer digital over film because you can see what you have done and make any of the necessary changes. You will have to get a bit closer than I do with a 300mm/tubes. Dragons and Damsils can be approached, especially in the morning so getting close will not be a problem with your 100mm lens. Your tripod is great.</p>
<p>Should you use a flash, that is up to you. What do you like in your shots? Personally I dislike any highlights, especially in the eyes and wings, some people like it, like the man that wrote that ebook. Of all of his shots, there are only 2 that I would have kept. Not everyone has the same taste. That does not make my style right and his wrong or vice-versa, it is what you like that matters. I also like un-distracting backgrounds. I shoot on overcast/rainy days or in the early morning. I rarely use a flash but try to keep shots at less than a second exposure, depends on the wind. When I have used a flash I use a soft box to soften light. I like some clear distance behind the subject which means shooting straight at them eye to eye. However, sometimes the background is fine for shooting down on them. </p>
<p>The only thing I would recommend for you is digital. Film is too expensive and time consuming when you are experimenting and/or learning. I am sure you can find some used Canon bodies that will mate with your lens at an affordable cost.</p>
<p>Good Luck,<br>
Derek</p>
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My New D600
in Nikon
<p>Darren, chances are you will have some oil issues starting at about 4,000 shots. It is no big deal. I wet cleaned mine at 6,000 shots. I am at 10,000 shots now and have not needed to re-clean. It seems that from 4,000-8,000 is where the problems occur. After that everything seems good.</p>
<p>I love the D600. It is by far better than my D300, which I love too. I will say that FF was a big shock to me. All of my lenses vignette opened up and if you take a long exposure you have to cover viewfinder or you will end up with funky stripes and a pink tinge.</p>
<p>I am sure you will enjoy your D600 and living in Australia, you will probably be past 10,000 shots before January is up.</p>
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<p>Alicia, the best thing about Canon/Nikon is there resale value. Everyone makes such a big deal about making a change. Sure, you will lose some money but not as much as you would think. Really, the only big loser in both lineups would be the D600. However, I love mine. I have several times thought about making a change. Personally, I hate that Nikon will not sell parts to the consumer or the repair shop. So my next body/lens will most likely have Canon tattooed on it. When it comes to photography I don't care what is written on it, I just want to shoot. I will say that I have never been partial to Sony. Anything that I have ever owned by Sony never lasted long, even their writable DVD's.</p>
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<p>Oh, that sounds cool! Although that probably will call for some software that I do not have. If anyone here knows if you can tether a D600 please chime in. I will start searching the net.</p>
<p>Thanks Anthony</p>
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<p>Anthony, the D600 has a built in intervalometer for time lapse. It can be set to take pictures at whatever intervals you want for whatever length of time you want. From what I understand it compresses the pictures into a Movie File. What I am not sure of is if you can stop and restart time lapse for a battery change or to give growing plants a lighting break. And, I defiantly would not even consider cleaning sensor during time lapse. Just worried about dust accumulating "during" time lapse. </p>
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<p>I am doing a time lapse of radish growing on a paper substrate that my brother created. When wetted the paper swells to 3/8". The roots penetrate the paper with ease. The time lapse will be used to show customers his product. So it needs to be good. My brother chose radish because it grows quickly. I have 0 experience with time lapse photography. However, I do have good equipment for the job. I will be using a Nikon D600 with a Nikon 105mm f/2.8 lens and a Gitzo Tripod with Kirk Ballhead. I have seen hundreds of time lapse videos on the web, few show any instruction. Those that do leave out a lot of needed info. Can anyone here give me some pointers on how best to do this or direct me to a good tutorial. </p>
<p>Info needed on:</p>
<p><strong>f/</strong> - Take into consideration that I am using a D600 that has had issues with dust/oil. The dust/oil has diminished greatly at 9000 actuations, but it still happens. I probably should shoot at f/16 to get good DOF but may show dust better.</p>
<p><strong>Lighting</strong> - Should I use regular CFL lighting or grow lights? Do I need to turn off lights at night or can I leave running throughout?</p>
<p><strong>WB</strong> - I am use to leaving WB on auto and shooting RAW. I am guessing this will not work on time lapse?</p>
<p><strong>Power Supply</strong> - I asked this question on Nikon Forum. What would be best power supply, Vello Battery Grip, Power2000 AC power supply, etc.? I need power supply that wont break bank or break my D600.</p>
<p><strong>Itravalometer Settings</strong> - It could take 3-9 days to record. I have seen where one shot every 14 minutes and it looked pretty good. Does 14 minutes sound adequate? And if I have to power down for several hours at night will I be able to continue same time lapse? If I chose the battery route instead of AC power, could I make a battery change and still be able to continue same time lapse. In other words, I don't want a bunch of time lapses that I have to put together. </p>
<p>I could end up with 1500 shots not to mention losing my camera for days, I want to get this right first time. Any help will be greatly appreciated.</p>
<p> </p>
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<p>Yes, I have seen the video but I never did see how it was set up. With 14 minutes between shots and 6 hours off, it would be easy to swap batteries. If I could remove battery and reset time lapse without moving the camera that would work. I imagine if he had a 6 hour off cycle than he most likely shut everything down during that period. However, if he shut it all down that would break the time lapse, meaning he would end up with 9 time lapses that would have to be put together manually. I guess? Then again, a Vello battery grip would probably last for 9 days and 1300 shots. I could definitely get some use from a battery grip for doing star trails.</p>
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<p>Thank You Michael. I was wondering if the battery would work. If I turned off the monitor that would save some power. At the moment I am not sure how many shots it will be. It will be a time lapse of Radish sprouting from seed an a thick absorbent paper. The time lapse will continue through the night. From what I understand it takes about 3 days to grow an inch. I have been trying to find instructions online without much luck.</p>
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<p>Does the Sigma 24-105mm f/4 interest me? Absolutely Yes! Nikon has nothing in this range other than the 24-70mm f/2.8 that is any good and it is way too expensive. When Nikon announced the 24-120mm f/4 I was thrilled and soon upset with all the not so good reviews I read. Maybe I should not read into the reviews so much, as the new Nikon 18-35mm has been an AWESOME little lens. But then again it was only $750.00, a lot less than $1,200. I have never bought a brand other than Nikon, but really have a feeling I will be getting the Sigma lens.</p>
Buying used from B&H
in Nikon
Posted
<p>Hey Shun,<br>
Right after I made the comment B&H sent me an email to return the lens. So I immediately erased the post here. I thought I should go over the lens one more time before sending it back. I put it back on my D300 and it would not focus at all, nothing worked. So I again tried without the Kenko tube and it worked flawlessly. In fact, it focused as fast as my Nikon lenses! Then I tried each tube to see which one may be bad. All the tubes worked fine! After screwing with it for a whole day I could not get it to mess up again, even though it would not even focus to begin with. The conclusion I have come to is that it was never the lens but the Kenko tubes that caused the problem. So I am keeping the lens and so far I am happy with it. Sorry it took me so long to respond.<br>
Derek</p>