derek_thornton1

<p>There is one location I can give you. The only way you can get in and out of the location is through the visitor center. There is no way you could leave with a plant or animal. It is called Francis Biedler Swamp or Four Holes Swamp. It is located off of I-26 between Columbia and Charleston SC. I was there last year at this time and saw 14 snakes from 8 species. The whole trail is a boardwalk and you are not allowed to leave it. So, it really helps to have a 300mm lens or better.</p>

<p>The species I saw are:<br>

Black Racer-1<br>

Yellow Rat Snake (Greenish Phase)-1<br>

Green Snake-1<br>

Banded Watersnake-2<br>

Brown Watersnake-3<br>

Red-bellied Watersnake-2<br>

Eastern Cottonmouth-3<br>

Canebreak Rattlesnake-1</p>

 

<p>Greg, I doubt any reptile lover is going to tell a stranger where their favorite spots are. There was a time when I would, and after doing so I found my spot to be void of snakes, all the downed trees striped of bark, logs rolled over and not returned, etc. People have a knack of destoying things to get what they want. With 8 billion people on the planet a hotspot would be quickly destroyed on a internet leak. I wont even tell my wife or kids what my favorite spots are and I only visit them alone. Its really sad that it has come to this. My interest is in photographing them in the wild, that puts me in the 1% crowd. The other 99% wants to take them or just kill them. Yes, I have run across people armed with rifles that only want to shoot snakes, any snake.</p>

<p>The Sandhills use to be a hotspot. Word got out, thanks to the internet, and the crowd of collectors have wiped it clean. Not only did they take the herps but they dug up many rare plants too. Now you are lucky to find any snake crossing a road in that area and game wardens are on 24 hour survailence to bust anyone that fits the description within protected areas. Last year I was questioned by a game warden and I was only there to photograph the sunset.</p>

<p>Your best bet is to find your own spots. Now is the time as places are quickly disappearing in the SE. When you do find your spot, take care of it by leaving it the way you found it. You can get an idea of areas from field herping sites. However, they will not give specific locations either. Sorry for being so negitive.</p>

<p>Never mind, I figured it out.</p>

<p>Some how I have fogotten how to insert a picture to a post. I right clicked on the photo, went to properties and copied the url address. In the post I hit the "insert picture" button and pasted the address, nothing happened.<br>

Appreciate any help,<br>

Derek</p><div></div>

<p>Thanks Shun, beat you to it. It is F8 on D600 too.</p>

<p>OK, so I was able to reverse the controls in the custom settings. Back to one problem, display is dim on right side. Anyone have this kind of issue? It does not really bother me and I dont know if I would send it back for that. What would you all do?</p>

<p>Hey guys, just got my Refurbished D600. Everything seems to be fine so far except one thing. When you look into the view finder the display is half lit. The left side that shows speed, f/stop and -exposure are fine. The right side, + exposure, ISO, picture # flash indicator are dim. Excuse me, there are two problems as we all know that the + should be on the left and the - should be on the right. Dont guess this can be fixed from the menu?</p>

<p>Well guys, I did it. And, I got the new 18-35mm to go with it. Hopefully the D600/18-35mm will be as good a combo as my D300/12-24mm was for landscapes/waterscapes. <br>

Thanks for the responses.<br>

Derek</p>

<p>I am going to buy a refurbished D600, I am finally going FX. As I was about to purchase this camera from B&H I learned that Cameta has the same price on refurbished but with an additional 9 month warranty. That is a full year warranty, like new, can't beat that. However, I know little about Cameta, and nothing about how they treat warranty claims. <br>

Does anyone know how this works with Cameta. If I have a problem after the Nikon 90 day warranty is up do I send the unit to Nikon or to Cameta? Is Cameta good about this warranty? And, would you purchase at Cameta over B&H for refurbished because of the extra warranty? I love B&H, they have been so great over the 6 years I have been involved with photography. I have used others and only Adorama seems to be an equal.<br>

Thanks for any help,<br>

Derek</p>

<p>The D300 will get 30-45 RAW photos? There must be something wrong with mine. The most I have ever got out of my D300 was 16/17 shots before it would stop. On the other hand my D200 would go forever. I never got a number on the D200 because it never stopped shooting as long as my finger was on the trigger. 6 to 7 shots is awful, there is no way that would work at the drag races. </p>

<p>The same thing happened to my brothers D70 and as one contributor said, it became a nice doorstop. Karen, you can get real nice D200's on ebay for $300.00. </p>

<p>Thanks for the responses. I have told a couple of people but since I did not see who did it or a hawk fall from the sky there is nothing they can do about it. However, the next time I hear a gun fire from that area I will be calling the law. We hear gunshots over there once a month. I am in a suburban area of Greenville SC, there are lots of people here. Personally, I feel anyone who shots a rifle (sounded like a .30-30/.30-06) in a crowded neighborhood is a threat to society much less BOP. The people in question are both over 60, one has a yard filled with "No Tresspasing" signs the other is a sex offender.<br>

Sure would make me feel better if someone would say that the birds were scared off by the gunshots, even if they had a completed nest and possible chicks.</p>

<p>We had a pair of Broad-wings nesting 2 streets over from my house. I have enjoyed watching them play and fly around the neighborhood for the last couple of months. Every time I am out in the yard I hear their screeching. Two days ago I heard 2 gunshots in the general area that they were nesting. I have not heard or seen them since I heard the gunshots. My guess is they are dead. I was wondering if anyone here could tell me if there are any laws to protect birds of prey withen city limits? Is there anything that can be done about this? Broad-wings seem to be doing fairly well in South Carolina, no way they are endangered. We have a good idea of who did it, but what can you do? </p>

<p>Are we still in a recession? I have been hearing about a recession for close to 10 years, other than 2007 I have not seen any proof of that. What I have seen is through the roof car sales. It is not unusual for someone to come in for an oil change and drive away in a brand new car. I shot at some local lakes this weekend and could not believe all of the brand new, full size pickups pulling brand new bass boats. I have been on this earth for close to 50 years and I have never seen so many people with so many new expensive toys. Recession, yeah right!</p>

<p>As for film sales, I dont really see the point in arguing over it. I am just happy it is still available.</p>

<p>I see that the polarizer goes at the end of the system. It is a huge polarizer that causes vignetting if you are using 2 or more slots on wide angle lenses. Is it possible to attach the filter holder system to a slim polarizer, thus eliminating the need for an expensive 105mm polarizer?</p>

<p><strong>Instead of this:</strong> Lens+adapter ring+holder+polarizer.</p>

<p><strong>This: </strong>Lens+polarizer+adapter ring+holder.</p>

<p>It seems to me this would not only cut down on cost but would also do away with vignetting. From what I have seen so far I like the Hitech Holder better than the Lee Holder. I just do not like the way the polarizer works on the Hitech. I would also like to know if the Lee Filters will work in a Hitech Holder?</p>

<p>Thanks for any help</p>

<p>For those here that have purchased this lens you should be recieving it in a day or two. I am really curious to see how it stands against the older version and how it compares to the Canon 17-40mm f/4L. If it is a worthy lens I would like to get it before the price rises $300.00 like it did on the 16-35mm f/4.</p>

<p>I just learned that Hitech has a whole new lineup of IR blocking ND filters. And, Hitech offers them in a cokin P size. May go that direction?</p>

<p>John, I use a slim Nikon Polorizer with a P holder that has only 1 slot and it still vignetts from 12-14mm. With 2 slots used, I lose 12-17mm. I have 3 P holders that have been altered in different ways. Funny thing is they finally have Lee 4x4 systems in stock and I am considering the round filter.</p>

<p>I am thinking about purchasing a 5 stop ND filter, It is the screw on type. I have been using a Cokin P with Hitech Filters. I have been happy with that system up to a 1.2 ND. Anything above 1.2 seems to leave a cast that is hard to remove. On a cloudy day at f/16 I can get 3 second exposures with what I have. I would like to get over 10 second exposures at f/11.</p>

<p>I will be using it on a Nikon 12-24mm lens. Occasionally I will use a slim Nikon Polorizer with the ND filter, this will surely cause vignetting. If I use an 82mm ND with a 77mm step down ring, will that take care of any vignetting problem? Also, can anyone reccomend the best ND for the buck?</p>

<p>Thank You,<br>

Derek</p>

<p>Rod, if you are shooting jpeg's go to your favorite camera store and enter "wite balance" into the search. There are hundreds of white balance disc and cards ranging from $5.00-$100.00. that should help you greatly. You will have to reset your WB any time the light changes. Personally, I have always shot RAW with auto WB. </p>

<p>The Nikon 12-24mm lens has treated me well.</p>

<p>The D7100 looks good. However, for those holding out for a D400 this is just one more reason to know that the D300 has been phased out. If I am not mistaken 13/14 DSLR's have been introduced since the D300 debuted.</p>

<p>I have bought two Vello timer remotes. They have both been great. I was just at there site looking for a battery grip for the D600. Sadly they dont have one yet. I too had some worries about buying non-Nikon parts. </p>

<p>If I am not mistaken, Minolta sold out to Sony and the Minolta Lenses work on the higher end Sony DSLR's. So you could buy an old Minolta SLR on ebay or a newer Sony DSLR. I would not attempt to mount a Minolta lens to a Nikon for many reasons. If you like tinkering you should get a Minolta SLR. I would imagine that you can get them for next to nothing on ebay.</p>

<p>I am thinking about getting the D600. I was kind of hoping to replace D300 with a D400 but have a feeling that it has been phased out or moved to D600. </p>

<p>I would like to know more about the oil/dust spots. How often are you having to wet clean sensor? I really do not understand how this could be such a drastic issue with consumers. I figured that everyone who shoots digital has to clean the sensor every once in a while. I guess I would have a problem if I had to wet clean sensor once a day for months. How bad is it?</p>

<p>I would also like to know more about weather sealing. I do not care that the front has been changed to polycarbonate. I would like to have weather sealing at least equal to my D300. I shoot a lot in inclement weather. I am fine with a top speed of 1/4000 sec. Not sure about the SD card, never used them? I will use 75% for land/waterscapes, 25% macro.</p>

<p>Lastly, would really like to know if anyone would trust buying this camera refurbished from B&H? I kind of feel like the reason for returns would be dust spots, if that was the case than you would be getting a camera with a cleaned sensor. Just do not like getting a camera without a Nikon warranty. Never had to send a Nikon back for a problem that was not my fault, but.</p>

<p>Thanks for any help,<br>

Derek</p>