User_4754088

<p>Oh my gosh, just tried the Nikon TC-14EII on the Nikon 300mm f2.8 VRII lens. It screams. I can't believe how crisp and clear the images are, they even seem sharper than without the TC because when you focus on a distant object, shoot with the 300, then focus on the same object with the 420 (300 w/TC) you're much more zoomed in, and looking at the images side by side, the 420 image looks sharper.</p> <p>Really impressed, way to go Nikon.</p> <p>Best,<br /> -Tim</p>

<p>Le Giao, if you're looking for the Nikon DSLR experience, but would like to use Canon FD glass, may I suggest you have a look at the Sony A7 line of cameras. I don't own one, but from multiple sources I hear the Canon FD glass really shine on that camera line, and though the A7 cameras are "mirror less", the shooting experience is much more like a DSLR than the NEX line of cameras would give you.</p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<p>Just wanted to give folks on the Canon FD forum a heads up as I will be listing some Canon FD equipment in the classifieds this week. Most of it has been recently serviced by Ken Oikawa and is in excellent condition.</p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<p>I would be wondering if you're getting some kind of prism effect with the water droplets and the light from your flash, along with the natural light of the scene.</p>

<blockquote> <p>Do you remember the ISO on that shot?</p> </blockquote> <p>Hi Steven, Here's the info on that shot.</p> <p>Nikon D700, AF Zoom-Nikkor 80-200 f/2.8D, ISO 3200, 200mm, f2.8, 1/640 sec, AWB, RAW</p> <p>I try to keep the ISO to 3200 or below, though in a pinch I let it climb a bit higher. ISO 6400 is really the top end for usability. </p> <p>It's certainly no D4, but the D700 has served me well for five years now.</p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<p>Steven, Good luck with your photography journey. Just to throw in my 2¢ worth. I shoot high school sports, and my back up camera is a D700 with an 80-200 2.8D zoom. It is perfectly capable for getting good shots, even in dark high school stadiums. Here's a shot from last Friday night's game.</p> <p><img src="http://www.timcarrollphotography.com/Forums/Scramble.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p>This shot happened to be one of the "Top 30 football pictures" for this week at the paper I shoot for.</p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<blockquote> <p>could have called this post, "i finally read the manual after five years."</p> </blockquote> <p>Really. But you know, those manuals are so thick, and have so many words. :-)</p>

<p>Shun, I use the UDMA 7 CF cards with the D700, are you saying that I'm not getting any benefit from the UDMA 7 over a standard UDMA card?</p> <p>The AF sure seems to work better with the EN-EL4a battery, I realize the module doesn't change, I just wonder if the extra juice give more power to the electric motor that drives the lens focus. I wouldn't expect to notice a difference with an AFS lens, but with an AF lens driven by the camera body motor, I wonder if the extra juice makes it drive quicker.</p>

<p>Thanks Joe. I did a test, using a Lexar Professional 400x CF card and a Lexar Professional 800x CF card, and with each I was able to shoot 16 images before the buffer maxed out, and with the 400x card it took 11 seconds for the buffer to clear, and with the 800x card it took 9.5 to 10 seconds for the buffer to clear. So some improvement, but not as much as I was hoping.</p> <p>What brand and rating CF cards are you using that are giving you the good results?</p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<p>I've had a D700 for about five years now and it was my main camera until the D4 came along two years ago. Shooting sports, the D700 really lagged behind the D4 in focus speed, processing, and FPS. Always had the MB-D10 attached to it, but I guess I never read the manual close enough.</p> <p>Shooting an AFS 300 on the D4 and a screw drive AF 80-200 f2.8D on the D700 as back up, the D700 just wasn't cutting it. Missing shots because the AF wasn't quick enough or tracking well, and the FPS (which I thought with the MB-D10 attached would be almost as quick as the D4) was lagging at what sounded like 4 or 5 FPS. Finally got out the manuals and re-read everything and noticed that the D700 will only shoot at 8 FPS with the MB-D10 attached <strong><em>AND an EN-EL4a installed</em></strong>. I've been using the stock D700 battery in the grip.</p> <p>So I went out and got the EN-EL4a battery, and with it fully charged, it's like a whole new camera. It cranks through the FPS almost as fast as the D4, and maybe it's my imagination, but the AF seems quite a bit quicker (maybe the extra battery juice drives the internal camera motor harder). Where I used to shoot continuous for two or three seconds (RAW) before the buffer was filled, now it is filled in about a second and a half (the better battery does nothing for the processing engine) so I have to plan my shots more carefully. But it is really a noticeable difference in focusing speed and frames per second, and it will allow me to put off upgrading a DSLR body for at least this season.</p> <p>Wanted to share in case anyone else is using a D700 (or the D300) with the battery grip, and would like the camera to be a bit more snappy. </p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<p>The good news is your Canon FD lenses can still be used with a full frame digital camera, it just happens to be made by Sony. The A7 series cameras work very well with the Canon FD line of lenses.</p>

<p>The 24-70 f2.8 is a great lens as far as image quality and speed of focus. Been using one for photojournalism for about five years now. </p> <p>It does have one flaw though, the zoom function wears out and needs service, and the service is not cheap. Mine was still under the 5 year extended warranty the last time it needed work, but the next time the cost will be solely mine. The best way to describe the issue is that the zoom function gets "crunchy". It no longer zooms smoothly. </p> <p>Otherwise, great lens.</p>

<p>Thanks Mark.</p> <p>Philip, the Cris Adapters work very well for me with the F-1n. Unfortunately my F-1n body had an accident, and when it got stored (waiting to be sent out for repair) I stored it with a lens that I did not realize had fungus, long story short, F-1n optics got fungus and had to be disposed of. Still got the motor drive and someday I'll pick up another F-1n body. Biggest issue is finding a decent F-1n body that hasn't been "converted to 1.5 volt", a really common modification in the late 1990's and early 2000's, which screws the light meter circuit up.</p> <p>But back to the OP topic, that 85 f1.2L is a spectacular lens, especially with film.</p>

<p>Phillip, </p> <p>This was my set up when I was shooting fashion in New York in the early 1990's (sans the hood). Loved the way it handled and felt in my hands. Of course, this was when you still could get the mercury batteries and so the camera metering was spot on.</p> <p><img src="http://www.timcarrollphotography.com/Forums/F1n.jpg" alt="" /></p> <p>And here is one of the shots from the above set up, with AgfaPan 100</p> <p><img src="http://www.timcarrollphotography.com/Assets/images/Beauty/Ada.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>Full disclaimer, this is what I have done and it has worked, but you need to be very careful and you have the potential of really screwing up your camera if you are not.</p> <p>First of all, I make sure I am doing this in the cleanest, most dust free room possible, and make sure the humidity in the room is in the 40% range to keep down the dust and static electricity. For dust, I've had good luck with the Arctic Butterfly 788 on both my D4 and my D700.</p> <p>For spots of oil, or other gunk (accidents happen), I have VERY CAREFULLY used brand new Q-tips with a brand new bottle of denatured Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol. Just barely wetting the Q-tip, letting it air dry a bit, then VERY CAREFULLY, a small section at a time, gently swab the oil or gunk area. And I mean really gently. I try to finish off with brand new Q-tips and distilled water to make sure I've removed all residue.</p> <p>Just be really careful trying to remove anything but dust.</p>

<p>Michael,</p> <p>So you bought the D300s from the Nikon USA web site? Was there any hassle from them when you wanted to send it in for repair?</p>

<p>Thanks guys. </p> <p>It's interesting what you say Dan, as the two places I am looking at lenses both state that the lenses are brought back to factory spec. B&H: "Refurbished by the Manufacturer to original company's specifications" and Nikon USA: "Nikon refurbished products have been restored to factory specifications . . ."</p> <p>But you may be right, they may mostly be demo's, returns, or promotion items. And I wonder if they are actually inspected by a tech, or just re-packaged and sold.</p>

<p>I've seen Nikon refurbished lenses for sale through a number of different outlets, B&H Photo, Adorama, and Nikon USA's own web site, among others. I've also heard that some folks have had bad experiences with Nikon refurbished lenses and I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share their experience and how it was resolved.</p> <p>There are a few lenses available through B&H and through Nikon's web site that I might be interested in, but I wonder how warranty issues are handled if there is something wrong with the lens right out of the box.</p> <p>Thanks for any and all input.</p> <p>Best,<br> -Tim</p>

<p>I agree with Philip about the lens hood, really a necessity with this lens.</p> <p>Sorry to hear folks haven't had as much luck with the lens on digital. Because on film it is truly lovely.</p>

<p>Shun, you've mentioned one camera that had defects, something that was pretty well known at the time the F5 came out. Nikon screwed up with that camera and took some time to straighten the whole thing out.</p> <p>What I am talking about is having products manufactured by the least expensive labor force. When you do that, you can run in to serious quality control problems. It's not just the Nikon D7100 I've seen problems with. I had issues with two different Nikon 1 cameras, a V2 and a J1. The Nikon accessories that are made in China these days can't hold a candle to the same items that used to be made in Japan, as demonstrated by the camera straps listed above. And just so no one says the Japan strap was probably a premium strap and the China strap was probably just a cheap one, the Made in Japan strap was purchased from Camera World of Oregon in 1996 for $12.85 (Nikon NS-1 strap), and the Made in China strap was purchased from Henry's shop (B&H Photo) for $24.95 (Nikon AN-DC1) in August.</p>

<blockquote> <p>Nikon, and Honda, decided that they would make a top-quality product at less expense by outsourcing. Bosch and your bicycle company apparently decided to market a more cheaply made product. Cheap and inexpensive are entirely different.</p> </blockquote> <p>Although I do find it offensive that Henry thinks he knows the reasoning behind Bosch and my bicycle company's decision to outsource manufacturing. Henry, how do you know that Bosch and my bicycle company were not also trying to make top-quality products at less expense and found that when they outsourced to countries with cheaper labor, sometimes they got lower quality?</p>

<blockquote> <p>However, I don't think stereotyping and especially prejudice belong to photo.net and this forum.</p> </blockquote> <p>How is comparing products made in two different places "stereotyping" and "prejudice"? One product is of higher quality, and one product is of lower quality, it's that simple. Where is the stereotype, where is the prejudice?</p>

<p>Just a quick follow up. Take a gander at the two camera straps pictured below. Both are Nikon "aftermarket" straps, made by Nikon, but not included with a particular camera (in other words, you had to purchase them separately). One was made by Nikon in Japan, and one was made by Nikon in China. One has metal hardware, one has plastic. One has substantial plastic moldings, one has flimsy plastic moldings. One has lasted 18 years, the other is one month old. The 18 year old strap has webbing that is still sturdy and substantial, the other has webbing that is thin. The faux leather insert on the China strap is already deteriorating and crumpling. The faux leather (which might actually be real leather) on the 18 year old strap is still in better shape than the faux leather on the China strap. Maybe someone like Jeff would see no statistical difference between these two camera straps, but as a working photographer, the difference is pretty obvious.</p> <p><img src="http://www.timcarrollphotography.com/Forums/Strap.jpg" alt="" /></p>

<p>You know I find it really interesting how bent out of shape folks are getting because one person says he's not going to buy Nikon camera gear that is not made in Japan. It's not going to have any impact on Nikon's bottom line folks. If you feel Nikon quality is just the same no matter where the gear is made, you will still be able to buy Nikon gear made in factories all over the world. Relax.</p> <p>Have a nice day all. :-)</p>

<p>Henry, I'm in no way trying to blame B&H for the D7100 being faulty, I only brought up B&H because you mentioned you (B&H) found no difference in cameras manufactured by different countries.</p> <p>The brand new D700 I bought from you guys has been flawless, along with the D4, F4s, N90s, FM2N, and dozens of Nikkor lenses over the years.</p> <p>Shun, the Nikon gear I have purchased that was Made in Japan, has been perfect, for all practical purposes. If you think quality control doesn't suffer when corporations outsource manufacturing to countries with cheaper labor costs, then you haven't been paying attention. Ask Bosch how it went when they outsourced production to Mexico and Latin America. I was a mechanical engineer in the late 1980's for an American Bicycle company, and when we outsourced production to China and South Korea, quality went way down. Sure, the bicycles were cheaper, but not nearly as well made and our warranty cost went way up.</p> <p>If you're happy with camera gear made in Thailand, by all means, don't let me influence your buying decisions. But as I said, I don't have the luxury of camera gear failing because that directly effect my ability to make a living. So I will keep looking for Made in Japan on my Nikon gear.</p> <p>Best,<br /> -Tim</p>