nick_stevens

Take a look at naturephotographers.net

 

It's a great site, and has a well used forum.

Steve, Nikon has announced an 80-400mm VR lens, you can seew pictures

of it on Nikon's web page (let me know if I misunderstood you comment).

I've never liked snowmobiles, and am really happy about the news. I hope they follow through and ban them from Yellowstone to. Thanks for posting the info.

I've never liked snowmobiles, and am really happy about the news. I hope they follow through and ban them from Yellowstone to.

I recently got a pair of Nikon 8x42 Nikon Venturer LX binoculars. They were by far the best binocular I had the opportunity to try out in my searches. This included the 8x30 Swarovski's, the 8x30 zeiss, and the 8x42 from Leica. They are expensive (around $950), but are rubber armored, nitrogen filled, water proof, and amazingly bright and clear. I highly recommend them!

I don't actually own the lens, but I have been considering purchasing it for some time now. I had the oportunity to use it at a local store on an F100 body, and I found that it focused just as quickly and accuratly as the Nikkor 80-200 AFS. It was very enjoyable to use, and had no trouble locking onto targets. I was particularly impressed with the lens' (and the camera's) focus tracking ability. They worked well together.

TTL flash should work with your 600mm, but what you won't get is matrix balanced, or 3d matrix balanced fill flash (which your SB-24 wouldn't provide anyway). When I use my AI 300 mm, I usually set the flash at the camera's suggested exposure, or I will underexpose the flash about 1/3 to 1 1/3 stops. Try doing some tests to see what works best for you. Good Luck!

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the new Sigma 300mm F/2.8 HSM? I tried it at a camera store, and the AF was excellent and it felt very well built, but how does it perform optically? How well does it work with the two dedicated Sigma TCs? Does it accept the Nikon TCs? How does the lens compare to the new Tokina 300mm F/2.8?

Any comments are greatly appreciated.

-Nick

Hello, I spent some time on Hawaii last summer. Also found at Volcano National park are the white tailed tropical birds, although I am not sure if they will be there in March. You can find them in a small crater ( I forget the name) near the visitor center. They should be reasonably easy to photograph, but most likely only in flight. An 400mm lend should be sufficient, and having AF would probably help a lot.

Good Luck!

I have been looking into buying a 400mm lens. I have narrowed my decision down to either the Sigma, or the Tokina 400mm. I have used the Tokina lens, and found it's AF speed to be satisfactory with an N90s body. Is the Sigma much slower? Would it be decent with an F100 body? Is the Sigma fast enough to track large birds in flight? I like the fact that the Sigma does 1:3 macro. Is it sharp at that magnification? Does the Sigma have significantly better contrast that the Tokina?

Any comments on either lens would be greatly appreciated.

-Thanks

Louis, how comfortable is your Nature trekker for hiking with the

tripod attached? Can you easily go long distances?

-Thanks to everyone who has responded, your comments have been

very usefull.

Can a bogen 3221W tripod, with an Arca Swiss B1 head be carried comfortably on the back of a a LowePro Mini Trekker? I would be using the bag mainly for hiking, and I don't like the idea of using a carrying strap. Would the Nature Trekker AW be a better choice?

Any comments are appreciated-

Nick

The photo.net question & answer board may be a better place to ask

this. I would like to here some of the replies myself though.

I have tried the combination with the TC-16a, and a 300f4.5 on an 8008. I tried shooting sea gulls and found the focus was pretty bad, this was probably because of my camera. It was however, slightly better than just manual focus ( It was nice to be able to do both AF and MF at the same time.) I think the TC-16a on a 300f2.8 or 300f4, and an N70 or N90 would probably work pretty well.

I would personally go with the Tokina 400mm, i like its size and focusing speed.

I use a Lowe Pro Mountain Contour 40 backpack. It is very well

designed, I can fit my camera bag in it, and a extra case with a 300mm

lense. Plus a whole lot more! It is easy to strap a good sized

tripod on, to either it's back or sides. You might be able to fit

some of those Domke dividers inside, to really cusomize it.

Mine also operates very smoothly. If you have a warenty for it, I

would send it in.

I would stay away from the consumer zooms. They often have a fair

amount of distortion, which would be most undesirable if you are

interested in architectual photography. One time I took a seascape

with my 28-200, and the ocean bent upwards on both sides!

Is the sigma 400mm f/5.6HSM available for nikon? I saw some threads in the Q&A of Photo.net about one, but this contradicts what a had previously thought. Which HSM lenses are they making for Nikon? I would really like to have ths cleared up. Thanks

I often use a 300 F4.5 nikkor (not ED), and do recieve nice out of

focus backgrounds. It focuses to 14 feet, so you might want to get an

extension tube or a teleconverter. I use a TC 16a with fine results.

Right now in Eugene, the colors are amazing.

I've gone out to take pictures of the trees many times so far.