eddy1

Beautifully made. Could I ask you why the choice of black & white, please? (pls don't read from this that I think colour would have been better; it's not the case)

Pascal, I switched for the same reason and haven't looked back. All is now FX and I'm back to 'normal' with my old

lenses as well. Personally, even if I could afford DX gear, I would not have both. In my view the landscapes will be

better in FX especially with 24 mm wide angle lens

<p>A 7-Eleven Ray of Sunshine (D700 70mm f5 1/100 ISO200)</p><div></div>

<p>The recent Vivid Festival of light in Sydney provided some rare opportunities to photograph icons in unique lighting conditions. Here is the Archibald Fountain in Hyde Park, lit in blue. Shot with D700 & 25sec exposure @ f20 using the Sigma 24-70 HSM zoom @ 46mm, (ISO 100, I think).</p><div></div>

Many thanks, Lex. The red dot is not always there but, as expected, faithful to its location

<p>Does a tiny red dot in an FX image indicate a faulty pixel or a piece of dust? <br>

Eddy</p>

<p>Sipping wine in Autumn in a Sydney backyard. D700 70-200mm zoom at 116mm, ISO200. 1/200 f7.1</p><div></div>

<p>Jill in creative mood at the Botanic Gardens. Nikon D700 + Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 zoom @ 1/160 f6.3 ISO200</p><div></div>

<p>Alert 4 Month old Pixie in a new home with an obsession for catching anything that moves. D700 with 70-200mm zoom at 150mm f2.8 1/60 ISO 2200</p><div></div>

<p>I used the services of a small rental business operating from Manly. Equipment, price and service were excellent. Call Bevan on 0404756867 or see <a href="http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Camera-Hire">http://www.hotfrog.com.au/Companies/Camera-Hire</a></p>

<p>Thank you all. I was indeed talking about a rotational play, yes, and your comments have put my anxieties away. It's about a 1mm clockwise/anticlockwise post-click play that requires some twist effort. The twisting effort comes naturally because the lens is heavy as mentioned above. I guess, the reason I found it unsettling is because on a VR lens, there is already some looseness and movement inside the lens related to the VR mechanism. This rotational play exacerbated the feeling of loose stuff about. However, at no time has that lens failed to deliver an image what was expected from it. </p>

<p>I've always been cautious never to allow a camera body to bear the full weight of a heavyish lens. I place the palm of my hand under the lens near the body and support the body/lens to avoid stress there. All lenses seem to have a snug fit onto my D700 body past the familiar click with one exception: the 70-200m zoom. There is an unsettling quiet thunk as the zoom slides backwards & forward in a play onto the body in normal use. I called Nikon to ask if loosening was at all possible in the coupling; the advice over the phone was that with variations in ambient temperature, such movement frequently occurs: tight in winter and some loose play in summer. There has never been any light penetration and no image has been adversely affected. However, I do find this small movement irritating. I'd be interested to know if any of you has had similar experiences and even problems with the lens contact ring on the camera body.</p>

I tried the lens and subsequently bought the Sigma HSM one instead for value:money reasons. I had of course read

extensively on lab tests first. The Sigma one is stiff as it has lots of glass. I found that gravity will help or exacerbate

depending on the direction of the zoom movement. It's stiffer on the horizontal but seems to be getting less so with use.

Of course its optical performance remains unaffected.

<p>Early morning rowers... D700 + Nikkor 70-200 f2.8 @ 200mm f9 1/320 ISO200</p><div></div>

<p>Yes, as Jose asks, what's the benefit of using the 18% Grey card with today's DSLRs? (1) I see accurate exposure (<em>i.e.,</em> use the grey card to set the +/-, since cameras are calibrated to it, but given the need for the correct angle of the card & the various meterings provided in the cameras, I question the value I'd get from it. (2) White Balance is another control point. Literature around is unclear about whether the PRE set for White Balance in Nikon's DSLRs is meant to be done on 18% grey or on white. Ken Rockwell says white. </p>

<p>Passers by, Archibald Fountain, Hyde Park, Sydney Nikkor 50mm f1.4 @f8 1/250 on D700. This image is very sharp even at magnification in its original form; for some reason, my approach to reducing its size must result in some deterioration in its quality.</p><div></div>

<p>Spotted at Australia Day, 2010 using D700 1/200sec f8, 70-200mm f2.8 @ 125mm ISO200</p><div></div>

<p>well, as frequently is the case, it's not available to Australia, I'm afraid</p>

<p>Birkenhead Point, early morning, on Saturday</p><div></div>

<p>Take II: Early morning class of rowers setting off for a lesson down under. D700 1/500 f5.6 70-300 @300m ISO500</p><div></div>

<p>Early morning class of rowers setting off for a lesson down under. D700 1/500 f5.6 70-300 @300m ISO560</p>

<p>On Saturday mornings, in Hyde Park, these child size chess pieces become the pawns in players' hands entertaining passers by. Nikon D700 1/250 f8 70-200 f2.8 @200mm</p><div></div>

<p>Sunil you ask if professional lenses have better contrast that the regular ones (as their images are so sharp and real life-like) by virtue of pro grade glass or is it purely the magic of post processing? In my view, the answer is simply yes. As Leif says, better lenses tend to give better contrast, due to better optics and coatings. The shots I took with the 70-200 f2.8 lens are unparallelled in their image quality. I had exactly the same question as you and hadn't understood what the seller was telling me until the results made it obvious. Of course, at the end of the day, it's the Photographer who inspires me the most with his/her creativity, the tool second esp. glass/lens.</p>

<p>Bathroom accessories, circa 1839, home of Alexander Macleay, his wife Eliza and children. Nikon D700 28-70mm f3.5 zoom. 1/125 f5.6 @70mm</p><div></div>

<p>Lavender outlined by early sunset one evening. Nikon D300 75-300 zoom @ 230mm, 1/80sec, f5.3</p><div></div>