The Nikon Thread

[Synthoid]

Your opportunity to discuss gear, tips and tricks, ask questions... or just stop by for a good craft ale.

 

 

 

 

[Synthoid]

I'll jump in first.

 

My first SLR was a Nikkormat FT2 with a 50mm 2.0 lens. Shortly after that I bought a Nikon F2 and expanded my lens collection with Nikkor primes, and eventually purchased two of the Vivitar Series One zooms, including the 70-210mm macro and the 35-85mm. During the 80's I did portrait and wedding photography, landscape/architectural/real estate work, as well as commercial advertising photography (in the studio with medium and large-format cameras).

 

Fast forward to 2019... I recently purchased a Nikon D5600 kit with 18-55mm and 70-300mm zoom lenses. While the build quality of kit lenses leaves something to be desired, they are much lighter than my legacy Nikkor AI lenses, and, to my amazement, quite sharp.

 

I've also used a few of the legacy lenses with the D5600--obviously in manual mode--as they are much faster than the kit zoom lenses. It's great to start out with a "variety of glass" as so many current Nikon lenses are extremely expensive.

[KenElevenShadows]

It's funny how you get into a brand. I purchased a Ricoh film camera to take to India in 1997. Unbeknownst to me, there was something wrong with the film loading mechanism or something perhaps related, but in either case, the film didn't lay perfectly flat, so part of the photo would typically be out of focus, while some of it was in focus. For every image.

 

Frustrated at having two months' worth of photos come out lousy on a big trip. I returned the camera to Hooper's Camera. At first, the guy said that I didn't know how to focus. I said, "Look at every photo. Every single one. Now tell me...how am I getting a photo that has parts of it in focus, and parts of it out of focus? And in more or less the same area every time?"

 

He finally relented, but then insisted that since I had had the camera for a long time, I could only use it for store credit. I said, "If that must be, then I want a camera that is rock solid and dependable and takes great images every single time." I walked out of the store with a Nikon N70.

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4109/4959748941_d0475d988d.jpg

 

I used this camera for eight years until I purchased a Nikon D50, a DSLR.

 

I now use a Nikon D750 and D610, both full frame DSLRs. While I am hardly a Nikon homer, they do make great cameras, and I keep using the same glass. After all, if you purchase great glass, you can keep using those lens. Great glass is great glass.

 

A camera that I am interested in is a Pentax K1, but for now, it's still Nikon.

 

 

Night photo taken with a Nikon D610/Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, an image that has been published in National Geographic Books. Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, CA.

[KenElevenShadows]

And I just ran across this.

 

Best Nikon FX Lenses

 

I have #2, #3, and #7.

[Synthoid]

Fascinating photo of that tree, Ken.

 

 

[KenElevenShadows]

Thanks, greatly appreciated. I love that tree. I heard that the National Forest has become considerably more vigilant about closing that place after 10 pm now, so I'm really lucky that I've managed to photograph this place several times.

 

I tried to last year, but upon seeing lightning, immediately headed back down the mountain The last thing I want to do is be in a relatively barren forest at 11000 ft. in elevation during a lightning storm.

 

As a "consolation" prize, when I had descended, I did manage to squeeze in this photo. This photo is a miracle of sorts, as there was a fire going on south of where I was, and of course, there was the massive storm in the mountains. But the skies cleared for a short while, and I managed to squeeze in this photo before the skies became murky/cloudy again.

 

Ken Lee Photography - Flickr

[Synthoid]

 

 

 

[Synthoid]

Seems rather quiet. There must be other Nikon camera owners here on the forum.

 

 

[KenElevenShadows]

I've just returned from a ten-evening night photography trip, so I have not been able to post very easily, particularly since most of the places were in the boonies.

 

I did hear, however, that Sony made some waves by announcing a 61 MP sensor for their upcoming Sony A7R IV full-frame camera. Consequently, Nikon raised some eyebrows when they also announced their 61MP camera, using the same sensor.

 

And finally, Nikon got a hint, figuring out what people really want by putting in TWO memory card slots.

 

https://www.digitalcameraworld.com/news/61mp-nikon-z8-incoming-using-the-same-sony-a7r-iv-sensor

 

Not discussed in the article since it's beyond the scope of the contents is that with its new Z-mount, Nikon now has extremely large 55mm flange, almost medium format size, as well as its short 16mm flange focal distance, which may bode very well for the future, enabling them to develop some great lens going forward, particularly when compared to the 46mm flange that Sony has. What will NIkon do with that? The future may be interesting.

[Synthoid]

I did hear, however, that Sony made some waves by announcing a 61 MP sensor for their upcoming Sony A7R IV full-frame camera.

 

There are a few reviews on YouTube. Interesting but expensive...