Category : The Learning Center

The champion is the current best Nikon glass, and the “Old School Gang”, got in several good hits, but no knock outs, so far!  In my first evening out I got mixed feelings.  I forgot how tedious it is to carefully focus and use the depth of field scales!  It certainly works, but the modern stuff sure makes it a lot easier, but then this is just, “getting warmed up” time, so hold that thought.  One thing is for sure, the old glass can still produced sterling images when you use it carefully.  I was reminded by these results just how tack sharp the old 80-200 f 4.5 really is.  Tomorrow, I will turn up the heat.  Keep in mind that tonight I had an incredible condition happen, summer fog rolling in!  It made for some good conditions, but it sure was dark for focusing, better light should help that.  I will show you some of the best from tonight and you can judge for yourself.  I discovered again just how valuable live view can be as a focusing aid.

 

Top image, D800 with the 80-200 f4.5, tripod mounted, of course.  Below close-up of lobster trap floats, and rope  with the same combination.

 

Below, the seat covers in the Route 66 restaurant, 24mm f 2.8  D800 again.

 

Less bleary eyed this morning found another fog shot I like a lot, 80-200, all with D800.

Lastly fun grab shots with the iPhone 4s and Simply HDR, last one is a statement of what your tax dollars are funding at most colleges!  I will say no more…… I’ve said too much already!  Asking for forgiveness where needed!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Well boys and girls, another Marriott, and another O:Dark thirty flight!  Would love to be home with my beautiful bride, but sadly Nikon has a nasty habit of expecting me to leave home to get paid, so off we go into the wild blue yonder at 6:10 a.m.  Actually,in all honesty, if I had to go off on assignment, this is a good one, Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, and the great folks of the Bio Communications Association.  This is one of my favorite  groups and we always have a great time, at the Nikon provided workshops, across America.

 

To make this adventure even more fun, I’ve decided to go “old school” this trip and try out some the old classic manual focus Nikkors on the brand new, and incredible, D800!  Wait a minute you say, I thought the D800 was best used with only the newest and best Nikon glass??!!  That is the recommendation, but a lot of the video guys are using the older manual focus glass, because of how smoothly they can focus them, and they are getting great results, so I figured it was my turn to find out for myself, and you, if this is a good idea or not!  I also happen to own a good number of some of the best Nikkor manual focus lenses, and I would love to put them to work with the D800 when I take a notion to do so!   This little test will give us an idea as to just how good this old glass is!  I’m sure the D800 will put them to the test!

 

For the test I decided to use several of the maual lenses that I think are among the best film lenses Nikon ever made; the 24mm f 2.8 wide angle, the 55 Micro Nikkor f 2.8 lens, the 105mm Micro Nikkor f 2.8 and one of the true legendary lenses from the past, the 80-200 Nikkor f 4.5 zoom.  In the film days I used these lenses, almost every day.  As digital imaging came along, and zoom lenses got much better, we all started shooting a lot more with zooms.  I’m anxious to see if manually focusing these old sweethearts can yield some spectacular results, or that it will be a major league hassle to have to turn that little ring on the front of the lens, again!!!

 

The next few days will tell us the answers, and I promise to faithfully report them to you!  I certainly will be in a beautiful place to inact my plan!  Stay tuned, results will be on the way soon!

 

the pilgrim

 

Yesterday afternoon, late in the afternoon, I went back down to the pool to try and make some test shots with the new D800’s HDR function.  This option is actually very versatile and has a good range of settings.  First of all it is best used in high contrast scenes where it would not be possible to hold highlight detail and still get some detail in the shadows.  The camera allows you to make a single image  with HDR applied, or set the camera to shoot in HDR continuously, until you turn the function off.  The HDR function actually does make two photographs, so using a tripod is highly recommended.  You have the choice of 1 – 2 or 3 stops of difference between the two exposures and Low, Medium or High degrees of smoothing.  HDR works best when shooting with Matrix Metering and the images must be jpegs, doesn’t work in RAW.

 

I have to say I was very impressed with what the camera was capable of producing with this easy to use system.  I don’t see this function as replacing shooting HDR with multiple exposures, but it sure can give you a much broader range of tones and exposure at the extremes.  I’ve labeled the images below so you can see the differences.  My advice is to play with the range 1-2 or 3 and the smoothing to your taste.  For me in very extreme contrast I like 2 or 3 stops and medium smoothing, but you may find another combination more liking to your taste.  There is no wrong answer, but this sure is a powerful feature that solves an often faced problem, high contrast light!  One more reason to fall more deeply in love with the D800!

 

While three stops looks less natural, it sure does show extreme shadow detail without loosing much highlight.  I can see times that shooting for 3 stops difference might save a shot! Experiment and see what works for you and please share your results with all of us!

 

Have a great weekend,

 

the pilgrim

 

Just for the record, here is the 3 stop shot processed to tone it down!

 

The Memorial Day Weekend Motto:

 

 

The opening shot, D800 with HDR?  Nope iPhone 4s……..

 

From time to time, as new gear becomes available, I change up what I carry into the field for general work.  With the advent of the D800, my system has slightly changed again.  Illustrated above and below is the same system in three different ways of carry.   Top, Domke shoulder bag, below, Think Tank Modular belt system, and the Lowepro Pro Trekker 300 AW,  the system is the same, a three zoom package with a lens for dedicated close-up work.

 

D800

Nikon 16-35 AFS VR f4

Nikon 24-120 AFS VR f4

Nikon 70-300 AFS VR f4.5-5.65

Micro Nikkor 105mm AFS VR f2.8

Of course spare batteries, cable release, polarizers, and cleaning supplies.

 

 

AS I board a plane in a few minutes for Norfolka nd ISAP, this will be my shooting system for the next few trips to wring it out.

 

God bless,

 

the pilgrim