Welcome to my technology blog!
I upgrade my gear on a fairly regular basis. People ask me all the time "what are going to do with your old ________?" Normally I pass the equipment down to a family member or sell it locally to a friend. When there is no one to pass it down to or no local friends that are interested I turn to Ebay next. When I upgraded to the Nikon 28-300mm lens many of you asked about my 18-200mm VR lens that I was selling. I finally got around to getting it up on Ebay and along with some other items.
Several months ago I was at an event and Tom Hogarty (Adobe's Lightroom Product Manager) walks up to me and says "let's replace that Nikon camera strap with this one." He hands me an Adobe Lightroom branded strap. It has the Adobe logo on one side and the Lightroom logo on the other. I thought, "cool!". I immediately switched straps and have used that one on my smaller travel bodies ever since. I can not believe the number of emails and comments I get asking…..not where do I get an Adobe/Lightroom strap, but "who makes that strap it looks comfortable?"
I get logo'd items all the time and rarely do I think "hmm, I wonder who makes this?" This is definitely the case with this strap. Yes it is comfortable! However, not once did I ever think about who makes it?
I took a few minutes to look to see who makes it and it turns out it's by OP Tech USA. I'd never heard of the company before so I went to their site and found that they have tons of straps! It actually took me a few minutes to find the right one. It turns out it's the "Superclassic 3/8".
The mystery is solved. 🙂 You can check it out ON SALE here.
Although I've taken the wraps off my Holiday Gadget Gift Guide for 2010 my buddy Scott Kelby had this item in his 2010 Gift Guide and I thought "how cool is that!?" At first glance they look like good glass. However, they're really coffee cups!
Yes, I even got to present in a real Castle! – Schloss Lenzburg Switzerland
photo by Markus Dobbelfeld
Last week I wrapped up the Adobe CS5 Masters Tour with the last stop in Schloss Lenzberg Switzerland! I have to thank my overseas audience for a great tour. It was great seeing so many of you in Munich (sadly I didn't make it to Octoberfest or Photokina), Düsseldorf, Vienna, Hamburg and Zürich. We had a back to back world-wind schedule and as much as I loved the locations I visited, I didn't get a chance to enjoy the sites as much as I would have liked to. Nonetheless I had a great time!
photo by Markus Dobbelfeld
See more of Markus' shots here.
Continue reading “Thanks Germany & Switzerland! Great CS5 Masters Tour”
Yesterday Nikon answered my wishes for a replacement to my Nikon D5000 (and D300 before that) travel camera. My wish was for a small rugged body that offers DSLR video at 1080p, stereo mic input and continuous autofocus while shooting video ain't bad either. I looked at the D3100 was tempted, but once my buddy Jeff Revell pointed out that it lacked bracketed shooting (which makes HDR much much easer), and that was pretty much a deal breaker. It also lacks a mic input. However, the D7000 has everything I want. It's actually more of a replacement to the D90 than the D5000. Although the D5000 was newer, the D90 had a more rugged water resistant body. The D7000 brings Nikons latest technologies to bear.
Yep, this is the one I've been waiting for since last year.
The Nikon D7000 lists for $1,195 and you can place your pre-order here.
I love my Nikon glass! However, when it comes to regular travel I don't like carrying more than one (maybe two) lenses unless the trip is to a photography specific event/location. My old standby for years has been my Nikon 18-200mm VR DX lens. While I have certainly gotten some really good shots using that lens over the years I have yet to hear a photographer brag about it being a tact sharp lens. Quite frankly it's not the sharpest lens I own. Not even close. However, I was willing to give up a little sharpness for the versatility in range/size/weight and using it for most situations throughout the entire trip.
I was very excited to see Nikon introduce their new Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom Lens. The beauty of this lens is that it not only covers a great range for most shooting situations (28-300mm), but it's also a full-frame lens too. That means that I can use it on my D700 as well as my D5000 without it cropping (producing a lower megapixel image on the full frame D700). Even though I was already sold on the specs, it wasn't until I got a chance to play with one at an exclusive Nikon event in South Africa that I was immediately sold! I had my D5000 and my 18-200mm VR (the original one) lens with me and I had already taken some shots in the dimly lit restaurant (no flash) and I was getting the kind of shots that I was used to with that lens. However, I put the 28-300mm VRII and took some shots and I could tell an immediate difference right on the camera's LCD. The images were definitely sharper.
shot handheld (available room light) 1/5 sec at f/5.6, ISO 3200 116mm with the D5000 and the 28-300mm lens (
I told the local Nikon reps "you just sold one!" I ordered it immediately when I returned to the states.
The NEW highly anticipated 85mm f/1.4 lens is here. I have the older model and it is definitely one of my favorite lenses. The depth of field is amazing! I LOVE IT! So what's new with this updated model? For one it's nano coated and everyone that I've talked to that has a nano coated lens swears by the difference it can make in cutting down glare and getting sharper shots. I have the new Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 lens with nano coating and it's very nice. The other thing that this lens supports AF-S autofocusing on some of the consumer/prosumer bodies like the D5000. Although I'd love to have this new lens, I can't really justify the upgrade unless I sell the one I have (hint, hint). My current lens works great, so I may have to sit this one out for now.
You can pre-order the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 here for $1,649.95.
When I travel and I can only take one lens, it's usually going to be my Nikon 18-200mm lens. However, that's a DX lens and therefore isn't really designed for full-frame cameras like my D700. This new 28-300mm changes all that. This would be the ONE lens I'd want to carry if I could only carry one lens for my D700 or my D5000! It's also a VRII lens and has the nano coating. Papa needs a new travel lens baby, and I think this is it!
You can pre-order the New Nikon 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 lens here for $1,049.95.
Although the first two lenses I mentioned above are the ones that I'm currently drooling over, Nikon did announce two more lenses:
The AF-S Nikkor 24-120m f/4G ED VR and AF-S Nikkor 55-300 f/4.5-5.6 ED VR.
In case you missed it, Nikon introduced their New D3100 DSLR body just this past Thursday. This camera was rumored for quite a while and the rumored specs were pretty accurate. So it wasn't a shocker to see it, but there was one feature that I was hoping to see that didn't seem to make the cut. My current travel camera is a Nikon D5000 and I like the size and weight of the D5000 for travel, plus the ability to shoot video. The one thing that would have made me upgrade (or downgrade) to the D3100 in a heartbeat would have been audio in. Sigh…. While the D3100 steps up to 14.2 MP, adds 1080p video (Yay! and about freaking time), continuous auto focus in Live View (we'll have to see if it really works or not) and 12,800 ISO (equivalent), the audio for video recording is still limited to the built in Mono mic.
Most video cameras have crappy built-in mics. However, most video cameras also let you plug in a better mic via a stereo audio input. To make matters worse is that the built-in audio on Nikon DSLRs is only 11hz. A bad mic with bad compression, equals really really bad audio. Giving this camera 1080p, auto focusing video is AWESOME, but the limitation for many is definitely going to be the audio. Now if you plan to shoot video with your great lenses in all of the D3100's 1080p glory and then add your own sound track or music later, then this won't be a big deal, but if you need the source audio from the event you're recording, then you're going to either have to record the audio on a different device and merge them later in post or have sub par audio to go with your great video.
I would upgrade to a D300s at this point, but I'll continue to wait and see what comes next since the D300s was last year's model. It DOES have audio in, but it's only 720p video and if I'm going to spend the bucks, I'd rather wait since I don't think Nikon is done for 2010 just yet 🙂
If I didn't already have the D5000, and was looking for a small Nikon DSLR with some pretty cool features, then I wouldn't hesitate to get this one. The price won't break the bank and it has a few features that even the higher end models don't have yet. I may still sell my D5000 (since my D5000 doesn't have audio in either) to get this if I get a good price on the D5000. For now, personally I'm in wait and see mode.
You can get the D3100 here for a great price of $699.95 with a 18-55mm VR lens
As a Nikon shooter, when people ask me why I use Nikon over the other brands I tell them that I really am not into the religious war between the various camera brands out there. I bought a Nikon D70 (upgrading from an Olympus EN-20) back in the day because at the time the specs met my needs and of course once you start investing in lenses you're pretty much locked in. So honestly I don't really care what you use. I don't! If you're a Canon shooter and you're happy with your gear, more power to you. That's great! Go out and take great pictures because that's what it's all about anyway. Once I get past the story about how I started, I then tell them that now that I am a Nikon shooter there are a couple of things that definitely keep me with Nikon over the other brands (besides the lens investment). One is the integrated GPS support in the Nikon DSLRs.
Although I wish the GPS chips themselves were built-in to ALL CAMERAS, I do appreciate the fact that I can buy the GPS module of my choice and just plug it in. The Nikon DSLRs will automatically record the Geo location information into the metadata of the images (both RAW and JPG) and there's even a menu for it right on the camera.
The other thing that I LOVE is the built-in support for wirelessly controlling the Nikon Speedlights.
If you have a Nikon DSLR that has the Commander mode/feature built-in, then the pop-up flash can be configured to send out a pulse (instead of/or in conjunction with a flash) to not only fire the Nikon Speedlight remotely, but also control the power output directly from the back of the camera. You can even control different groups of Nikon speedlights turning the power up and down as needed. This way you can put the lights on stands or anywhere you want around your subject. If your Nikon DSLR doesn't have the built-in Commander, you can buy an external one and put it in your hotshoe. I use both these features all the time and would miss them dearly if I were to switch brands. I started with an SB-600 Speedlight. Then I bought an SB-800 and then an SB-900. I have and use all three when needed. The other night I was having dinner with some fellow Nikon shooters and we got on the subject of the SB-900. We all agreed that in many ways the SB-900 was actually a step backwards from the SB-800. So the question becomes…
Yes, I know you would drop the price to $99 🙂 So let's move on to the features. We all agreed that the one new feature that is VERY NICE is the simple selector switch to switch the light from being a Flash to a Remote Flash. So simple and so long overdue. On the previous models you'd have to dig through the menus to make these simple choices. Beyond that it was hard to come up with things we liked better. The SB 900 is bigger than the 800, but yet doesn't put out any more power. It just makes it harder to fit it into your existing cases. Also Nikon still only puts the sensor eye on ONE SIDE of the speedlight. While you can swivel it around, it would GREAT to have this sensor on BOTH sides or make it RF based instead of requiring line of sight. We can assume that Nikon is probably working on the their next Speedlight and here's what I'd want:
How would you change the SB 900?
You can get the SB-900 here from B&H for $459.95 (List price $570)
Every DSLR Lens I have ever purchased has come with a Lens Hood. The Lens Hood serves a couple of different purposes. First and foremost it helps prevent lens flare when you're shooting towards a light source and secondly it provides a little extra protection from the occasional bumps that your lens may encounter as you walk around. These are reasons alone enough for me to always shoot with mine attached.
Although the Lens Hoods I've gotten with my various Nikon lens have all been decent, there are a couple of 3rd party lens that I'm not as happy with the supplied Lens Hood. Even with that being the case I was never in the market to actually "buy" a different lens hood. The ones that come with the lenses good or bad, do what they are supposed to do. However, at the last Photoshop World Conference I saw a couple of my buddies using the Mamiya Lens Hood and at first glance I even questioned whether or not they if they were shooting with a "NEW" lens. I asked because for some reason the Mamiya Lens Hood looked more (and I don't know how else to put this) "professional". It looked as if they were using some new high-end lens that I hadn't seen yet. When I found out that it was the same 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens that I already owned, my next question was "hey where did you get the cool lens hood?" NAPP had featured this lens hood on D-Town before and they told me that every time they do, it sells out! I had always intended on ordering one, but like many things in my life I got busy with my day to day work and completely forgot about it. That was until I ordered my NEW Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens. I figured that was the perfect time not only to get a new Lens, but also a New Lens Hood.
Continue reading “Mamiya Lens Hood – Because it looks cool!”