Photospots

D800 my next camera?

2012-02-07T09:07:00.000+01:00

I have long been waiting for when for when my next potential body is coming. I know that it will be an important choice as it will be a body that will most likely live as long as my existing body (Nikon D2X). I know what ever I end up with will be a major jump forward. So what do I want?

I would like a body that is better than my existing in low-light situations. That should be easy as Nikon D2X is exactly know for being a good low-light camera. But then again I don't think I need the Nikon D4 or similar ability. That is more a nice to have feature.

I would like to keep the option of having to use my Nikon DX lenses as I have some of these and I don't want to drop all these, but I also have some Nikon FX lenses. Besides I like the DX format to be able to get closer to objects, but then you loose out on the wide shoots. So a camera that has both.

I would like the body to have a gps tagging of the pictures. I can't really understand why this hasn't been included in bodys so far. The chips is pretty easy and it shouldn't be that hard to make software that easy enable and disable it if you are affraid of battery usage.

I would like to have autofocus that is close to what I have in the Nikon D2X and the manual control option that also are in this camera.

So what I am looking for is a semi-pro camera that is full frame with options to use DX lenses and that format. Enter the Nikon D800. It is a semi-pro/pro camera. It is a full frame camera with a acceptable DX format.

So Nikon D800 might be my next camera, but price is a bit high, so what I am hoping for is that sometime in 2013 Nikon will produce a camera with some of the same specs (and a gps) and around the $2000 mark. Otherwise I might need to try and find the money for the Nikon D800. 2013 (or late 2012) might be the time for the next camera body.

Nikon brochure: http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/pdf/d800_28p.pdf

Nikon 1 potential

2011-09-26T15:04:00.002+02:00

Well last week Nikon announced a new serie as a combination of an DSLR and a compact camera. You get the weight and smallness advantage of the compact camera and the flexiblity of the DSLR.

It is even possible to by an adapter for your normal Nikkor lenses and as a DSLR owner myself I really find this camera interesting, but not first on my buying list. What makes this interesting is the small form factor and I can use my investment in Nikkor lenses. What really makes this interesting is that it has a different picture angle than your DSLR. This factor is a 2,7. This makes a 200mm a 540mm and as I have a 70-200 2.8 then I get it to zoom to 540mm. Really nice :-)

This means that this camera will be very nice as a backup camera to your DSLR camera and that it doesn't take that much more space.

On my buying list I would place it on a third place:

A new DSLR body (still waiting for the right body to buy)
A long range zoom (still waiting for an updated 80-400 or similar)
Nikon 1 V1 or the replacement some time in the future.

Read more about the camera here: http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Nikon1/27504/Nikon-1-V1.html

European Advanced SLR Camera 2011-2012 - Nikon D7000

2011-08-15T13:39:00.000+02:00

European Advanced SLR Camera 2011-2012 - Nikon D7000: "At the head of Nikon’s semi-professional line of cameras, the D7000 is packed with the high-end features it inherited from the company’s D300 and D300S models. The solid body offers high-speed autofocus, a bright 3-inch LCD, dust control, dual SDXC card slots and Full HD Video. An exceptionally good noise-control system means the 16.2-million-pixel-sensor can be used at ISO 3200 and still produce high quality, clean images - even at ISO 12800 noise is not much of an issue. This is a camera that can give amateur photographers professional-looking images."

Sure sounds like a nice camera, but I am missing a couple of things before I starts to consider getting a new body instead of my Nikon D2X house (the new camera is not going to be in the same price league). One is a GPS chip. How hard can it be to put it in every camera just like in your smartphones. I know you can get it as an addon, but then you forget to put it on and you can't use your flash unit. The other things are more nice to have like noice control in bad light and more dynamic range. Lets see at the end of the moments where Nikon is going to introduce a couple of new cameras according to rumors.

I am not sure if this is the time I am going FX or I am going to stay on DX...

Redisovered my AF-S VR Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8G

2011-08-11T14:26:00.000+02:00

This summer I went to Sweden for a week with my family and some friends of our and we got a young son about 2 years of age and they got a son that is about half year younger.

With kids this young it can be hard to get some good portraits pictures with the "standard" portrait lenses (85mm on FX and 60mm on DX) as you get to close to these kids and they stop doing their natural things as daddy comes walking up close with his big camera.

I rediscovered my Micro 105mm lens which I haven't used that much for a while and got some very beautiful portrait pictures of the kids. This is just so wonderful a lens, so now it is standing next to the camera so I will keep remembering it.

From Vacation in Sweden 2011

See the complete album with more uses of the Micro-Nikon 105mm at this link

2 new lenses from Nikon

2010-02-09T14:02:00.000+01:00

Nikon just annonced that they will release two new lenses that seems very interesting. Both I would consider to be in the semi-professional or professional league. Both are for the full frame format, but they seem to have dropped their FX thing on the lenses and are going back to what where normal before their first full frame camera.

The AF-S Nikkor 16-35mm f/4G ED VR is the first f/4 zoom lens that Nikon have produced in a long time and one can only hope that it the start of something that has been missing in the Nikon lens line for a very long time and that Canon has have and that is a f/4 line. It is as far as I recall also the first wide-angle lens with VR, which is a nice thing, but you really don't need the VR that much in wide-angle lenses. This is a lens that is on my wishlist, but a bit way down as I already have the AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, which is a very good lens, but needs the filter option that the new lens have. There is a alot of things I need for my camera equipment before I buy this wide-angle, but I think (haven't seen any tests yet) that this is going to be a great lens for semi-professionals.

The AF-S Nikkor 24mm f/1.4G ED is another step for Nikon to release all their old lenses without zoom with new ones that have AF-S in them. This a very expensive lens and are only for professionals and it is most likely going to be a very awesome lens. Unless I win in lotto or something like that then this is a lens that I am not going to get.