Nikon Digital Photography Talk

Lots of folks lately have been asking via email about this vintage Nikon accesory. Well, it is very functional when used with my loyal Nikon 80-200 AF-D F/2.8 and my Sigma 300 F/2.8 APO-HSM lens. I found good use for it. Unfortunately this item is no longer available, good thing is that they show up very often on ebay. You should be very specific when searching for one on eBay. Do a Nikon Pistol Grip #2 search and you’ll narrow your chances.

Some pictures I’ve taken with it here-».

Good Luck tracking one of these!!

Below I’m showcasing a few macro pictures done with the Micro 105VR F/2.8 on a Nikon D90. EXIF is intact, a few of them including the just a handful of outtakes were shot at ISO 400 and 800 to keep a decent shutter speed. The self-timer was used on the camera to minimize camera shake.

Aperture was set from F/11 all the way to F/45

I felt curious and did tried the lens attached to my Sigma 1.4X DG Tele Converter and I’ve got around 20 to 25% magnification. I don’t usually go with more glass on my glass but I felt tempted. The lens + TC metered fairly normal I might say with minimal loss of image quality. Their is loss, but I found it minimal. All pictures were taken using the Live View Mode and zooming on screen to magnify and focus more easily on the drops.

How did I do it?

Below I documented with CoolPix the set-up. I used an Interfit 5 continous 24×24 lightbox and the cover of a Folgers Coffee container wrapped with aluminum foil to bounce back some light. For some reason the pictures taken with the TC attached won’t show the focal length in Adobe Lightroom 2.1, it keeps showing 105mm.

Next stop? A few tests with the legendary Nikkor 105 F/2 DC, so stay tuned ;o)

Honestly, I can’t leave home without a camera and many times I don’t want to bring the big guns with me. The Nikon CoolPix is my second compact after giving away my CoolPix L3 to my daughter (later on she dropped it off and now is history) not to mention I was a loyal user of the Camedia series from Olympus back in the early 2000.

The L16 is not the best compact out there and there many point and shoot cameras to choose from.

But honestly, for $100 is almost disposable and I can’t complaint that much about it. I have plenty of room for 80×10 at 7.1MP and I have printed just a few for family members. The bulk of this camera is just for snaps that I seldom print beyon 4×6 on my Epson Picture Mate Dash. It doesn’t get any nicier than this especially in family and friends get togethers. The Nikon CoolPix is far, very far from being a perfect P&S, but like I said, for $100 I can’t argue.

Black and white pictures on camera especially SEPIA mode is very cool. I have yet to find a good Photoshop action that I like yet the results from the CoolPix in SEPIA are very good to my taste. My main gripe with this camera is that it blows highlights fairly easy. White shirts under bright light tend to look ‘bleached’, I dleberately underexpose by a 1/3 or 2/3 stops to minimize the blown highlights. I’m keeping an eye on the new CoolPix P6000. Besides being able to snap away, many times I want the benefit of the depth-of-field I get without sacrifizing shutter speed.

More sample pictures in my Gallery here and I promise that I will upload more very soon, so stay tuned!

Edited to add the link to another Gallery of sample pictures here. It was at my local county fair.

Ever since the big reviews site posted their conclusion about the new Nikon D90, it was like the begining of the end for this DSLR. To each of his/her own and I’m not here to judge their conclusions (who am I for that?) but there are a few things that I’ve observed that many folks are missing.  When I got the Nikon D3 and D300 last Springs to write a Spanish reportage about them, I knew Nikon was coming with a very agressive attitude. Not that long ago the D90 was announced and I needed a cropped back-up. Still, I’ve been very reluctant to get involved with the D300 even though is FINE machine in its class. What do I do? Well, my local camera store has a 30 days return policy as long as I don’t mess with the warranty card. The camera was submited to my usual tests as any user would do, but also it was taken to do real shootings in the real world. I soon discovered the beauty of the noise performance compared to my trusty and loyal D200. I went back to see archived shots from the D300 and I soon found out that Nikon was very serious about this new interation of the D80.

To *me*, the quality of any camera should be measured in its noise performance alone. If it was, Nikon would be bankrupt now don’t you think? There is more than noise and although Nikon lost some ground to noise, a big portion remained. I’m one of them and I’m glad I did. More on this in a future topic. Now back to the D90, my dear friend. Remember when many folks used to say ”the D200 craves for good glass”?. I do because I was one of those who noticed how the D200 was not shinning with some 3rd party lenses; and I’m glad, I went for the Nikkor 17-55 AF-S F/2.8 and never looked back. So, if we do add the fact that most new cameras are arriving with stronger AA filters plus 2 more MP, there is a chance that many folks are not seeing the whole picture. How good and capable is the new 18-105VR when used on the D90? I don’t know but I’ll do my best to find out.  Being honest with you, I felt a bit dissapointed with this yet another 18-xx kit lens and I have a hunch that the lens is not up to the camera. I have yet to see Nikon introducing a body with a lens like the underrated 18-70. The D90 in almost a month has proved me that it is a more mature camera and should no be confused with a D40x or even a D60. To get the most out of this camera, tests and customize the settings for better performance.  Out of the box with default settings it might lack the wow! factor. Once we set this camera to our personal taste, it is a great tool to back up even pros. 1,699 clicks after and I’m still fine tuning to my needs and taste. If I didn’t wanted to, I would have gone after a D40 or D60. Testing and tuning the D90 should not be a let down, if you get a D300 or even a D200, you would have to do it anyways.  So just because it is a $999.99 body does not means that we’ve got ourselves a Point and Shoot. I know when I need one and leave home the big guns to carry only my CoolPix L16.

There are more sample pictures with the D90 in the galleries here and here.

FWIW, the warranty card on the D90 was filled and sent out little over a week ago. This camera is definetly a keeper.

Finally, I had the chance to set this thing up and there is still work to do around so please bear with me if you find a mess. The Blog will be a nice compliment to the forum as I’m always eager to write something. I have been receiving e-mails from visitors praising the site, thank to you all. I want to set clear that I’m no Nikon guru. I just take the time to read, read, read and there is no better photography school than going out and shoot. Just do it, chances are that right under your nose you’ll find interesting subjects. Besides being able to publish my work, I’m always thinking in photography mode. Secondary comes the editorials. Many of the pictures I have published were not tought in editorial mode. I’m constantly observing, that’s all.

Last but not least, shoot to get a picture especially still life. When I go out to ‘spray’ everything I see, it expresses my boredom and I’m better off watching TV, listening music or spending time with my children. My Nikons also are very greatful they are not getting vain actuations. Try as much as you can to have a visual imagination especially when you are about to shoot places you have been before. Bring with you your camera of course and some pre-assembled compositions. I myself try not to get to a place to improvise. But hey, that’s me and it works. It might not work for you but give it a try…

Foot note: This Blog will be my corner and you can make it your too. It is part of our site. Feel free to share your experiences, opinions and comments. Make use of the this Blog, or please, join our revamped forums and spread the word. If you like to write, drop me a line to sign you in as a writer.