Sorry, got it, never took it out of the box and sold it on Fred Miranda.

Contemplating picking up another now that they are easily available.

Thanks guys... I didn't pull the internal battery. I'll give that a go when I get to it next.

**BRENT**

A Leica sells for £1.7 million.

http://goo.gl/5Iom2

Edited May 13, 201214 yr by Salt Peanuts

Sigh. Battery pulls didn't work.

**BRENT**

Some quick thoughts on the MK1 18-200: There's nothing in it between 135 and 200 and at the latter it's a bit blurry. I'd be inclined now to get the 28-300 for outdoors with the kids shooting and something else for indoors, such as just a 24 prime.

I turned out to be dead right about 24mm, at least here in Japan. I borrowed a friend's 14-24 yesterday in Tokyo and it is a totally insane lens. At 14mm it does funky things to people up close. Most of the time I used it at 24mm. Standing in front of a table and being able to take in a bunch of people only a few feet in front was completely weird.

Photo shoot for friend at my humble home studio.

DZ3C1975 by drjlo1, on Flickr

Very happy that I was too lazy to upgrade.

You should be. If not for all the pics I've already processed through with it, I'd have gone back to LR3 by now. I'm wondering if increasing my MBP's RAM to 16GB would help any now that prices on 8GB sticks have come down some.

I've heard that it really doesn't.

There's large format, then there's really large format. Taken by some friends of mine a few years ago.

I'm thinking of picking up a used D300 body to replace my D50. What say you all?

I think the D300 is a decent purchase with the D800 being a decenter purchase.

^ Funny.

On that note, I'd rather get a used D7000 at this point than a used D300, though of course, D7000 would cost a bit more.

EDIT - Speaking of D7000, I didn't realize that B&N online is now selling items through 3rd party venders.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/nikon-d7000-162-megapixel-digital-slr-camera/21785819?cm_mmc=google+product+search-_-q000000630-_-nikon+d7000+162+megapixel+digital+slr+camera-_-18208254682&ean=18208254682&r=1

Edited May 16, 201214 yr by Salt Peanuts

Haj, what about the 7000 do you prefer?

Dinny,

From what I remember the 7k is supposed to have a better sensor and offer superior low-light performance as a result. But there are also ways in which the 300 could be considered superior. It kind of depends on how you'd use it. For me, I'd rather have usable higher-iso's and be able to avoid using a flash.

Nate, Thanks. Your observations are consistent with what I've read. I ended up getting the D300. It's an earlier model than the D7000 and I guess doesn't have some of the features of the D7000, but it's a beast. And so much faster than my D50. I traded in my D50 kit and the Lumix and ended up getting the D300 in excellent condition for $450. The D7000 was going to be around $350 more than that, which made a difference.

Interestingly, the D7000 is significantly more compact than the D300, but the D300 felt more comfortable in my hands. Shows the benefit of actually handling these things. Regardless, both cameras are a big step up from the D50 and I'm really excited to start shooting.

Well done, Dinny, that sounds like a good deal to me and either camera is way more capable than most would ever need. Even with the D7k I long for a full-frame body but it just isn't in the budget.

Nikon may release cheap(~$1,500) full frame before Photokina

http://nikonrumors.com/2012/05/10/nikon-d600-probability-now-at-80.aspx/

Ok, more help needed gang. Could use some recommendations for a camera strap for the D300. Something more comfortable/substantial than the stock version.

I really like my BlackRapid strap and I know few folks here likes them, too.

Blackrapid

excellent, which model?

I am very happy with my RS-7.