Have fun with the new camera Peter!

D800 landed Monday, in a box that UPS did their best to utterly destroy. The camera seems to run fine though. With the new business, I haven't had the time to do anything resembling really trying the camera out yet. It has a noticeably quieter shutter than the D800, and the new screen is definitely quite nice as well.

If anybody would be interested in my D700/grip/l-plate, let me know.

UPS throwers seem to have a sixth sense for spotting high value packages and responding accordingly (playing rugby with them.) I have given up buying vinyl online after a really rare 12" that cost me close to $75 got bent in half, even with considerable reinforcement in the packaging.

I'd be all over that D700 like ...something on something else, but it looks like Apple is finally going to refresh the Mac Pro next week, and that is going to consume my finances for the summer.

Looks like Pogue at NYTimes has a new toy that we're going to see in a few weeks:

Camera. I bought the amazing Canon S100, a tiny pocket camera with the biggest sensor on the market. I wrote about my reasons here. But in two weeks, I’ll be switching my allegiance. You cannot believe what’s about to come down the photographic pike. Trust me: If you’re in the market for a small camera with astonishing photographic results, hold off for a few weeks.

I also have a Nikon D80 with three lenses, an SLR that’s showing its age. It still takes fantastic pictures, but I ache for better speed and to be able to capture video. Truth is, I use it less and less in the age of big-sensor, pocketable cameras. But I’m thinking of replacing it one of these days with a D5100, which is just about at my prosumery level.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/what-pogue-actually-bought/?hp

So I've got the 70-200 vr2 and the 14-24 for the weekend. These are serious lenses. And not small. So far I love them both. I'll purchase a 70-200, just need to decide whether I want the vr2 or save some money on the older version and use the savings for a teleconverter because I'd like the extra reach.

^ 400/2.8?

I've been contemplating forever whether or not to get a manual 300/2.8.

Can you guys recommend a decent monopod that won't break the bank?

Taken today with my Samsung Nexus phone camera.

IMG_20120609_122617A by drjlo1, on Flickr

@ Dinny ... Manfrotto pods are reasonable and strong. Here's B&H selection.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&N=4289361368+4290434378&A=endecaSearch&ci=1&Q=

Think about how you want to attach cam to pod. Can just straight up screw pod to cam, or get Arca Swiss plate for cam and clamp for pod - makes for faster/easier on and offs.

@JonL ... pretty amazing flower shot for a phone ... like.

I have a monopod I haven't used in ages. The nex just doesn't ever seem to need it. I'll stick it in the mail.

Thanks Gene and Dan. Dan, I'll shoot you a PM. Maybe we can work out a trade.

I used the 70-200 vr2 at my son's b-day party today and had a lot of trouble freezing the action shots. The party was at a gymnastics facility so the kids were flying all over the place. I wanted to get them in midair, but I missed almost 100%--they blurred. I want to try to get out of full auto (a) because it's time to actually learn how to do this stuff and ( I prefer to tell the camera where to focus. But I think I forgot to think about shutter speed and got a lot of blurred shots. The facility is huge and indoors, but well lit. However, I probably should have used some flash. I don't know. I still have lots to learn, but pretty disappointed in myself for not being able to get those shots.

Any advice for future action shooting would be much appreciated. I'm definitely not a natural at this.

The NEX-5N has arrived. Straight out of camera with a photoshop resize.

Edited June 11, 201214 yr by bhjazz

For fast action shot, I'd at least use shutter speed of 1/1000 or above and ISO 1600 or above even the place is well lit. It is better to get pictures with some noise, which can get rid of in post processing, than pictures that are not in focus.

Thanks Cankin. Looking back at my shots, that's definitely the problem. Shutter was way too slow.

Yup. Set the Nikon to focus priority, crank up the shutter speed to 1200-1600 (or higher), turn on auto Iso and set the focusing to be wherever is in the frame and you'll be ok. I used to use that for flight photos and it worked well. Now I haven't touched my SLR in months.

Any advice for future action shooting would be much appreciated. I'm definitely not a natural at this.

Dinny,

To shoot action you have to get out of Auto mode, for sure. There are Scene modes in the D7000 and one of them is sports so you could try that but otherwise at a minimum you force the camera to shoot at much higher shutter speeds than it would normally select. The easy way to do this is to jack the ISO (which is one of the great strengths of the D7000) up to something like 3200 or probably even 6400 and then shoot in Shutter priority mode with the shutter set on 1/500 or something like that. I'd then take a few test shots in various lighting conditions and see if I was getting any underexposed results. The other way to do it would be to again set the iso as previously mentioned, run the camera in Aperture priority and run the lens wide open or one stop down (to get a bit better sharpness, but that'll vary by lens) and again shoot some test shots to see what you're getting for shutter speeds. The first method is the most likely to freeze action but may result in underexposed images, the second will get you proper exposure but might slow the shutter to the point of not freezing action.

Anyway, I'm a crackerjack at recommendations but also suffer from forgetting 99% of this shit when I go to shoot.

When shooting action, try putting it into TV (shutter priority) mode and dialing the shutter speed to the minimum required to get rid of the blurriness (try 1/200). Put it on Auto ISO. If the shutter speed flashes and the shots come out underexposed, that means the lighting is poor and you either need a bounce flash or a faster lens.

Remember that VR gets rid of handshake but it won't fix any movement by your subject.

Thanks again guys. This is really helpful, and I am at least beginning to get it.

Dinny, you could also pick up a couple of books to get you started. I found this to be very helpful when I wanted to stop using "auto mode." This book was pretty helpful understand basic concepts.

I also picked up a book on the D90 (you would obviously want one for the D7000).

Picked up the Retrospective 7 from the office yesterday and have been comparing the Urban Disguise 50 to the Retro 7/10. I think I am going to send both of them back and get the UD 35 and UD 40. I decided that I really like the look and feel of the 50 but it is a little too big (and heavy) for someone my size. I think the 35 will be plenty big enough for Macbook Air and camera + other junk when I want to have a laptop. I am thinking that the 40 will be a nice carry around bag and it will be easier to access stuff than the 35 since it is horizontal vs vertical. Here are some quick picks if anyone is interested in the size comparisons.

Shelly, Pater (iron Dreamer) has had a UD 35 for some time, and liked it a lot. Maybe he will chime in, or you could ask him his experience.

I am really liking the UD40. As I mentioned either here or in another thread, I just wish it had more of a "clamshell" type opening. It would be nice if the zippered opening on the main compartment would open a bit more down the sides. That said, it's a great bag overall.

Shelly, have you looked at the Tom Bihn camera insert?

I was considering the Tom Bihn camera insert to use with the ID since I like the ID a lot. However, I was worried about using it since it claims to only have a 3.75" width. It would probably bend to fit a DSLR but I am not sure why they didn't make it thicker. That said, I may end up ordering one at some point since I have been very happy with all my TB products so far.

Shelly, have you considered the ONA Union street bag?

No but it does look really nice. Things that turn me off are the strap will looks a big painful (I will use the Tom Bihn Absolute strap on the Think Tank Urban Disguise 35 if I keep it) and the bag looks really heavy. Also, it is a little pricey but I could handle that if it were the perfect bag.