Advice C+C

[Guest CJS2]

Sitting at home felling sorry for my self, dosed up with Lemsip, reading all the posts. I have promised myself for the New Year a fresh start on photograpy, having slid into point and shoot mode over the past 18 months. As fine as such picture taking is, I have a background of some limited semi pro work photo/writing for the Sea Angling Media, not especialy demanding but it was and still is pleasurable, point and shoot is adequate with the advent of some superb 'D' P&S cameras, my own a Canon S50, great pics, but painfully slow on the shutter! fish dont move that quick when posing for a pictuer!

 

However, as I have a Nikon D100, Sigma 17-35 and 70-300 APO, a Nikon 24-120. One has a personal desire to do better, some of the pictures on this site are stunning, the dragonfly sticks in my mind.

 

The Nikon is perhaps 36 months old, I have the destinct feeling that technology has moved on and the new breed of Nikon SLR use a superior Pixel sensor, D70 or is it a D80? My eyes are not that good these days so one relys a lot on AF and the computer, other than that one tries to leave the rest of the tweeks and cheats alone.

 

So the question for advice. Are the new Nikons using superior technology, or is it simply techno tail chasing to get us to part with cash regularly?

 

I have included a Macro pic, using the Sigma 70-300's maro facility, nothing inspiring, its just that I'm doing a project on semi circle fishing hooks at ther moment and they were handy on the desk! Had to do some fidling to get what I thought was the best in focus shot, lock mirror, remote shutter release, a tad of computer 'unsharp' 72 pxs pi = 700 on the longest edge.

 

 

Opinions, of all kinds gratfully received. CJS2

Edited January 10, 2006 by CJS2

[rabster]

I have included a Macro pic, using the Sigma 70-300's maro facility,

 

I can't help you with your teccy question re the Nikons, but I love your macro shot CJ. The detail on the 5p is excellent, in fact I'm gonna print it off & use it to buy a Caramac (are they still 5p?).

 

What do you think of the Sigma 70-300 lens - I'm considering buying one, in part due to it's macro facility. I'm certainly impressed with you macro shot above. Also, how quickly does the lens find focus?

 

Cheers CJ - now for that caramac.

 

Cliff

[Guest CJS2]

I can't help you with your teccy question re the Nikons, but I love your macro shot CJ. The detail on the 5p is excellent, in fact I'm gonna print it off & use it to buy a Caramac (are they still 5p?).

 

What do you think of the Sigma 70-300 lens - I'm considering buying one, in part due to it's macro facility. I'm certainly impressed with you macro shot above. Also, how quickly does the lens find focus?

 

Cheers CJ - now for that caramac.

 

Cliff

 

'Rabster' hay mate I'm a Cliff too! how about that. That particular lense is probably 10/15 years old, had Nikon kit since 1990. As mentioned, I do have some media conection, in those days 35mm film and the F601, God that was a pig of a camera, so many double function buttons. But to answer your question, I used to use The sigma all the time, in the early 90's, for photographing racing airiplanes, model aroplanes, 4/5ft wingspan, 150mph at about 100/200 yards. It did the job for me?

 

Personal circunstances changed things. Boats and fishing are very much the other end of the spectum. Using the lense for the first time in 4 years this morning, I was suprised just how quickly it did find focus under normal Auto conditions. But that was not the object of the exercise, to get that level of sharpness I had to use manual focus, locked mirror and a remote shutter release. Dont forget, I have not needed to be at this intensity of taking a pictuer for over 5 years, auto every thing, perhaps a tad of aperture compenensation, + or - half a stop or so. Then came digital, I got even lazier, (and more private) as per my original post.

 

Got the gear, used to love my pictuer taking, some of those action shots were the business, especialy seeing them published, covered an international once, the feature the editor made of that, he realy did do a job. These days I'm not into being around people so much, hence I have stagnated, and why a site like this one is so good for me. I can stay behind my computer, bit like keeping behind the camera, you wont find many pictures of yours truly around.

 

I can only speak as I find, its one of many lenses I have had, it has survived, I traded many of the others. Been advised the APO feature helps make this particular model stand out?

 

I still have the question re the Nikon D70 to be answered, and in another post I was asking of the latest version of PS 'Elements' v.4 I think it is, I use v.2. I hear it is a worth while upgrade, can any one confirm?

 

Edited January 9, 2006 by CJS2

[Guest CJS2]

I still have the question re the Nikon D70 to be answered, and in another post I was asking of the latest version of PS 'Elements' v.4 I think it is, I use v.2. I hear it is a worth while upgrade, can any one confirm?

 

 

Well, not getting any where with an answer on PS 'Elements v 4', dont want to afford PSP, in fact, it appears one can do all the basic lagitemate tweeks in Elements anyway. I'm sure I read recently in one of the mags., whilst doing my monthly newsagent shelf read, would cost a fortune to buy all the mags on photography and fishing every month, the new, 'Ev4' is a close clone of PS rather than the cut down version of previous issues? Found Amazon have a copy for £32.11p inc postage, so I took the plunge. Perhaps I can do a review when it arives?

 

Edited January 10, 2006 by CJS2