After doing some casual shooting at the Halloween Festival at my daughter's after school program with the 24-70mm f/2.8G Nikkor, a lens I got very familiar with on the D3. For a strap I decided to go with a strap that came wit ha Thinktank photo Rotation 360 backpack.
I am struck by the difference the body size makes. On the one hand this combo is smaller and lighter than the D3 and that is good news. The bad news is you become aware of just how big a lens like this is and the combination of the smaller D300 and the 24-70mm f/2.8 is definitely front heavy. The smaller body practically calls out for smaller lenses so I think I am going to try it with some single focal length lenses next.
Otherwise focusing is just as fast (in other words instantaneous) as with the D3, and the viewfinder is crystal clear and a delight to peer through.
I'm also going to switch to an UPstrap. Thinktank Photo makes many wonderful products but this strap isn't one of them.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Nikon D700 Diary, Day 2
10.30.08
Okay so the battery is now charged and the camera appears to fire up just fine. I’ve loaded it wit ha 16GB Sandisk Extreme III CompactFlash card and formatted the card in the camera. Some people think that it is a good idea dedicate one set of cards to individual cameras or at the most single camera models, a few people have the idea that it is a good idea to never take a card out of a camera, and then there are people like me who are a bit more democratic and mix cameras and shuffle memory cards between cameras regularly. Honestly I’ve never had a problem with this approach with Nikon D-SLRs but sometimes I’ve seen weird problems like a card won’t format in camera on the first two attempts but then everything goes smoothly on the 3rd attempt, pop up with the Canons. And now on to programming the camera.
Camera set to clean the sensor at start up and shut down. Unlike the Canon 1D Mk 3 there is no icon displayed on the camera’s LCD preview to let you know it’s doing its business. You use your IPTC name and copyright info with the camera so I do that next.
I set the File naming convention to my initials: EDV. According to the readout in the top deck LCD I can shoot around 4200 norm/Large FX JPEGs, 2100 Fine/Large FX JPEGs, or only 777 lossless compressed 12 bit per channel FX format NEFs or 598 lossless compressed 14 bit per channel FX NEFs. I opt for the latter combination. If I switched to standard compressed 14 bit per channel FX NEFs the potential goes up to 882. Strangely it is back to 582 if I choose not to compress those NEFs. Of course these numbers are only hypothetical and the actual number I can shoot on the card could be more than that depending on the level of detail and tonal differences in the subject matter: smooth tones and dark monochromatic subjects can drive that number upwards and vice-versa.
I leave Picture Control at Standard for now. Color Space is set fro m the default of sRGB to Adobe RGB (1998). I’m going to dive into Picture Control mode for a second. Here. Even if you, like me, only shoot Raw format images because you know you can either extract the embedded JPEG out of the NEF file later --see Instant JPEG From RAW - Version 1.1 or you prefer to be in charge of the development of the NEF photos using Capture NX 2 or another raw processor (I use Adobe Camera Raw in both Photoshop Cs3 /Cs4and in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v2.1) the Picture Control settings are important to pay attention to as they determine what you’ll see when you preview your shots on the camera’s LCD and how the camera’s histogram interprets your exposure data.
Other settings: Vignette Control is left at “normal; Long exposure noise reduction is left at OFF; High ISO NR is left at NORM; Live view gets reset to Tripod mode; and finally Multiple Exposure mode is left OFF.
In the Custom settings menu I change the Dynamic AF area to 51 points (3D-tracking); Focus Point wrap around is reset to ON; the Built-in AF assist illuminator is re-set to OFF; Monitor off delay reset to 20 seconds; Beep is turned off; CL mode shooting speed is set to 7 fps (can it do it? We shall see); the No memory card shooting is set to lock – I won’t be able to shoot if the camera doesn’t have any media in it; and everything else is left at the factory default. One more bit of customization: I add a Novoflex QPL-Vertikal “L” tripod bracket to the bottom of the camera and there is good news there – it doesn’t cover up the battery compartment.
Okay so the battery is now charged and the camera appears to fire up just fine. I’ve loaded it wit ha 16GB Sandisk Extreme III CompactFlash card and formatted the card in the camera. Some people think that it is a good idea dedicate one set of cards to individual cameras or at the most single camera models, a few people have the idea that it is a good idea to never take a card out of a camera, and then there are people like me who are a bit more democratic and mix cameras and shuffle memory cards between cameras regularly. Honestly I’ve never had a problem with this approach with Nikon D-SLRs but sometimes I’ve seen weird problems like a card won’t format in camera on the first two attempts but then everything goes smoothly on the 3rd attempt, pop up with the Canons. And now on to programming the camera.
Camera set to clean the sensor at start up and shut down. Unlike the Canon 1D Mk 3 there is no icon displayed on the camera’s LCD preview to let you know it’s doing its business. You use your IPTC name and copyright info with the camera so I do that next.
I set the File naming convention to my initials: EDV. According to the readout in the top deck LCD I can shoot around 4200 norm/Large FX JPEGs, 2100 Fine/Large FX JPEGs, or only 777 lossless compressed 12 bit per channel FX format NEFs or 598 lossless compressed 14 bit per channel FX NEFs. I opt for the latter combination. If I switched to standard compressed 14 bit per channel FX NEFs the potential goes up to 882. Strangely it is back to 582 if I choose not to compress those NEFs. Of course these numbers are only hypothetical and the actual number I can shoot on the card could be more than that depending on the level of detail and tonal differences in the subject matter: smooth tones and dark monochromatic subjects can drive that number upwards and vice-versa.
I leave Picture Control at Standard for now. Color Space is set fro m the default of sRGB to Adobe RGB (1998). I’m going to dive into Picture Control mode for a second. Here. Even if you, like me, only shoot Raw format images because you know you can either extract the embedded JPEG out of the NEF file later --see Instant JPEG From RAW - Version 1.1 or you prefer to be in charge of the development of the NEF photos using Capture NX 2 or another raw processor (I use Adobe Camera Raw in both Photoshop Cs3 /Cs4and in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom v2.1) the Picture Control settings are important to pay attention to as they determine what you’ll see when you preview your shots on the camera’s LCD and how the camera’s histogram interprets your exposure data.
Other settings: Vignette Control is left at “normal; Long exposure noise reduction is left at OFF; High ISO NR is left at NORM; Live view gets reset to Tripod mode; and finally Multiple Exposure mode is left OFF.
In the Custom settings menu I change the Dynamic AF area to 51 points (3D-tracking); Focus Point wrap around is reset to ON; the Built-in AF assist illuminator is re-set to OFF; Monitor off delay reset to 20 seconds; Beep is turned off; CL mode shooting speed is set to 7 fps (can it do it? We shall see); the No memory card shooting is set to lock – I won’t be able to shoot if the camera doesn’t have any media in it; and everything else is left at the factory default. One more bit of customization: I add a Novoflex QPL-Vertikal “L” tripod bracket to the bottom of the camera and there is good news there – it doesn’t cover up the battery compartment.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Nikon D700 Diary
D700 Diary
Day one, 10/29/2008
This is the most organized packing I’ve seen with a new D-SLR. Very cleanly organized. Inside the gold colored D700 box is the camera body protected my a molded think rigid paper shell, and a plain cardboard box holding: full size and Quick Guide manuals in both English and Spanish; A USB to mini-USB cable; a cable for connecting the camera to a TV (At least I think that is what it is for – must check the manual); a moderately wide black neck strap with a big Nikon D700 DX logo stitched in golden thread; the battery, charger and AC cable; a trial version of Nikon Capture NX2 and another CD labeled “Nikon Suite” for both Mac OS X and Windows. Everything is in its own protective open-ended plastic bag.
The camera body is surprisingly heavy and very solid feeling, heavier I think than the D300. The first thing I notice that is markedly different from the D300 is the tall and wide viewfinder hump. I’m pretty familiar with Nikon D-SLRs by now but I am giving the manual the once over. To be honest: I miss the D3 (it went back to Nikon over a week ago after a graciously extended loan period, but this camera just fits perfectly into my right hand: it is the right height and the right side of the body including the grip is the right depth, and all of my fingers fall into the right spaces. I can feel my index finger on the trigger (okay: shutter release) and spin the sub-command dial with my middle finger
Day one, 10/29/2008
This is the most organized packing I’ve seen with a new D-SLR. Very cleanly organized. Inside the gold colored D700 box is the camera body protected my a molded think rigid paper shell, and a plain cardboard box holding: full size and Quick Guide manuals in both English and Spanish; A USB to mini-USB cable; a cable for connecting the camera to a TV (At least I think that is what it is for – must check the manual); a moderately wide black neck strap with a big Nikon D700 DX logo stitched in golden thread; the battery, charger and AC cable; a trial version of Nikon Capture NX2 and another CD labeled “Nikon Suite” for both Mac OS X and Windows. Everything is in its own protective open-ended plastic bag.
The camera body is surprisingly heavy and very solid feeling, heavier I think than the D300. The first thing I notice that is markedly different from the D300 is the tall and wide viewfinder hump. I’m pretty familiar with Nikon D-SLRs by now but I am giving the manual the once over. To be honest: I miss the D3 (it went back to Nikon over a week ago after a graciously extended loan period, but this camera just fits perfectly into my right hand: it is the right height and the right side of the body including the grip is the right depth, and all of my fingers fall into the right spaces. I can feel my index finger on the trigger (okay: shutter release) and spin the sub-command dial with my middle finger
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
LiveBooks, part 1
A sad confession; I haven’t updated my website in over seven years.I know it still generates nice comments and still generates a fair amount of assignment work, but
it’s old and much of the work is dated.
If my web designer and former assistant Charles Irvine hadn’t become a lawyer, I’d have gladly collaborated with him again.
So my first thought was to learn the software to build a site. Oh wait: there are still only 24 hours in a day. I thought that might have been fixed by now.
My second thought was to follow Kirk Tuck’s (http://www.kirktuck.com) example and use Apple’s iWeb ‘08 to build the new site. iWeb is really easy to use but Kirk has years of experience in marketing, advertising and copy writing, and content design and I don't. I'd rather play to my strengths.
So my third thought was: Spend some money and try Livebooks That way I'd not only be able to update the site easily while handing off most of the design and coding work to a competent professional, I'd also be able to take advantage of some serious SEO -Search Engine Optimization -- strategies.
Here is a quote from the Livebooks site:
“According to Jupiter Research, 62% of search engine users click on results on the first page of search listings and 90% of users never go beyond the first three pages. How do you affect your search results? What is the most important thing to consider, is it your URL or the naming of your images? These are all valid questions as the search engine companies – Google, Yahoo, MSN – all have their own proprietary formulas that are changing all the time.”
I also have to figure out who exactly it is I really, really want to reach. There are a lot of people I want to work with - I just don't know them yet and more importantly they don't know me. I've never been much good at marketing. I am really good on a one to one basis but intelligent branding and marketing to a broad audience just isn't something I've concentrated on. Instead of a shotgun approach I'd rather take the 1,000 snipers approach. Still I have managed to survive for over 25 years as a working photographer in two very different markets so I must be doing something right. I've got to leverage that strength too.
What else? The printed portfolio needs to be prepped too - I am using portfolios from Lost Luggage for that. Brice Beasley at Rick Anwyl's company has done a fine job on the logo and identity / design work for me. I've also got a direct mail campaign to start on too. I really want to do this right enough that correcting the inevitable mistakes won't mean starting all over again.
it’s old and much of the work is dated.
If my web designer and former assistant Charles Irvine hadn’t become a lawyer, I’d have gladly collaborated with him again.
So my first thought was to learn the software to build a site. Oh wait: there are still only 24 hours in a day. I thought that might have been fixed by now.
My second thought was to follow Kirk Tuck’s (http://www.kirktuck.com) example and use Apple’s iWeb ‘08 to build the new site. iWeb is really easy to use but Kirk has years of experience in marketing, advertising and copy writing, and content design and I don't. I'd rather play to my strengths.
So my third thought was: Spend some money and try Livebooks That way I'd not only be able to update the site easily while handing off most of the design and coding work to a competent professional, I'd also be able to take advantage of some serious SEO -Search Engine Optimization -- strategies.
Here is a quote from the Livebooks site:
“According to Jupiter Research, 62% of search engine users click on results on the first page of search listings and 90% of users never go beyond the first three pages. How do you affect your search results? What is the most important thing to consider, is it your URL or the naming of your images? These are all valid questions as the search engine companies – Google, Yahoo, MSN – all have their own proprietary formulas that are changing all the time.”
I also have to figure out who exactly it is I really, really want to reach. There are a lot of people I want to work with - I just don't know them yet and more importantly they don't know me. I've never been much good at marketing. I am really good on a one to one basis but intelligent branding and marketing to a broad audience just isn't something I've concentrated on. Instead of a shotgun approach I'd rather take the 1,000 snipers approach. Still I have managed to survive for over 25 years as a working photographer in two very different markets so I must be doing something right. I've got to leverage that strength too.
What else? The printed portfolio needs to be prepped too - I am using portfolios from Lost Luggage for that. Brice Beasley at Rick Anwyl's company has done a fine job on the logo and identity / design work for me. I've also got a direct mail campaign to start on too. I really want to do this right enough that correcting the inevitable mistakes won't mean starting all over again.
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