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Last Review Posted by chimphappyhour - posted: Sun January 10, 2010 11:31pm

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Ok, I've been shooting with this lens for about two weeks now, both bare and with a 1.4x teleconverter. I am very impressed with how sharp the shots come out of even wide open. Close it down one or two stops and it gets even more solid. Any issues I've had so far regarding focus and image quality can be directly linked back to the teleconverter and not the lens itself. The tc is a Kenko and I really need to try a Nikon tc with this lens to really give it a fair shake but even the Kenko behaves quite well most of the time. This lens is about the longest and sharpest you can get before making the huge financial leap into car or mortgage payment territory. This lens isn't necessarily cheap but it is definitely worth the asking price when you look at how much its 2.8 brother costs and much more reasonable! It's also lighter, making it hand holdable in good light. Speaking of...... It is fairly well documented across the internet that the stock tripod collar on this lens pretty much bites. Well, mine does too. I've done some moon and test shots and discovered that I really shouldn't rely on the collar much until I find a fix for it. (Wedge an item into the cantilever works from what I've been told.) That's ok though, as I said before, this is hand holdable in decent light even with the tc on. I love my 80-200 AF-S and I love the 300 f4 AF-S even more! This is my shots on flickr tagged with this lens, I still need to go through and make sure all the shots are properly tagged so a few are missing: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/tags/nikon300mmf4afs/ Overall, this is the "budget" entry into the longer Nikon glass and worth every penny. Rating: 9

Product Details: "AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/4D IF-ED" by howard - posted: Sat November 17, 2007 - Rating: 9.00

Last Review Posted by chimphappyhour - posted: Sat May 9, 2009 2:02pm

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I needed more light and the SB-800's that I love are going for a mint. So, I picked up a 900. I have to say that watching these things being pressed into use by Joe McNally piqued my interest. He's putting these things to some very creative uses! First off, let's get the size out of the way. It's big. The case that comes with the 900 doesn't make the situation any better either, it eats up space in my bag! It's the reason why this unit is so big that makes it worth it though, 200mm zoom! The SB-800 will get you to 105mm and the 600 will get you to 85mm. Add to that the new illumination patterns controlled by the tube's position in the flash head and you start to see why this thing needs to be so big. This immediately brings me to another point I need to make right now, something I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. It seems that the center-weighted illumination pattern restricts the flash zoom head to 85mm on DX format cameras. No mention is made of this in the manual. I suspect this has to do with the tube moving around to pull of the illumination trick and that restricts the zoom. So, I pretty much leave it in standard pattern now. The controls are easier than they were on the 800. I no longer have to dig into the menus to switch it from on camera to remote, that's on the power switch now. There's also contextual buttons now for all the small adjustments as well as dedicated buttons for various functions. So far, I've only done a couple of shoots with this flash. Up to this point, I have had no issues with it keeping up. I don't think I've heard the dreaded three beeps yet out of this thing. It seems to have plenty of power despite not actually being anymore powerful than the 800's. This is one of those flashes that it is nice to have one of them. Since I already have a couple of 800's, I don't think I'll be building a herd of these. What if you don't have a herd started yet? That's a tough choice! The 600's have been known to not survive small falls and that makes me skiddish. Plus more power is always good. The 900 though just seems a bit big to have too many of them, not to mention they're about $100 more per unit than the old 800's were. Rating: 9

Product Details: "Speedlight SB-900" by chimphappyhour - posted: Tue April 28, 2009 - Rating: 9.00

Last Review Posted by chimphappyhour - posted: Sat May 9, 2009 12:22pm

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I recently picked up a SB-900 to go with two SB-800's I already had. That gave me three flashes and since the built-in flash on the recent Nikons only control two groups, I needed something that could control three. There's only three ways to do this, SB-800, SB-900 and SU-800. The cheapest of the three is the SU-800. So, I picked it up at the same time as the 900. I'm really glad I did. Compared to the SB-800, this thing is compact and lightweight, great since it sits up top and affects the center of gravity. (We won't even go into comparing it to a SB-900 on top. ) Also, since the whole job of this unit is to act as a commander, it is very simplified in its use. No digging through menus to get it to do anything. In fact, the closest there is to anything hidden on this thing is the switch in the battery compartment that tells the unit whether it is in commander or close-up mode. In use, everything is right out there for you to see and adjust. It seems to throw out a pretty good signal. Even a SB-800 completely sealed inside of a softbox was able to pick it up and trigger! :D (even outside!) The big bonus is that there are no visible preflashes from this unit. If the flashes you are controlling are being fired in TTL mode, they will though. The two things I would like to see done differently are the battery and some sort of directing ability, such as a swivel. This thing takes CR123's which are usually buried on the rack at big box stores and there are no rechargeables available in this size. The swivel would be nice so you can place your lights behind or off axis and still fire them. As it is, the solution to that is to buy the SC-29 TTL cord which is just a tad steep just to add that functionality. Overall, I would say that if you are looking for a way to control three groups of lights using Nikon's AWL system and you don't want to shell out twice as much, this is a great option. It keeps your rig smaller and lighter too. Rating: 9

Product Details: "Wireless Speedlight Commander SU-800" by Freddy Flash - posted: Sun November 18, 2007 - Rating: 9.00

Last Review Posted by brianch - posted: Tue April 21, 2009 10:09pm

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I have owned quite a few Canon DSLRs and though this isn't the best one for me, it is quite a joy to use. Having owned the classic 5D, the 5D Mark II is a welcomed upgrade. For those who have never used a 35mm format camera the first thing you will realize when using the camera is how large and bright the viewfinder is. Just to touch on a few nice things about the 5D Mark II. I love the viewfinder just as much as the classic 5D. Actually I find the classic 5D to have a bit of a yellow tint to it, the 5D Mark II does not seem to have this problem. The new 920,000 dot 3" LCD screen is great. The new anti reflective coating is helpful in the sun and with the increase in resolution on the screen, checking focus and playback images are a joy. The form factor is pretty much the same as the classic 5D, which is not a bad thing. The 5D body is slightly larger then the 30D/40D bodies and also a bit heavier. There is no built in flash so the top is magnesium alloy (which is nice). The camera features a 21 million pixel CMOS sensor inherited from Canons (at the time) top of the line 1Ds Mark III. The sensor is similar to that of the 1Ds Mark III but there actually have been some improvements made to the sensor. Having played with a 1Ds mark III for some time before, I find the 5D Mark II files to be a little bit cleaner. One thing that many new users will complain about is how soft images might appear from the 5D, especially if you moved from a Rebel series camera. Canon intends for this to happen. Generally speaking the in camera sharpening of the higher end cameras are not as aggressive as the entry level ones. This is so the user can afterwards apply the desired level of sharpening to their photos. The sensor in the 5D is of the 35mm format, where as cameras like the Rebel series and 40D/50D are a cropped format. This just means the sensor is smaller on the Rebel and 40D/50D. In practice this means that a 50mm lens on the 5D will give you an equivalent view of 50mm, where on a 40D it would give you an equivalent view of 80mm. For ye old film users, 35mm will feel just like home. Now not all is great about this camera.. I do have a few complaints... My biggest complaint is the autofocus. This camera features a 9 point autofocus system. The center point is a cross sensitive point (super sensitive) with some assist points around it to help when tracking moving objects. The other 8 points are your standard AF points. Now the AF system works perfectly fine, you can still take photos with it. But considering its competitors (Nikon D700) the 5D Mark II seems to have an ancient AF system. And this does affect my style of shooting. I cannot rely heavily on the outter points as they may fail me. Relying on only the center point is not always fun. Even the 40D has a better AF system... It has 9 AF points... and all 9 are cross sensitive. As well the points on the 40D are spread out better then on the 5D.... On the 5D II all the points are jammed close to the center, which is not the best design.. but it still works. Another rant for me is the build quality. The build on the 5D mark II is a bit better then that of the 40D/50D cameras. Which is fine... But considering the 5D Mark IIs competitors (Nikon D700 and Sony A900) the 5D Mark II feels much cheaper. Most would consider the 5D mark II a professional camera, yet the build does not reflect that.. If you have ever held a Canon 1D or 1Ds body, then you will understand why I am complaining. I am not expecting 1D like build quality... But at least give me something in between. The build quality of a 1D Mark III and a 5D Mark II are very different. Another negative trait about the 5D Mark II (not a complaint for me though) is the speed of the camera.. The shutter blackout time and continuous shooting as well as autofocus speed is not anything to praise about. But you need to realize that this camera is aimed more at landscape, macro, and studio photographers. And speed is not absolutely essential in those kinds of photography. If speed is an issue for you (sports, wildlife, anything moving) then consider a 40D/50D or a 1D Mark III. Or if you want the best of both worlds, get a 1Ds Mark III =D. Another small complaint (but its really personal preference) is how loud the shutter is. Its cool sometimes, but other times its quite annoying. The shutter makes a loud CLA CLUNK sound when you press the shutter.. Either then that. I find the 5D II to be a very good value camera body. It offers professional image quality in a consumer body and consumer price. For me, this is basically the poor mans 1Ds Mark III. (O yea, and it is the first DSLR to record full HD 1080p video, though I don't use it often. Its still nice to have though. And the quality of the video is quite nice) Rating: 7

Product Details: "5D mk II" by Mammoth - posted: Wed September 17, 2008 - Rating: 7.00

Last Review Posted by x372sailor - posted: Wed April 1, 2009 11:43pm

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This is an excellent kit lens, included with D70s. When body was replaced with D200, I kept it. I tend to use faster glass more often now but keep it for when I want lighter weight and don't need the speed. Sharpness excellent in f/5.6 - f/11, in my opinion. Rating: 7

Product Details: "AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED" by howard - posted: Sun November 18, 2007 - Rating: 7.00

Last Review Posted by x372sailor - posted: Wed April 1, 2009 11:35pm

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An excellent lens but steep price. Would love to use it on European trip but have concerns about its weight and it being a pick-pocket magnet. Rating: 9

Product Details: "AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mmf/2.8G ED" by howard - posted: Sun November 18, 2007 - Rating: 9.00

Last Review Posted by Freddy Flash - posted: Thu March 5, 2009 9:09pm

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I've had my 40D a bit over a month now so I thought it was about time I shared my feelings on it. This is my first XXD product. I had a 350D and a 400D before this, and will be comparing it to my 400D from time to time. For starters let's cover the improvements over the Rebel lineup. First thing you'll notice is this thing is big. Whether you like this or not is personal taste. Me, I love the size. It feels more natural in my hands than my old Rebels did. The next thing I saw right away was the three inch LCD dominating the back of the camera. It's nice. The reviewed pictures don't have the "pop" to them that I'd like but reading up on it supposedly this is due to the way Canon displays the jpg's on it, not due to the LCD itself. I tend to believe this because of how the LCD performs with live view. Although it isn't a VGA LCD like it's younger brother, the 50D, it's still pretty nice. Works for me. And I love how it will display both the RGB and luminance histograms for me when reviewing pictures. The top LCD can be quite helpful as well for a quick-glance at the settings. You can just as easily display the settings on the main LCD but with the 40D not having a proximity sensor to turn it off it's easier to just use the top one. I'm quite fond of the viewfinder on my 40D. It's a big improvement over the Rebels I've used. It's brighter, larger, and shows pretty much everything I should need settings-wise in it. Another nice little surprise was that it's easier for me to use with glasses on, versus my usual contacts. Not ideal but certainly easier. The quick control dial on the back is a nice change for me. It's not a make-or-break for me but it's nice. Admittedly I've probably not grasped it as well so far as will have come six months from now. But I can really dig how it is helpful. The multicontroller (or whatever it's called) doesn't really float my boat though. A bit to small for the precision I'd prefer when selecting AF points. Thankfully I can use the main dial or quick dial instead. Works out. I'm using a battery grip on my 40D as well. I was given a third party grip but it didn't have a main dial on it so I purchased a Canon BG-E2 (thanks jseah!). I'm quite fond of using a grip, both for the vertical shutter release and for the extra bit of space for my hand. For anyone wondering too the third party grip felt just as solid (and even a little heavier!) as the Canon grip. If it weren't for that dial I would have been quite content with it. The AF system on the 40D is nice. Cross type sensors at every AF point. I've not noticed a major improvement in speed or accuracy but, again, it's only been a month. And a winter month at that. I'm sure in when things warm up a bit I'll put it to it. The continuous burst on the 40D is rated for up to 6.5 frames per second. Posts abound on the internet that people aren't getting the full 6.5 fps, sure, but it's still a quick little bugger. It took me about a hundred shots before I could leave my camera in Continuous High and only take one picture per press on the shutter release button. This was a big and pleasant change for me. Now.... Image Quality. I'm pleased with the IQ of the 40D. I was surprised at first that the RAW files seemed to me less sharp than they did with either or my Rebels. Supposedly this is from a more aggressive anti-aliasing filter. Whatever the case the difference was noticed. Thankfully the files took to some sharpening in post processing quite nicely. This quite probably was helped a bit by the lens. The RAWs seemed a bit more saturated than I am used to. Not in a bad way, just noticeable. ISO is said to be better than the Rebels as well. This is probably the case but it's not a problem I've run into yet. These things, coupled with the 14-bit RAW files, has had me relearning how I generally process my photos. I'm pleased with the results but it was a learning curve I wasn't expecting. That's the major points. All in all I'm quite pleased with the camera so far, and would certainly recommend it to anyone who's considering it. Although I didn't find it to be a huge change from the 400D that worked so well for me I certainly feel it was worth the money spent. It's a nice piece of equipment and I'll certainly not settle for something less in the future. Rating: 8

Product Details: "EOS 40D" by Freddy Flash - posted: Sun November 18, 2007 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by chimphappyhour - posted: Mon February 23, 2009 12:36am

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I bought this lens for myself as a late Christmas present. (I wanted to make sure I still had a job. ) Anyway, I was trying to decide between this or the three times as much 24-70 2.8. As much as I really wanted the more expensive lens, the "frugal" choice won out. Now, I didn't loose out on much. I made sure to read up on all of the reviews out on the net. There was a lot of good information out there on this lens and more has shown up since I bought this. (Thom Hogan gave a rather nice one recently!) Physically, this lens is almost the smallest in my collection. (Only my 50 1.8 is smaller.) The lens is compact enough to drop into a jacket pocket. It features a double zoom design, two barrels extend out. So far, it seems pretty stable. The zoom is stiff to prevent lens creep but the focus is easy. This lens features AF-S for quick and quiet focusing. In standard use, this has worked out pretty well so far. I have yet to test it with this lens and fast moving objects such as birds. Of course since the long end is only 85mm, I may not get the chance. Another useful feature is the VR which allows one to handhold in lower light than a regular lens. So far, this has worked out quite well. In fact with the current crop of digital bodies, I was able to combine bumped up ISO and VR to render shots in some of the darkest parts of the art museum that I never would have achieved before! What about optical performance? After all, it is a lens and that is what really counts. When a manufacturer designs a lens, they have to make a compromise at some point. The bonus is that there are some parts of the design that can be fixed in post processing which means the designer can concentrate on those items they can fix in post. That is almost what they have done with this lens, almost. Sharpness is something that you need to have as much as you can get right out of the camera. Nikon did that with this one. Even wide open, where some lenses start to show softening, this lens stands up quite well. All focal lengths and apertures so far have yielded surprisingly good results! It even stood in for my macro lens for one shot. (Not 100% as good as the macro, but it was still good enough. Although, I still should have gone back for the macro, but that is a different story altogether. ) Colors and contrast are good. Nothing to complain about here. So, what about the bad? There is supposedly CA's, but Nikon's Capture NX and newer bodies eliminate it without the user even realizing! Distortion? It's there, but minor and fixable in post. Which leaves vignetting. Yes, it vignettes. That is the one bad about this lens, but there had to be one. There's always one and since this is a DX lens, you have to see that one coming. It mainly shows up at the widest setting wide open. Other than that, I can ignore it. Overall, I've been very pleased with this lens so far. It has been a great value for the performance it yields. I'm sure I would love the images that the 24-70 yields, but I like having that extra grand in my possession better right now. (That's other gear or a trip! :D ) No, it isn't 2.8 or all of Nikon's gee whiz technology, but it is either close enough in some categories or fixes some aspects with other concepts. They balanced need versus want very well with this lens. Items tagged in my flickr stream with this lens: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chimphappyhour/tags/nikon1685vr/ Rating: 8

Product Details: "AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR" by Freddy Flash - posted: Wed February 4, 2009 - Rating: 8.00

Last Review Posted by Gsonli - posted: Wed January 21, 2009 8:55pm

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This came with the Canon XSi Lens kit (18-55mm IS + 75-300mm USM) overall it would be a great beginners lens, its light weight and fairly good to use, the best part is learning how it compares to other lenses. You'll find that this lens is an affordable alternative to better ones out there, I wouldn't recommend buying this unless you really need a lens with a good distance zoom under $250. Picture quality in poor and low light typically turn out darker. Its a great lens to play with till you feel the desire to purchase another! Rating: 6

Product Details: "EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM" by Freddy Flash - posted: Sun November 18, 2007 - Rating: 6.50

Last Review Posted by Gsonli - posted: Tue January 20, 2009 6:19pm

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Views: 7926

I have been using this lens for about 5 months with the Canon Rebel XSi. It’s my main lens that I use day to day (replaced the 18-55mm lens kit). I use it to take Night club, Landscape, and Portrait shots. It’s quick, and reliable. I recommend this lens if you cannot afford to bring specializes lenses with you on your trip and just want to carry one general lens. Rating: 8

Product Details: "EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS" by Mammoth - posted: Tue August 26, 2008 - Rating: 8.00

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