Normal vs. Extra Vivid

I like this saturated look for nature and man-made items found on my walks and bike rides, but even I agree it's too saturated for people pics. Skin tones come out way too red. So, I saved these settings in one of the custom menus and then set up another, less saturated one, for people pics, and saved that one, too. Now I can change back from one to the other as needed. It might be even quicker to do if I can program the Fn button, but I know there are predetermined limits, so I'm not holding my breath.

Here's a comparison of the two settings, "Standard" (for people pics) and "Vivid +" (for most saturated colours). Jule may not be happy to see these experimental shots of her here, but I'm sure she's willing to sacrifice some dignity in the name of science! Right honey? :)

 
 

Funny thing is, I printed 4x6" prints of these two shots and the more I looked at them, the less I notice the red cast ... I wonder if it's like those old ladies who douse themselves with perfume each morning because they've lost their sense of smell after using it all those years and don't realize how it can make the eyes water in a confined space

New Lens - First tryout

These two pics were taken 6 seconds apart with my Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens. They were taken hand-held, with the VR turned on. The first is at the widest angle, the second zoomed in to the maximum. This lens makes using a tripod nearly obsolete!

 
Nikon D40, 1/500s @f11, lens @ 18mm (equals 27mm on 35mm camera)

 
Nikon D40, 1/1250s @ f5.6, lens @ 200mm (equals 300mm on 35mm camera).

Picturesque Hog's Back Falls has been turned into a rapid by the volume of water from the spring run off. There's flooding up river.

Tempting fate

When we want to do something and there's a "snag" which makes it difficult to continue, Jule says, "Well, that's just fate - it wasn't meant to be ...", or words to that effect.

Well, that's what happened to me last night when I tried to order a Nikon D300 from Black's.

I can't tell you how much this has been eating away at me the past two weeks. A dozen times I've told myself I will trade the D40 in for the D300, and then, no, I'll keep the 40 and just get the longer lens, and then, no, I'll keep the 40, anyway, 'cause it's so light, but get the 300 because it's the one that fits what I want to do and besides, it will be the last camera I'll ever buy (although with consumer electronics life expectancy these days, I wouldn't want to bet on that).

What happened with the camera purchase is that I misread the security code on the VISA card. I mistook a "0" for an "8" as the card had been swiped numerous times and there was a streak across the numbers. It didn't work when I put it through, offering me instead a "Declined" message. I got out a loupe and saw my error, magnified 30x, and redid it - another four times, but each to no avail. It wasn't going through. Then I had a slew of emails from the payment service telling me I was declined and a duplicate set from Black's saying I'd better call customer service to make sure no payment went through. Good grief! Was this fate saying, STEP AWAY FROM THE CREDIT CARD? Don't buy the D300?

So this morning I called Black's customer service and was informed it was too early - call back later. Figures.

Then the phone rang. It was a 514 area code and I hesitated in answering since it's usually someone wanting me to try the National Post on a trial basis. Turned out it was VISA informing me there was some strange activity on my credit card last night. I was thrilled to hear this, as I was not using my "internet VISA" (the one I got with a purposely low limit just for internet purchases) since the cost of the D300 was over its limit. He told me the first transaction had an error in the security code. The next four were done properly, but since the flag had been dropped on the first one, no others were allowed and it was too late to call and tell me about it last night. Excellent! And he hoped there was no inconvenience to me. Are you kidding? I'm totally impressed with this level of security. Keep up the good work, I said.

So, he wanted to know if the transaction was going to go through now that he had reset everything for me. They'd be expecting it. I hesitated. Ye-e-s-s-s-s, maybe, I said. I may do it from my home computer tonight. I hate to challenge fate, though, you know. Now I have the rest of the day to think about it. Again.

Happy first day of Spring!

And the winner is ... the Nikon D40 with its kit 18-55 lens, on sale this week at Blacks (web only), and for lots of reasons (see below). If it's as light as they claim, it'll go a lot of places with me. I ordered it yesterday and picked up an SB-400 flash and 2GB high speed card at at the Blacks in the Rideau Centre. So I'm all set.

Today I had the day off and spent it researching software on-line. Software is the darkroom of yesteryear for the digital age. There are some exciting possibilities out there.

Decison time, but which one?

OK. I've spent about 20 hours reading and rereading articles on the net and I've only changed my mind twice a day, about which camera to buy. It really is a toss up. Unlike 25 years ago when glass ruled and you bought a lens system and the camera was only needed as a light-tight box to hold the film, today's cameras actually make a difference. Each processes data coming through the lens differently and yield, sometimes, drastically different results. All cameras do an adequate job of giving you adecent picture, but some cameras fit one's personal vision much better than others. And herein lies the problem, for me.

I've decided to go with Nikon over Canon. Canon is a great company and they have super products, but from a user-friendly pov, Nikon can't be beat. Their current crop of cameras are very intuitive for the photographer and some of the stuff they have as standard features make so much sense, I can't see why Canon hasn't incorporated them. I'm talking about things like one-button deleting and easy card formatting (which ought to be done after every upload) and data embedding into the EXIF file. Most photogs use this for copyright notice, but you're free to add two hidden lines of text as you see fit into every image.

So it's Nikon this time around. But what model?

I've determined that the D40, even though labeled as an entry level model, does quite a lot considering its price tag. In fact, the D40x, D60 and even the D80 don't offer much more, even though the D80 is twice the price. You're not really getting 2x your money's worth. So the D40 is a got bet.

Beyond that is the D200 the D300 and D3. The D200 has been replaced by the D300. In fact the D300 is SO good relative to the D200, it makes no sense to go the the D200 even at discounted, clearance prices. The D3 is $5350, and that's just ridiculous. And some say the D300 is pretty close to it, spec wise. The D300 is available locally for $1870, body only. (To put things into perspective, though, the Canon EOS-1DS MKIII lists for $8250 and is, arguably, the world's best, right now!)

But the D40 is only $540, and THIS week, it can be had at Blacks (web only) for $470 including the 18-55mm kit lens. I'd need this lens, anyway, with the D300.

So it looks like a no-brainer. Relative to the others it's practically free! Over the D300 it's a savings of about $1200 which can be put towards more esoteric glass, like a 12-24mm ultra-wide.

The only thing stopping me from putting in the order this minute is the thought that I'd eventually end up with the D300 anyway, so why not just get it over with and forget about the D40? The D40, though, is the light-as-a-feather-go-everywhere camera and that's important to me.

Maybe I need them both! :)

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Since starting to post on this blog again, thanks to a week of R&R and looking for something to do, I've rekindled my on-again, off-again love affair with photography. I seem to rev up into a white heat of passion to make good photographs (evidenced by calling them that instead of pics or snapshots) and the feeling predominates my every conscious thought for days or weeks on end, nearly driving me out of my mind, until the pressure valve blows and I get back to normal.

And every time I rekindle that love affair, I tell myself, "Pete, this time you're going to take it easy, aren't you? You're going to just have fun. You're going to relax and enjoy what you're doing and NOT tell yourself you HAVE to accomplish something with this? Right?" Yes, I tell myself, I'll be good. But that old work ethic thing (my father's fault, I'm sure) creeps in and ruins everything.

Well not this time!

I'm getting to that age where I'm no longer concerned with such issues as being the best at everything I put a hand to. Maybe I'd like to just enjoy the thing for the thing itself. It's part of being past that mid-life crisis I mentioned earlier. There's no rule that says every thing you do has to have a purpose. In Zen they teach you to sit and do nothing for the nothing is something in itself. So my thoughts have turned back to photography and this time I'm just going to shoot for myself and just have fun with it.

But of course, I need a new camera!

And it's the deciding which one to chose that's causing me some grief. I have two point & shoot digicams but I think it's time to move up to a DSLR. I've been shooting Nikon for 27 years and during that time managed to also own Canon, Olympus and Minolta equipment. I've always liked Nikon and now I'm used to it. I think I read somewhere that Nikon equipment is retro-compatible to 1959, although DX (digital) lenses won't work on film cameras (the bayonet may work but the film coverage will cause vignetting at all f-stops) and I'm sure there are other proprietary quirks. But it doesn't matter.

It's really between Canon and Nikon and I think both are about equal. What one doesn't do, the other one will, and the former will do it next year anyway. But because I know it and like it, I'll go with the Nikon system.

The lens is the most important part of the package and the beauty of an SLR is you can have multiple lenses. However, I've discovered a newish Nikon zoom lens that has an incredible range, 18-200mm! A whopping 11.5x zoom range which eliminates all the other lenses (except maybe an ultrawide and/or super-tele, both of which are for specialists). It means you don't have to take time to change lenses so the picture won't get away, and it also means you'll get less dust inside with lens switches, too.

So what's the problem? In a word - weight.

The camera/lens combo with this lens comes in at 1150gm or a bit over 2.5lbs. Compared to a 6oz P&S that fits into your pocket and goes anywhere, that's huge. The big problem with SLRs is lugging them around. It's OK if you're out on a shooting day but on a day to day basis, extra weight will keeps the camera at home. It would be a shame to spend all that money and then be too lazy to lug it around. If I just went with the kit lens, which weighs less than half, I'd also end up with a much smaller zoom range, 18-55mm, and that might mean a longer zoom in the future and I'd be back up to carrying those 2.5lbs, but this time need a bag to carry the second lens.

It sounds like the 18-200mm would be the way to go if I eventually buy a longer zoom anyway. There is a price, though, for getting it now - $800, which is about $650 more than getting the kit lens on the body of my choice.

As for the body, I've narrowed it to either the D40 or the D80. Some articles I've read on the net this past week say the D40 is just a P&S with interchangeable lenses. Others extol the fact that, compared to other Nikon bodies, you're getting more than your money's worth. The D80 is an advanced amateur-type camera, more features than needed by a novice but with enough sophistication to be a nice backup for a pro.

The question I'm asking myself is how much sophistication do I need? The D40 and the kit 18-55mm lens are a very lightweight pair. But I've already got a P&S. Walking around with the same relative focal length on an SLR makes little sense. It's that very sophistication that separates the SLR from a point and shoot.

So, it's either the D40 or the D80 with either an 18-55mm or 18-200mm lens. That puts the price range between $540 and $1850.

I guess it all depends on how I intend to use the thing. I've paid a lot for photography items in the past. But I started this post by saying that THIS time I just wanted to have some fun. I think I'd have a lot more fun by only spending $600. But then, think of all I could do with the more expensive version ... :)