p.2 #1 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
j.liam wrote:
However, with it's small photo sites (4.8 microns), diffraction kicks in at wider apertures so routinely stopping down to, say f/11, isn't the luxury that you had with the D700 (photo sites: 8.3 microns).
Diffraction is the same......remember the lens generates the defraction.....the D800 just lets you pixel peep at a higher magnification so you can see it better.
p.2 #2 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
AF-S II 300 f2.8 (non-VR) + Nikon 2x TC is a great option. You should be able to find that non-VR 300/2.8 for about $3K. Super fast AF and reach up to 600mm
Also do not hesitate to put your D800 in DX mode.. It gives you 15MP @ 5fps and also 1.5X more reach.
My picks will be
zeiss 21/14-24/16-35/17-35/ (in that order)
50 1.8G
70-200 2.8 VRII
AF-S II 300 f2.8 (non-VR) + Nikon 2x TC + also consider 1.4x TC
p.2 #3 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
afm901 wrote:
Diffraction is the same......remember the lens generates the defraction.....the D800 just lets you pixel peep at a higher magnification so you can see it better.
Scott
The size of the photosites determines at what f/stop it occurs.
p.2 #6 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
afm901 wrote:
Diffraction is the same......remember the lens generates the defraction.....the D800 just lets you pixel peep at a higher magnification so you can see it better.
p.2 #8 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
galenapass wrote:
Diffraction is the same......remember the lens generates the defraction.....the D800 just lets you pixel peep at a higher magnification so you can see it better.
Scott
+1
read this again. Diffraction is a lens issue.
Of course it IS a lens issue and depending upon pixel size will become significant at a smaller or larger f-stop. The larger the pixel, the smaller the aperture it becomes EVIDENT. The smaller the pixel, the wider the aperture it becomes evident.
"Consider this: a 16mm lens on D7000 puts ~5000 pixels across 74 degrees, while a 24mm lens on a D800 puts ~7000 pixels across the same angle. Put another way, 1° of motion is 68 pixels on the D7000, 94 pixels on the D800. 1° on a D2h was just 33 pixels and 41 pixels on a D70, You've got to handle a D800 cleaner than a D7000 folks. At least if you're going to pixel peep to see how good the results are."
p.2 #9 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
What are your collective thoughts on shooting the D800 in DX (1.5x crop factor) with the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 OS lens, rather than using it with a teleconverter?
ie, up to 300mm, I would shoot full frame, but if I need the focal length beyond 300mm, instead of using a teleconverter, I shoot in DX crop mode at 15.4megapixels beyond 300mm up to 450mm.
I know I'll end up with some smaller pictures, but they would still be at a higher resolution than the D700 in FX mode (ie D800 DX 15.3mp vs D700 FX 12.1mp).
p.2 #10 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
j.liam wrote:
The smaller the pixel, the wider the aperture it becomes evident.
Only if you look closer......and the only reason you can look closer is because you can pixel peep at a higher magnification because of the increased resolution.
j.liam wrote:
From Thom Hogan:
"Consider this: a 16mm lens on D7000 puts ~5000 pixels across 74 degrees, while a 24mm lens on a D800 puts ~7000 pixels across the same angle. Put another way, 1° of motion is 68 pixels on the D7000, 94 pixels on the D800. 1° on a D2h was just 33 pixels and 41 pixels on a D70, You've got to handle a D800 cleaner than a D7000 folks. At least if you're going to pixel peep to see how good the results are."
p.2 #11 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
afm901 wrote:
Only if you look closer......and the only reason you can look closer is because you can pixel peep at a higher magnification because of the increased resolution.
Scott
If you don't mind or don't notice the loss of contrast, then it isn't relevant.
p.2 #12 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
Trying to drag this thread back on track....
I'm not planning on being a pixel peeper.
I do want to be able to print some exciting safari action photos onto stretched canvas at up to 1m (40 inches) in height. Thus both completely frozen sharp photos and ones with some motion blur are of interest to me.
Anakha
afm901 wrote:
Only if you look closer......and the only reason you can look closer is because you can pixel peep at a higher magnification because of the increased resolution.
p.2 #13 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
In DX mode, I believe the D800 deploys 16MP. This should provide phenomenal detail along with negating any corner issues the lens has. But even shooting 36MP in FX mode, a high degree of cropping will still retain an enormous amount of detail.
p.2 #15 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
DX mode doesn't gain you any reach. It just reduces the sensor in use to the center portion - a crop. The detail is already there (or not). One crops in PP or allows the camera to crop, with, IIRC, the finder framing, etc.
p.2 #16 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
Craig Gillette wrote:
DX mode doesn't gain you any reach. It just reduces the sensor in use to the center portion - a crop. The detail is already there (or not). One crops in PP or allows the camera to crop, with, IIRC, the finder framing, etc.
Craig,
Thanks for clearing up my misconception regarding crop factors!
p.2 #18 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
Thanks for your suggestion, Jammy Straub.
I'd probably go with the Sigma 50-500 OS ahead of that Tamron. Is there any particular reason (aside from the low price) that you propose it to be better than the Sigma?
p.2 #19 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
Craig Gillette wrote:
DX mode doesn't gain you any reach. It just reduces the sensor in use to the center portion - a crop. The detail is already there (or not). One crops in PP or allows the camera to crop, with, IIRC, the finder framing, etc.
Once you're up to 36MP on a FF, the issue of reach is moot. It was more of an issue with 12MP FF coexisting with 16MP crop sensors. Switching a D700/D3 to DX mode deploys something like 6MP. Who cares about 'reach' when the resulting image can no longer be cropped or enlarged to any great extent The only advantage of DX mode on a D800, it seems, is allowing the use of better DX lenses, like the 17-55 without the need for a second body.
p.2 #20 · Appreciate your advice on selecting lenses for an Africa / Europe trip
36 mp gives a tremendous amount of crop/reach. It's never moot. Not for birders, etc. Not for those who can't afford to drop $3000 on a whim to replace a $1500-$1700 camera because it can be cropped. Not for those struggling to pay for something effective beyond 300mm. Certainly not for those who aren't looking for large print sizes.
DX lenses can always be used on Nikon mount bodies. The presence of effective 24 mp dx/aps-c bodies make the idea that dx users will flock to the D800 because it can be cropped automatically silly.
