Great shot of the waiter, Ben. Your signature processing works great here!
So the Z is gone, George. I read your take on the Z lenses with a lot of interest. Something to add to my "minus" column of the Z system, which includes the size of the lenses vs the desire to lighten the bulk and weight of the FX system.
Beautiful guitar Chuong! You must be proud!
Adding a picture taken with the 180mm f2.8 AIS on an Olympus E-M5ii, showing it small since it's not the greatest technically (shot through a screen). Provided some sweet sounds right outside my WFH window yesterday.
pbraymond wrote:
Great shot of the waiter, Ben. Your signature processing works great here!
So the Z is gone, George. I read your take on the Z lenses with a lot of interest. Something to add to my "minus" column of the Z system, which includes the size of the lenses vs the desire to lighten the bulk and weight of the FX system.
Beautiful guitar Chuong! You must be proud!
Adding a picture taken with the 180mm f2.8 AIS on an Olympus E-M5ii, showing it small since it's not the greatest technically (shot through a screen). Provided some sweet sounds right outside my WFH window yesterday.
Z is a good camera and lenses are great quality. But was not using them. I had two projects (mix of video and stills) canceled this spring because of covid-19 and they may come back next year but not really sure. So too much money tied up in a system I was not really using. I actually like a large body for shooting so maybe the next iteration of the Z will have a grip option or integrated grip like the D(x) cameras do. I have always said I would love a Z in a F5 form factor. Still would not like the FTZ though
Plus they are taking forever to release Z lenses (even before the pandemic)
CGrindahl wrote:
I'm taking my Df to a camera technician... as soon as I hear back from him. I think those folks who suggested the camera wasn't stopping down with shutter release are accurate. Shooting wide open there's no problem with metering... stopping down initiates the Auto ISO and when the blades don't close everything is overexposed. Hopefully it is a minor mechanical issue but I'll only know once the camera is checked out.
I haven't quite gotten around to taking my D700 for a spin. But I'll get there eventually. I'm definitely enjoying all the great photos being posted, as well as the banter. The thread is cruising along.
And Leighton, Sue and I went to the big farmers' market in San Rafael on Sunday and though there are many more vendors and folks are actually walking through the market, all sales are done with employees pulling the produce, putting it in boxes that are set aside so we can load our own bags. Sue bought 35 organic cucumbers for a buck a piece... some huge. She also bought nine bunches of organic celery... 3 bunches for $5. The line to get to that vendor, our favorite was about thirty people long... each six feet from his or her neighbor. We'll likely go back next Sunday. We're delighted the farmers are bringing their beautiful produce to the market. I'm sure you're shoppers feels the same way. ...Show more →
Is Sue going into the catering business? That's a lot of veggies.
The Star Ferry with Victoria Harbour in the background. Very humid this time of year but generally clear skies and great for photography. D750 & 105/2.5 Ai-S.
NightOwl Cat wrote:
Make a low offer for it since it's a Canada serial number, you'll get the Roberts' warranty on it anyhow... and being used, Nikon USA won't have a warranty for it anyhow...
My previous Df, bought here, turned out to be an undisclosed UK model rather than a US model. When I went to sell it here it was pointed out to me. I called around to the service centers and nobody would touch it, so I ended up selling it on eBay with full disclosure and took a $400 bath on it. So not as much of a warranty issue as a general service issue.
It all started because I decided I liked silver better than black in these models, and Reagan was offering up a low mileage silver one, so I thought I could buy that and sell my black one for similar $$$.
George - I know what you mean but `i wouldn't say clinical, I'd say neutral, but I've come to appreciate that about the Z7, and as I say, I'm starting to get excited about S or LTM lenses for it, it'd be a compact kit with that tiny adapter.
Max Power wrote:
My previous Df, bought here, turned out to be an undisclosed UK model rather than a US model. When I went to sell it here it was pointed out to me. I called around to the service centers and nobody would touch it, so I ended up selling it on eBay with full disclosure and took a $400 bath on it. So not as much of a warranty issue as a general service issue.
It all started because I decided I liked silver better than black in these models, and Reagan was offering up a low mileage silver one, so I thought I could buy that and sell my black one for similar $$$.
Ben, great to see you posting in this thread again. We haven't used the word "banal" in a while. So here is banal entry fro the day. Taken with the 55 f3.5 Ai. Thanks for looking.
Scott
Max Power wrote:
My previous Df, bought here, turned out to be an undisclosed UK model rather than a US model. When I went to sell it here it was pointed out to me. I called around to the service centers and nobody would touch it, so I ended up selling it on eBay with full disclosure and took a $400 bath on it. So not as much of a warranty issue as a general service issue.
It all started because I decided I liked silver better than black in these models, and Reagan was offering up a low mileage silver one, so I thought I could buy that and sell my black one for similar $$$.
As if a number on the bottom of the camera makes any difference. It is Nikon’s way of controlling pricing in geographic regions. Cameras are cheaper in the USA than the UK but if I were to bring a new one back to Europe the warranty would be invalid. That puts people off - the fear of getting a lemon and ending up with a costly repair bill. So, in the UK we end up paying a lot more for the same thing.
I work in electronics. Failure rates follow a bathtub curve. Lots of failures occur very early in the product lifecycle, then it stabilizes until aging effects manifest themselves later. Because of this early life failure I wouldn’t risk buying a new camera without a solid warranty behind it. But that’s just me...
Well Ben's magic processing techniques led me down a darker path with this one.
Rather than showing golden/green grasses bathed in lovely, warm, sunlight I opted for a B&W rendering with a subtle hint of split toning.
Well Ben's magic processing techniques led me down a darker path with this one.
Rather than showing golden/green grasses bathed in lovely, warm, sunlight I opted for a B&W rendering with a subtle hint of split toning.
So .....it's my fault Colin? Well, I for one like it this way.
But you're right about the price of cameras and electronics in the UK, you pay ridiculous prices. Europe is bad, the euro prices bear no relationship to the exchange rate value, but the UK is stratospheric. I really miss Australian prices.
Scott - I'm not going to use the "b" word. Philippe's on holiday so you're safe.
Colin - I'm not certain those pricing limitations are intended to benefit Nikon but rather to assuage the concerns of local merchants who do most of the servicing. Yes, there is money to be made in servicing but less for photography gear than for autos, but limiting service is one way to make certain folks buy from local dealers rather than those offering deep discounts elsewhere in the world. I found it interesting as I noted above, that the D700, their first digital camera has ONE serial number series for the whole world. That may have been when they realized making a camera that could be serviced EVERYWHERE wouldn't work for local vendors.
In the same vain I can't help but wonder about the limitations on electronic media such as videos. A video produced anywhere should be easily watched anywhere but there are licensing limitations that keep that from happening. Anyone in America whose tried to view an ITV show knows what I'm talking about.
This is the world in which we live... I still haven't heard from the camera technician...
The black one you had is the one that was the UK model,
The silver one you got from Reagan was a US one, correct?
APS will fix it, as long as they have parts for it. Give them a call, they do excellent work and fast turnaround times. I've never sent anything to Nikon.
Max Power wrote:
My previous Df, bought here, turned out to be an undisclosed UK model rather than a US model. When I went to sell it here it was pointed out to me. I called around to the service centers and nobody would touch it, so I ended up selling it on eBay with full disclosure and took a $400 bath on it. So not as much of a warranty issue as a general service issue.
It all started because I decided I liked silver better than black in these models, and Reagan was offering up a low mileage silver one, so I thought I could buy that and sell my black one for similar $$$.
my D800 was a newly released US model at $3000, my D810 was a newly released UK model sold in the US for $2000, neither has failed. Guess which purchase I would do again.
Back to the 'bad' 10.5 cm at infinity - this lens is almost mint and the glass is certainly so, not a spec of dust after 60 years, no evidence of human hands inside it.
It was a little disappointing that it was soft on the right side at infinity, but I know there is more to a lens than this.
Retested the lens, at infinity the problem goes away at 5.6, good enough for occasional landscape if I happen to have the lens on the camera, would not pick this lens for that use.
up close there is no issue at all, don't ask me why
Here is the lens at 2.5 with some Russian volunteers NO PROBLEM! great!
(Ken may like some of my literary choices, but let me clarify the red hot chili peppers is a cookbook not a band, blood ties is a hunting -not a vampire- book, I do practice fiber optics, groudning and shielding, and digital signal processing daily - feel more naked with your seeing some of my books than my image as emperor)
! The $400 silver "upgrade". 
