Sold off the Oly Kit ............ Onward ....... I bought a Nikon.

[Pete Sykes]

Hi All,


Haven't been around here for a little while............... Been a bit poorly. But I'm on the mend...........

Anyway, I sold off pretty much all of my "Oly" kit............. I'm still not sure what to buy as a replacement yet........... But in the meantime

In honesty, there is a lot out there ........... and my brain hurts now from looking at specs and reviews.

I picked up a cheap (£ 75.00) Nikon D100 ............ and a couple on reasonable Nikon Lenses. So I'll see what I can get out of it.........

Pete

 

[Hamish Gill]

D100 is a great camera ... A bit long in the tooth, but still very capable!
sounds like it's the Nikon path you are starting to walk!

If you have older lenses and decide the Nikon path is right let me know what the lenses are and I'll give you some pointers on what would be a good choice of camera

 

[Pete Sykes]

Thanks Hamish............ Much appreciated.

I've seen some good results from people with a D100 .......and at £75.00 ???? Bargain.

I'll probably not get out with it until the weekend. Work is manic at the moment. But I'll post up some results when I do.

Lenses ............ ???

Nikon Nikkor 28-100mm AF Zoom Lens F3.5-5.6 G

Nikon Nikkor 70 mm-300 mm F4.0-5.6 Telephoto G

I'll probably try for a Sigma 18-50 F2.8 as well. I've got my eye on one ........ But I think it'll bid up too much money for me.

Pete

 

[Hamish Gill]

A bargain indeed!
'g' lenses will work fine on any Nikon DSLR, just watch out for older "d" and pre "d" AF lenses as they need a focus drive that is not present in a lot of lower end Nikon DSLR's ...
those lenses were designed for film and obviously you won't get the wide end as you would with a full frame camera but otherwise they should be ok ...
Somthing like the Nikon 18-55 would be a lot better than the 28-100, but if your looking at the sigma 18-50 your def on the right track for some pretty decent glass!

 

[Pete Sykes]

Hamish,

I think I'll go for the Nikon 18-55 (I think the Sigma, though I'd like one, is to many pennies right now)..... Is it worth paying the extra for the VR lens or is the VR a bit gimmicky ?????

Pete

 

[Hamish Gill]

It has it's uses ... Id go for the VR my self!
I sold one not long ago ... Shame!

 

[Pete Sykes]

Well,

First thoughts on the Nikon D100 ........ and as you'll note this is a purely technical perspective.

1. It's heavier than an Olympus E-510........

2. The viewfinder (compared with the Olympus) is really quite good .......... and you can see the status bar without having to squint 90 degrees sideways.

3. I downloaded the instruction manual. I was going to print it, but it's 222 pages ?????

........... and finally, and I love this. I was reading the manual and came to the bit about adjusting the Diopter. It says..........

"When operating the diopter control with your eye to the viewfinder, care should be
taken to avoid accidentally putting your fingers or fingernails in your eye."

....... Now, I'm wondering who is that for ???? ...... Americans maybe ????

Pete

 

[Hamish Gill]

Sencible advice that!
so your getting on with it well?
One of the biggest flaws of olys is their key hole like vfs IMO

 

[Pete Sykes]

Sencible advice that!
so your getting on with it well?
One of the biggest flaws of olys is their key hole like vfs IMO

Yes I think so ...... apart from getting the hang of the menus and a couple of controls ..............

............ and needing someone to help my lift it.

Pete

 

[Hamish Gill]

You should spend a day with a d3 if you think that's heavy... I end up with aching knuckles from the weight!

 

[Pete Askew]

Pro Photographer has an article on keep-fit for photographers this month...

 

[Hamish Gill]

Does it have anything on knuckle exercises?

 

[Pete Askew]

Next month I think!! After the arm extension ones!!

 

[Pete Sykes]

....... I figure I can halve the weight if I take out the battery and not use a lens

Pete

 

[Hamish Gill]

If theres one thing I've worked out about you Pete, it's that your a thinker... An ideas man ... You could go far in the world of photography with blue sky thinking like that

 

[Pete Sykes]

Hamish,

I picked up a Nikon 18-55 VR Lens today ............ A question (perhaps I ought to download a manual). If I use the lens in "manual" mode, do I need to set the camera body to manualas well as the lens...... or just switch the lens to manual ?????

I doubt I'll use it much ......... The AF seems really fast compared to the Oly.

Thanks
Peter

 

[Hamish Gill]

Either way will work ...
some cameras don't have the switch on the body!
Yeah it's a fast lens to focus that one... Basically silent too!
VR is good int it! Zoom to 55mm and half press whilst looking through the vf ... Goes oddly still!