***DSLR/Photography MegaThread***

[FBJ]

Your pictures look great. Good exposure and nice neutral white balance. I sometimes have color cast problems with those vapor lights when shooting at high ISO. Sometimes when I preset my white balance for one area of the ice I get a slight pink cast on in other areas. Still the brightness and color consistnecy at TSC is much better than most other rinks around town. Anaheim Ice is at least one stop darker, if not more. On the other hand, Staples is a dream. Probably a stop and a half brighter than TSC.

Yeah but good luck getting the 70-200 into Staples. If you do manage to do it, though I want to know how. Names, man. I need NAMES!

And I made the mistake of going with the continuous focusing in a many of the shots. That doesn't work so slick when you're shooting from behind glass. The focus-range limiter on the lens helped, but not enough. Some pics just turned out a tad blurry because of that.

 

[VF]

Stupid Sammy's. Rude as always, and when I went to go pick up my rental ef 300 f/2.8 IS today, and they forgot the 2.0x converter, so the longest reach I'm going to have for tomorrow is 420mm. But I immediately went to the back yard to try and practice tracking planes:

I like the lens so far, pretty heavy, and a bit of a battery hog with the IS on, but I'm learning to work with it. I better not like it too much at $4k

 

[FBJ]

I like the second picture better.

 

[VF]

Interesting, the SWA was shot with the 1.4 tele-converter, and the UA was show without, and although the SWA shot is a bit out of focus, there isn't a huge sacrifice in local contrast, or really sharpness (although this probably isn't a very good test)

 

[DeaderFan]

Yeah but good luck getting the 70-200 into Staples. If you do manage to do it, though I want to know how. Names, man. I need NAMES!

I shoot my kid's hockey games so I shoot in a lot of rinks. Since he is on the Jr. Kings we have occasionally been able to play at Staples, and in that circumstance they let me bring in whatever equipment I want. I know better than to try to bring in a big lens for an NHL game without credential--although I know people have asked for and gotten a credential when their kid was playing between periods.

Hey which teleconverter are you using? I see there is a TC-20E and a TC-20E II for a $150 more. Any idea what the diference is? They say they both work with the 70-200.

 

[FBJ]

I just ordered the TC-20E 2x teleconverter from B&H for a GREAT price of $299.

I can't find anything that will tell me the difference between teh TC-20E and the TC-20E II teleconverters, though. One is a newer model (the II) but I can't figure out the difference, spec wise. Price-wise, it's about $150, though.

EDIT: Found this:

http://www.momentcorp.com/review/nikon_tc-20e.html

"There is no optical difference between the TC-20E and the TC-20E II."

It says in that review that I'll lose some sharpness and contrast. I've not heard that before, though I can imagine this might be true since you're sending the light through seven more elements with the teleconverter installed.

Either way, I'll have the 70-200 f/2.8 VR or the 70-200 f/2.8 VR + 2x teleconverter (equaling 140-400 f/5.6). That's a digital equivalent of 105-300mm or 210-600mm!!

By buying the 70-200 lens and the teleconverter, I figure I've got more flexibility than if I were to buy the 80-400 lens by itself. The 70-200 will give me a consistent aperture throughout its focal lengths (instead of ranging from f/4.5-5.6 as the 80-400 will) and I've still got the vibration reduction.

I couldn't find any optical difference between the TC-20E and the TC-20E II. Go with the cheaper of the two, which is what I did.

 

[VF]

More high ISO D3 shots for you Nikon-ers to drool at

 

[FBJ]

Hand-held, bitches! One of the best low-light pics I've taken.

 

[VF]

Very nice, did you have a good time?

Also, I don't know if you saw them, Red Bull pics are here.

 

[FBJ]

Heh...I was just checking them out and posting in the thread.

Is your gallery a Lightroom creation?

 

[FBJ]

I shoot my kid's hockey games so I shoot in a lot of rinks. Since he is on the Jr. Kings we have occasionally been able to play at Staples, and in that circumstance they let me bring in whatever equipment I want. I know better than to try to bring in a big lens for an NHL game without credential--although I know people have asked for and gotten a credential when their kid was playing between periods.

Hey which teleconverter are you using? I see there is a TC-20E and a TC-20E II for a $150 more. Any idea what the diference is? They say they both work with the 70-200.

Well??? Did you get it yet??? Where are the pics, man!

 

[VF]

Is your gallery a Lightroom creation?

The gallery is a open source application that you upload to your hosting server, which is here. The really nice thing about it is that really it does all the work, so I basically just drag and drop a bunch of pics, add captions, and say go, and it does everything else. Because it is open source, there are a bunch of different skins and whatnot for it, and it is very customizable, but it can be a little confusing to set up. The thing I like about it over Photoshop created web galleries (I haven't used Lightroom's yet) is that if I want to add or delete pictures, I don't have to rebuild the whole page, I just add or delete and the gallery software rebuilds stuff as needed. I really really like it.

 

[DeaderFan]

Well??? Did you get it yet??? Where are the pics, man!

I did get it and I was pretty excited. I had been on the B&H website many times and it was always listed as out of stock. Then one day there it was. "In stock" for about a day. So I ordered and got it. As soon as I got it I also got a big project at work so I have had no time to put it to the test yet. Very frustrating! Anyway right now I am just happy to have it in my hands. A very nice lens. Great workmanship. As soon as I get some pics I will post something.

Love the picture of the ship BTW.

 

[FBJ]

Couple of B&Ws I took in Monterey last week that I'm kinda proud of.

A boatload more pics of the trip (B&W and otherwise) are up on my flickr page.

Sam: I like the gallery software a lot. I've got to get some website stuff ironed out, then I'll probably create a gallery page of my own that looks a little more "professional" than flickr.

 

[VF]

Couple of B&Ws I took in Monterey last week that I'm kinda proud of.

Sam: I like the gallery software a lot. I've got to get some website stuff ironed out, then I'll probably create a gallery page of my own that looks a little more "professional" than flickr.

Hey, that's my place

Wow, really nice shots and nice conversions. I like `em a lot. Makes me want to get out and take more pics, but I have been so couped up with work.

The Gallery is really nice, but it does take a good chunk of time to get it all installed and configured the first time, but once it is up, and set up the way you want it, I have found it to be super easy.

 

[Unfiltered]

I've been using my Canon D10 for a few years and I've decided to upgrade. Not only have I decided to upgrade, I am changing makes. I'm switching to a Nikon D300.
I shot with my buddy's D200 quite a bit to know that's the direction I wanted to go. With the D300 due in November, I decided to wait. If I had the disposable income, I'd get a D3. But that's a lot of extra money I can spend on some new glass instead.

I've been rummaging through the thread and you guys have some really nice shots. I look forward to sharing with y'all.

Heck, maybe I'll try and work my silly press connections a bit and see if we can get down to ice level during a game at Staples. No promises, but I'll try.

 

[FBJ]

Heck, maybe I'll try and work my silly press connections a bit and see if we can get down to ice level during a game at Staples. No promises, but I'll try.

You, sir, would become a true hero to this amateur photographer were you able to do this (or hell, get me down into the photog's box at a Dodger game).

But doesn't Getty Images have all the NHL stuff sewn up tighter than a gnat's ass?

 

[FBJ]

I've been using my Canon D10 for a few years and I've decided to upgrade. Not only have I decided to upgrade, I am changing makes. I'm switching to a Nikon D300.
I shot with my buddy's D200 quite a bit to know that's the direction I wanted to go. With the D300 due in November, I decided to wait. If I had the disposable income, I'd get a D3. But that's a lot of extra money I can spend on some new glass instead.

I've been rummaging through the thread and you guys have some really nice shots. I look forward to sharing with y'all.

Heck, maybe I'll try and work my silly press connections a bit and see if we can get down to ice level during a game at Staples. No promises, but I'll try.

I've decided that I'll be upgrading to a D300 some time early next year. I think I'm going to try and save enough to buy it so that I don't have to sell the D200. That way I can be all cool and pro-like with a backup camera.

 

[Unfiltered]

You, sir, would become a true hero to this amateur photographer were you able to do this (or hell, get me down into the photog's box at a Dodger game).

But doesn't Getty Images have all the NHL stuff sewn up tighter than a gnat's ass?

As far as Getty Images go, I'm not sure. But my press creds would come via NBC, so that my not be an issue. Again, I haven't looked into it.

When the 08' season starts, I'll see what I can do at the Ravine.

 

[Unfiltered]

Bought my lens at Hooper Camera in Chatsworth.

Sadly (for my pocketbook), I don't believe that I will be able to avoid the temptation of the D300. It'll just be a matter of when.

For the $1619 they're selling it for now?