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Online auction snipers and nikon lenses

Dan,

OK, so where did Nikon come from?
It is an unsolvable mystery of the universe... or maybe they simply added an n and deleted a k from Nikko to make a five-letter word like Canon.

Joe
 
Sounds plausible, but my understanding is that Nikon is simply a contraction of Nippon Kogaku, which means Japanese Optical Company. Nippon Kogaku produced lenses before they made cameras, so when they got into the camera market they coined the word Nikon.

Joe
 
I have successfully used www.auctionsniper.com several times, including when I bought my NAC82 on fleabay.

When I have not succeeded, it has generally been because my max bid was passed before the auction neared its end. Fair enough - I can't hold that against auction sniper.

I'd recommend you try this one. Just don't out-bid me when I start down the upgrade track shortly to take my Rega 2 up to an LP12 or a Giro or an Xerxes.
 
Well one of my snipes arrived today and I am well made up.

I can see myself becoming a lens whore I really can!

Its a knackered Vivitar Zoom lens 80-200mm Its a push zoom, which I really like and the focusing is so much nicer than the manual on my stock lens.

I got some stunning shots today just for playing and in the space of 300 snaps I have learnt more about photography than I have learnt in 5 years.
The lens is manual focus, and the metering on the camera does not work. I am not sure what the entirety of this means, but I do know that the aperture control on the camera does not work this has to be done on the lens, and of course the flash does not work automatically. IN them 300 shots I learnt that as it gets darker one should set the aperture wider and the shutter speed quicker, ISO should be set lower as it was landscape with no movement and no matter what you do, do not breath on full zoom of a zoom lens lol.

Yet some great shots I got. And it led me to think...

Is there really a need for a light meter with a digital SLR? I fired off loads of shots and with the D50 the preview is on the screen before you can pull your eye from the eye piece, if its no good, then bam, one button and its deleted, a few adjustments and another shot is taken.

Even if the final output at home is not quite what you expected, they are in RAW so more adjustments can be made.

Anyhoo I had some fun today, the lens cost 20 squid including delivery, there is one down side, a small mark appears on every shot in the same place (luckily towards the edge), presumably some dust or what ever in the lens, I am not overly concerned at this price point. The way I see it is, use this lens for a year and if I feel I really can use a Zoom all the time then I will invest in a better one.
 
Gary,

Congrats on the lens.
garyi said:
IN them 300 shots I learnt that as it gets darker one should set the aperture wider and the shutter speed quicker, ISO should be set lower as it was landscape with no movement and no matter what you do, do not breath on full zoom of a zoom lens lol.
For a given shutter speed, as light levels drop you will need either to open up the aperture or increase the ISO. If you both open the aperture and increase shutter speed (leaving ISO constant) you will be roughly maintaining the same exposure value. For landscapes, using a lowish shutter speed ought not be a problem as there will probably be little movement in frame - just got to keep the shutter speed above the point where camera shake will bugger the shot up - rule of thumb is, I think, to set shutter as the reciprocal of focal length, so for a FL of 200mm use a shutter speed of 1/200 of a second. Simply adjust aperture and ISO around this.

Regards,

Stuart.
 
Gary,

Is there really a need for a light meter with a digital SLR? I fired off loads of shots and with the D50 the preview is on the screen before you can pull your eye from the eye piece, if its no good, then bam, one button and its deleted, a few adjustments and another shot is taken.
Hit and miss photography can work, but implicit in your shooting style is a lot of misses. Digital encourages this because there's no cost to muddling your way to a correctly exposed shot. Maybe this isn't a big deal with still life and landscape photography, but this style would be nearly useless for streeters, candids and >90% of shots of iJunior, once he or she has arrived.

My advice is to get a lens that allows internal metering with your D50 or go all Vuky and get a hand held meter, which, incidentally, will drive home the relationship between aperture, shutter speed and ISO faster than your trial and error method could ever hope to.

Joe
 
Joe, don't be horrible to me, I am very delicate I am, me.

Hit and miss is what I do, I have no pretentions of being a hip Photographer, and my hit and miss style today involves me looking at a scene and thinking what settings I need. Today I have been 50% right, or at least a picture that could be used. This will help me, I believe in the long run.

The light meter argument you present regarding street photos seems a bit off, surely on 'da street' as it were time is of the essence, bam theres a shot etc, farting around with your light meter before that surely destroys spontinuity and speed? My spelling is poor, I have no spell checker at work, I am sorry.

Pictures of the little one will probably not require a zoom lens so I will stick with 'P' on the stock lens ;)

The main issue I see with zoom is having to look a complete geek with a tripod in my hand.
 
Gary,

Joe, don't be horrible to me, I am very delicate I am, me.
Horrible? I thought I was being helpful. Man, you really are delicate... like the gentle Prairie flower that withers in the summer's heat.



Hit and miss is what I do, I have no pretentions of being a hip Photographer, and my hit and miss style today involves me looking at a scene and thinking what settings I need.
It's not about being hip. It's about getting the exposure right so you never miss a shot because of over- or underexposure. When you're cooking do you randomly add ingredients in the hope that, by chance, you might nail it or, do you try to get it right the first time, then tweak as necessary?



The light meter argument you present regarding street photos seems a bit off, surely on 'da street' as it were time is of the essence, bam theres a shot etc, farting around with your light meter before that surely destroys spontinuity and speed?
Not really. Unless the light goes from bright sun to cloudy to overcast quickly, one meter reading will be good for minutes, even hours.




My spelling is poor, I have no spell checker at work, I am sorry.
I've not noticed any difference, to be honest. Seems just as inventive and phonetic as always.





The main issue I see with zoom is having to look a complete geek with a tripod in my hand.
A tripod is used to steady the camera, whether you're using a prime, zoom or the biggest lens in the free world. Not the greatest invention for candids and streeters, but tripods do have their purpose.

Joe
 
Yes I think I will take one up the hill next time I go, the sun was setting yesterday, it was stunning and I got some nice shots but they would have been better pin sharp haha.

As part of my total blow out an iMac Intel 20inch with 2gigs of ram and uprated graphics card with wireless everything is now ordered, yea. I like my iBook but I cannot tell a good photo from a bad one on this screen.
 
Gary,

I'm not trying to be difficult, but it pays to understand how exposure works; in other words, understanding the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Once you master that (and it isn't complicated) you can move on to what photography is really about -- using shutter speed, aperture and ISO creatively.

Joe
 
Joe,

I suppose it's a bit early to explain DOF and bokeh whilst the concept of speed vs aperture is still new to iGary.

James

P/S: Can you see any fine examples of the Pentax SMC-A 100/2.8 macro in your neck of the woods? I'd even consider paying a finder's fee.
 
There is no need to take the piss, my understanding may simply be in a different language to your understanding.

Understanding it still is.

I would still prefer to try and get in a situation where there is something interesting to shoot. After all you can only have so many black and white street scenes eh? ;)
 
I wasn't taking the piss, Gary you delicate flower, but only to further add what aperture control does. Yes, a wider aperture might let in more light and allow a faster shutter speed, but that same wide aperture will have minimal depth-of-field. This generally means your focussing has to be spot on, and the whole of your subject more or less equidistant to the lens.

Out of focus areas of the photo can also be used creatively, and this is where the out-of-focus quality of the lens (i.e. bokeh) is important. Enjoy your camera and get stuck into taking control of the photo opportunities.

James
 
James, when the aperture is set wide open on this lens, I have noticed I 'lose' some of the focusing ability, i.e. I can go fully on the focus ring and only just be in focus. As I move down the aperture focus becomes more 'forgiving'

On the shots I took the other night it was getting towards sun down, a lovely evening it was too. I played with many settings but ultimately found the best for low light was with the aperture wide open. In terms of depth of field, I found that at full zoom which was in essence to the horizon some 2-3 miles away, it became a little irrelevant.

The other option was smaller aperture but lot longer shutter, which with a hand held camera and a lens weighing a good half to three quarter KG and full zoom, I felt I made the best decision for the situation I found myself!

BTW I am joking about the whole delicate thing, I am a little more robust.

But out of interest to all you experts, how would you have gone about it? I will post the 'pick' tomorrow.
 


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