Memo to Nikon

Harryb

Dear Nikon folk,

I was shooting at the Viera Wetlands yesterday. I was shooting with the 500mm f/4 and 1.7 TC attached to my D200 and the 300f/4 and 1.4 TC attached to my D2X.

It was late in the day and the light was dim. We decided to make one last run through the wetlands. Toward the end of our loop I spied a least bittern. Now a least bittern is an extremely hard capture because one they are very small, they are the smallest of the heron family. Two, they are very, very shy and rarely emerge from cover. My guidebook says that they can't give an accurate count of how many least bitterns there are because they are so secretive.

Anyhow we have this least bittern in the semi open and its not moving. :clap

Here's an uncropped shot with the D2X and the 300mm f/4 and 1.4 TC at ISO 500


here's a cropped shot from the D2X


The problem was that these shots were handheld, I didn't want to exit my car and spook the very shy bittern. Most of the shots I took I deleted due to camera shake.

Once everybody had gotten their shots I got out of my car and set up my tripod and and my D200 with the 500mm f/4 lens and 1.7 TC.

Now here's the problem. Right before we made our last run I had reviewed some of my earlier shots on my cameras' LCDs. On the D2X the review and delete buttons are on the back left just below the mode dial. On the D200 in the same place you have the delete button and the bracket button. Why did you do that? :scratch Needless to say I had hit the bracket button when I went to review my D200 shots. Of the 28 shots of the bittern these were the only two usable shots I got. :bash





In the future lets try for some consistancy in the design of our camera bodies and button placement.

flygirl

Well, Harry that second cropped one, with the pollywog, is just awesome . At least you got that one, but we will just have to keep going around that same place, again and again . I wonder if those little creatures know how much frustration they put us through:D .

Maestro

Well even though you bracketed some causing some to be over or underexposed the two you have are excellent!

Canon has its quirks though too. I have blown some shots because the ISO button is very easy to access so much so that if you are hurrying to get a shot and really press your face up against the eyepiece you can actually actuate the ISO giving the picture some horrible noise because the pic was taken at ISO 1600! :bash

Airedrifter

A money shot! Wow. The last is most cool.
Good stuff. Really good stuff.

Mitchell

Harry,
I also have a D2Xs and a D200.

I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it's impossible for me to shoot with both of these bodies at the same time for the reason you described. The button layouts are similar enough that it throws me when I switch back and forth. I curse Nikon whenever I try to zoom on my D200 and I wind up just "locking" the photo.:bash The D200 has not become the backup I wanted for the D2Xs for this reason alone.

Misery loves company.

Harryb

flygirl wrote:

Well, Harry that second cropped one, with the pollywog, is just awesome . At least you got that one, but we will just have to keep going around that same place, again and again . I wonder if those little creatures know how much frustration they put us through:D .

Thanks Nancy. The second shot is cropped but the shot with the pollywog is just about full frame.

Harryb

Maestro wrote:

Well even though you bracketed some causing some to be over or underexposed the two you have are excellent!

Canon has its quirks though too. I have blown some shots because the ISO button is very easy to access so much so that if you are hurrying to get a shot and really press your face up against the eyepiece you can actually actuate the ISO giving the picture some horrible noise because the pic was taken at ISO 1600! :bash

Thanks Stephen but I've been told that Canon's have no noise up to ISO 800,000.

borrowlenses.com

I wouldn't beat yourself up too much on these - the quality and the timing are simply awesome. How are you liking that 500 btw? we are thinking of starting to carry it, but still deciding if it's worth the investment.

Andy

Hmmmmm I don't recall ever having this problem with my Canons. 'course, might not be fair to blame it all on Nikon (though how easy it is to blame them!), it could just be senility setting in

:rutt

Harryb

Andy wrote:

Hmmmmm I don't recall ever having this problem with my Canons. 'course, might not be fair to blame it all on Nikon (though how easy it is to blame them!), it could just be senility setting in

:rutt

You didn't have that problem with the Canons because you were too busy trying to figure out what that print button was doing on your camera. :poke

As for senility I ain't the one who is out back grazing in the field at dinner time. :eat

Harryb

borrowlenses.com wrote:

I wouldn't beat yourself up too much on these - the quality and the timing are simply awesome. How are you liking that 500 btw? we are thinking of starting to carry it, but still deciding if it's worth the investment.

I love the 500. It's not as fast as the 400 2.8 and doesn't have the reach of the 600 but its significantly lighter and easier to handle .

jwear

that is funny Harry the other day i was shooting an egret [not that egret ] it was very bright out and coming at me from the sun I see this flying at me but in my case it was just old age that made me forget to ev up the fact that it was an american bittern made my brain stop and shoot .I wish I could call nikon and say [IT'S YOUR FAULT ] but this is the only bittern I have so far but always remember the settings --like I say shoot and cuss you did much better

Andy

Harryb wrote:

As for senility I ain't the one who is out back grazing in the field at dinner time. :eat

My PETA can kick your AARP's butt

Ric Grupe

What a precarious perch! Interesting pose.

Very nicely done, Harry.

Harryb

Airedrifter wrote:

Good stuff. Really good stuff.

Thanks Mike.

BigAl

Sorry to hear about the N*k*n woes Harry, but in spite of that, very well done on getting the bittern - they are difficult to pin down

borrowlenses.com

Harryb wrote:

I love the 500. It's not as fast as the 400 2.8 and doesn't have the reach of the 600 but its significantly lighter and easier to handle .

Cool, thanks for the feedback. It's only a matter of time until we pick up a copy and I get to play with it

raptorcaptor

Love the last shot Harry! That's one of the problems with using different bodies. When I switch from my MkIIn to my 30D I find myself looking for the info in the wrong places. The MkIIn is a UI nightmare, but I have gotten used to it.

PrescottPhotog

Harryb wrote:

Dear Nikon folk

Hi Harry.. I love the last shot. I can't tell if his look is of surprise or elation but in either case it looks like "dinner is ready".

I held off buying a Mark II because I heard you had to take a friend along to help push all the button combinations. My XTI has great button locations and Canon improved it even better on the Mark III, but then again I am a lefty. One quirk though, the manual says lefty's have to face west to adjust the bracket button and then east to turn it off, hmmmm (evidently north and south don't work for bracketing).

Harryb

Mitchell wrote:

Harry,
I also have a D2Xs and a D200.

I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but it's impossible for me to shoot with both of these bodies at the same time for the reason you described. The button layouts are similar enough that it throws me when I switch back and forth. I curse Nikon whenever I try to zoom on my D200 and I wind up just "locking" the photo.:bash The D200 has not become the backup I wanted for the D2Xs for this reason alone.

Misery loves company.

I'll be glad when my D3 and D300 come in. That will eliminate the problem. Its a pain in the butt when you reach for your second body and then have to stop to think about the different button layout.

dbaker1221

that last one is a great shot Harry.

Harryb

jwear wrote:

that is funny Harry the other day i was shooting an egret [not that egret ] it was very bright out and coming at me from the sun I see this flying at me but in my case it was just old age that made me forget to ev up the fact that it was an american bittern made my brain stop and shoot .I wish I could call nikon and say [IT'S YOUR FAULT ] but this is the only bittern I have so far but always remember the settings --like I say shoot and cuss you did much better

Thanks Jeff and that's about the only flight shot of an American Bittern that I've seen.

Arthur Morris in his book "The Art of Bird Photography" (great book BTW and every wildlife shooter should have a gander at it) recommends that after taking a shot you should reset your EV back to 0 so that everytime you start to set up a shot you know what your camera is set at.

bfjr

Yeah Geezzz Buddy you got it real tough, don't ya

NOT

Ah heck I understand that at your advance stage it's tough to member all them there buttons, have ya tried Ginko Baloba, or Pineapple Pizza ???

Harryb

Ric Grupe wrote:

What a precarious perch! Interesting pose.

Very nicely done, Harry.

Thanks Ric and I've seen green herons take the same pose while waiting for their lunch to come within striking distance.

Andy

Harryb wrote:

Dear Nikon folk,

This is an outrage!!!

:rutt

What, only Nikon shooters can be here? :beatwax

Harryb

Andy wrote:

This is an outrage!!!

:rutt

What, only Nikon shooters can be here? :beatwax

Sigh, Andy, Andy, Andy - It was a "memo" addressed to Nikon. I would have contacted Canon but they are a tad busy trying to get the Mark III to focus.

Harryb

BigAl wrote:

Sorry to hear about the N*k*n woes Harry, but in spite of that, very well done on getting the bittern - they are difficult to pin down

Thanks Al, those bitterns are a very hard capture.