My quest is finally over

[dreamwatch]

After 4 long years my quest for a full set of professional lenses has finally come to a close. Yesterday some sucker traded in the last lens on my list and my guys on second hand nabbed it away for me straight away. Tonight, the beauty nestles in my camera bag, safe in the knowledge it will now be cherished for all eternity... hmmm, maybe I'm going over the top a bit now. Anyhoo, ladies and gentleman, and Koichi, may I please present to you the Nikon 14mm f2.8 AFD!!! Bow down before it's greatness!!!


Now, I know none of you lot give a fuck, but I'm so over joyed I have to post it somewhere.

 

[phlogiston]

I thought this thread was going to be about wool

And do you bow down before its greatness? Or do you bow down after you put that thing on the front of your camera because you can't support the weight? That's a big lens.

 

[spawn]

I thought it was going to be about wool too...

How many lenses do you have now?

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I also thought it was going to be about wool.

 

[Spruce Goose]

Wool

 

[Southy]

so you can become a pappawhatsit now mate?

 

[dreamwatch]

My reputation as a wool obsessive preceeds me.

I now have 5 lenses Spawny, all beautiful shiny things, my preeeecciouss...

Phloggy, its not that big really, but heavy. The combined weight of all 5 lenses and the camera is over 5 kilos! No wonder my back is ruined. the most common reason people give up being photographers or assistants is back and neck injuries. No bloody wonder.

Southy - you should know me well enough to know by now that I'd rather starve on the streets than be a pap.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

mmm, 14mm lens.

Hey dreamy, what lenses do you have? Do you happen to have the AF zoom micro nikkon 70-180mm? Their first micro/macro zoom, looks drool worthy...:hotjump:


Oh, you'll know the answer to this question i'm sure: Do nikon AF lenses have a manual override for focussing? I know several of the Canon lenses do, notably the Macro lenses.... I'm still tossing up between the two, and I can't see why Nikon would not put manual override on the AF macros... (unless it is shit, of course)

oh, i should have called it "full time manual focussing", but you get the idea..

 

[Mark]

Hi Mek - This is dreamwatch, I can't be bothered loggin Mark out.

All Nikon lenses can be used in manual mode, but the situation is different from the Canon set up. On Nikon camera bodies the autofocus is driven from the bodies, so the override is on the camera. However on a few of the top end lenses you also have an auto to manual ring, normally set just behind the focus ring. Canons autofocus is driven mostly from the lens, hence their manual/auto switch on all of their lenses. This also makes their autofocus quicker!

I haven't seen that Macro zoom yet - I have to admit I'm not really a macro fan. I'm on my way to work now though (gggrrrrrr ) so I'll have to have a look if we've got one, sounds interesting.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

ah, so have i got this straight - to focus manually using a nikon, you press an override (button) on the body, then you focus using a ring? is this manual focussing available on all nikons? strange, Nikon make no mention of it on their website - but maybe i've been looking in the wrong place

thanks for the info!

 

[JonBonJovi]

Hey Dreamy I could have helped you out with getting lens second hand....where I used to work we bought lenses all the time and other photgraphic equipment. Just before I left I bought a shitload of stuff for the store for peanuts.

 

[Mark]

Mek - this is Mark this time

It's a small silver button - basically, you press it in, and turn a ring from A (auto) mode to M (manual) mode, and then hand-focus.

 

[dreamwatch]

Xena - that's the best bit about my job. That website URL is for the company I work for, and I'm in the flagship store so we get some tasty bits of kit in. The guys in second hand know exactly what I'm looking for, and I'm good mates with one in particular so even when he knows other staff are after stuff he grabs it for me first.

Mek - all auto focus SLR's have the ability to be focussed manually. In actual fact it's a necessity; auto focus requires a degree of contrast to 'latch' on to. If you have a subject with virtually no contrast, or in very dark lighting conditions, you need to over ride AF. The AF/M switch is on the bottom right of the camera as you look at it (it's in the same place on all Nikons). Have a look at the attached picture. As I said, some high end lenses have a manual to auto switch which allows you to over ride the switch on the body.

 

[dreamwatch]

Aww, the friggin attachment thingy isn't working for me again. I'll try adding it later.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

dreamy, nevermind the pic, I looked on the nikon site (at the bodies,i 've been looking for it on the lenses.. duh!!!).
Called the "focus mode selector". ehh me stoopid.

I'm keeping my eye out for the nikon D70 DSLR. The specs are impressive, lets hope the performance is too....

how's the reaction to the Canon 10D over there? I've read a lot of good stuff about it, and a little negative stuff (mainly AF probs).

thanks for the info guys!

 

[dreamwatch]

The 10D is our hottest property (along with the 300d) and we can't get enough of them. We've got about 40 backorders from this branch alone for customers. It's an awesome camera. I'm interested in seeing the D70 too, from what I hear it should be great. What worries me slightly is build - I really hate plasticky cameras and as it's technically a model below the D100 I worry that it's build that will be sacrificed for the price. But hopefully I'm wrong.

 

[MeKaChrOme]

i hate plastic feeling cameras too. the specs look great, apparently it is better than the D100 in some ways... release date is soon, we shall see Shame it's plastic

have you played around with a 10D? I've been reading people bitching about problems with never being able to get a sharp image through the viewfinder (image comes out sharp, but you just can't ajust the viewfinder to the left enough).... ALso people talking about big AF probs!!

 

[dreamwatch]

I've had a play and never had a problem myself, although I have heard mention of the AF problem. As I think we've only returned one on the basis of dodgy AF I have to say I think it was a bad batch that's been heavily reported and now everyone is paranoid that theirs might be one of them! It's a great camera, and I do highly recommend it if you can get a good deal on price. If you're looking at spending that much you should give the Olympus E1 a look - booootiful machine and it comes with a lens with an effective focal length of 28-108, and it's a good lens, not a cheap piece of plastic crap like the one on the 300D. I know we sell the 10D now for around £1160, and I have price matched the olympus to £1499 with the lens. Once you add on a good lens to the Canon you're in the same ball park really.

 

[KoichCPA]

I found the Af 28D was nothing compared to the 16c, I mean the button on the case, and lens cap was existential at most, I honestly don't see how the Canon vs the Nikon can even be directly debated what with differences in Sterling and the Yen. It's not how you play the game, it's if you win or lose, left isn't left and a shovel is sometimes a spade, someone needs to tell Canon this, the 10d is a shotty made camera, I'm proud of the boys, they played well, all is fair in love well, it's only as long as you make it home is where the heart is

 

[dreamwatch]

Koichi I couldn't agree more, it's a long way to the top if you wanna rock n' roll.