Nikon D300

What a camera! I picked it up last Saturday when in Sydney, and have been playing with it at every opportunity. I've got a lot to learn, that's for sure. I've found the menu system to be a bit confusing, mainly because there's just so much stuff in there and sometimes it's hard to find where a particular setting is. For example, to turn off the focusing beep required me to RTFM! Obviously, it's just something you need to learn, and coming from a point-and-shoot Canon S3, the menuing system is sooo different.

Some of my favorite things on the D300:

• 51 point autofocus - amazing... and the 3D tracking mode works well too :)
• The viewfinder is clear and very nice to use
• So far the buttons all seem to be very logically placed - my only gripe is that clicking the centre of the navigation button can be a little tricky. If you click it just to the side then it will register a click in that direction rather than the middle. Maybe a separate button in the middle would be better.
• The back LCD screen is beautiful
• The camera feels very solid and well built, but is quite heavy - I suppose I'll get used to it.
• When you press the shutter button, it takes pictures instantly.
• The continuous shooting is fast too... 6fps takes a bit of getting used to!
• The Active D-Lighting really does help get more dynamic range, and has 4 settings to choose from.
  

And the bad stuff:

• I wish that when in P mode with Auto ISO turned on it would allow me to select any aperture or shutterspeed and adjust everything else to get a perfect exposure. It seems to hit a point and then not let me go further. Maybe there's a setting for it....
• As I mentioned before, the OK functionality for the navigation button (clicking the centre) is tricky to get right.
• The manual is long and a bit dry :)
  

Anyway, I'm really enjoying this camera and really glad I bought it. I bought it from Discount Digital Photographics in Sydney. They have very good prices and their service is excellent and they have heaps of stock on hand. I choose to pick it up from their shopfront instead of getting it delivered, mainly because I didn't want to wait for the courier :)

So, now some quite notes on the lens. I bought the Nikkor 18-200mm VR, mainly because I wanted a zoom lens that covered wide angle too so that I can carry around just one lens instead of two or more. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't enjoy the lens swapping ritual. So, because of the 1.5x crop factor on the DX format sensor, this gives a 27-300mm range. Not bad at all. As much as I'd like a really wide angle lens (eg. 12 or 14mm), it's just not going to happen with a good zoom range. I think this lens is a great compromise. I wish it wasn't quite so (physically) long, as it's a bit of a squeeze to fit in my Lowepro backpack/laptop/camerabag (called the CompuDaypack). Just a quick sidenote, the CompuDaypack fits my MacBook Pro 17" perfectly :)

Anyway, the lens focuses quickly, feels solidly built and the VR (Vibration Reduction) really works. I was playing with this yesterday, zoomed to maximum (200mm), and looking through the viewfinder it's very difficult to hold the camera perfectly still - there's always a bit of a jiggle. Hold down the shutter release button half way and everything goes perfectly still. Panning feels fine too, much different (and nicer) to how the IS works on the Canon S3.

I've just received an imitation MC-36 (remote shutter cable release with timer) called the Phottix N1 off eBay for $40. So - gotta go and play with it... cheers!

The Journey Starts

I've had an interest in photography for a while, but have only really starting exploring it in the last 6 months. I've always taken many happy snaps, family shots, etc, and there have been occasional nice photos that I've printed out and framed, but only recently have I been taking things more seriously. I have a Pro flickr account, mainly as an offsite backup of my photo library - I reckon it's pretty good insurance for $25 a year. Imagine loosing all your family shots for the last 10 years (or longer!).

So - I'm making photography my new hobby (or passion...). Over the xmas break (end of 2007 - start of 2008), we did a family holiday on a houseboat on the Murray River, and then toured the Limestone Coast of South Australia and the Great Ocean Road of Victoria. Asside from having a great holiday, I started concentrating on my photographic technique and creativity.

For xmas I recieved the excellent "How to Photograph Australia" book by Steve Parish. I'd been eyeing it off for a while at the bookstore, so was the best present by far this year. I still haven't completed it, but it's jam packed with really great information and stunning shots. Highly recommended.

Over this holiday there were plenty of great photographic opportunities, and I tried to make the most of it. I have a Canon S3 camera, which is a very compact 6MP point-and-shoot with a 12x zoom. It gives a range of something like 35-430mm! It's really quite a good little camera, and was a vast improvement over my Nikon Coolpix 995 (mainly in the area of responsiveness and zoom). There are a few problems with the Canon S3 though, like quite noticible chromatic aborations in high contrast scenes, general softness, the colour is not quite punchy enough for my liking, and the dynamic range could be better. Also, I wish it reacted faster and the batteries lasted longer! I remember it being such an awesome upgrade from the Nikon, but now I just want MORE :) That doesn't mean the photos turn out crap though, but I generally have to tweak them before I'm totally happy.

As of a couple of weeks ago I've decided to take the hobby a few steps forwards. First step is to do a photography course, second step is to get a DSLR, and third step is to try to make a bit of money on the side...

There are plenty of photographic courses available and they range from three year degrees at a recognised educational institution to crappy looking websites with tips and tricks. I wanted to do an internet based course from home that had some meat in it and gave me some kind of diploma at the end. I've got no idea if the piece of paper will help me later on, but at least it's something to show for my efforts. Yesterday I signed up to the online course from The Photography Institute - after a quick glance at the course materials it looks good. The first two modules are quite indepth theory which I know I have to fully comprehend to get anywhere in this industry. It's a 6 month course but I'm hoping to finish it much quicker - I have so much enthusiasm and motivation at the moment!

Second step is a DSLR. Oh boy, the choices. I've been researching for weeks. Do I get an entry level or go for a mid-range? Price is quite a factor, but I'm willing to spend a few thousand dollars to get started. The choice came down to Canon or Nikon. And then to the Canon 40D or the Nikon D300. The Canon is cheaper and much more lenses seem to be available, but I decided to go the Nikon with the excellent 18-200 AF-S VR lens. I'm picking the camera up tomorrow from Sydney, along with a spare battery, SB-600 speedlight, Sandisk Extreme IV 4GB CF card, Hoya Super HMC Pro 1 UV to protect the lens (apparently lets through 99.5% of light), and a Super Pro 1 Circular Polariser. Hopefully that's enough to get a good start! Oh, and just bought a clone of the MC-36 corded remote from eBay. I've also keeping an eye on eBay for other lenses - I'd like a longer zoom, a prime 50mm, and a wide angle zoom that starts at around 12mm. These other lenses aren't too important at the moment, but sometimes you get an eBay bargain.

I'm going to commit to posting once a week to this blog. But I know I'm going to miss the odd week. This is the start of a long journey, but I'm really excited about it and determined to get there.