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Full Resolution
Sunday, 16 September 2012 17:17It's Rather Surprising
It's been not quite two years since I got back into Nikon SLR photography (DW) when I picked up a Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n. The intent was to get a relatively cheap Nikon FX digital SLR so I could use my old Nikon lenses from "the film era" (grin) with a full-frame 24×36mm sensor. But I ended up getting some newer CPU-chipped auto-focus lenses to work with the electronics of the Kodak.
So the Pro SLR/n is a bit of a Frankenstein, with the Kodak digital camera parts grafted onto a Nikon F80 consumer film SLR chassis. Lightweight and sometimes a bit squirrelly. Just under a year ago I spend even less money (grin) on getting some older Nikon D1-Series DX digital SLR cameras (DW), with the smaller 16×24mm DX sensor. The D1s are tanks -- much heavier duty and reliable than the Pro SLR/n.
The result is I haven't used the Pro SLR/n in a while. Which is a shame because (a) I have the thing and (b) it's a 13.87 megapixel camera, compared to the 6MP D1X and the 2.7MP D1/D1H. The funny thing is that I've been using the Pro SLR/n in a 6MP JPEG mode -- never taken more than one picture at the full resolution.
On Saturday, that ended as I went out on a sunny mid-70s September afternoon to see what I could get at 14MP. Of course, I'd forgotten in the interim that one has to meter the Kodak a little more closely than with the D1s. It's really a better studio camera than a field camera, which is why I got the D1s in the second place. (double-grin) And sometimes it fails to write to the memory card the first time, so you have to remember to flush the buffer. Like I said, I haven't given it much use time in 2012.
I think of all my lenses as my favorite lens. (grin) But I haven't nearly spent enough time with the ultrawide 20mm f2.8 AF-Nikkor -- I briefly had a 20mm lens for my Pentax equipment in high school and been a big fan of the 20mm ever since. This is a new house going up on 84th Avenue, which I've been documenting all summer. I used the 20mm to emphasize the hill of lawnless dirt it rests on. (Click on photo for larger.)
Between the summer drought and the coming fall, the fields are yellowing up. Here's some volunteer corn sticking up in a field on M-45 Lake Michigan Drive, shot with the 70-300mm f4-5.6 ED AF-Nikkor at 300mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
Distant dirt mounds off M-45 for the construction development at the Placid Waters ski-jumping water park. Looks like it should be part of some ancient archaeological or pyramid site. 70-300mm lens at 190mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
Part of our luxuriant goldenrod crop in the front yard at 300mm. Enlarged you can see the tiny bugs flitting around the flowers. (Click on photo for larger.)
Another shot. (Click on photo for larger.)
Slightly cropped shot of our thistles in fluffy bloom, still at 300mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
A somewhat abstract shot of partly backlit ground leaves in our overgrown front yard, with the unruly vines beginning to change colors. Also at 300mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
Overall, a good test run. I've got to play with the settings some more. Wasn't enchanted with the famous Nikon Matrix metering, so I reset all my DSLRs to do center-weighted metering. The D1s do okay, but some of the shots I didn't post here with the Kodak, I couldn't quite pull a decent image out of what was there. Needs more saturation.
Dr. Phil
It's been not quite two years since I got back into Nikon SLR photography (DW) when I picked up a Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n. The intent was to get a relatively cheap Nikon FX digital SLR so I could use my old Nikon lenses from "the film era" (grin) with a full-frame 24×36mm sensor. But I ended up getting some newer CPU-chipped auto-focus lenses to work with the electronics of the Kodak.
So the Pro SLR/n is a bit of a Frankenstein, with the Kodak digital camera parts grafted onto a Nikon F80 consumer film SLR chassis. Lightweight and sometimes a bit squirrelly. Just under a year ago I spend even less money (grin) on getting some older Nikon D1-Series DX digital SLR cameras (DW), with the smaller 16×24mm DX sensor. The D1s are tanks -- much heavier duty and reliable than the Pro SLR/n.
The result is I haven't used the Pro SLR/n in a while. Which is a shame because (a) I have the thing and (b) it's a 13.87 megapixel camera, compared to the 6MP D1X and the 2.7MP D1/D1H. The funny thing is that I've been using the Pro SLR/n in a 6MP JPEG mode -- never taken more than one picture at the full resolution.
On Saturday, that ended as I went out on a sunny mid-70s September afternoon to see what I could get at 14MP. Of course, I'd forgotten in the interim that one has to meter the Kodak a little more closely than with the D1s. It's really a better studio camera than a field camera, which is why I got the D1s in the second place. (double-grin) And sometimes it fails to write to the memory card the first time, so you have to remember to flush the buffer. Like I said, I haven't given it much use time in 2012.
I think of all my lenses as my favorite lens. (grin) But I haven't nearly spent enough time with the ultrawide 20mm f2.8 AF-Nikkor -- I briefly had a 20mm lens for my Pentax equipment in high school and been a big fan of the 20mm ever since. This is a new house going up on 84th Avenue, which I've been documenting all summer. I used the 20mm to emphasize the hill of lawnless dirt it rests on. (Click on photo for larger.)
Between the summer drought and the coming fall, the fields are yellowing up. Here's some volunteer corn sticking up in a field on M-45 Lake Michigan Drive, shot with the 70-300mm f4-5.6 ED AF-Nikkor at 300mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
Distant dirt mounds off M-45 for the construction development at the Placid Waters ski-jumping water park. Looks like it should be part of some ancient archaeological or pyramid site. 70-300mm lens at 190mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
Part of our luxuriant goldenrod crop in the front yard at 300mm. Enlarged you can see the tiny bugs flitting around the flowers. (Click on photo for larger.)
Another shot. (Click on photo for larger.)
Slightly cropped shot of our thistles in fluffy bloom, still at 300mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
A somewhat abstract shot of partly backlit ground leaves in our overgrown front yard, with the unruly vines beginning to change colors. Also at 300mm. (Click on photo for larger.)
Overall, a good test run. I've got to play with the settings some more. Wasn't enchanted with the famous Nikon Matrix metering, so I reset all my DSLRs to do center-weighted metering. The D1s do okay, but some of the shots I didn't post here with the Kodak, I couldn't quite pull a decent image out of what was there. Needs more saturation.
Dr. Phil
