Nikon here I come any suggestions

[quazimoto]

So I get ready for work this morning. I am formatting a few compact flash cards. Next thing I know my Canon 1Ds Mark III will not turn on at all. I'm like WTF! This is my second 1Ds Mark III. The first one was blind as a bat and this one has lasted all of 50,000 actuations before dying for some abnormal reason.

I was already on the fence about going the nikon route and with a D3x on the way for me to try out I think I can officially say I am tossing Canon out the window. I think I'm just about fed up with this companies lack of quality control and vision.

Anyways seeing as I really don't know that much about Nikon which lenses would you nikon guys really recommend. I need something wide in the FX format, a standard kind of zoom in the 20-100 level and then a small telephoto in the 70-300 range. I'm really daft to many things Nikon so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Such a shitty morning now. Nothing like waking up and finding out your $8,000 camera is now an expensive good for nothing paper weight.

[AccentAE86]

bye. canon will miss you.

good luck finding a zoom in the 20-100 range.

[soupey]

i'll take that "paper weight" off you :nut:

[psycoticclown]

^^Haha, me too

[quazimoto]

The paper weight is already on its way back to Canon. They tried giving me BS on how the warranty was not in service. Ironically I had something like 5 days left on the one year warranty. when it comes back from them It'll be going up for sale.

right now my thoughts are....

Nikon D3X body
24-70mm 2.8
70-200mm 2.8
14-24mm 2.8

I find shopping for the lenses a little bit different since the lingo is completely different than from what canon uses so I'm not entirely sure what works on an FX or DX camera.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Dibs on firesale.

[scary_perry]

I am still happy slumming it Minolta/Sony style. But none of my stuff ever gets more than 5,000 actuations before I get something else.

Maybe you should get an a900/850. Minolta glass is plentiful and low cost for the quality. The owner events are cool too - they bring out all the super fast sports optics and zeiss lenses to play with for the day. Try before you buy.

[Gibson]

Originally posted by quazimoto
The paper weight is already on its way back to Canon. They tried giving me BS on how the warranty was not in service. Ironically I had something like 5 days left on the one year warranty. when it comes back from them It'll be going up for sale.

right now my thoughts are....

Nikon D3X body
24-70mm 2.8
70-200mm 2.8
14-24mm 2.8

I find shopping for the lenses a little bit different since the lingo is completely different than from what canon uses so I'm not entirely sure what works on an FX or DX camera.

The 70-200mm 2.8 has a new version out so you can either pick up the old one for cheap or buy the newer one with nano crystal coating, an upgraded VR system, and the silent wave motor.

[mboldt]

Originally posted by Gibson


The 70-200mm 2.8 has a new version out so you can either pick up the old one for cheap or buy the newer one with nano crystal coating, an upgraded VR system, and the silent wave motor.

The previous 70-200 vignettes and has bad edges, that is why I sold mine when I decided to go only Fx.

I would HIGHLY recommend the 24-70mm, it is the sharpest zoom lens I have ever used. I didn't really think lenses could get so sharp when being a zoom lol

The 60mm F2.8G AF-S is also a very sharp nice lens for portraits.

24-70mm at F4.0
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b207/mboldt/Switzer_01.jpg

[Melinda]

Haha if you're selling any of your gear, let me know!

[quazimoto]

Thanks for the input from you guys it really is appreciated. It's just a really tricky spot for a professional photographer to be stuck in. In this past year....

My old 5D back up camera hit the dust and I bought a 5D Mark II to replace it. The 5D Mark II ended up being used as the main camera today which didn't leave me feeling the greatest.

I had a total of three different 1Ds Mark III bodies this year. I personally think it's a great camera and is leaps and bounds better than the 5D Mark II but I think any professional would agree with me that reliability is something incredibly important. The lack of service and support from Canon has been just as big as disappointment. I think it says a lot when three different top of the line bodies all go bad in one year.

From first picking up the D3x and playing around with it, it's like an Alien camera as everything is completely different. Even the first few test shots left me very impressed. I think I can honestly say I'm excited about switching over. Just to give you all the rough idea of what will be going up for sale.......

24-70mm F2.8 L
70-200mm F2.8 L IS
17-40mm F4L
50mm F1.2L
85mm F1.2L

Three Canon 580EX II speedlites
Two Canon CP-E4 Battery Packs
3 Pocket wizard Flex TT5 tranceivers

I will be getting the 1Ds Mark III serviced by canon, completely serviced and repaired whatever is wrong before selling it. Still have no idea what I should be asking for the camera when I get it back price wise.

[Gibson]

Originally posted by mboldt


The previous 70-200 vignettes and has bad edges, that is why I sold mine when I decided to go only Fx.



Oh, right. I totally forgot about that. Do you know if the VRII addressed that issue?

[mboldt]

Originally posted by Gibson


Oh, right. I totally forgot about that. Do you know if the VRII addressed that issue?

That is the entire reason they brought it out lol

[Go4Long]

Originally posted by Gibson
and the silent wave motor.

old one has the SWM too ;)

but on the topic at hand...I've seen some MAJOR crops off the D3X that were absolutely amazing...good luck with it.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Originally posted by quazimoto


I will be getting the 1Ds Mark III serviced by canon, completely serviced and repaired whatever is wrong before selling it. Still have no idea what I should be asking for the camera when I get it back price wise.

Since it's a paperweight, as you put it, I offer $100.:D

[C4S]

Yeah ! let me know if you are selling your Canon stuffs ..

17-40 ..

580EXII ..

TT5 ..

:)

[quazimoto]

I don't think it is a matter of if, more like when. I'll be getting quotes from different camera stores before ordering as I'm going to try to get these stores to give me below shelf prices seeing as I'm going to be spending $18,000. At least for once I can give people really good opinion on the nikon vs canon issue. I am pretty sure just by messing around I can already say I like the D3x more than the 1Ds Mark III.

Is it just me or do the Nikon lenses seem to zoom in the opposite direction of Canon lenses? Also is there some kind of letter designation for lenses that are only APS-C. I know canon is EF and EF-s but nikon I'm totally lost.

[psycoticclown]

DX is the designation for the lenses that only fit the APS-C sensors.

[quazimoto]

Sorry I just saw that post for the "$100". I think the battery is worth more than that if I recall correctly. I'm thinking the body will go for around $5,000 when I get it back from Canon. The tech I spoke with made it sound like a common simple issue.

Oddly had Canon still had the repair center in Calgary they might have had a chance at keeping me as a customer.

[ex1z7]

Welcome to the dark side sir, sorry to hear about your 1ds' popping out on you..

If I'm not mistaken, DX lenses work on FX bodies but it crops the sensor down to like 6 mp or something? either way the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200 (new one) are all full frame ready lenses and shouldn't give you any problems whatsoever..

Good luck, let us all know how you find the D3X in comparison to the 1ds mk3

[psycoticclown]

Yea, DX lenses when used on FX bodies bring the resolution down to 5.6mp. The 14-24mm f2.8 is an amazing lens too, sharper than most prime lenses in the same focal lengths.

[Gibson]

Originally posted by quazimoto
Is it just me or do the Nikon lenses seem to zoom in the opposite direction of Canon lenses?

Yup, the lenses twist off in the opposite direction as well.

[blitz]

Well he's talking about a D3X (24.5 MP, not 12). So DX lenses will crop at a higher MP.

I don't know the details, but I recall reading that the D3's can use some of the older Nikon lenses that the consumer level ones can't. But it doesn't sound like you're looking for lenses from the 1970's.

[Go4Long]

everything from the D80 up can auto focus all the AF lenses. D60 below is AF-S only, or you're manual focusing


Originally posted by psycoticclown
Yea, DX lenses when used on FX bodies bring the resolution down to 5.6mp. The 14-24mm f2.8 is an amazing lens too, sharper than most prime lenses in the same focal lengths.

I wouldn't think that having a lens built for a sensor 30% smaller is going to cause you to loose damn near 80% of the effective megapixels of the camera. and I think the statement is misleading...but if that's the expert opinion you're going to go with then all the power to ya...

[psycoticclown]

Sorry, that's for the D3 body.

[quazimoto]

So after playing around the a Nikon D3x body I think I've decided on what I'm buying now at least. I have to give thanks to the guys at vistek for kind of showing some other options.

Nikon D3x Body
14-24 F2.8
24-70 F2.8
80-200 F2.8
Three SB-900

I must say when he showed me the 80-200 F2.8 I was shocked. An old lens with no VR and well I'd be damned it's just as sharp as my canon 70-200 while being way lighter. Not a bad way to save some money at least.

Looks like Wednesday or Thursday is the day I buy all the goodies. For the record thus far, I am way more thoroughly impressed with Nikon. Hopefuly it stays this way for a while.

[TDFTW]

now if i could only find some money for your old canon equipment......sigh

[The_Rural_Juror]

I see the firesale is up. Not bad prices at all. :thumbsup:

[quazimoto]

Well I'm trying to be fair I think. I mean if I really wanted it all gone I'd just stick it up on ebay but I'd much rather give local photographers a chance to buy the gear instead.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I knew it was only a matter of time until you switched haha, welcome to the dark side. Canon really seems to be doing very little to combat Nikon's advances over the past 2 years. All this talk about the brands "leap frogging" has yet to happen, and its been over 2 years since the announcement of the D300/D3. Also it seems you are experiencing the reliability issues many other people seem to be having with some of the Canon bodies.

As for the lenses, if I were you I would get the new 70-200 f2.8 VR rather than the 80-200. It will be better, focus much faster, and will have the latest VR. If you are looking for the Nikon equivalent to your 70-200 2.8 IS from Canon, the 80-200 Nikon is not it (although it is sharper as you've discovered). The current 70-200VR is slightly sharper even than that 80-200 f2.8, so if you were impressed with that, I'd imagine the new one will be even better. Nikon's 14-24 and 24-70 are as good or better than any prime in that range, so if you can live with 2.8 (I say that because before I think you said you used your 1.4 or 1.8 Canon primes a lot) then you don't even need to worry about primes from Nikon.

Looks like you are are on the right track for sure, the only thing I would reconsider if I were you, is get the newer 70-200 f2.8 VR over that 80-200. If your spending $18,000 and do this for a living, the premium on the newer 70-200 f2.8 VR is not a hard one to justify on such a staple lens IMO.

[quazimoto]

Well the problem is that I rarely use the 70-200. It gets the least usage of all the lenses I have so I couldn't justify spending the $2700 on the new 70-200.

Surprisingly enough I can tell you the 80-200 focuses extremely fast on the D3x body. The guy at vistek said it was a slow focus but says the D3x has an extremely agressive focusing motor which I can totally agree with. I mean $1000 for a decent telephoto zoom isn't harsh for a lens that might see 50 exposures a week. The 14-24 will be seeing at least 1000+ exposures a week to give the rough idea.

I think in the future I might pick up the new 70-200 once the price drops down. I've noticed the Nikon glass is a lot more pricey. Just right now I can't justify paying $2700 for a lens when I'm not going to use it that often.

Service wise, I've heard both good and bad with nikon and canon. Some people swear that both companies have horrible service others always say how good it is. I personally see it being a person by person scenario and I just haven't gotten the level of service from Canon that I figure I am entitled to.

We'll see how good each camera really is. I plan on giving a really good review later on of the D3x compared to the 1Ds at least from my view. So far I can honestly say both cameras are very similar with the exception of the controls being in different locations.

[Mitsu3000gt]

^^^ Fair enough, I simply assumed you would use the 70-200 WAY more, but if not, then I would agree the $2700 proably isn't worth it for the new one. From what I've seen you're going to love that 14-24...just watch you don't bang that front element on anything :D

[quazimoto]

Ya I can see that. When you look through the view finder you can pretty much see sideways lol. It's like a very interesting optical trick. I love doing it to my clients though when they figure hey there is know way he can fit this many people in one shot.

Now I just want to figure out a way to make a nice clean looking polarizer or Neutral density filter for it. I was thinking if I could find a place that would custom make me the right size tube with threads it would be easy to make a filter cap or something for it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

There are some filter-holder solutions for the Nikon 14-24. A standard Lee filter holder (sans adapter ring) will fit snugly over the lens hood. You can also buy replacement lens hoods, I believe from Adorama. Here are some threads on it:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1030&message=27047243

http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?f=44&t=30861

Here's another soltuion a guy came up with..cheap too:

http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=146&topic_id=166543&mesg_id=166543&page=3

[quazimoto]

Now that is definitely interesting. I heard some of the filter holders people were making were like $400 plus. This makes me feel positive though.

Some more questions for you nikon gurus. I'm not playing with my Nikon D3x and I'll be honest I'm just about fully comfortable using the camera already. I really thought it would take me a lot more time to get used to this. Now some things I'm curious about...

1) What is the big difference between 12 bit and 14 bit photos. I did some reading some reviews say the 14 bit is really good and other say the benefits are minimal?

2) Where in the hell is the flash compensation on the D3x. I know with my 1Ds I am able to compensate both on exposure and flash but I can only see the one button for exposure compensation on the D3x body.

Just for the record here and this is not surprising. Always so many Nikon and Canon fans saying I'm the best. I can honestly state the image quality is just about identical from the 1Ds Mark III and D3x.

[Bukka]

Originally posted by quazimoto

2) Where in the hell is the flash compensation on the D3x. I know with my 1Ds I am able to compensate both on exposure and flash but I can only see the one button for exposure compensation on the D3x body.


On the dial on the left hand side there is BKT, L and the lightning bolt. The lightning bolt should be the flash compensation button. Hold it and turn either the shutter or aperture dial.

I think I like the placement of that button on my D200 better than where it seems to be on the D3/D3x.

One thing I can say as a Canon user who went to Nikon, the first thing I did was reverse what Nikon has as default for the shutter and aperture dials. I didn't reverse the direction the turn..but I put the aperture to the rear, and shutter to the front.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by quazimoto
Now that is definitely interesting. I heard some of the filter holders people were making were like $400 plus. This makes me feel positive though.

1) What is the big difference between 12 bit and 14 bit photos. I did some reading some reviews say the 14 bit is really good and other say the benefits are minimal?



I personally can't tell a difference whatsoever, and every comparison between 12 and 14 bit I've seen shows little if any appreciable gain, and only at the extremes of post processing. You've got nothing to lose (except memory space) by shooting 14 bit in the studio or whatever for guaranteed maximum quality, but if you're doing a lot of continuous shooting, 12 bit is going to be faster. I don't have a D3x though, so I would suggest you try a few comparisons for yourself and see if the difference is worth it to you.

[quazimoto]

Hmmm unfotunately the little lightning bolt on the D3x only allows you to change the flash mode. I think I found a way to modify the flash level just using compensation on the speedlight itself.

I was asking about the 12bit vs 14bit simply because I can only squeeze something like 200 pictures onto a 12gb memory card shooting 14bit which is insane. 60mb files? I think the CR2 files from my 1Ds would always hover between 25-30mb.

Now I just need to see if it will also work when I use two slaves. Now for a sexy picture that any photography enthusiast would enjoy....

http://www.khphotography.ca/cameras.jpg

[BerserkerCatSplat]

I believe flash comp is lightning bolt + exposure comp + rear wheel. Sounds awkward but the buttons are well-placed enough that you can do it while shooting, no problem.

[quazimoto]

Doesn't seem to work. Very wierd. Even the bible sized instruction manual doesn't have it I don' t think.

[The_Rural_Juror]

Time to switch back to Canon I'd say! ;)

[quazimoto]

GRRRR....

Ok when using the SB-900 as the master flash and using say two SB-900's as slaves is there a way that I can make the master flash not work as a flash but just the master and only have the two slaves fire? I've looked the instruction manual and it says you can do this but when I change it around it still fires?

I must admit going from Canon to Nikon thus far has been extremely easy. I already feel really at ease with the D3x and it feels like second nature.

I plan on making one nice post comparing Nikon to Canon and vice versa and the pros and cons for people starting to buy their DSLR equipment with either brand. This experience has been an eye opener to say the least.

[Mitsu3000gt]

All you can do is make it so weak that it doesn't interfere with exposure (unless you are super close to the subject), but it still fires (same deal with the on-camera flashes on the lower model cameras). Nikon considers this "off", but something still needs to happen to trigger the slaves and it can't shoot strictly IR light. You need the SU-800 if you want to control flashes with strictly IR light, but if you have radio triggers that is obviously way better.

More of a make-shift solution is to place an IR filter over the flashgun, as it will eliminate the flash itself but the IR will still go through and trigger the off camera flashes. Nikon makes these for the on-camera flash, but I'm not 100% sure if there is a Nikon made part for flashguns. Some people make their own. I believe Lee makes polyester IR filter you can just cut to size or whatever. Unexposed but developed color transparency film can work as an IR filter too. If your flashes get heavy use, you may not want to cover them with anything though for heat reasons.

[quazimoto]

Yeah I was thinking of just putting like -3.0 compensation on the master. I plan on trying out the radio poppers after Mike was showing me them. I think they would be an awesome additional to use radio instead of IR. I loved the pocketwizards that I had but sadly they haven't released the nikon version yet. I think they might be having issues creating the Nikon master flash or something.

Owning a D3x is now making me wonder what some of the lower level bodies are like as I really have no in depth knowledge of Nikon as you can really see. Thus far the metering on the D3x is just freaking amazing though. Most accurate I've had with any of my cameras.

[Mitsu3000gt]

I think I suggested this to you before when you were shopping around, but the Alien Bee's latest offerings for radio triggers are inexpensive, and get glowing reviews from every user I've talked to. At the very least have a look at them before you spend big money on pocket wizards or whatever.

For the metering, it's the same on the lower end cameras too. They all get the 1005 zone RGB sensor. For comparison, The Canon IDs MKIII uses a 63 zone sensor. Nikon is known for having excellent metering, and also for carrying the pro-camera features & build quality into the "lower end" bodies if you're looking for a back-up body - similar AF, similar build, similar features, etc.

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by quazimoto
GRRRR....

Ok when using the SB-900 as the master flash and using say two SB-900's as slaves is there a way that I can make the master flash not work as a flash but just the master and only have the two slaves fire? I've looked the instruction manual and it says you can do this but when I change it around it still fires?


In the flash, you should be able to set the flash mode to "--" which indicates it is used only to trigger the slaves instead of affecting exposure. My SB-800 does it, so I assume the 900 would as well. It will still flash to trigger the lights, but it flashes before the exposure takes place.

[quazimoto]

Ahhh that might make sense. I'll need to test that out again. I think I had it entered in that mode. I put A as "---" and B and C as "TTL".

Luckfully I shouldn't have a major need for a back up Camera until June of next year so I'm probably just going to hold out for the D4 to get released. I might try something like the D300 or something out to see what they are like. From my experience though the Pro level bodies are always so much better and I'd always rather just spend more money on the body to get something I'll feel a lot more comfortable with.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by quazimoto
Ahhh that might make sense. I'll need to test that out again. I think I had it entered in that mode. I put A as "---" and B and C as "TTL".

Luckfully I shouldn't have a major need for a back up Camera until June of next year so I'm probably just going to hold out for the D4 to get released. I might try something like the D300 or something out to see what they are like. From my experience though the Pro level bodies are always so much better and I'd always rather just spend more money on the body to get something I'll feel a lot more comfortable with.

"--" is the same as "off" as I was describing in my previous post. Unless the flash is really close to the subject, the light shouldn't interfere with exposure. If the SB-900 mounted on-camera is set to "--" and the slave(s) are TTL (or "M"), the camera mounted flash shouldn't interfere with exposure. It sounds like you were doing it right in the first place from your explanation. If you want to avoid the pre-flash of TTL exposure (makes some people blink too much), you can either set the flashes to "M" or use FV lock.

As for build quality, from the D300 up it's pretty well exactly the same except for physical size. There are some minor differences but none of large significance. They are all fully weather/dust sealed, full magnesium chassis, etc. If you add a grip to the D300/700 it isn't quite as solid as a D3x but the grip is fully magnesium, secures well, and has the same level of build quality as the body itself.

[quazimoto]

See I think i'm still leaning towards using radio poppers and not pocketwizards. I was able to do some decent research on them and quite frankly I think they sound pretty darn good.

I think I've got the flashes all firing now how I want. Now with all my playing around I love how easy it is to control the output of each individual slave.

Now all I need to do is sell the rest of my gear so I can buy some radio poppers and I'll be happy lol.

[Go4Long]

I recently purchased the elinchrom skyport system, while it honestly doesn't have the range of the pocket wizards, I picked up for receivers and a transmitter for $350 US, which is pretty hard to beat.

*edit* if you want to give them a try shoot me a PM...I'm gonna be out of town with work for a couple months here coming up, so I won't have a use for them.