Camera Gear - Deals and Discounts (Not a gear recommendation thread)

[Go4Long]

wish I could afford it right now...I overspent on christmas...lol

[BerserkerCatSplat]

That's a hell of a deal, wish I could afford it as a second body. Now, if only somebody would do a crazy discount on that new Sigma 35mm.

[D'z Nutz]

w00t w00t, I just put one on hold. Dunno if I should get another haha

I guess I should probably worry about getting a lens or two that I can use first

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
w00t w00t, I just put one on hold. Dunno if I should get another haha

I guess I should probably worry about getting a lens or two that I can use first

Haha, welcome to the dark side. At least you'll have that 24-85 to putz around with in the meantime.

[D'z Nutz]

Now I just gotta flip the direction of the dials and meter indicator to the correct way haha

[msommers]

Man that deal is pretty tempting. If I sell the included lens and my D300s, that body would probably end up being around $1000 bucks! Why can't they do this for a D800 instead!

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by D'z Nutz
Now I just gotta flip the direction of the dials and meter indicator to the correct way haha

Hey, at least you have the option to do that.

[blitz]

I have the old version of the 24-85mm and it's a suprisingly decent lens. I used it at Disneyland with my D700 and was impressed.

[Penis McNickels]

Who is doing the deal? MemEx is sold out and I don't see it on TCS page.

I don't like Vistek that much....

EDIT: Just spoke with TCS they are doing the deal.

[D'z Nutz]

http://www.thecamerastore.com/rebate...-f35-45g-ed-vr

Sweet, their rebate doesn't end until Jan 9th so I can still get another if I decide to.

[taemo]

was just at London Drugs Beddington and don't know if this is a really good deal but they had Lexar SDHC UHS-1 200x cards on sale
16GB was $10
32GB was $20

bought a 16GB

[Mitsu3000gt]

London Drugs has the Olympus TG-310 on for $99 if anyone needs a beater camera. Shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof.

Also a reminder the D600 & 24-85 deal ends January 9th everywhere, and there probably won't be rain checks because the deal comes from Nikon, not the store.

Nikon V1 kits are still extremely cheap around $349-$369 as well

[clem24]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
London Drugs has the Olympus TG-310 on for $99 if anyone needs a beater camera. Shockproof, waterproof, and freezeproof.

Ooooh thanks for the heads up! Might just pick up one of these for Hawaii in a week instead of borrowing my sisters..

[Edit] Hahaha NVM sounds like a POS.. f/3.5 on the wide end won't do very well underwater. Reviews also have one really bad point in common: very poor battery life. Maybe I should just buy another waterproof enclosure for my GX1.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by clem24


Ooooh thanks for the heads up! Might just pick up one of these for Hawaii in a week instead of borrowing my sisters..

It doesn't appear to be the deal of the century, but it does seem to be the cheapest "tough" camera anywhere right now. Most places sell it for $160, Henry's has it on for $110 but you need to pay shipping. $125 @ Newegg.

Perfect for a vacation beater. Sale starts today and goes until mid next week I believe.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Henry's has a very good online deal on V1's right now:

V1 + 10mm/2.8 + 10-30mm VR for $399 + free shipping!

http://www.henrys.com/75782-NIKON-1-...30MM-LENS.aspx

Not sure how long the sale lasts.

Originally posted by clem24


Edit] Hahaha NVM sounds like a POS.. f/3.5 on the wide end won't do very well underwater. Reviews also have one really bad point in common: very poor battery life. Maybe I should just buy another waterproof enclosure for my GX1.

Haha looks like you're right. I think it's only a $150 camera regularly. Try get your hands on a Panasonic TS3 or TS4, or just go with the underwater housing. They require you to look after them pretty well if you use them in salt water though.

[msommers]

Anyone looking for lens fine-tuning software, I found a link for FoCal that is about 20-pounds less than normal pricing.

http://www.reikan.co.uk/focal/mbp45/

[taemo]

^i bought it if you want it, don't really use it as I find my camera and 2 prime lens to be fairly accurate without requiring any tuning.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Again, be really careful with that tuning software. You NEVER should dial in AF tune unless:

A) You work at the same focal length and focus distance all day long in a specialized studio or similar, and your lens needs it.

B) You somehow get lucky enough to find a setting that improves your lens at all focal lengths and all focus distances (very rare).

AF tune only affects the exact focal length AND focus distance you tune it at, usually making all other focal lengths and/or focus distances worse. If you have a lens that requires AF tune my advice is to exchange it for one that is perfect. I've yet to have that issue, thankfully. I don't think it's too common, especially with OEM lenses, and camera manufacturers themselves advises against ever using it except in very specific scenarios.

I tested it on my 105mm macro lens once, and I got it maybe 5% sharper at one specific focus distance (It was probably all in my head anyways), and it made the lens obviously and visibly worse at all other focus distances. It's even worse for zooms usually.

Also fast wide primes often suffer from focus shift, which some people think is their camera not focusing accurately.

Most people bought that software to check the left AF banks of their D800's but you don't need software to tell you your camera is off IMO.

[smc]

I have had good luck using mfa adjust.

I tend to do the test at the closest distance I would typically use the lens, since the closer you are to your target the less DOF you have to work with.

The optimal mfa setting should follow a normal distribution with the most likely optimal setting being zero. That being said, the tolerances need to be so precise that I think that the spread on the curve is quite large and there is a good change that an average lens can fall anywhere between -12 and +12.

I have a d800 and d800e and they require quite different mfa settings. I had to send my 85 in to Nikon to get it adjusted because it was outside the settings allowed by the mfa.

On my previous camera (5DII), the mfa changed over time. The more I used it the looser the mount got, I had to eventually send it in to get the mount tightened.

I have used FOCAL and found it to be quote accurate and the results consistent.

That being said, as stated earlier, it isn't a perfect solution, since you are optimizing for one distance others are affected. But I have found that unless you test really close, the optimal mfa dosn't change much as you move back.

[blitz]

I do the same thing SMC's talking about and it's always worked well for me. Practically every nikon lens I have needs mfa of some sort on both of my bodies.