Ludicrous

Nikon D90 in the works for this years show. Specs say 850 shots per battery charge. Guess two batteries may be needed. Photo gurus (I'm very, very amateur) ....what lens should I use for my standard Miami show photos?????





Any tips shooting my boat photos at the show with this camera would be greatly appreciated.

makosteve66

more power to you man. just carrying it around will be a workout, but it should be awesome. As far as lenses, this one looks awesome - great range without being too bulky

AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR

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PtJudeRI

It depends on what you are looking to do with your photos.... First off, make sure for an accurate measurement, you get the DX lenses, that match properly with a digital back. The film lenses will have a different magnification and not be accurate. That being said, 50mm is a "Normal Lens" and has roughly the same FOV as the human eye. Once you start going wider, you will risk some distortion towards the end of the frame. With the medium zoom lenses ( Tamron makes a nice 24-135 that I have ) you get the convenience of the zoom, but unless you shell out some big $$$ you are not going to get a fast lens ( large Aperture F-Stop ) which can hinder you in low light situations. I know its not a huge deal since you are outside in the daytime, but it gets annoying at dusk. I personally prefer prime lenses as they usually have better glass and have wider apertures, but thats me....

Also, in regards to the battery power, you can get a battery grip that will screw onto the bottom of the camera that will allow you to use AA batteries instead of the rechargeable ones. May help out

Best of Luck, can't wait to see this year's photos!

Ryan

edit: the accessory grip is the MB-D80 check adorama.com pr bhphoto.com for more info..

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Lets have a Sexy Party! 38 Henriques FB 2000 ~ 17 Montauk 1978

Wet-n-Wiley

Are you sure about the D90?

Don't know if you have a Wolf or Ritz Camera nearby but they have a great deal on a Nikon D60 Digital SLR Two-Lens Outfit (18-55 VR & AF-S DX 55-200mm F/4-5.6G ED) - & Gadget Bag & DVDs - $650!

Tempted to get me a spare!

Oh, as for me at Miami ... D90, Nikkor 18-200mm lens, 2 batteries, 4x4GB sticks

No monopod, flashes or extra lenses needed.

PSW

Ludi-

Where do we put our wish list of boat pics at?
I will miss both Lauderdale and Miami this year and the winter is wearing on me.
Here is my wish list fine sir.

If the Manufacturers are smart they will clear the boat and give you an all access pass as these pics give them great exposure and do more PR for their boats than they think.

GW 29 Chesapeake, Entire Express series
Viking 82, 46, eh all of them.
Ocean Yachts
Pursuit
Cabo 36 Express and 43 Convertible
Tiara 48 Convertible
Riviera
All Custom Convertibles


A Big Thanks in Advance

Ludicrous

Yes I have a Wolf/Ritz right by the house, good deal on that D60.

Camera may just cost me my wife's hard labor, she earns "points" at work, which she can then cash in for all kinds of stuff. I believe she has enough points to purchase a small twin engine aircraft right now. The camera will be no big deal. We will use her points for the Marriott room during the show too.



Thanks for the battery tips. My photos need to be shot quick, I'm tired of the crappy point and shoot autofocus taking 13 squeezes of the shutter button to get a green light for the photo. Other than that I just need to know which NIKON lens should be used at the show (flash setting too??????). I don't plan to spend 43 minutes setting up an award winning photo. Snap snap snap and off to the next boat at a high rate of speed.

PtJudeRI

The DSLR with a good lens is going to focus quick, and the first time, thats the bonus there..

When you get into the higher end DSLR cameras, the upgraded features are usually chassis material ( you get less plastic and more aluminum and magnesium the higher you go), Metering system (For proper exposure the first time Nikon has its 3d Matrix metering which is great. Best one was in the old F5 which I am trying to get my hands on...) , and the AF motor ( controls speed of the AF and gets you razor sharp quickly. )

Also, the higher up you go, you will start to see most of the "scene modes" disappear, and you are back to the important settings P,S,A,M which are 100% of what you really need.

I don't know much about the D60, but I have an older D70 that has held up well for the past 4 years and I use that for work daily with a 60mm Macro lens.

If you want to see some reviews I can recommend photo.net and nikonians.org plenty of info there. Also, as always, CNET.com has a ton of user reviews on the two.

I have battery grips on all my cameras. I use rechargeable AA batteries, and if I get stuck, no problem. Plus, it adds more room on the grip so my pinky finger doesn't fall off the bottom and just makes the camera look better. Here is a photo..

All the Best,

Ryan

Attached Images

 

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Lets have a Sexy Party! 38 Henriques FB 2000 ~ 17 Montauk 1978

Y&R

Check out www.dpreview.com for reviews as well. I know Nikon lenses are generally more expensive than off brand lenses like Tamron and Sigma but the response time is much better. I'd stick with Nikon lenses if you get a D90. Using a flash for indoor shots going to be tough since the flash likely won't be able to cover the whole boat evenly. You'll get images where the front half of the image will be overexposed and the back half will be underexposed. Using a shoe mounted flash will help but on the really big boats I doubt it'll be enough. If you can afford it, get a faster lens (larger aperture) to use the available ambient light and avoid using a flash all together. I don't know about Nikon but I know Canon makes a couple 50mm lenses that have apertures at f/1.8 and f/1.4. I'm sure Nikon has a similar lens. You can also crank up the ISO but it's going to cost you with image quality.

PtJudeRI

Nikon makes a 50mm 1.8 and 1.2(maybe 1.4) the 1.8 is actually the one that I like, because its dirt cheap.. $110 from adorama right now...

But** this is a film lens. You wont get exactly the same perspective when its on a digital back...

All the digital specific lenses are zoom lenses, which I don't usually care for as the cheaper ones will distort images and they are all plasticky now, no good metal bodies like the older prime lenses.

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Lets have a Sexy Party! 38 Henriques FB 2000 ~ 17 Montauk 1978

First Light

You can purchase the D80/D90 in several configurations. You can buy the body and lens separately, or you can buy the body with a "kit" lens (read: cheap) attached. If you want to never have to say you are sorry, get the D80 or D90 with their 18-200mm VR Zoom lens.

The 18-200 is the most popular lens Nikon has ever produced, and while it is a bit more expensive than one of the kit/starter lens's, in camera equipment you get what you pay for.

Reelescape1

My D80 has been great and they're about 1/2 price from this time last year.

auguste

I have a D80 and it is a great camera

Yes for two batteries . . . they charge quickly

I went with the 16-85mm 1:35-5.6GED lens . . . I can focus real real real close-up and get great details

The 16GB cards have really dropped in price so I would get two of those

Good luck

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shouldabeen

abc's of inside shooting.....be sure to at least have the same shutter, or more if you can, than the focal length you are shooting....shooting at 50mm??...... better at least have 1/50th of a second shutter or more....bump your iso up to 800 or more if you need to.......better to have a pic with a little noise in it to fix than a blurry one....they cant be fixed.....id take a good external flash if i were you....

Wet-n-Wiley

Unless you plan on shooting catalog photos of the boats at the show you can easily get great shots with just a single camera - built in flash - spare batteries (much lighter to carry) and ANY lens that at least covers the 50mm setting.
Just remember your flash will eat the batteries, and if you use "liveview" to compose a shot I'll never speak to you again!

I'm covering myself and bringing the 18-200mm lens just in case a bit of zoom is needed (like 120mm).
Boat shows are cramped. When you are at the show and can only stand 8 feet away to take a pic of a 40 ft boat a 50mm won't cut it. I'll take a bit of fisheye on my 18mm to get a shot.

I'll be using the AUTO setting the entire day and will do post processing if needed. Forget flash-less and open shutter settings without a pod.

Sometimes it's about the eye and knowing your light angles rather than taking too much time on each picture with A S ISO etc - when so many images will be taken.

Camera on wifes dime? Then don't rule out the Nikon D300!
Hope these tips helped.

Ludicrous

Great tips. I've been doing fine the last few years with a $150.00 Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S700 (f=5.8-17.4mm 1:2.8-4.8) camera (4 fresh AA batteries and two 2gb cards last the entire day) on auto. Like Wiley said, getting an entire 30-40 foot boat in a "clean" shot with the crowds passing down the aisles every 3 seconds is difficult. I need the camera to autofocus in a split second, before ten people step into the frame. I will shoot on "Auto", and sorry Wiley but the liveview will be needed sometimes when I'm sticking the camera down into a bilge compartment and putting my face against the viewfinder would require me to lay on the deck. (I do for some shots when the vessel doesn't have 16 people on it.)


What lens? 50mm? I won't have time to put a filter on and off the camera. (or should I find the time????)


You guys know the type of photos I shoot, nothing fancy.


**********UPDATE************


The only Nikons options she has are the D40 and the D60, both come with a 18-55mm. Which one should I pick?

Wet-n-Wiley

ok ok! I forgot you're actually young and limber enough to get IN the boats. I'll allow liveview

D60 with 18-55mm should do the trick. Light enough to carry around all day and compact enough to stick in those tough to get places. I used a 18-55 a few times and couldn't believe how light it was.

Careful though, don't use your lens hood and flash together, you'll see shadows.

shouldabeen

yeah........i just hate having a 1500 dollar outfit and using auto mode.......youll probably agree after a few months with your new cam......havent used auto on mine in years....av mode is what most people use .........i like telling mine what to do.....not the opposite.......get us some good ones....

Wet-n-Wiley

I hear what you're saying, shouldabeen.

Boat Shows are tough. I'm not going as just a photographer. Between trying to talk to the Rep about the boat, and having some tire kicker and his 3 unruley kids in your way it's very difficult to compose a good scene for a shot. It's basically - TAKE IT NOW!

I hate snapshots, I really like good composition to my shots. With over 1000 images planned I'm just going to rely on auto-mode.

Although using AV f/2.8 for the indoor shots might be tempting.

Wet-n-Wiley

Now I'm debating the mono-pod. Might be good to bring it to save hand and neck strain. I took about 4 hours of photos out back here 2 weeks ago and I still feel the soreness in my fingers from clutching the camera - heavy sucka!

Having the mono-pod may give me some more options with the camera settings but might also impose some limitations as all the boats are displayed at various levels, angles, etc.

Mono-pod is a Manfrotto graphite, weighs almost nothing. Anyone shot a trade type show with a mono-pod or is it just too much to deal with?

Ludicrous

Could come in handy to fend off some high pressure boat salesman. Do they make them with hidden inner scotch flasks?