catching up with news

bird-lens-nikon-d850-healesville-sanctuary

It really has been rather quiet around here. I’ve been out a couple of times with the D850 and have more trips planned, but other than that, well I’ve been working out how to do some things with Facebook.

The Photographer’s Mentor Facebook Page

It is going so well and the new added photography challenge each week seems to be a hit with lots of people. Last Saturday the challenge was clouds and then our group overflowed with photos of clouds. It was wonderful. The next challenge will be announced this Saturday morning.

It is growing well, and I’m really enjoying the direction it is going in. Still some things to work out with it, but that’s okay, there is plenty of time.

If you want to join in on the fun, the link for the page in the right side bar.

I have also been considering changing the tagline to this page to Leanne Cole ~ The Photographer’s Mentor. What do you think?

hopetoun-old-shack-overcast-sky
My image for the challenge.

The Nikon D850

Wow, that really sums it up for me so far. It is by far the most amazing camera I have every used. Usually when you try a camera, they are good and you wish they had some feature or another, but this hasn’t happened with this one. Well, not so far.

It has everything I was hoping it would. It has a touch screen. The screen can be manipulated for hard places. It has WiFi so images can be moved to your phone for easy posting to social media. You can see through the filters when doing long exposures, though having said that, you do have to open up the aperture wide, but I will take it. You can take photos by touching the screen. The ISO goes down to 64 before it goes to those fake numbers. Okay that is all I can think of right now, however, I will do more on it later on.

One of the things that has been good is actually getting to play with it, and I know now, definitely, that I want one of these. People keep saying it is a game changer, and I have to agree it really is. It is a much better camera, in my mind, than the Canon 5D mk4.

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An image taken with the D850 in the city. Not much processing.

Lenses Dying

Well, I think it is time to say good bye to my 70-300mm lens. It just won’t focus on anything anymore. I am not going to try and get it fixed, the lens was very cheap and not very good, so it has lasted longer than I thought it would. It was only $165, and that was new.

Now I have to debate whether or not I replace it with a better quality one. This is something I really need to think about as I don’t use the lens very often, so do I need one? If I do, and I think I do, then how much do I need to spend to get something fairly decent?

I have been talking to Sigma Australia about what they have, and I’ve sent an email to Nikon, but no word back from them. I have also just emailed Tamron Australia, so will see if they respond as well. Once I get some ideas, I think I will do a post here on all the options and which I think would suit me the best.

bird-lens-nikon-d850-healesville-sanctuary
Taken with the D850 and that bad lens. Had to focus it manually, not easy.

The bird image was also taken at ISO 1000, and the results look great, it was taken with the Nikon D850. Such a great camera, I want one, and I want it now.

I will leave it there, sorry this is late. I always seem to be running behind these days. I will catch up eventually. Take care.

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22 Comments

  1. Lovely images, as always, though I do see some serious banding, particularly distracting in the photo of the bird. I also see horizontal banding in the cityscape, to a much lesser degree. Is that an artifact of the camera, the lens, the lower quality of internet photos in general, or my own screen (though I also see it on my phone)?

    1. What do you mean by banding Brianna? If you mean the lines, in the one of the bird it is the fence behind it that does that. Sorry they are a disappointment to you Brianna.

    2. Oh, I didn’t mean to suggest they’re disappointing! I think the photo of the bird is wonderful! It’s only the background that’s distracting. If there’s a fence behind the bird, that would explain it. By “banding,” I do mean the vertical lines in the bird image, but I also see horizontal lines in the cityscape (look at the sky). I was merely curious to see if that was a flaw within the camera or just an artifact of internet-quality photos. I scrutinize only because this is a new camera, and this is an important factor to weigh if anyone is considering buying this camera. I think your photos are fantastic πŸ™‚

    3. Yes, the fence will do that, unfortunately one of the problems of taking photos in a zoo. It is Photoshop that tends to do the other.

  2. The cityscape with the D850 is scary sharp. I know I would be reluctant to do any post-processing on that kind of image.

    The new tagline, it works if you are moving in the direction of becoming a mentor across your social media platforms. The “Daring to be different” tagline, keep it close … I like that one a lot. πŸ™‚

    1. It is very sharp and a great camera David.
      I don’t know yet, but I am sort of trying it out on Facebook, I would like to link the two, so have to work out what is the best to do it. Thank you.

  3. Wow it’s exciting to hear about this camera and see the results. The images are beautiful, and not much processing, love that.

    1. Thank you Nicci, I am really enjoying using it, it is just a shame the weather is really hot and horrible here right now. It is either hot or raining.

  4. Hi, Leanne, glad you seem to be liking the D850. I recently acquired one myself and so far am pleased with it. The one cautionary note that I was given by the folks at the camera store is that the sensor is so sharp that the minor flaws of lower quality lenses become magnified with this camera. Haven’t tested that theory yet, but it is food for thought. Given your research on a replacement for your 70-300, one obvious candidate is Nikon’s 70-200 f/2.8 which you may already have. The only zoom lens I’ve used that gets you to 300mm, however, is Nikon’s 28-300 mm. Not fast, but pretty sharp and a good one to have if you can only take one lens with you. Anyway, I’ll be interested in seeing what you uncover.

    1. I am loving it Robin, it is so amazing. I should have mine in the next few weeks. That is interesting, I haven’t heard that, though the lens seemed okay on manual, mind you, most of my lenses are good quality so shouldn’t be a problem. I don’t have that lens, but I do have the older version, the 80-200mm, which I hardly ever use, hence why I have never wanted to upgrade to the 70-200mm. Still the one I have is still good. I have used the 28-300mm and loved it too. I really missed it on my recent trip to Tasmania, such a versatile lens. I might have to see if I can get one one day. Thank you Robin, stay tuned.

  5. I’d love too try one Leanne, the D850 that is. I have a Nikkor (Nikon?) 70-300 lens, it was $400 US. Thought I’d mention this lens as it’s one I use frequently. 😬 Hope you and your family are well.

    1. It is a great camera, one thing I do love about my job, I suppose, is that I get to try gear all the time, that’s great. Okay, thanks for letting me know John, do you know if it is a DX or a FX lens? We are all good, thank you for asking, I hope you are too.

    2. Hi Leanne, the 70-300 I have is a DX VR AF-P I use this lens frequently but love the Sigma 10-20mm I just bought. Opens new doors. 😬

    3. Oh okay, yeah, I need FX lenses, but happy to hear you enjoy it. The Sigma lens sounds fantastic too, you will have a lot of fun with it.

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