Year end musings

As 2015 draws to a close, it's time for a short review of my state of the photo nation.

1. I'm down to three camera systems: Nikon FX, Nikon CX, and Fuji X. M43 has gone away, and hasn't been missed.
2. The D3 is now on its eighth year, and still going strong. The batteries are due for a replacement though, as they are at the end of life per the indicator, and don't hold as much of a charge.
3. The D5200 gets the occasional use when I need the extra resolution. I'm still not as impressed with the high ISO IQ though.
4. The V1 is gone, replaced by the V2. I haven't had much time to use this camera, and plan to save it mostly for surfing and video. There is already a flaw in the plan though as the Sigma 500mm won't work with the FT1. I don't know if this is a problem with the V2 or with the FT1 as  I upgraded the firmware on the latter. The firmware upgrade allowed the FT1 to do continuous AF with the V2, but it seems at a cost. I'm waiting for a response from Sigma to find out if there is a fix. If not, I'm stuck with the 70-200mm + TC-14E for surfing (756mm 35mm-equivalent). Still not a bad combination, but not quite the 1350mm 35mm-equivalent I'd get with the Sigma.
5. The V2 also has some weird restrictions when shooting at 15fps. There's an aperture limitation (no greater than f/5.6) in this mode. Nikon wants me to call them to discuss this, but I haven't had the opportunity over the hectic holidays.
6. The V2 IQ is a bit grittier than the V1. Looks like I need to work on my sharpening settings.
7. The Fuji X-E1 has been a great walkaround camera over the last five months. Yes, the AF is dog slow, but I've been mostly using it with adapted lenses, so that hasn't been an issue. The IQ from the camera has been very good though, and it's a good balance between the IQ of FX and the portability of CX. Nikon, where is your mirrorless DX body?

So overall things are looking good for 2016. No new hardware is in the cards, for now at least.

DX travel

I recently had the opportunity to spend a little over a week in the island paradise of Bali. Since this would be my first (and probably last) time there, I obsessed over what kit to bring for this one shot deal. I settled on bringing both the V1 and the D5200. 

Lenses became the next issue. I had two options for a wide lens on DX: the Sigma 12-24mm and the Nikon 18-55mm VR. I chose the latter as it gave me the option to go really wide (18mm FX equivalent) if needed. I ran a few tests at home and was satisfied with the result. For reach, I chose the 70-300mm VR as this would work well with both cameras.

Off I went on my long journey. First thing, the Sigma is a heavy lens. I'm used to traveling with the V1, which makes for a light and small kit. The Sigma weighs about as much as the whole V1 set. I did manage to fit most of the kit in a Lowepro Transit Sling 250.

Second issue: The Sigma has problems in the corners. The results were all over the place, varying with aperture and focal length, corner to corner. Sometimes one corner would be OK, then it would be bad on another photo, with the difference between the two being one or both of the two parameters. Yes, I should have tested this more before I made the trip, but I was pressed for time. And looking back at the test shots that I made, I can see the same issues, although not as bad.

Here's a sample taken with the Sigma at 24mm and f/8. Note how the three photos from the lower part of the image don't have the amount of detail that can be seen in the upper corners.

Third issue: Flare and the lack of a polarizer. The Sigma with its huge, curved front element is plagued by flare, even with the extra hood. This is a problem in an always-sunny, tropical location like Bali. I was also surprised to see vignetting in two corners with the extra hood attached. Keep in mind that I use this lens mostly on an FX body, and rarely use the extra hood. I thought it wouldn't be an issue on DX because of the sensor crop, but again I should have done more testing. Thankfully the lack of having a polarizer for the Sigma was solved by using the V1.

In hindsight, the 18-55mm would have been the better choice. There were very few instances when I needed to go really wide, and I could have just done a stitched shot instead.

Fourth issue: My 70-300mm VR won't VR with the D5200. Turns out VR doesn't work on the D3 either. It works fine on the V1 (which was the last body on which I used this lens); something to do with having VR always active that forces it to work. Not too much of an issue as I didn't hit any good surfing spots on this trip.

Overall, the bodies and lenses that I brought accomplished the task. Could the photos have been better? Yes, but it's too late for that. Lesson learned: don't use a once in a lifetime opportunity to test lens and body combinations.

Quick take on the D5200

I took the D5200 out for a try, and I must say that I enjoyed the camera more than I did the D3200. The camera is more responsive, and the articulated screen was helpful when I wanted to be a little discreet. Having all that resolution is nice, and turned out useful when I had to crop one photo by quite a bit (it's the first photo posted below). The 35mm DX and 50mm f/1.8G did a good job, though I prefer the images from the 50mm.

A top shutter speed of 1/4000 makes shooting at f/1.8 in bright daylight difficult (polarizer to the rescue). Not having a 100% viewfinder leads to surprises, but all that resolution makes it a non-issue. I'd have to shell out a pretty penny to get my FX-equivalent 35mm lens, which isn't in the cards right now.

I've been using Nikon DSLR's for over 14 years, starting with the D1. Out of that lineup, I've loved the colors from the D2H the most (the drawbacks are another story). Most of the other Nikon bodies have a recognizable quality that, for lack of a better description, I call the Sony-ness of their sensors. I've seen this on the D100, D200, D3200, and now the D5200.

Not that it's a bad thing, but it is something that stands out when I process images from these cameras. They don't quite have that pop that I see from the D2H and D3. The V1 doesn't have that pop either, but it also doesn't have that Sony-ness.

On a side note, putting a camera that smells of cigarette smoke in a plastic bag with some activated charcoal does the trick to remove the odor.

Overall I give the D5200 a thumbs up. Makes me want to hang on to it (too bad the D3200 has gone to a new home). Hmmm, can I find another cheap one out there?

More images can be found here

Nikon service and a new toy

My 10-30mm VR is back from Nikon service. It took two weeks from the time they received it to the time it was shipped back. In those two weeks, I only received one email from Nikon saying it was received, followed by a snail mail letter a few days later. I have yet to receive any message from them that the lens was shipped back. If I didn't check their service site regularly, I would not have known that it was the lens was fixed. The last time I had something repaired by them, they sent me an email saying it was coming back on the day I received my item.

I've been trolling craigslist for a D5200 and managed to snag one at a decent price. It's not clean (LCD protector has a small chip) and it's missing some important stuff (batter, charger, caps, strap, manual) but nothing that I don't have extras (batter is the same as the one on the D3200). I'm lucky to have brought a battery to test the camera, otherwise it would have been a no go.

The one drawback of this bargain body is the smoke smell. I didn't notice it when I tested the camera, but it's bothering me now as it's strong when I bring the camera up to my eye. My fingers also have a lingering smell after using the camera and lens. I've got them in a bag with activated charcoal, which hopefully will do the trick. If that doesn't work, time to grab some baking soda.

So far the camera works. It has the same backfocus issue as the D3200, so out came the hex key to get it close to acceptable. I don't know what Nikon is doing, but they should consider equipping all bodies with AF Fine Tune (oddly enough I've never had to do it with the D3, which has the feature). The swiveling LCD screen is fun to play with, and reminds me of my old Coolpix 990 (great camera for candids because of the swivel).

I did notice that my 35mm DX still backfocuses even after calibrating the body. I wonder if it's the lens? I don't have any issues with the V1 and 35mm DX, but the AF system is different (on chip for both phase detect and contrast detect) and doesn't suffer from back/front focusing.

Nikon has some rebates going, and coupled with a cash back offer from Discover, I've placed an order for the 35mm f/1.8G FX. Yes, it's bigger than the DX and my old 35mm f/2 AF, but it would be nice to replace two lenses with one. It's on back order, so it may take some time before I get to try it out.

Now, does anyone want to buy a D3200?

Update: I took some pictures with the two versions of the 18-55mm on the D5200, and both have trouble focusing at 18mm unless there's a good target in the center. The D3 doesn't have that problem, but the V1 has shown this issue with the 10mm. Something to keep in mind. The activated charcoal has reduced the smoke smell, which is great.

I'm still looking for a buyer for the D3200.