More toys

Just a short update, since this blog hasn't been too active.

I've added a bit of hardware over the last few months, mostly sourced from craigslist (home of the occasional bargain). I managed to snag a D3200 with less than 10k clicks. Having 24mp is going to be fun, although the images I've taken so far have that Sony look of the D100 and D200. The shutter is pretty quiet, and the body is rather compact. The large file size puts a strain on my ancient Dell XPS 420, and forces me to use Lightroom (which is horribly clunky compared to ACR). After having used it a few times, it makes me re-evaluate the V1, as the D3200 is small enough compared to the D3.

I also added a 50mm f/1.8G and 35mm f/1.8DX. I couldn't resist the 50mm as it's the Df version with the chrome ring, bringing back the classic 70's Nikkor look. The 35DX functions as a portrait lens on the V1, and a normal on the D3200. More on these two lenses as I get to use them on both bodies. Drawback of the 50mm is the need for a 58mm filter, a size that's not in my kit.

With the arrival of the new body and lenses, I've been trying to sell my D2H and 50mm f/1.8 AF on craigslist, with very little success. It might be time to try eBay.

When is a parade not a parade?

When you don't have the time to attend a parade (because there's another event at the same time), you can just go to the location where the parade attendants are staging themselves before the parade. The St. Patrick's Day Parade happened to coincide with the Brides of March event a few weekends ago, so I ended up having enough time to take shots up to the point where the parade goers began to march.

 

The atmosphere is a little different. The kids are restless (as kids tend to be when they're forced to wait). The parade vehicles are being made up, and some people are practicing their routines.

 

It's also been some time since I've used the D3. The optical viewfinder is a thing of beauty after months of using an EVF. The 70-200mm VR remains one of the best lenses I've used, and it's unmatched for parades. It looks like my left forearm is OK as it didn't hurt at the end of the day (the major reason I switched to the V1). The right elbow is another story!

 


Complete set of photos are here.

Hit rate: 66/243, or 27%

FX on CX

Time to put the 85mm f/1.8G on the V1. With the CX crop factor, this works out to a telephoto lens on a Nikon 1 series body.

It's not too heavy a combination, even with the FT-1. AF is limited to the center sensor, but it is snappy and accurate. There is chromatic aberration wide open, and it goes away by about f/3.5. This lens has very good contrast, with colors that are pretty vibrant. The included hood is a bit too shallow, especially on CX.

This is probably not a combination that I'll use often, but it's something to keep in mind if I need a tele with good low light capabilities.

Generic C-mount and the V1

One of the attractions of the V1 is the ability to use non-CX lenses, ranging from F-mount, C-mount, Canon, Minolta, Fujica, M42 and many more through the use of adapters. Other than with AF F-mount lenses, you will lose AF, all autoexposure modes, and won't record any EXIF information. There is no AF peaking, so focusing can be difficult as the AF confirmation dot isn't very accurate.

I got a generic C-mount adapter and a generic 35mm f/1.2 C-mount lens (branded 'Fotasy') on eBay. It's a challenging lens, with a non-uniform field plane of focus. OOF can get swirly (apparently common to C-mount lenses). But it is sharp when you nail the focus.

I used this lens a few times, but the results have been less than optimal. It hasn't found a regular place in my bag. I was considering other C-mount lenses, but that plan has been put on the backburner after buying the 18.5mm and the FT-1.

 More samples here

The cheap system that wasn't

Nearly a year has passed since my last post. I blame time for passing. What follows was sitting in the drafts folder for six months.

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It's been almost a year since I got the V1. Since then, I've added an SB-5 (since the camera has no flash), the FT-1 F-mount adapter (since I want to use my Nikon lenses with autoexposure and AF), the 18.5mm f/1.8 (since it's the cheaper lens with the largest aperture that I can afford), and the 10mm f/2.8 (since it was less for a refurb than for a craigslist  one). I also added a 35mm f/1.8 AF-S DX because of a $100 discount from dpreview (thank you!).

Adding it all up, I've spent over $1k on what was supposed to be an under $400 replacement for a p&s. Yikes!

Welcome to my friend, feature creep. The SB-5 is needed as the V1 doesn't do too well at high ISO's, and I didn't have the 18.5mm f/1.8. The 18.5mm is needed so I can get some sort of subject isolation, and still use lower ISO's (see above on the SB-5). The FT-1 is needed because it was a good price, and I want to see how well this camera does with actual AF on the Sigma 500mm (MF doesn't work too well for surfing shots). The 10mm is needed so I can have a small kit for my upcoming trip. The 35mm is needed for portraits because the 32mm f/1.2 is just plain expensive.

 

What's next? The GP-N100 would remove the inconvenience of syncing GPX files from my phone. I have yet to upgrade the firmware for the FT-1 as I'm worried my Sigma lenses may not AF. I should send the Sigmas in to Sigma to have them upgraded. I haven't decided on whether I need a grip or not.

Decisions, decisions :-)

I've also been working through my backlog of photos. I didn't realize that I had some images from two years ago that I had yet to process (again, because life!). I'm now up to April of this year, which is quite a bit of progress. I should have some images up tonight, or in the next few days.