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The Official Head-Case Photography Thread.


Knuckledragger

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I don't know why everyone hated my Times Square pictures so much.

I think you need to correct for the lens to make it look right. The cars in the foreground were distracting on both. The top picture, the lights near top center weren't right, which distracted from the rest. Looking back, I kinda like the second one... but still don't like the one with the cop car.

**BRENT**

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I'm trying to figure out how he threw all of those cups in the air at the same time and still managed to capture the image before they hit the ground. He's not bad at all...

He gave Colin a 3 liter Diet Mtn Dew and bet him he couldn't chug it, then throw all those cups up in the air while he took a picture. It was funnier than just making Colin do it.

**BRENT**

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I actually like the little Nikon setup so far. The rest of the people in this thread don't seem to have some issues with the picture quality but I am happy. The zoom on the 14-24 is not as smooth as I would expect. Focus seems smooth.

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Did you buy the 14-24 used? It is not uncommon for the zoom to get somewhat off-track or misaligned, most commonly during shipping. I bought my used copy through a local transaction in the Bay Area so that there was no shipping and I could evaluate it in person. Both zoom and focus rings operate as smoothly as I'd expect on my copy, even after hauling it along for 200+ miles of wilderness hiking last year alone. The zoom should feel moderately stiff and take a bit of force to move (likely because you are moving the massive front element group) but it should move smoothly with no hitches or hiccups.

If you want an f/2.8 telephoto, I'd get either the 80-200 AF-D (two-ring) or 70-200 VR II. The 80-200 AF-S has a first-gen silent wave focus motor that fails relatively frequently (as do those in the 17-35 AFS and 28-70 AFS), and the 70-200 VR I was essentially designed for crop cameras, as it has issues with vignetting and corner sharpness on full-frame that even stoping down doesn't fix.

Pretty much all of Nikon's recent lenses (especially any of the Nano-coated lenses) very good optically. You're more likely to encounter optical issues with some of the older AF lenses (18/2.8, 18-35, 28-200, older 24-120VR). Some folks prefer the more dreamy look of the old 85/1.4 AF-D to the newer 85/1.4 AF-S (sharper, but bokeh is a bit different). Nikon also has the 105 and 135 DC (defocus control) lenses for some unique bokeh effects.

Check out the forum at NikonCafe.com, lots of sample shots from different lenses (well-organized), and a pretty friendly overall environment with good knowledge.

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I got the 14-24 new at B&H. I think it's probably normal, I am just used to the very smooth 70-200 mkII which is really the only other Zoom I use. I tried to sign up over there at the cafe but never got the e-mail to allow me to sign in.

All I have so far is the 14-24 and the Sigma 50 f1.4 and I picked up the Rokinon 35 f1.4 on the 375 lightning sale the other day on Amazon.

Edited by VPI
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Yeah! I wish I had gotten that Rok 35 1.4 that cheaply, but it's been in use for a good six months now, so that's almost worth it.

These days I sport the 14-24, 45 PC-E, 24-120 f/4, and 70-300VR from Nikon, along with the Rok 35, Sigma 150 macro non-OS, and a Tokina 17 f/3.5 that I keep around mostly for times when I need a filter on an ultrawide. Though that lens is probably going away now that a more reasonable, readily available filter solution for the 14-24 is out: http://www.fotodiox.com/product_info.php?products_id=1492

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People seem to have no issue with square filters that large and larger. I'd rather use a slightly less than perfect filter on an amazing lens, than use a slightly better filter on an average lens (i.e. what I've been doing for those situations). I'm not going to be shooting this setup into the sun (generally a silly thing to do with a polarizer anyway), so flare would not be terribly concerning.

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