Thoughts on Nikon

flashpixx said:

If you guys were actually following the forum instead of trying to find something to pick sh#t out of you would realise that I was asked by quite a number of members here to post up some pix.

If it weren't such a ridiculous observation, I would be happy to go side by side with anyone with a K7 and a comparative 70-200 in Pentax mount and the D300 in this style of shooting. After owning and using the K7 for over 16,000 shots I can assure you I knew the D300 would cr@p all over the K7 for motorsport after the first 5 frames.

I am sorry to say that this forum is no longer the place it was when I joined back in the days of the istD and Ds. It is largely frequented by narrow minded keyboard jocks who appear to know no more about photography than what it is to walk on the moon - in other words FA!

I won't be bothering you guys here any longer. For my dear friends here that really are interested please don't hesitate to drop me an email.

Ta ta

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Hi Gordon. I for one am sorry to see some of the responses in this thread. Now, you realize why some of us don't post as often as we used to. Enjoy your new gear Gordon and don't let this thread bother you any more. It is just not worth it.

Cheers.

Ron

--

'The first thing I do each morning is grab one of my Pentax DSLR cameras and stroll to the mirror just so I can start the day off with a double dose of beauty.' ~ brandrx

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx

Donald B said:

i find its the user not the camera

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Don - you have a point - skill is important. But for serious sports shooting, tools are important too. With 100% certainty I can tell you as a sports shooter that the same experienced photog can make better sports photos - more consistently and in more conditions with better tools. For certain, a person that doesn't know what they're doing will get poor shots whichever the tool. But a good shooter makes better sports shots with better tools.

Ask a house builder if they do a better job with a nail gun than hammer and nails. Could they use a hammer and nail? Sure. But they can do a better job and much quicker and more consistently with a proper tool. Same with circular vs. compound mitre saw.

It's the same with glass in most photography. Trying to say a kit lens produces just as good photographs as the pro grade glass available out there simply isn't true.

flashpixx said:

As some will be aware I recently made the decision to move to Nikon. The decision was based around my perceived inconsistent AF performance of the K7.

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You know the only one person you need to convince is you.

--



http://flickriver.com/photos/ensh/popular-interesting/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ensh/
PPG: http://bit.ly/cQhegL

Nice captures. I have a hunch that this thread is gonna reach 150

Some really great captures Gordon, looks like your new Nikon kit is a very good investment for your shooting needs, particularly with the tracking focus.

There's been no greater gripe in the Pentax forums over the years, than that of insufficient auto focus performance, having moved brands yourself, how do you weigh up the other aspects of your new gear? Have you had to compromise other areas to gain in AF performance? Pentax shooters often rave about ergonomics of their cameras (rightly so) and ease of use, how are you finding the D300 and your lenses by comparison?

I certainly appreciate your views, thanks for posting your examples.

Ben
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10510635@N07/
http://www.luzartphotography.com

Ron, I remember the days of almost daily posts from your amazing combinations of lenses (in original AND modified form and stacked TC's! I daresay in many cases, the only Pentax branded gear from some of those images was one lens and the camera, everything else many different brands.

Just imagine the turmoil it would cause to post such things now?? Haha, the cry-babies wouldn't know where to start...

Cheers
Ben

PS How about a few moonrise shots? They're never a waste of time for us
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10510635@N07/
http://www.luzartphotography.com

Insecurity is a by-product of fanboyism.

Get too wrapped up in one's own little world and it becomes hard to see that needs and wants in equipment can change for some, hard to see that after 4 series of cameras, it still can't deliver what other bodies can with ease.

The next one, the next one, the next one surely will do it??

Seven years and counting.

Ben
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10510635@N07/
http://www.luzartphotography.com

...with years under my belt viewing every camera maker forum in DPReview, its my belief that every DSLR maker could match these images with the right body,lens and person that knows how to use it. With that said...great images, well done!

LuzArt said:

Ron, I remember the days of almost daily posts from your amazing combinations of lenses (in original AND modified form and stacked TC's! I daresay in many cases, the only Pentax branded gear from some of those images was one lens and the camera, everything else many different brands.

Just imagine the turmoil it would cause to post such things now?? Haha, the cry-babies wouldn't know where to start...

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Ahhhhhh Ben, those were the good old days huh? Everyone of us in this forum were new to DSLR's and we helped each other figure out how to use the dang things. Some of us delved into the unknown and tried things that on the surface would not have seemed to work. Man that was fun. Do you remeber the roll from toilet paper thread about shooting macro? I was laughing my a$$ off because it worked by just holding a 50mm lens to the empty roll and the roll to the camera. I was going to take it out amongst the pro shooters and tell them I was a macro shooter.

The other one that I got a kick out of was when I put a 400mm lens in series with some kind of element thingy that I used on a telescope, then in series with a 2X teleconverter, then in series with a 200mm lens. Man. that was a long and wobbly contraption to shoot with and dang it I shot it handheld. I think, if I remember correctly, it ended up being a 3000mm lens.

When I first started doing this kind of crazy stuff it was with the old Canon S1, a 10X optical zoom. I figured out how to put a Pentax-A 70-210mm lens in front of it to make it a 105X optical at the 210mm position.

.....and then there is no telling how much Duct Tape was used by jannerman and others of us in this forum slapping together crazy contraptions.

Yep, those were the good old days Ben. Thanks for the reminder. I've now had my laugh for the day.

LuzArt said:

PS How about a few moonrise shots? They're never a waste of time for us

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I will be lucky to get any further moonrise shots in the future because I don't know where and when the moon will rise before hand. Carl did all of that work and just took me to the right place, at the right time, and told me where to point my lens. Usually withiin five minutes the moon started rising and was almost always in perfect composition for me without any changes. Man, in my eyes, my brother Carl was a genius. I miss him.

Cheers to you Ben.

Ron

--

'The first thing I do each morning is grab one of my Pentax DSLR cameras and stroll to the mirror just so I can start the day off with a double dose of beauty.' ~ brandrx

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx

Some very good action shots...So I wonder if the AF issue is somehow related to the zoom lenses you were using with the Pentax gear. I borrowed a Sigma 70-300 DG and the AF on that thing was horrible, always hunting and not willing to lock. Anyway, it's good that you have found a system that works for you and all the best
--
Irek J.

I'm sure you do miss him mate, you two were a perfect pair for capturing those wonderful photos it seems. Always liked the quote, "We don't have time for that Carl..." "Sure we do Ron, it will only take 1/1000th of a second..." Clever.

I'm quite sure Carl was always happy to do his part, knowing you would get a great photo.

Ben
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10510635@N07/
http://www.luzartphotography.com

Nice but they don't seem any better then your previously posted photos, I'm going to guess that its the keeper rate that has improved
--
Mike from Canada

'I like to think so far outside the box that it would require a telephoto lens just to see the box!' ~ 'My Quote '



http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?sort_order=views%20DESC&first_this_page=0&page_limit=180&&emailsearch=mighty_mike88%40hotmail.com&thumbnails=

Hey Ben, I have some of the old moonrise shots (23 of them) at:
http://www.facebook.com/# ! album.php?aid=12506&id=100000963295803

looks like you will have to copy and paste the URL.

Cheers.

Ron

--

'The first thing I do each morning is grab one of my Pentax DSLR cameras and stroll to the mirror just so I can start the day off with a double dose of beauty.' ~ brandrx

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx

Thanks for sharing these shots and more importantly your experience switching from Pentax to Nikon for sports, which makes it very relevant to this forum. I think we all realise that it is not impossible for a Pentax camera to get similar shots, although the keeper rate and ease in doing so could vary.

I think the AF issue has got enough air time and we all know the truth, whether everybody agrees on the perceived differences in performance and their signficance. So, I would like to ask you to share with us other differences you noticed in your experience. Like many here, I am not into action or sports, but I am very interested in things like auto exposure metering accuracy, setting up the camera (very complicated or non-intuitive on the D300) etc in slower shooting like landscape. Particularly, I have a concern with colour quality of Nikon shots. With you experience, your comments would be very useful to and appreciated by many, who I think are the silent majority here. You have been here long enough to know what the reaction might be from the vocal minority and can handle that, I am sure.

LuzArt said:

I'm sure you do miss him mate, you two were a perfect pair for capturing those wonderful photos it seems. Always liked the quote, "We don't have time for that Carl..." "Sure we do Ron, it will only take 1/1000th of a second..." Clever.

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Ron - "We don't have time to take photos today Carl."
Carl - "Sure we do Ron, it will only take 1/1000 of a second."

LuzArt said:

I'm quite sure Carl was always happy to do his part, knowing you would get a great photo.

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Thanks Ben.

Cheers.

--

'The first thing I do each morning is grab one of my Pentax DSLR cameras and stroll to the mirror just so I can start the day off with a double dose of beauty.' ~ brandrx

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx

LuzArt said:

Insecurity is a by-product of fanboyism.

Get too wrapped up in one's own little world and it becomes hard to see that needs and wants in equipment can change for some, hard to see that after 4 series of cameras, it still can't deliver what other bodies can with ease.

The next one, the next one, the next one surely will do it??

Seven years and counting.

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So switch already.
--
Dan

Ever changed schools and left your schoolmates, changed jobs, changed house, ... ? If there is sufficient advantage to change, then you could be opening new doors, creating possibilities, whether it is in education, in a career, in investments (including photographic investment). There are risks, but there are risks also in not changing, where there is sufficient reason to do so. I think there are much more high flyers who changed jobs, changed strategies, changed environments... and who explore and take advantage of what is out there. We only live once. It all depends on one's own situation of course. You can protect your interests by reviewing the current situations and be aware of what is going on around and beyond your comfort zone and deciding what is good for yourself. Not advocating switching just for switching's sake, but it is easy to see why some choose to do so. We should be thankful to those who bother to advise us about their experience, after taking losses as necessary in switching.

RogerMexico said:

Absolutely spot on. Since the zoo shooter moved on we've had to endure this tripe on a regular basis.

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LOL. I love this. It's really heartening to know that I am such a thorn in your side that you have to resort to thinly veiled name calling trying in some sad way to make your self look better than you really are. Can't take decent photos yourself, so you try and resort to pull everyone down to your level, what a poor sorry excuse for a human being. You've made my day.

RogerMexico said:

It is time that the moderators nip this garbage in the bud. Or perhaps there should be a collective effort to post Pentax photos in the Nikon forum and return the favor.

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Really? Maybe you should have found out why flashpixx posted these images before you jump to conclusions. Again, it just shows you up for what you really are, a bitter resentful person. I almost feel sorry for you, but I am laughing too much at you.
--
Lance B
http://www.pbase.com/lance_b

Excellent results, Gordon.

--
Lance B
http://www.pbase.com/lance_b

Irek J said:

Some very good action shots...So I wonder if the AF issue is somehow related to the zoom lenses you were using with the Pentax gear. I borrowed a Sigma 70-300 DG and the AF on that thing was horrible, always hunting and not willing to lock. Anyway, it's good that you have found a system that works for you and all the best

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Hi Irek,

If I remember correctly he was using the K-7 with the Sigma 100-300mm f4, a very fast focusing lens IMO.

Cheers.

Ron

--

'The first thing I do each morning is grab one of my Pentax DSLR cameras and stroll to the mirror just so I can start the day off with a double dose of beauty.' ~ brandrx

'Keep your eyes looking forward. However, glance back now and then to see where you've come from. It will put a smile on your face.' ~ brandrx