Cameras

Past

I started as a kid using my Dad's Leica IIIc. I still have it today, but have not shot it in a while. It was a great camera to learn photography because it did nothing for you. It didn't even have a built-in light meter. I either had to use a hand held meter, or make an educated guess at the exposure. I've lost that talent, but being forced to do it gave me an awareness of light values, and how to use and control light to create a good photograph. The Leica (and rangefinder cameras of that type) made you look through a small optical viewfinder, and made you think about the photo in your head, then try to control the camera to capture the image you were looking for.  It wasn't until you got into the darkroom that you could find out if you really got the image or not.  Plenty of times you didn't.  Sometimes you discover you fogot to remove the lens cap.

Dad got a single-lens reflex camera - a Canon TL. The ability to see through the lens taking the picture was a huge improvement. No chance of leaving the lens cap on, either.  In high school, I got a Nikon F and have largely stuck with Nikon ever since, acquiring an FM, F2 and an F4 (my favorite camera of all time). I've also owned Canon and Olympus SLRs, but keep going back to Nikon.  It just suits me better.

I love the Nikon F4 because of the feel, function and the fact that it was the last pro 35mm camera that has no hidden controls. Every function has a knob, switch or button. You can glance at the control and see how it is set, or grab a knob and twist it. Today's cameras force you to go to a menu, scroll through options and make selections.  I hate that. If you want to check setting, you must spend a lot of time and energy scrolling through the menu searching for all those setting. In the heat of the moment, the F4 gets out of the way and lets me get the shot, rather than fooling around with the camera. It would be almost perfect, except it is not digital. Which brings me to the next phase of my photography...

Digital

I held off of digital for a long time. I had worked in computer-generated digital imaging, so I had a real good idea of what I needed. I got an Olympus C4040 digicam and used if for a couple of years. It had a 4 mega pixel (MP) sensor, which is the absolute minimum for me. Plus, if had a fast aperture lens (f1.8) which meant it would work well in low-light conditions. It had pretty good controls, but it's operation and response was really slow. It had it's place and was great as a "Photoshop input device". But I continued to use my 35mm Nikons.

When Olympus came out with the E500 digital SLR, it seemed to have it all - an 8 MP sensor that was sized exactly for an 8x10 print, auto everything, good lens and a sub $1000 price tag. I enjoyed it, but missed the vast array of tools you get with a Nikon body. The lack of fast glass and poor performance in low light caused me to agonize over changing to a Nikon digital SLR. The problem was Nikon's sub-$1000 camera would not work with my old glass. Only the $4000-$5000 D2 series would work with my old stuff.  That was a huge jump in price, and hard to justify for a hobby.

Nikon D200

The Nikon D200 changed all that. A $1600 camera that was weather sealed, and would work will everything I had (except a really old 50mm 1.4 lens) became the thing I lusted over. When a co-worker mentioned one day that he had tried to order an Olympus E500 over the weekend and had problems, we made a deal and I sold him my entire kit of camera, lens, and accessories. I made the move back to Nikon and I'm pretty darn happy.

I love the D200 and have only a few issues. It takes a while to master it's many external controls, and vast number of menu options. But there is not much it would not do. Except focus well with manual focus lens. Adding a Katz Eye focus screen with an old-style split prism took care of that. So with that background covered, here's my current setup.

Camera:
Nikon D200
Nikon MB-D200 grip/battery pack
Katz Eye focus screen, bright, 8x10 crop lines

Lenses and Acessories:
Sigma 10-20mm
Nikon 17-55mm f2.8
Nikon 18-70
Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR
Nikon 80-300mm
Nikon 50mm f1.8
Nikon 50mm f1.8 manual focus
Nikon 55mm Macro (manual focus)

Nikon PB-4 bellows and slide holder
Lens reversal rings, and other macro acessories

Nikon SB-800 Speedlight
Nikon SB-21 Macro Speedlight (ring style)

Manfrotto tripod, heads, monopod
Studio lights, reflectors and backgrounds
Lowepro ProMag 2 AW case for field use

None of the film-only stuff is shown. It sits retired in a glass case. I try to take it out and play with it from time-to-time.

Good Photography Sites:

My thoughts on the Nikon D200

DP Review - Great site that deals with all kinds of digital cameras.  Top notch reviews, as well a forums.  Focused on cameras, not acessories or techniques.

Luminus Landscape - a 'real' photographer's site.  This guy makes a living selling large high-quality landscape photographs.  Covers techniques and gear, and goes well beyond us small camera guys. This is not a pretty site, but the information is fantastic.  If you think you are an advances photographer, you'll love this site.

Nikonions.org - a Nikon-only site.  Lots of in-depth information here for Nikon fans.  A good source of 'what are the differences between a PB-4 and PB-6 bellows' questions and other Nikon-specific questions.  Has a good podcast that I recomend. Navigation is not so good, and it can be hard to find stuff. Has a huge forum on all Nikon subjects.

Ken Rockwell - There's lots to learn here, but not everyone agrees with him.  I think he's talented, but he mixes opinion with fact.  There's no doubt that he's smart, but he makes statements that something is useless, when he really means he has no use for it.  If you have a D200, read Ken's D200 Users Guide.  Just keep in mind that Ken does still subjects and likes bright vibrant colors.  Action Sport photographers will not agree with his selection of lenses and settings.

 

More to come - I'll be adding pages on using digital camera, using the D200, and more.