My photography blog is now @ artisticpx.com

My photography interests reside mainly around wildlife, birds in particular, and landscapes. For this reason I chose the Nikon d7000 as my camera body. I like its small size and light weight along with the ergonomics and controls. The light weight is critical for me since I'm mostly hiking / biking to destinations. This means I don't want the weight of a super duper megapixel FX body like the D3X. Being a painter, my photos often get reproduced on canvas vs paper anyway so I don't need megapixels, but even if I wanted to make poster sized prints of my landscape photos (which I do at times) and I found myself short on pixels, I would just stitch together X number of images from the d7000 and I can get all the megapixels I want ;~).

Camera Boda - Nikon d7000

Overall I'm very satisifed with the Nikon d7000. The hi ISO capabilities are astounding. I can take a usable photograph of a tiny warbler at 3200 iso, and even at 6400 ISO images are not completely horrendous. I'm talking about an image that needs to show very tiny details in the feathers and do so with a subject that is so tiny I'm usually having to crop to 80% or even 60% of the image. See my hi ISO bird photography blog entry for examples and you be the judge. When it comes to wildlife photography, one needs a nice long lens and a body with pixel density. The d7000's high pixel density does not come at the expense of image quality though, so there are no regrets.

At times I do get frustrated with the d7000s lack of crisp focus in low contrast or low light situations. Often in times that require the use of 3200 or 6400 ISOs (i.e. not much available light), the focus is either too slow to be useful or just plain not able to focus on my subject. The only option in these circumstances is manual focus. Admitidly this wouldn't be as much of a problem, but my eyes aren't what they use to be and it would be nice to have night vision capabilities in the focus system. ;~)

Nikkor 500mm f/4 lens VRII

It is impossible for me to say anything bad about this lens. It's simply the standard of excellence in a wiledlife lens. The focus is lightning fast, the picture is tac sharp, and the lens isn't even that heavy. Can one nitpick some differences between the sharpness of this lens vs the 400mm f2.8 in the very recesses of the corners? Sure, does it matter, not in the slightest. If one needs a lens with reach that weighs a fraction of the 600mm f4 or 400mm f2.8, the 500mm f4 is the answer. Nearly all my bird photographs use this lens. See the blog for photos using this lens.

This lens is very handholdable but I prefer to use it with the Gitzo 5561 monopod on long hikes for two reasons; one, when that perfect subject presents itself along the trail and you take your time to catch that interesting shot (which could mean a lot of waiting with the camera ready to go) you won't notice the weight at all, and two, if one only gets a single chance to take a spontaneous shot, it's much more likely the shot will be as sharp as intended. I have numerous handheld shots that are perfectly sharp, but often times I find myself needing two or three chances to get that shot. Muscle fatigue on a long trek is certainly a factor and the monopod eliminates that concern and it's much lighter and more portable than the full tripod gimbal setup.

When I'm hiking to a specific destination and I don't need this lens on the trek itself, I stow it in my Lowepro 600. At the destination where my movement will be confined to a small radius, I'll then likely use my Gitzo tripod with Wimberly head for the best results.

Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens

So what does one use when the 500mm is just too much lens, or too heavy to carry in a given environment? My chioce is the Nikkor 300mm f4. I use this lens vs the very stout 70-300mm VR lens most of the time because it enables me to use a 1.4 TC with little trouble. To me this is important because I use this lens to capture birds when I'm on long biking trips or hikes and I have a backpack full of outdoor gear (tents, sleeping bags, etc.) so my Lowepro 600 with 500mm gets left at home. This lens is light enough to use with one hand in a pinch. One can use this lens in conjunction with the 1.4 TC to get very close to the reach of the 500mm without the size and weight. Don't be fooled however, this combination is no where near as fast on the focus, or sharp in the picture to be a practicle substitue for serious bird photography. When my priority isn't bird photography, I'll leave this rather slow lens behind and grab my wife's 70-300 (when she lets me). ;~)

Wide angles: Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens

Tokina makes a fabulous wide angle lens. I use this lens a lot for panoramic shots to capture the majestry of the scene. This lens is a good lens for real estate photography, although it would be likely better on an FX body to get the most out of the 11mm. Still, I haven't yet met a room this didn't photograph well.

Small primes: Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 G AFS lens

As with all Nikkor AFS primes, the 35mm is a very fast focusing, tac sharp lens. I love using this lens for family shots, panoramic landscapes when I need more detail in the image than a wide angle can give me, and to replicate the image a wide angle lens would produce with a multiple of the pixels. In other words, when I think I might print an image and not just paint it, then I will use this lens and stitch the results.

Small primes: Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 D AF lens

One of my rarely used lenses is the 50mm prime. I just don't get much call to use it. That being the case, I set out to figure out ways I could use this lens, and what I found has made this lens useful to me once again. I use this lens as a macro lens with a reverse mount ring. Stay tuned, I'll post a link to a blog page demonstrating what I mean.

Support: Tripods, Monopods, and the fabulous Blackrapid strap

I'm a huge fan of Gitzo and Really RIght Stuff support gear. I use a Gitzo 3541 tripod with either a RRS BH55/40 ballhead or Wimberly gimbal head. I also use a Gitzo 5561 monopod with RRS monopod head. I only use the monopod with my 500mm. I use the tripod for long exposures, panoramic shots, and my 500mm when I can set up to be relatively stationary or within a relatively small area (about 2 acres or less). I use the blackrapid support strap on any lens for ultimate portability (yes it does support my 500mm). I can't offer enough praise on this fantastic strap as a replacement for the regular neck straps.