Nikon

[jon carman]

Just sold my Sigma 105mm macro and bought a Nikon 105mm Macro with ED and VRII. I hope this improves image quality. I got the nikon 600 flash as well as the stuff Roger suggested for the bounce box.

Hopefully this will improve depth and color in photos, but we will see. I love to use the Macro for portraits, flowers, bugs... as well so I don't use it strictly for fish.

[jon carman]

My new flash and lens should get here today. For some reason UPS decided to put my house at the end of the route.

[rogerhopper]

Jon, Let me know when you get everything ready.
I will give you some pointers.

[jon carman]

Everything is ready

[bunnie1978]

How is this camera working for you? Do you recommend it?

[jon carman]

Sorry for the late response. I do recommend my camera, but the d7000 just came out which is the new version

[rick]

pics?

[fishme]

Whenever you see a new version of a camera come out, that's good news because it means prices of older models will drop considerably. They generally just add some little feature, often meaningless to most photographers, in order to get a new camera out there on the market at premium price. Meanwhile, the older models are still on the market at a much more reasonable price. I currently shoot with a Nikon D90 that I bought about three years ago used for about $500. I've shot 10s of thousands of pics with it and it's still going strong. Below is a link to photos I shot last night in a middle school gym with no flash. It's an old camera, but any limitations are with the photographer, not the camera.

www.tullahomasports.com/East%20Basketball%2010/LadyPanthers-WhiteCopics-2-13/Lady%20Panthers/index.html

[jon carman]

Great pics. Gyms are hard to shoot that well in.

[jon carman]

Yes, and I might sell the D90 soon and move up myself. I want that new lens too. I wouldn't let mine go for a steal though. I would rather have to than almost give one away.

[fishme]

Which new lens are you looking at, Jon?

By the way, I had a typo in the post above. I'm actually using a Nikon D80, which is the precursor to the D90. Very little difference in the two cameras except they added megapixels in the D90 and the D90 shoots video, which I would not use. Unless you are interested in printing enormous photos, megapixels are not a huge deal. Most modern SLRs have more than adequate megapxels. I suspect my next camera will be a D90, though. D80s are getting hard to find.

One more thing. While my statement above about them adding some little feature just to get people to buy the new model at full price is generally true, I don't think it's true when comparing the D90 and the D7000. (It was more true when they came out with the D90s a few months after the D90). It appears Nikon has really loaded the D7000 with meaningful upgrades. Most impressive to me is the new censor with expanded ISO range for low-light shooting. Also, for someone like you who might use it for videos, they have really beefed up the video capability on the D7000. If you are interested, here is a review and a side-by-side comparison of features on Digital Photography Review. I use this site religiously when checking out new equipment.

www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond7000/

[jon carman]

The D7000 is the best camera for the price hands down. Not to say Cannon won't beat it with their next upgrade.

Nikon has a new 28-300mm VR II lens that would be a catch all for me and I would only have to change it to shoot fish. I have a radio remote coming for the flash box that keeps me from having to use my flash to get the slaves to fire. This should add color and depth to my shots.

The lens I use now for fish is the Nikor f/2.8 105mm Micro. It weighs about 3lbs it feels like and has the VRII and the double ED coated lens. It focuses 100x faster than the 2.8 105Macro Sigma I had, and it makes almost no noise.

I like the Ken Rockwell site, I learned a ton there.

[fishme]

I'm also a big fan of the Ken Rockwell site. He has a ton of knowledge, and much of the information he provides is based on his personal experience as a photographer. DP Review is heavy on the technical info. I always read both when considering a new piece of equipment. The 28-300 would be a super lens for you to shoot your son's soccer games in daylight. Sounds like you already have the fish photography covered, and from the pics you have been posting lately, I think you've covered it very well. Looks like the D7000 bodies can be bought for around $1,200. I haven't noticed what they are on Ebay, but usually they aren't much cheaper there on a new camera. After a few months the prices start to drop. It's almost always best not to fool with the kit lenses unless the buyer has no other lenses to use.

[jon carman]

I am going to keep a look out. There might be a refurbished one soon on adorama