Good evening, from a frigid (20f) Galveston, TX
I just registered here, and my camera's model designation is not on the menu in the "What's In Your Bag" selection.
Nikon Df
Suits me. All of my muscle-memory is F-1, F-2a & FM/FE oriented.
I've been away from the craft since about '03, so I'm looking forward to (mildly) re-equipping, and learning some of the digital world.
Thanks for having me here!
Nikonian
Welcome to the forums!
Congratulations on being one of the people who get along with the Df. I never bought one as I simply don't get along with the quirks. I really tried to like it as the sensor is so close to perfect...
Please post some of your work and participate in the mini-challenges.
Thanks, y'all. I've only got about one chip's worth of pics, and I don't know the first damn thing about post processing in a computer (laptop). Gimme a soupy ol' darkroom, and now we're talkin'!
So, I'm told that "lightroom" is a good alternative to photoshop? I'd love a VERY BASIC suite of tools, the rest I'll try to manage by being a halfway decent photographer at the front end of the thing. Right choice of lens, settings, composition, vision. Shouldn't be too much to do on the back end, save for some cropping, dodge n' burns? Yeah, digital.. so color balance stuff. I get that.
One other thing. (other than the conventional glass I'll slowly shop and buy). I've got a very high end spotting scope from the precision rifle world. Vortex Razor 27x60x85, Angled Eyepiece scope. Mounted on Bogen 3040 with a squeeze clamp ball head Manfrotto grip/head.
How good is the scope? 3 years ago, Saturn/Jupiter Convergence. Set up on the back deck in Galveston, TX. Neighbors and I were counting Rings of Saturn and all of the visible Moons of Jupiter were in clear view. No edge diffraction. No Chromatic Aberrations. No Vignetting. Just crisp, clear, very sharp-edge, circular images in the glass.
What might be the best way to affix the Df to this scope (yeah, I know, no clock/motor/tracking base), to this scope, for when it WOULD be suited for good field use?
Sadly, Vortex does not offer any DSLR eyepiece interconnects. Same story with almost all the big spotting scope makers, as I understand it?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Would this adapter from novagrade work?
https://novagrade.co...jection-adapter
I haven’t tried it, but it looks as if it would work unless your ocular has weird ridges on the outside for some reason.
Nikonian
Thanks, y'all.
Thanks in advance for any help!
There are several free photo software packages Jim.
NX Studio from Nikon free.
The Nik collection - owned by google at one time & available for free. This is not to be confused with the DXO version, which isn't free. Peter tipped me off about it,
but can't find the link!
PhotoScape 3.7 (There is a version X, but I couldn't get on with it).
PhotoScape : Free Photo Editing Software (Photo Editor) Download
There are others, but the above is what I use.
I found a link to the old, free, nik collection that seems current here. NIK Collection of Filters (Mac/Windows) 1.2.11 : Google/NIK : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
A couple more that are not free, but at least not an open-ended subscription model…
Affinity
Affinity – Professional Creative Software
PhotoNinja
PictureCode home page: Photo Ninja
With Picturecode, licenses are perpetual, but there is only one year of updates included. If you buy a camera that isn’t supported or want some new, updated part of the app, a year of updates tacked onto your existing license can be bought.
I use PhotoNinja because of how good the raw conversion are, and for the built-in support for Colorchecker calibration charts.
I believe DXO PhotoLab still uses real licensing instead of a subscription model.
Nikonian
Hi, and welcome to the forums from the south pole er, I mean Miami, FL.
Lightroom is a good choice if you need something to organize your photo collection as well as do basic (and even complex) photo editing. However, Photoshop will always be a more powerful choice and it includes the same editing tools as Lightroom via a plugin.
If you don't mind their subscription model, you can get both Lightroom and Photoshop for around $10US a month. Some people really hate that subscription idea though and refuse to use Adobe apps for that reason. If you fall into that category there are plenty of other cheaper (including Free) alternatives.
--Ron
Merco_61, g4aaw pete, & Ron,
Thanks, y'all, for the quality responses and advice. I've got some real homework to do to check out those sites and tools!
And that Novagrade adapter looks to be just the ticket. Means I'll be able to use both the 27x-60x zoom eyepiece and the fixed 30x, Minute of Angle reticled eyepiece. In that I teach some basic and intermediate rifle courses, the ability to capture the "what it should look like" images will prove to be useful, indeed.
Pity, the scope makers don't make an eyepiece with an adjustable aperture and electronic interface with the camera's exposure control. (no hope of autofocus with these scopes, but the camera's focus confirmation would work fine, anyway.) But, it'd be big bucks for them to make eyepieces to match the major camera brands, and at low sales volumes at that.
So, correct me if I'm wrong, but with the Df attached via the Novagrade, my setting would be aperture preferred, let the camera select the shutter speed, dependent on the ISO setting and amount of light being "seen" by the sensor? Which, I could effectively have *some* control of the shutter speed via ISO changes? (and, I need to contact Vortex and see if they can tell me the effective f/stop of the 'scope, through it's zoom range.)
Don't hesitate to tell me if I'm way off base on my "controls" presumption. Put the learnin' to me, here!
If you stay with centre-weighted or spot metering, you don't need to know even an approximate aperture ratio. Just set something identifiable to make it easier to find what photos were shot with the 'scope. Matrix metering needs the aperture info to correctly interpret what the metering fields see, the other modes don't. The Df doesn't have the built-in image stabilisation the Z-mount bodies do. On Z-mount, you need the lens data for IBIS as well as for matrix metering. (I just thought I should mention this if somebody else finds the thread later.)
Merco_61.
Thanks. I'll retain that info and make sure I run the settings, accordingly.
One project I want to do with the spotting scope, is to capture the "mirage", in various wind conditions. It's a visible phenomenon in the scope, and the "angle of bend" in the mirage is directly related to wind-speed downrange.
Right now, I have only the 28-105, f/3.5~4.5 D AF Nikkor, and a 50mm f/1.8 Nikkor (not G series, both have real aperture rings!) On the wide end, I intend to re-aquire the AF version of the Tokina 17mm f/3.5 (I had the manual version for my F2a rig, it was magnificent!), and something long-ish, 200mm to 300mm, but maybe a bit faster than the AI-S 300 f/4.5 from my former times.
And that'll be the sum total of my glass. I used to keep a solid dozen fast primes on hand, but I won't be building up that kind of rig this time around. I want to keep everything and an SB-600 Speedlight in one medium size bag. The big spotting scope resides along with the shooting range-bag, and not with the camera gear.
Suggestions for a good balance of quality, f/speed and expen$e for the long-ish glass, very gratefully accepted here!
It's too bad that the AT-X 17/3.5 AF has such a lot of distortion compared to the manual focus versions. The Nikkor 18/2.8 D is about equally old, but renders the photos much more like the old Tokinas and Tamrons.
For your long-lens needs, it would be easier to help if we knew what you will use it for.
My guess is that you will like it too much once you try an AF-S 300/4 E PF IF-ED VR. They are expensive for a slowish medium telephoto but they really shine on the D4 sensor and its sub-versions.
An admittedly expensive zoom lens that outperforms the older primes on a Df is the AF-S 80-400/4.5-5.6 G IF-ED VR. They have started turning up used now that the Z 100-400 is no longer unobtainium.
Merco_61. As I understand it, there's an older version of the Tokina AF 17mm f/3.5 that's pretty much the same optic as the manual focus artifact. The newer one (with a built-in, permanent lens shade) might be the one you've referred to? It indeed, got some pretty scathing reviews.
And if necessary, I'll just find and run an old manual dinosaur. (I can relate, I is one!), It's a 17mm, fer cryin' out loud, it's not like it's going to lack depth of field or be hard to focus!
Speaking of "Manual". Did Nikon ever actually print a full Df Owner's Manual, or is the download and print your own scheme the only game in town? I'd gladly pay for a real, Factory Printed manual, if such exists?
Finally, a technical question. What file format & size should I use if I try to post an image or three in the appropriate section of this Forum? I'm sure y'all don't want me sending in a gargantuan "raw" file?
I do have the curse of actively expensive hobbies. Tools, wood & metal, armaments, sailing, photography, enlarging the bar's inventory, fine cigars. *sigh* I could probably find a way to make staring at clouds expensive, too. But, I'll not, and just imagine it as a dream. lol
Photos should be web-sized, jpg and sRGB.
I use a bounding box of 1500 pixels and set the jpg compression to a medium quality to save on file size. Be aware that the free gallery space on this site is quite limited. OTOH, a yearly donation to help fund the running of the site will increase this space to unlimited.
Adam has posted a guide on how to post photos here.How to Post Photos on the Forum - Post Your Photos - NikonForums.com
I use the gallery space and BBCode method.
I think Nikon delivered a printed manual with the camera, but they are rare as hens’ teeth. You could try to call Nikon USA and ask.
The first AF version is, indeed, better than the later, but it starts showing some distorsion as soon as you focus closer than infinity. The MF versions were unit-focusing and moving that much glass would have been too much for the focus motor. The AF version only moves some of the lens groups.
I have ordered the Novagrade adapter for the Nikon/Vortex Razor marriage.
When I get a few good Test Pics from the rig, I'll post them, along with a couple other submissions, in the appropriate sections of the Forum.
But I thought I'd append this thread by reporting my purchase, out of respect for the suggestion which led me there. Thanks, Merco_61 !
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