Nikon D600

After three years of shooting with the Nikon D5000 I have upgraded to the D600.  Not that there was anything wrong with the D5000, it is a great camera and I created some great images with it but there were a couple of things I wanted that the D5000 didn't have, here is my list in order of importance:

1. Full frame sensor
2. Higher resolution photos
3. High speed sync
4. User programmable settings and buttons
5. Mirror lock up

Obviously, the D600 has a lot of other features the D5000 doesn't that I am enjoying but the ones above were what made the decision for me.  Also, it helped that there was a fairly substantial price drop recently. After a couple of weeks I am really happy with it!

There are a lot of people complaining about problems with dust on the sensor.  Before making the purchase I ready numerous blog posts and review that mentioned the sensor dust.  People have even done video tests and reviews regarding this issue.  I was worried about this when I made the purchase so I bought it from a store with a no questions return policy so I could return it within two weeks if I encountered the problem.

Well after 3 days I noticed dust spots in the top left corner of some of my landscape photos.  At the time I was really disappointed and concerned, until I found that that cleaning dust off the sensor takes about two minutes with a little air blower I already had.  It literally took me longer to write this paragraph then it does to clean the dust of a sensor.  So, it is really a none issue and I have no idea what all the fuss is about.

I will update this post in the future once I have more to say and review.

Tokina 17 - 35mm f/4 AT-X PRO FX

At the time of this writing the vast majority of the photos posted on my site were taken with the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 Lens with my old D5000 camera.  So, when I upgraded to the full frame D600 I know the first lens I needed as the Tokina 17-35mm f/4 AT-X PRO FX.  This is really just the full frame version of the Tokina 12 - 24mm lens that I have loved shooting with over the past couple of years.  

I have only been out landscape shooting a couple of times with this lens but I already like it every bit as much as the  Tokina 12-24mm f/4.

Nikon Nikkor AF-S 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G VR

I upgraded from the Nikon D5000 to Nikon D600 and although DX lenses do work on the D600 I wanted to take advantage of the full frame sensor so decided to sell my old DX lenses.  However, I didn't have the cash to buy the Nikon 24-300mm to replace my Nikon 18-200 DX lens right off the bat, so decided to get the Nikon 24-28mm lens that comes as the D600 kit lens.  

I have been using this lens for a couple of weeks now and am really enjoying it.  It doesn't totally replace my 18-200mm but since most of my shots are landscape and travel shots it does the job for 90% of what I want to shoot.  So far the quality I am seeing from this lens is impressive and am looking forward to using it more. 

Sirui T-2005X Tripod and K-10x Ball Head Review

I made a mistake when I purchased my first tripod. I had just started taking landscape photographs and understood enough to know I needed to start shooting with a tripod, but at the time I didn’t realize how important a tripod was to get great landscape photographs. I went to the store and purchased a cheap (non Sirui) lower quality tripod without doing any research and I regretted the purchase within three months. So, when it was time to make my second tripod purchase I was much more analytical. First, I made a long list of all the options I was looking for in a spreadsheet. Here is a copy of the travel tripod comparison spreadsheet I created.

At this point I was already more experienced at landscape photography so I better understood the key features I needed in a tripod. There are included as columns in the spreadsheet. This list may be different for other photographers but I am sure most landscape photographers would include these when looking for a good tripod. Here is my list:

1. Stability - I used load capacity to compare this.
2. Maximum Height - Although I rarely extend the top middle cylinder, it is nice to have for those occasions when you need it to get the shot.
3. Min Height - For me this is more important than max height. I often need to get the camera close to the ground to capture an interesting foreground or reflection.
4. Weight - I am often hiking to my photography destination so I want the lightest possible.
5. Folded Length - Since I am often travelling and hiking with my tripod, I want it to be compact as possible. This is why I preferred the five section version.
6. Price - Of course I want all of the above for as cheap as possible. That being said, I learned my lesson from choosing a cheap tripod that broke one week before I arrived in Angkor Wat so I wasn’t going to just look a price.

After narrowing down my options using the numbers in the travel tripod comparison spreadsheet. I went to the store to try out the top choices. After a good hour of trying the different tripods I walked out with a Sirui T-2005X Tripod with K-10x Tripod Head. At the time I thought I was taking a chance because this was a new model and there weren’t many reviews on the Internet yet, but I liked the feel and sturdiness so I took that chance.

Well, it has been a year since I started using it and the T-2005X has stood the test of time. I like it as much today as that first day in the store! It has helped me capture thousands of amazing low light landscape photos. Here are some examples of why I need these features.

As you can see from this photo, I don’t mind getting a bit wet to get the photo. The tripod legs have seen their fair share of rivers, streams and even salt water. I normally rinse out the legs after they have been in salt water but that is the only maintenance or cleaning I have done and they legs still move in and out as smoothly as when brand new.

To get this shot I needed the camera to be close to the ground and completely stable on the loose rock to capture the blurred water. What you don’t see in the photo are the half dozen photographers behind me standing behind their tripods. I have my camera set less than one foot off the ground which lets me capture a much more interesting composition. This is the power of the removable center column and 180 degree leg joints!

What you don’t see in this photos is that right below the frame are treetops trying to peek into the bottom of my photo. This is one of the rare instances when I needed to raise the top middle cylinder to the max height to get the shot. If I had chosen a tripod 10 cm shorter getting the shot would have been a lot harder. For a full list of other types of photos I have taken with my tripod checkout the photos tagged with Sirui tripod section on my blog.

For the past year, almost every time I shoot landscapes my Surui tripod is with me. The only exception is when I am hiking a long distance and can’t carry the extra weight. I definitely miss the tripod in the circumstances and will probably end up buying a smaller lighter tripod or a monopod next year, it will be one of the Sirui models.  If you are planning on purchasing a tripod I definitly would recommend checking out my travel tripod comparison spreadsheet I put together and choose the one that is right for you, but I have been happy with my choice.

Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizing II Filter Review

A polarizing filter screws on to the front of the camera an has two main purposes as far as I have found (for my photography)

1. Darken skies to make them look better
2. Remove glare from objects or water

#1 can be done in photoshop so it isn't worth the investment but #2 can't.  I must say, I don't use this that often but there are times when I want to take a photo of water and it adds to the photo to remove the glare and see what is actually in the water, and a polarizing filter is the only way to do that.  I splurged and purchased the Nikon version which was more expensive than other brands because I saw a lot of reviews saying the other ones can fall appart.  Also, I bought this with some money I made shooting a wedding in the summer so I was willing to splurge a bit more.  Overall I am happy with it so far and hope to find more uses for it this summer when I am up in the mountains taking photos.

To see what this filter does check out the photos I have posted where I used the Nikon 77mm Circular Polarizing II Filter.