Nikon Announces an 80-400mm VR AF-S :D

andrikos wrote in post #15682489
Kenji,
You'd make a very interesting research case study on "gear obsession".

really! he's probably owned (or rented) every camera model and every lens ever made. And speculated on all the future lens or future cameras that will be made.
is there a life beyond camera gear?

watt100 wrote in post #15682502
really! he's probably owned (or rented) every camera model and every lens ever made. And speculated on all the future lens or future cameras that will be made.
is there a life beyond camera gear?

More camera gear

watt100 wrote in post #15682502
really! he's probably owned (or rented) every camera model and every lens ever made. And speculated on all the future lens or future cameras that will be made.
is there a life beyond camera gear?

Bwuh? Nope, Actually I havnt even come close to that.. I've handled very few cameras and shot EXTENSIVELY with only my N70, EOS-3, 30D and 7D... Anything else I've played with I've looked at in a store and then NOT bought... like the D7000, the D3100 belongs to someone else and i keep borrowing it.. Been at this for almost 10 years

Lenses..ok maybe... Some early switching was because it was what I could afford at the time, Or because I switched to digital.. my lens system on film was pretty sorted out actually(The 24-105, 50mm f/1.4 and 200mm f/2.8L worked well for me)... As i said before, a lot of my "switching" was trying to get a 24-105 equivalent for my 30D (The 15-85 didnt exist yet) and getting a 50mm equivalent for my 7D (Which the 28mm f/1.8 honestly DID sort out I just like the rendition Sigma's glass gives me, blame the Sigmalux)

As for gear obsessing, I do shoot a lot normally, Bit thin for me right now because everything is kind of dead at the moment thats all, I do like the tech and I'm excited by the potential of a new lens to offer me something different to work with, and as for adding more to my system I'm pretty set at the moment I suppose, the only lens I -really- want is a telephoto, Either the 300mm f/4L IS or the 400mm f/5.6 for shooting the birds... The 80-400 is interesting and if I shot Nikon yeah, itd be at the top of the buy list, but I dont... and I've been down the 100-400 path before and sold it.

As for why I dont buy a camera, that also hopefully answered that, going FF involves needing to trade out a few of my lenses and everything and I just am not sure the benefits really BENEFIT me...

As for a life beyond that, I have too much free time

tkbslc wrote in post #15682328
Honestly, ask yourself how we have huge sample threads with great photos from all of those, but you couldn't make any of them work for you? .

A bit off topic but the sample thread is probably the worst tool to evaluate a lenses capabilities and quality. Think about it. You take a 22mp image, process the heck out if it correcting for things like distortion, chromatic aberration, sharpness, contrast, saturation. Then you shrink the picture to fit POTN posting rules, a mere 1meg thus getting rid of 21mp worth of image data. Then to further destroy the quality you change it to a jpeg thus reducing the originality 14 bits to 8, and then to top it off you compress the heck out of it.

So, when all is said and done, you are evaluating the quality of the lens on maybe 1% or 2% of the original images data and that 1% or 2% has been corrected to further hide any flaws.

KenjiS wrote in post #15682311
Who said I want "perfect" I just want "good"... So far I've been through:

35mm f/2: Sharp, but very dodgy/poor bokeh in a lot of shots, Sold it.. in this things case, yes the horrid bokeh DID ruin some otherwise really nice shots I had done because the bokeh had a horrid distracting double visioned quality to it that took your eye off the subject, and in my case really messed with my eyes...

28mm f/1.8: Not that sharp at f/1.8-2 where i care about using it, Bokeh is pretty good most of the time, Lots of CA, lots of vignetting, lots of flare even with a hood.. this was sort of my "best" lens and im only selling it because of the new Sigma 30 and 35... This lens i could easily work through its shortcomings and i was more just nitpicking that it wasnt my Sigmalux, I admit that.. though the CA/Purple Fringing is bad...

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (Old one): Very sharp, excellent bokeh but couldnt focus on the broadside of a well lit barn and the MFD was awful on it... to be fair this was pretty much perfection except the MFD and I would have gotten a properly focusing copy had the MFD not stunk

The Nikon just works for me, I havnt had an issue with wonky bokeh(Though ive not used it that much), its very sharp, it focuses pretty accurately on a D3100, but its a Nikon, and thus does not work on my 7D...

The next lens Im going to try, provided I stick Canon and dont just say sod it and buy a 6D is the new Sigma 30mm f/1.4, Sigma fixed the MFD on it and they've improved their QC with their 35... So hopefully the new 30 is the lens I've wanted

you're crop camera isnt giving you the sharpness you want. Move to FF, it's a lot more sharper than crop, and will give you better sharpness than upgrading lenses.

even the lowly nifty fifty, wide open, will out resolve ANY lens you have on a crop. Let that sink in for a bit. Bokeh not good enough, 50 1.4 or sigma 50 1.4. Those will blow out the crop + art series sigma 30 F1.4 even before it's released.

^- Uhhhh.. Not -quite- my 7D is plenty sharp The 28mm f/1.8 might just be unfairly compared given the rest of the lenses i have (the 100L, the Sigmalux, the 15-85.. All are very VERY sharp pieces of glass)

The Bokeh issues could be down to the lenses simply being wide angles, versus a mild telephoto design like on the Sigmalux, IE, to get what I -really- want the only answer probubly -is- full frame, Im coming to terms with it... Despite how much I love my 7D

It's now shipping!

Anyone planning to try one?

Nikon has been pretty good with product availability these days. Introduced last week and already shipping today. wow!

I also saw a Nikon 800mm f/5.6 in Sydney this week!

JGI wrote in post #15718753
Nikon has been pretty good with product availability these days. Introduced last week and already shipping today. wow!

There is a thread over on DPReview from someone who has one in hand. I'll save you the hassle of wading thru the thread, here are his initial comments, it appears to work well.
The comments comparing it to the 200-400 I've been looking are impressive.

"I've been "in-transit" all day. The lens arrived less than a half hour before I had to be at the airport!

So far I've only been able to play around a bit between flights, but my initial (gut) reaction is "WOW"!

I had the 'old' version of this lens and they simply can't be seriously compared. The autofocus is almost instantaneous, even at 400mm, and focusing on a small, low-contrast target. There is simply no "hunting" at all and the sharpness and contrast at marvelous! Realize that I clearly stated these are my "initial reactions". Once I'm in the bush, the results may vary. That's why I'm not going to post any images until I can give it a real workout.

In response to one earlier question: I also had the 200-400mm Nikkor and this new lens is AT LEAST as sharp and contrasty! I've uttered the phrase "holy crap" many times today.

Also - YES, of course the lens hood is included...and the tripod collar w/foot as well. The tube extends ~3" when zoomed from 80-400mm.

At the Atlanta airport, an Air Force sergeant asked me to see if we could read the "small print" on a fuel truck parked about 1/4 mile away. Now to check this, I had to shoot the truck THROUGH A PLATE GLASS AIRPORT WINDOW. At 400mm, and at 100% on a laptop screen, not only could we read the "small print", we could see fingerprints where someone had touched the paint before it dried! At this point he had to show the image to about 30 other service men and women who were in the lounge area and there was much amazement expressed (loudly)!

Can't wait for the show tomorrow. Sorry to hear that the "sequestration" spoiled the event in Tampa. It has put a dent in the show I'm attending but it still promises to be fun.

Don't even get me started on the whole "sequestration" business! The vile, corrupt politicians in charge always make the 'cuts' where the public will FEEL (or see) them most acutely...not to where they should be made (wasteful, unnecessary, self-serving projects)."