Gear usability

I often read very precise and "scientific" reviews of different kind of camera bodies, accessories and lenses. It's actually part of the fun for me: getting to know the gear available for taking those shots. Yeah yeah, in my last post i said about saving money not having to buy those monster lenses, but seriously, who wouldnt want that Nikkor AF-S 600m F4 ? In the end its all about your budget and will to use it on to the things important to you. As my father once said: nothing is expensive if you are willing to invest on it.

Ok, back to reality, I study at university and even though im living in a society full of prosperity, i simply dont have the buck for the things im drooling after (on the other hand, who has ten grand to spend on a lens or 7 grand to a camera body, which value will decrease by the minute.) This is when i have to stop, i mean REALLY stop to think about priorities in life: hobbies, marriage, fatherhood, studies, relatives, income just to name a few affecting my life in a western society.

After all this prologue to the thing at hand: What's the usability of my very own ( very budgy ) camera gear? After all, you can still take those great pictures with improvised (and much, much more cost effective) setups.

For general photography, happy family trips to local zoo and usual snapshots i use Nikkor 17-55mm F2.8. This is certainly very usable lens. The focal length seems to be just right from usual shots needed to compose most common situations: pictures of people, family, landscape all in all situations needed to capture the moment. I cant stress too much that how important usability issue it is to have a "normal" range good quality zoom at ones camerapack. I seriously would feed prime lenses to baboons at the local zoo since having to take those backsteps all the time not even mentioning the disco needed to change a prime lens to your camerabody every now and then.

I like bulky, i really mean it. I dont care if a prime Nikkor 50mm F1.8D would do the same trick compared in quality, it feels like plastic, it is plastic and it doesnt emit those "trust vibes" like those metallic, heavy and bulky lenses do. Commenting on a prime lens its worth mentioning that in my use i found 50mm prime lens to be very one sided. The angle of view simply didnt fit for me in this "usual" focal length gategory. I found my self always taking backsteps trying to fit everything relevant in to the image. I will not comment the image quality on these lenses, i will comment the usability from my own point of view and whats relevant for me. Use those hyperlinks, they will take you somewhere more scientific.

Okay i will admit it here, im what they here in Finland call "varustehuora". I my self like to call it "equipment aware photographer" hehe.

For close up specie images of birds, wildlife and other living beings i have found the Nikkor 300mm F4 (on a crop body) to be very sufficient and useful. If i would be using it on an full frame format digital SLR i would bet that 300 mm wouldnt be enough. 300mm on a crop body is somewhat equivalent to 450 mm and thats just about right focal length for me.. usually. Sometimes or more often than sometimes i find my self figuring i REALLY need to get closer to subject. Everything is fine if the birds are landed or airborne, but on water... (even though i dont mind carrying heavy equipment with me, a rowing boat could just be too much for me.) Once again the build quality and the feeling on this lens meets with my demands. Its really sturdy, made of metal and it feels good in hand. In my opinion it has sturdy enough tripod collar and thank god it can be rotated so it feels right at hand even handheld. One more feature worth mentioning: the built in lens hood. It isnt really that big deal, but its convenient not having to attach and detach it all the time. It slips very naturally on the barrel when not needed and better yet, it stays there.

Last but not least is the D2X camera body. The great side and which makes it very very useful is the fact it produces wonderful imagequality, which is sufficient to my needs. It's also very sturdy and well built, so i dont have to be too careful with it. But the mother of all useful features: the envirvomental sealing... I dont think anyone would like their cameras broken because of rain or snow. I will not confirm that this body is totally 100% weather proof, but at least it hasnt broken up in my use on rainy or snowy conditions. Believe me it really takes the fun off any photographic trip having to protect ones camera all the time from basic elements of nature like snow and rain.

Later this week i will also continue with the tc-200 performance and usability.
So stay tuned !