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Digital SLR / DSLR Camera Question / DSLR Thread 2

Well you CAN buy Japanese Grey Market vesions of lenses here... But you have no warranty, and I don't think Nikon/Canon USA would even do any repair work either

Just keep looking for nice used lenses or suck it up and buy new. Nice expensive glass is something you hold onto for a long time, so it should be treated as an investment.
 
VeloceMoto said:
I wonder if the same is true of the prices in Japan (or China?).

$400 discount on a nice lens would go a long way in convincing me to visit Japan on my next vacation! :D
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I go to Japan all the time. Lenses aren't any cheaper there. Actually, considering the dismal exchange rate right now, they may actually be more expensive there.
 
indeed...save a lil here and there and next thing you know you open a box with $$...
 
Zypher: Good find!

I was at Costco yesterday playing around with the Canon XSi while my pizza was being made. In particular, they had a 55-250mm IS lens attached to it. Now I'm wondering if something like that might do the trick. Apparently they're less than $300 new. Is there a Nikon equal?

Two things surprised me: 1) At 135mm, 200 or 250 @ f/5.6, the background and foreground were much more out of focus than I expected! 2) the IS (image stabilization) apparently gives you 4 more stops. While it's no substitute for fast glass when shooting action, it was cool. I can't get over the price. And--although everything looks good on that big, high density LCD screen on the XSi, the pictures looked sharp. Here are some Flickr portraits using the lens: http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=Canon+55-250mm+portrait&m=text

Maybe if I can find a similar Nikon lens (if there is one), I may be better off buying one and putting it through the paces for a few months before really committing to a 70-200mm f2.8 for $800.
 
velocemoto, the focal length also has to do with background blur or bokeh...
here is one good source on that: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
if your really like to do more of action stuff, i would say get the 2.8 or a
faster glass...shooting at low light spots is crucial...
high iso at wide open, yikes...the also advantage is you can use an extender
with the fast glass and only loose 1 or 2 stops, your choice of extender...
and no, i wouldn't settle for the economical glass even right now, save the $$
and get the fast glass...it won't disappoint you...
 
Yeah, I pretty much understand what goes into making the background blur/DOF, but it surprised me that 200mm @ f/5.6 gave so much. It would be nice to compare a portrait at 200mm @ f/5.6 vs f/2.8 to see just how much more those 2 extra stops blow out the background.

Btw, cool website! I'm bookmarking it.
 
if the subject is relatively nearish you and the background is far away, the background is gonna be blurred probably at all apertures.

maybe you can check out the nikon 70-300. it's not $300, but its not expensive really. i've used it for motorsports and it works great. if you're shooting daylight, you don't need 2.8, especially if you are trying to get motion blur in your shots you want a slower shutter and i end up shooting closer to f/11
 
I found the table on that site more useful:

http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html

300mm at F5.6 and the subject at 20ft and the DOF is just fabulously short, if you want that thing.

Thinking about renting the 85mm F1.4 for my next book project... Shit, at that opening, I might need to get some ND filters, hmm...
 
cycle61 said:
Means it's dead.
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Mine gives me that pretty regularly... Power off then on again, goes away.

Seems to be battery-contact cleanliness related, at least on mine.

The manual is really useful, 'Unspecified error' or something like that. :|
 
I've got a regular 0.6 ND I use when I use my strobes if I want a wider aperture, and a graduated 0.6 ND for landscape. I'd rather have a 0.9 for landscapes now that I've used the 0.6 a bit, 0.6 is alright though I just have to darken the skies a little more in lightroom. Without the 0.6 though, the skies would be blown out with no way to recover.

I've also got the odd 3.0 ND filter to take long exposures in daylight. Haven't had a chance to use it very much though, cool for shots of rivers/waterfalls, maybe if you wanna try to do some light graffiti in daylight.
 
Hmm, have to try the graduated filter for skies, tho frankly most of my pics that involve sky as an element are usually killed by a polarizer, but then that relies on my position relative to the sun... have to try that.

Totally OT, friend of mine is selling his 300mm F2.8 L series Canon lens and 2x extender, looking for offers around 3k. Would be a great motorsports combo... He used them for his two safaris in Africa and has barely touched them since. PM me if anyone is interested. I've used them, they're spanky, and frankly, it's upsetting as I won't get to borrow them anymore :cry
 
BrassPremier said:
i still havent had a chance to try out a polarizer yet. on my list of things to get...
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:wow

Duuuuuuuuuude!

They are SOOO much fun. That and a red filter and shooting in black and white = instant Ansel Adams. Kinda. If you're in Yosemite. And you're any good (you are, so, have fun) :)
 
haha i havent had a chance to use my film camera lately either. oh and lemme know bout those background lights if you have a chance, would like to pick em up soon
 
Oh! Sorry, thought I'd replied on FB? Hmm...

Can't remember the exact name off the top of my head, but, they have them in stock at Kamera Korner, but there are many similar ones around - just an Edison fitting, most are between 30 and 45w/s, non-adjustable, have a 2.5mm jack (not the 3.5 most have) but comes with lead to PC fitting on camera or trigger, and have built-in slave trigger.

I use mine with clip-on garage lights stripped down and clipped onto the ceiling beams, home-made barn-doors to stop light spilling onto the subject mostly (made from aluminum flashing - Home Depot - dirt cheap, cut-able with scissors, just about, some small nuts and bolts hold it all in place).

All in all, I think it was <$100 for enough light for a white backdrop. So I really don't mind leaving it in place.

Looks like this:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/90678-REG/Medalight_PG20M_Master_Slave_120V_.html

And you can get cheapie gels (see my pink and blue backdrop stuff) dirt cheap too, and barn doors for <$12 I think it was. Have to get some more...
 
oh yea you mentioned that, wasnt sure if you knew of any specific models/brands. kamera korner is about an hour away... maybe while im down there i can stop by to check out your setup?
 
No problem. Just gimme a pm or a call if you still have my number. Place is a bit of a shit-tip at the moment, one of the dubious benefits of using someone else's space... but hey, it's free, so, price is right...
 
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