D300

Photo of the Week

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You know you don’t use a digital camera very much when it takes you half an hour to figure out where you last put it… And then another 10 minutes to find the cable to download the pictures…  On that note, as soon as I get the AF issue fixed with my D300, it’s going up for sale.  Too much camera to be sitting in the closet (yes that’s where I eventually found it…).

 

Anyways, this week’s photo was taken on Christmas eve.  I took a long exposure of some Christmas lights while zooming the lens.  I took about 20 shots, and this one looked the best overall.  I got the technique a bit better on a few of the other shots, but as I didn’t bring a tripod along, some of the shots didn’t turn out so well.  Taken on my Nikon D300 with the 18-70 zoom lens (used the entire zoom).  Exposure time was in the 2-3 second range, supported on a fencepost.

Nikon D300 vs. Panasonic GF1

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To start off, for those of you looking for a comparison between the two, you’ve come to the wrong place as I only own one of these fine cameras… The following are merely some musings of mine regarding my photographic future so to speak…

 

I love taking pictures, but I don’t love lugging around heavy cameras.  My most used camera is an Agfa Optima because it’s tiny, and doesn’t weigh much.  I mean it helps that it takes great pictures, but it certainly isn’t the only criteria.  While I do love film cameras, I still have a digital slr that honestly takes wonderful pictures.  Where it fails me is in the weight department.  I often get great pictures with my Agfa not because it has some wonderful secret touch to it, but because it’s always in my shoulder bag or in my pocket, ready to be whipped out and used, whereas the Nikon is usually sitting on the shelf collecting dust with a big honking lens attached.  When I do take the Nikon D300 with me, I thoroughly enjoy using it, it’s auto focus (of which none of my film cameras are), and the immediate feedback is a refreshing change.  The problem is it gets used very, very rarely these days.

 

This has got me thinking whether I should switch to a smaller system?  I’ve always liked the size and design of the Panasonic GF1, it’s very rangefinder-esque and with the small pancake lens would certainly be very portable.  I realize it’s got a smaller size sensor which isn’t going to be able to touch the quality of the D300, but I so rarely blow up my digital photos, maybe it just doesn’t matter?  I could easily pay for the GF1 by selling my Nikon kit (and have a fair bit of cash to spare), but then I also worry wether this would then replace my Voigtlander rangefinder?  I’d have two cameras with similar focal lengths, similar sizes, but one has auto focus, auto exposure, instant feedback, whereas the other has none of these things…

 

With the recent GF2 announcement, I suspect the GF1 will drop in price before it is sold out, so maybe a deal could be had and I could keep both, cause I really need more cameras at this point…

Photo of the Week

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On my way back from Bastille Day fireworks, I had a sudden urge for some street photography. I’ve never really tried before, but a combination of a million people walking around and the cover of darkness got my courage up.  Camera was set to ISO6400 (D300) which adds a fair bit of noise, but I don’t mind, it allowed me to get pictures of what I wanted to, the quality may not be great but that’s not always what’s most important…

Photo of the Week

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Well, keeping with the endless bike theme (and to think last week was all photography…), here is a photo from the Tour de France as it passed through Antwerp.  I set the shutter speed quite slow so that I could get most of the bikes blurred, then I panned while shooting, which got me a few cyclists in still motion, while the rest of the pack and the background has motion blur.  Taken with my D300.

Freitag Dexter Messenger Bag – 1 month of use

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About a month ago, I bought a Freitag Dexter Messenger bag to serve as a daddy diaper bag/camera bag.  I have to admit that I bought it mainly because I thought it looked cool, and less for it’s functionality.

Now that I’ve had the chance to use it for awhile, I have grown to appreciate it’s usefulness even more than it’s cool factor.  I did complain before that a vinyl messenger bag got awfully hot on your back while biking, but truth be told, I don’t use it for biking, I’d rather a backpack in that situation.  The vinyl is of course waterproof, which when you’ve got your dslr and your favourite film camera of the day, is mighty useful with Paris’ rainy spring days.

As you can see above, it holds my copy of Reponses Photo, my D300, my Bessa R, and my copy of Le Monde with room to spare (the diapers still could fit in there too!).  The one drawback I have noticed is the lack of padding.  I generally put something between the two cameras to keep them from bumping each other (diapers), but if you put the bag on too quickly, a D300 in the back doesn’t feel too nice…