JessPhotos.com » Photography

Buying a new Nikon DSLR

Jess — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:00:02 +0000

I have just started researching to purchase a new Nikon body. So far it looks like it is between the D90 and D300S. I’ve had my D70 since 2004 and I really feel the need to upgrade! I plan to keep the D70 as a second body.

Any recommendations from Nikon shooters out there are more than welcome!

Here are some of my questions/comments/concerns so far:

Is the D300S too heavy with a 70-200 2.8 lens to shoot hand-held?
Some people have commented that going from the D70 to the D300/S would take some time to figure things out. Is it that complicated? I like shooting in aperture mode and manual. I don’t use the Auto mode at all.
Will all my DX lenses work? I hear they will.
Lens thread: In dpreview.com, I see that the D300S uses “Nikon F (with AF contacts)” compare to the D70, D90, and D300 which have “Nikkor AF / F-mount, D-Type.” Is this something I should be concerned about?

After researching more, it looks like I won’t have any problems with the above. The only item that I am somewhat concerned about is the weight. But I guess I will just have to play with it to know for sure!

Pricing:

D90 is around $810.
The D300S is around $1800!!!

What do I shoot?

Dancing performances in a theater setting.
Basketball games.
Portraits (usually outside/not studio)
Golf
Landscapes, people, etc etc.

What I like about the D90 over the D300s:

Pricing!
Color quality for RAW is better according to the DxO Labs (http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor)

What I like about the D300s over the D90:

Better auto focusing. 51 points against 11!
Better in low light situations and high ISO.
Magnesium alloy body and rubber protection against dust.
INFO button.
CF and SD card support.
7-8 fps compared to the D90’s 4.5fps.

Update:

After many hours of research, I have decided and have made the purchase!!!

And the winner is … *drum roll* …………… the D300s!!!!! Better focusing and better performance in low light situations were the MAJOR factors in my decision. All of the other features are also awesome! I bought it on Amazon.com. I used all the Amazon.com gift certificates I had and birthday money! And it should arrive this Thursday October 1!!!

I’m excited!

–Jess

P.S. The photo below shows the D300s with the MB-D10 Multipower Battery Pack which I haven’t purchased.

Nikon D300s

Life.com – Access to millions of amazing photographs

jess — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:21:49 +0000

LIFE.COM

Life.com offers access to millions of photos for FREE. They have amazing stuff that we may even use for personal use. Please do see their Terms of Use to learn how exactly you can use them.

The collection of photos have been taken by top photographers of people and events that have made history.

Check it out!

www.life.com

Pic of the day

Jess — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:13:29 +0000

I was window shopping today, and I had to stop to take a pict of this store!

Ahh! It made me smile!

Image editing software

Jess — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 08:37:51 +0000

Photoshop is king. There is no doubt!

If you are into heavy image editing, please get Photoshop. Amazon.com carries the latest full version (CS4) for less than $600! Word of warning: Amazon changes its pricing a lot. One day it will be below $600 and the next below $700. Please keep checking! – Link to Photoshop CS4 on Amazon.com.

If you need an image editing software for basic work like cropping, resizing, fixing red eyes, etc, you have a lot of good choices:

Photoshop Elements – $79.99

GIMP - FREE

Paint.NET – FREE

Picasa - FREE

They are listed in order to having more to less features. Picasa is a photo album organizer with lots of editing tools. Psst! It is the easiest tool to fix red eyes!