[Yugoboy]

These should help. Peruse at your own leisure. I can’t for the life of me figure why you’d want to build a baseline lens collection that isn’t fully compatible with a) both bodies you currently own, and b) any future planned upgrade. Once you have all your basic needs filled (wide, tele, macro, wlakaround), that’s when I’d start looking at specialties that only work with one or two of your bodies.

http://www.nikonians.org/reviews?alias=nikon-slr-camera-and-lens-compatibility

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

It’s not that I don’t care whether or not I can use the lenses into the future… I’d love to. I’m making a semi-educated guess that the Phoenix, or any other manual focus lens will fit on the F3 as well as the d5000 – the other 2 MF lenses I’ve got do. What I don’t/can’t know is what sort of full-frame body I’ll be getting in the future. I’m thinking Nikon, because I’m pretty much Nikon’s bitch, and have been ever since I knew I wasn’t going to get a second Pentax after my K1000 (which was rock-solid and lasted for years and got handed off still functioning perfectly to my dad, but wasn’t “professional,” so I was looking to upgrade). If a lens I have now won’t fit on some unknown future body, I can only hope for a decent conversion ring.

I’ve seen the conversion chart before (the first one, not the second) but that seems to be for Nikon lenses only. Doesn’t really help with off-brands (Tamron, Sigma, Phoenix, Vivitar, etc…).
It did help me with the “screw” thing, however, so there’s that…

p.s. I may have to hold off a little more on the annual service, as well as make the lens order ASAP as I quite nearly forgot… they’re going to be filming a number of street scenes for the next Amazing Spider-man in my fair city. I currently have no idea what my access might be, but I will cry tears of blood if I can get close (or even line-of-sight) and have to shoot with my Olympus Cammedia instead of the “good” camera…

[Yugoboy]

annual servicing

I’ve seen this mentioned a couple of times. Is this a thing? Is annual servicing recommended? I’ve never had it done with either of mine, so I’m wondering if it’s something I should be doing…

I don’t honestly know. Whenever we buy anything expensive we do the service contract thing. We totally understand that in general it’s simply a waste of money, but the few times we’ve done the “wise” thing and skipped it, we generally end up spending nearly as much or more on replacement or repair that would have been covered. We’re probably about even, at this point, and security of mind can be worth paying for.

All that leads me to this: part of the security contract allows for annual servicing for 3 years. Given how much I schlep this thing around, under what conditions, and how stupid-many shots I take with it, getting it serviced is worth it to me. It takes about 2 weeks from hand-over to return. 2 nervous, twitching, tension-filled weeks. There’s a reason I kept my old camera, and got a couple super cheap ones at garage sales… keeps the DTs at bay.

Basically, they ensure the firmware’s up to date, and they make sure all the moving parts are lubed and working. Prior to last year’s servicing, the mirror would occasionally stay up (happened 3 or 4 times in the 2-ish months prior to service) so that got fixed.
This year I’m going to be mentioning a “hot” pixel. If I zoom in to about 100% at an un-reduced photo, there’s one pixel that is always white with a red ring around it with a white glow around the ring. When shots are reduced for printing purposes or to web-usefulness, it’s not a big deal, but if I ever want to do something large format or print only a tiny section at 100% it may be an issue. So, given that I’m covered, I’m going to get it fixed (I hope).

I suppose whether or not you get it done depends on your usage and confidence in your own ability to service your own camera. If you’re shooting in excess of 10K shots like I do, and you carry your camera bloody well everywhere you go, you probably want to think about it. If you are confident that you can follow the directions, you can probably do the servicing yourself (the directions are in my camera’s manual, for example). If, like me, you think you can, but can’t afford to replace anything if you screw up, then you probably have an expert do it for your own peace of mind. It’s the same reason I have an expert do my brakes. It’s not like I haven’t got the skills or tools to do them. . . but if I screw them up, the results could be catastrophic, and even if I do them right 5 times in a row, at some point I’ll screw it up. YMMV. (I’ve replaced other car parts just fine, but if the alternator or starter goes, for example, it won’t send me careening into someone’s house or a bridge abutment.)

[Yugoboy]

I understand the suggestions to hold out for better glass. I might except that the budget we’re running will have a whole LOT of stuff paid off in about a year and a half and suddenly I’ll be able to afford most of that anyway (at least the reasonable ones… the serious money lenses will still be quite out of reach). At that point, I’ll probably also be looking for a full-frame-type camera and other stuff. I want to be able to maximize what I have available now and let the future fend for itself. I don’t have another gift-getting holiday until December, so holding off will also require more discipline than I possess.

We’re returning to the Adirondacks this summer and then heading south later in the summer. My summer job has fallen through, as well, so I’m looking at a long summer with more than ample opportunity to do cool stuff with my camera, and I want the best stuff I can get now.

All the advice is genuinely appreciated, but I will be honest that the part of orionid‘s original post I did not exactly understand was all the lens compatibility stuff. The acronyms and “screw drive” had me a bit baffled. I’m not planning on putting the lenses for the d5000 on the analogue body, but if the Phoenix will work, that might happen. I have the old 50mm and a zoom/telephoto manual lens for the analogue that fit the d5000, though, but I rarely use ’em. The 50 is ok, but I’m mostly happy with using it with my extension tubes (I can play with the f-stops in a way I can’t with the AF lenses). The zoom/telephoto is “cloudy” in terms of the pictures it takes. I don’t exactly know why, but whenever I have used it in the past on the d5000 I’ve had to ramp up the contrast and fiddle with the curves/levels more than I usually do to get a picture I’m happy with – and I don’t even get extra mms out of it. Any idea how to clean up a lens like that? Is it worth trying to screw around with?

[Yugoboy]

Question: Can a Venetian canal that would be considered a back alley if it were paved be a back alley for purposes of this contest?

I got plenty of others if the answer is no.

[Yugoboy]

This lens, while great for pure magnification, will never make beautiful bokeh due to it’s centered-secondary-mirror design, but I have seen it make some amazing wildlife and sports shots on Flickr.

This quote alone is worth the question. These uses are exactly the sort of thing I want to be doing with it. There are tons and tons of times when I wish I had more length. Obviously, this lens probably won’t live in my camera bag, but if it will take good shots of far away, I’m all for it.

One of the reviewers on Amazon said his moon shots with it were really good. Given what I’ve gotten with my 55-200, I’m all for this.

Any other ideas?

Oh… I totally understand what y’all are saying about losing f-stops, but I had 2x’s for two of my older SLRs (a Pentax K1000 and a Minolta) and I enjoyed what I got out of them. They’re not out of the question, but the main reason for ’em is distance, so the 500 is good also.

Still cogitatin’…

[Yugoboy]

Thank you to whoever is keeping this list up to date. I realized I actually had time to get this done right today, only to find it had been done. Thank you, again!

[Yugoboy]

Never mind, its been fixed, now we just need some more entries.

They ain’t coming from me. I never did get around to shooting anything. I’ve shot a LOT this week, but nothing for this contest.

Dammit.

Good luck to everyone else, though!

[Yugoboy]

orionid – have you done any playing with those long-ass 20-24 oz. cans? I’m wondering how telephoto that might be (if the focal length ain’t too long)?

Just curious (not curious

Oh… do you like old Polaroid (or Kodak) instant cameras? Saw some this weekend, but didn’t know, so I left ’em… there will be plenty more out there, so I didn’t really feel opportunity was missed.

[Yugoboy]

Heh… my theme and I don’t have anything for it yet… looks like it’s gonna be a late night tonight!

[Yugoboy]

Do souvenirs have to be touristy things? Like, I try to find a rock I can legally take back home from places I go.

This is ABSOLUTELY within the rules. On the theme page, I even said it didn’t have to be things you bought, just things. My wife does the same thing (rocks), my sister-in-law collects little jars of sand, etc.

As long as it’s not a social disease, I’d say it’s in.

[Yugoboy]

ennuipoet – I can’t see why not.

orionid – I don’t think so. You’re not in Hawai’i now, so why would anything Hawai’i be verboten? I don’t think ennuipoet would be likely to post Yankees stuff, but if he had visited Detroit, he certainly could do something with Tigers stuff he bought while there.

Not that anybody’s going to be doing an audit… I certainly won’t.

[Yugoboy]

Either – probably more inclined to a telephoto experience, but I’m good either way.

Whatever produces the best/most interesting pictures. While the fragility of an empty modern aluminum can means I probably won’t keep it in my packed camera bag, When I pull it out, I want to be happy with the results, not just with having the most unique lens around.

Not sure the difference between “coated/not coated” but whatever’s going to produce the best pictures.

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As for reciprocal gift, what mount(s) can you/do you use? I’ve currently got a Canon manual kit lens sitting here with an iris that doesn’t change, but no other visible problems. More details if you want ’em. Otherwise, I’ll keep my eyes out for some old Kodak stuff (in this area, that won’t be hard to find within a couple weeks of garage sale season really heating up).

[Yugoboy]

clouddancer, so sorry you weren’t getting much out of Farktography. While I finally scored a win, it took 2 years. I’m always thrilled as hell when I score a top 10. But this doesn’t mean I don’t have a bajillion things to learn from the people ’round these parts.

The reason for continued participation isn’t to win, it’s to get better personally. That’s why a continual stream of no-cost contests are nice. It’s just practice practice practice, and when you shoot enough you find a few good shots in the mix. “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while” as they say.

I haven’t spent any time looking at your bibliostats profile, but even if your shots center around your kids, U-Man is proof positive that you can do that continually AND get good results.

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Separate note:

On the theme of somehow showcasing our work independent of Fark proper, it occurred to me that a “Theme Forum” could turn into a kind of stock photography thing. Each thread could be headed by a boobies post indicating rules for use (example – free for non-commercial with attribution and link-back, contact artist for commercial use). It might raise our profile to an audience who wouldn’t stumble over us otherwise.
Y’know… or not… whatever.

Hmm…
This post started as some sort of encouragement to clouddancer to keep trying different stuff and took a left turn… oh well…

[Yugoboy]

I don’t see why it would be a problem if it were brought back for you. Not like anyone’s checking up on the original ownership.

Exactly. There’s no requirement to post a receipt. It’s still a souvenir.

[Yugoboy]

I know enough about my Canon Speedlite to be dangerous, but I’d like to faster and less experimental with it. More knowledgeable and confident.

Practice.

It’s what I plan on doing this summer. My flash is a cheap-o Vivitar (replacing two dead cheap-o Vivtars), but it’s far better than just using the on-board flash, especially with the bracket. The more I practice, the better I’ll get, and my “fear” of the flash will go away. Until I figure out how to use a flash the “right” way, there’s no point in spending serious money on a flash I’m just going to ignore or avoid.

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