Nikon D750 & D780

JYC said:
Nice! But ditch the strap :D
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I've a new one on order. :p

If I like it I'll get another. If I don't I'll get the black gaffer tape out.
 
UaeExile said:
Anyone got any good recommendations for a replacement strap for the D750?
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I've tried tons of straps trying to find the most comfortable, and as far as neck straps go the most comfortable is the Matin Curved Neoprene IMO. The optech one is pretty good although the edges of the pad are more angular so not as comfortable as the Matin. I have the optech sling strap too which I don't rate. I really rated the q-strap neo slingstrap until it broke/split. Uber comfortable but would trust another one. Best sling strap I've tried by far is the black Rapid sport. I actually found the neck strap supplied with the D750 surprisingly comfortable, although doesn't compare to the Matin. The peak design one that can be used as both neck strap and sling strap was OK as a neck strap (although not the best) but not great as a sling strap when you start putting heavyish lenses on. The strap itself is basically a seat belt and so starts to dig in a bit when you have weight on. The sunsniper is obviously great as a security thing having the metal wire running through, and is reasonably comfortable but nowhere near as comfortable as the BR or Q-Strap neo.
 
Hmm personally I could never use any neck strap, way too painful.

I have the peak design slide and it worked great for days out with the 24-70mm, no pain at all - but I appreciate there are bigger and badder lenses out there that may cause difficulty.
 
@minnnt (or anyone else that's been to Lumsdale) I've got the day off today and heading over to Lumsdale Falls, have you been? If so any tips on where to park and best place to go? Hoping to find this place, any idea where along the falls this is, and whether it catches the light best in the morning or afternoon? Any tips appreciated.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kingnik/9480758454/
 
He's in the river for that shot mate. Well, on the rocks that stick up. It's the second fall from the top by the look of it. It's where i did my 12 minute long exposure (although i was on the side as the water level was high).

There is a layby on the corner where you park. There will probably be other cars there and space is limited to about 4-5 cars if people park courteously.

Lumsdale is one big cascade which is fed from the mill pond at the top. There are several levels to be able to shoot from but it will be slippy so be careful.

https://flic.kr/p/BbMJG6

https://flic.kr/p/o9UjMp
 
minnnt said:
He's in the river for that shot mate. Well, on the rocks that stick up. It's the second fall from the top by the look of it. It's where i did my 12 minute long exposure (although i was on the side as the water level was high).

There is a layby on the corner where you park. There will probably be other cars there and space is limited to about 4-5 cars if people park courteously.

Lumsdale is one big cascade which is fed from the mill pond at the top. There are several levels to be able to shoot from but it will be slippy so be careful.

https://flic.kr/p/BbMJG6

https://flic.kr/p/o9UjMp
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Thanks for this, great shots :)
 
Greggster said:
Yes I like it, have only got the slim strap though, doesn't feel man enough? I'll look at the 'cuff'!
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I've got the Slide and Clutch on mine. Might have to change system though as they don't really do a 2 camera setup.
 
T_J_G said:
So are we thinking mid week or weekend meet? And going to an event or just midweek practice/testing?
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A Friday would be ideal for me, I could probably do Brands Hatch, it's only a 2 hour drive. I'd be tempted by further afield but I'd probably have to stay in a B&B the night before, so depends how cheap a hotel I could find.
 
I use Op/Tech as well and like it a lot. Never tried anything else, so can't compare. With the D750 and Tamron 70-200 it is heavy, but the strap manages fine.
 
In search of a wide zoom that is preferably wider than the 24-85 for my D750 as I will be travelling to India in Mar,

First, let's state my needs so you guys can suggest better:
  • An all in one travel/landscape lens to shoot
    • landscape (with or without tripod)
    • low light street, churche interiors, building interiors where Tripod is not allowed or I am not bothered to carry one
    • VR/VC/OS is preferable
  • A zoom lens with wider than 24 mm focal length. Not so worried about loosing the long end as hardly shoot beyond 50 and I can take my 85 with me.
  • Not so expensive. I may trade or sell the 24-85 VR (will hurt to part with it) to part fund it.
I narrowed down my choices to the following lenses and need some opinions from people who have experience shooting with one or more of the following lenses
  1. Sigma 24-35 F2 - Not wider than 24-85, no OS, limited range and only advantage is faster Art lens. Also suffer from mixed reviews making it difficult to decide.
  2. Tamron 15-30 2.8 VC - Much wider, 2.8, sharp as a knife and reviews are great. Bit heavy, expensive and bulbous front element are the downsides.
  3. Nikon 18-35 G - Great optics and very light compared to others. Perfect for most landscape shooting needs on tripod, accepts filters and not so expensive. Bit slow for handheld low light work and no VR are downsides. I wish this lens had VR
  4. Nikon 16-35 F4 VR - Must admit, I never considered this lens, but realised it has VR that the 18-35 doesn't and constant apertures as well . Bit long and heavy and bit more expensive, but you get VR and constant aperture.
  5. Tokina 16-28 F2.8 - Another lens I never considered in my list for comparison. No VR, bulbous front element, relatively fast and some say Tokina glass is razor sharp.
  6. Anything else out there?
Appreciate if you guys can share your own opinions from experience or what would you do if you were in my shoes especially on the last two as I have never researched those lenses.
 
T_J_G said:
@anibap do you need to use filters as if you do then the bulbous elements makes this harder/more expensive?
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I have a 10 stop ND filter and a CPL that I would like to use. Having said that I haven't shot much with filters. If I buy a lens with a bulbous front, I will have to keep the 24-85 to use filters. Do I want to keep two lenses? Not sure atm.

chrism_scotland said:
Buy the 18-35G, without a doubt the best bank for buck in that range and a super super lens.
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I know it is a great lens and ticks most boxes like you said, but with no VR it may not work for indoor low light work where tripod is not allowed. Again, I can keep the 24-85 and 18-35 together, but will not solve my problem of shooting inside where VR is important and I need wider than 24mm.
 
chrism_scotland said:
Buy the 18-35G, without a doubt the best bank for buck in that range and a super super lens.
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:plus1:

The wider the angle of the lens the easier it is to hand hold without VR. ;)
 
@anibap It's probably not to the standard of the lenses your looking at, but as I have my shoulder and elbow operations on 23rd February (unless it's cancelled again) you can borrow my Tamron 19-35mm lens if you want, as I wont have a need for it upto 3 months after the ops. Just pay for RMSD both ways.
 
anibap said:
I know it is a great lens and ticks most boxes like you said, but with no VR it may not work for indoor low light work where tripod is not allowed. Again, I can keep the 24-85 and 18-35 together, but will not solve my problem of shooting inside where VR is important and I need wider than 24mm.
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Seems like the thought process should be then:

If you can afford it - 16-35mm VR

If that's too expensive - 18-35mm
 
anibap said:
In search of a wide zoom that is preferably wider than the 24-85 for my D750 as I will be travelling to India in Mar,

First, let's state my needs so you guys can suggest better:
  • An all in one travel/landscape lens to shoot
    • landscape (with or without tripod)
    • low light street, churche interiors, building interiors where Tripod is not allowed or I am not bothered to carry one
    • VR/VC/OS is preferable
  • A zoom lens with wider than 24 mm focal length. Not so worried about loosing the long end as hardly shoot beyond 50 and I can take my 85 with me.
  • Not so expensive. I may trade or sell the 24-85 VR (will hurt to part with it) to part fund it.
I narrowed down my choices to the following lenses and need some opinions from people who have experience shooting with one or more of the following lenses
  1. Sigma 24-35 F2 - Not wider than 24-85, no OS, limited range and only advantage is faster Art lens. Also suffer from mixed reviews making it difficult to decide.
  2. Tamron 15-30 2.8 VC - Much wider, 2.8, sharp as a knife and reviews are great. Bit heavy, expensive and bulbous front element are the downsides.
  3. Nikon 18-35 G - Great optics and very light compared to others. Perfect for most landscape shooting needs on tripod, accepts filters and not so expensive. Bit slow for handheld low light work and no VR are downsides. I wish this lens had VR
  4. Nikon 16-35 F4 VR - Must admit, I never considered this lens, but realised it has VR that the 18-35 doesn't and constant apertures as well . Bit long and heavy and bit more expensive, but you get VR and constant aperture.
  5. Tokina 16-28 F2.8 - Another lens I never considered in my list for comparison. No VR, bulbous front element, relatively fast and some say Tokina glass is razor sharp.
  6. Anything else out there?
Appreciate if you guys can share your own opinions from experience or what would you do if you were in my shoes especially on the last two as I have never researched those lenses.
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There are a lot of bad copies of the Tokina around with decentering issues.

The 18-35G seems to get great reviews, I have a 16-35 it's okay but I don't use it much and tbh will probably move it on at some point, the Sigma I had terrible issues with.
 
Ed Sutton said:
:plus1:
The wider the angle of the lens the easier it is to hand hold without VR. ;)
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My hand holding skills are not great and at times you need to get to 1/4th sec in some churches where VR really helps.

Swanseajack said:
@anibap It's probably not to the standard of the lenses your looking at, but as I have my shoulder and elbow operations on 23rd February (unless it's cancelled again) you can borrow my Tamron 19-35mm lens if you want, as I wont have a need for it upto 3 months after the ops. Just pay for RMSD both ways.
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Many Thanks Simon. Really appreciate your offer and guys like you and many others here make this forums such a wonderful community, I had a chance to play with the Tamron 19-35, but didn't like it that much and without VR, it may not work. Thanks a lot for the offer anyway. You are a champ and wish you a good op and fast recovery so that we see those wonderful bird shots.

JYC said:
Seems like the thought process should be then:
If you can afford it - 16-35mm VR
If that's too expensive - 18-35mm
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I think you are close to what I am thinking now. The 16-35 F4 is like £789 new. If I buy the 18-35, I can keep my 24-85, but will only solve my landscape needs. Need to do some research on the 16-35 F4

T_J_G said:
what an offer @Swanseajack, respect to you!
@anibap with the good ISO capabilities of the D750 I think you're best with the 18-35.
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I guess it makes sense as I don't shoot commercially, it is all personal so bit of high ISO noise should be fine, but I know I will start thinking about VR again once I start seeing handheld blurry shots or too noisy shots.

f/2.8 said:
There are a lot of bad copies of the Tokina around with decentering issues.
The 18-35G seems to get great reviews, I have a 16-35 it's okay but I don't use it much and tbh will probably move it on at some point, the Sigma I had terrible issues with.
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What keeps you off from using the 16-35? Is it the focal length of IQ? I think you mentioned issues with Sigma few pages back.

Damn, these decisions are so hard with spending cap imposed. I have funds from selling the 70-200 F4, but now I am liking the Tamron 70-200 and if I keep it I have shell out for that.
 
Now, here's an alternative thought a photographer friend chatting online suggested, but comes with a compromise

Keep the 24-85 VR for general stuff and buy a 20 F1.8 G. The 20 F1.8 should give me 2 stops advantage over the min 3.5 on 24-85 and up to 3 stops and a third if shooting at 5.6. With that I should be able to handhold at 1/15 without VR instead of 1/4th with VR and have the same light or bit more compared to my 24-85 with VR.

Now the question is how's the corner sharpness of the 20 F1.8 wide open and will shallow dof become an issue over a distance in relation to shooting inside church? I know dof at wider end of fast lenses are not that shallow, but would like to hear from people who own this lens.

With this I have to swap the 24-85 when going indoors and shoot more wide and then swap back. The 20mm should be fine for most general landscape work I guess with a tripod. I have seen some nice shots by @Greggster using a tripod outside.

Any thoughts on this option? or I better think about the 18-35 or 16-35?
 
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Afternoon all, can anyone recommend a tether cable? Around 10-15ft. Also looking at the Tethertools website they have various jerk stoppers. Would you recommend these? I'll be using the cable in a small garage so not sure I'll need these.

Cheers all.
 
posiview said:
Afternoon all, can anyone recommend a tether cable? Around 10-15ft. Also looking at the Tethertools website they have various jerk stoppers. Would you recommend these? I'll be using the cable in a small garage so not sure I'll need these.

Cheers all.
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I don't use a tethered method, but strongly recommend jerk stoppers as it can save you from costs associated with damage to USB ports. While attending a couple of photo workshops in London, I saw two pro togs using those and both mentioned the usefulness and why they never shoot without one. They didn't say what brand they use (so not trying to sell anything). One of them had several damages on the Canon 5D Mark II where the USB port got damaged due to sudden tension and pull. If you shoot tethered, they should be in your shopping list. You can even make a simple DIY version.
 
anibap said:
Now, here's an alternative thought a photographer friend chatting online suggested, but comes with a compromise

Keep the 24-85 VR for general stuff and buy a 20 F1.8 G. The 20 F1.8 should give me 2 stops advantage over the min 3.5 on 24-85 and up to 3 stops and a third if shooting at 5.6. With that I should be able to handhold at 1/15 without VR instead of 1/4th with VR and have the same light or bit more compared to my 24-85 with VR.

Now the question is how's the corner sharpness of the 20 F1.8 wide open and will shallow dof become an issue over a distance in relation to shooting inside church? I know dof at wider end of fast lenses are not that shallow, but would like to hear from people who own this lens.

With this I have to swap the 24-85 when going indoors and shoot more wide and then swap back. The 20mm should be fine for most general landscape work I guess with a tripod. I have seen some nice shots by @Greggster using a tripod outside.

Any thoughts on this option? or I better think about the 18-35 or 16-35?
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By the sounds of it VR is important to you in which case the 16-35mm or 20mm f1.8 is probably your best option. In terms of optical performance I can highly recommend the 18-35mm though. In terms of DOF of the 20mm, at f1.8 hyperfocal distance is 7.5m giving a near field distance of 3.87m so not ideal as I'd want closer focus than that. Even if you focussed at 5m near field is still only 3m, and far distance is only 14.9m. Stop it down to f2.8 and near distance comes down to 2.47m with a hyperfocal of 4.73m

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
 
snerkler said:
By the sounds of it VR is important to you in which case the 16-35mm or 20mm f1.8 is probably your best option. In terms of optical performance I can highly recommend the 18-35mm though. In terms of DOF of the 20mm, at f1.8 hyperfocal distance is 7.5m giving a near field distance of 3.87m so not ideal as I'd want closer focus than that. Even if you focussed at 5m near field is still only 3m, and far distance is only 14.9m. Stop it down to f2.8 and near distance comes down to 2.47m with a hyperfocal of 4.73m

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
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Good points. So in real use, I may have to stop down the 20 1.8 to get a better DOF for church interiors and similar shots where a large distance is involved even if not outside and this takes away the wide aperture advantage.
 
anibap said:
I don't use a tethered method, but strongly recommend jerk stoppers as it can save you from costs associated with damage to USB ports. While attending a couple of photo workshops in London, I saw two pro togs using those and both mentioned the usefulness and why they never shoot without one. They didn't say what brand they use (so not trying to sell anything). One of them had several damages on the Canon 5D Mark II where the USB port got damaged due to sudden tension and pull. If you shoot tethered, they should be in your shopping list. You can even make a simple DIY version.
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Cheers, I've watched a few videos so will look to buy the cable and make the rest.
 
minnnt said:
Saturday is a good day to go. Not too busy, plenty of action and only costs a few quid.
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Saturdays are best for me. Doubt if I can do mid week unfortunately.
 
anibap said:
In search of a wide zoom that is preferably wider than the 24-85 for my D750 as I will be travelling to India in Mar,

First, let's state my needs so you guys can suggest better:
  • An all in one travel/landscape lens to shoot
    • landscape (with or without tripod)
    • low light street, churche interiors, building interiors where Tripod is not allowed or I am not bothered to carry one
    • VR/VC/OS is preferable
  • A zoom lens with wider than 24 mm focal length. Not so worried about loosing the long end as hardly shoot beyond 50 and I can take my 85 with me.
  • Not so expensive. I may trade or sell the 24-85 VR (will hurt to part with it) to part fund it.
I narrowed down my choices to the following lenses and need some opinions from people who have experience shooting with one or more of the following lenses
  1. Sigma 24-35 F2 - Not wider than 24-85, no OS, limited range and only advantage is faster Art lens. Also suffer from mixed reviews making it difficult to decide.
  2. Tamron 15-30 2.8 VC - Much wider, 2.8, sharp as a knife and reviews are great. Bit heavy, expensive and bulbous front element are the downsides.
  3. Nikon 18-35 G - Great optics and very light compared to others. Perfect for most landscape shooting needs on tripod, accepts filters and not so expensive. Bit slow for handheld low light work and no VR are downsides. I wish this lens had VR
  4. Nikon 16-35 F4 VR - Must admit, I never considered this lens, but realised it has VR that the 18-35 doesn't and constant apertures as well . Bit long and heavy and bit more expensive, but you get VR and constant aperture.
  5. Tokina 16-28 F2.8 - Another lens I never considered in my list for comparison. No VR, bulbous front element, relatively fast and some say Tokina glass is razor sharp.
  6. Anything else out there?
Appreciate if you guys can share your own opinions from experience or what would you do if you were in my shoes especially on the last two as I have never researched those lenses.
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The Tamron (from what I`ve read) is supposed to be a bit special. But can`t remember if it can take a normal filter. I think Lee do something, but silly money.
Tokina I looked into in depth, and the focus motor is plastic and doesn't last long, which is a shame. Again filter issues.
18-35 is well liked pretty much everywhere, as id the 16-35 (and both take filters.

My sigma 15-30 isn`t too bad, and will get more of a chance to use it in anger soon, but is prone to flare. Another one of those bulb elements.
For fun, there`s the sigma 12-24 :D
 
snerkler said:
Probably 3-4 hours for me too, but I have Dinnington 40 mins from me which is a better circuit anyway :p
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I didn't know there was anything at Dinnington, I work there!
 
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