Figuring out a new camera

[Deleted User]

Here's some recent photos I took with a new camera. Enjoy.

mhardy6647

Looks like you've got it figured out to me.

[Deleted User]

Thanks, Mark.

daddyjt

Nice shallow depth of field - what are you shooting? DSLR?

[Deleted User]

Yes, I've actually had the lens for several years, Nikon AF Micro 60mm 2.8 and used it on a Nikon FM3A and wanted to try a digital body. I narrowed the choices down to the D7500 and D750 from Nikon and settled on the D750. I've used my wife's Nikon Coolpix and had a basic idea of how they work. Lots more to learn.

mhardy6647

That's a nice lens -- probably the single lens my son (who, as you may recall, has a thing for optics akin to my thing for hifi junk) uses the most doing digital photography. I -- ahem -- think it's the same lens, at any rate. Certainly a close relative.

Whoops, not the selfsame... close, though

https://icouldbeahero.blogspot.com/2018/01/nikon-af-s-micro-nikkor-60mm-f28-g-ed.html




Tonnes of fun to be had with a DSLR -- even though they seem to be dying out as a popular camera design.

daddyjt

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Yes, I've actually had the lens for several years, Nikon AF Micro 60mm 2.8 and used it on a Nikon FM3A and wanted to try a digital body. I narrowed the choices down to the D7500 and D750 from Nikon and settled on the D750. I've used my wife's Nikon Coolpix and had a basic idea of how they work. Lots more to learn.

Nice indeed. I’m a Canon guy myself, and my “indoor people” lens is the 50mm F1.4. Too many people avoid the fixed focal length lenses, IMO. As the old saying goes, zoom with your feet....

skrol

I have a D300 and have my eye on the D750 as a full frame upgrade. Very nice camera. Recently I picked up an old Nikon FE in very nice shape. It just needed new seals. I found that going back to film and the simplicity of the nearly all manual camera very refreshing. But the digital is still fantastic.

joecoulson

I had that lens years ago. Nice glass.

My fav lens from Nikon was the 85 f1.4
Stunning glass.

These days I just have the one full range 18-300 Nikkor. Left the pro stuff in my rear view when I stopped using it for work.

Still prefer the brand over Canon but all things being equal, they really are neck and neck.

joecoulson

Btw, nice pics Ken.

daddyjt

joecoulson wrote: »

...Still prefer the brand over Canon but all things being equal, they really are neck and neck.

One of the first things my mentor told me when I started - pick between Canon and Nikon. He said there was no real downside to either, but Nikon tended to enjoy more popularity with photographers that shoot people, and Canon was more popular with landscape photographers. I went Canon because that’s what he shot, and I’ve never had a regret.

One thing is for sure, once you choose, it’s really expensive to change down the road...;-)

joecoulson

That’s for sure. I actually started my career on Canon and then switched. That was pricey, even for a budding amateur in the early 90’s.
But when Nikon came out the the N8008, I just had to switch camps.

[Deleted User]

A long time ago I used to sell camera equipment as well as stereo gear. The store carried everything from Lica to Polaroid, including Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta and even the Minox B spy cameras. There was one salesman named Joe who was always the top salesman with a big customer base. He would demonstrate the durability of Nikon's lens coating by putting out a lit cigarette on the front of a Nikon 50mm lens. At that time I used a Pentax Spotmatic that I brought back from overseas and was partial to that line. Just to challenge Joe I would try and sell as much Cannon gear as I could. Maybe I should have taken up smoking?
I've always noted that the appreciation of good photographic equipment and the enjoyment of good audio gear often go together.

joecoulson

That last statement is the story of my life. It transcends to watches, guns, cars, sports etc. I think that most of us “audiophiles” are into the gear as much as the music.

pitdogg2

Does Binford make cameras

joecoulson

[Deleted User]

Here's some more shots:

mhardy6647

aww, man... I wish Santy Clause would leave a Stellavox under our tree this holiday!

joecoulson

A Leica is still on my bucket list. Just can’t stomach the $10k+ for a setup.
Of course, I didn’t think I could stomach some of the audio purchases too. Lol.

ken brydson

halo

Those images look spectacular Ken! Congrats on the new camera

[Deleted User]

Thanks, Halo! I'm learning more about all the settings and how to get the photos onto my laptop.
The Stellavox is an amazing machine, everything inside is encapsulated in plug-in modules for easy field servicing. Last year I had to send it away for servicing to Switzerland, it developed a noise in the supply reel. I had replaced the input selector and take up platter years before, but I was out of my depth with this problem. Came back in perfect shape, works like a champ.

mhardy6647

KennethSwauger wrote: »

Thanks, Halo! I'm learning more about all the settings and how to get the photos onto my laptop.
The Stellavox is an amazing machine, everything inside is encapsulated in plug-in modules for easy field servicing. Last year I had to send it away for servicing to Switzerland, it developed a noise in the supply reel. I had replaced the input selector and take up platter years before, but I was out of my depth with this problem. Came back in perfect shape, works like a champ.

Speaking of Stellavoxes: I'm pretty sure I've asked you this before (although I am too lazy to check! ) -- you, presumably, do know Charles King, don't you?

[Deleted User]

Yes, in fact I bought my SP7 from him several years ago and I use his excellent 2 track tape list any time I'm thinking about bidding on a tape. He's garnered a great deal of respect for his King/Cello tape playback electronics.

mhardy6647

He's (reasonably) local to us and we see him often at vacuum tube hifi/analog shindigs in Northern New England. He reanimated my half-track, high speed A77 some years back. He is a wonderful fellow -- and I have run into some of his hardware in the field




I hang out with a bad crowd sometimes

[Deleted User]

He's a contributor to the "Whats Best Forum" and has modified one of his tape playback units by adding VU meters.
Just as audiophiles began adding outboard phono preamps to "regular" preamps sometime in the late '70's tape buffs now add outboard tape playback electronics to their favorite tape transports. The numbers of available units are slowly increasing with more designers becoming interested in this area. Another interesting aspect is finding some of the older classic audio gear that had builtin tape head playback circuits. I tried my Fisher 500C with a transport and it sounded great. The playback circuitry for phono stages and tape head is really very similar and usually involves changing the playback EQ parameters.
It's highly likely that, in the future, high end preamps will begin having RIAA, NAB and IEC playback capability. I've also tried the Knight KP-70 tape playback with fine success (I couldn't stand the original kit builder's horrible soldering so I stripped it back to bare chassis and have yet to put it back together). Anyone who is interested in the mechanical side of audio would find magnetic tape a worthwhile branch of the audio bush.

TEAforONE

Very nice! Makes me even more embarrassed to post pics using my iPhone. The only camera I own. Someday it would be nice to have something capable of REAL pics.

mhardy6647

yeah... tape...

[Deleted User]

mhardy6647

^^^^ ooooooooooooh.

I've got, like, The New Christy Minstrels and Babs Streisand and Ray Conniff on my tape shelves. Stuff like that.