Wildlife Photography across the Water: 600f4 vr lenshood

Friday, 24 July 2009

Lens hood and Lens Coat

I received a package from Nikon yesterday and apart from 2 small screws that are back ordered i had all the parts to put the lens hood for my 600VR together, Not a difficult job but very fiddly,The last time i said that they had sent the worlds smallest screws well i was wrong as 2 screws 1/2 the size came yesterday,anyways although i am 2 screws short its still usable, The only problem is that when the hood went flying over the mountain side it had a lens coat on it,Now the lens coat kit for this lens is in about 6 pieces-i only need 1 piece so i contacted lens coat yesterday and explained the situation expecting a 'sorry but we only sell full kits' but the nice people there responded quickly and said that they would in this instance make a custom piece for me, Great customer service from a company making a great product, The lens coats look and feel great-fit well and will over time pay for themselves by protecting your investment, Their range is for ever growing so check out their website here

Dave

Saturday, 11 July 2009

Nikon 600F4 VR Lenshood

As i mentioned a few weeks ago when shooting in Colorado at 14000 feet i lost the end section (its in 2 pcs) of my 600,s lens hood, After numerous phone calls to Nikon's not too friendly parts department in California i was told that if i want just the end piece i will need to buy it in kit form otherwise pay $800 for both pieces fully made up and ready to go.Well i only need one piece but cant understand why i have to put it together myself,surely there is a person in japan who's job that is, Anyway for $349 i have the pleasure in doing it myself, I was told that not all the parts are in so that they would send what they had, So last week a small package arrived and inside was-see below

11 pieces out of the 17 needed to make the whole lens hood,One of the packets in the above image has 2 of the worlds smallest screws

This looks like its going to be fun to put together-NOT
I think i have found the chink in Nikon's Armour here in the spare parts, I understand that replacing 1 part of a 2 part lens hood is a rarity but come on at least for that kind of money have it in one piece
I now wait for the rest of the parts and hope it wont be long but i wont hold my breathe-To be continued

Dave

Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.