Wildlife Photography across the Water: nikon 16-35

Thursday, 25 March 2010

Nikon 16-35 F4 VR second impressions

Yesterday was a beautiful day here in NC so i decided to pop out and go down to the local lake for an hour and give the new lens a work out, The lake is one of the few here where you see people feeding the ducks and geese so they are very used to people and approachable, There is a section of board-walk where the ducks will fly onto and beg for food so this the area i had in mind, I took some bread down and threw some in, They seemed reluctant to fly up so i stood talking to local photographer John whom i had met there before, A couple of mum,s arrived and fed the ducks with their toddlers and then a female mallard flew up followed by a male, I had my D3 set at AV and F10 so put the camera on the handrail and put some bread in front of it, The birds wanted the bread but didn't want to get that close to the lens but after some coaxing they came close enough-not at 16mm but in the 20's and 30's-good enough, Obviously you cant look through the viewfinder but let the DOF look after itself, I don't like images with food in but this was just a test for the lens rather than anything commercial, I think the lens did OK its certainly sharp at those settings and the nano crystal coating gives a nice contrasty image, The images have very little processing, just a touch of curves and sat and that's about it

Original content posted at http://wildlifeacrossthewater.blogspot.com

Dave

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Nikon Announce news Lenses

This will make alot of Nikon users very happy, Have you noticed on forums that Canon guys look at Nikon with envy for high ISO and Nikon guys look at Canon guys with envy for MP, Well Nikon guys also look at Canon with Envy over some lenses,Namely some primes and Canons F4 range, So here are a couple of Nikons most wanted

The 16-35 F4 and 24 F1.4

I am sure the 16-35 will be a big hit especially with the FF guys and i will be very interested how well it does against the 14-24, The 16-35 has VR and will take filters which the 14-24 cant so will be more versatile

The PMA is soon as there are many rumours of a new body (D900)-not long now before we find out

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.