advice on D cameras

[Loose rivets]

just found this on the net while looking for a camera. He has the relaxed style of a writer dictating from horseback.

He puts a lot of work into his writing, however i do not know enough about the subject to judge it's worth.



http://www.kenrockwell.com

the example i was looking at

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm

[Conan the Librarian]

Ken Rockwell is a respected and God like figure according to many at DP Review, which itself, is maybe the best place to be if you want to know anything about anything, when it comes to digital. Go and have a shuftie - you won't regret it...

http://www.dpreview.com/


Conan

[oldfella]

Have a look here for really in-depth reviews.

http://www.dpreview.com/

A bit technical for me but just keep going through the pages.

[Dee747]

Rivets,

Bought a Nikon D70 with a Nikon 28-200 zoom a year ago (adding another Nikon 70-300 zoom in February) and am delighted with the results. Simply superb. If you'd like to see some of my humble efforts, please send me your email address and I'll forward samples I reckon prove the worth of the camera.

As a Canon SLR user for over 25 years I resisted changing to another brand for a long time. Now was the right time and I wouldn't turn the clock back again.

Go for it !!

Dee747

[Conan the Librarian]

Dee, for G's sake avoid the 70-300 Nikkor G lens. Cheap and nasty in my exp and above 150mm, useless. No contrast, saturation, sharpness, speed etc. etc. A very woolly piece of kit. Mine was a dreadful mistake and sits unused in a box. If weight isn't too much of an issue and if longer lengths are needed, lookat a 50-500 Sigma. On the D70, it is heaven. If you have to bolt a Nikon 70- 300 on the end, the D version is far better, though still only average.


Conan

[Titan Driver]

If Nikon is your choice then may I suggest looking at the new D200.

[jimgriff]

I just bought a Canon EOS 350D and a Sigma 70-300 lens to go with it and it is the canines cahoonies IMHO:ok:

[Loose rivets]

Dee747 thanks have sent you my e-address

Quite an interesting topic, and i wondered if i could spend more on a camera by not buying a scanner.

I am still wondering if the best way to 'scan' slides is to photograph them off a good screen. the pro scanners are out of my price range and the flatbeds don't seem worth the effort.

when i did my old 8mm film, they were displayed on a screen made of two sheets of optical glass and some grease/wax in between.

It is quite a cheap way of dooing it, and of course very fast............if it works for slides.

[Loose rivets]

Thank's for all replies, but all my attempts to send PMs and my e address to Conan and Dee seem to fail...inasmuch as I show no outgoings in the last five days. R

[hobie]

A question for all you camera Buffs ...... If I took a photo of an aircraft at 30,000 feet (from the ground) with a decent zoom lens, what quality of photo would I get? .... what zoom power would I need to get anything decent?

cheers .... :ok:

[Conan the Librarian]

Not wonderful because of the haze, but is this the sort of thing you were asking about? About 400 mm (equivalent 600mm focal length from a digital SLR with the crop factor) and then cropped. Not good quality at all, but you get an idea of what can be on tap.

Rivets, I got your PM and answered very early this morning, so if you haven't seen a reply yet, then shout up on this thread

Conan

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y192/zorbathegeek/sundries/DSC_0094.jpg

[hobie]

Looks good Conan .... many thanks :ok:

(that is a C17?)

[Conan the Librarian]

It is indeed - unless it is an optical Ilyushin...


Conan

[Kestrel_909]

Genius Conan, very good :E

[Dee747]

Rivets,

No sign of any PMs yet. I'll try getting to you.

Dee747

[Conan the Librarian]

Merci! I had the 124 fly past the lounge window yesterday, but the 225 is something else.

As an aside, the funniest thing I have seen in a long time happened at Brize, where traffic lights are across the 26 threshold. I pulled up as no 1. The 124 has, due to Russian engine technology, to stabilise power for a while before departure, which caught a cyclist who decided to cross the lights, being used to other large traffic. He was instantly transported into the ditch by the field on the East side...


Happy days,


Conan

[Irish Steve]

The 124 has, due to Russian engine technology, to stabilise power for a while before departure

That's the polite version:E

The way it was put to me one wet cold morning at Shannon a few years ago was that they spent that long at the holding point making sure that each engine was working well enough to produce enough power to ensure that the beast was going to unstick before the end of the runway:O

Based on subsequent observation, that could be true.

After using more fuel for the pre take off check than a 737 would have used getting to Dublin, the exchange over the radio went something like:

ATC call, "xxx clear take off, call passing through 1500 Ft."

XXX, "clear take off, call passing through 1500 Ft."

It duly lumbered down the runway and into the air, leaving a huge mist cloud hanging over the runway, and it used what appeared to be an indordinate amount of runway before it eventually rotated, and it dissapeared into the murk very shortly afterwards.

A good while later, I thought, "Ahh, he's forgotten the 1500 Ft call", but stayed on channel for a while longer.

Eventually, the call "xxx passing 1500 Ft" came over the radio, and he was then passed over to the next controller.

It had taken 7 MINUTES for the thing to get to 1500 Ft, which makes the suspicion of marginal power more than a little likely!

The other task that's "interesting" is trying to push one off stand in the cargo area at Dublin. It's slightly uphill, but what makes it almost impossible is that it also requires a sharp turn, which with the geometry of the wheels and the number of them is not easy.

The push back bar on it's own is over 2 tonnes, and has to be loaded back into the aircraft after it's been pushed, there's no way they are leaving that bar on station, it's too darn big and expensive to have one at every possible stopping point, so they have a bar handling system to get it on board after the push and before all the engines are started.

One one occasion, it was going out loaded, and the Servisair tug (their largest) that tried to push it back failed miserably, so Aer Rianta sent out an urgent call for assistance, and FLS had to come over with one of their twin engine monsters to get it off stand and into a position where it was safe to allow it to start engines, as where it stopped in the push was blocking access to all the C pier stands, and to most of the stands in the 40's & 50's, which did not greatly impress ATC. :O