Brett Colvin
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Man, I am not gonna lie: I want one.
I’m with you Zach, the DF turned out to be almost exactly what I had hoped for. I would not have been mad if Nikon had used their 51-point AF array, but this is still their smallest FX body and should be an excellent professional tool for many applications.
Given the physical knobs for various controls, I am also hoping that a relatively inexpensive UW housing ends up being offered for the DF. If that happens I will own one in very short order.
Overall, the D4’s sensor has really impressed me in every way from resolution to color rendition:
Having access to the large form factor’s electronics in a smaller package is very cool stuff.
Tim – that is extremely frustrating, I hope you were able to salvage some images as these fish look amazing.
It has been years since I shot on Canon, but battery and lens contacts can sometimes cause mechanical/electrical error codes. Before sending it off to a service center, you may want to make sure the contacts are clean on your lenses and mount, and eyeball the battery contacts as well to ensure everything is sound.
I had a few of these issues on earlier Canon bodies, and had a similar problem one time with a Nikon D200 when the battery contacts got dirty.
Best of luck. If everything looks pristine, Canon is good about getting your gear back to you pretty quickly. If you need a body in the meantime, you can consider renting.
They have my interest !
Mine as well man!
I would personally prefer a 16MP sensor and hope this offering is in that ballpark. I love the pixel size and resolution on my D4, it’s optimal in terms of the balance between resolution and RAW file size. If this has the D4’s sensor…SOLD.
Brett, that’s a very cool photo – took me a minute to realize It’s shot bottom up.
Thanks David – that was an interesting shot to get in the current.
Yeah it’s quite the oddity. The horn underneath the sheath is like a bone spike:
Zach – very interesting backstory. The Pronghorn overall is a fascinating animal simply because they seem so different in certain ways from other regional big game. The black on the horns, for example, is actually a fibrous sheath that is shed annually, revealing the much whiter and bony horn itself underneath. The sheaths are odd, and almost hair-like. You don’t find them very often as you would shed antlers, because they deteriorate quickly and are consumed by rodents etc.
During the rut they are quite vocal too, producing all manner of grunts and at times almost bird-like calls.
Ed – thanks for the comment buddy. I see your Redskins eked out a win over Oakland. If you happen to see RGIII around, tell him that he’s really been a disappointment to my fantasy team this year. 🙂
Very cool Brett! Outstanding images, as always.
Very much appreciated Tim. Pronghorn bucks are amazing to watch at this time of year. It’s hard to believe how much energy they expend racing around at full tilt. It seems as though they are either herding females or charging interlopers almost the entire time.
I know those pronghorn can be skittish….either your stalking ability is top notch….or you have a hefty telephoto lens….or a combination of both.
Thank you Steve! My stalking abilities probably leave quite a bit to be desired – what you don’t see is the various failed attempts that end up with a buck showing me his unmentionables through a comet-like dust trail. 🙂
In the case of one of these bucks, we spotted him with a pair of does from the East. It was evening, so the light was from the West which meant we had to figure out a way to get around him and approach from the other side. After making a rather long, semi-circular stalk downwind we were excited to end up in an ideal position between the ladies and a rival satellite buck.
These images were captured from a distance of 15-25 yards. The last shot is uncropped from 15 paces and is all I could fit in the frame. Due to the fluid nature of the stalk and the low profile we had to maintain in the sparse cover, I’m hand-holding a 400mm f/2.8 with no support or release aid. If I’m honest it’s quite tiresome supporting a 13lb rig and it takes some practice, but I very seldom get the chance to use a tripod in a spot & stalk scenario.
I will also be watching this product line with interest Gerard. The lack of an “ideal” solution to UW photography has really steamed my olives for years. Back when I was teaching SCUBA diving, I played around with SLR housings a fair amount. In terms of a piece of gear to haul around fishing they are a huge hassle and expense.
There are some capable P&S bodies out there with inexpensive housings. I’ve shot with a few large aperture models like the Canon S90 and S95 in a housing. You can get some fun results:
That fly is drifting by on the surface of the river and shot while I was submerged.
Most of the rugged/waterproof P&S have small, variable apertures and aren’t outstanding either.
I’ve seen 3 primary challenges from the non-SLR camp:
1) Autofocus systems that leave a lot to be desired
2) Insufficient frame rate
3) Very slow flash cycle times and inability to use off-camera strobesI’ll be watching the AW1 with interest because:
1) The hybrid AF system in the Nikon 1 bodies I’ve played with is pretty good
2) 5 frames per second
3) One of the available lenses is a 10mm f/2.8 pancake
4) A waterproof, off-camera strobe specifically for the AW1 is launching this SpringI appreciate the needs of a true professional to be efficient. In my case I am more trying to fully understand this than anything else;
I think you are completely taking the right approach. There are myriad products out there, and I learned my needs by going the DIY route. As the demands on my time increased and I wanted a more cohesive system, I knew exactly what to buy because I knew what my needs were.
The commercial stuff pays for itself but only at the stage where you can recover the costs and get a return. Your setup looks a lot more well thought-out and versatile than my early attempts.
It’s a fun journey because of the learning process. You’ll get something like fly reels figured out, and then one day you’ll get asked to shoot waders, or vests, or packs. Then it’s, “Damn I need to triple the size of my sweep and get a boom in here…
Oh, and reflection management with shiny things really and truly steamed my olives for a time. I probably could have been diagnosed with a form of studio-specific Tourette’s Syndrome during my initial forays into polished surfaces.
Looking forward to seeing your finished setup and results Zach.
Jay – that shoot you did with Kamilla outdoors on the water is a favorite (2nd image). Taking the gear into the field whether it’s for product or portraiture and balancing ambient light is yet another adventure.
Nice job man I’m sure those will do the deed. For a number of years I shot catalog stuff with cardboard frames and vellum paper as diffusion material. All you need to do is effectively make the light source big and soft for the types of images that have recently been discussed.
Eventually I went to a commercial solution – not because it affected light quality but mostly for versatility and time savings so I could get work done instead of fabricating modifiers as needed. As one example, it’s super handy to be able to slap a grid onto a soft box or switch to a snoot in just a few seconds because the modifiers all use the same attachment system. Kind of the same deal with barn doors and so forth.
All of it can be done DIY and you can’t tell the difference in the imagery. The value add is really speed with the associated time savings which can then be converted to higher productivity in the studio.
In this recent example, I was using a gridded softbox camera right and a snoot with barn doors and supplemental flags camera left to manage reflections in the sapphire crystal watch face. Setups like that used to take me forever to fiddle around with and get right where now it’s just plug and play.
Thanks JB, I appreciate it.
Very cool lighting in that sunfish shot – really brings out the gill plate and makes you feel like you’re right there in the school.
There’s a shload of eye candy in this post. Good stuff gents. Here are a few recent shots I posted in the FF thread from a high country trip. This location features some fish with amazing markings and color.
<div class=”d4p-bbp-quote-title”>John Bennett wrote:</div>
Sitka. Actually it was Brett (thanks Brett) that convinced me to start using their product. I have now pretty much replaced every article of outdoor gear I owned.Nice spread JB – I like the frosty look to the BW crossbow shot. Oh, and yes I have been known to make wallet-depleting recommendations from time to time. Sitka’s waterfowl stuff is great as well.
This should be a fun thread. Stuff that is always in my bag:
● Pocket Wizard Plus X Triggers.
● Minimum of 1 Nikon Speedlight, SB800 probably still my favorite.
● Singh Ray LB Warming Polarizer.
● I take at least 1 modifier everywhere. Lastolite Ezybox is the default.
● Pelican
● Tripods come with me less and less, but my RRS BH-55 is invaluable for macro and studio work.
● BlackRapid strap with RRS B2-FAB-F quick release clamp
● RRS base plates are permanent fixtures on all my camera bodies.
● Huge fan of Sanyo Eneloop batteries and their long-lasting charge. I always have a dozen for strobes/grips.
● A clean microfiber towel. Love these. I use the Zwipes brand and buy them on Amazon.There are definitely some good ideas in this thread – interesting to see how different guys go about it.
One final note: As I alluded to, all of the solutions I’ve mentioned only get put to use when I’m pretty sure feces are going to hit the oscillator.
Like Zach says, accessibility is a major concern when you use a camera often. Almost all the time, my gear these days is either in easy-access packs which are not waterproof, or flat out naked on a sling.
Similar to what Zach is doing, I use a Black Rapid strap with RRS quick release:
http://www.blog.reallyrightstuff.com/qr-straps/
I went this route because all of my bodies already have RRS plates. Works great, never had any kind of separation issue in 10+ years.
Over time I have simply decided to insure my gear and do my best to keep it safe as opposed to dancing the Light Fantastic over on the riverbank and peeling back 7 layers of hydro-security every time I need to grab a shot.
You can get a good insurance policy for all your major items at significantly less cost than most of these packs.
Still, I do resort to these more protected methods once in a while and am glad I have the option when needed.
Mike: My DryZone has been fine in terms of durability but the point I want to underscore is this:
Based on the price of $300, I’m just not very satisfied with any waterproof pack system I have tried. When I drop 3 of the best on a product, I hope to get a lot of enjoyment out of it. Nothing I have tried delivers, which jives with what David is saying about this market segment being a real tick on the scrotum of fishing photography.
I have looked at a lot of options over the years, and I think my next play will be a dedicated photography pack that just nails my use case. It will probably be one of fStop’s Mountain series packs:
http://www.fstopgear.com/product/mountain
Several of my associates use these, and they are functionally weatherproof but not waterproof. I would keep a dry bag in the pack, and use that for situations of high risk.
Waterproofing a pack causes all sorts of ergonomic and accessibility challenges. You lose great fitting shoulder and waist straps, well-designed padding, and intelligent gear access. If you are dead set on a waterproof backpack, just understand the compromises and be prepared to not love your choice.
IMO you’ll be more satisfied picking a pack that exactly fits the bill in all areas but waterproofing, and then dry-bagging it in scenarios when you might go in the drink.
How often does this scenario crop up for you, Mike?
The least expensive solution is to take whatever camera bag you already have and drop it into a dry bag with backpack straps. The SealLine Boundary Dry Pack is a good one, available on Amazon.
If you are looking for a waterproof pack dedicated to camera gear, you might as well get one that is ready to roll without mods. I use a LowePro DryZone, and they cost about what the Stormfront does but you get padding and re-configurable compartments all built-in.
None of these options are really great backpacks, they are all basically compromises. If I am going to be hitting the trail for any type of hike other than casual, my strong preference is simply a good backpack (Arcteryx, Gregory, Osprey, etc.). All of these keep the weather out quite well. For added piece of mind, sometimes I will stick the camera gear in a dry bag inside the main pack.
