My Review

Originally submitted at Adorama

Solid Lens with Sharp Results

By Chris Biele from Oroville, WA on 6/22/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Works In 'A' Mode, Smooth Operation, Solid build, Tweak That Focal Plane

Cons: Loose Lock Knobs

Best Uses: Product shots, Food photography, Creative Portraiture

I bought this lens, against all logic and reason, to use as a creative portrait lens. Some may have chosen the 85mm, but I prefer the 45mm as it's closer to 50mm, my favorite length for capturing environmental portraits.

With the price of this lens being so high, I figure I'll have to do about 20 portrait sessions before I can even think about making any profit from it, but at least I'll learn a lot!

By skewing your focal plane you can completely change how the viewer sees your subject. People can be made to look miniature in their surroundings or you can focus the viewer's attention to one particular area of the the frame by making it the only area in focus.

The build quality of this lens is superb with a smooth aperture ring and a buttery smooth focus ring. That said, however, the lock knobs on the opposite sides of the tilt and shift knobs feel slightly loose and they don't do a good job of locking the lens in place.

Overall great quality and I'm looking forward to some great portrait and food sessions.

Tilted portrait w/ fp angled across face

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)

My Review of Nikon D300S DX Digital D-SLR Camera, 12.3 Megapixel, Interchangeable Lens, Nikon U.S.A. Limited Warranty

Originally submitted at Adorama

Nikon D300S DX Digital D-SLR Camera, 12.3 Megapixel, Interchangeable Lens, Nikon U.S.A. Limited Warranty

Nikon D300S DX Digital D-SLR Camera, 12.3 Megapixel, Interchangeable Lens, Nikon U.S.A. Limited Warranty

Great camera with loads of features

By Chris Biele from Oroville, WA on 6/22/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Fast / Accurate Auto-Focus, Solid Build, Fast Shutter Speed, Easy To Use, High ISO Performance, Large Clear LCD, Good Image Quality, Highly Configurable, Quiet

Cons: No Manual Movie Mode, No One Hand ISO Adjust

Best Uses: Indoors/Low Light, Sports/Action, Weddings/Events

Describe Yourself: Semi-pro Photographer

I recently upgraded my camera from the Pentax K10d to this Nikon D300s and I am just as happy as I thought I would be. The Pentax had many pro features, but the Nikon feels and reacts more like a pro body.

Above all, I am extremely happy with the overall feel and speed of the D300s. I have only found a few situations in low light where the focusing struggled, but by changing the focussing mode from spot to dynamic I cured that problem. I love the dynamic 3D tracking. Another great feature is the three programmable buttons, although it would be nice to be able to adjust ISO by holding a button and turning a dial. I could do this with the Pentax and find it very difficult to press the Nikon's ISO button with my left hand without taking my eye from the viewfinder.

The LCD display is large and clear and the menus are logical and easy to read. The Info button really helps as well while finding your way around each menu item. I really recommend setting one of your function buttons to My Menu as well, as this will bring up the first item in your My Menu. My first item is the ISO menu for manually adjusting ISO and activating or deactivating auto ISO.

The LiveView and Movie features are not as good as I thought they would be. LiveView is good for holding the camera over your head to compose shots and for zooming in to manual focus, but you loose the image while using auto focus. I thought I could get around this by putting the camera in tripod mode for Contrast Detect AF, but I found they call it "tripod" mode for a reason, since it won't focus to save your life unless it's on a tripod.

The Movie feature is disappointing because there is no way to manually adjust your exposure while recording. Trying to record a subject with a very bright background resulted in an underexposed image. I hope this will be changed in a firmware upgrade.

Overall, extremely happy and really looking forward to working with this camera.

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)