Yes, it is so far the largest ship ever to enter SF Bay.

I shot these today about 4000 ft away and minutes before sunset.
Purpose of the shoot was to get a sense of the size of this ship. I originally thought I was only 1/2 mile away but when I checked a map of the area, the shipping lanes were almost 4/5 miles beyond where I made the shots.

Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, Oakland, CA.
Nikon D300s
Nikkor AF-S 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 G
Tripod

Photos were touched up with Nikon ViewNX

For details about the MSC Fabiola:
http://www.marinetraffic.co/ais/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=636092019

Mine got delivered yesterday and was a quick install on my Nikon D300s with KatzEye. I'm going right after work today to take shots of the MSC Fabiola leaving dock at Port of Oakland.

My Nikon D300s has an option to enable shooting w/o memory card(s). I used this option when I first bought my camera to test things out. It allowed shooting but did not keep image anywhere that I was aware of. Next day I bought a card.

MT Shooter you the man!!! That rubber band trick worked like a charm. BTW..seller drove all the way from Yuba City to meet me in Fairfield, California. Very nice guy. Thank you.

My username Silveragemarvel comes from my love for Marvel comic books that I collected in the 1960's (the Silver age). You can see the boxes of comics in the background of my "avatar". It is what will be engraved on my tombstone. Thank you.

I just picked up a used Nikkor micro 105mm f2.8D via Craigslist. It is near perfect except for a stuck filter ring. The filter was shattered and all that is left is the outer metal frame-ring. It does not seem to be bent in anyway and I can screw another filter over it. I can remove the metal "barrel" part of the lens that the filter ring is attached to so it can be manipulated without the vital components attached. I tried clamping the ring with channel locks and twisting by hand but it will not budge. I don't want to deform the thing and ruin the "barrel". Any ideas on how to get this sucker off? Thank you.

Hi Erv,

I am thinking of shooting bugs (and flowers) and obviously want the sharpest photos I can get. I believe I saw those snow flake pictures but you can send them and anything else you feel appropriate (to silveragemarvel1@gmail.com). I "grew up" with the old 55mm f3.5 pc nikkor on a Nikon F, so getting close-ups are always on my agenda. Thank you.

Hello Erv,
I bought the Nikon 28-300mm a few months ago for my D300s mainly for the longer telephoto than the 18-200mm. Also, there were many positive reviews. I saw the close-up photo of the cropped penny in another topic and it made me start to second guess my need for a macro lens like the older Nikkor 105mm AF-D. What are your thoughts for close-ups between the 18-300 and the 105? Thank you.

Check out this url:

http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/

Oops, I see someone had already provided this link.

I got my off ebay for $100 earlier this year and no rattle.

Thanks for all the replies. The SB400 does not tilt and the other Nikons are a bit beyond my budget for now. I am considering a Nissin Di622.

I surfed around and found some good info on flashes. Is the '285' a Nissin model?

I don't do a whole lot of indoor photog but found out the built-in pop-up is pretty much useless. I don't want to spend a whole lot of money for the Nikon speedlites with swivel heads. What are some alternatives (Nissin, Metz, Vivitar)? Thank you.

Purchased a Nikon D300s earlier this year for photomicrography but now want to expand to general photog. Hope to learn as much about dslr photography as possible. I'm an old timer who started with Nikon F.