NYjoe Loc: US/UK

Hi all....Well my old Canon 5d with 27-135 lens is back in its original box and ready for resale. Good bye old friend...it was fun. I've had my way with its Nikon d800e replacement on a trip to Northern England and Prague and thought I'd document the experience for anyone considering a similar upgrade. Ultimately, I got what I wanted. Much more detail, croppability (new word) and 24-36 inch sized print potential (which will require my purchase of a new Epson large format printer). Technically, the Nikon is no where near as easy to use as the old Canon....I'm at the beginning of a long learning curve...ie...couldn't figure out why the AF found its focus when the shutter was pushed half way down...then moved out of focus immediately before fully pushing the shutter. Only happened when focused on closer subjects. Since there are several more options for setting the AF it took me awhile to figure out which one would stop that annoying behavior and I wound up manually focusing many early shots. I fixed the setting but still not 100% sure what I did. I may have had the lens hood on cock-eyed which increased the vingnette on one corner of the frame and threw the AF off. Looks like I might need to learn some new things ....damnit all!! Anyway...here are some shots for those interested, and thanks to all who helped me make my final equipment choices.

Blackpool, England

(Download)

Blackpool, England

(Download)

Lytham St. Annes, England

(Download)

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Obviously enjoyed your new toy!

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

Yes...hopefully moreso with time and study.

Js

dbh

Very nice images :). My daily user is a D300s and I love it :).

ebrunner Loc: New Jersey Shore

Nice images. I was especially interested because I am considering the purchase of an 800. Thanks for posting.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Welcome to the Nikon clan! lol Looking at a D800 or 800e as well. Enjoy the ride!

C.R. Loc: United States of Confusion

some folks i know of leave the autofocus on the "always on" mode and choose 9 focal points. autofocus is then no longer controlled by the shutter release button. i think some d7100 users do the same

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

Thanks...I'll try that, CR

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

thanks, Allen...and nice model plane pics...but just a little bigger and you could fly yourself around. You'd always be in range of your controller!!

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

Thanks, ebrunner.

C.R. Loc: United States of Confusion

i've been interested in an 800e myself. how's the button learning curve, seems it has scads of buttons on both models

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

It's daunting. But I feel I'll eventually not have to use all of them...ie. I don't do studio or portrait work and I don't shoot video for any serious reasons. I do like the easy use of aperture and shutterspeed dials in manual mode. Auto ISO is ok too but there are setting limits. I feel as I get more familiar with the camera in general I may have a set of favorite ISO ranges for my most common shooting situations and will therefore not rely on auto ISO as much. There is a procedure for assigning custom functions to buttons that are not often used....but after reading about it I had to have a nap for fear that my head would explode. If you are serious about checking all these things out you can probably download an owners manual from somewhere.

C.R. Loc: United States of Confusion

i have a d610 and it has more stuff than i know what to do with, but sites such as this clue me in more and more. i especially like my two "user settings" menus i can make for special circumstances. i'd like the better AF funcionality of the 800 series i think

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

Yeah...and the Tamron lens seems up to the task also.. I'm able to do a 50% zoom and crop with great clarity and no ugly aberration....and that's hand held! lots of fun and lots to learn.

J

NYjoe Loc: US/UK

CR ...I didn't think to ask..but since those AF settings disable the shutter button as the main AF controller...how then is it activated?

J