I am looking to purchase the Sunwayfoto GH-PRO II 3-Way geared tripod head. In the specs it mentions the max load of the tripod head is 4kg or 8.8 lbs. It seems that many of the smaller ball heads on the market have a max load bordering on 20 lbs. with the larger ball heads doubling or tripling this load.
I would like to know if anyone has experience with or knowledge of the GH-PRO II and if it is sturdy enough to support a DSLR mounted with a Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens. All the reviews and videos I have viewed show the GH-PRO II geared head mounted with a DSLR and a standard lens. The information I am interested in is whether the GH-PRO II can support the Tamron zoom lens, especially in its extended position. Thanks in advance for your help with this!

It is a curse! I have visited the ER several times with chest discomfort since my bypass surgery but each time the results were other causes. There are so many different issues that are not heart or arterial related which cause chest pains. I have been told numerous times by the doctors that not all heart attacks display the classic "crushing chest pains", "pain in the jaw", "pain shooting down the left arm", etc... So, almost every time, but not always, I get a discomfort in my chest, it is off to the ER. Thank God for insurance. With my most recent visit I was billed over $33,000 but will have to pay only a small percentage of that.

Back in 2020 after lugging around 20 lbs. of camera equipment I was a little out of breath but didn't think much of it. A week or so later, on a Tuesday, I was walking around in a big-box store and my breathing was more labored than usual with no other alarming symptoms. Due to family history and bad genetics I decided to go to the ER. After all the heart and artery related test, I went into surgery thinking all that was necessary was to get a stent since my symptoms were so minor. Lo and behold, after several hours and six bypasses later (most the cardiothoracic surgeon had ever done) I woke up in the cardio intensive care unit. Case in point, don't ignore symptoms, no matter how minor they may seem.

DO NOT forget a proper solar filter. Otherwise, you will ruin your sensor.

When I created my original post, I mistakenly said lens rather than lens hood. The filter was constructed so it can easily be added to and removed from the lens hood.

This is in response to the gentleman from Illinois regarding the upcoming Solar Eclipse next Spring and not wanting to spend a fortune on a Solar Filter.
Being in the same boat for the recent Annular eclipse this past October, I created my own filter for my Tamron 600mm zoom lens. I purchased a 6"x6" solar filter sheet on Amazon from Thousand Oaks Optical for about $10. In addition to the filter sheet I purchased some plexiglass from Home Depot for a few bucks and cut to the match the diameter of my lens. I then cut some 3/8" foam core into a 3" wide strip and length to match the diameter of the lens (in this case 95mm). I backed this strip up with some duct tape and sliced it width wise at 1/4" spacing. I then pressed the plexiglass edge into the foam core 1/2" from the edge to form a groove and seat the plexiglass. Once done I shaped it around my lens and taped the ends together for a snug fit, just tight enough to slip on and off without it being too loose. In the end it costs less than $20 and works great. The photo of the sun was a hand held test photo. Tripod mounted would have made it more in focus and sharper.
Unfortunately, the day of the eclipse was a washout with heavy clouds and rain so I was unable to get a once-in-a-lifetime photo. That said, I might make it to Texas for the Spring '24 eclipse.
I had some wrinkling of the film when I first built the filter because I had cut the film diameter to match the plexiglass diameter. I had to disassemble everything, cut the diameter of the film slightly smaller than the diameter of the plexiglass and reassemble the filter.

Benefit/drawback of setting a DX crop factor on a Nikon FX camera versus a 1.4 Teleconverter versus cropping in PP.

I am looking to move from a 3-way pan/tilt tripod head to a ball head. My issue is having to fiddle with three separate adjustments for a shot rather than one. There is a ball head that seems to satisfy all the criteria except the ball diameter is 40mm. The load capacity states 77 lbs but is this large enough to support the Tamron 150-600mm G2 lens steady without creep/sag and without excessive tightening of the clamp? Is a larger diameter ball required to eliminate the aforementioned issues? Furthermore, is a ball head the right solution or are there better options. I shoot mainly landscapes wanting to do more BIF. Thanks in advance for your response.

This brings back old memories of a computer tech I once worked with. Whenever there was a computer issue he always attributed it to the "loose nut between the chair and the computer"!

Thanks, I appreciate your explanation and your time. So, from what you are telling me then is that for this particular kit lens it is functioning as it should.

Sorry for the delayed response. I had to be out for a bit. The only prime I have is a Nikkor-H Auto 28 mm 1:3.5 I inherited from my dad so it is 60's vintage glass. I follow what you are saying about zooming in or getting closer. What bothers me is when I read that everything from the hyperfocal distance and beyond should be in focus and sharp. I do not find my landscape images to be that way. This begs the question, is the quality of the glass (or lack of) resulting in a soft image?

Sorry for the delayed response. I had to be out for a bit. The only prime I have is a Nikkor-H Auto 28 mm 1:3.5 I inherited from my dad so it is 50's vintage glass. I follow what you are saying about zooming in or getting closer. What bothers me is when I read that everything from the hyperfocal distance and beyond should be in focus and sharp. I do not find my landscape images to be that way. This begs the question, is the quality of the glass hindering the results?

This is essentially the same image I originally posted except closer. I can view the focus points in ViewNX2 or Capture NX-D but once I export it from either of those applications the focus point information disappears. Even then if I have more than a single focus point all that shows in CaptureNX-D is a bounding box and not the individual points. If there is something else I need to do let me know. Thanks!

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I appreciate your candid response. I have followed your posts since I became a member of UHH and feel I have and will learn a lot through the advice you give each week. I took up photography only a few years ago so I am still learning when to apply certain settings and what type of adjustments to make on my camera. When I get into the field, I invariably forget to adjust some critical setting to the photo. Since you seem to present the most pointed questions, I chose to answer you directly and would appreciate any other comments you might have.

To explain my setup, until I read your post on Sharp Images in Digital Photography, I had my camera set to AF-S. You suggest AF-C so I made that change with single point (S). I compose the scene in Live View, zoom in to my focus point and have always used BBF to sharpen the image. I use either spot metering or center weighted avg. metering. If I feel there is a need to make an adjustment with my focus ring, I try to do so but the movement of the focus ring is not very smooth so I usually rely on autofocus.
I always have my camera mounted on my tripod (Manfrotto 055XPROB). It is not a flimsy tripod so there should not be any camera shake due to that. I ensure I have the camera/tripod as stable as I can get it and do everything to eliminate any camera movement. To take the photo I usually use either a remote shutter release or a two second timer on the shutter. Unless I am missing a critical setting, I feel the settings on my camera and the mounting of the camera on the tripod (in this case sitting on my driveway) should eliminate any possibility of motion blur.

One of the responders mentioned the images I uploaded did not reflect a landscape photo so I took a new photo to show the issue I am having. I captured a screen shot just to show the focus point (on the center tree about 1/3 up in the image) as well as some EXIF data. I feel the distance to the trees could well reflect the hyperfocal distance of a landscape scene. The zoomed photos No's 3,4 & 5, are at 100%, 200% and 300% respectively.

With my equipment and setup I feel I should be getting better photos than what I am getting. I would appreciate your insight and comments. If you feel it is a non-issue I would appreciate telling me so. If you feel I should have my camera and lens evaluated, I would appreciate that as well. Thank You!

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I keep reading about different methods to achieve tack sharp focus with regards to landscape photographs. I have a Nikon D750 with the AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm 1:4 G ED lens. I have calibrated this lens as best I can, use back button focus, use a remote shutter release and tripod mount the camera. That said, the photographs I take never appear to be tack sharp focused. The last thing I tried was to lock the mirror up to prevent mirror slap when the shutter triggered which seemed to correct the issue somewhat but there still appears to be softness in the photographs. I have yet to read of a professional photographer locking the mirror in the up position prior to taking a photograph. I have a couple of questions regarding this. Is it the quality (or lack of) of the glass or, in lieu of purchasing a mirrorless camera, do I have to lock the mirror in the up position every time I want to take a landscape photograph.
The following images were shot at about 25 ft and cropped. The first one shows straight out of the camera. The second image was processed with Topaz SharpenAI. The third image was taken with the mirror locked in the up position. This is better than the first image but still soft. The fourth image is the third image processed through Topaz SharpenAI.
Unless I can find a solution to this issue it appears I will have to process all my landscape photos through Topaz SharpenAI. If all else fails, I will have a Nikon authorized repair service evaluate my camera and lens and proceed from there. I would appreciate any insight or comments. Thanks!

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