As I already mentioned in Part I & Part II of this camera kit series. I have settled on the Nikon D700 and since purchasing it around 4 months ago I have not read a single review of any cameras or even inquired about Nikon’s newest models and the likely replacement for the D700. I am 100% happy with my D700 and the camera gear I have kept for my kit which I travel with although I am often unhappy with my photography but that’s what learning and improving your skills is all about.
On a side note: Even though I am happy with the D700 I am anxiously awaiting the replacement that Nikon has yet to announce. Nikon just announced the D7000 which is a lower end model replacing the ever popular and great D90 and it looks fabulous. The features and specs on the Nikon D7000 are any indication the future Nikon D800, D700x, D700s or whatever they decide to call it is going to be a must buy investment.
D700 with (optional) Battery Grip
D700 Digital SLR
As mentioned before I have chose the D700 and love it. Although for me, the D90 was a slightly “funner” camera the D700 is a better piece of serious equipment which requires a little bit more know-how to get the most out of it. Since I have upgraded to the D700 I have found the learning curve has caused me to miss more shots than the D90 but the more I use the D700 the easier and more fun it gets to use as well. Not to mention the quality of my photos is increasing dramatically in the process.
My Current Lenses
When I first test shot this lens in the camera store on a D700 I knew immediately I wanted to buy it. In addition to taking crystal clear photos this lens allows you to get very close to your subjects which lets you take photos from unique perspectives. Especially while taking tourism photos, I would estimate 95% out there who are taking photos with point and shoots and SLRs would not be able to get. I find the drawbacks to using this lens are minimal. Even though the lens is heavy it balances perfectly with the D700 which has even allowed me to get some great shots holding the camera with 1 hand.
This enormous lens is a lens I love to hate. While it’s one the best lenses and an absolute delight to use it is by far the worst lens to have when you’re not using it. When I first started using this lens I would use it solely for far off objects while I used my super-wide for most other things. I have slowly started using the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR for more of a wide variety of photos, especially controlling depth of field which gives the photos a very professional look. The VR works flawlessly and has allowed me to get ultra sharp shots even while being sloppy and not holding the camera steady.
In the first few months of owning this ultra compact lens I barely used it. Leaving my camera bag behind numerous times and missing out on the opportunity to get some fabulous shots has caused me to appreciate this lens a lot more. Now instead of leaving my entire camera bag at home or the hotel, I bring just the D700 & this lens. I don’t have a point-and-shoot other than my cell phone camera but the D700 along with this lens allows me to get far superior shots in low light than any point and shoot although during the day the advantage is lessened, especially for shots of landscapes.
A lens I essentially got for free this is my only “non-professional” lens in my camera bag. The focal range is handy for numerous situations and it is light enough to be a “walking around” lens. Even though this lens is perfect for walking around while touring new places during the day I tend to only use it for its ‘macro’ ability (close up photography). I also use it for nighttime cityscapes in which I am stuck in a location and cannot get the right shot w/ my 12-24mm ultra wide or my 70-200mm telephoto. While the shots look great when attached to a tripod, I prefer not to use this lens handheld at night as I would have to crank up the ISO which would yield noisy shots.
At the moment I haven’t decided if I want to lug around this 1+ pound lens in my camera bag because macro photography is not my #1 passion. That says nothing about the quality of this lens which is absolutely superb. The photos are very sharp and the colors seem better than most other lenses. I purchased the lens with the thought it would make my macro shots a lot better but the truth is the lens has really just shown me how very difficult macro photography is. Taking photos of flowers is one thing but if you want to get a shot of a honey bee’s eyeball like I do, there is much more to it than simply pointing and shooting.
My Essential Accessories
I was hesitant to buy this as I had just spent a lot of money on the D700 body and Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. I was considering a knock-off battery grip but figured I may as well get the Nikon quality version and I’m glad I did. It took me a while to finally use the battery grip but once I started, I almost never take it off. In addition to the ability to use another battery, Nikon’s professional powerful battery, and a bunch of AA batteries, the battery grip allows you to get 8fps (frames per second) during continuous shooting with AA or Nikon’s pro battery. Even though the aforementioned perks are nice, they are not the reason why I recommend a Nikon battery grip to anyone who owns a digital SLR. The second shutter release and navigation button make shooting a lot more efficient and comfortable. Switching from landscape (horizontal) to portrait (vertical) is seamless and allows you to frame portraits perfectly almost every time.
I bought it used from Craigslist.org for $200 as opposed to buying the newer and more power SB-900. While it has the same ability to be used remotely as the SB-900 it has less range and a slower recharge rate. Like the expensive SB-900 the SB-600 can be used attached to the D700’s hot shoe as well as remotely on a stand. Since I bought the SB-600 speedlight I have only used it a handful of times and look forward to learning more about flash photography in the future.
Even though I have not been using flash very much as most of my subjects are landscapes and cityscapes, I wasn’t quite satisfied with the rate at which the SB-600 recharged its flash and I really want to get into portrait photography more so I decided to plunk down another few hundred bucks to get Nikon’s flagship flash. At the time of this writing I haven’t really used the flash much but I will tell you if the instruction manual of 200+ pages is one indication, the flash is very complicated to the untrained photographer. I have found the built in white bounce card to be very useful so far. Using the SB-900 in combination with the 105mm Macro lens has produced very satisfying results and has made handheld macro photography a lot more fun but I’m still learning.
Anyone that owns an SLR knows the frustration of not having the right cleaning supplies to clean their equipment. Camera equipment is very expensive and should be taken care of properly and I carry a standard lens cleaning kit with lens paper and cleaning solution, a bulb blower and a couple microfiber cloths. I also have a lens pen which has a brush on one end, and a wet sponge-like cleaning pad on the other. The lens pen is a must have for anyone with a digital SLR in my opinion.
The first camera bag I had was a compact, quick release shoulder sling which went over one shoulder. While I liked the style the constant weight bearing on a single shoulder was causing pretty bad shoulder pain. I found myself at Funan It Mall in Singapore where I saw a good selection of camera bags. What attracted me to this bag was the versatility of being to switch from a right or left shoulder sling to a backpack as well as being able to fit all my gear. The bag is built nice and is comfortable but it is lacking a couple things. Although there is plenty of room for the aforementioned equipment, there is no way to attach a tripod or a compartment for even a small laptop computer.
Digipod BH-55Q Tripod
After spending thousands of dollars on lenses and camera equipment I really didn’t want to spend too much on a tripod. I ended up going to Power Buy a retail electronic store chain in Thailand and buying a Fancier tripod which was on sale for 2000 baht. The tripod was actually very good and although it worked okay it wasn’t designed for a heavy camera/lens combo. On the first day of a Hong Kong trip, I ended up going tripod shopping. Although I tested out many tripods ranging from Nikon to Manfrotto I settled on the Digipod based on the recommendation from the knowledgeable guy at the camera shop. The things I like about the Digipod tripod is the twisting leg adjustments which allow you to quickly extend the entire leg with a single turn. The coin tightening, sliding medal plate is also far superior at attaching to the camera body than the finger twisting quick release plates of other tripods. This allows me to shoot portrait orientated long exposures without the weight of the camera/lens moving under its own weight ruining the shot.
One of the Few Mistake-Free Shots I've Taken
General Photography Tips: Learn from my Mistakes
Just because I’m not a “professional photographer” doesn’t mean you can’t learn some helpful tips from the numerous mistakes I have made. If you are just starting out with a digital SLR you will initially make mistakes but if you keep these basic ideas in mind, you can minimize your mistakes and be taking cool travel photos soon.
Always Take the Shot
Your camera does no good if it is sitting in your camera bag or hanging around your neck. Whether you are tired from a whole day of tourism and taking photos or simply aren’t 100% sure if the shot will be cool, there is no point to not taking the shot. When I say “take the shot” what I really mean is “take a bunch of shots.” Take a few shots of each subject from different angles and vantage points so you increase the likelihood of getting a pleasing photo.
If people are involved don’t be timid. If it really bothers you, ask the subject if they are okay with being photographed. Owning an SLR gives you the advantage of being able to take hundreds if not thousands of shots so don’t be afraid to use them. Sure, there will be some that you will not use, in fact I would probably say 90% of your shots will end up in the recycle bin on your desktop but if you never take the shot, you will never know whether or not it was good and you will not learn from experience.
Keep Going
This tip goes along with the above “take the shot” tip. When taking photos of landscapes and cityscapes there is no worse a feeling that getting home and realizing that you should have walked a little further down the street or hiked a little further up the hill to get the shot you want. If you want to use your DSLR to its maximum potential and be completely satisfied with the photos you take go as far as you can go when trying to get a shot. Whether this is leaning a little further over the edge of the cliff, climbing up a few more flights of stairs or simply walking around, trying to find a better vantage point, keep going while shooting photos until you hit the proverbial brick wall and you will be happy with your photo shoot.
Try not to Fall Victim to the ‘All or None Principle’
One reason for the popularity of point-and-shoots is because carrying around a camera bag is often a burden. I can’t count the number of times I’ve complained to myself or friends about carrying around my camera bag while profusely sweating in the extreme heat and humidity of Southeast Asia.
There have been times I wish I had a point and shoot and there are times I wished I’ve had my digital SLR gear but I can honestly say EVERY time I was without a camera I felt like I was missing out. Whether you leave your bulky digital SLR at home and pack your point-and-shoot it is always better to have your camera than none. My thinking in the past was “all or none” meaning if I didn’t bring my whole camera bag I would bring nothing. Just because you have a whole camera kit doesn’t mean you have to bring your entire set of lenses everywhere you go. Taking a small prime lens such as a 50mm f/1.4 out will significantly lighten your load as well as force you to be more creative which will improve your skills as a photographer.
Always Reset Camera to Default Settings
About an hour before writing this I was served a painful reminder of this. I had my D700 with the Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 d lens hanging out my Bangkok taxi’s window on the way to the airport to fly to Phuket and took a few shots of a large group of a few hundred Thai soldiers before they were to invade a fortified protester encampment. What I didn’t realize is I had my ISO set on 200 which caused all the photos to be blurry and I had to delete them. If I had did what I’m recommending I would have had some once in a lifetime shots. Every time you change the settings on your camera most importantly ISO and exposure compensation make sure you reset them back to your desired default settings so you don’t miss an important, once in a lifetime shot.
Conclusion
I will reiterate. If you’re not a professional photographer who gets paid for your work you likely don’t need a Nikon D700 or even any digital SLR. Most casual photographers probably don’t want a digital SLR as point-and-shoots and even cell phone cameras get better every generation and are far more convenient. Those of you who obsess about taking the very best photos and are constantly looking for that perfect shot can rest assured the Nikon D700 is one of the best digital SLRs in its price range.
