A Few Rants…
Here are a few rants about what worked and what didn’t during my week-and-a-half trip to Europe:
- I only brought three lenses: The 10.5, 17-55 and the 70-200. The 17-55 was my most used lens; it’s probably on 90% of the time.
- For camera support, I chickened out by bringing along my crappy Gitzo G1157 + Kirk BH-3 instead of the more manly 3530s + Arca-Swiss Z1. I regretted that decision.
- I could not help but express extreme disappointment on the 70-200VR. This is my first heavy outdoor use of this lens. It flares so easily even with the hood on. It also inconsistently cause at least one stop overexposure on the D200. I could not nail down the cause and it is very, very annoying…so annoying it ended up on the camera bag most of the time because of this. It’s so ironic for a $1500 lens. I never had these problems with the old-school 70-210/4 lens. I will do further testing within the next few days and will decide if it needs to be sent in for repair.
- The Nexto device was great. I only had one failed transfer…but this was mainly due to my stupidity (removing card during transfer).
- I probably overused my 10.5 fisheye lens.
- My Hi-Tech ND Grad filter is my new best friend. When we were at Matterhorn, the sky was so clear and lighting was so contrasty. It would have been impossible for me to capture the images with the D200 sensor’s VERY limited dynamic range without the ND (2-stop soft-edge) filter. The filter flares easily, though. I wonder if the more expensive Singh-Ray is better at flare control?
- The Cokin P holder vignettes at around 20mm or wider on the 17-55. I am still not sure, though, if it’s worthwhile to invest on a more expensive filter holder.
- I need a wider lens. I guess the 12-24 is next on my list of purchase.
- I need one of those LCD hoods. It’s almost impossible to see the LCD outdoors on a clear day.
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