Rodney Campbell's Blog

A work colleague has lent me his 35mm f/2 (an older Nikon design) to try on my D600 (I currently have no wide angle lenses – the 50/1.4 being my current widest full frame lens I own).

I was inspired by some recent street photography images I’d seen and since I hadn’t been out to shoot any street in many many months I figured I’d head out at lunchtime in the city to see what I could discover.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

I got a lucky break in the lunchtime rush of people going in and out of this building and walkway…

Romantics

NIKON D600 + 35.0 mm f/2.0 @ 35 mm, 1/40 sec at f/9, ISO 720

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NIKON D600 + 35.0 mm f/2.0 @ 35 mm, 1/50 sec at f/8, ISO 100

This is what happens when you stand still for too long playing with your smartphone…

Time Stands Still

NIKON D600 + 35.0 mm f/2.0 @ 35 mm, 1/13 sec at f/16, ISO 100

This didn’t quite work exactly as I’d planned but hopefully you can see where I was going with this…

Step into the Light

NIKON D600 + 35.0 mm f/2.0 @ 35 mm, 1/40 sec at f/5.6, ISO 110

I assisted on a school music tour which one of my daughters attended (I was the resident photographer amongst other things).

On the last day of our trip we all went sandboarding at Stockton dunes at Anna Bay and we all – child or adult alike – had an outrageously good time. I’d never tried this before but after experiencing it I can highly recommend it.

We had bright sun and totally clear blue skies with some wind to temper the hot conditions. I decided to just take the D600 fitted with the 85/1.8G prime lens (I wasn’t keen on either changing lenses or using a lens which could drag in a lot of sand) and I think it turned out to be the ideal choice.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

My daughter leads the pack down the slopes…

NIKON D600 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/2000 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100

Just having a good time

NIKON D600 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/2500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100

I think this one just about epitomises how we felt about the experience 🙂

NIKON D600 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/2500 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100

It was tiring work trekking up the dunes in the deep sand but worth the exercise

NIKON D600 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/1000 sec at f/8, ISO 100

NIKON D600 + 85.0 mm f/1.8 @ 85 mm, 1/1600 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100

Whilst wandering the grounds of the Royal Botanical Gardens looking for macro subjects to focus stack this non macro subject really caught my eye – I loved the way the light and shadow was playing with the gnarled tunk and roots of this old tree. As I only had my Tamron 90mm macro lens with me I had to step back and frame this…

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

Of Light and Shadow

NIKON D7000 + 90.0 mm f/2.8 @ 90 mm, 1/250 sec at f/4, ISO 100

Sometimes also called Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – we have one of these bushes in our back yard and it is in full bloom now with hundreds of pretty little purple and mauve flowers covering the whole plant.

Note: These images (especially the wider shots) look much better when larger – so click any of the images below to see larger versions in an inline overlay slideshow gallery viewer.

I was originally intending on shooting this out in the yard however there was just too much of a gusty breeze happening, blowing the flower all over the place. I picked a likely looking specimen and brought it inside. I still wanted a nice green background so I improvised – note my daughters mermaid dress up costume coming in very handy here :). I setup at a window facing the late afternoon sun to more to top and backlight my subject. For most of the stacks I took I also put up a large tri grip diffuser against the window to soften the light for more of a subject glow.

The result of 34 images [1/125sec at f/5.6 and ISO 200 with the Nikon 105VR on Nikon D600] focus stacked
Purple on Green

NIKON D600 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, ISO 200

Here is one without the diffuser for both a harder more directional light on the subject and with the brighter light an effectively darker background

The result of 44 images [1/160sec at f/5.6 and ISO 100 with the Nikon 105VR on Nikon D600] focus stacked

NIKON D600 + 105.0 mm f/2.8 @ 105 mm, 1/160 sec at f/5.6, ISO 100

As a follow up to my post regarding Arca Swiss L-Bracket (Plate) options for my D7000 – I’ve updated with options for the Nikon D600 🙂

First up to set some expectations:
– I have a Nikon D600, D7000 (and a D90 which I don’t use much :))
– I often shoot landscapes/seascapes (& macro) and do shoot quite a few verticals so the L-Plates prime ability to switch orientations without having to flop over the ballhead is attractive
– I often use a wired remote release (even my wireless one still plugs a dongle into the wired side port) so I *need* to still be able to open and access the small lower side door of the camera (don’t really care about the large upper doors). I’m presuming that even with the door open and the cable in I can still mount the camera vertically more towards the edge of the arca clamp with the cable going past the clamp edge
– Note when I say I want to be able to open the side door with the plate on I don’t mean open the door first and then put the plate on (which all can do) but rather leave the plate on and open and close the side flaps whenever I want
– The intent would be to use the L Plate as per expected and leave it on the camera almost permanently (unless I mount the Battery Grip which is like maybe twice a year)

I’m aware of at least the following L-Brackets which should fit the D600 (in decreasing order of price):

ReallyRightStuff BD600-L $US140 + Delivery
– their site says: “not compatible with Nikon’s LCD screen protector”

Kirk BL-D600 US$135 + Delivery($32 international from B&H)
– their site says: “allows use of the Nikon LCD screen cover” 🙂

ProMediaGear PLND600 US$130 + Delivery($19 international)
– a two piece design which also allows use of the Nikon LCD screen cover

Hejnar Photo D600 L Bracket US$95 + Delivery($20 international)
or his Universal L Bracket for around the same price
– their site says: “left side door cannot be accessed with this bracket mounted against camera”

Sunwayfoto Universal L Plate Wide Base DPL-04 (or DPL-03) US$89+33

The upside for most of the D600 model specific plates are they fit like a glove on the D600, the downside is that they basically can’t be reused on other camera bodies and there appear to be issues with some models where you can’t (or it’s extremely difficult to) open the side doors in the field (and if so could be a deal breaker for me)

An upside with the two part plates is you can use the lower plate by itself (like a standard arca plate)

The upside for the universal plate (and even some model specific two part plates) is you can often use it on other bodies and most also allow you to slightly offset the side plate further from the body allowing you to open the side door – however you don’t get a snug fit and having the side plate offset quite a way (one or two cm) from the side of the camera is likely to be crap in practical every day terms