Good used Photographic gear

[Chucaro]

I was talking with a friend who is very active member in an American bird forum regarding purchasing used cameras and lens for USA.
He recomended to me KEH.com from where him and other members get lens inexcellent condition for very good price.
I just have a look for the used Nikon camera bodies and there are some Nikon D200 in excellent+ condition for U$A 695 and almost new for U$A 100 more .

There are few D80 for about U$A550 or less.

The link is HERE (http://www.keh.com/OnLineStore/ProductList.aspx?Mode=&item=20&ActivateTOC2=&ID=72&BC=DN&BCC=3&CC=2&CCC=1&BCL=&GBC=&GCC=)

[dullbird]

Chacaro that site is fantastic......

my next lens in Australian is due to cost me 2,600. if i brought it from there NEW I would save over a 1000

I'm pretty sure its the lens I was saving for

[abaddonxi]

Bought some good s/h medium format gear from them years back.

[Chucaro]

My friend saved U$A 3000 on a Canon 600 f/4 IS :eek:

[DeanoH]

Went down the big smoke today and had a look around Cash Converters.
They had a Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm, 1:4-5.6 G lens for which they were asking $799. The shop assistant indicated that this was negotiable.
Kayes birthday is coming up shortly and a 'bird' lens would make a good present. She has already has an AF-S Nikkor18-135mm, 1:3.5-5.6 G ED Nikon DX lens on her D80 and I thought this might be suitable.
They also had a D100 body in immaculate condition with soft carry bag and Pelican case for $899 which I thought was a bit expensive for a 6Mp camera.

Followed Chucaros link to KEH which was excellent, but are these $USD relevant to the Aus market? Cash Converters have 3 months warranty which seems more than fair on second hand goods.

Any thoughts or suggestions as I'm not really familiar with the second hand camera market ?

Deano

[Chucaro]

Went down the big smoke today and had a look around Cash Converters.
They had a Nikon AF Nikkor 70-300mm, 1:4-5.6 G lens for which they were asking $799. The shop assistant indicated that this was negotiable.
Kayes birthday is coming up shortly and a 'bird' lens would make a good present. She has already has an AF-S Nikkor18-135mm, 1:3.5-5.6 G ED Nikon DX lens on her D80 and I thought this might be suitable.
They also had a D100 body in immaculate condition with soft carry bag and Pelican case for $899 which I thought was a bit expensive for a 6Mp camera.

Followed Chucaros link to KEH which was excellent, but are these $USD relevant to the Aus market? Cash Converters have 3 months warranty which seems more than fair on second hand goods.

Any thoughts or suggestions as I'm not really familiar with the second hand camera market ?

Deano

forget about Cash converters, What they are asking for a D100 is the money that you pay for a D200!!
Have a look THIS (http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/f-nikon-Classifieds-W0QQKeywordZnikon) link and look what it is in offer in all the locations.

A Nikon D200 with less than 8000 shots is a very good deal for about $ 900 ;)
The lens is way to expensive as well

[DeanoH]

Thanks Chucaro

Guess I got a bit ahead of myself. Had a look on e-bay and theres VRII 70-300's for around $700 from Hong Kong which is within budget. The issue here is warranty and reliability of vendor.

Looked at the site you suggested and came up with this.............

Nikon 70-300mm f/4-5.6D ED AF-D (http://sydney.gumtree.com.au/c-Stuff-for-Sale-video-camera-digital-camera-Nikon-70-300mm-f-4-5-6D-ED-AF-D-W0QQAdIdZ149718699)
In mint condition both body & glass elements Comes with Hood, Rear & Front Cap Much better quality with ED lens & metal mount compared to cheaper Nikon 70-300G (without aperture ring ... $250.00

A bit different to the Cash Converters option. Talk about variation in price. Looks too cheap even. Makes it a bit hard when you're not in the know. I find sorting out the alphabet soup that goes with the lens description makes it difficult for me to compare lenses.

One of the reasons I liked the D100 was battery compatability with the D80, and it had the extra battery pack. I thought perhaps put the 18-135mm lens on the D100 for general photography and the 70-300 on the D80 for bird photos. Don't know if I can stretch to a D200, which also uses EN-EL3 batteries, and a lens, but if the above can be got for $250 who knows. I'll keep looking.

Thanks again

Deano

[Chucaro]

Very careful with lens and bird photography if you are going to take serious your hobby!
1) bird photography is adictive, it is like hunting but without the kill
2) It is expensive because requieres good long reach glass. Cheap lens are not good, they are soft @ maximun focal lens and slow in aperture.
3) You need in the future a good flush with abooster to be able to have the light on the side of the bird
The Nikkor 70-300 it is way too soft at 300.

If you go on the Nikon way and have a D80 on hand, forget about new body and save for the excellent 300mm f/4 for under $2000 or used for about $900

If you do not have heps of money to invest in the future and like to do bird photography with a VR or IS lens go Canon way with a used 40D and the excellent Canon 300 f/4 IS ( The Nikon it is not a VR)
The advantages of a IS, VR or OS is that you can bring down the shutter speed and therefore take the shots with limited natural light.
Photography with harsh light it is not good, loose details and colors.

Other option is keep the Nikon and use couple of the Sigma lens which are reasonable good.

I do quite a bit of bird photography with one keepr in 200 shots if I am lucky.

Here are 2 examples of bird photography with a cheap lens.
The first is a Ple Head Rosella to be able to take the shot I have to use f/5.6 and SS of 1/250. The shutter speed it is low for hand held shot and the F/5.6 is not good for a cheap lens which was what kill this shot :(
Result: Image too soft. Not aceptable :(
Second shot it is a Blue Faced Honeyeater
Aperture @ f/9, much better shot! But can be better at high shutter speed
If you like excelence good glass and tripod are the only way to go ;)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1496.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1497.jpg

[DeanoH]

1) bird photography is adictive, it is like hunting but without the kill


Yoy're right about it being addictive, but for me the kill is when you can get something like this with a camera like the Coolpix 5700.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1471.jpg

But the frustration comes with the lack of sharpness. At first I thought it was just me. No tripod, not braced properly, too slow a shutter speed and all the other things you can mess up when taking photos. My mum used to say 'a bad workman blames his tools' so to give Kaye a fighting chance when she started to get serious about her photography I bought her a Nikon 35mm camera when the Pentax M series died. Graduated from there to the Coolpix 5700 ($2k when new) and from there to the D80 (also $2k when new). So whilst its can be an expensive hobby, there is nothing more frustrating than working with second rate equipment regardless of what you do. But also very rewarding when you get that 'killer' shot.

What's funny now is that we tend to 'fight' for the 'good' camera and compete to see who can get the best photos.

Yesterday I thought I would try and take a "Spring" photo for the competition. This pair of Eastern Rosellas had been flitting around but can be difficult to photograph as the are quite timid. Finally got a sequence of shots late in the day that I thought would be OK.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1472.jpg

D80 / 135mm / f5.6 / 1/125 sec. / ISO 400

I was very disapointed. Slow shutter speed I know but I was hard braced in the doorway and expected better. The time has come I said to buy SWMBO a new lens for her birthday and perhaps a good tripod too (and just perhaps she'll let me borrow them sometimes).

I used to be a fairly avid photographer many years ago. Had an old Exacta and a 35mm Voitlander and then graduated to Pentax; a Spotmatic F and then M series. As I lost interest Kaye developed an interest and is now an avid photographer. Now that I've retired I plan on getting more involved.

I like the idea of image stabilisation as we travel and walk a lot and carying a tripod is not always practical, though I suppose a unipod could double as a walking stick. I take your point about the Canon setup and agree with your logic here. Personally I find the Nikons engineering excellent but the ergonomics and menu system apalling. I reckon I'd have Buckleys of getting Kaye to change from Nikon to Canon and to have one of each.......................what a mess.

One problem we do have with the Nikon(s) is dust ingress. Impossible to keep out in the outback and expensive to send cameras back to Nikon to clean. This is one reason why I wanted a separate 'bird' camera to minimise dust ingress with lens change.

Pentax advertise a 'dustproof' camera, K7 or K10 I think but I don't know much about modern Pentax's. Have to do a bit of surfing. Could possibly justify change here due to dust issues any comment ?

I take your point about photos you discard. We usually do a bird callendar instead of Christmas cards. Last year we didn't do one, though we had several hundred new bird photos. We didn't have twelve good enough. There is no harsher critic than the photographer.

Thanks again Chucaro for your input, much appreciated.

Deano

[SteelNerve]

The rule of thumb is to not exceed the shutter speed by the focal length. i.e.
200mm = 1/250s
if you have
200mm = 1/125s you will most likely get blur from hand movement. You then need a tripod for this combo to work successfully.

And the Coolpix 5700, I'm sorry I had one, it was the most frustrating camera I have ever owned. It would not focus in a screaming fit. Yes it was professionally checked out twice. I had about a 20% success rate for clear images.:mad:

[dullbird]

The rule of thumb is to not exceed the shutter speed by the focal length. i.e.
200mm = 1/250s
if you have
200mm = 1/125s you will most likely get blur from hand movement. You then need a tripod for this combo to work successfully.

And the Coolpix 5700, I'm sorry I had one, it was the most frustrating camera I have ever owned. It would not focus in a screaming fit. Yes it was professionally checked out twice. I had about a 20% success rate for clear images.:mad:


Hi steve you have confused me with this....you say not to excede shutter with the focal length giving the example

200m=1/250s

but then you go on to say that if he had 200mm and a shutter of 1/125s he would have to tripod other wise he would get blurr
but in the second example you have given, he would not exceeded the focal length...I'm confused:confused:

[slt]

Hi steve you have confused me with this....you say not to excede shutter with the focal length giving the example

200m=1/250s

but then you go on to say that if he had 200mm and a shutter of 1/125s he would have to tripod other wise he would get blurr
but in the second example you have given, he would not exceeded the focal length...I'm confused:confused:

Focal length 200mm use 1/200s or faster (1/250 since that's generally the nearest). It follows that 1/125s should only be used for a maximum focal lenght of 125mm (200mm would be too long).

It's only a rule of thumb in any case. If you have a steady hand you can easily go a stop slower. IS will improve it by 2-4 stops. (1 stop being a doubling of the exposure time in this case.)

The photos being referred to don't look as if camera shake is the problem, just not focused properly.

slt

[dullbird]

oh ok I read his post the other way around...

Thats why I was getting confused.

[SteelNerve]

Sorry for confusion, I was trying to explain in too short of words, and in a hurry.

I have a steady hand and usually try to find something to rest on and can generally get slower shutter settings to work. Being digital and each image doesn't cost much, I usually take several shots if it's marginal just to make sure I get a crisp shot.

[rocket scientist]

Bit of lateral thinking!
Spend a bit more on a Nikon D700.
You can shoot at much higher ISO setting without any noticeable noise, and get a better camera overall.

Advantage of this is you can use a slower lens, ie 5.6 instead of a 2.8 which is going to cost heaps more.
I have used a Sigma 150-500 lens in the past. At about $1500 it was every bit as sharp as the Nikon f2.8 600mm that cost near $10,000, and half the weight.
It was great for bird photography.

[DeanoH]

Thanks all for the input

SWMBO reckons I've got this knack of making simple things difficult, to which I reply that I weigh up the facts and make a considered decision.
Either way this whole upgrade thing has been a nightmare.
The original goal was to obtain a long lens capable of taking reasonable bird photos. Yes the f/2.8 300mm Nikkor VR lens is very nice,............. and selling the children into slavery to pay for it is not without its merits, but SWMBO wouldn't be in it.
Currently Kaye has a D80 with a 17-135 f:4-5.6 AF-S Nikkor, a fair but not good lens.
My solution was to sell both and get Canon 40D with quality L series short zoom and 300 mm IS telephoto. And perhaps a 30D for me to use and take in canoes or on other camera risky endeavours.
All I had to do was convince SWMBO to 'move to the dark side' and go with Canon. I particularly liked the look of Canons L series lenses. 'L' as in expensive as hell as one wag put it; or did until my research showed that these zooms can be prone to dust ingress due to their vacuum creating action.
We do a lot of outback traveling and dust is a major problem so that killed the Canon move stone dead.
Nikons 300mm f4 is not VR so no good for us hand held types. Pentax K7 is supposed to be dustproof/weatherproof but poor lens selection. Talk about frustrating.
As a general rule I dislike zoom lenses, especially long ones. You trade quality for convenience. But in the end I compromised and bought what I trust will be a reasonable long zoom. Nikkor 80-400 f:4-5.6 D VR along with a Nikkor 18-70 1:3.5-4.5G ED lens and a D70 for me and as a 'canoeing' camera when mated with the 17-135 f:4-5.6. Common batterys, common lenses and don't need to learn a new (Canon) system.

Heres a pic I took today, hand held with the D80 and Nikkor 80-400 @ 300mm, f:5.3, 1/60th, ISO 320 with VR turned on.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/831.jpg

Considering it was an absolutely miserable wet, grey and windswept day I don't reckon it turned out too bad.

Compared to this D80 and Nikkor 17-135 @ 125 mm, f:5.6, 1/400th, ISO 200 no VR

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/832.jpg

Easy to see which is the better lens, but I do like the shot.


Deano

[rocket scientist]

1/60 sec hand held. VR or not thats a steady hand. nice.

Having mentioned the Nikon, I use Canon myself. A mate just bought a 50D.
Great camera for the money. The down side is getting new lenses, but you can get adaptors to put just about anything on a Canon.

[DeanoH]

1/60 sec hand held. VR or not thats a steady hand. nice.

Having mentioned the Nikon, I use Canon myself. A mate just bought a 50D.
Great camera for the money. The down side is getting new lenses, but you can get adaptors to put just about anything on a Canon.

I'd like to think it was all my steady hand, but know it isn't. The blurb reckons VR is good for 3 stops worth and I reckon from this its right. Early days yet and one sandwich doesn't make a picnic, so far so good.

Found a Zeiss 135mm/f4 in the shed along with close up rings to suit a Practica. Thought I might have a play with this on the D70. Am told I need something called a 'T mount', does this sound right ? I assume I can use the D70 on manual to use the light meter but really don't have a clue. Should be a bit of fun finding out anyway.

Deano

[Chucaro]

Its very steady image @ that Shutter speed.
If you do not mind I would suggest to you to the the following PP on it:

Adjust the levels: there are pixels lost on the LHS
In curves give it the default Linear contrast in yoh have PS
Sharp the image, it is a bit soft and it will improve after sharping and will show the very nice drops on the beak and the plumaje much better ;)

If you have a tripod do test to the lens to find the sweet spot taken thaken shots at diferet focal lens, It would not surprise me if it perform better @ 160 than @ 300
Have a look the result now with that minor ajustments, The result will be heaps better if you do the adjustments on the original. This jpg version do not have enough pixels to get it spot on"

[DeanoH]

Thank you again Arthur for your words of wisdom and patience in explaining. I do have PS CS2 but avoid using it as I find it very difficult to understand and use. I will have to try harder. The results you have attained on a poor 640X480 pic are amazing. I will do as you suggest with the lens but will need a better tripod first. The one I have is cheap and nasty and I would not dare attach this lens in case it failed.


Deano

[rocket scientist]

I'd like to think it was all my steady hand, but know it isn't. The blurb reckons VR is good for 3 stops worth and I reckon from this its right. Early days yet and one sandwich doesn't make a picnic, so far so good.

Found a Zeiss 135mm/f4 in the shed along with close up rings to suit a Practica. Thought I might have a play with this on the D70. Am told I need something called a 'T mount', does this sound right ? I assume I can use the D70 on manual to use the light meter but really don't have a clue. Should be a bit of fun finding out anyway.

Deano

If this is a proper Zeiss lens I would hang on to it. Makes a good portrait lens. You will need to use manual settings. I have a Zeiss 25mm lens fitted for the canon. Sharper than any Canon wide lens.

[DeanoH]

If this is a proper Zeiss lens I would hang on to it. Makes a good portrait lens. You will need to use manual settings. I have a Zeiss 25mm lens fitted for the canon. Sharper than any Canon wide lens.

Lens says its a carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/135, screw mount looks to be about 40mm. Close up rings say they're for a Practica/Pentacon. Lens body and rings are all brushed aluminium.

Deano

[rocket scientist]

Lens says its a carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 4/135, screw mount looks to be about 40mm. Close up rings say they're for a Practica/Pentacon. Lens body and rings are all brushed aluminium.

Deano

Try Camera Exchange in Lonsdale st Melbourne.They have a lot of the adaptors.
Most of them are on ebay, ex Hong Kong etc. cheaper of course.

Pete