Tag Archives: Nikon

Gear, Podcasts, The Image Doctors

The Image Doctors #176

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A timeless classic: Nikon’s 105mm f/2.5 Nikkor

Today’s mirrorless cameras make it really easy to use older, manual focus lenses. The ability to use focus peaking and zoom using the electronic viewfinder can give new life to older lens designs that may have been challenging to use with traditional DSLRs. This week, we take a look at an absolute classic, the Nikon 105mm f/2.5 manual focus lens.

First impressions of the Nikon 17-28mm f/2.8 Z Nikkor lens

We got our hands on a production copy of the newest Nikon Z super-wide zoom, the 17-28mm f/2.8 Nikkor Z. This lens, manufactured by Tamron in a partnership with Nikon, is well-balanced, delivers excellent sharpness, and is less than half the price of Nikon’s other f/2.8 super-wide lens, the 14-24mm f/2.8S. We’ll take a look at the pros and cons of this lens as compared to the other offerings in Nikon’s Z lens lineup. Thank you to B&H Photo for loaning us this lens!

The Nikon 105mm f/2.5 P-C Nikkor mounted to a Nikon Z9 via the FTZ II lens mount adapter.

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Podcasts, The Image Doctors

The Image Doctors #175

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New products from Nikon, Olympus, and Canon; Budget portrait lenses

This week, we got a raft of product announcements:

We then took to answer a listener question about using manual focus portrait (and other) lenses on mirrorless cameras via a mount adapter. There are quite a few very good manual focus lenses that are inexpensive, and perform very well on today’s mirrorless cameras, especially if you use focus peaking to assist with focus.

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News, Workshops/Training

Nikon Birding Workshop

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March 5-9, 2023 in South Florida

Join me in Florida to master bird photography with your Nikon camera!

Master bird photography with your Nikon camera

Join me in South Florida March 5-9, 2023 to immerse yourself in the art of bird photography using Nikon cameras, including (but not limited to) the Nikon Z9 mirrorless camera. Each day, we will download and process our images together as a group, receive critiques, and learn my end to end workflow for creating the best possible images using Adobe Lightroom Classic (or ACR), Photoshop, and Topaz AI plug-ins.

Green Heron

I have over 20 years of experience using Nikon cameras for bird and wildlife photography. This workshop is the perfect setting to master both your camera settings and post-processing techniques for bird photography. We’ll have three days of shooting at some of the best locations in the Delray Beach area, including Wakodahatchee and Green Cay. These can’t miss spots mean you’ll have lots of opportunities to fine-tune both your camera settings and your shooting skills. This workshop will be particularly helpful for Nikon Z9 users, as that’s the camera I’ve spent the last year mastering, and will be using during the class.

This exclusive workshop is limited to 8 participants for a personalized experience and maximum instructor access. Because of the small group size, I’m able to offer a more intimate instructional style that allows each participant to get the knowledge they need to succeed.

Details and Pricing
Podcasts, The Image Doctors

The Image Doctors #135

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Choosing a Telephoto Lens

This week, Nikon announced the new 800mm f/6.3S Phase Fresnel lens, which weighs in at a stunningly svelte 5.2 lbs. Although good telephoto lenses tend to be expensive, there are some good options out there that won’t completely break your bank. This week, we’ll discuss current options for long (400mm+) telephoto lenses and their pros and cons.

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Gear, Reviews

First Impressions: Nikon Z fc

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The Retro-Styled DX Mirrorless Nikon Camera

I just received the new Nikon Z fc camera kit with 16-50mm DX lens. You might be asking why I would purchase this camera, seeing as how I already have a Nikon Z 7 ii. The answer comes down to size and weight.

The Nikon Z fc, with my hedgehog, Lemmy (350g) for scale

The Nikon Z fc is a 20-megapixel, DX (APS-C) format mirrorless camera. While much has been hyped about it’s retro look (it does look a lot like my 1978 Nikon EL2), that’s only part of its charm. With the kit lens, the Nikon Z fc weighs in at around 576g. That’s less than half the weight of my Nikon Z 7 ii + 24-70 f/4 combo. This camera can easily fit into a jacket pocket.

The top controls include dials for ISO and Shutter Speed. Aperture is set via the front command dial, or you can configure the lens function ring to change aperture. There’s a tiny LCD panel on the top of the camera that displays the aperture (f-stop) value. There’s also an exposure compensation dial that ranges from ±3 EV in 1/3 stop increments.

The Nikon Z fc has a range of user-customizable options, including the i-Menu, and user-assignable functions for the front Fn1 button and the movie record button. There are fewer custom function buttons than what you’ll get on the larger Z6 and Z7 cameras, and there’s no Sub-Selector joystick.

Probably the biggest difference between the Z fc and other Nikon mirrorless cameras is the way the rear LCD is mounted. The rear LCD panel flips out from the side, rather than the top or bottom. This mounting arrangement allows you to use the LCD from the front of the camera (selfie mode), or rotate it to be completely covered and protected.

I’ll be putting the Nikon Z fc through its paces, but for now I’m pleased with its build quality and overall design.

Check Pricing and Configurations for the Nikon Z fc Mirrorless Digital Camera