The Image Doctors #176

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.

The Image Doctors #175

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.

The Image Doctors #174

How to Choose a Tripod

Tripods, our three-legged friends… we sometimes have a love-hate relationship with them because we hate to carry them around in the field. Nevertheless, the current range of tripods offer incredible stability and great value. Carbon-fiber tripods are no longer reserved for the wealthy enthusiast; you can get some very good ones for under $500.

This week, we’ll share our experience in choosing tripods and talk about the features you should look for when choosing one. And hey, who needs just one?

Shop tripods at B&H Photo using our feature criteria

The Image Doctors #173

Bird Photography in California

This week, we’re in San Diego, California where Jason has just wrapped up a bird photography workshop. This was a great opportunity for us to continue to explore camera settings for bird & action photography, and we both changed up our approaches to image review and triage.

California Birding Workshop

Birds in Flight and More

I just wrapped up my California Birds in Flight photo workshop, and we had a fantastic time. The weather was great (the rains finally stopped last week) and the birds were cooperative as always. I was extremely happy to see that all my clients came away with some wonderful photos that they can all be proud of, and learned a few new tricks along the way!

I’ll be working on scheduling dates for the 2024 San Diego Birding Workshop soon!

Brandt’s cormorant
American coot
Royal tern
Ring-necked duck
Brown pelican