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Nikon D700
After reading Margaret’s blog entry on her ascension into Mac Nirvana I became inspired to to talk about the toys I brought with us on the cruise. Boys DO like their toys and I’m no exception. Over the years I’ve had dirt bikes, sailboats, jet skis, flown airplanes and I’ve had more than my share of cameras and computers. I bought a Nikon F2 camera when I was 16 and became an avid photographer. Over the last 10 years, however, my skills have degraded to shooting mostly in automatic mode and “just getting by”. I’ve also fallen behind in the digital editing department. With both of my sons being part-time professional photographers and seeing the results they are getting I have recently started to read, take online courses and ask them a bunch of questions about how I can improve my photography skills. In the end, my oldest son Geoffrey made me realize that I could read all I want…but in order to take better pictures I just need to take a LOT of pictures, learn how to read the lighting situations, learn how to memorize and quickly control the settings on the camera and practice using the editing software and see what works and doesn’t work. It is sort of like playing the piano (which I do) where you know exactly where your fingers need to be without looking. To see Geoff use his Canon 1D is like watching an expert pianist at work with his fingers constantly making adjustments. And…he takes his cameras everwhere and takes a LOT of pictures. So, I decided that one of my goals on our “Circle South America Cruise” was to practice my photography skills. Just prior to leaving on this trip Geoff convinced me that I needed a new camera that was “full frame” or FX format. This isn’t the first toy that Geoff has convinced me I must get by the way…He has a Canon 5D and the professional Canon 1D, both of which are FX format. These cameras have a chip about the size of a 35mm film frame. While Ken Rockwell (see below) now says it isn’t true that a guy like me would need this type of camera to get professional results, I figured it would give me something to learn AND it was a chance to have another (ahhh) “education” toy! Since I have historically been a Nikon guy he recommended the Nikon D700. The other logical choice would have been the new Canon 5D Mark II which will also take movies and is considered to be the best camera for landscapes. But, I am comfortable with the menu system on the Nikons so that’s what I got. To get an overview on the D700 you can go to the great photo site that Ken Rockwell maintains. In fact, if you are interested in photography equipment and taking better pictures you MUST go to www.kenrockwell.com and start reading. It is a fantastic site and will give you all the practical information you need to select a new camera, properly setup the one you have and learn general info about how to take professional pictures. And, it’s free. He does ask that you use his web links; for example he has a web link to Amazon — if you use Amazon to purchase stuff with his link he gets a small referral fee. It doesn’t cost you any more…just gives him a small percentage that he uses to help offset the cost of running the www.kenrockwell.com site. Here’s the link for the D700: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d700.htm. I also got the pro quality 17-35 f2.8 ED, 24-70 f2.8 ED and the 70-200 f2.8 ED VRII zoom lenses which he recommends and reviews. They are all very heavy and quite a workout to bring on excursions. Lots of glass. But, the results are incredible. The other toys that I brought with me: 
Nikon D200
Nikon D200: I bought this several years in St. Thomas while on another Regent cruise. It is a DX format which has a chip about half the size of the FX format. The info on this camera is at: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d200.htm. This camera is a LOT lighter than the D700, works great and, with the 18-200 zoom lens is VERY flexible for most situations. One of the things about the DX format is because of the smaller chip size and the angles that this creates for the lenses/light/etc. that the lenses actually behave as 1.5X the focal length rating for a lens. So, the 18-200 is actually 27-300. You lose on the wide angle size (where wider is better) but gain on the telephoto side (where longer is better). With the FX camera, what you see is what you get. So, the 17-35 zoom is really 17 on the wide side which is quite nice for landscape shots
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Canon S90
Canon S90: The pocket camera I brought was HIGHLY recommended by Ken. He can’t say enough good things about the Canon S90 (PS: Now the latest version is called the S110). In fact, he would tell you that this is the only camera you need for 90% of the things you do with a camera. It’s all he uses now unless he is doing an intensive professional photo shoot like a wedding. The info for this camera is at http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/s110.htm. It has a larger and faster chip than other pocket size cameras, is especially well suited for making manual adjustments and has a cool ring on the front that is configurable for different situations. It also has some strange quirks but that’s another story.
– Canon Powershot SD780IS: I brought this small camera for Margaret to carry in her purse. She is a very good photographer and gets great results from this type of small camera. We previously had a Canon 870IS but it was a bit large for her rather small purse!
– Sanyo VPC HD2000A Xacti video camera
– Gitzo GT2541 carbon fiber tripod
– Gitzo GM2541 carbon fiber monopod (doubles as a “walking stick” and personal protection device!)
– Really Right Stuff tripod heads and device for taking panoramic photos
– Macbook 17”, 8 GB Ram, 320 GB hard disk and all the requisite software
– Writeable CD’s and DVD’s for backup
– 1 terabyte external hard disk
– Memory card reader
– Canon Binoculars with vibration reduction mechanism
– A Lowepro rollaboard camera case to hold this stuff when traveling
– A Lowepro backpack camera case to use on excursions
That’s about it! It took me about a month to acquire all the above equipment, read all the manuals and practice enough to be dangerous and so far, so good. I’ll write some more articles about what I’m learning in other blog articles. You can see the results in the Picture and Video Galleries we continue to expand as I get time to upload the photos and videos.
PS: When I got this new equipment I decided to sell all the older equipment that I didn’t need anymore on Amazon. And, it was HIGHLY successful. I received incredible prices on all my old equipment, sold everything within several days and now won’t have all the old stuff sitting around my office! And….it was effortless. If you have something that you want to sell, check on Amazon to see if they still carry that item. If they do just click on the “Sell Yours” button and follow the directions. Otherwise you can try eBay…but I found using Amazon in this way was really easy and straightforward. Dale
Roger (The Honorable Mayor) - Great commentary. Keep up the good work. I rounded the horn twice and both times the seas were flat. One was in January.