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Subscriber -- Welcome to DPS 10-09: Successful B&H Event followed by Hurricane Sandy, Superzoom Faceoff, Nikon D5200, new wireless options, D600 field tests & teardown.
October drew to a close with a very successful event at B&H where we helped kick off the photo contest they are launching with Wilderness Safaris. Stay tuned for more details. Then our planned foray to Cape May for the raptor migration was called off due to Hurricane Sandy. We were slightly inconvenienced by the storm, but millions of others suffered real hardships, and many still are. Our hearts go out to them. We were able to drive around many parts of the mid-Atlantic during the week of the storm, and have never seen such widespread destruction. The affected area was hundreds of miles across, and parts of New York and New Jersey had wires, trees and telephone poles down in nearly every block.
One of a seemingly endless number of large, downed trees in Central New Jersey from SandyPhoto by Lorrie Duval
The disaster response was equally impressive, with I-95 from D.C. full of caravans of line repair trucks arriving from all over the country. The hotels across New Jersey were (and still are) full not just of power-outage refugees, but FEMA and other workers arriving to help keep order and work with local resources on the recovery effort. The fact that even that level of response has left so many issues even two weeks later is a testament to the scale of the damage caused by the storm.
On a brighter note, while all this was happening, Nikon announced an exciting new mid-range DSLR, the Nikon 5200 that we'll tell you about, Adobe updated Photoshop and Lightroom to support many new camera models, we reviewed the wireless capabilities of the new Canon PowerShot S110 and the Nikon WU-1b adapter for the Nikon D600. I also got a chance to compare the newest superzoom lenses from Sigma, Tamron and Nikon.
Most exciting for us, David's image of Harris Hawks fighting was awarded the Grand Prize in the 2012 National Wildlife Federation Photo Contest. It is not the first image from our to be recognized in a contest, but it is certainly the highest honor any of them have received.
Last minute Angkor Wat opportunity: Because of the way sign-ups worked out for our Southeast Asia photo tour in January, we're also able -- for the first time -- to offer a in seeing the wonders of Angkor Wat and Cambodia.
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Product Updates:
Remember that our newsletter's costs are partially subsidized by money we get from our affiliate relationship with B&H. So we encourage you to use and bookmark our links to or start your shopping session from one of the convenient search boxes on the home page of nikondigital.org. THANKS for your continued support!
Reminder: B&H will be closed starting Sunday for the next week, so if you need something soon, best to .
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Featured Articles from nikondigital.org
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A tale of two different approaches to WiFi: Canon PowerShot S110 and Nikon WU-1b for the Nikon D600
I happen to have just gotten Nikon’s new WiFi adapter for my , and a with WiFi for review, so it was a great opportunity to compare and contrast the two company’s approach to their newest WiFi solutions. Initially I expected the two devices to have very similar features, but as I explored them both I realized that the two were almost completely different in their functionality. Which approach you prefer will have a lot to do with your shooting style…
Harris Hawk image from our Rio Grande Valley Texas Photo Safari announced as Grand Prize winner in 2012 NWF Photo Contest
We’re pleased to learn that our image of two Harris Hawks fighting has been awarded the Grand Prize in the 2012 National Wildlife Federation photo contest – winning against over 28,000 other images. I captured the image on one of our Rio Grande Valley photo safaris, which are always an awesome opportunity to get unique images of hard-to-find species like Harris Hawks and Crested Caracara along with many colorful woodland species and migrants. I’ll be leading another trip back there this year, featuring the award-winning Dos Venadas and Campos Viejos ranches, so I hope you can join me. You never know whether you’ll get a prize-winning image of your own – we’ll certainly do our best to help you with plenty of 1-1 instruction, image critiques as desired, and prime shooting locations.
For more on the Harris Hawk image and full contest results, NWF is , and you can get a Hawk of your own by .
ifixit tears apart a Nikon D600: See what they found in their tear down
Ever wondered what was crammed into that expensive DSLR you just bought? Wonder no more.
Nikon D5200 DSLR announced: Impressive upgrade, but won’t quiet D400 clamor
As expected, Nikon has introduced the new Nikon D5200 DSLR. It is a very solid upgrade from the , bumping the resolution to 24MP, focus points to 39 like the , and frame rate to 5fps – a little slower than the D7000’s top speed of 6 fps. A new processor chip helps move the larger number of pixels, and a new graphical user interface should make the camera easier for those photographers not comfortable with the current dials and menus. However, the Nikon D5200 will not quiet the clamor for a Nikon D400, as it doesn’t nearly fill-in Nikon’s product line as a Nikon D300 replacement…
Why I’m really loving my Nikon D600: A night at the ballgame
I’ve had my for almost a month now, and it continues to surprise me. I gave its full-frame capabilities a workout in low light and was quite impressed. Yesterday I threw it a curve ball by heading off to a night baseball game where I needed to use an inexpensive lens in crop mode to get the framing I wanted (as a fan, rather than a media-credentialed photographer I was limited as to what type of gear I could carry in to a Major League Baseball playoff game). So I brought the with a , along with my Nikon 24-85mm lens for environmental shots.
Nikon D600 torture test: Onward at the Great American Music Hall
Indoor music events are a great way to test out cameras and lenses. Last nights awesome Onward event at the Great American Music Hall was no exception. Stage lighting pushed me to ISO 3200, even with my Sigma 85mm f/1.4 lens open to f/1.7. Of course the light was also designed to look good in person, not to be easy for a camera to sort out. So as not to get in people’s way, the longest lens I took was 85mm, so the resulting images would also need cropping. All in all, a perfect way to test out my and Adobe’s brand new raw support. Here’s what I came up with …
Adobe updates Lightroom & Photoshop with support for Nikon D600, Canon Rebel T4i, Sony RX100, dozens of other cameras
If, like many of us, you’ve been chomping at the bit to get at the Raw files from your Nikon D600 or other fancy new camera that was released late this summer. Adobe has come through again, in record time, with a free update to CS6 & Lightroom 4. You can download the udpates from the links below or from the Update menu in the products. Beware that the Lightroom “update” is a full new version, weighing in at over 750MBytes! Many new lens profiles have been added also.
All new Superzooms face-off: Nikon 18-300mm, Sigma 18-250mm, Tamron 18-270mm
With all the well-justified hype over the full-frame camera launches this fall, APS-C (Nikon DX) format shooters may be feeling a little unloved. Without a D400 or D7100 to crow about, they’re left with a short list of fun, new stuff. Fortunately, there has been activity in the smaller-sensor lens space. Over the last year Nikon, Sigma and Tamron have all released updates on their superzooms. Purists will continue to eschew these lenses, but those desiring an all-in-one lens they can couple with their camera body for a travel-friendly package have some new options. I’ve been shooting with all three of them over the last month…
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Event Updates:
Texas in May, 2013: We're all set for a return trip to the Hill Country during the peak of migration season. You can put down an .
From there we'll head down to the birdy Rio Grande Valley, for five days of shooting on private, "group-only" ranches. Participants are likely to photograph 40 different woodland species or possibly even more during the 5 days. Featured species include Painted Bunting, possibly Indigo, Varied and Lark Buntings, as well as Scissor-tail Flycatchers, Orioles, Green Jays, Harris Hawks, and Crested Caracara -- along with usual residents like Bobwhite, Scaled Quail, Northern Cardinal, Pyrrhuloxia and plenty of doves. This is a popular trip, so consider to make sure and get a good room.
Alaska bears and puffins, July. 2013 will be my 14th year returning to the Cook Inlet in Alaska to photograph America's most spectacular animals. And even though I'm just on my way up for this season I'm already excited to announce I plan to head back again next year for July 2013. These trips fill up every year so if you want to hold a spot go ahead and and take advantage of the early bird discount.
Remember: If you have a group and want a custom safari to any of the destinations we frequent, drop us a line at safaris [at] cardinalphoto.com!!
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Other Ongoing News:
I enjoyed attending Photoplus Expo, and visiting with my friends from Nikon, Sigma, ThinkTank, Lowepro, B&H, Canon, and especially Datacolor and David Tobie again. Look for my writeup on the soon.
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Good shooting!
Harris Hawks fighting. Grand Prize winner NWF 2012.
Nikon D700, 600mm f/4 1/1000s @ f/6
By popular demand, we've made our award-winning image
available for print purchases or use on custom products.
You can design & order this image .
Alaskan Brown Bear cub and mother
1st Place, Mammals (Pro) NWF 2011
By popular demand, we've made our award-winning image
available for print purchases or use on custom products.
You can design & order this image .
--David Cardinal, editor DigitalPro Shooter, the nikondigital.org newsletter
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