Post your latest purchases.

[Clovishound]

Well, I got the Pup her own flash for macro work. Got tired of having to only use available light when we went out together. I got her the Godox 350 for her D5600. I went with that over the 685 I got because of the smaller size/weight, and the simpler menu. It came yesterday and I looked it over and did a few test shots. Seems to be a really nice little flash. Controls are simple and intuitive. I think she might get frustrated with the 685 controls. Came with a nice sturdy canvas pouch and a cold shoe for off camera mounting to a tripod. It also came with a nice little pop on diffuser head. It doesn't diffuse as well as the small softboxes or pop up slide over the lens diffusers, but it may do a nice job of adding some additional diffusion when used in conjunction other diffusers.

Despite the fact that it has a good bit lower guide number, I thought it pulled it's weight rather well compared to it's bigger brother. At close to 1:1 magnification I was able to use F16 at ISO 100 at 1/4 power. That is pretty much my starting point with the 685. I hope she will be happy with it. It seems to be the most recommended as the go to flash for macro on the insect photography videos I've watched.

I really like my 685, but initial impressions suggest I would be very happy with this as my macro flash.

 

[hark]

Well, I got the Pup her own flash for macro work. Got tired of having to only use available light when we went out together. I got her the Godox 350 for her D5600. I went with that over the 685 I got because of the smaller size/weight, and the simpler menu. It came yesterday and I looked it over and did a few test shots. Seems to be a really nice little flash. Controls are simple and intuitive. I think she might get frustrated with the 685 controls. Came with a nice sturdy canvas pouch and a cold shoe for off camera mounting to a tripod. It also came with a nice little pop on diffuser head. It doesn't diffuse as well as the small softboxes or pop up slide over the lens diffusers, but it may do a nice job of adding some additional diffusion when used in conjunction other diffusers.

Despite the fact that it has a good bit lower guide number, I thought it pulled it's weight rather well compared to it's bigger brother. At close to 1:1 magnification I was able to use F16 at ISO 100 at 1/4 power. That is pretty much my starting point with the 685. I hope she will be happy with it. It seems to be the most recommended as the go to flash for macro on the insect photography videos I've watched.

I really like my 685, but initial impressions suggest I would be very happy with this as my macro flash.

That's good to know. I have 2 Godox flashes and several of their strobes although I'm not familiar with this one.

 

[Clovishound]

Well, the Pup and I went out yesterday and shot some macro. She had her new Godox TT350 and I had my Godox TT685. I liked the little diffuser cap that came with her 350 enough to order one to fit my 685. After shooting a while, she had the flash shut down with what looked like an empty battery symbol flashing. Thought it was a dead battery. I gave her two of my spares and we pressed on. A little while later mine did the same thing. I had shot less than 100 images, and have never had mine run out of battery power with nearly twice that number of shots. I scratched my head and moved on to something else.

This morning I started thinking about it again, and decided it was more likely the flashes overheated. I dug out the batteries that were taken out of her flash, and tried them. Bingo, everything fired up. This was the first time I had used the same type of slip on diffuser cap as came on hers. I think they were trapping heat. Next time out, we will leave them off to confirm.

Thought I'd post here in case anyone has had this happen, or to give a heads up if they have one of these flashes.

 

[Fred Kingston]

I think you're gonna find that the flash makers grossly over-state the number of "full power flashes" these lights produce on a set of new (fully charged) batteries.

 

[Clovishound]

I would have put it down to that except I got a fraction of the number of shots I normally get with my 685 prior to using the diffuser cap. The 350 was an unknown quantity, but still seemed to be far too few shots for a new set of alkaline batteries. Haven't gotten around to getting her some rechargeables for it yet. That and the fact that the "dead batteries" I pulled from the 350 fired up the flash today and popped it numerous times with normal recycle times, so I doubt they are really dead. My VOM is DOA right now, or I would check them with that.

I have no doubt that the advertised flash count is inflated. I was, however, getting several hundred on a set of fully charged nimh batteries only rated at 1300mah on my 685, and never ran out before recharging. I got about 80 yesterday when it quit. And yes, the 350 uses 2 AAs compared to 4 in the 685, but the 685 has nearly twice the power.

 

[Needa]

This morning I started thinking about it again, and decided it was more likely the flashes overheated.

Also 10 minutes to recover, more info in manual.

Better to over heat protection than my SB800 which will melt the front lens.

 

[Fred Kingston]

ahhhhh....

Just looked up that page for my Nikon SB-910 and tried to activate the heat-protection circuit... took about 80 1/1 shots to get there...but it did shut the light down... cool... Learn something new every day.

 

[TwistedThrottle]

Clearing out the rest of the F mount to fully commit to Z. Just purchased the new Zf. The only way it's currently available is with the 24-70 f4 on Nikonusa so my Z6 along with my previous copy of the 24-70 f4 is heading out the door too. I really like that lens, its light weight and gets used a lot, mainly for video. Also ordered a Smallrig bracket (Amazon) to help fill my big ol meat hooks. It was a tossup between a new body or a longer telephoto. 70-200+2x teleconverter is as long as I can go now. Eagle season starts up in a couple weeks, but my daughter's volleyball season has already begun. Priorities. Next up is the 400 f4.5.

 

[Danno]

Clearing out the rest of the F mount to fully commit to Z. Just purchased the new Zf. The only way it's currently available is with the 24-70 f4 on Nikonusa so my Z6 along with my previous copy of the 24-70 f4 is heading out the door too. I really like that lens, its light weight and gets used a lot, mainly for video. Also ordered a Smallrig bracket (Amazon) to help fill my big ol meat hooks. It was a tossup between a new body or a longer telephoto. 70-200+2x teleconverter is as long as I can go now. Eagle season starts up in a couple weeks, but my daughter's volleyball season has already begun. Priorities. Next up is the 400 f4.5.
View attachment 398110

Congratulations! That is a fantastic camera. That would have been my choice if that had come out before the Z8. Matt Irwin on YouTube gave a great review on this camera. He raved about the IBIS being a bit better than the Z8 or Z9.

 

[bluzman]

Back in 2019, I bought a Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens for my D7500. It's a fine lens. Over time, I found that its weight (2.5 pounds) when hand holding was becoming an issue for me. In early 2022, I sold it to a friend who loved it on his D750. Meanwhile, I acquired a Tamron AF 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 DI-II VC HLD.

It's one pound lighter than the Sigma and I got some very nice images with it on both my D7500 and D500. I made the purchase with my eyes wide open, realizing that some design compromises were inherent in a lens with such a large focal length range. One of the things I noticed was that 2.5 stops of vibration compensation (VC) seemed marginal for shooting wildlife hand held. I'll admit that that may be on me but, nevertheless, I wanted something better.

With that as a goal, a week ago I traded the Tamron to MPB for a used full frame Nikon AF-P FX 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6E ED VR. It's basically the same weight as the Tamron, and it's VR rated at 4.5 stops. When used on a DX format camera (the only kind of ILC I own), it's angle of view is that of a 105-450mm lens on an FX camera.

 

[Dawg Pics]

Not remotely photography related.
Ordered a pellet grill.

 

[TwistedThrottle]

I've watched this one go in and out of stock since I learned about it. No way I'm shelling out $1800+for the Voigtlander 50mm f1.0 and the plastic fantastic Nikon 40mm f2 doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Voigtlander 40mm f1.2

 

[TwistedThrottle]

Nikon 400mm f4.5
Finally pulled the trigger! Been without my 150-600 for quite a while and the refurbished sale through nikon usa dot com was enough for me to jump on it. I dont get a nikon box with it but it looks brand new and I saved hundreds of dollars this way. Without the hood, it feels smaller and lighter than my 70-200mm f2.8. Looking forward to stretching its legs!

 

[bluzman]

I got a Nikkor Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR yesterday. I mainly shoot with my DSLRs, but I dipped my toe in the mirrorless pool in January 2020. Back then, I bought a package from Adorama that included the Nikon Z50 with both kit lenses (Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR and Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR) and the FTZ adapter. I really like the camera and I keep it in the regular rotation. Since I got the kit, I've added a Nikon Z FX 24-70mm f/4 S lens and a Viltrox Z DX 23mm F1.4 AF prime to my gear.

When I want to use the Z50 for wide angle shots, I've been doing it with the FTZ adapter and an AF-P DX 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR. Recently, though, I decided to get a Z mount wide angle lens. Although the 12-28mm power zoom seems more aimed at the vlogging folks with a Zfc or Z30, the Z50's firmware updates insure that the Z50 can use the power zoom feature, too. I verified that after I got the lens.

No images yet. It's just too damn cold for me to spend any time shooting outdoors, but I'll post something once I do.

 

[blackstar]

I got a Nikkor Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR yesterday. I mainly shoot with my DSLRs, but I dipped my toe in the mirrorless pool in January 2020. Back then, I bought a package from Adorama that included the Nikon Z50 with both kit lenses (Z DX 16-50mm f/3.5-6.3 VR and Z DX 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 VR) and the FTZ adapter. I really like the camera and I keep it in the regular rotation. Since I got the kit, I've added a Nikon Z FX 24-70mm f/4 S lens and a Viltrox Z DX 23mm F1.4 AF prime to my gear.

When I want to use the Z50 for wide angle shots, I've been doing it with the FTZ adapter and an AF-P DX 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6G VR. Recently, though, I decided to get a Z mount wide angle lens. Although the 12-28mm power zoom seems more aimed at the vlogging folks with a Zfc or Z30, the Z50's firmware updates insure that the Z50 can use the power zoom feature, too. I verified that after I got the lens.

No images yet. It's just too damn cold for me to spend any time shooting outdoors, but I'll post something once I do.

View attachment 400535

I am interested to know how the Viltrox Z DX 23mm F1.4 AF prime serves you as a wide-angle lens.

 

[WaltE]

Blackmagic Ursa Mini Pro 4.6k.

 

[bluzman]

I am interested to know how the Viltrox Z DX 23mm F1.4 AF prime serves you as a wide-angle lens.

I bought the Viltrox because I wanted a fast, affordable Z DX format prime with AF that was essentially a 35mm equivalent lens. When I bought it in 2021, didn't Nikon offered any Z DX primes. Now there is a Z DX 24mm f/1.7 that's smaller and cheaper. It's also lighter than the Viltrox but I think that's because the latter is mainly metal and has a more complex optical set up.

I don't use the Viltrox as a wide angle lens. Before I bought the 12-28mm, I'd either use an F-mount 10-20mm with the FTZ adapter or my 16-50mm Z mount kit lens, depending on how wide a shot I wanted.

 

[hark]

Well a dear friend needed a tripod so we made a good trade of stuff and he was happy with it as was I, but it left me in need of a tripod. I had been looking at this Leofoto Summit LM-324CL after seeing a review by Hudson Henry the [FONT=&quot]Weight of the tripod is 4lbs The Max height: 79.5". The Max Load: 55lb.

I also purchased an Archatech GXP ball head. The ball head weight is 1 pound and it can handle 50 lbs. It is an extra tall tripod that all together only weights 5 lbs.

[/FONT]View attachment 373504

I certainly didn't need another monopod as I already have an aluminum Manfrotto, an aluminum Gitzo, and 2 Sirui monopods (one CF and the other aluminum). But when I saw this Lefoto monopod which has a 20% discount on 3 of the models, I opted to try this one - the Leofoto MP-364C 4 Section CF Travel Monopod Carbon Fiber 67" Tall 1/4" & 3/8".

It is really impressive. It's very beefy - the top section is plenty wide enough to grip, and without a head, this model comes in at 67" tall. Amazon has a 20% discount on it right now. One nice thing is it has a safety screw on the top plate. That prevents a monopod head from becoming accidentally unscrewed.

I figured maybe these were returns so they dropped the price, but that doesn't appear to be the case. The box was factory sealed. And if anyone is looking for more than 4 sections, the 5-section and 6-section Leofoto monopods also have a 20% discount. Just be sure to checkmark the box for the savings.

 

[Danno]

I certainly didn't need another monopod as I already have an aluminum Manfrotto, an aluminum Gitzo, and 2 Sirui monopods (one CF and the other aluminum). But when I saw this Lefoto monopod which has a 20% discount on 3 of the models, I opted to try this one - the Leofoto MP-364C 4 Section CF Travel Monopod Carbon Fiber 67" Tall 1/4" & 3/8".

It is really impressive. It's very beefy - the top section is plenty wide enough to grip, and without a head, this model comes in at 67" tall. Amazon has a 20% discount on it right now. One nice thing is it has a safety screw on the top plate. That prevents a monopod head from becoming accidentally unscrewed.

I figured maybe these were returns so they dropped the price, but that doesn't appear to be the case. The box was factory sealed. And if anyone is looking for more than 4 sections, the 5-section and 6-section Leofoto monopods also have a 20% discount. Just be sure to checkmark the box for the savings.

I really like their products. They are well made. That looks nice Hark. .

 

[Dawg Pics]

I just replaced my old Bogen #3265 pistol grip tripod head with another old Bogen #3265 pistol grip tripod head. I prefer the ease that I can remove my camera, and I don't have to turn a bunch of knobs. My old one is stuck on the center column of my broken Bogen #3001 tripod.
The EvilBay seller accepted my offer, so now I need to make a tripod purchase decision.