Post your latest purchases.

[Scott Murray]

Oh and a new drone back pack.

2017-01-17_11-16-37 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

2017-01-17_11-17-22 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

 

[cwgirl197]

Well I kind a bought a few things

A new 38.5inch Samsung monitor. Makes my iMac 5k look small.

DSC_0291 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

A new comfy chair

DSC_0292 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

2 x 4TB seagate backup plus slim SDD's

DSC_0293 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

A Targus 7 x USB 3.0 hub

DSC_0294 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

A DSLR manfrotto travel tripod, can handle a D810 with battery pack and 70-200 f2.8

DSC_0295 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

DSC_0296 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

DSC_0297 by Scott Murray, on Flickr

I have that same chair and I love it!!! It is very comfy



Nikon D750, Nikon D800, Nikon 16-35 f/4, Nikon 50mm 1.8, Nikon 70-300
Sigma 24-70 f/2.8, Sigma 105mm f2.8
Sigma 150-600 C
Tamron 70-200 f/2.8 Di VC USD

 

[Fortkentdad]

I told my dearly beloved that I was interested in these new fangled flying camera drone things.
She bought me one of these. That's my cell phone it is sitting one with a quarter beside it to give you an idea of the scale.

I have not yet made it fly properly - but boy can I crash it with a bang. Already ordering replacement parts. Breaks blades easily - as evidenced by the broken ones beside it.

Glad she didn't buy me an expensive one if these things are this hard to control.

 

[Scott Murray]

View attachment 241802

I told my dearly beloved that I was interested in these new fangled flying camera drone things.
She bought me one of these. That's my cell phone it is sitting one with a quarter beside it to give you an idea of the scale.

I have not yet made it fly properly - but boy can I crash it with a bang. Already ordering replacement parts. Breaks blades easily - as evidenced by the broken ones beside it.

Glad she didn't buy me an expensive one if these things are this hard to control.

The bigger DJI ones are much much easier to fly and control.

 

[Fortkentdad]

The bigger DJI ones are much much easier to fly and control.

This thing is 'uncontrollable" in this old man's hands.

I will buy one set of replacement parts and give it one more chance but then . . .

Are the bigger toy ones any easier to control?

 

[Scott Murray]

This thing is 'uncontrollable" in this old man's hands.

I will buy one set of replacement parts and give it one more chance but then . . .

Are the bigger toy ones any easier to control?

Not sure about the toy ones but I am sure there will be ones that auto hover etc. Maybe do some google research and see what options there are in your price range.

 

[weebee]

This thing is 'uncontrollable" in this old man's hands.

I will buy one set of replacement parts and give it one more chance but then . . .

Are the bigger toy ones any easier to control?

I have a Parrot mini drone. Larger then your drone. But small enough to fly in the house. And can be flown outside in calm days. And you can use a phone or tablet to control it There is also a controller you can purchase. Which I bought. This drone has auto launch and land. And a camera that isn't very good at all. The drone itself is around 60.00 the controller about 40.00 The drone flies very well and hovers rock solid. I bought this to practice before I launch my large drone. I've only hovered my Bebop II a few feet from the ground. I agree with Scott, the larger drones are much more stable.

 

[Scott Murray]

I have a Parrot mini drone. Larger then your drone. But small enough to fly in the house. And can be flown outside in calm days. And you can use a phone or tablet to control it There is also a controller you can purchase. Which I bought. This drone has auto launch and land. And a camera that isn't very good at all. The drone itself is around 60.00 the controller about 40.00 The drone flies very well and hovers rock solid. I bought this to practice before I launch my large drone. I've only hovered my Bebop II a few feet from the ground. I agree with Scott, the larger drones are much more stable.

View attachment 241918

Awesome, I have never had this screen shot opportunity

 

[Geoffc]

It's been expensive over the last 6 weeks. I've retired and bought a D500 each for my wife and I and a DJI Mavic pro drone. It should all keep us busy.



Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[Beanbagfrags]

Went on a splurge lately. Picked up AF-S Nikon 105mm VR Macro, AF-S Nikon 28-300 , AF-D Nikon 80-400, Tamron 180mm macro, AF Nikon 105mm f2 DC. Next on my list will be the Nikon 24-70 which I should be able to pickup next week sometime.

 

[Fortkentdad]

lighting up my wallet with two new lights

Strubepro is rebranded Godox sold out of a shop in Calgary for Canadians



the speedlight is Godox V850ii and is a Master features lithium rechargable battery
the bigger one is a Godox Witsrow 360ii - in States Adorama calls this Flashpoint 360
a bare bulb big bertha version of a speedlight

 

[Fortkentdad]

I have a Parrot mini drone. Larger then your drone. But small enough to fly in the house. And can be flown outside in calm days. And you can use a phone or tablet to control it There is also a controller you can purchase. Which I bought. This drone has auto launch and land. And a camera that isn't very good at all. The drone itself is around 60.00 the controller about 40.00 The drone flies very well and hovers rock solid. I bought this to practice before I launch my large drone. I've only hovered my Bebop II a few feet from the ground. I agree with Scott, the larger drones are much more stable.

View attachment 241918

maybe i need a bigger one just ordered some parts for my micro chopper but maybe a bigger one makes sense

 

[Fortkentdad]

Still adding to my lighting collection

Bought an Aputure Amaran Halo LED Ring Flash

This one was a bargain at about $80 (CDN$)

Bought from "The Camera Store" Aputure Amaran Halo LED Ring Flash - Nikon Mount



Here are a couple of sample shots - taken with a 60mm Nikkor Macro 2.8 lens using this new ring light.



I like the way that you control the amount of light and by choosing only to turn on half the ring and rotating the ring you can control the direction of the light. The ring sits around the lens and it came with a set of rings for most common sized lenses.

If shooting with a ultra wide there is a 'bit of vignetting"



Turning off one side of the ring give some creative options.



Of course my 77mm is not a macro and the ring light is designed for macro work.

Mind you there is a new macro I have my eye on that is 77mm. It is a wide angle tilting macro
The Venus Optics 15mm f/4 Macro Lens by Laowa https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1165600-REG/venus_optics_laowa_15mm_f_4_macro.html I had a chance to put this lens on my D610 at a camera show last year before it was available for sale in Canada - very interesting. I would suspect this ring lens would vignette on it the same way it is vignetting on the lens above at 17mm.

Anyway, back to to the ring light.

It can either be constant lighting or it will flash. Not sure if there is any advantage to just having it flash. I wonder if the intensity is greater or if the LED's are just flicked on for a second? I also found that it would not flash in "A" priority, but did in "M". Didn't try other modes. Would have to experiment to see if there is any advantage to the 'flash" mode. LED's run forever on a set of batteries so saving power isn't likely the reason. Perhaps if you were shooting a light sensitive subject maybe? Any suggestions?

Only complaint so far is that the battery door is hard to open or close, one would have to be very careful not to break it.
But I have only played with it a little, not a true test of the light.

Now to go find me something worth macroing ....

 

[Scott Murray]

Still adding to my lighting collection

Bought an Aputure Amaran Halo LED Ring Flash

This one was a bargain at about $80 (CDN$)

Bought from "The Camera Store" Aputure Amaran Halo LED Ring Flash - Nikon Mount

View attachment 242601

Here are a couple of sample shots - taken with a 60mm Nikkor Macro 2.8 lens using this new ring light.

View attachment 242602View attachment 242603

I like the way that you control the amount of light and by choosing only to turn on half the ring and rotating the ring you can control the direction of the light. The ring sits around the lens and it came with a set of rings for most common sized lenses.

If shooting with a ultra wide there is a 'bit of vignetting"

View attachment 242611

Turning off one side of the ring give some creative options.

View attachment 242612

Of course my 77mm is not a macro and the ring light is designed for macro work.

Mind you there is a new macro I have my eye on that is 77mm. It is a wide angle tilting macro
The Venus Optics 15mm f/4 Macro Lens by Laowa https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1165600-REG/venus_optics_laowa_15mm_f_4_macro.html I had a chance to put this lens on my D610 at a camera show last year before it was available for sale in Canada - very interesting. I would suspect this ring lens would vignette on it the same way it is vignetting on the lens above at 17mm.

Anyway, back to to the ring light.

It can either be constant lighting or it will flash. Not sure if there is any advantage to just having it flash. I wonder if the intensity is greater or if the LED's are just flicked on for a second? I also found that it would not flash in "A" priority, but did in "M". Didn't try other modes. Would have to experiment to see if there is any advantage to the 'flash" mode. LED's run forever on a set of batteries so saving power isn't likely the reason. Perhaps if you were shooting a light sensitive subject maybe? Any suggestions?

Only complaint so far is that the battery door is hard to open or close, one would have to be very careful not to break it.
But I have only played with it a little, not a true test of the light.

Now to go find me something worth macroing ....

The 'flash' option would allow for lower ISO's and would work more like a flash than as a light. I had a LED ring light very similar and it was only a light, didn't last on my camera as I had to use high ISO's so settled for a speedlight setup. I am interested in seeing how the Flash mode works and if it outputs enough light for say ISO 100, S/S 1/250 sec, F/16.

 

[TKC_D500]

Still adding to my lighting collection

Bought an Aputure Amaran Halo LED Ring Flash

This one was a bargain at about $80 (CDN$)

Bought from "The Camera Store" Aputure Amaran Halo LED Ring Flash - Nikon Mount

View attachment 242601
....

I have one of those that I got in a box of "mixed photography equipment" at a garage sale. Haven't spent much time with it yet, though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fortkentdad]

The 'flash' option would allow for lower ISO's and would work more like a flash than as a light. I had a LED ring light very similar and it was only a light, didn't last on my camera as I had to use high ISO's so settled for a speedlight setup. I am interested in seeing how the Flash mode works and if it outputs enough light for say ISO 100, S/S 1/250 sec, F/16.

Found a review on line that explained that in flash mode (which he said must be done in Manual as I discovered) but the flash is 'about twice the light" as the constant. Good to know.
The review is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKw45qxawAI


Tried your suggestion of ISO 100 - 1/250 and F16 (My D610 sync is 1/200 but put tried it anyway - seemed to work at 250).

Here is what I got - light maybe six inches at most from feather



So no - not at those settings. Mind you go plus one in post processing on the exposure scale (I'm using Corel Aftershot).


usable - but ...

Up the ISO to 400 (todays cameras handle 400 easily)


Still dim but useable.


proximity matters - this one shot closer - maybe 3" away - at your F16, 250 ISO 100.

Back off I had to up the ISO to 400 and slow the shutter



So if you need those settings, unless you are shooting really close, this is not the light for you.
But I'm good with ISO's up to 800 without batting an eye, and F8 is great. So this light can work for me.

BTW - these are all small files as when I tried even a file as 'big" as 2.2 MB it said too big. I thought the limit was 10 MB. So had to really reduce the image size and qualify for this set.

 

[Scott Murray]

Found a review on line that explained that in flash mode (which he said must be done in Manual as I discovered) but the flash is 'about twice the light" as the constant. Good to know.
The review is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKw45qxawAI


Tried your suggestion of ISO 100 - 1/250 and F16 (My D610 sync is 1/200 but put tried it anyway - seemed to work at 250).

Here is what I got - light maybe six inches at most from feather

View attachment 242703

So no - not at those settings. Mind you go plus one in post processing on the exposure scale (I'm using Corel Aftershot).

View attachment 242704
usable - but ...

Up the ISO to 400 (todays cameras handle 400 easily)

View attachment 242705
Still dim but useable.

View attachment 242706
proximity matters - this one shot closer - maybe 3" away - at your F16, 250 ISO 100.

Back off I had to up the ISO to 400 and slow the shutter

View attachment 242707

So if you need those settings, unless you are shooting really close, this is not the light for you.
But I'm good with ISO's up to 800 without batting an eye, and F8 is great. So this light can work for me.

BTW - these are all small files as when I tried even a file as 'big" as 2.2 MB it said too big. I thought the limit was 10 MB. So had to really reduce the image size and qualify for this set.
View attachment 242708

Doesn't look too bad... Thanks for the test.

 

[mikew_RIP]

New battery



Thumb grip

 

[Danno_RIP]

Well, I stepped out and bought a Wacom clone. I purchased a Huion INSPIROY G10T Pen and Touch Wireless Graphic Drawing Tablet. I have some significant tremors in both hands when I try to do anything with precision. Stuff like using a mouse to remove a power line is almost impossible. Amazon had this on sale and I figured it was worth a try.

I have found it helps me a lot. I rest my hand on the tablet and can slide it much easier than the mouse. The tremors are still there, but the zigzag patter is more like a metal cutting saw blade than a wood cutting saw blade. I also can control the line width by how hard I press.

It has been really helpful. Silly stuff I struggled with are easier. My only wish is that the pen were fatter.

No photo... it is just a flat plate.... not really much to see.

 

[cwgrizz]

My only wish is that the pen were fatter.

Well Danno, with your engineering experience, I'm sure you can come up with a way to make the pen fatter ie slip a piece of rubber hose (vacuum line/fuel line) over it or wrap tape around it to build it up or....
Good deal on your purchase.