New member from Ohio.

B

Blackhat

Senior Member
Hello world.

I'm Jake. My primary hobby is train chasing: I'm what's known as a railfan. Been interested in trains since I was a little boy back in the 1960s, what with the B&O running coal trains past my bedroom window night and day. My first camera was a Kodak Hawkeye Instamatic II that shot 126 cartridge film (my parents bought it with S&H Green Stamps; I still have it) and, of course, I took lots of pictures of trains with it. Over the ensuing years, my air force career afforded me the means to get better camera equipment as well as opportunities to photograph trains across the country.

I became a Nikon owner quite accidentally. I currently work in a vocational high school on their technology staff. Back in January of 2011, one of the Graphic Arts instructors asked for my opinion on dSLRs, as he was wanting to purchase one for himself. Graphic Arts had two Nikon D5000s and two Canon 7Ds, so I asked to borrow one of each for a few days. Couldn't get into the Canon at all: big, bulky, heavy...it just didn't appeal to me. The Nikon, however, caught my imagination right away. I decided to test it the best way I knew how: by taking pictures of trains. I didn't have long to wait nor far to travel on that account because the Ohio Central Railroad runs - what else - coal trains behind my house. Well, the first time I tripped the shutter, I knew I had to get one for myself. After suffering years of hit-and-miss (mostly miss) photographing trains with point-and-shoots, finally I had a camera that faithfully mimicked my Contax film SLRs. I bought a D5000 with the two kit lenses (a month before Nikon released the D5100, but I didn't care). I added a 35mm DX prime lens that summer, and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy myself.

Seven years have passed since I bought that D5000. I just replaced it and the two kit lenses with a refurbished D7200 and 18-140mm DX zoom lens, and will add a 70-300mm AF-P DX zoom lens in a couple months. I can't wait to put my new gear to work.

DSC_0851_DxO.jpg

(My first photo with a Nikon, with a little post-processing by DxO Optics Pro 9.)
 
B

Blackhat

Senior Member
Needa said:
Welcome!

If you have not already do your research before purchasing the 70-300mm AF-P DX or the 70-300mm AF-P DX VR for use on the D7200. As you may know the VR model has no VR switch so VR can't be turned off on a d7200. You may also want to also consider the AF-S 70-300VR.

Some discussion here.
https://nikonites.com/telephoto/378...300mm-af-p-f4-5-6-3-a.html?highlight=70-300mm
Click to expand...

I have followed the discussion/debate concerning the 70-300mm AF-P zoom lens across several forums. I also have access to the 70-300mm AF-S FX zoom lens from the aforementioned Graphic Arts lab, and have given that lens a try with my D5000 last year. Two things stood out in the comments of owners of the AF-P lens: It has very fast auto-focus, and it produces very sharp images. As much as I liked my D5000, its images were never as sharp as I thought they could be. The kit lenses I used with it bore some of the blame, no doubt, but I had decided it was time to move on, and move up to better gear.

The progression that ended up at a D7200 refurb actually started with a D5300 refurb due to the limitations of my chosen post-processing software, DxO Optics Pro 9. The D5300 was the most recent of the D5x00 line the program supported. Reviews about the D5300, though, criticized how many of the camera's functions were buried in menus that took too many button presses to get to. So I started looking at the D7100, which retained a button layout somewhat similar to my D5000. Reviews about the D7100, unfortunately, also had negatives that dissuaded me from it, one of which was the banding issue. I ended up with the D7200 as the best choice, but it forced me to abandon DxO Optics Pro 9 because it wasn't supported. I decided that after using free versions of Optics Pro over the years, maybe it was time to pay for a copy - now know as DxO Photo Lab.

As for the choice between the DX AF-P and the FX AF-S 70-300mm zoom lens, the thing that finally pushed me over the edge to the AF-P copy was Thom Hogan's review. While I will acknowledge that the current lack of a way to disable VR will be a deal-breaker to some, that's a trade-off I am willing to make if it's as sharp as everyone says. At any rate, I will find out in a couple months. In the meantime, I'll borrow Graphic Arts' 70-300mm FX zoom and see how it performs on my D7200. There's an eagle nest not too far from where I live, and I've been dying to use my D7200 on it with a long lens. (No, I can't afford the 200-500mm that everybody raves about!)

Thanks for the welcome, everybody!
 
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