STOP ME PLEASE!

[fujifilmnut]

Planning to buy a D2X on Tuesday.

Have:

12-24 Nikkor :)
17-55 Nikkor :)
24-120 Nikkor VR :(
70-300 Nikkor :)
50 Nikkor 1.8 :)

Any last minute advice before I jump off the deep end?

Jim

[Melody]

Nope, not a thing :D

I am only sorry it's Sunday and you can't have it today, I know fly out, I'll take you and your wife out to Palm Springs for dinner, and you can play with mine that should help the time go faster!

Congratulations!!


Melody

[Melody]

:rofl: gosh I'm still laughing I can't believe you ask for someone to stop you with a please even, when you knew there's a blonde on the board who loves to shop! Good thing I saw this thread before anyone else! :lol: :lol:

Ok advice, yes read lost of posts on here and other forums regarding setting it up for your use, that way you won't be near as frustrated as the rest of us at first and will love it faster. If you do this over the weekend you'll be set to go.

Melody

[fujifilmnut]

Melody,

You are too much fun!

Sandy (SanDee) - also a blonde - is not only in favor of it, she is encouraging me to do it! The D70 is such a fine piece of equipment, it sold me on the D2X.

I actually thought of waiting for the D200 - just to get the latest technology but prefer to have it as a potential BU to the D2X later and trade the D70 and S3 for it.

Jim

[Melody]

I knew I liked Sandy! See proof not only are blondes more fun, we are smart shoppers too!

I bet you never touch the d70 once you play with the d2x at 8fps and feel it, uh maybe you better order two, Sandy and I seem to have similar taste :) Well or she can lend the one to you on occassion! :lol:

Gosh I am funny!!

Melody

[fujifilmnut]

Melody,

For real, what suggestions on extra battery, etc? Also, the D70 has a carriage to use 3 CR123's as a backup for emergencies. Can you do this with the D2X?

Jim

[Igor]

Go for it Jim, you'll never look back.
See this 1:1 UNPROCESSED crop and tell me will you ever get anything like this from S2/S3/D70 ?

[Melody]

No not that I am aware of on the d2x, I didn't buy an extra battery as I had one with the d2h and honestly I've never had to use it. Like the d70 I believe, the battery lasts a LONG time, I shoot raw&jpg with the horses and easily can get 1500 images in one days shoot with no need for another battery I just charge it that night for the next day. If I'm not at an event I can go for weeks without charging and I still take a decent amount of pictures well over a 1000 anyway.

I've got cs2 as well so I didn't purchase nikon capture either and haven't missed it.

The only thing you might want if shooting raw and now playing with something at 8fps you can really "follow" those birds and get them in a series is possibly an extra cf card or two because you'll be amazed at how much you shoot.

Others really like Thom Hogans book on the D2x as well, I haven't ordered it yet so I can't comment there.

Melody

[petej]

Hay Jim, Just go for it, you will love it

It all just feels right, if that’s the right word, :)

As far as batteries go you can normally shot all day on one but I always have a spare just in case

Enjoy!

Cheers :cheers:

[fujifilmnut]

Very nice shot Igor! The blue sky is beautiful in the background. Thanks for the encouragement.

Melody, I have never run my D70 down. My S3 has died after shooting a lot of raw and 12MP however. I think I will buy the extra battery later. My local dealer has two in the box so I think I will get it from them. If they do not give me a good price, I think I will buy from Berger Bros.

Pete, it has been too long since I had my F4s in my hands and I sure miss the speed and feel. Although the S3 is nice, it feels like my old N90s and not like the F4s. So I am looking forward to the heavier and larger camera. My hands are large (size 14 ring and size glove) so the D70 feels tiny to me.

[sandman]

I 've bought a spare battery Jim but have never needed it , in the menu section is an accurate gauge of battery life .
Can't say what the 70-300 is like , but for me the 70-200VR 2.8 is a winning combo .
Never had a sharpness problem with the 24-120VR as you seem to have , but i've all your other lenses , plus the 80-400VR they all give great results on the D2X .
Takes time to learn which focus control does what , depending what you shoot , but once you've nailed it the images are brilliant , i just shoot med jpeg , only used RAW on a couple of weddings , but fine jpeg , med size gives usable file sizes for me anyway .
Those military and maritime images , were shot at those sizes and resized to 100kb for the forum , and the sharpness is still there to see , (70-200 as well).
17-55 and 70-200VR are the main 2 lenses i use on the D2X , you'll love the images from the 17-55 .

Brian

[fujifilmnut]

Brian,

Thank you. Looks like a 70-200 VR will replace my 70-300 and 24-120!

Jim

[fujifilmnut]

Melody, Brian and Igor,

Do you use sRGB or Adobe I, II or III in your images with the D2X?

Jim

[sandman]

I use sRGB and colour mode 1 , but i'm well aware that a lot use Adobe colour space because of it's higher gambit , i just find for the sort of shots i take (landscapes , candids ) that those 2 modes suit me and my printer .
colour space 111 is surposed to give subtlier results for portraits .

Brian

[Melody]

Hi Jim,

I always shoot raw even when I take numerous pics of horses, unlike the S3 it's not a problem even with the high fps. I use Adobe RGB settings and leave them in 16bit, it fits my printers whether I'm doing paper/canvas or the fabric tiles etc. I want the most flexibility. I'll get it out of the car in a bit and verify which color mode, I don't recall which one. The 70-200vr or the 28-70 just stay on the camera as walk arounds for me, I'm not as tall as Brian and have no fear of hitting kids with it :lol:

Melody

[Igor]

Jim, my jpg setting is sRGB, but, as Melody, I shoot 99% RAW, processing in RAWShooter is a breeze and fun. :righton:

[fujifilmnut]

Brian, Melody and Igor,

Thank you all so much for your help. As you will understand, I am getting extremely excited about shooting and want to have a flying start. I downloaded the D2X manual and have quickly looked at the highlights. I will read more tonight.

Jim

[fujifilmnut]

Brian, Igor and Melody,

Do you use a Stroboframe for the SB800? If so, the quick flip or regular?

[sandman]

See you've downgraded Melody to last (good thing too)
No i just stick the SB800 on the hot shoe , thought about a frame or an off camera thingie , but i hardly use the flash so i don't bother , i find i get decent results , no red eye with it just on the shoe , don't do studio shots so shadows don't bother me much .

Brian

[Igor]

Jim,
I use flash for macro mostly, where no stroboframe needed.
Good diffuser is much more efficient IMO.

[Melody]

See you've downgraded Melody to last (good thing too)

Brian

Well Brian won't be bothering us for awhile he's all tied up! :lol: I don't use flash much either, when I do it's on the hotshoe although I met a nice guy while on vacation a and I really liked this gizmo he got from RRS then had "modified" with the beamer on it for use with the longer lenses, I'm going to contact him for details on that.

Melody

[fujifilmnut]

Brian, Igor and Melody,

Thanks again for your help.

Names are in order of response. I am not very PC so who am I kidding? :troutsmac

[High ISO!]

Hi Jim,
Haven't been around much this weekend, so I'm late on this thread. I'm SURE you will have a great time with the D2X! I wasn't so keen on it, when I first got it, but now I am thinking of getting a second body.

Here are a couple shots I captured this weekend....the bird was cropped at 50%. He was shot with the 28-70, SB800. The horse was not cropped & shot with the 70-200VR 1.4TC, both are straight out of the box, other than that crop, and shot as fine jpg. I would have prefered to shoot this RAW, but I had card constraints, so jpg fine was the best I could do. :o

Less than 24 hours until you get your new baby! :D

Alissa

[AzRich]

how did you get that close to the Kestrel!?!

Nice shots indeed!

[fujifilmnut]

I can't sleep. It's 4AM. Boy will I be tired tomorrow!

I am up reading reviews on the D2X. I am a sick person. :dunce:

This is worse than the tension before a root canal or final exam!

Thanks AZ for the shots. Those are unbelievable. I think I am going for the 70-200 VR as well.

Will someone send me money -- lots of money? I will be nice to anyone who sends me money. I promise to even think of them often..

Please....

Jim

[Melody]

OK it's 1:30am here and I must not be sleepy for you!

But hey the stores will open faster there!

You'll love the 70-200 it was my first lens for the S2 and I still like it as much as when I got it.

OK I'll send you lots of money, no problem, did I mention I sometimes talk in my sleep? :lol:

Melody

[Melody]

btw you've read this thread haven't you? http://fmount.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13418

see I'm even efficient in my sleep :D

Melody

[Melody]

Well your not even on line now! You go to sleep when I've found more reading material? I know consider the not sleeping etc. labor pains for the new additions arrival! :lol:

I don't know what I'm gonna consider mine, must be a sign I should go shopping when everyone goes back to work, yep bet that's it :)

Night!

Melody

[sandman]

, did I mention I sometimes talk in my sleep? :lol:

Melody

Now why does'nt that surprise me .

Brian

[fujifilmnut]

Lucky me, I have 3 stores in easy driving distance that stock the D2X. The first one opens in 1 hour. :)

By the way I found a great resource for D2X info on Nikonians here:

http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/tips-n-tricks/index.html

Been reading and find I am slightly confused!! There is so much to learn. :confused: but :)

[fujifilmnut]

Fujifilmnut seemed a great name in the S2 days. It got harder to carry with the S3 delays.

If I revive NikonNut I could be boxing myself in again.

All ideas are welcome....

Wait a minute... I would have to be crazy to open myself up like that.....

OK, nearly all ideas are welcome... :D

[High ISO!]

how did you get that close to the Kestrel!?!

Nice shots indeed!

Hi Rich,
Thanks! I don't want to hijack Jim's thread so I'll start a new one in Wildlife. :D

Alissa

[High ISO!]

Hey Jim,
You should just about have that new camera in your hands by now! I can't wait to see you photos! Let us ALL nkow how much you love the camera!

Good Luck, and have a ton o' fun with it!
Alissa

[fujifilmnut]

Battery charging. 70-200 installed. New Lowepro bag for the rig.

2GB fast card

Took test shot in the store of my SanDee - always great shots of her.

Will be out shooting for a while and will post images this evening.

Thanks to everyone who helped me. :cheers:

[Melody]

Woohoo! Congratulations!!

Waiting for the battery to charge is the hardest part!

Melody

[fujifilmnut]

My shots are posting in color photos. They are essentially test shots of whatever I saw. All handheld with 70-200, Large, Fine jpegs, all else about standard settings.

It sure spoils you! My D70 feels really light now.