Mornin' :)

[Kaouthia]

So I've posted on a few threads, but not really introduced myself yet...

My name's John and I've been suffering from NAS for about 10 years now. It started off fairly simply with a Nikon N90s (that's F90x to folks outside of the US) and a lowly 28-80mm f/4.5-5.6D AF lens. Eventually I found my way into the digital world with a Nikon D100 (I ended up owning 3 of them, but now only one remains). Mostly back then my shots were animals (birds of prey, reptiles, amphibians, pets, etc), and a few product photo shoots for clients I was doing other work for. I also covered company picnics and outings and did a few corporate portraits for a company I used to work for.

Since then I moved back to England, upgraded to a D200, and now a D300s and expanded my lens collection to cover most situations I need to shoot (but I still have that 24-70mm f/2.8 on my shopping list), with several speedlights and associated light modifiers. Since getting the D200 I've done plenty of product shots, interiors for clients, corporate portraits, some advertising shots and gotten a lot more experience with shooting birds of prey while hunting.

But now I'm reinventing myself and starting over, photographically speaking. There are some things I've not really been a big fan of in the past (landscapes, for example, were previously not a huge interest), and some things I've just not had the opportunities to try out yet. So my 2010 resolution is to shoot more different subjects and styles of photography to try to learn about as many different aspects of photography as possible.

So, here I am.

 

[nikonkid]

Nice to meet you john, and hopefuly will get to see some of your work.Graham

 

[alexhcowley]

Greetings, John. Comiserations over your problem with NAS. I've been suffering from the related condition of CAS for about eight years.

It's been over two weeks since I've been anywhere near the Manchester Jacobs but - I'm deeply ashamed of this but I must be honest - I partially slipped off the wagon and cruised past the St Albans branch of Jessops twice in the week before Christmas. Fortunately, I had my mum with me at the time so I managed to avoid doing anything stupid. The EOS 7D in the window was sorely tempting, though.

 

[pepper]

Sorry but I thought to begin with that NAS was a Nikon buying addiction or something, had to google it to find out what it was, don't you just love abbreviations.

Hi and welcome from another relative newbie.

 

[Kaouthia]

Yeah, that happens to me all the time. So far this year I've picked up the D300s & Grip, the 70-200VR, a pair of SB-900s, and have another one on the way thanks to Nikon's free SB-900 special offer (that's what finally tipped me over the edge on the D300s).

Still on the hunt for a good quality used D2xs with relatively low actuations, but I think the 24-70 f/2.8 will have to wait a while.

Edit : Yes, apologise, for the Non-Nikon shooters, here's the definition of NAS.

 

[Wail]

Hi John, and to TP.

I have to say, you do suffer from NAS big time. Admitting such is the first corrective step you can take; of course, I ought to warn you that there is no known remedy. Dropping photography was listed as an option, but the few who've attempted that ended up committing suicide :shrug:, not a favourable option!

Curious, why are you looking for a D2Xs, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Kaouthia]

I have to say, you do suffer from NAS big time. Admitting such is the first corrective step you can take

But that assumption works on the basis that I actually want to be cured.

Curious, why are you looking for a D2Xs, if you don't mind me asking?

Well, the "official reason" is that it's an exercise to cut down weight & space in my camera bag. When I first got the D200, I was using the D100 as a second body (both with grips attached). One would have the 50mm f/1.8D attached, the other would have the 300mm f/4 AF-S attached (a handy combo to keep with me covering events or falconry field meetings). Before that it was a pair of D100s and grips.

I'd often be carrying around at least 8 batteries with me (depending on how long I expected be shooting without access to AC power to recharge); A pair of EN-EL3 batteries inside the D100, and another pair fully charged in my bag, and a pair of EN-EL3e batteries inside the D200, and again another pair fully charged up inside my bags.

Now, I've upgraded to the D300s, with the D200 as my second body. I only have 5 EN-EL3e batteries, so it's 2 in the D200, 2 in the D300s and 1 spare sitting in my bags.

The D2Xs uses EN-EL4a batteries that I can also use inside the MB-D10 on my D300s. From everything I've been reading, and from speaking to other EN-EL4a compatible body owners, a single EN-EL4a holds a larger charge than that of a pair of EN-EL3e batteries (with less total weight). So, I can use a single EN-EL4a inside the grip instead of a pair of EN-EL3e batteries on the D300s (which also means I don't have to keep removing the grip each time I want to replace the battery inside the body, as there won't be a battery inside the D300s body).

So, instead of picking up another 3 EN-EL3e batteries and having the weight of 8 total in my bags, I'll only need to carry 4 EN-EL4a batteries and save a few ounces (and free up a bit of room inside my bag at the same time). As the D2Xs also comes with the appropriate charger for the EN-EL4a batteries, that saves me about £125 or so on the cost of buying a new one. I've seen D2Xs bodies sell for around £500 recently.

I know I'll go the EN-EL4a route with my D300s at some point anyway to get that extra 1fps (yeah, yeah, I know ), so with not having to buy a separate EN-EL4a charger, that basically brings the D2Xs cost down to about £375. More than justified imo for such a powerful body - especially when the price at B&H was around US$5,000 when I first started drooling over them.

The real reason, of course, is NAS.

The D200 has always been called "The D2x's little brother", and I think that "big bro" would be a better second body to cart around with me than the D200 (I've always wanted to try the 300/4 in "high speed crop mode"). I can then also do what I promised and give the D200 to the wife now that I have a D300s (and the D100 can join my N90s on the shelf as just a pretty decoration in my office).

 

[Wail]

Sounds like NAS logic to me, ; but in a weird way, it does make sense.

The D2Xs is a wonderful camera, and it's amazing how it can still hold its' place in light of newer, and seemingly more advanced bodies. Pretty good at what it is supposed to do, and amazing at low ISO.

 

[Kaouthia]

Sounds like NAS logic to me, ; but in a weird way, it does make sense.

You can tell I spent a lot of time thinking about this one huh?

The D2Xs is a wonderful camera, and it's amazing how it can still hold its' place in light of newer, and seemingly more advanced bodies. Pretty good at what it is supposed to do, and amazing at low ISO.

To be honest, it amazes me how any of these bodies still manage to stand up years later. The only real reason I really upgraded to the D200 was because I wanted to try to convince my dad to switch over to the dark side when he was considering making the jump to digital and I saw a D200+Grip for sale at the right price.

So I gave him one of my D100s (I've owned 3 over the years, my first one cost me US$1750 for the body only), along with the grip, a Nikon 75-300mm lens (a much better lens, and FAR more solid, than the plastic 70-300mm G that replaced it imo) and an SB-50DX flash.

The D100 would've probably sufficed for the majority of shooting I do (I still used it as a primary body until the end of 2008), although it often took a bit more post-processing work to achieve the desired results, and I've been spoiled by the new features, higher detail, faster frame rates, faster and more accurate AF, timelapse without having to tether to a laptop, and all the other gadgets and doohickies available on more modern bodies, which really makes it hard for me to go back to using it now.

 

[Wail]

The 70-300 G, slow, noisy, plastic all over and not practical in anything less than pure sunlight. Still, I've had some of my best F1 shots taken with that lens :shrug:! Either I managed to learn how to get such good results out of it, or my IQ expectations are horridly low