>>Yeah the Nikon D70 is a 1.5 ratio so my 17-70mm acts as a 28-105mm. Of course this being the case that would make the Nikkor 60mm an effective 90mm and the 100mm an effective 150mm.
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>>I've been looking at a 70-300mm Nikkor lens for my distance shooting, but saw many recommendations for an older 70-210mm lens that had better glass/construction.
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>>I don't think my hand is steady enough for shooting the long distances without a tripod yet anyways, so it's probably a moot discussion.
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>>0 of 3 goals complete, but all in good time.
>>
>>- Eastern Indigo
>>- Redtail Hawk
>>- Neopolitan Mastiff
Well, I use a tripod and remote release whenever I possibly can. Trying to use a tripod without a remote release defeats the tripod, by the way.
It's not just telephoto that requires using a tripod. Anytime you are magnifying the image (such as with Macro or Tele), the vibrations and camera shake are magnified right along with the image. It is critical to use a tripod and cable release any time you are magnifying the image to any appreciable degree.
The "Rule of Thumb" for hand-held shots is that you need to use a shutter speed equal to or greater than the focal length of the lens. So, if you are shooting with a 50mm lens, then you can get away with hand-held shots at 1/60 or faster. That's easy to accomplish. On the other hand, if you are using a 500mm lens, then you would need a shutter speed of 1/500 or faster. Due to the fact that these lenses are slower than normal lenses, usually around f6.5 or higher, those shutter speeds are normally not possible (especially if you want useable DOF). You can buy faster long lenses, but they are insanely large and expensive. The aperture value is a ratio of the size of the aperture opening to the focal length of the lens, so f8 would be a ratio of 1:8, meaning that if the lens is 80mm, the aperture is 10mm. So, you can see that for a 500 mm lens, to acheive a maximum aperture of f2, the aperture opening would have to be 250mm across. That results in an enormous (and heavy) front lens element. The more glass, the heavier and more expensive the lens.
When you buy a tripod, don't skimp. You will quickly find out that cheap tripods aren't as stable and the heads aren't as secure and easy to adjust as better tripods. Bogen and Gitzo make good tripods. For general use I like Bogen tripods and Arca-Swiss ball heads, for wildlife I like Arca gimbal heads. However, that results in a relatively expensive combination ($800.00 or more). You can do just as well with one of the Bogen higher-end tilt/pan or ball heads for less than half the price of Arca.
I also buy cameras that have a mirror lockup feature. One of the problems that you encounter with Macrophotography is vibration induced by mirror slap. When you press the shutter release, a number of things happen in sequence:
1. The final metering is done (in auto modes)
2. The aperture is stopped down to the chosen setting
3. The mirror flops up out of the way (that's why the finder goes black)
4. The shutter fires
5. The mirror returns to it's normal position
6. The aperture returns to "wide-open".
In step 3 the action of the mirror flopping up against it's stops induces some vibration which will be magnified in the image. Locking the mirror up and allowing the vibrations to settle down before releasing the shutter eliminates that problem.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson
