Friday, October 5, 2012

D800 Short(ish) Film Debut!

     Hey everyone!  This is just going to be a quick one:

     Over the past few months, I have been using my D800 to shoot what was intended to be a short film.  The film started out as a very simple short film to test out the capabilities of the D800 and quickly turned into a production all its own thanks to the collaborations I received from my wonderful cast.  More inside.


Monday, September 17, 2012

New Sigma Lenses Announced, and one hinted at!

As you may have read in a previous post, Sigma has announced three new lenses today.  And, Sigma's US site seems to hint at another arriving shortly, probably at Photokina next week.

Read more:

The Sigma Revolution


I always love getting an email from Sigma.  As much of as a Nikon fanboy as I am, I admittedly love Sigma as a company.  Sigma's top-end lenses are simply incredible for the most part.  I have owned one copy of every class of Macro lens Sigma currently makes besides the new 180mm F/2.8 macro and many, many others over the years.

Currently, I'm lusting over the Sigma 120-300mm F/2.8 OS.  Lucky, and partly unluckily, for me, Sigma has just announced a redesign of said lens!  I'm very excited to see what the company has come up with for the redesign inside the brand new, and quite sexy, exterior.

Along with the 120-300mm, they've also announced a 35mm F/1.4 and a new 17-70mm F/2.8-4 Macro lens.

Click to read more:

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Nikon D600 Preorder Options



**NOTE**: This post will be updated as more sources become available.  Check back frequently.


B&H Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

Adorama Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

Calumet Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

Amazon Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

Ritz Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

J&R Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

Bestbuy Preorder (Body only) || (With 24-85 VR)

Thanks,
Mark

Nikon D600 Synopsis & Coverage *UPDATED*



Hey guys!  In this post, you'll find all of the D600 coverage you'll need (save for the pre-order options.  Those are posted above.  You'll find links to all of the official pages, most of the videos that have shown up, and a list of the specs of the camera.  Enjoy!

I give to you, the Nikon D600 and WU-1b




     Hey there folks!  I won't bore you with some long-winded introduction to this post.  We both know why you're really here, and it's to see and read more about the brand-spankin'-new and much anticipated Nikon D600.  So, without further ado, here goes:

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Nikon D600 "sightings"!

With the announcement imminent (within an hour!), websites all over are preparing to offer their preorders of the Nikon D600.

Click:

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Nikon D700 Discontinued! D710/900, D600, D4s/x, D400, D7100 Predictions



As many of you know, it's been rumored that Nikon is going to be announcing the new D600 at Photokina next month.  It's rumored that the camera will pan out as such:


Friday, August 10, 2012

D800 Short Film - We All Fall Down (Teaser Trailer)

Well, there will be an extensive post in the future about the whole experience of filming this, as well as my impressions of the D800 as a video camera, behind-the-scenes photos and videos.  There's lots more to come in the very near future.  But, just to fill the time, here is a very short, extremely non-specific teaser-trailer for the film:

Monday, August 6, 2012

Nikno 1 J2 and new kit lens to be announced soon.

Photo Credit: Nikonrumors.com

     With all the mirrorless systems out there including incredible setups from Olympus (specifically their OM-D)  and Sony, alongside Panasonic, Samsung, Pentax, and now Canon with their announcement of the EOS-M, it's easy to miss Nikon's 1-series system amongst the rest (especially since there's only 4 lenses dedicated to the system as of yet).  First and foremost, I shoot with a DSLR.  I haven't owned a point-and-shoot since cell phone cameras started becoming more convenient, and I'm honestly not too well-versed in the world of the EVIL (electronic viewfinder, interchangeable lens) cameras.  But, that's all about to change.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

How-to: No-Budget Fine Art Photos From Home - Just Add Water







     Sometimes, you come along photos online that look completely otherworldly.  They amaze you, and it takes all you can do to try and figure out how the photographer accomplished something like that.  A few years ago, I came across a shot that looked strikingly similar to the one above.  The only thing was, it was black and white, and high contrast.  This made for a great artsy print, but I just felt that colors would really bring out the contours of the shapes, and make for some really interesting semi-abstracts.  It's a great technique to learn, and I'm going to show you how to do it.


Wednesday, June 20, 2012

War of 1812: Bicentennial Sailabration

     This past week, the Baltimore inner harbor welcomed over 40 ships from all around the world.  Mexico, Guatemala, Japan, Canada, and Indonesia were only some of the countries represented in the lineup.  The ships sailed in on June 13th, and sailed out on June 19th.  The event was the commemoration of the war of 1812 and the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. 

     Walk-around tours of the ships themselves were offered at no charge to all spectators.  Should you have been lucky enough to actually survive the wait line, and still have visiting time to spare, I'm sure it was quite the spectacle.  I, however, took a different approach.  One a bit less "touristy".

     At night, after all the crowds have disbursed and the sailors went in for the evening, the ships were strung with lights and lit up with all the brilliance of a christmas tree.  It was a beautiful sight, indeed.  One to be cherished, and definitely not to be missed.  Anticipating the crowd of spectators and tourists alike, I made sure to get there will after the mainstream crowds had gone for the evening.

Photos inside!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Calvert Cliffs with the D800 (and resolution test!)

Hello again everyone.  Sorry for the delay in posts for so long!  Anywho, this past week I've been able to take the beast out for a while this past week.  I had the chance to get over to Calvert Cliffs in southern Maryland.  The place really is a fantastic retreat and is full of wonderful photographic opportunities.  As per my luck, I was rained out shortly after arriving, but I did manage to snap a few shots off.  Here are some of the ones I particularly liked:


Friday, March 30, 2012

More D800 samples. Highish ISO, Night-time AF test.

Hello everyone!  Hope all is well.  Over the past few days, I've had only a handful of chances to play around with the D800.  So, I'm sure you have no interest of hearing too much.  So, without further adieu, let's get to the photos, shall we?


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

New Film Coming Up: Preview!

     Hey everyone!  I've been working on a short film idea for the past while awaiting my D800.  Well, now it's come in, and work can begin.  I don't want to give away too much, but it's going to be nice and gritty. Before I sold my previous DSLR, I filmed what I am going to now use as a preview to the full-length feature film.  As of now, the name of the film will be "We All Fall Down," but that's a working title.  So, nothing too permanent.

Anyhow, without further adieu, here's the preview!

Nikon D300s
Sigma 24-70mm F/2.8 ED IF HSM II
Nikon 50mm F/1.8D
Tokina 11-16mm F/2.8 AT-X PRO DX
Sigma 180mm F/3.5 EX DG HSM APO IF Macro
Manfrotto 055XB
Manfrotto 504hdv
Manfrotto 804RC2
Cinemover

Be sure to watch in full screen, 720p, and with the speakers up!




Thanks for stopping in.  I'd love to hear your input below!

Mark

Nikon D800 HDR and Video Samples (@ISO3200!) *UPDATED*

Well, like the title says, I've had one full day now to fiddle about with the D800.

I've taken some photos, of course.  None of which I feel are really up to par to show you guys.  They're incredibly bland, to be completely honest.  This is to no fault of the camera, however.  The camera's an incredible performer!  The resolution is incredible.  The focus is untouchable.  Color rendering and dynamic range are impeccable as was to be expected.  I'm utterly amazed by the performance of this beast of a piece of kit.


Monday, March 26, 2012

Nikon D800 in Hand! - First Impressions

At the time of this post, I have only had the camera for a few hours, and this post will show my first impressions.  There will be many more posts to come as I grow more with the camera, so stay tuned!  Click below to see the first part of the review!

Mark


Monday, January 30, 2012

Upcoming Nikon Releases


     There have been announcements made that there will be Nikon press release events held in Japan on both February 1, and February 7.
     For those of you who haven't been following the photographic media, this means that the new line of updated coolpix cameras will be announced on the 1st. This is said to include a water-, shock-, and childproof version specifically designed for children. I don't know much about the coolpix line, honestly. It's simply not something I look into too often.
     
     The more interesting stuff after the break. :)