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:

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:

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:

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!

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.

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

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. :)