Changing Camera System

[Mike G]

Daniel, I with hindsight I bought the D810 and pro glass as an ego trip if I'm honest, and again honestly I only get to use a 1/10 of its capability, yet another reason for the rethink! My all time favourite is the 24-120mm f4 super stuff!

David I'm sort of with you there but I would like a small & light profession class camera that has all the exposure bells and whistles and most definitely address Nikon's dreadful viewfinders, also they seem unable to cater for the wide end with other than expensive lenses. I think what I'm saying is that Nikon are way too conservative! And most definitely lose the pop up flash!!!!

Herman, I have a Nikon EDG scope and the eyepieces cause me no trouble! a £2000 fund camera and I can't see the whole viewfinder WHY(sorry for shouting) Why should viewfinders be a compromise?? Its all down to the crappy eye point of Nikon camera bodies, should be a minimum of 25mm! After all this last time I looked is the 21st century

Bjorn as I said the Fuji is an experiment and I shall retain the Nikon gear for the present! Last year I PXed a 17-35mm for the 16-35mm f4, hindsight tells me that was a mistake, my best buy was the 300mmf4 PF!

Frank bless you old son one of these days I will understand you, rock on.

[Erik Lund]

Did you ever try a Nikon Df? If not, Please do so - You will be surprised!

[Mike G]

Eric yes quite briefly at a Nikon school and yes I was attracted but for me the problem was sticking great lumps of glass on the front of it! I have to really think about my lenses and may well rationalise them.

I have 35 1.8 50 1.8 60 2.8 D. 105 macro 16-35 f4 24-120 300 4 PF!

[Frank Fremerey]

What could it be that old father Mike does not understand?

Xtrans versus Bayer?

There are two different arrangements of color filters on the
Photo recording Chip.

Xtrans is Fuji
Bayer is everyone else but Sigma

They differ very much when editing photos later. Bayer recipies
do not cook Xtrans files very well. Contrast color and sharpening
behave quite differently.

cheers

Frank

PS. If you should sell your 35mm lens one day I might be interested

[David H. Hartman]

I wanted a 36x24mm, FX camera when people were saying Nikon would never make a "full frame" camera. A major reason for me is background blurring. When I bought my first dSLR, a Nikon D2H, I knew what to expect but I was still disappointed when I saw how little the background burring was with a 70/2.8 lens. I wanted the same blurring I could get with a 105/2.5 on 35mm. I suspected for a long time that background blurring wasn't quite DoF but couldn't back that up. I finally found Bob Atkins explanation. When the background is well outside the DoF zone the background blurring is controlled by the absolute physical size of the lens aperture not the aperture ratio. I also found about the same time a Russian guy with heavy math and the same explanation. That site I can no longer find.

Mike I'd go really slow about changing systems. I'd pare down the lenses that you take with you at any given time. If you own and are going to carry the Holy Trinity I'd do that with a small truck.

“Anything more than 500 yards from the car just isn’t photogenic.”  – Edward Weston

---

I'd be hard pressed to switch to a 1" format as my primary camera. I wouldn't have the ability to blur background for candid photos of people that I have with FX. I would like a very small camera to carry all the time. Right now I'd carrying a D800, an AF 35-105/3.5-4.5D IF, AF 50/1.8, 105/2.8 AIS and a 20/2.8 AIS. I've been doing this since a house across the street was burglarized. I don't want to be wiped out. This is a bit much to carry but I'm doing it.

I've probably said this before by I'd like a D800/E/10 sized camera with all the tech goodness of the D5 and D500, one with the 21MP sensor from the D5 and one with a 36MP sensor with better high ISO noise and a little more dynamic range. I can always add noise if I want and know how to compress or clip dynamic range if I have too much.

The truth is the thing I need most is time but that's another story.

Dave

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I admit to be continuously puzzled about the viewfinder issues Mike reports on. Have you ever tried the F3 HP?

[Mike G]

Bjorn no I haven't, I had heard of it and seen pictures but as it was MF I went from Canon to Nikon AF, my eyesight is not great for MF now why can't we have that HP VF for an autofocus body! All I would like is a VF where I can see ALL of the view, Nikon seem to be intent on not doing that, WHY I've never yet seen a nikon VF that is worth its salt, I can only speak from my own experience, I see the whole picture with the Fuji VF!

Dave I hear what you say and I'm in no hurry to sell the Nikon gear, I'm just trying out the Fuji system as a possible alternative! A big thing is that I'm a non driver so schlepping a bag full of  gear around is a whole different experience for me

Frank Yep I do know the difference between the two sensor patterns! and Frank you will get first refusal should the occasion arise! Its not so much that I don't understand just sometimes your phraseology can be a bit odd to me.

[afx]

now why can't we have that HP VF for an autofocus body! All I would like is a VF where I can see ALL of the view,

Get different glasses.
I can see all on the D700 and D750 and I am wearing multifocals.

Seriously grab your D810, got to your optometrist and explain your issue to him.
From your avatar I would say your glasses are too big.

cheers
afx

[Erik Lund]

New glasses! That is a fantastic work around indeed, and much less expensive!

[bjornthun]

Multifocal or progressive glasses are anything but inexpensive! 

[Mike G]

Andreas, I wear varifoculs and even taking my specs off I still can't see the whole VF closer but no banana! Where are Nikon when you want to have a rant at them? There is no excuse for bad design and that's all it is! If you are OK with the VF then good for you. Nikon are not the only or worst culprits by far. A stupidly short eye relief does nobody any good even this who do not need a high eye point. and the VF doesn't get me over the weight problem, I'm not saying that the D810 is a bad camera it is not but the VF is CRAP, also the hole you look through is just not wide enough.

Actually my glasses are the smallest I've ever had, when I first picked up the Fuji big glasses and all instantly I saw the whole VF easily. that said the VF is just one of my reasons to investigate another system.

THERE IS NO NEED THESE DAYS FOR TITCHY VFs.   Sorry for shouting it should not be necessary to fiddle about with tiny VFs. Shame on you Nikon.

Bjornthun I do know that!

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Viewfinders are a personal experience I grant you that, Mike, but allow me to say your description of how bad the specified Nikons are might not be widely recognized in the photographic community at large. Personally I'm very picky about viewfinders and cannot share your sentiments. My own observations are the exact opposite regarding the two brands. That any product can be improved is something else, though.

I have the feeling this thread has run its course and the discussions start to become of a circular nature. Thus, I urge to move on and instead, let us have a report on how you found the Fuji better (or worse) after a few months comparative shooting. Is that all right to you, Mike? If so, this thread can be closed in anticipation of that analysis posted to a separate thread.

[David H. Hartman]

A final thought from me anyway is facial structure plays a role in viewfinder comfort and usability. I was OK with the viewfinders of the FE2 and FM2n but an editor I worked for could not see the edges of the frame at all through his glasses. I did not roll my eye to see the corners but rather used peripheral vision to check the edge and deep corners. If memory serves me when I rolled my eye I had to reposition the camera which was unworkable for me.

Dave

[armando_m]

Mike, Good luck in your experiences with Fuji

I often wonder why the heck do I want a 36MP camera ... but at the moment I'm quite happy with it

Cheers

[schwett]

Mike, I think the discussion has yielded two important insights for you...

1) there may be a reason you hate the viewfinder which isn't the viewfinder itself. take the camera to your optometrist along with your glasses. seriously - it will be a lot cheaper than a new camera and lenses!

2) if you don't like big lenses: change lenses, not camera. e.g. instead of taking the 16-35 on a hike, try just the 20 f/1.8. I use the whole f/1.8g series for this purpose, putting just two or three in a bag. the d810 with any one of those lenses mounted is not obtrusive all at for me even on very long walks. like you, i don't drive places to take photos often, so a giant bag filled with a million lenses is not an option. I have the big exotic lenses for certain occasions, but they're not walkaround gear except one at a time.