Nikon D500 - first impressions

[Anthony]

Thanks Frank, yes in an ideal world maybe I'd have both.

And thanks too Børge. I can safely say no tripod will be taken - some of this trip is being done by camel & staying in yurts. Realistically I will take the D300 and possibly just a single 18-50 zoom. We are covering a few thousand Km and I expect it to be quite knackering.

What a trip!

I look forward to the images.

[tommiejeep]

Colin, the trip sounds great.  What an adventure.  You should check with Jacques P.  He has travelled Mongolia.  I am envious of your trip but not of many Kms on a Camel 
All the best,
Tom

[ColinM]

Cheers guys. At the moment my main concern is getting myself fit enough for it. I'm not best friends with my knees currently and need to start doing more exercise.

We'll actually fly into Beijing and have a few days in mainland China before the main trips. I was surprised at being able to take several useable pictures when travelling by coach in Iceland (even some stitched images whilst travelling at normal speeds) so hope they keep their windows as clean!

But it's not all glamour - I think any vegetarians will find that the non meat options in certain places could be minimal. I believe in a complete emergency getting stranded in the desert, the last resort is to eat your four-legged transport.

Ok, thanks for your interest and back to the D500 thread. Got any new images for us with some of the other legacy lenses you've been revisiting Bjorn?

[sveintore]

Cheers guys. At the moment my main concern is getting myself fit enough for it. I'm not best friends with my knees at the currently and need to start doing more exercise.

Best thing for knees are cycling I've discovered. Swimming is not bad either, but getting a stationary bike and use that while watching TV works wonders.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Colin: "back to the D500 thread. Got any new images for us with some of the other legacy lenses you've been revisiting Bjorn?"

Plenty, but I have to meter the presentations carefully so as not to overload the discussion.

Below, a stand of Ligularia przewalskii I just discovered in my neighbourhood. It is an Asian species now becoming naturalised in my country, but behaves well with no aggressive growth or invasive dispersal - so far. Shot with the old 50 mm f/1.4 K (AI- and CPU-modified, both modifications thanks to Erik).

Apart from the obvious more mellow drawing and slightly lower contrast, nothing in terms of sharpness etc. discloses this lens being more than 40 years old. Focusing still is buttery smooth.

[Hugh_3170]

Consider  the 18-200mm lens for your D300 if you are contemplating a one lens solution for travelling to Mongolia.
Maybe use the 18-50mm as your backup lens?

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 I can safely say no tripod will be taken - some of this trip is being done by camel & staying in yurts. Realistically I will take the D300 and possibly just a single 18-50 zoom. We are covering a few thousand Km and I expect it to be quite knackering.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Another (not so) oldie thriving on the D500 is the 105 mm f/2 DC Nikkor. As the plane of focus shifts a lot when the DC ring is rotated, it's best to use manual focusing with this lens. A challenge easily met by the pretty crisp D500 finder.

Hay bales dot the rural landscape these days, usually come in white or black varieties, but this year a lot were pink "marshmallows" instead. Turned out the farmers purchased the special pink wrapping to support a national campaign against breast cancer. A percentage of the sales goes directly to the campaign funds.

[John G]

I commute through about 50 miles of Rural Farming Land daily, sad to say no Pink Bale Wrap to be seen, what a opportunity missed by our
Home Counties Land Owners.
 

[Bjørn Rørslett]

I knew about the pink ribbons etc. used for the cancer campaigns, but had to investigate a little about the pink bales. Turned out the supplier was sold out in a few days thus many farmers responded to the call.

[Frank Fremerey]

Great shot of the social sponsoring hey balls!

I forgot to report the following: for me Snapbridge is for the bin.

It drains the battery of my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 in no time.

I guess this older phone features the wrong Bluetooth version
and will report back when I buy a new smartphone in a few years.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Another legacy optic tried on the D500 is the Micro-Nikkor 200 mm f/4 (AIS). Unfortunately, I found this combination less than ideal because the camera is too light weight to give proper balance to the package. An added battery grip might have solved the issue. Apart from that issue, the lens focuses easily and rapidly enough, but the optics do show their age and some repair work to remove chromatic aberrations later is required.

I have turned off all wi-fi/snapbridge/blutooth whatever feature and set the camera to 'Flight Mode' (otherwise my Foolography GPS won't work). Battery longevity is OK, but not spectacular.

[John G]

Just so it is not thought of the British Land Owners in a untoward way, a little research has shown a £ 10000 fund raised through the purchase of Pink Bale Wrap, and many pink stickers were purchased for conventional bale wrap colours.
 "All is well that ends well"

[Frank Fremerey]

I actually like the Micro Nikkor 4/200 Ai-S on the D500, altough it is quite long. Counter balance is there in my case, but I use it tripod bound anyway

[Bjørn Rørslett]

You are correct that with tripod support, the 200 Micro works much nicer than it does hand held. I was thinking of shooting butterflies and similar flittering creatures with it on a hand-held camera, but gave up as the package was unstable. This did work pretty well with cameras such as D2/D3-series though.

[Hugh_3170]

Interesting that the Norwegian farmers are also supporting the pink bale wrap / breast cancer cause - or maybe the gesture first emanated from Europe - I don't know.  However these pink bale wraps are also to be seen in NZ and Australia.  Thanks for posting.

Another (not so) oldie thriving on the D500 is the 105 mm f/2 DC Nikkor. As the plane of focus shifts a lot when the DC ring is rotated, it's best to use manual focusing with this lens. A challenge easily met by the pretty crisp D500 finder.

Hay bales dot the rural landscape these days, usually come in white or black varieties, but this year a lot were pink "marshmallows" instead. Turned out the farmers purchased the special pink wrapping to support a national campaign against breast cancer. A percentage of the sales goes directly to the campaign funds.