My thoughts on the Nikon F5 (My own review)

Hey guys!

This post will be basically my own review on the Nikon F5. I know I'm like how many years late, but there are still people that shoot with film, no one I know shoots with it commercially, but I know of a few who shoot for fun, hobby, leisure, whatever other terms there are. This is my own review on the Nikon F5, its not going to be 100% accurate, but I'll try to make it as accurate as I can.

What I write is mainly my thoughts on the design of the camera as well as how I feel about it. For specs, can check out Ken Rockwell. I'm not a master of using Nikon, nor have I used Nikon film cameras, the F5 is my first Nikon film camera.


Front





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Right




Back







Ergronomics



Compatibility
So far I've only been able to confirm that it works with AFD lenses, AFs G lenses and VR. It doesn't work with flashes starting from SB900 unfortunately. I haven't really had the chance to do flash photography with the F5 though I will do it when I get the chance, be it manual or TTL auto. Will just have to use a light meter.

Works with quite a number of things I already have for my digital setup since the things I got are pretty much universal, like my trusty Metz 45 CL-1.



My thoughts
My thoughts on the Nikon F5... Having used the film flagship from both Canon and Nikon, I'll have to say that while I enjoy the automation and the comfortable grip of the Canon EOS 1n, I prefer the overall look, feel on the Nikon F5.

While both feel solid, its like, the Canon EOS 1n is like a bulletproof car whereas the Nikon F5 feels like a tank. The one thing I hate is the LCD on the Nikon F5 where you cannot view it head on but only at and angle, though it makes sense to view from an angle, it doesn't feel right to me but this is just a minor issue to me.

One thing I hate about Nikon cameras, DSLRs or SLRs, is that the vertical grip doesn't feel comfortable, but the plus point is, I'm forced to support the whole camera and lens on my left hand which is the right way anyway.



Conclusion
The Nikon F5 is a great camera to use! Despite its age, its still feels extremely solid. I can only imagine how tough it is when its brand new. The rubber is starting to come off mine and I've used gaffer tape to prevent it from getting worse. It feels great in the hand and isn't as heavy as DSLRs. Works with a majority of Nikon accessories today and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to anyone who is looking for a solid film SLR which will have supported for the next few years at least.



Sample pictures


Shot on Fujifilm Provia 100F (first roll)
Most pictures are gone due to the roll being exposed to light, my fault since the film couldn't rewind

Some updates

Hey guys!

Firstly, I just realized that this is my 301st post, yay? Ok... That was lame... Anyway! Chinese New Year just passed, and its the third day of the year of the water dragon, what a mouthful! But who cares! It sounds pretty cool!

So hmmm... Lets see... I got my light stands recently and I've gotta say, they're pretty light! When the box came, despite its size, I don't really see why it'll weigh 8.5kg but yea, what I can tell so far... Its tall! Its like a head higher than I am, its like me standing tiptoed with the flash balancing on my finger tip! Its pretty light even with all 3 in one hand and the foot opens up really wide! Place beside my 3rd party light stand, its quite a monster but I guess its quiet essential for balancing. I'll have to get sandbags when I put heavier strobes on it. One thing I hate is the locking and unlocking mechanism. Its a turning type, unlike my 3rd party one and my Manfrotto tripod which are like flip locks. I don't really know how to explain, but no big deal, not like I'll be constant changing the height of my light stands once they're up and ready. Though the only thing I really hate about my light stand is the way to lock and unlock, I'm pretty much satisfied with it overall.


The box height



What I see when I opened it



The 3 light stands together


I kinda question now why in the world would I need so many light stands but then... You'll never know how much light to use, I now wonder how many justin clamps to buy as well... Another problem for another day!


I still have yet to receive my 3rd party Nikon neck strap, kinda infuriated that its taking so long despite it coming from Hong Kong.


So last Saturday... I went to the Singapore Zoo with Rizal and Fizah. I mainly shot with the F5 and some with the D3. I didn't manage to use finish my film due to bad weather. And for the first time, I was caught in a situation where a public place had no electricity... Sort of... We were at the proboscis monkey exhibit when it started to rain, so we hang around. Lightning struck, lights went off and fans turned off. Fizah and I went to the toilet in the rain and well... My trusty poncho that I got when I enlisted tore from the neck and now there's a big V on it. But its a cheap product, can't blame it. My pants were wet no doubt, but feet are dry thanks to my boots and body was dry thanks to the poncho. So here are some photos from my D3 from that day.


The lovely couple, Rizal & Fizah, I wish them many more years of happiness!



Watching "The Rainforest Strikes Back" show or something like that, one of the guys playing drum



Some random tourist, but quite gung ho *salutes!*



A spider-monkey, never realize that the tail and limbs are nearly the same length with each other, I was telling Rizal if only we had the Ultimatrix, we'll show them Spidermonkey XD



An Orang Utan eating a coconut, I learnt something that day, apparently an adult Orang Utan has a strength equivalent to 5 grown man, kinda scary



2 Zoo keepers carrying a python, can't remember which species, this one should be albino



Our presenter carrying another python, can't remember what species, but its a small one, I think it was a Ball Python? The presenter doesn't look local, doesn't speak like one either



One of the zoo keepers with a type of macaque I believe



Fun and interesting day. The zoo had many people that day considering it was a long weekend! There was also rainbow when I got home to Redhill! Its been a long time since I last saw rainbows with my own eyes! Really beautiful. The one thing I love being a photographer is that I learn to enjoy everything I see =D Its not the best photo, but still, its a memory


Shot from the ground floor in case its gone by the time I go up to my level



Its still there so I shot from my level!



I got back my film as well. Cost me $19 to develop 2 rolls of slide film! Gonna stick with negatives now. One roll from the F5 which will be in my Nikon F5 review and the other roll was shot with Olympus OM2n last year when I went to Pulau Ubin last year. The F5 roll, quite a number were ruined due to the fact I had to open it to rewind the film. But I'll update as and whenever possible with more photos. That's pretty much all for now, will end with photos from my trip to Pulau Ubin shot with Fujifilm Provia 400x. Have a good day everyone!

Visit to my childhood playground

Hey guys!

So recently, I took a trip down to my childhood playground, sort of. It's the place why my primary school is located at that's my childhood playground. I would go to a lot of places to play after school until its dark before I go home. Dark as in literally dark, regardless of the time, like later part of the year, around 7, it would be very dark whereas earlier on, its not as dark at 7.

The place has changed quite a bit since my last visit back when I was in Secondary 2? Before we had to study on teacher's day before we're released. There are some familiar sites as well as some which I don't recall.


My primary school, closed since it was s Saturday, and the traffic light which I used to "guard" since my CCA at that time was road crossing monitor.



The other side of the road, where Hillock is, I remember going there once for PE and a few times to play. Can't remember what I played though.



When I was younger, Bukit Purmei seemed bigger, in this picture, can see that it's pretty small. I don't recall that sign being there though.



Not sure if this taxi stand has always been there or not, I processed it to have a more film look, I find it looks ok, though I've been told it doesn't look convincing, but whatever.



From the top of the hill next to the school where all the rich people live, showing Bukit Purmei. I remember getting scared by the dogs who live there when I was younger while exploring with my friends.



Some seats that have been there for a long time, no idea if people actually sit there, especially since it was hot when I shot this that day.



The basketball court where I played basketball with my friends.



I had an overwhelming sense of nostalgic that day. So many things have changed yet they have not. The pond, hut and fitness corner were all gone. I remember watching the terrapins at the pond, jumping around in the hut like monkeys, and playing hopscotch at the fitness corner, running around like nobody's business.

I went to the dentist yesterday to have my teeth checked and cleaned. I need to remove my wisdom teeth on the top jaw. I'm not going to do it unless it starts to hurt without any provocation of any sort, at the moment, it hurts when I eat ice cold food or boiling hot food. I seldom eat ice cream so no biggie, not good for health anyway. And boiling hot food is normally too hot to eat so doesn't matter either.

The other day I sent my slide films for processing. Finally finished the ISO 100 Provia in the Nikon F5 and ISO 400 Provia in the Olympus OM2n. However... I shot 39 frames in the Nikon F5 which was weird, and I couldn't rewind, opened the camera in the shade to find out that the film completely out of the cartridge. I have a feeling some photos won't turn out. It cost me $19 to have it developed only! No mounting! From now on until I work full time, I'm going to shoot negatives and B&W films. Since from now till I go back to work full time, I'm saving up for the photography equipment and driver's license. As well as a little for studying.

That's all for now, will post more pictures after I get my film back from the lab and will do the Nikon F5 review then! Till then, have a good day everyone!

Thoughts on the Nikon D4

Hey guys!

Finally! Its been a week into the new year and well... Its really too early to say anything but the weather has been awesome! My Bates boots are awesome as well! They did not break, deteriorate or whatever! They just work well! Though I'm still not used to it and once in a while slip or kick something. I just polished it on Friday! Not to NS standards where can see ones reflection in it, but at least it looks healthier!


Nothing much went on through the week actually. I got a shoot through cum reflective umbrella on Friday too!




Well... Lets just say my room ain't big enough to test out the umbrella effectively but I sure do hope I can use it properly soon! OH! I also bought some stuff off Amazon... If I remember correctly, I bought a belt, a shirt, 2 space pens and err... Just checked... Socks! The measurements for the shirt is weird though, my neck is apparently 18.5" so I got 19" but sleeves are only available in the 30s range, while my arm is only like 28 from neck to wrist! I don't think we're gorillas... I also got 3 Manfrotto/Bogen 8' lightstands off ebay, they seem sturdy and are really cheap. Sturdier than my old lightstand. It'll be able to support the Elinchrom flashes without any issue!.

Also, I've seen and carried the "transformer" lightstand. It really feels solid and was told it'll be able to support studio flashes. I kinda regret not getting it to light overhead. But then again, its not impossible to shoot with straight stands. anyway. Plus, not like I'm going to always use a silk with the boom stands all the time. Oh well, when I work more as a photographer, I'll have money to change if need be, but I'm more likely to just get a boom arm from Manfrotto, its cheaper than a boom C stand, but works for me anyway. I don't need C stands though I guess a C stand is still better but yea, if it works, it works, no need the best!

I also saw a multiple reflector trigrip, 3rd party of course. Feels pretty good, not sure how the lastolite one performs though. But the only thing I'm thinking now about the trigrip is the part where the hand holds the reflector itself. Its too thin for my liking so am thinking of wrapping it probably in sponge to make it thicker and more comfortable to hold, but they're still in planning stage so no worries, one at a time!

Ok... Now on to the title of my post!

My thoughts on the Nikon D4!

Nikon D4


Canon EOS 1Dx



Seems like the Nikon D4 is the direct competitor of the Canon EOS 1Dx, and I realize calling them by their actual names, Nikon cameras are easier =| So anyway... First impression when I saw the Nikon D4... It looked weird, but the more I looked at it, the more it looks like a refined, streamlined D3. I'm loving its looks more and more each time I see it, but don't get me wrong! I still love my D3 and am sure to use my D3 in years to come!

From the specs I've read, seems that though it still features dual bay memory card, it only takes 1 Compact Flash (CF) card and a new type of card known as XQD. Apparently released not long ago. And according to Wikipedia, Sony is the first to produced (which explains why all the XQD cards picture I've seen so far are all Sony branded) and the Nikon D4 is the first to utilize it. Seems very promising but it is still young. But I can expect it to become THE standard for professional level cameras.

The resolution has increased by like 4 megapixels and ISO has, in expanded range, an equivalent of ISO 50 to ISO 204,800. I am seriously impressed but I wonder when will I actually use that in real life, even in low light situations. The only applications I can image are military ones, but that's just me.


Lets see... I think it has a new metering sensor? It also has the new Expeed 3 image processor, interesting. Focus sensor I think has changed as well. According to Wikipedia, it has a start up of 0.12s and 0.042 shutter release delay. Translation? It feels instantaneous and it'll probably be too fast to notice any "lag".

What else... Image sensor cleaning (AKA anti dust), 10 fps FX mode, improved by 1 fps over the D3, 11 fps without AF and AE, guess apparently sports photographers pre focus and set fixed exposure before shooting, worth noting for me or anyone when shooting sports.

One thing I find mind blowing is the buffer, "100 RAW or 200 jpegs"! I won't be shooting up to 100 RAWs for sure, but it sure is nice to have but practically, I don't foresee myself using that, and I've never heard of anyone actually doing that though... Probably why they're confident with a 100 RAW image buffer is also partly due to the new XQD memory card which has I think, PCI-E technology which gives incredibly fast read and write capabilities? In fact, I find my hard drives enclosures are limited by their own mechanical hard drive. But solid state is still too expensive, back to mechanical hard drives! Fast card, 24 frames buffer, probably good enough for me, 36 max I guess. But I've never actually tested such situations so it's hard for me to comment, probably when I shoot this year's sports day?

I see it has built-in HDR and time lapse mode, interesting no doubt. Think it means it process in the camera itself? Since the D3 has interval timer built in just that one has to create the time lapse in post.

Here's one thing I'm a little interested in. it has full HD "1080p, 24fps, 25 or 30 depending on religion, 720p 25/50 or 30/60 fps". It also has a few in and outputs on its side. On my first compact camera, all it has was a USB and video output. On my D3, it has a wireless transmitter plug in, HDMI out, stereo mic in, earphones, ethernet port and I think it could have a DC input somewhere. I'm not entirely sure of its video capabilities, but I expect a lot of manual capabilities seeing its the flagship camera.

Apparently, the shutter is made of a kevlar/carbon fibre composite rated to 400,000 actuations. Really interesting. Live view apparently has been improved offering still, phase detect as well as improved contrast detect. Also, virtual horizon seems to be available in live view and video capture, don't think any members the the D3 family had it. Active D-lighting now has 6 settings and bracketing. Its still weather sealed. I don't know by how much but I won't worry about light rain, thunder storms call for poncho to hide under. The buttons are illuminated as well!

The camera now has more button and switches. Not sure how it'll handle ergonomically but I'm sure it'll be pretty good considering its the flagship. I think this will have a huge success just as the D3 had.

Will I buy this to replace my D3 or as a backup camera? No, simply because as I've said, my D3 serves me well and I'm sure will continue to do so. I do not need a D4 basically. What I'll get is probably a 2nd hand D700 or if the price is right for the specs of the D800, I'd get the D800 instead. Rumor has it that the D800 will have a 36megapixel sensor. If that's the case, and in low light the image quality is as good as the D3 or better, I'd get that as a backup camera. I hope Nikon actually does something like reduced resolution at higher ISO ratings. So I'll have the option to say... Shoot 12 megapixels at ISO 6400 for events and ISO 50 or 100 in studio or on location with flashes as full resolution (if the resolution is as rumored).

Here's a video to watch for more details, they are probably some differences, so for the best info, go to Nikon's official site for full specs here.



I quite like the Nikon D4 images but they look pretty much the same as the D3, but then again, I didn't place them side by side so its hard to say, but I'm sure there are improvements. I'll look at the D4 very closely in video and photo capabilities to anticipate the Nikon D800. Will drop by Nikon Service Center to get the brochure of the D4 (though I've downloaded it) and if possible, try to play with it on the spot =D


So yea... Can't wait to finally get my own Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens. I'm considering getting a Nikkor 35mm AFD f2 lens for my Nikon F5 which by the way, the film is almost at its end, so expect the review soon! I'm excited for the D800 to be out.

Also, I've more or less decided what my setup would be like when I go back to full time work. Laptop with i7 (I hope) in a 15" case, with as much RAM I can squeeze in with probably a 160GB SSD or more depending on price and an external SATA USB 3.0 case. Among other stuff to be fixed in the office. The external SATA drive should be portable so I can bring about for shoots and classes.

Can't wait to get studio flashes this year so I need not go to studio often or anymore. Nothing much left to say except have a good day everyone!

My new boots are awesome!

Hey guys!

Happy new year! Its the first post for 2012 and well... As said locally! "Like that lor", nothing special really... Just another year. Lets see... I don't really remember, and nothing much really happened. I went back to the office and saw more or less everyone. It was great seeing everyone though I didn't get to drink soy bean drink.

So my Bates Delta-6 GORE-TEX side zip boots arrived this morning. I wore them and well... They fit more or less perfectly! How size 13 wide should be! And they're extremely comfortable! Not as easy to put on as my sports shoe, but easier than my combat boots, in terms of sliding in! The composite toe isn't as hard as steel toe but its tough on its own! So! Pictures!


It came in a pretty flat box. Its smaller than my combat boots which actually made me wonder (before I signed for it) if this was the correct package, but I checked and its right!



Excited! Just rip the tape apart rather than taking a pen knife and doing it gracefully



My first impression? The box shape was weird, but it had a nice and simple design!



Neatly wrapped! I was so excited to see I almost couldn't be bothered to take pictures!



ICS Technology... Some sort of comfort thing? The default one set when it came was good enough, though I never tried the rest, but I don't really bother hahahha



The awesomeness of the awesome boots! I think I watch too much Kung Fu Panda: Legends Of Awesomeness =/



The sole looks kinda weird, doesn't look boot like, and looks similar to sports shoes


Vibram


I have absolutely no idea what is Vibram, even after reading it on Wikipedia =/. I'm currently wearing my NS shorts and somehow, I feel weird, like I've grown shorter... But that's impossible! Anyway! I'm clearing part of my closet with my mother tomorrow so I can store my NS stuff there and get rid of clothing I cannot wear anymore. Make way for my new shirts that I'm getting soon!

I also did a file to store the "receipts" of my purchase so as to "document" the size of the stuff I wear, for example my future waterproof pants, the brand, size, place of purchase, price etc

Oh! I recently used the Thinktank Speedchanger and R U Thirsty! It's both convenient and inconvenient! It's probably inconvenient due to the fact I'm not using the right belt. But it is convenient for my daily use though again inconvenient when sitting down on public transport. But then again, during my daily shopping, I usually stand so doesn't really matter. And its meant to be use for shooting so again, not designed with walking around and sitting down in mind...

Hope the belt comes soon then it's not troublesome so sit down or adjust my pants! That's all for now! New stuff will be coming this month! After that, probably not much, but more of saving up for my Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 VRII lens and Elinchrome D-Lite 4 It To Go kit!

That's all for now! Good night world and Happy New Year! Its 12 midnight exactly at this moment I'm typing this sentence. Cool!

P.S: This is the link to my Leica V-Lux 3 Review