Damn, pranged the 17-55

[Simpo Two]

Dropped and non-functional, ideally needed for this Saturday!

I guess I can hire a replacement from Fixation but can anyone suggest a repair place in Essex/Suffolk/London please?

[marctwo]

Err... how about Fixation?

[Simpo Two]

Ah, I didn't know they did repairs as well as hire. It's going off this afternoon, ta

[trackdemon]

They fixed my 12-24 Nikor in less than 24hrs for just over £100: quality service! Just a shame they are tucked away where they are, bit of a pain from Essex.....

[Simpo Two]

Wow, that's impressive.

There seems to be a bit of a gap for Nikon repair places. There's a Canon one only 10 miles away but no Nikon

I tried ringing Nikon to get the nearest authorised place, but just ended up in menus and muzak for 5 minutes and gave up. Not a good first impression. At least they recorded it all for training purposees

[Fezant Pluckah]

Try their web site Simpo. Took me 1 minute to find:

http://www.europe-nikon.com/support/en_GB/local_co...

though it would appear that Fixation is your nearest

[Simpo Two]

Fezant Pluckah said:

Try their web site Simpo. Took me 1 minute to find

You have out-googled me sir!

NB I used your 105mm macro today for the first time - great results and it goes to an astonishing f57 - thought the dial was broken for a moment - do a DOF preview and it just goes black!

[Fezant Pluckah]

Look forward to seeing the results!

[leeb]

simpo,

i have a sigma 18-50mm 2.8 ex macro you can borrow at the weekend if need be mate. im just round the corner so can get it to you easy.

if you run out of options gimme a shout.

Lee

[Simpo Two]

That's very kind Lee but I think I'll stick with a lens I know, my old 18-70.

However if I drop that too, you may have a deal

[trackdemon]

Fezant Pluckah said:

Try their web site Simpo. Took me 1 minute to find:

http://www.europe-nikon.com/support/en_GB/local_co...

though it would appear that Fixation is your nearest

Just looked at that. 5, yes FIVE!! Thats for UK & Ireland! Rubbish......

Turns out I need to use one as well now, as my trusty 24-85ED (sharp as a tack but build quality leaves something to be desired) got, er, 'damaged' this afternoon Looks like I'm driving to Fixation tommorrow...... what a royal pain in the ar$e.

[Simpo Two]

trackdemon said:

my trusty 24-85ED

Dang that looks like a good price compared to the 24-70 f2.8, and I could live with it being f4 at the long end - but how do you get on with it being AF instead of AF-S?

Nikon need to chivvy up their mid-range zooms I think.

[CVP]

Simpo, they do an AFS ED 24-85 zoom. I know it's only f5.6 at the far end but might be worth it in an emergency if requried. It works fine on the smaller sensor but can have a bit of barrel distortion at the 24mm end when used on a full frame sensor

Chris

[trackdemon]

Simpo Two said:

trackdemon said:

my trusty 24-85ED

Dang that looks like a good price compared to the 24-70 f2.8, and I could live with it being f4 at the long end - but how do you get on with it being AF instead of AF-S?

Nikon need to chivvy up their mid-range zooms I think.

Its a great value lense if your looking at pure maximum sharpness vs price. Bear in mind that for me I shoot 99% tripod mounted therefore generally in the f7.1-11 sweet spot, if I need really shallow DoF I tend to use either 50mm or 85mm primes as they retain good sharpness down to f2.5 and acceptable below. Never had any issues with AF vs AF-S on this lense - with what I do I rarely need super fast focus (yes, that tripod again) and the front ring is static so CP is fine.

I intend to acquire a 24-70ED at some point as my main mid range zoom, but have been pondering the still top notch superceded 28-70 as a possible interim solution..... Have also read some really good reviews of the 18-200VR, aside from its obvious versatility it hits far more spots optically than I'd have ever believed possible on this type of lense. According to the reviews, at any rate!

[Simpo Two]

Thanks CVP and TD. As ever, there is no perfect lens. Well to be fair the 17-55 f2.8 was almost perfect on the D200. Unfortunately on the D700, which is full frame, the 24-70 will be still shorter, and of course the 70-200 f2.8 which gave me perfect close-up abilities for reportage on a DX sensor is only 2/3 as long on FX.

I can probably afford to lose a little maximum aperture as the D700 is very good at AF and of course has the high ISO 'get-out-of-jail-free' performance.

I also noticed the 28-70 f2.8 but that's the same price as the 24-70 f2.8 and less wide.

The 24-85 looks like a bargain: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nikon-24-85-F2-8-4D-Zoom-N...

- but using the 'you get what you pay for' rule, can it be any good at edges and corners with full-frame? And the damn thing isn't AF-S - with reportage I really do need fast accurate AF; I can't wait for the 'zzzz...zzzzz' of a screw drive (if it's anything like my 70-300ED, which often goes all the way in the wrong direction first, doh)

At the long end (sorry, this is turning ito a 'what lens?' thread to match the range of the 70-200 f2.8 on FX I'd need the Sigma 100-300, but that's awfully big and heavy to cart about all day. It's nice to have kit that can outpunch the inevitable 'Uncle Phil', but doesn't need a golf cart. So at the sacrifice of aperture I was thinking of the Nikon 70-300VR.

I know I'm trading down from no-compromise pro lenses but portability and focal range are important. Then again, is it sensible to have a D700 and put compromise glass on it? Whichever way I look, amber lghts start flashing...

Hmm!

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 7th August 11:39

[CVP]

Mrs CVP changed her 70-300 from teh old style to the new AFS VR version. Only f5.6 wide open but the AF is lightning fast compared to the old screw style and the VR is surprisingly effective, more effective than on the 70-200 f2.8 I'd say. I often find myself nicking this lens for reportage style stuff.

Hope you enjoy the new D700 I think you'll find the image quality fantastic.

Chris

[_dobbo_]

trackdemon said:

I intend to acquire a 24-70ED at some point as my main mid range zoom, but have been pondering the still top notch superceded 28-70 as a possible interim solution.....

As they both are about the same price, as a 28-70 owner I'd say stick with the newer one. I can say though that the 28-70 is top notch, I'd marry mine but then I'd be a bigamist.

[_dobbo_]

Simpo Two said:

I know I'm trading down from no-compromise pro lenses but portability and focal range are important. Then again, is it sensible to have a D700 and put compromise glass on it? Whichever way I look, amber lights start flashing...

Hmm!

I'd say two bodies, and two lenses, and you should be set for pretty much anything.

D700 + 24-70
D200 + 70-200

Luvverly jubberly.

No-way is Uncle Phil going to better you - unless it's ThatPhilBrettGuy and his 1ds 50mm f/1.0

[Simpo Two]

_dobbo_ said:

I'd say two bodies, and two lenses, and you should be set for pretty much anything.

D700 + 24-70
D200 + 70-200

Almost - but I don't want two bodies with me and neither two sets of file numbers afterwards. When the D700 comes fully online the D200 is/will be strictly a back-up and stay in the car in case the D700 decides to test Isaac Newton like the 17-55 did...

The issue at the long end is that 200m on FX isn't really enough, and I don't want to start cropping everything.

_dobbo_ said:

No-way is Uncle Phil going to better you - unless it's ThatPhilBrettGuy and his 1ds 50mm f/1.0

Yes indeed - mind you one of the guests last weekend was a staff tog from the Imperial War Museum, and was suitably armed with a Canon (doh, I cracked a funny!) - one those big square ones with a monstrous lens. He was busy all day too - don't know why they booked me really!

[trackdemon]

Been out and about today.... a few interesting points chaps! Dropped my poorly built but nonetheless very sharp 24-85ED off @ Fixation this afternoon, hopefully they will have it patched up ASAP. I'll try and dig out a recent image from it shot in the mid range to show the kind of sharpness I'm getting from it...... caveat: I have never shot wide open on this lense, and almost never at the extremes of focal length so I'm probably playing to its best abilities anyway. The AF performance is eons better than the 70-300ED which I also have (mine hunts big time too so I think they all do that), its not AF-S good but its plenty good enough in the field. The only downside I can see is the build (plasticky); image quality is excellent in my experience.

Regards the 28-70 vs 24-70, I found a 28-70 on ebay (USA) which was listing @ less than £300 with only 3hrs to go and happy to deliver to Europe..... that was two days ago though & didn't put it on watch. TBH the 24-70 f2.8 is my perfect mid range lense so I'm going to go that way and be done with it - I wont need another bit of glass again in that range so its worth it.

Still tempted to try the 18-200VR as a versatility lense (there are times when I have to travel as light as possible). It has reviewed well, and given the way I tend to use (tripod mount, aperture in the sweet spot, stay away from the focal extremes) it could be a really useful addition - perhaps it could work for you Simpo?

BTW I'd echo what Dobbo says ref using two bodies: long on one, wide on the other.... since I started using two bodies my dust ingress has reduced markedly. Still need to change occasionally to use fast primes for example but the less that space is open the better IMHO!