Nikon D850 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E ED AF-S VR + AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III

Trying to get back in the saddle

I recently retired from my day job and am trying to get back into photography. I haven't tried taking a photo where I knew what I was doing since January 2017 at the Saguaro National Park in Tucson. That's some hiatus!

I've only got about 1,000 images on my Nikon D850, mostly just snaps I took around the house trying to keep from totally feeling like I wasted my money on the D850.

I also wonder if anyone pays attention to blogs any longer but I'm going to post here anyway.

Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III

This week I added an AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III to my kit.

Some of the "practice" photographs I've taken have been at a nearby wetlands, Tres Rios Wetlands. I decided to try adding some more reach to my AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens. This converts that lens to a 280-700mm lens. I've read that it can soften the image quality but I wanted to try it for myself.

It was also required a bit of investigating to determine if the teleconverter was compatible with the 200-500 lens. One Nikon page said to check the instruction file that comes with the lens. You can go to Nikon's web site to download the file. Unfortunately, the 200-500 lens is NOT listed as being compatible. However, I found one more Nikon web page on which Nikon implied it was, and I saw other photographers were using the combination so I took the plunge.

The Results

Here's one of the images I captured. There was no processing or cropping on the image in Light Room Classic other than exporting to a smaller size JPEG.

ISO 64, 700mm, f/8.0, 1/640s

Here's the list of issues I had capturing the image.

• I think the image is soft. I don't know if it's the teleconverter or my focus skills. I don't trust my focusing much. I was trying to use AF-C shooting mode with D9 AF area. The egret was mostly standing still but turning its head. The head is soft. I can't tell from the water if I the camera was focusing in front of the head but it looks like it may have been. Probably due to my inability to get the center focus point right on the eye.
• I have developed shaky hands so I took this on a tripod. But, I was using continuous shooting which, of course, means you keep your finger pressed down on the shutter release and therefore the stability of the tripod is minimized if not completely eliminated.
• I wanted to try using a faster shutter but I was in Aperture mode and couldn't remember how to change that. I had a hard enough time trying to change to D9 AF area mode but I remembered where the AF/M switch and the push button were.
• I ended up shooting in JPEG instead of RAW. I didn't notice that while I was at the location.

• I wanted to take my shooting buddy, my dog Elmer. He's been a part of almost every photo excursion I've had since 2013. But he just can't keep up any longer. I actually took him to the location and tried walking with him but it was a no go. I took him back home and returned alone, in a sad mood.
• The camera and tripod are very heavy. I must have turned into a wimp since I retired. I didn't even put on my camera bag. I just slung the camera and tripod over my shoulder. A Nikon D850, the teleconverter, the 200-500mm lens, and my Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod.

All said, it was a learning experience. I went home to try to figure out more about how to set up and use my D850. I did notice in Light Room Classic 2 things: 1) the effective focal length is displayed - the image shows it was shot at 700mm. It must be something the camera does; I don't see anywhere in Light Room that shows there was a teleconverter involved. 2) the develop module doesn't provide a lens correction preset. It doesn't detect that I was using a 200-500mm lens. I don't know if that's because of the teleconverter, or if it was because the image was a JPEG and not a RAW. A page on Adobe's site said some presets were only available for RAW images.

Guess I've got some (re)learning to do with the camera! I'm a newbie all over!

Test Shot: Nikon D850 + Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E

Nikon D850

It's a Heatwave!

I still haven't had the opportunity to get out for some landscape photography, but I did take a shot or two in downtown Phoenix using my Nikon D850 and Nikkor 200-500mm mounted on my tripod.

I went out on my lunch break and shot from the top level of the parking garage in the state government plaza area, pointing downtown.

Here's what I found...

The Setup

Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6E

I was impressed with the weight of the D850 + 200-500mm lens, including the tripod mount on the lens and 2 quick release plates, one on the camera (it was nice that I didn't have to remove it) and one on the lens tripod mount. That is not a rig I'd want to try hand holding for very long!

After my previous shots, I tried to minimize camera shake and had changed my settings to use Mirror Up mode with Exposure delay mode (d5) = 3s, Electronic front-curtain shutter (d6) = On. I still used the manual shutter release (man I wish it worked with the IR wireless remote). With the additional delay and front-curtain shutter, I do think I got rid of a lot, if not all, of the camera shake.

The Results

Here's one of the pictures I shot. I couldn't tell you how far away the construction crane is but it wasn't next door to my location. For anyone interested, here's a link to the original raw file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hwzgttltd0icvpk/_8500174.NEF?dl=0.

Construction in Downtown Phoenix, AZ
1/400 sec, f/8.0, ISO 64, 500mm

I have done some editing in Lightroom Classic. I added some contrast, sharpening, and luminance noise reduction.

I don't notice any camera shake, and that's the good thing. What I did notice was something I'd heard of but never seen - atmospheric distortion. You'd think that, living in Phoenix where it's just lately got below 70 degree F days, that I'd have seen it. Either I've been lucky (and, I don't really shoot much right in Phoenix) or my other bodies couldn't resolve it.

Here's a crop of the top of the building near where the crane is:

Crop of picture above, showing the heatwaves

That was an interesting result! One I wasn't expecting.

Auto Focus

I was then concerned about how the auto focus would work on something like that. In the picture above, I was using single point AF and aiming at the vertical lines on the lower right side of the construction.

I tried to verify the focus manually, using Live View. But my shaky hands made that impossible with the lens at 500mm. As soon as I touched the focus ring the image was shaking around so much that it was useless. This makes me think about getting a different tripod collar to steady things down more. I have read from others that they don't find the Nikon collar very stable and maybe I'm witnessing that.

Slow Shutter Speed

I also realize (now) that I was using aperture priority and not really paying attention to the shutter speed. I wanted to use what is supposed to be a good aperture for sharpness; f/8 is not in any of the stops. Even though I was at ISO 64, my shutter speed was not meeting the reciprocal rule and should have been sped up a bit more. I couldn't have done that without decreasing the aperture or using a neutral density filter which I don't have for that lens. But, looking at the images, I am not sure how much the slow shutter would alleviate the atmospheric impact. It might some since there would be less time for the distortion to occur.

The Bottom Line

I showed the results to my photography mentor (who now really wants his own D850) and he was impressed with how much detail there is when zooming in to the max of 32x. I hadn't thought about that - I guess I'm already taking it for granted!

I was overall pleased with the shots. No - they're not art but I'm trying to get used to a new and more sensitive camera. I'm trying to figure out how to get sharp images with it and I think these images were a good improvement. I really enjoy trying to refine my technique. Now if I could just calm down my shaky hands!

More Nikon D850 Minutia

Comments / Notes - updated 12/1/2018

I decided I needed a place to post things I've found about the D850 that I want to point out for one reason or another. A lot of these items are likely to be differences between the D610 and D850 - comparing my previous body experiences. These are not listed in any order of importance.

12/1/2018 - Formatting the memory card deletes the settings file

I have been curious about this so tried it out. If you save your settings to the memory card in the D850 (Setup Menu > Save/Load settings), it creates a NCSETUPM.BIN file at the root of the card. If you then choose to reformat your card (), it deletes your settings file! 

When I import files from the memory card I try to also make a backup of the NCSETUPM.BIN file. Another thing to try to do is to save your settings again after formatting the memory card.

I have only tried this with the XQD card.

The Unboxing

Everyone does unboxing videos of their Nikon D850. Well, perhaps not everyone but there are a lot of unboxing videos on YouTube. As I opened my D850, I took a few snaps with my D610, but hadn't shot photos for about a year and a half and I had the aperture opened up too wide to get good depth of field and being hand held, they aren't in focus. So, here's the extent to which I'll share my D850 unboxing:

My Nikon D850 - unboxed, 11/06/2018

In one of the unboxing videos I watched, the guy (I don't think I've seen one unboxing with a woman owner - hmmm) threw his manual back in the box unwrapped (it comes wrapped in plastic). I wish I hadn't opened mine either - I won't read the paper copy. Like him, I had already downloaded the D850 User Manual from Nikon's site (~400 pages) along with the separate Menu Guide (~200 pages). I have it on my iPhone and iPad and that's where I've read it.

Likewise I won't use the D850 camera strap although I sure wouldn't be ashamed to! I am tickled with this camera and glad I got it. And that's without having even gotten out much with it. It's just satisfying knowing that I have what a lot of folks consider the top DSLR of it's time. Now if only I had the skills to go with it!

What about my Nikon D610?

My Nikon D610

I don't know what to do with my Nikon D610. My wife wants me to keep it but I don't see much sense in that. I'm not a pro, and I'm not shooting events where I must get the shot. In other words, I don't need a backup camera. Even if I did, I still have my little Nikon D3200 still.

The downside of selling them is that neither one of the other bodies are worth much. If I sold it to B&H or Adorama, they might give me $300 or so for it. The reason I've kept the D3200 is because it isn't worth much either, and neither are the DX format lenses.

I could get more selling it myself online but I hate messing with that stuff. It's a conundrum.

I'm also surprised that I could let the D610 go so easily, but I don't really have a connection to it like I do my dogs or other material things I sold in the past (like my Yamaha MO6 keyboard). I don't know why that is but I have 2 thoughts: 1) the actual camera body wasn't the focus of my experiences or memories from being out shooting, or 2) I've grown emotionally this year. Either way, I truly enjoyed what the D610 did for me and hope to continue down the same path with the D850.

Nikon D850 - Focusing

Like learning how to focus for the first time - almost

Encanto Park, Phoenix AZ
Nikon D850, Nikkor 16-35mm f/4 @ 16mm

I went out to shoot with my new Nikon D850 last weekend and wasn't terribly happy with my results.

I was hoping, okay, expecting, to be blown away with the detail and sharpness of the better sensor. I forgot to account for the ability of the photographer!

The image at right was probably the best result I got. I was using my Nikkor 16-35mm f/4/G lens at 16 mm and f/4.5. I used the autofocus in live view, focusing on the fountain on the left of the little island. I used the self timer mode with a 4 second delay on the shutter release. None of this image seems terribly sharp to me.

On Thom Hogan's site, I had read about which lenses are recommended for the D850 and this lens is semi-recommended (the exception being that an LED used in the vibration reduction circuitry can cause "fogging" of an image). I was aware that there is some discussion about the performance of lenses with the higher resolution sensor so I was worried - was I going to have to replace all of my lenses? I hoped not.

After pondering the issue over the last week, I decided to try some additional settings.

Today I enabled the electronic front curtain shutter (Custom Setting d5). I also used the full Mup release mode. In addition, I manually focused in live view with focus peaking enabled while zoomed in at 100%. Between all of those settings, this new image looks pretty good to me.

Neighbor's Palm Tree, Phoenix AZ
Nikon D850, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D @ f/1.8

This was taken with my lowly Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D lens, which is NOT on the recommended list for the D850 and it still looks better than any of the shots I did the prior weekend. Woo hoo! This crop does have some sharpening applied in Lightroom, but now I can see what the rig can do even with a less than stellar lens.

Here are the full size jpegs of the above images for reference:

More reflections

Wireless Remote for the D850

One thing I always did with my D610 was to use an infrared (IR) remote shutter release to trigger the shutter. The D850 doesn't have that functionality built in. The IR remote doesn't work with the D850. I've been looking for solutions and am torn about how to address the issue. For now I'll just use the Mup mode with a release delay. I really don't like having to use an attachment with a cord, and am considering the Vello FreeWave Micro Wireless Remote Shutter Release - it has a receiver that plugs in to the 10 pin connecter and doesn't need a cable flopping around.

XQD Memory Card

I have been using a new Sony XQD G series 64G memory card. It's fine and should hold around 589 images at 14 bit lossless compressed (~45 Mb per file for the files I've taken so far). The burst rate of the camera at 7 frames per secong (FPS) is pretty cool and impressed my friend Jon.

However, during my photography hiatus, SanDisk and others have come out with some new UHS-3 SD cards that are impressive for that format - they have write speeds around 250-300MB/s! They're somewhat cheaper than the XQD cards too.

However, since most of what I have shot is landscape, I really don't need to use burst mode to try and freeze a mountain or valley or tree. Consequently, my 95MB/s SD cards work just fine. Getting the XQD was not really necessary, and it also required me to get an XQD card reader. 

It's Here!

Just a quick post -

I ordered my D850 from B & H last Sunday (11/4/2018) and got it the following Tuesday (11/6/2018). Now that's service! I was sick and didn't get to do much with it except unbox it.

Today, 11/8/2018, I got my Sony 64 G XQD G series card. I shot a few pics and got them transferred to my PC using my new Sony XQD USB Adapter.

The pics were bad (taken indoors with no flash) so I'm not going to post them.

I was happy to get the ingest chain working again since I haven't done any photography for almost 2 years. That was the good part.

The bad part, kind of, is that I have forgotten how to use my software. I figured out the Nikon Transfer 2 that I use and have liked (I may look for something else but it does what I want - allows me to rename and to copy to 2 destinations so I get my backup at the same time). And, now that I'm using USB 3 for reading from the card, it was faster than off the SD cards even with about 45M files.

Lightroom, Photoshop, and Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) were different stories.

In Lightroom, once I imported the files, the images wouldn't show up in the Develop module. I found a solution on Adobe's web - you have to disable using the graphics card.

When I opened the image in Photoshop and ACR, I realized I don't have any of my old settings any longer. Part or all of that is because I swapped out my main hard drive a year ago for an SSD and re-installed all of my software including the Adobe stuff.

So now I've got some work to do in addition to learning the D850 - I need to re-learn the Adobe software. I've been paying for the CC software for almost 2 years now without using it so this will be a good thing and I'm actually getting excited about it. It's like I'm a New Photographer all over again!

I've done it now! My D850 is on order!

Now for the hard part!

Nikon D850

I've just placed my order for a Nikon D850 from B&H (body only). Now I have to try to be patient for it to arrive!

I was poking around the interweb the last day or 2 and decided to look at the B&H site for the D850. I was surprised to see that they had them in stock and were offering free next day delivery! Now I could order it and have it in my hands in a few days!

Decisions, decisions. My wife convinced me to pull the trigger (she'd just spent more money on a horse trailer) and now it's on order.

Woo hoo!

I held off on ordering an XQD card for now - I've got SD cards and for what I shoot I really don't need the extra speed. Once I find I do need the speed of an XQD, I'll order one or more along with a card reader.

I've already been reading the D850 manual for a while; now I'll have to order Thom Hogan's D850 Guide. I liked his D600/D610 guide and know his guide will have a lot of great information. I even made my D850 purchase after clicking through on his affiliate page! Note that I'm not associated with Thom, I just like his technical approach and thoughts.

Now - what to do with my D610?

5 Year Anniversary

I can’t believe it’s been 5 years since I started my photography hobby.

Elmer and I at Marshall Lake, Arizona

I can still vividly remember my “drive about” trip I made with my dog Elmer around my birthday in 2013. I’ve described it before, but basically I took a little Canon point and shoot and my cheap tripod and had a blast taking picture after picture (in JPEG format - the only format the camera shoots in).

When I got home I decided to get a better camera and drove to the local Best Buy. Nikon’s were on sale so I ended up getting a kit with a bunch of stuff that was of little value. It was very exciting - a whole new world full of acronyms and things to learn.

For the next few years I would spend almost every weekend going out with Elmer, camping somewhere and taking photos. In less than a year I moved from my entry Nikon D3200 to a full frame Nikon D610 and some full frame lenses. I shot in Arizona, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington. I printed some images and hung them on the wall as well as gave them as presents.

The Thrill is Gone

Sometime in 2017, for some reason, I lost my desire to go shooting. I shot a few photographs on January 1, 2017 and that was it for the year. Here it is in the middle of 2018 and I still haven’t shot much and nothing worth keeping.

To make a long story as short as possible, I have been dealing with severe depression and have struggled to overcome it. I think I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel but it’s been a hard road to navigate. I started writing a diatribe about my depression but it was getting too depressing so I stopped.

That Old Time Feeling

Nikon D850

In the last week or two I’ve finally started getting interested in photography again. I’ve started wanting to go out shooting. I haven’t done much yet because of the heat and the fact that I have used all of my time off dealing with my illness.

Lately, again over the last couple of weeks, I’m really looking at getting the new Nikon D850 - not so much as a way to improve my photography but as a hope to motivate me to get out and maybe just re-shoot some of my favorite things and places in Arizona with the more detailed sensor. I have been mildly interested in it, mainly from a curiosity aspect, since it came out in 2017. 

Recently, however, I’ve been a mouse click away from placing my order - I’ve had it in a shopping cart more than once. Even now, as I write this, I want to get mine on order!

The bottom line for me now is that I have fond memories of photography and I want to get back to it!