The Lens Mount

My Nikon 18-200mm lens has finally begun to show signs of the commonly reported loose zoom grip defect. Essentially the zoom grip appears to stretch over time and begin to lift up over prolonged use. I've owned my lens for three years and the problem is only beginning for me. So here is a cheap and seemingly effective fix. Cover the grip with two rubber party bracelets available from the dollar store (at least in Canada) for only $3. The bracelets seem to be the perfect size to maintain a tight fit, and they are made of a soft rubber which makes for a nice non-slip grip. How long will they last? Who knows, but given they are $3 for 12 of them, I'm not too worried about the cost :) .

Camera technologies and features can sometimes distract beginning photographers from what is really important. I was always comforted in knowing that there were really only a few things, that actually affected the appearance of pictures made in my film camera. This is why manual film cameras with only five adjustments or choices (shutter speed, aperture, focal length, focus, and film choice) can make a picture equal in quality to a camera with a multitude of automated features. Automated features automate the setting of these primary camera adjustments (e.g. auto focus and auto exposure modes) but they will only technically improve your pictures to the degree that they increase your chances of getting the shot you want. So given an equally sharp lens and the same film, you can potentially make equivalent pictures with either a fully manual camera like the Nikon FM10 ($320) or a fully automated camera like the Nikon F6 ($2450). Knowing all of this, beginning film photographers on a budg...

There is much truth in Ken Rockwell's recent post on simplicity . In brief summary he is suggesting that bringing less gear will translate into making better pictures. This past September I went on a trip to Italy and brought a D70 camera body, a 50mm f1.8 lens, a polarizing filter, and .... nothing else. Here are some of the pictures that I brought back with only that single fixed focal length lens which costs only $124.95 at bhphoto.com . http://www.thelensmount.com/2009/09/slide-show-from-italy.html

"What new Nikon digital SLR camera would you recommend for still photography?" I've been asked this several times. Obviously there are many answers to this question depending on the photographer's needs and their budget. Let us assume their goal is to have excellent creative control over the images they make, while keeping their budget reasonable. In this case I would suggest the following: Great Starting Kit Nikon D90 AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II (for all-around shooting) AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D (for low light and very sharp images) Today the above kit would cost you $ 1,029.85 US at http://bhphoto.com . If you can afford quite a bit more I might suggest the following instead: Amazing Starting Kit Nikon D90 AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II (for all-around shooting) AF NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8D (for low light and very sharp images) Today this second kit would cost you $ 1,684.85 US at http://bhphoto.com . "What?" you say, "I'm a...

I heard this one from Darwin Wiggett while attending the Windsor International Photo Seminar and thought it was hilarious. How many photographers does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer: 10,000. 1 to screw it in, and 9999 to say "I could have done that"

One of the most important settings for getting the look you want right out of the camera is white balance. Nikon cameras have had the ability to warm or cool a given white balance setting for some time. For example if you like warmer images you can set your white balance setting to auto with A6 (for amber 6) which will perform the usual auto white balancing then warm it up +6 in the amber direction so to speak. Of course you can accomplish the opposite if you prefer cooler images by dialing in B1 up to B6 for bluer, cooler images. All of this can be accomplished by pressing WB (white balance) button on the back of the D90 and using the command and sub-command dials to select Auto and A6. This is great, and it can be done separately for each white balance setting (e.g. Incandescent, Fluorescent, Direct Sunlight, Flash, etc...). At first glance however it does not appear possible with the Preset Manual white balance settings, since neither command or sub-command dials alter the blue or...

I noticed that Nikon claims that Matrix metering is recommended when using Active D-Lighting. Of course they don't mention what happens if you don't use Matrix metering. So if you're someone who always uses Matrix metering then you can stop reading. However if you are someone like me who enjoys using center weighted metering then read on. Now one benefit of buying a D90 is the feature called Active D-Lighting which essentially increases the dynamic (tonal) range of your images. This feature can be set to Auto, so that it will automatically determine when a scene is high in contrast and could benefit from an increase in dynamic range, and to what degree. This automatic setting unfortunately doesn't work as well if you are not using matrix metering. So if you are a photographer who often chooses to use center weighted metering you will find that the Active D-Lighting will work much better if you set it to one of its non-Auto settings, like Extra high, High, Normal, or Low...