EQUIPMENT REVIEWS

 

Welcome to my equipment reviews.

Here you will find links to various articles about a whole variety of subjects from commentary about the various pieces of equipment that I have used and owned over the years to tips on how to trvel with your camera gear. Writing and populating these links will be a continual process so please do pop back from time to time and checkout what's new. I hope that you find some of it useful and / or interesting.  See below for further general comment.......

 

Digital & Film Cameras

Nikon Accessories

Independent AccessoriesoriesAccessoriesAccessoriesAccessories 

Nikon D200 (+ MB-D200)

Nikon D300 (+ MB-D10)

Nikon 1 V1

Nikon F301

Nikon FG / MD-14 / MD-E

Nikon FA / MD-15

Nikon F4s

Nikon F601m

Nikon F100 / MD-15

Nikon F3 / MD-4

Ricoh GR1s

Nikon F801

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nikon C-PL1L Polarising Filter (and polarisers generally)

Nikon PG-2 Focusing Rail

Nikon BR2 Reverse Adapter

Nikon BR3 Adapter

Nikon PB-6 Bellows

Nikon PS-6

Nikon DR3 right angle finder

Nikon PK11, 12, 13

Nikon Macro flash R1

Nikon SB-11 'hammer' style Speedlight

Nikon SB-15 Speedlight

Nikon SB-20

Nikon SB-21a macro Speedlight

Nikon SB-27

Nikon SB-28

Nikon SB-29 macro Speedlight

Nikon SB-800

Nikon SD-8a

Nikon SU-4 slave

Nikon EN-EL3e

Nikon EN-EL4a / BL-3

Nikon MH-18 / MH-18a

Nikon MH-21

 

 

 

Yongnuo GPS Receiver N918 N1 for Nikon (Nikon GP-1 copy)

Cullman CX-35

Metz 45CT-1

Metz 45CT-4

Sunpak DR-8x

Kenko AF extension tube set

Flash X-tender

Phottix Radio Remote

Kirk Enterprises replacement foot and modified knob for Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8

Kirk Enterprises replacement tripod mount for Nikkor 300mm f/4

Kirk PZ-123 (MB-D10 to Arca Swiss)

Gitzo GT3540XLS Tripod

Manfrotto 055C Tripod

Manfrotto 168 B&S

Manfrotto 194 Tripod

Manfrotto table tripod

Arca Swiss Z1 B&S

Manfrotto 234QR

Manfrotto 268 B&S

Manfrotto monopod 134

RRS BD300-L B (D300 / D700 to Arca Swiss "L-Bracket")

Wimberley gimbal mk2 + lens plates

Yongnuo  SF-18 (SD-8a copy) (8AA) External Flash Battery Pack

     

 

     

 Nikkor AF

 Nikkor MF(Nikon E/EL)

 Indepenent Glass

Nikkor 12-24mm f/4AFS DX

Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8 AFS DX Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 AFS VR

Nikkor 200-400mm f/4 AFS Nikkor 300mm f/4 AFS

Nikkor 18-70 AFS

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AFD

Nikkor 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 AF

Nikkor 35-80mm f/4-5.6 AF (wide focus ring)

Nikkor 70-210mm f/4.5-5.6 AF

Nikkor Micro 60mm f/2.8 AFS Nikkor Micro 105mm f/2.8 AFS VR

Nikkor Micro 70-180mm f/4.5-5.6 AF ED

Nikkor 70-300mm ED AF

Nikkor 28-105mm AF

Nikkor 35-135 AF

Nikon TC-14E II 1.4x teleconverter

  

Nikkor 200mm f/4 AIS

Nikkor 28mm f/2.8 AIS

Nikkor 300mm f/4.5 AIS IFED

Nikkor 35-70mm f/3.5 AIS

Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 AI

Nikkor 400mm f/3.5 AIS IFED

Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AIS (original, with coupling fork)

Nikkor 80-200mm f/4 AIS

Nikkor Micro 200mm f/4 AIS

Nikkor Micro 55mm f/2.8

Nikon 75-150mm series 'E' f/3.5

Nikon TC-14B 1.4x teleconverter

Nikon TC-301 2x teleconverter

Nikon EL 50mm f/2.8  

 

Tokin 90mm f/2.5 macro ATX (AIS)

Tokina 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 ATX (AIS)

Tokina 28-70mm f/2.6-2.8 ATX (AF)

Sigma 100-500 f/5.6-8 APO (AIS)

Sigma 24mm f/2.8 (AIS)

Sigma 400mm f/5.6 APO (AIS)

Sigma 75-200mm f/2.8-3.5 (AIS)

Sigma 800mm f/5.6 APO (AF)

Makinon 135mm f/2.8 (AI)

Kenko Pro300 2x teleconverter (N/AF)

Sigma 28mm f/2.8 II (Praktica)

Sigma 70-210mm f4.5-5.6 (Praktica)

 

 

 

 

All of the pieces of equipment covered here have been, or currently are, owned and used by me. Here I want to pass on to you some of my thoughts and conclusions.

I am not into spending endless hours trying to determine if one lens is optically better than another or shooting lots of test chart comparisions. This is therefore not an in-depth review of each item, it is simply a summary of my opinion of them in actual use. I am relatively critical of equipment, in terms of build quality, ease of use, value for money, resultant image quality, etc. and so take my comments with that in mind. For example I used to use a Sigma 400mm f/5.6 APO telephoto lens which had an excellent reputation and was certainly well made and budget friendly, but I was never truly happy with the images it produced. Being my first true telephoto it could equally have been the lens or my use of it i.e., poor technique. I replaced it with a second-hand Nikkor 400mm f/3.5 IFED (a terrifying investment at the time). The images were stunning, but for the price they should have been, at least I knew that it the relatively poor performance of the Sigma was not down to me. I am sure many amateurs would have been delighted with the output from the Sigma, especially if previously experience had only been with consumer optics. It was not a bad lens but for me it did not deliver what I was looking for. I will therefore try to put any comments into context where I can. I have also created a basic scoring system to rate each item.

1 = Poor, not fit for purpose, definitely to be avoided

2 = Generally disappointing but useable, best avoided

3 = Good, solid performer but not 'great', think twice

4 = Excellent with some minor flaws or caveats, recommended

5 = Fabulous, recommended without hesitation

When buying I do some research on the web (thankfully there are lots of people who do like to do such comparative evaluations) and then buy and use whatever piece of kit I feel best fits my needs and budget. If it delivers and gets sufficient use I keep it, otherwise I sell it on and think again. I am not a chaser of the latest kit, some of my lenses I have had 20 year or so and I still use my first digital cameras. My priorities, in order of importance, are performance, ruggedness and cost. Cost is still important but, rather than paying whatever I have to in order to meet priorities 1 and 2, it has a different impact on my purchases. If I can't (or won't) afford what I want I tend not to buy a second best option.

I hope that you find my thoughts and comments useful when considering a new piece of kit. There are of course sample to sample differences, and indeed user to user, so you may well have different experiences. If you have specific questions, need a little clarification or just want to comment then feel free to contact me. Enjoy.....