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In This Issue:
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02-OCT-2005
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Bird migration challenge
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Book Review: Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide
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As we are getting ready for the 5th ANPAT
coming week, the digital revolution tank keeps on rolling at a fast
pace and nothing is going to stop it in its tracks. We have seen
several corporations shot sunk the last months: Agfaphoto and Leica out
of Germany being two examples. A few days ago Kodak announced the split
of the digital and film units into two separate business entities,
while promising us better times in 2008, the year the colossus
schedules to be on target with soaring profits.
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service in the Nikonians Forums; now experience it for yourself. Contact Brad Berger and tell him Nikonians sent you!
---
Yes, digital is really thriving and that we also see in Nikonians
forums. With many hundreds of postings per day we Nikonians are very
active - No matter if it concerns film or digital. And it doesn't
matter if you are a film consumer or battery discharger; as long as you
do not trade your F4 or D2X for a mobile camera phone you will need
lenses. Our Nikkor forum
proves this is true, hosting many good, and sometimes heated
discussions around our lenses. And of course, one of the best reasons
for buying a Nikon is Nikkor :-)
A similar revolution is seen in publishing, where blogs and podcasts
are making their way into areas previously owned by traditional offline
media corporations. Content has always been king at Nikonians and we
are happy to announce that our publishing efforts are gaining further
momentum, now with the additional support of vocal members who have
signed up for the Nikonians Writers Guild, a team authoring quality
content for the community.
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Lexar memory cards, take a closer look. With improved workflow and improved performance, learn why Pro Photographers trust Lexar. www.lexar.com/look
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We also have new podcasts with interesting professionals in the making
and you should be able to "hear them out" in the coming months. Our
Chief News Editor Armando J. Heredia (Covey22) is managing our blog and
news system and if you haven't subscribed to our RSS newsfeed, we
suggest you'd give it a try at blog.nikonians.org - Fresh, and hopefully relevant news on your desktop and that more or less every day :-)
Throughout these first five years of our existence, we have received a lot
of feedback, a majority being very positive, but also some critical
voices have been raised. We've listened to this feedback and we've
adapt. A community is like a living organism and Nikonians is not
different; it is a "work in progress". Our main intention from the very
beginning and what we see today, was to achieve a friendly community
where members help each other, learn from each other, where there are
no silly brand wars going on and where real information is exchanged.
Together we have succeeded very well reaching this goal.
Quite a number of you, our members, are on a paid membership level and
this helps a lot. To be exact, out of 36,000 registered members, 5.8%
have bought a membership this year, thereby helping out to cover for a
part of the community's operational costs. 85% of these being Silver
level memberships. It is a terrific support and we are working right
now providing long awaited, additional functionality for you and some
good things are due out Q4!
One of the main problems communities like ours often have is a constant
insufficiency of cash flow to sustain growth at high rates like ours.
Thanks to the support from paying members, from the customers in the community shop and the advertising revenue from our sponsors, we are able to keep Nikonians up and running and to add functionality.
Our software engineering is still understaffed though and it is our
goal to employ an additional, full time staff member for the numerous
tasks ahead in Q1-2006. This is only possible with the continuous
support from each and everyone, so please make sure you upgrade your
membership, that you buy items in the community shop and that you visit
our sponsors. As you can see in the figures above, there is still a lot
of potential for paid membership growth.
If you are reading the Nikonians resources and forums, please make sure
you register. And even better, make sure you register for a Silver,
Gold or Platinum membership :-)
As always, thanks to all of you making Nikonians possible!
Bo & JRP
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Nikon D70 Digital Field Guide by David D. Busch
From the Nikonians book and magazine literature section. By Nikonian Conrad Obregon (Obregon)
The manuals that accompany new digital cameras are packed with
information on every single feature of the camera. Unfortunately, the
feature by feature presentation doesn’t do much to show you how to use
the camera to take good pictures. This book aims at that target for the
Nikon D70 digital camera.
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Free trial: http://www.phaseone.com/Content/Downloads.aspx
---
The book provides a quick start up guide and then a more detailed list
of the D70’s features that is something like the presentation in the
manual, i.e., descriptive without being too functional unless you know
what you want to achieve. But once the introduction is over, there is
information on photography basics like exposure, depth of field, the
use of artificial light, focusing modes and lens selection.
The second half of the book discusses photo subjects, like
architectural photography, flower and plant photography, and street
life photography. Each of these sections offers some general ideas on
the subject and presents a picture taken by the author. The author
discusses his consideration of setup, lighting, lens, etc. in taking
the picture.
This book aims at people who are converting from a point-and-shoot
camera to a D70, and I suppose it may do as an introductory text. But
no one should think that this book is going to make him or her a very
competent digital photographer. This is because the discussion of the
D70’s features is superficial at best. For example the discussion of
focusing indicates there are two autofocus modes, single servo and
continuous servo, but never really explains when the photographer might
select one over the other.
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---
Similarly when the author describes the menu preferences, he never
really tells you when each of the preferences might be useful.
Moreover, he doesn’t even discuss some of the critical menu items.
While the D70 is not Nikon’s most expensive camera it still is not
inexpensive. Someone buying this camera will want to know how to get
the most out of it. For example, most serious digital camera users will
probably want to use the raw format occasionally. I expected a
comparison of the raw format to the JPEG format. There was none. I also
expected some discussion of the settings for sharpness, color mode, and
similar settings available under the “optimize image” setting. Again
there was none.
Occasionally I was confused by references by the author like “Adobe
Elements 4.0”. Busch is way ahead of Adobe on this one, since they are
only selling Elements 3.0
If you are one of those photographers making the transition from a
point and shoot camera to a D70, the book may help you ease the
transition. But to really use the capabilities of this camera you will
have to do a lot of other research.
You find more of Nikonian Conrad Obregon's reviews in our book and magazine section
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The 5th Annual Nikonians Photo Adventure Tour
09-Oct-2005 to 15-Oct-2005
South Dakota, USA
http://www.nikonians.org/html/workshops/anpat5
"Things As They Are" - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Photojournalism in Context since 1955.
08-Oct-2005 to 07-Dec-2005.
Major exhibition about the history of press photography, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of World Press Photo.
foam Fotografiemuseum
Amsterdam, Netherland
Info at http://www.foam.nl
"Seeing the Unseen" - Naples, Florida
The Photographs of Harold E. Edgerton
09-Oct-2005 to 23-Dec-2005
Iconic photographs by Harold Edgerton, the pioneer of stroboscopic
stop-action photography, that captured a fascinating world
imperceptible to the human eye.
Naples Museum of Art
The Phil Galleries
5833 Pelican Bay Boulevard
Naples, Florida
Info at http://www.thephil.org
"Andre Kertesz" - New York, New York
16-Sep-2005 to 27-Nov-2005
A comprehensive overview of the rich and varied works of Andre Kertesz.
International Center of Photography
New York, New York
Info at http://www.icp.org
"How Photography Changed People's Viewpoint" - Tokyo, Japan
10th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition.
17-Sep-2005 to 06-Nov-2005
Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography
Exhibition Gallery, 3F
1-13-3 Mita Meguro-ku
Tokyo, Japan
Info at http://www.syabi.com/english/index_eng.html
"A Tribute to Bill Brandt" - Paris, France
21-Sep-2005 to 18-Dec-2005
A rare collection of vintage prints by the great photographer Bill
Brandt, the first time that this prestigious collection is exhibited in
France.
Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson
2, impasse Lebouis
75014 Paris
France
Info at http://www.henricartierbresson.org/index_en.htm
"Intimations" - Victoria, Australia
Photographs by Gordon Undy
05-Oct-2005 to 23-Oct-2005
An exhibition of the works of this acknowledged master of Australian landscape photography.
Gold Street Studios
80 Glod Street
Collingwood, Victoria
Australia
Info at http://www.goldstreetstudios.com.au/GordonUndyIn.htm
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December meeting in Europe
It might feel strange to think about a Christmas meeting this early, but we need some lead time so here goes...
For December 3rd, we are going to meet for a one day conference in
Brussels. Why Brussels? Because it is the most central location for our
members in Europe. For our many US Nikonians, you are most welcome too, even though if you have to cross the puddle!
The basic idea is to meet Saturday for a nice get together, exchanging
ideas, showing off our work, listening to some interesting
photographers getting tips and hints, to have a "gear fumbling" area
with some good stuff and maybe more.
Location: Brussels, Belgium
Date: Saturday 03-Dec-2005
Duration: One full day together, starting at 10:00h - finishing in the evening, 18:00h or later
Hope to see you there!
Nikonians Meet
Nikonians in the Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas area interested in getting together in Tulsa?
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID30/891.html
If you are in Carmel
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID30/897.html
Interested in meeting other Nikonians in Australia?
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID30/856.html
Interested in meeting other Nikonians in South Africa?
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID30/895.html
If you are in Albuquerque, NM or plan to go the for the Hot Air Balloon Festival
http://www.nikonians.org/dcforum/DCForumID30/888.html
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This newsletter is Copyright (c) Nikonians 2005. All rights reserved.
Nikonians(R) is a registered trademark of nikonians.org.
The nikonia, nikonian, nikonians domains and THE NIKONIAN are not
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newsletter are owned by their respective owners.
Nikonians and its owners do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of
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this newsletter. Nikonians and its owners shall not be liable for any
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without limitation, lost revenues or lost profits, which may result
from the use of the information held in this newsletter.
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