Nikon D3100 with DX 16-85 VR lens and SB400 - Field Test


Great shots you have there, ppl who are considering the higher end D7000 and this will have reasons to do so now. :)
 

simply beautiful shots with D3100! wonder when can i achieve such shots even though i'm using the same cam body.
 

thanks for the encouraging words

to get nice shots you will need a nice composition and nice light
not forgetting the understanding of your camera and lens

not long more, just keep shooting
 

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at Tsukiji Fish Market

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the low noise at High ISO came in Handy, so did the VR
one thing i need to say is to switch off the VR until you need it.

Hi great pics! i have the exact same gear but my pics arent't as good. anyway may i ask why did you say that we shld switch off the VR until we need it? shouldnt that always been switched on so that we can use a faster shutter speed? will the VR affect the IQ?
 

Hi great pics! i have the exact same gear but my pics arent't as good. anyway may i ask why did you say that we shld switch off the VR until we need it? shouldnt that always been switched on so that we can use a faster shutter speed? will the VR affect the IQ?

my reason is based on the fact that you should switch off the VR if your camera is on a tripod.
so if you have a fast enough shutter speed (usually more anything faster than 1/60s) you should switch the VR off.

the technology in VR will try to compensate for vibration, but if there is no vibration in the first place then it just might introduce some. so i would think that it is better to switch it off if you don't need it.

btw when i came back from Japan, i had 27GB of images and videos. this is only a small small selection of what i took.
 

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Hi Ortega, it's encouraging to see that good shots don't always come from the latest super advanced gadgets. You mentioned in your earlier post that 1mm made a lot of difference. I suppose you're referring to your 16-85mm lens. For your vacation, would you have preferred Nikkor 18-200mm lens to 16-85mm if you have one? I was deciding btn these two lenses. Ken Rockwell doesn't think that the 16mm makes a lot of difference compared to 18mm & highly recommends the 18-200mm. What's your take? Thanks.
 

i normally shoot with a 17-50mm f2.8 lens, so the 16mm on the AF-S DX NIKKOR 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR is wider than i am used too.
i normally take whatever ken rockwell says with a grain of salt.

eventually it is your choice, do you shoot more at the wide end or the tele end of your zoom?
personally i shoot more at the wide end. so i would prefer the 16-85mm VR.

why not try the lenses out and see for yourself if the 16mm is the same as the 18mm. i don't have the two lenses so i won't be able to do a side by side comparison.
maybe i will someday.
 

Great shots. Gives pple an idea of the capabilities of this simple camera setup.
Love the handheld shots and your fresh perspectives. Japan looks great.
 

eventually it is your choice, do you shoot more at the wide end or the tele end of your zoom? personally i shoot more at the wide end. so i would prefer the 16-85mm VR.

why not try the lenses out and see for yourself if the 16mm is the same as the 18mm. i don't have the two lenses so i won't be able to do a side by side comparison.
maybe i will someday.

I went on vacation recently with a 18-250mm lens & realized that I shot more with wide angle than with tele-zoom. A lot of shots were on landscape, so I think a wider angle is more useful for vacation. But I assume 16mm would have more distortion than 18mm.

Would like to try a 16mm lens, but I would have to buy one, which is relatively expensive. Thanks for your input.
 

Do you use a tripod for all the shots ?
 

Only brought along a table pod, The Disney castle and rainbow bridge was shot with the table pod
 

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very impressive performance and use of the D3100 on DX 16-85 VR. Upz! Quite a substantial difference over that 2mm wide end.. :)
 

The 16-85mm looks like an awesome pair of lens. Recognised a few shots there, did you go to Odaiba?
 

thanks and yes i went to odaiba
could not take the night view of the statue of liberty with the rainbow bridge without a full tripod :(
 

Really great & interesting shots there of your travel with this "entry level" camera :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Goes to show how good this camera truly is & how the man behind the camera makes the final difference. I can almost feel the texture of the beautiful clothes the bride's is wearing & the food, yes the food makes me salivate :bsmilie:

Btw, may I ask if the pics are directly taken off the camera at its default settings or tweaks been made on the picture style, sharpening, saturation etc? I like the colors of these pics... Thanks.
 

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very impressive performance and use of the D3100 on DX 16-85 VR. Upz! Quite a substantial difference over that 2mm wide end.. :)

Definitely. On the 2mm, agree on the difference from my experience with this lens. The 24mm FF perspective gives the wow factor & for DX very difficult to find as few zoom lens even primes are this wide, at this quality & price. Particularly usefull for travels & landscapes. :)
 

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.......

btw when i came back from Japan, i had 27GB of images and videos. this is only a small small selection of what i took.

:bigeyes: :bigeyes: Can post to share more please... :)
 

Hi Ortega, it's encouraging to see that good shots don't always come from the latest super advanced gadgets. You mentioned in your earlier post that 1mm made a lot of difference. I suppose you're referring to your 16-85mm lens. For your vacation, would you have preferred Nikkor 18-200mm lens to 16-85mm if you have one? I was deciding btn these two lenses. Ken Rockwell doesn't think that the 16mm makes a lot of difference compared to 18mm & highly recommends the 18-200mm. What's your take? Thanks.

I've read that the 16-85mm is much sharper, it would have been my choice between the 2 had I got a Nikon instead of a Canon. The 18-200mm has better reach for times when the 85mm may not be enough, though I've used an 18-55mm for several years and still dealt with the lack of reach anyway.
 

VR consumes more battery and the VR mechanism is (I believe) more susceptible to wear and tear, as compared to your zoom and optics mechanism. So if you want to prolong the lifespan of your lens, turn off VR when you don't need it. VR also can take up to 3 seconds to fully engage so if you are trigger happy, you are just using VR but not maximizing it.
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Awesome shots.

I am going to Tokyo and I am wondering what setup to bring.
D700 with 17-35 and 70-200 or D300 with 18-200. And if I should bring SB600 or SB900.
Or should I just buy a 28-300 to pair with D700. I need good low light performance and your shots are what I normally will take.

Seeing that you just shoot with FOV of 24-125, now I am not sure....
 

Really great & interesting shots there of your travel with this "entry level" camera :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Goes to show how good this camera truly is & how the man behind the camera makes the final difference. I can almost feel the texture of the beautiful clothes the bride's is wearing & the food, yes the food makes me salivate :bsmilie:

Btw, may I ask if the pics are directly taken off the camera at its default settings or tweaks been made on the picture style, sharpening, saturation etc? I like the colors of these pics... Thanks.

i believe that the settings are normal but i do under expose slightly for richer colour
you also need to look for nice light to get nice colour, especially in the early mornings and artificial light at night.

i am glad you like my shots ;)

i will post more later