Nikon Launches D60 - 10 Megapixels advanced digital camera

 

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Nikon announced the launch of Nikon D60, a 10.2 megapixels camera, today with a street price of about USD 700.00. The camera has been launched in Europe today & is supposed to hit the US shelves by March 2008.

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With the D80, D40 & the D40x targeted at the same market segment of amateurs & advanced amateurs, the camera bears a significant trend of the market - help more in-camera processing & reduce the dependency on a computer. In terms of technology though, it bears the same high level of Nikon techniques as in any other along with an advanced dust cleaning mechanism. People have been known to depend on their computer mostly for (a) cleaning up images (b) changing saturation levels & (c) cropping. Having an advanced dusting mechanism would certainly help those who would prefer to spend more time with the camera than with the software!

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Here is a detailed report from DP Review on the camera along with it’s specifications.

New Nikon Tele VR Lenses - affordability vs quality vs weight

From: Photoduniya.com

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Nikon had announced the launch of the Telephoto VR lenses late last year. The Nikon 600 mm f/4 AF-VR (estimated street price USD 9,500) and the Nikon 500 mm f/4 AF-VR (estimated street price USD 7,900) were announced late last year by Nikon and are yet to hit the market. It had always been a question as to whether one needs a VR with these long lenses for an additional price of between USD 500 to USD 700 and an increased weight of the lens. But looking into the way Nikon is trying to get into the Canon sports market, probably the thought is that many of these “nature” & “field” lenses would now be used in the sports arena easily.

 

Having said that, the 2 other lenses that automatically come into the discussion are the Nikon 400 mm f/2.8 AF (street price of USD 7,000) and the Sigma 500 mm f/4.5 AF (street price of USD 4,200). Nikon would definitely discontinue the non-VR versions of all the lenses that are already made with VR. The Nikon 500 mm f/4 (non-VR) had been a favorite of most of the nature photographers and had performed superbly for ages would be gone in a few months of time.

 

Personally, since I do not do sports, I have not much use of the VR in these tele lenses. That leaves the proposition for the Sigma 500 mm f/4.5 AF extremely enticing, especially if I weigh the positive price and the weight factors to the only negative brand factor. But a difference of USD 4,000 does a lot of justification for a small time photographer like me! The reviews had been excellent over years together. And apart from the Service related cribbing that many people reported as a pain point with Sigma, there have been no complaints on the quality or the operations of this lens.

 

The other brand lens that appears very enticing at least from the price point of view now is the Nikon 200 - 400 mm f/4 G-AFS which comes with a VR for a price of USD 5,100. I have recently sold my very favorite Nikon FM 3A and probably would not have much need of the “D” versions anyway. The Nikon F5 and the Nikon D200 works superbly with the Nikon 200 - 400 mm f/4 G-AFS VR. The zooming ability of this lens, for my needs, out-weighs the benefits of the 500 mm prime.

 

I have thought of the Sigmonster (Sigma 300 - 800 mm f/5.6) for over a year now. It is probably an excellent value for the money (for a price of USD 7,000) but since I have started doing a lot of streets now, I have to finally get this lens off my mind for good!

Tips & Suggestions for a long haul drive

From: photoduniya.com

It is extremely nice to hear a lot of interest within my readers to drive similar distances cross country. I am constantly being asked for any suggestion that could help in such a drive. I have updated the Travel section of photoduniya.com with as much of information as possible and I will jot the main points again here:
  • This is our second cross country drive. We had most of our lessons on the first. And we also had a growing interest to do this trip again from the first drive!
  • Travel for the fun of it. Look out, enjoy the beauty outside and take in as much as you can of the region you are traveling through. We took diversions, we stayed additional days in places we wanted to see in winter and we stopped where we wanted to spend a moment longer.
  • Prepare your vehicle - oil change, tire pressure and the electrical circuits are absolutely necessary if you are traveling through a wide range of climatic conditions. Our car was practically new in this drive, with almost new tires and yet we had situations where the pressure faltered, where the grip wasn’t as good. I have never changed a tire before! Never. And all I am good at with my car is either driving it or re-fuelling it. And thank god, we did not run into issues.
    Our off road SUV - Nissan Xterra
    Nissan Xterra our car for the winter cross country drive from california to new york
  • If you are planning to drive in the winter, you could have very difficult roads. So keeping to 1 or 2 interstate highways for the most part of the journey helps. The image below shows a spot on Interstate I-80 which was completely icy and the snow had not been cleared for quite some time.
Icy patches on I-80
Cross Country Drive from California to New York in Nissan Xterra off road SUV
  • Carry extra wind shield fluid in the car. We faced a situation where we had used up all the fuild by the afternoon and it started snowing in the evening when we suddenly heard the fluid motor burring! We had run out of fuild on a winding dark narrow mountainous stretch close to Reno, Nevada.
  • Keep water, fruit juice and dry food in the car. Water and the juice is to keep your body hydrated while on the wheels. The food is primarily for emergencies and will also help you to keep your stomach from running completely empty. Driving with an empty stomach could lead to fatal accidents.
  • Keep one map & a torch lamp in the car. We used a five dollar Mapquest map book bought from Walmart. It helped us on course corrections for all closed highways and byways. We used a ten dollar maglite torch lamp from REI.
  • Dont push your body or your vehicle to its limits. You are traveling to see and enjoy. So relax! Keep ample time in your hand to stop for some coffee and breathe in the fresh air!
  • Keep in touch with a friend or a relative. For the most part, we had our family friend watch over us during the journey. They would call us and make sure that we were all right. We had also taken their help on navigation and weather information.
  • While driving, know for sure that many other people on the road should not even be behind the wheels in the first place! So do not tempt or be tempted to exceed speed or do anything unusual or illegal. There would only be a few drivers along the way who are driving for several days at a stretch for several thousand miles. This is not a competition to reach first - this is probably a once in a life time opportunity to see the country in its natural best. So keep your focus.
  • Last but not the least, enjoy the drive. Look out, stop to take some pictures or to exchange some greetings with the local people - you may never meet them again!
If you are planning to travel cross country we wish you good luck and hope you have a memorable trip. Do share your trip experience so that we could also plan something similar on a new route!

Cross Country Drive from California to New York - Day 10 Danbury, CT

From: photoduniya.com

We concluded our coast to coast drive from California on the West to New York in the East today at about 6:30 PM Eastern Time clocking 3425 miles on the odometer. It is the tenth day of our trip and we drove the last 400 miles from Pennsylvania to Connecticut in about 6 hours.

Hermitage, PA to Danbury, CT @ photoduniya.com

cross country drive from california to new york in pennsylvania

The day was mostly cloudy with snow dust blowing mildly but the wind was low and even though there were mild drizzle along the way, the drive had been mostly good. The I-84 Est that we followed into New York and Connecticut badly needs repair in many places in Pennsylvania and New York. There are numerous potholes, with the concrete coming off in several places that slowed us down quite a bit.

Pennsylvania landscape on I-80 @ photoduniya.com

 

cross country drive from california to new york in pennsylvania

 

The images on this journey are taken mostly while driving on hand held Nikon D200. More on the trip will come up later on the Travel section of photoduniya.com.



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