toys

So I mentioned new toys the other day. I am very spoilt. I am now the lucky owner of a Nikon D300s for which I opted to get the Tamron 17-50 mm F/2.8 VC. Last time around I chose the kit lens that gave the largest zoom range, and after a few years with that I decided it wiser to go for something faster and not the all rounder. I haven't done a huge amount of shooting with it, but so far I like the combination, and think the VC is up to Tamron's claims. This together with the decent higher ISO performance of Nikon's latest DX body should make for some fun indoor shooting.

Here are some pretty much straight out of the camera jpegs from my first stroll around Paris with it. 'Straight out of the camera' for the D300s doesn't mean much since there are enough menu manipulations that one could get just about anything out of the camera. I mention jpegs because Apple to be pretty slow on supporting the RAW format for the D300s and Canon's new 7D. I guess their business is more about iPods and iMacs, and less about their origins, where they were always known for imaging. I wish Apple paid more attention to the iWouldLikeToKowWhenTheNextUpdateWillBe and less to the colours of their pods. They make nifty stuff and I'm a fan, but their customer relations make me think they may actually be a French company. Do I hear Lightroom calling?

What's really nice at first glance is how the high contrast scenes are handled. In some ways a Nikon is like an Alfa; it's a nice place to be. Things work like you expect them to, and you find them where you would have put them... that's cool.

As for Apple, you should take a leaf out of Adobe's book... ooh look, beta versions, announcements and wow, upgrades straight after the hardware is released.

The D300s, is it necessary? Hhhmmm nope. Is it cool to be spoilt and have to start learning something new to try make great photos? Oh yes!