Just ordered a new camera and lens - and I am excited!

[csziggy]

Nikon D750 body with a Nikkor 28-300 zoom lens. Both are on sale and I got some nice bundles with them from Adorama. I also looked at B&H but we liked the camera bundle from Adorama better.

Actually I ordered two bodies - we have a stash of lenses dating from our N70 and D70 cameras. While they may not as good with the D750 as one designed for the FX format, they will still work. The sales guy was confused why two camera bodies - my husband would take my camera if I only got one.

Our first trip together I had a brand new Konica 35mm SLR and he had the 35mm camera he inherited from his Dad. At the Painted Forest he dropped and broke his camera. Between there and San Francisco I seldom got to use my camera, so I found a discount camera place in the city and bought another Konica just like mine so we could swap lenses. That was in 1978 and we finally replaced those Konicas in 1999 with the Nikon N70. And I even sold the non-working Konicas with the lenses for a decent price on eBay!

I have to get good with the Nikon before we leave for Britain in July so I hope to post some photos over the next few months!

[Ohiogal]

1. Sounds fabulous!

And we're looking forward to seeing your photos!

[Solly Mack]

2. How exciting! Looking forward to your photos.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Wow, my dear csziggy!

That sounds wonderful! I think you will have a lot of fun with this combo.

I have the Nikon D3200 which is for sort-of beginners like myself. I wanted to have a Nikkor lens with it, but our photo guy told me that they don't make the super wide angle zoom that I wanted, and had used from Tamron (my old Tamron 16--300mm). So, for my birthday, my husband bought me the Tamron 18--400mm lens so I can get even better moon shots and still have an excellent wide angle. I really don't like changing lenses. I'm always afraid I'll drop something and then looking for a good place to sit down to do the change is even more fun. Plus you have to carry everything!

So I have a zoom that I love, that does it all.......and I think you'll be in the same place.

Enjoy! Britain is a photographer's paradise. If you haven't been......you will love it.

[csziggy]

5. I looked at the D3200 but was wowed by the D750

And since I only buy a new camera about once a decade (or two) and I have the money right now, I figure it's worth getting the higher end camera.

The D750 is the bottom end of Nikon's FX series which have a larger sensor than most of their cameras. And right now the camera is $600 off instant savings so it's a good time to get it.

We have a whole set of Nikon compatible lenses - 18mm, 40mm, 50mm, 70-300mm, all auto focus, plus some macro adapters and other things that will still work with the new cameras.

The last several years I've been using FujiFilm Finepix "point & shoot" cameras that have a wonderful zoom range from wide angle to 50x zoom (not sure what that is in mm equivalent). That has spoiled me since I can get nearly every type of shot I want without switching lenses around. The 28-300 should give me that flexibility with Nikon quality glass and sensor. Plus when I want to switch lenses I can - and we probably will upgrade at some point.

My husband is lusting after Nikkor prime lenses but at the size he wants (over 400mm) we're talking more money than I am comfortable with, especially with what I spent on camera equipment today!

[mobeau69]

4. 28-300 is awesome.

I have older Pentax zooms (35-70 and 70-210). Sometimes it's a hassle changing back and forth.

Enjoy, ziggy.

[drray23]

6. Sales guy confused by you having two camera bodies ?

He must not know much about photography. Most pro and serious amateurs have several bodies to avoid having to swap lenses in some situations.

[csziggy]

7. He may have thought I would need one shipped to a different address as a gift nt

[Adsos Letter]

8. I've read somewhere that the D750 does very well in low light situations.

Enjoy England!

[csziggy]

9. Yes, it does, and much more

This video that Nikon has on their product page shows a lot of what this camera can do - it's amazing!

This trip to Britain (because we're starting in Scotland and will go to Wales) will be the trip of a lifetime for my husband and me.

[eppur_se_muova]

10. "low light situations ... enjoy England" ... is that a veiled crack about English weather ? nt

[Adsos Letter]

11. lol

It wasn’t, but it’s a good interpretation!

[csziggy]

14. These days it could be a crack about our Tallahassee weather!

Today it never got above about 25% daylight - absolutely socked in with rain: hard rain, mistly rain and everything in between. Not even a hint of sunshine.

I keep telling my husband I want to move to Florida, but then I remember we are IN Florida. Maybe just barely but we are south of the Georgia line.

[edbermac]

12. I got the 750 a few months ago.

Be prepared for some serious reading, the little manual is 500 pages!

[csziggy]

13. I know - I never mastered all of what my D70 did

I was hoping to get a Magic Lantern guide book for the D740 but apparently they didn't publish one. The Magic Lantern Guide for the D70 taught me a lot more than the user manual that came with the camera.

If I don't learn enough from the supplied manual or the internet (blogs and YouTube videos) I may order the Kindle version of one of the guides now available (Mastering the Nikon D750 or Nikon D750 Experience) so I can take it along on my tablet as I travel. I'll have two weeks on the ship on the way to Britain so loads of time to study a guide and play with the camera, even it is not exactly the types of photography I usually do, such as shots of birds.

[csziggy]

15. The D750s are here!

It took us two hours to unpack stuff and sort it out, mostly because we kept getting distracted and actually looking at things.

Between the bundles that came with the camera (so two each of all kinds of stuff), the bundle that came with the lens, and the other things I got, we have a lot of new camera toys!

I spent the morning dragging out all our old camera stuff. Here is the inventory:

N70 35mm body
MC-12B Remote Cord
Magic Lantern Guide
Batteries - CR123a lithium

D70 body
wireless remote
batteries for D70:
2 Nikon EN-EL3
Adapter to carry CR2 batteries
Nikon Quick Charger MH -18
3 1GB CF cards

Lenses & Filters
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-70mm f: 3.5-4.5G ED - DX SWWM Aspherical w/ lens hood
Nikon AF Nikkor 28-80mm f:3.5-5.6 D w/Tiffen cir. Polarizer 58mm & Tiffen UV Protector 58mm
Quantaray AF 19-35mm f: 3.5-4.5
Nikon AF 70-300mm f: 4.5-5.6G w/Tiffen cir. Polariser 62mm w/lens hood
Tiffen 58mm to 62mm Step-up ring
Tiffen Wide Angle Cir. Polarizer 67mm (not sure where this came from - we don't even have a lens it fits!)

Bags & Straps
Tamarac Bag
Blue Lowepro
Black Lowepro
Slide & Flex Bino-System Strap - Merritt Island
Slide & Flex Bino-System Strap - Corkscrew Swamp

Tripods
Aragon small tripod (very portable but not usable with a big zoom lens)
SunPak Platinum Plus 6400 UT
Velbon VGB-3


Now I need to make choices. First off, the only really good lens out of our old ones is the 18-70 ED - DX but since it is a DX it is not really suitable for the new FX format camera bodies. Yeah, all those lenses would work on the new camera, but they are all really old - I think the newest one was purchased in 2005! And of course none of them have VR which is nice as we get older. So I may buy a second lens, maybe a more moderate range zoom to replace the 28-80 one. Or since the 28-300 is still on sale I could get another one of them. My husband wants a prime telephoto lens but they cost more than our last car did so that's not going to happen.

I'm thinking about making a couple of bundles - one for the N70 and another for the D70 and selling most of the old stuff on eBay. We'll keep the Lowepro bags - we got new ones with the camera bundles but they are not as good or as weatherproof. I may keep the Tamarac bag since it is just right for a camera with a zoom lens with an extra battery and a memory card. I'd like to upgrade the tripods, but we really seldom use one so I'm not sure it's worth it.

[ManiacJoe]

16. Looks like a lot of fun!

Download the PDF version of the camera manual and put it on your computer and phone. The PDF version is so much easier to search in.

I am looking around at what is available to upgrade my D700 with. Thinking the Nikon D6 when it comes out in early 2019.

[csziggy]

17. Good idea about the manual!

I'll probably be lugging around a tablet rather than a phone, but same deal.

I know the D750 has been out a while but it is way more camera than I have ever owned. At this point my worry is that it will be too heavy for me especially with that 28-300 zoom lens! Tomorrow morning I have to put my strap/harness on it - it is one intended for big binoculars and goes over the shoulders. It lets me rest my arms, distributes the weight and the camera is still easy to access.

My husband is testing his D750 with our old lenses - I told him he needs to do that for the next week. If he likes the photos with the new 28-300 lens better, I will order him one, too. for the price it is supposed to be a brilliant lens.

[ManiacJoe]

18. Finding a good strap is important.

The factory Nikon straps are bad.

I have a big, thick, boomerang strap for my DSLRs. The snap-in clips make for easy removal when not needed.
https://optechusa.com/pro-strap.html

[csziggy]

19. My strap/harness is one of these

Or very similar:



We have one for each camera - one bought at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary and the other at Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The first one I bought was discounted so when we saw the second one we picked it up. It's great for the cameras since the camera hangs lower than a neck strap would (with the way I am built that is important) and the straps distribute the weight better than a neck strap. And it leaves the hands free otherwise.

Since I have had surgery on both shoulders, a strap over one shoulder is uncomfortable but the way this harness hangs does not hurt.

On my older camera I had to rig the attachment, but with the D750 I can just snap the harness onto the supplied rings.