I had dust on my Nikon D600 after less than 1000 shots and before I ever even changed the lens. Something is up with Nikon and dust. Either a shutter design or something else. I even had 2 hot pixels and ended up returning. I'll probably end up re-buying but i'm worried about these issues. Even the reviews are pointing them out:
http://learningcameras.com/reviews/4-dslrs/75-nikon-d600-full-review

i tried the '' clean sensor of the menu'' and i had more black spots ! i contacted nikon and they confirmed that the sensor needs to be cleaned, so i took the camera today to the service centre kingston ,london .the service was just great and they have done it while i was waiting .
the whole process done within 4o min.
thank ou msmoto for your reply .

@ sary

Shoot an exposure of a plain white sheet of paper, camera focus at infinity, paper at about two feet. In post processing, increase contrast to full and then post image. This should show the problem more clearly than a 10 second exposure.

here is the link to see the mark

thank you for the reply msmoto , how can i post a pic as attachment ?

Now that we are in the correct thread...just a little note. Unless I am in an extremely dirty venue, I do not clean lenses. Some have never been cleaned in several years except to possibly blow dust off. And the rear element is never touched unless some unfortunate event occurs and a piece of dirt or smudge gets on the glass.

The pro Nikon bodies do seem to have a tendency to accumulate oil spots. After about 10,000 clicks I cleaned my D4 sensor which had over 70 oil spots, by count, and I have not had another in the past 7,000 clicks.

And, Sary, welcome to NRF. Maybe you could post a photo showing the spot..... or what a while and see if more accumulate.

sary said:
hi guys i've just noticed a mark (same size and location) in some of my pictures taken with my d800 , i've tried differents lenses but still same thing .i do clean my lenses before and after use .has someone experienced same issue please ? is something to do with the sensor .it happens on 3/4 out of 20 pictures !
thank you

70-300mm VR is the only one I would see as a possibility. It could be the AF Select (change to spot like HF said) and use the center spot. I would try the latter first before another lens. AF deals more with the camera and not the lens unless you do go for a f/4 or f/2.8. When my 70-300vr starts to hunt alot I changed everything to single servo, center focus point and spot metering. If I have the 3d 51-pt on it does go bonkers in low light.

HF: Have you actually shot all those?

Consider the new 18-300 DX or the 28-300 FX from nikkor.

For the range you mentioned the Tamron SP 70-300mm f/4-5.6 Di VC USD Lens would probably be suitable.

For low light, maybe the newer lenses will focus better .. or get a newer camera which has a better autofocus system? the D3200, D5200 seems nice.

Also try using the spot focus with the camera set at the center focus point, which is usually the most accurate focus sensor.

PS its nice too see my old pictures from early on in the thread! .. See the dragonfly in flight photo? with challenging subjects .. Manual is the way to go.. Maybe suggest that she try manual focus ..

PPS what about the Tamron 70-200 F2.8 vc. seems like a good option.

Rx4Photo said:
A lady I work with just shot an entire vacation to Italy on her iPhone 4. The pics looked pretty good while on the phone but when she brought them in on a laptop computer the IQ was definately lacking on many of them.

How can that be? Ken has recently been positively gushing about iPhone camera quality.

No ... Wait! He has been using the iPhone5, not 4.

The sample shots on his web site appear to be half decent, but then only half decent doesn't hold up at 16x20. I can just imagine shooting a wedding on an iPhone ... and then trying to collect on an invoice! "You just didn't look professional, did you?" Hmmm.

His parents must have been nerds too. :-)

What you are asking for really doesn't exist, short of using a higher end camera body (D600/D800/D4). The only consumer zooms that don't weigh a ton are the 55-300 VR, and 70-300mm VR, both of which are variable aperture and wont solve the current problems your wife is dealing with.

Anything cheaper? :)

Sounds like the new 70-200 f4 would be perfect.

Best just ignore them, like people have mentioned. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, right? Did you happen to show that guy your 14-24 took wider images than his 3.5mm on his point and shoot? ;-)

I was taking some images at a graduation last night (I try to get photos of my department's graduates as kind of a parting gift to them). Even iphone-wielding students were jealous of the D7000. To be fair, it was the college of physical and mathematical science, so these are people immune to feeling nerdy holding a huge camera. Unrelated to my nerd comment, one of our graduates is named Jedediah Knight, but goes by Jedi Knight. Now it's my turn to be jealous.

Warming over an old thread with a new question:

We just got back from Antarctica. My wife shoots a D90, and the only thing she wanted to shoot was the 55-300mm kit lens. Ok, fine. She uses autofocus and always will. She was annoyed that as soon as the light wasn't perfect, or as soon as the background grew complex, the 55-300mm started to hunt.

I was about as shocked as the dude in "Casablanca" was to find out the gambling was going on at Rick's. I offered her any/all of my primes, but she only wants to use a zoom lens. The 200-400mm I brought along was too heavy for her to handhold for any length of time. So she needs a new piece of glass and I need a suggestion as to what to get her (yes I'll be selling the 55-300 to help finance it).

REQUIREMENTS
--Something that zooms she can handhold for a 1-2 hour stretch
--Something that won't hunt in full-AF mode around f/5.6 to f/8 in light that isn't horrible but isn't perfect.

DON'T CARE ABOUT:
--Great IQ. She's going to be posting 2MB JPEG files on the Internet.
--VR

Yes I'd like nice IQ, yes I'd like VR, but I don't want to pay for it. There are a wide array of choices (with the new 70-200 f/4 at the very edge of the price range) but all I really want is "zoom, doesn't hunt". Maybe if IQ is nbd, a third-party solution is the way to go?

Opinions?

A lady I work with just shot an entire vacation to Italy on her iPhone 4. The pics looked pretty good while on the phone but when she brought them in on a laptop computer the IQ was definately lacking on many of them.

I've yet to come across the type of comments from people like Shawnino met on this cruise. I'd imagine that some of those people had just taken their first photography class and thought they were flexing their newfound knowledge.

What I do get is the occasional strange look because I like shooting outside photos from lower or odd perspectives - often on my knees, lying on my belly, or contorted around a small structure. Usually I get more positive comments like "that'll be a neat picture" or something similar.

I get a lot of people telling me that they get fantastic photos on their iPhones whilst they look pityingly at whatever camera I have slung around my neck. I always smile sweetly and say that must be wonderful - or something similar. For really great comments though, I can recommend shooting with a 5X4 (4X5 for those in the US) monorail camera. Especially when focussing! That can be very funny!

Thanks Elvishefer, and to the kind soul who PM'd me with similar description. I appreciate it.

WaterEngineer said:
shawnino:

I learned a long time ago that as a person who "carries a big camera," that I draws lots of people with opinions - some right, some way off base - and I draws a lot of questions.

I know you paid a lot of money for your trip. I anticipate it was fruitful and that you have many, many great images. Further, your original post comes across as a little angry.

I have managed to adopt the following ideas into my life and am much happier when I come across situations like you describe in the original post.

1. Love and tolerance is my code. (We don't all know the same things. Accepting people the way they are is freeing and I don't have to try to change them.)

2. See what I can bring to a situation, not what I can take from it. (Teaching, showing, and patience has gotten me through the trying situations.)

Peace.

I agree........just chill out and keep taking great photos. I would however like to experiment with the quality of weather proofing on an iPad, by throwing it over board! :-)

I am back online today, so I thought I would drop my Opinion...LOL here.

So, I am shooting with a D4, 400mm f/2.8 on a carbon tripod with gimbal head, and someone says "Golly, that looks expensive. I bet it cost almost a thousand dollars."

My answer was "for sure" with a smile. I have little need now to educate the ignorant folks who may have less experience than I do unless they ask for help. Virtually every comment which tends to push our buttons is based on another's fear or envy. And, this is not something I can assist them with unless they are genuinely interested in learning. Quite often I will attempt to ask them a question such as "You have a nice camera, what is it?" In most cases, taking a proactive friendly stance gets me a lot farther than attempting to compete with someone at their level of hostility or ignorance. As a professional I feel it is my responsibility to take the high road and lead with a positive attitude.

If I want to have some fun, I will take a point and shoot (Olympus E-PL2) out and ask some of the other folks how it works. Then listen to what they have to say. I usually will gain a friend this way instead of having an enemy.

And, Shawnino, I think Elvishefer has it correct as to how to post a photo. The advantage of Flickr, IMO, is I can post a full size image and reference it in a link along with the 800px size required for PAD.

shawnino said:
And now, I'd like to solicit some advice for real:

PAD: I'm a long time admirer but I've never posted. In the how-to thread, Admin leads with "You can also..." ... which implies there's a first part of the post which I can't see or was deleted etc. How do I post a file straight from my computer, not from a webpage?

Also, I'm not on Flickr: I assume being on Flickr (msmoto's subsequent post with Flickr instruction) is not required?

I want to just post files out of LR, or exported from LR to my general export folder in JPEG, but I need to make sure they're not too big, I don't mess up the thread, etc. Detailed advice for the technically non-gifted would be deeply appreciated. Thanks very much.

Hi,

The images have to be uploaded to a Web server of some kind. Technical people might have their own Web server, but for most using Flikr, Picasa or a similar service is the way to go. Simply create an account, then follow the service's instructions for uploading and sharing.

bjrichus said:
The ipad remark is a killer.

I don't think I'd have lasted more than 30 minutes with a@@-holes like that around me... You did well!!!

Lol.... I used to always smile politely but now I bluntly state what I know... I also hav had the problem of veteran photographers accusing me of being some kid with a fancy camera... Show thewm some photos and they usually shut up...

To the OP. I'm with you on this. If people are going to be so rude to people who are experts and only trying to help them, then what is the incentive to be nice to said people? People sometimes need to be told they are out of line as they just don't seem to get it by themselves (lol, it's usually my wife who does this, not me).

Most people think my birding kit is a movie camera and think I am making a documentary.

I was testing my ttl compensation on a swan a few months back and a lady standing close by thought I was taking a photo of her and her daughter, she didn't realise the limited field of view on a super-tele. She was quite upset about it and at the time I thought she thought I was some dodgy paedophile, but looking back I realise she probably just didn't know what i intended to do with the pictures (i look pretty professional, she might of thought i would put it in a magazine or something).