@ Gitzo Grat story... getting the last bid in on eBay and such is always a game...

Interestingly enough I am in the process of thinking about changing from Manfrotto quick release to Arca-Swiss....but the cost for four tripod heads is a bit high at present so I might have to look at eBay...

Inasmuch as I shoot from a tripod much of the time, (and I never could stand "screwing" the camera to the tripod, then "unscrewing" it when I finished, I have become a firm believer in quick release plates; as I usually use my tripod with an Arca-Swiss ball head, I have Arca style QR plates on everything; the one plate I have always wanted, but never have been able to find a bargain on, is an "L" plate designed to fit my D-300s; I've had a regular "bottom" plate on the 300s ever since I've had it, (which is just great when you're shooting in landscape format, but when you need to shoot in portrait format, you have to rotate the ball head all the way over to the side, putting the camera body off to the side of the tripod, and it's a "pain in the butt"; the best way to solve this problem, is by having an "L" plate on the camera, rather than a "bottom plate"; the only problem with "L" plates is.........they cost like $150 ! So......I have been trying for months now to buy a "like new" "L" plate on eBay.

I had the perfect opportunity about 10 days ago, as there was a "Really Right Stuff" L plate up for auction, (made to custom fit a 300 body), and it had no bids on it up to the day before the ending; the next day, I had to go to Terre Haute, didn't get home in time, the auction ended, and some lucky bidder snagged my L plate for $43 ! ( I had very seldom seen them fetch less than around a hundred bucks before) As they always say, "when you snooze you lose"! Damn! Now I had to start all over again; fortunately, there was another RRS plate up for auction, that ended in 3 days; some schmuck bid it up to $30, with 4 days to go; (which is clearly ignorant;) this time, I was ready ! as the auction was within a few hours of ending, the thing was already up to $55; (which made last week's winner look very lucky) this time I was DETERMINED........with 20m seconds to go, I confirmed my "max" bid......$ 101.59; when the clock ended, there was a few seconds of furious "back and forth" bidding, but I ended up winning, getting my plate for $81, + $10 shipping; not nearly as good as the previous auction, but still not bad.

What made it a little better, I had messaged the seller, asking him if he would "combine" shipping if I won two items, and he agreed to do so; (he was also selling a EN-EL3e Li-on battery for a D-300 ), ( $35 to $40 on Amazon) The battery had NO bids, right up to the last minute, and only a $1 opening bid; it looked like I was gonna score it for a buck, but not wishing to "lose a golden opportunity, I entered a "max bid" of $10.25 (just in case !) It was a good thing I did..........again.....last second, there must have been 2 or 3 bidders, but they set their "max" too low, and I got my battery for the very decent price of $6.26 (and no shipping ), thanks to my message to the seller. Nothing like winning an auction, after you have employed a bit of "strategy" !

Gitzo, Thanks very much. Make sense to me and I fully understand. Wow so much knowledge here. I will make some small (maybe bigger ones) sacrifices and save for a good longer lens. Thanks again.

Parke1953.........

The "reflex" lens you refer to is a "completely different animal" than a "regular" telephoto camera lens; here's what I mean by that.......

in 99.99% of camera lenses, the light from the "subject" enters the front end of the lens through a bunch of individual pieces of optical glass, known as "elements"; each individual "element", (or "group" of "elements") has a specific purpose........such as to make the "subject" look bigger than it would to the un-aided eye; ( just like binoculars and small telescopes do); such a lens is said to be "refractive"........in other words, each element "refracts" ( or bends ) the light rays, as they "pass through" the lens elements, on their way to the film. (or sensor)

In other optical systems, ( such as astronomical telescopes ), a much different "method" is used, ( mainly because telescopes that are designed to look at extremely distant, extremely "faint" sources of light, (such as stars and other astronomical objects), the "refractive" method of dealing with light becomes "not such a good idea" very quickly, as the telescope gets bigger. That's why almost all modern telescopes use mirrors, rather than "lenses" to collect the light. ( It would be completely impossible to build a 200 inch diameter glass lens ) (for a lot of reasons)

I'm sure you have noticed that great big telephoto camera lenses are VERY expensive; there are many reasons for this.......the main one being........they are very expensive to design and build; a good example, the last time I looked, Nikon's fine, 600mm, f4 tele goes for about $10K; (which is much more than almost all of the cameras that it's designed to work with)

Somewhere along the line, almost everyone gets the "urge" to "do something" a "different way", to "save money"..........or to "sell more" "units" ( of whatever ) That's why we have so-called "reflex" camera lenses; it sounds great to the "beginner" to be able to buy a 500mm "super-telephoto" camera lens, for a mere few hundred $$$$$; but as the old saying goes, you almost always "get what you pay for". A reflex camera lens is an extremely poor attempt to "get a lot" for very little $$; here's why..........

First.......telephoto lenses, (just like "normal" lenses and "wide angle" lenses), have to do a LOT more than just make things look bigger or smaller, or closer or farther away. They also must be capable of producing a "sharp", well defined image of "something" on the film, (or on the sensor in a digital camera) To do this, you need to be able to control "exposure".....(the correct amount of light for a given "subject" under a given amount of ambient light ); ( a bright, sunny day at noontime requires a very different "exposure" than, say, an airplane landing at 10 pm on an un-lighted runway.)

Reflex lenses use a mirror to ":collect the light", which is "reflected" FORWARD, where it then is "reflected" BACKWARDS, ( by a small "secondary" mirror, and is brought to focus on either the film plane, (or a sensor). To accomplish this, if you take a close look at a mirror lens, you'll see that there is a large "opening" (or "hole") in the main mirror.......that's so the light can pass through the "main" mirror, on it's way to the film. What you WON'T see, (which is very necessary to control exposure), is an iris diaphragm, ( which ALL "regular" camera lens have ), together with a means of changing the shutter speed, in order to control exposure. So the only way the mirror lens has to control exposure, is to increase (or decrease) the shutter speed. Without going into a "long discussion", this just isn't a very good way to control exposure. ( which is probably the "under-statement" of the year ! )

Look through about 10 years worth of National Geographis magazines, ( or back issues of "Outdoor Photographer" ), and you'll see thousands of bright, very "colorful", very sharp images of wildlife (and other things)...........and not ONE of those photographs was taken, using a mirror lens ! Yes, you can take a picture of a car six blocks away, and have it look like it's one block away.........but it will be a VERY POOR picture ! (which is the only kind of picture you can take with a mirror (or "reflex") lens !

Please note........while I AM a very "opinionated" person, I'm NOT just discussing MY opinions here; I'm discussing the laws of physics, (as they pertain to optics and camera lenses); (and unlike "speed laws", you just can't break them !)

If you really have the need for a 500mm telephoto lens, and you lack the necessary "big" $$$$ to buy one, there are STILL about a dozen ways to "do it on the cheap"; ( but this post is already way too long ! )

Can anyone tell me about this lens. Nikon Nikkor-C Reflex 500mm Super Telephoto f/8. says the glass is flawless $245.

Niclovin1..........

Any time you find an older Nikkor lens that you're not sure about, get on Nikon's website, go to their "tech help", and send them an email, describing the lens with all numbers, and especially the serial number; they will email you back and tell you if it is compatible for use on a particular camera body.

There are any number of lenses that WILL mount to the body of most newer cameras, but very often, just as others have mentioned here, there are lots of older lenses that "have things" (or sometimes LACK things ), which can damage cameras newer than the ones they were designed to work with.

That's the one area that all of the "Canon Lovers" seem to be totally oblivious about; the compatibility of today's digital camera bodies to actually WORK with lenses made "way back when" for old film cameras. If you "shoot Canon", there is NO compatibility.

At the time Canon started "switching" from making film bodies, to digital bodies, they introduced the new "EOS" digital cameras,(with a totally different mount, and just like that, all of the marvelous Canon "FD" lenses became completely obsolete, overnight ! ( I know, I had a whole bunch of them ! ( And Canon's fine FD lenses hadn't "been around" all that long.

Canon had what they called, "the breach-lock mount", (which was arguably the best mounting mechanism ever), but they made absolutely NO attempt to carry it over to the digital camera line; it seriously "pissed" a lot of people off, and many of them went to Nikon, and never looked back ! ( And I'm one of them ) Their whole "strategy" being, "screw 'em all" ! This way, they'll all have to buy NEW LENSES too ! (Yeah, we DID have to buy all new lenses, but NONE of them came from Canon !) It amazes me how quickly people forget all about things like this ! Yeah, Canon sure does make some great lenses; but I'll never need one of them, because there are some things about Nikon's bodies that I like better than Canon's, (and I also just have this LONG memory ), ( of getting screwed ! )
And I can't think of a single thing that I'll ever need that Nikon doesn't make that Canon does.

Is this thread just for bodies and lenses, or can we "brag" about accessories too ? I just found something on eBay last week that "sounded" EXACTLY like something I have been wanting for a very long time........a rock solid camera window mount; I remembered seeing one that Kirk makes, 3 or 4 years ago, but the thing sells for like $ 275- $300; ( I didn't want one quite that bad ) anyway, last week, while I was looking through "window mounts", I saw this "thing".......the fellow had one photo of it taken by the company that makes it, (which made most cell phone photos look good by comparison) then he had taken 3 photos himself, and they were all TERRIBLE !

You couldn't even tell what the "thing" looked like, or how it worked; his "description" wasn't much better; anyway, he had listed it as "Buy Now", $80, +$12 shipping; so I send him a message......"will you take $75 NOW, and pay the shipping?" his reply....NO! It's well worth what I'm asking! It's hard to explain this, but somehow, I thought it was too, so I sent him his $92, via paypal; a week goes by, (while I was out of town mostly), then it's at my post office when I get back;

I should mention, in his "description", he referred to it as a "Groofwin" ! (his only decent photo was of the riveted on metal name tag, "Made by: L.L. Rue Enterprises" I had actually emailed L.L. Rue Enterprises, and the reply was......"Sorry, the website is down for revision while we're on safari in Kenya" ! (I'm thinking, "I hope your photos from safari in Kenya are better than your advertisement shot of your hi-tech window mount"! )

Anyway, I ran to the post office, get this BIG, very "rumpled" looking box (completely filled with foam "peanuts")........and right there, among all of the peanuts, is my new "Groofwin"! Damn ! I think they must have copied Kirk's window mount in detail !
But the thing is AWESOME ! it essentially consists of two 3/16 th in. thick X 3 in. wide anodized aluminum plates, with a VERY clever "hinge" fastening them together; the uppermost "plate" ( the one that sits level and holds the camera / lens via a 3/16 X 16 captive threaded stud, with a 10 in long, 1"X1" aluminum angle to "hook" over a partially opened window, and the longer plate, (about 12" long), rests solidly via two BIG rubber "feet", (also 6 to 8 inches apart, against the inside, lower part of the car door. The two plates are held rock solidly in position by a VERY sturdy aluminum rod, which has a marvelous "pivot" on both ends, and is tightened by a HUGE big hard rubber knob. This thing looks like it was designed to be sold to NASA !

I immediately ran home, got my Arca-Swiss B-1 ball head, screwed it on the stud, stuck my D-300s / with my old Nikkor 300 mm f4 with great big ":collar" mount on the lens barrel, attached it to the B-1 head with it's arca style QR plate, and it was like screwing the whole thing to a 600 lb block of granite ! I mean, with a gimbal mount, you could operate my Nikon F-5 with a 600mm Nikkor F-4.....(which lens, unfortunately, I still don't have just yet.)

Why am I so "ecstatic" with this "thing" ? I happen to live in a very rural area of western Indiana; almost every day of my life, on my 24 mile ride to Terre Haute, I see a dozen or more deer, wild turkeys all the time, turkey vultures too numerous to count, an occasional bobcat, (even an "escaped" elk once........and between "sometimes" and "now-and-then", my most favorite of all native birds,bird, a pileated woodpecker ! You can frequently stop the car and have time to get a "shot" (with a camera) (I don't kill wildlife), BUT if you try to open the door to get out..........off they go, into the woods ! I have been needing this marvelous "gadget" for 20 years now; (and the thing is in such "pristine" condition that I will probably need to buy me a new D-4 body to look "equal" to it in "design excellence" !

I hear people all the time asking, "how are you so "lucky" finding things that are "such a great deal", etc; here's the whole "secret" folks; you do like I do, you check out ebay at least 3 or 4 times a week, plus Amazon, Craig's List, you go to a lot of yard sales, garage sales, auction sales, etc, etc. etc. and over about 20 to 50 years, (if you are blessed with a fantastic memory like I am), you have a very good idea what "things" should sell for, to be considered a "bargain". I have bought a TON of camera equipment on eBay; I can only remember ONE big "gippo deal" that I bought; and old manual focus, f 4, 105mm Micro Nikkor, that I paid about $100 or maybe $120 for, supposedly in "like new" condition; (the front end of the thing was so dented up, it looked like it had been mounted to a "dodgem-car" at an amusement park ! The front objective element even has a slight "nick" in it ! I raised so much hell that eBay finally made the seller refund my money, threw to guy off of eBay, and I ended up keeping the dented up old lens; (I was shooting Fuji velvia back then in my Nikon F5; never even mounted the thing to a camera !...........until "a while back" when I bought my D 300s; it occurred to me one day........hey, it's digital ! maybe I should "try" the damned thing out ? Gess what....superficial dents and all, the thing works like a new one ! when I'm doing Macro, I always use manual focus, manual "everything".......let's face it.........I take pictures because I LIKE TO!

I enjoy making great prints......and when I exhibit prints that "look great" in a gallery, or a contest, no one gives a rat's "behind" if the lens used cost $10,000, or if I bought the thing at a flea market for $10 ! It's the PRINT that they "care about" ! Hell, anyone ever notice what kind of "gear" Ansel Adams used to make his "reputation" ? (He sure didn't have a new D 800, of a Hassleblad with a Phase One "back"..........he used mainly his brains and his unbelievable talent ! (Got pretty "well known" along the way, too !)

The first thing I did when I bought my new D 300s was to take the shoulder strap off, (with NIKON in big yellow letters every 3 inches), threw it away, and put a nice little "wrist collar/ strap" from "Clik Elite" on it; plus, I lug my BEAUTIFUL, powder coated Gitzo 340 around in a VERY nice bag (made in China by, I presume, an industrious little old Chinese lady), and all the "thugs and muggers" on Lake Shore Drive just "assume" it's a raggedy old el-cheapo tripod from Goodwill, so not even worth stealing.........you may be "impressed" by high dollar photography equipment; ( I enjoy using it, but I go to great lengths to "cover up" anything that says "Nikon".........I'm just "impressed" by great photography. (I couldn't care less where the equipment came from.)

Great thread, BTW !

niclovin1 said:
How does it damage the AI metering?

If the Non-AI lens pushes the small metering prong that goes around the F-mount it can potentially push it to far and break it internally or externally either way making it broken. I have a Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 shift lens that does this that I need to get AId as much as it can be so this very thing does not happen.

Oh yeah to add to this thread. Picked up a Rokinon 8mm f/3.5 AIS DX fisheye (a little over a year old) for $144 after taxes at a local pawn shop on Fri. It is nice to finally have a fisheye for the D7000 with similar coverage (slightly wider) than my 15mm f/2.8 Sigma that I use on the D800.

PB PM said:
Nice lenses, but keep in mind that they wont all mount on a D7000 (and it's replacement most likely). Any Pre-AI lense like the Nikkor-H would damage the AI metering tab, unless it has been converted to AI. Do a google search and you'll quickly find images showing the difference between AI and non AI lenses.

How does it damage the AI metering?

Nice lenses, but keep in mind that they wont all mount on a D7000 (and it's replacement most likely). Any Pre-AI lense like the Nikkor-H would damage the AI metering tab, unless it has been converted to AI. Do a google search and you'll quickly find images showing the difference between AI and non AI lenses.

Hey, I'm a bit of an amateur.. got into it with a d5100 last year.. had it stolen in europe though :/ (waiting for a d7000 update <3)
Anywho, I picked up some neat glass (always free) from some family that just had this stuff lying around.. seems like this is the place to have some input on the quality on any of the stuff I've got.
Micro-Nikkor 55 2.8
Nikkor-H 50 3.5
Tamron adaptall-2 60-300 3.8-5.4
Nikkor 28-70 3.5 AF
They're all from the the 70's- 90's but pretty damn mint (best of all, free). Are any of them decent?
Much appreciated :)

Snagged a used D300 today for $300. It is well used, a lot of shutter actions, but it is in great shape and still runs like new (I had one a few years ago, but foolishly let it go). Good enough to be used as a backup.

rensuchan said:
I read it.

Next time I find a "broken" lens deal, I'm PMing you :)

Feel free too. I have my eyes on a Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 for lightning shots that has some problems to sort. A lot of the stuff that I am able to sort out has been by extensive Google searching and the collective knowledge of repairing many random lenses. Being in the repair industry has helped quite a bit as well since i take stuff apart all day. Thinking in layers is helpful as well.

Anyway wanted to add the set of Nikkor PB-2s that I got from the local camera shop for $50. Fits easy on the D7000 but the D800 the PB-5s I got from Adorama are better suited for that camera. I should probably stop posting in this thread.

Was this 10-24mm lens a Nokin. Kind of like a co-worker of mine who bought a Rorex watch in the parking lot from a "jeweler" who needed money. I don't think he ever lived that down, even if it was only $ 25 in 1972 money.

kanuck said:This past weekend a D800 for $2800 not bad and a D4 for an even 5 grand. Never seen new or used D800e bodies or the wonderful 5D Mark III though

One of my friends has a D800e. Maybe I can stencil the 'e' onto my D800 and swap em. :P

Lets see...

I got an 300mm f/2.8 Ai lens for $400. Pristine condition, tack sharp, boy what a steal!

My D200 only cost me $400 a few years ago but it was/is an ugly piece of gear...

Thanks Moto and golf

Interesting story jonnyapple especially how the bokeh did not impress you. A very rare lens! :)

kanuck said:
Unfortunately, I have done this about 7 times these past two years with bodies and lenses, but luckily I have only one more semester to go. Its nice to have this option as an emergency with my program being such a pain in the ass financially.

Do grad schools come in any other flavor? ;-)

I love this thread. I'm just sitting here chuckling while I read it. Even the long one.

Okay, I was only joking about my grad program, which was actually very good to me.
Case in point: our equipment inventory guy sent out an email about a bunch of equipment they were going to surplus. I went to see if there were any electronics our lab would want to use (power supplies, oscilloscopes, etc.) but saw a mint Nikon 50 1.2 sitting on one of the tables. I told him that I'd like to try it on my camera, and he told me to just take it and keep it. He didn't have to tell me twice. I kept it for a while and I liked it okay but didn't love the bokeh, especially wide open, so I sold it and kept my 50 1.8D. If I had invested in a better focus screen for manual focus I probably would have liked it more.

Well, I am qualified for this subject. I have actually bought and sold to fund my photo addiction. A few of my treasures..

D200 "broken" takes pink pictures, B&W works great = Full spectrum converted D200 $177 last october.

N60 nikon 35-105 and 60mm Micro F2.8 AF-d $86 shipped

Nikon 70-300 ED non VR mint in box $28 shipped

Just to name a few... :)

I picked up a 105 micro (D version) for just $350. Normally on ebay, the price goes up to $500 at least.

msmoto said:

@ Kanuck... you have my admiration and respect keep up the studies...

+1

I guess old folks just do not get these deals....LOL

In the early 1960's, purchased two Omega enlargers, lenses, carriers, etc. 4x5 tanks, a ton of stuff from an estate sale...for maybe $30. worth several hundred at that time. And f/2.0 Summicron for $40....yikes, today it would be worth a couple hundred possibly. And, my Zenza Bronica, which I found out stills works after nearly 50 years, my first Nikon F body, both from Hong Kong, and we actually trusted the folks who seemed to be very honest. Saved about 40% as I remember.

I think for those who are young and know how to do this, or can repair problems (macsavageg4) the used market is not only fun, but full of fantastic deals. Probably best done, IMO, at the 1:1 personal contact level, and obviously n a large metro area this is easier.

@ Kanuck... you have my admiration and respect keep up the studies...

Cool topic and I can't believe it hasn't been covered before actually. Shutteredglass $200 for 12-24?! Wow Usually deals that seem too good to be true are 99% not true. Like paying for a $200 12-24 then mounting it on the camera at home and it falls right off kind of bad. Your fortunate. I can see great deals locally where I live everyday. Its why I have shot nearly every Nikkor, Zeiss and Leica lens there is. Probably my sweetest finds were:

A Zeiss 18mm ZM for my Leica priced at $800 and with the new Leica digital bodies all the lenses have shot up so its $1700 now!

A Nikon D700 for $1700 back in 2010 because a studio pro shooter put 25,000 actuations on it. It was mint though and I had for two years trading it in for my D800e. By the time I traded it in it has 134,696 actuations on it.

A brand new 14-24mm Nikkor for $1500 because it had a Japanese warrenty instead of a Korean one which is really frowned upon living in Korea. I didn't care though and have never regretted it.

An F100 for $80 even though it is in 95% condition.

A 28-80 G cheap little zoom for $40 great lightweight lens for hiking.

Countless free B&W UV filters to help close a deal on a lens. I usually can get these thrown in!

This past weekend a D800 for $2800 not bad and a D4 for an even 5 grand. Never seen new or used D800e bodies or the wonderful 5D Mark III though.

My local shops have really helped me out over the past two years of my graduate studies especially. When I have been short of funds for school, I have given my camera body(D700 last fall) to a shop and selling it to them for just $1000 to cover books and part of tuition. Then two weeks later, I buy the same body back from them for just $1100 after I get paid from work. Kind of like a loan, and they hold it for me for esentially $100. Unfortunately, I have done this about 7 times these past two years with bodies and lenses, but luckily I have only one more semester to go. Its nice to have this option as an emergency with my program being such a pain in the ass financially.

Deal you ask ok here is what I have done:

D4: $5000
24-70 2.8: $1350
14-24 2.8: $1450
70-200 2.8: $1780
105 2.8: $650
50 1.4G: $365
18-200: $625
10.5 fisheye: $275

I read it.

Next time I find a "broken" lens deal, I'm PMing you :)