Com-Central.net

Massimo -

Many thanks for your examples and info!!

Cheers,
VB

It's a pleasure. Keep us updated if you try something new or different.

BTW I just realized my shots on Flickr looks much better with the slideshow:
www.flickr.com/photos/...0588/show/

I am still with a free account, so I have a monthly limit, I will post more in the future.

Massimo

The ultra-wide range is also handy to cover a whole hangar, see the first shots on this thread:
www.com-central.net/in...mp;t=12633

It's vital in case you have the opportunity to shot interiors. The pics below were taken inside a G-13, with Tokina 11-16 and the build-in flash (I wish I had an external flash...):













In a similar way, last month is Saumur I took some interesting shots of open-topped self-propelled guns, but I don't have any of them online, sorry.

All in all such a lens will never be you main glass, but it can make great things in specific scenarios.

Massimo

- Massimo_Foti

I have been using Canon since the film days, back at the time I went with Canon because my fellow plane spotters made me tried their cameras. Then, when I moved to digital, I stick with Canon in order to reuse my lenses.

Massimo

You was a plane spotter?? I didn't know that, I was also a plane spotter. In 1996 I stopped with traveling around to note down numbers, but still have an interest in spotting and making pictures (then with a Canon AE-1 program, now a Nikon)

Italian Starfighters and G.91s were always very nice visitors up here!

Regards,
Lesley

I was a scale modeller for most of my life, and I wish I will go back into it one of these days. Among my fellow modellers there was a group with a strong interest in plane spotting too. That was in Catania, Sicily, not that far away from Sigonella airbase. Around 15 years ago, then I moved to Switzerland.

I enjoy visiting plane museums and airshows, and I take plenty of pictures, but I've never been a plane spotter in the proper sense of things.

I know my friends were able to exchange slides with other spotters from all over the world, since those old italian F-104s were in demand

Massimo

This is a very interesting discussion for me, as I'm looking to upgrade my camera for a Canon or Nikon. Can you confirm that the lens specs you are quoting are in the 'digital' sense, so a Tokina 11-16 would be equivalent at its widest angle to the old 22 lens I used to have on my 35mm camera?

Most Canon's DSLR use a smaller sensor, called "APS-C". For such cameras you should use a 1.6 conversion factor:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APS-C

The two articles below give you an overview of the Canon and Nikon system. They are very well written, but not up to date with latest models. Please note some Canon cameras have different names in the USA compared to Europe (Digital Rebel vs 350D etc):
photo.net/equipment/canon/
photo.net/equipment/nikon/

This list is up to date, but I feel the website has too much of a strong connections with Canon, and it can be somewhat biased:
www.the-digital-pictur...views.aspx

If you go with Canon I could give you some specific suggestion, but I can't help on Nikon, sorry.

More in general, invest more on the lenses than the body. Good lenses last for decades, camera bodies don't.

Massimo

- Massimo_Foti

Most Canon's DSLR use a smaller sensor, called "APS-C". For such cameras you should use a 1.6 conversion factor:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APS-C

That's even more confusing - I'm clearly going to have to research a bit further before diving in.

I prefer a Nikon D3S....

- JimWeb

I prefer a Nikon D3S....

I guess it's a nice toy if you can afford it

Then, again, first I would invest money on first-class lenses before buying a top of the line camera body.

Massimo

- TrevorLarkum

That's even more confusing - I'm clearly going to have to research a bit further before diving in.

It's worth researching, since whatever you take will cost you real money, and the choice will have some long term implications.

Another website with very serious reviews:
www.photozone.de/dslr_reviews

Massimo

- Massimo_Foti

- JimWeb

I prefer a Nikon D3S....

I guess it's a nice toy if you can afford it

Then, again, first I would invest money on first-class lenses before buying a top of the line camera body.

Massimo

Ah yes but the 11 frames a second mode is great for moving vehicles and there's also the instant switch to HD video.... The down side is you end up with more stuff than you can ever use

I still prefer to use my ageing Finepix M603 which I find is excellent for museum stuff.

The Draganflyer has a Panasonic DMC-LX3 which takes quite good images even at low light levels and the video mode on it isn't bad at all. Putting a larger camera on it isn't really an option as any increase in weight seriously impacts the range & endurance.

These days even entry level DSLRs have video, but I am not fascinated about that kind of capability. I guess it's a matter of taste. Being a modeller at heart I find pictures more valuable than videos.
If I was into the video thing I would prefer a dedicated hardware.

Do you use the Nikon D3S with the kit's lens or you are mounting something different on it?

Massimo

A worth reading article on ultra-wide lenses:
www.lensrentals.com/ne...ultra-wide

Massimo

- Massimo_Foti

A worth reading article on ultra-wide lenses:
www.lensrentals.com/ne...ultra-wide

Massimo

Interesting!