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REVIEWS AND TESTS

 
This section is provided as a services to the visitors of this website who are interested to learn a little more about the various equipment used. Either to determine what is required to achieve some picture effects or compositions, or because they are in process of sourcing some of the equipment for themselves.

 

Disclaimer:
Even all equipment reviewed in this section is in actually use, the comments and conclusions are my personal and subjective opinion and by no means to be taken as absolute. Some of you may arrive at absolute different conclusions, and I'm the last one to argue that your opinion is not correct.

 

CAMERA
 
LENS
 
CAMERA ACCESSORIES
  • Nikon Flash SB-600
  • Nikon Flash SB-800
  • Various Filters (CP, UV, Haze etc.)
 
PRINTER
 
SOFTWARE (Windows)
  • Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 w. Album 2.0
  • Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0
  • Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
  • Adobe Photoshop CS3
  • Nikon View
  • Nikon Picture Project
  • Nikon Capture 4.4 (trail only)
  • Nikon View NX
  • Nikon Capture NX
  • Nikon Capture NX2
  • Noiseware Professional Edition 2.0

  • Photo Mechanic

 
OTHER ACCESSORIES
  • Tripod Manfrotto 3021BPro with Manfrotto Head 3030
  • Monopod Manfrotto 621B
  • Tripod Slik Pro 340DX
  • Manfrotto Ball Head 486RC2
  • Manfrotto Ball Head 488RC2

 

 

Nikon Coolpix 5700
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Coolpix 7900
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Coolpix P60
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon D70 dSLR
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon D200 dSLR

 

The D200 is currently under under review and results will be posted as soon as available.

 

Last Edited September 2006

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Nikon D300 dSLR

 

The D300 is currently under under review and results will be posted as soon as available.

 

Last Edited August 2008

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Canon Powershot A650IS
No review is currently available.

 

Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 EX DC
No review is currently available.

 

Sigma 18-50 f2.8 EX DC Macro
No review is currently available.

 

Nikkor 18-70 DX
No review is currently available.

 

Nikkor 18-200 DX VR
 

Introduction:

The Nikon Zoom Super Wide Angle-Telephoto AF Zoom Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX VR II Autofocus Lens (official designation, but in short 18-200 VR) was introduces in the second half of 2005 together with the D200 dSLR and offered for purchase individually or as a kit with the D200.

 

Even it was a consumer lens; alone the fact that Nikon offered this lens as a kit with the more professional than consumer grade D200 was an indication that Nikon believed this lens to be an outstanding performer. It was also the first Nikon consumer lens that offered the new VR II vibration reduction system (or any VR system for that matter). This in conjunction with the more than 10x zoom range starting at 18mm (giving an 27mm angle of view compared to the 35mm film standard when used on a DX sensor sized dSLR) certainly caught my interest as it would fit the bill for the ideal travel and walk around lens.

 

First reviews by magazines and online equipment sites indicated that the lens was indeed an exceptional performer, and many rated it's build quality and IQ at least on par with the 18-70 lens, even taking the much longer zoom range into account. And the VR II vibration system just got the highest praise throughout the board. These early reviews where mostly confirmed by many owners of the lens. Finally, in spring of 2006 I decided to get one myself.

 

Now, deciding to buy this lens and to be actually able to buy it was a totally story. The lens was in so short supply and high demand that even a half year after the introduction most dealers still had waiting lists (with some people waiting for 3-4 month already). So I had my name added to the wait list of the lens only as well as D200 & Lens Kit. Expected wait time: 4-12 weeks (with emphasis on 12 weeks). Bummer.

 

4 weeks later I got the phone call that a shipment with 3 lenses (all already gone to people on the list in font of me) and 3 Kits with the D200 had arrived, one of which I could have if I wanted. They gave me 3 days to make a decision. Even I didn't really want to buy a new camera body, I finally gave in and got the Kit (please see the separate D200 review).

 

Lens performance:

Having both a new camera and a new lens is certainly not the best scenario to make test nest equipment. Therefore, for the first couple of days I used both the 18-70 DX lens alternately with the new 18-200 VR lens on the new D200. Knowing the performance of the 18-70 with my D70 I could compare the D200 to it. At the same time I could compare the two lenses used with the same camera. Well, first, the trusted 18-70 performed as flawlessly on the D200 as it did on the D70 and the pictures were just stunning. Now using the new 18-200 VR with the D200 and comparing the pictures to the 18-70 pictures I had to agree that the IQ is basically as good, with some minor differences.

  • Corner sharpness: while still very good for a consumer lens (especially with this zoom range), the corners are a little softer between 18mm and about 24 mm when compared to the 18-70, but by no means 'bad'. One has to look for it or have very fine detail to notice it at 100% viewing. But beats any of the other consumer lenses I have used.
     

  • Corner light fall-off: Not much different than the 18-70 and really only visible in areas of light colors (sky etc.). Depending on what zoom range the lens it's set, it's gone by f8 latest or easily correctable with Capture NX. Actually, both perform about the same as my Tokina 19-35 when used on a DX camera at 19mm, which is surprising as the Tokina is designed for 35mm (FF or full-frame) sensors and should not show any corner darkening in my opinion.
     

  • Distortion: The distortion at the wide end (18-30mm) is quite large, but is only a problem if straight edges are in the picture near the edge (buildings etc.). Anyway, the 18-70 has the edge. On the long end I find it very good up to about 175mm, where the slight distortion starts. But again only visible with straight elements very close to the picture edge.. Surprisingly, in the 70-100mm range one would assume the lens would perform the best, but it actually has a slightly lager distortion than below or above that range (except at the very extreme ends). But once again, usually the distortion of the lens is not visible in general shooting (and easily corrected with software).
     

  • Vibration reduction: Well, let's be honest - it just works great. It's my first lens with VR and I didn't expect much. I am also one of the lucky guys that can hand hold a lens at quite a low shutter speed. Usually, the common wisdom says that at 200mm you should have at least 1/200s shutter speed for 35mm (actually 1/250s to 1/300s for DX digital cameras). I can regularly hand hold my 70-200 f2.8 at 1/125s and get sharp pictures most the time (until my arm gets tired). With the 18-200 (VR off) I can manage about the same performance.

    With VR on I have no problems to get down to 1/30 and sometimes even 1/15s (3 stops slower than I can without VR). I don't get the 4 stops that some people claim, but then I also start already 1 stop lower. For me it sure is a great win.
     

  • Lens construction/buid: The lens is certainly build well for that it is a consumer lens (I actually would call it pro-sumer), but not as well as the fast constant aperture pro lenses that Nikon offers for far more money. And compared to 3rd party consumer lenses (like the Sigma 18-200), is certainly a class better. Just hold the two side by side and you will both see and feel it. Don't take me wrong, I would not necessarily want to drop it from a table onto a concrete floor, but it feels as well (or even a little better) build as the 18-70 (which took it's fair share of beating and still works flawlessly). But then again, for $800 you would expect it to be build good.
     

  • Lens creep: You can read many complain of people about the creep and that they will sell it because of it. Give me a break. It's correct, each of the 18-200 VR's seems to have it, including mine (started after the 1st month of use). But it's not as bad as some people make it sound and it never had a negative impact in lens use, even when pointed downwards mounted on a tripod.

    With the lens fully retracted, you can hold it straight down and it doesn't creep as long as it's not moved. But the slightest movement or shake will get it going. In real world it's actually pretty good. Mounted on the D200 with shoulder strap, the lens is basically horizontal and does not creep at all while walking. On the D70 the lens is a little heavier and points a little downwards as it is not as nicely balanced. Therefore you have to have a eye on it while walking around. Sooner or later you will bump into something and realize the lens is fully extended. I assume it will be the same if used with a D40, D50 or D80. But anyway, once you know it you can carry the camera accordingly. But of course, a lens lock would have been a nice feature.

Conclusion:

I have to say, this lens is one of the best purchases I've ever made, both in regards to usability and quality (build and IQ). I purchased it as a travel lens if I can't take a lot of my other gear with me. And unless I know I need a longer reach or wider view, I don't have a problem to shoot a whole trip with only this lens. It basically stays on my D200 all the time, unless I have specific needs for another lens, and replaced the 18-70 as my walk around lens.

 

For all people that look for a good quality 'all purpose lens' or to have only a single lens set-up I can highly recommend this lens.

 

Last Edited September 2007

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Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX DC Macro
No review is currently available.

 

SIGMA 50-500 F4-6.3 EX DG 'Bigma'

 

My first few test pictures with the 'Bigma' on a D70 with SB-800 Flash. Because of the bad weather I was not able to test the lens outside, but at I think it shows the potential is has to create great quality pictures (with the right subjects...).
 
For your information, all the shoots were taken handholding at 500mm (750mm).
 
As soon as I have more time I will do some more shooting and will post some more sample pictures as well as my experience using the lens. So please check back soon.

 

 

Last edited December 2006

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Sigma 70-200 f2.8 EX DG
No review is currently available.

 

Sigma 150 f2.8 EX DG
No review is currently available.

 

Sigma TC 1.4x EX / 2x EX
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Flash SB-600
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Flash SB-800
No review is currently available.

 

Various Filters (CP, UV, Haze etc.)
No review is currently available.

 

Epson Stylus 820

 

The review of the Epson Stylus 820 is based on using this printer for about 2 years after purchasing it in Fall 2002 at a 'discounted' price of under $50. I have to admit that this was my first inkjet printer from Epson, having used a HP 1120C printer since 1999.

 

Also the HP was great for that time, it was just not up to the task of printing photos in a reasonable quality. Having read and heard good things about the Epson inkjet printers, I just could not resist to buy the 820 for the good price (regular prices at that time were between $90-$100).

 

Once at home it took me about 30 minutes to set the printer up and load the software on my PC running Win98, and another 15-20 minutes I spent to go through the alignment procedure. So after approximately 1 hour I was ready to make my first print of a picture using Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 onto a 4x6 Epson Glossy paper.

 

The result was not too good to say the least. First it took forever to print a 4x6 (several minutes), and even the colors looked saturated, the whole picture looked very dark compared to my monitor (but still much better than anything printed on the HP). I have to admit, at that time my monitor was not calibrated (I didn't even know that there was such a thing like monitor calibration).

 

Anyway, assuming the best about the Epson and the worst about the operator (me), I spend several hours playing around with different print settings, using up a lot of paper and ink. Finally I was able to get acceptable prints with descent print times.

 

One of the settings that affects printing time is the quality setting in the driver. Naturally, I set it to 'Best Photo' at the beginning, but learned that changing it to 'Photo' was absolutely sufficient for print quality (no real difference unless you hold the print up to your nose), but sped up the print process tremendously.

 

I also learned that setting the printer driver color control to 'no color' control and let PSE2 take care of it resulted in much lighter pictures, resembling much closer the picture I saw on the computer screen. It was not perfect, but at that time I considered it good.

 

I used the Epson 820 extensively over the next year and a half and was in general happy, but I found also some very bad habits, of which two were very bad (and expensive):

 

1. Dried out print-nozzles. This is the worst of all as you spend lots and lots of ink in cleaning the nozzles. I could not figure out any way to prevent this and it seemed not to matter whether I had brand new cartridges or if they were close to being empty - the nozzles dried out if I didn't use the printer for more than a week.

 

2. No single color cartridges. I don't know how many color cartridges I changed with one of the 3 colors empty, but the other 2 still half full.

 

There were more issues, but non even close the the two above, more annoyances than real problems.

 

But in general, the Epson Stylus 820 did do a good job as a photo printer of that time, even if compared to today's available printers the quality was not that outstanding. Would I recommend the printer? Well, yes, back in 2002, but not in 2007 (if you even find one to buy). Today you can get even better printers that will beat the Epson 820 by far in all categories, from quality to cost to speed.

 

Last Edited August 2006

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Epson Stylus C86
No review is currently available.

 

Epson Stylus R320
No review is currently available.

 

Adobe Elements 2.0 w. Album 2.0
No review is currently available.

 

Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0
No review is currently available.

 

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0
No review is currently available.

 

Adobe Photoshop CS3
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon View
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Picture Project
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Capture 4.4 (trail only)
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon View NX
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Capture NX
No review is currently available.

 

Nikon Capture NX2
No review is currently available.

 

Noiseware Professional Edition 2.0
No review is currently available.
Photo Mechanic
No review is currently available.
 
 

 

 

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