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PC's Better year


Peter Connan

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And, just a couple of doubles:

Red-billed Quelias:

QueliaODP.jpg.45ea0a7eda02d60c6e0448115baadeb3.jpg

 

And so wonderful to see the Swallows are starting to arrive:

SwallowODP-2.jpg.49fd36cb29468690ab2eb584f2cd44df.jpg

 

The Bishops are also starting to get their breeding colours back. And Nikon reckon it's going to take them a month to fix my camera! I am tempted to pull what little hair I have left out...

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@Peter Connan - sorry to hear about the camera. Still you got those great shots of the Squacco Heron that I tried and ailed to get at Marievale

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  • 4 weeks later...
Peter Connan

Three weeks ago I went on a 4x4 trip with some friends. To a place called Moegatle, just outside the town of Brits. Last year I saw some birds here that I have seen nowhere else, so with no firm return date on my camera yet, I borrewed my wife's D7000. I had forgotten how great the D750's sensor is!

 

Anyway, I did manage to see some new birds for the year, and even a couple of new birds, although I didn't get useable pictures of all of them.

 

166) White-bellied Sunbird 

 

Witpenssuikerbekkie

Cinnyris talatala

 

WhitebreastODP.thumb.jpg.f059e93ccc774df6e90a65972113e024.jpg

Nikon D7000 + 500mm f4 (as will be all the following birds untill further notice)

 

Moegatle, 16 September

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Sorry to hear about your camera, is it terminal?

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Sorry to hear about your camera @Peter Connan you've been posting such terrific shots since you got it.

When you say it 'broke', what happened? Is it terminal?

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Peter Connan

@xelas, D7000 has in my opinion less reach than the D750. Merely because the D750's output is so much finer, I can crop a lot tighter.

 

@Soukous and @Tdgraves, according to Nikon's official report, i have worn out the shutter mechanism. It is being replaced, along with some other components, but there is a world-wide shortage of spares, so it is taking far longer than i feel is reasonable, but on the other hand the cost is pretty reasonable (£170 at today's exchange rate).

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Oh dear @Peter Connan that means my OHs theory is correct then. He is always telling me off about my trigger finger.....

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Peter Connan

@Tdgraves, not sure how it works with Canon. Nikon quotes a figure for shutter life. In the case of my camera, this figure is 150 000 actuations. This is not a guarantee, but most shutters are expected to outlast this figure. In fact, internet searches seem to indicate that most units should give double this life. The figure does vary depending on how up-market the camera is. Pro cameras are supposed to do 200 000, whereas the really cheap models are only rated to 100 000.

 

My camera has only done about 62 000 actuations (according to the exif information). And that's on two shutters. So hopefully, my bad luck's over now.

 

So let's just approach this from the other direction:

1) I am probably a pretty heavy user as amateurs go. At an airshow, I will normally shoot in excess of 2000 photos a day. RC aircraft meets clock up similar numbers. Shooting stars probably average out at 150 shots per evening.

2) Clocking those 62 000 photos took me 25 months.

 

Thus, theoretically, it should take me nearly 6 years to wear out a camera's shutter. This, I think, is enough, as by six years, there will be an upgrade that i will "need" to buy... 

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4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Merely because the D750's output is so much finer, I can crop a lot tighter.

 

Hmmm, not technically correct. Using DX format on D750 will give you less pixels then D7000; yet I am not talking about the quality of each pixel, which for sure is much better on D750 sensor. I wish you a quick return of your beloved camera :)!

 

D7000

DX-format
(L) 
 4,928 x 3,264

 

D750

DX-format
(L) 
 3,936 x 2,624 

1:2 format  (30 x 20)
(L)  5,008 x 3,336 

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4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

@xelas, D7000 has in my opinion less reach than the D750. Merely because the D750's output is so much finer, I can crop a lot tighter.

 

@Soukous and @Tdgraves, according to Nikon's official report, i have worn out the shutter mechanism. It is being replaced, along with some other components, but there is a world-wide shortage of spares, so it is taking far longer than i feel is reasonable, but on the other hand the cost is pretty reasonable (£170 at today's exchange rate).

 

I'm surprised that you can wear our a shutter mechanism after just 62,000 shots. That is not much at all. Were Nikon able to tell you if that is normal / average?

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Dave Williams

Agree, 62,000 is nothing. In fact I was amazed when I checked my Canon 7D2 I bought earlier this year and found I'd shot 19000 and I rarely use it. That's the problem when you can shoot high FPS. My 5D3 which must be 4 years old or more has only 80,000.The 1DX had 105,000 after 2 years.My 1DX2 65,000 after 15 months.

How old is the D750 Peter? ( I am right it's the D750 isn't it?)

 

Incidentally you can download an app called "shutter count" which will give you an accurate  reading straight from the camera, available for Mac and presumably for Windows too. Costs about £2.50 and can be used over and over.

 

Going back to the camera situation though, I used to have a Nikon D200, later a D300s and both suffered malfunctions that were repaired under warranty. The shutter seized on the D300s, both suffered from the rubber backing peeling off in hot weather.

No problems with Canon at all. I do think they are more robust, even the lens mount is smaller on a Nikon so presumably creates a bit more stress on that join too.

Anyway, I don't want to enter a Nikon vs Canon debate, both have their good and not so good points.

 

Depending on age I think I would be arguing about the £170 repair bill too.

Good luck on that one.

 

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Peter Connan

@Soukous, Nikon wouldn't say much, but internet searches seem to indicate Nikons normally at least double the quoted life.

 

@Dave Williams, the camera is 26 months old now. The original quote was 50% higher, but they dropped in when I complained. The original shutter was replaced after 5-6 months. Shutter count was determined by uploading a photo to a site, I've forgotten which one. But that is the count, not my memory or how many photos I have saved.

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Peter Connan

167) Cliff Mocking-chat

 

Dassievoel Thamnolaea cinnamomeiventris

 

Female:

CliffchatODP.thumb.jpg.934a5928c5149c829fa0da1346760224.jpg

Moegatle, 16 September

 

Male:

CliffChatODP.jpg.eb6aa8fbbfcdf3e03fc26fb0853a1390.jpg

 

Kopjeskraal, 23 September

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Peter Connan

168) Burnt-necked Eremomela

 

Bruinkeelbossanger Eremomela usticollis

 

Eremomela-ODP.thumb.jpg.df69dfc82f93da03e2bc8802371c2a24.jpg

(I hope)...

 

16 September, Moegatle

 

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Peter Connan

Thank you @xelas

 

169) Black-headed Oriole

 

Swartkopwielewaai Oriolus larvatus

 

OrioleODP.thumb.jpg.8d76c7c7935b00a9a4948aada0076075.jpg

 

16 September, Moegatle

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Last one from Moegatle:

I was quite excited to see this one, and then very dissapointed with the quality of the pictures, but I'm going to post it anyway.

 

170) Green-winged Pytilia

 

Gewone Melba Pytilia melba

 

PytilliaODP.thumb.jpg.07209b57522322ca6adc095a18845585.jpg

 

PytilliaODP-2.thumb.jpg.462b9fc5f01873031eb707533244f18f.jpg

 

 

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4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

and then very dissapointed with the quality of the pictures,

 

It looks good to me, way better then many of ebc posted :), specially mine :(. To put the IQ into some perspective, please do share the exif data (specially ISO value), and the amount of cropping (i.e. the cropped size of the original photo). Thanks!

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Certainly @xelas

 

Both were shot with Nikon D7000 and 500mm f4 lens. Both are pretty much 100% crops (cropped to 1022 pixels, then re-sized to 1000).

 

First is 1/400th at f4.5 and ISO1250, second one 1/800th at f4 and ISO2000. Pushing the crop-sensor too far, but the bird was far and flitting, and the light was poor.

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Nothing wrong with that Melba Finch. Love the Eremomela and BH Oriole.

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Thanks @Galana, I appreciate the compliment.

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Indeed excellent results for conditions, the lens helped a lot. I assume on D750, there would be no image at all.

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Dave Williams

You are getting a bit too fussy about the image quality, which isn't a bad thing but when you only have second best and it's still very good I wouldn't worry at all. You got the shot and that's what counts. 

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