Does this thing still work

[astroNikon]

Hello all the long lost. Oh wait, that's me.

Yup, I haven't really used my camera for a couple years. Had cancer back in 2017 ... so I sold the D500 for more than I bought it for ; sold extra lenses, basically sold stuff. Then in 2018 whilst in my recovery I over exercised my upper body messing up my neck/shoulder muscles, tendons, aggravating arthritis and the like. It was to the point where if I kinked my neck wrong my whole left side would go numb, or limp.

The last couple days I've used my D750 a bit. Yesterday I had fun (see images below).
One of the oddities was my Tamron 150-600 was giving my aperture readings of F/29 to F/90 and would not AF (this copy was purchased from CoastalConn before he had flight to Canon, then back). I lightly cleaned the electrical connectors on my lens and body and that seems to have minimized the problem. It also wasn't really AutoFocusing but is better now. It still has fits where I have to rotate the focusing collar then it will work again. So I'll have to clean those contacts a bit more when I get around to it, a t-shirt isn't the best cleaning method.

I also totally forgot how to change the focusing modes. Drove me batty until I found the answer online of pushing the AF/M button .. oh yeah, I forgot about that one hidden away on the front side. Found the "my custom" menu button up there too. And remembered why I liked the rear Focus Thumb Lock (the one most ppl switch to BBF) so much.

But while very lightly using my D750 & Tamron and Nikon 24-85/28-4 lens yesterday I took a few pictures .. the "from my backyard" pictures. My shoulders/neck were strained while doing this so when I woke up this morning I feel like I have bad arthritis in my fingers, neck hurts too. Oh well, as my doctor keeps telling me over the years .. I'm not 25 any more.

I look forward to going mirrorless at some point to reduce the weight, maybe when more enter the used market. I'd love to get a D500 or D7800/7200 again but I need something smaller and lighter now. Maybe venture off to SONY like I nearly did a few years back, maybe the Nikons. Maybe I'll go cheap and get a D-whatever DSLR to use.

So here are my "from my backyard" shots from yesterday as I use my camera again, maybe.

I've always seen OOF sun shots, so here's mine.

I thought this early morning frost on the grass was kewl, at least conceptually.

and the frost on the windshield wiper ... well, at least sounded good in my head.

And I saw a shimmer of light from the blades of grass a short time later. Took this picture, though my neck I couldn't bend down so took it blindly by putting the camera low and clicking away with my 24-85/2.8-4 in macro mode.

and here's one of those ferocious, mini black bears that this area is known for.

 

[jcdeboever]

Sounds like your doing better bud, good to here. Do you still have a majority of af-d glass? I was gonna say go Nikon Z but those won't work on it. I'd let you borrow my Xt2 to give the fuji a try but this pandemic has me shut in. Here's the thing with mirrorless, once you start going for the longer wildlife glass like the 100-400, your not much better off in terms of size and weight.

 

[vintagesnaps]

The one of the dew drops with the light hitting them is cool.

That critter looks pretty pissed off... lol

 

[Derrel]

Good to see you back!

 

[astroNikon]

Sounds like your doing better bud, good to here. Do you still have a majority of af-d glass? I was gonna say go Nikon Z but those won't work on it. I'd let you borrow my Xt2 to give the fuji a try but this pandemic has me shut in. Here's the thing with mirrorless, once you start going for the longer wildlife glass like the 100-400, your not much better off in terms of size and weight.

My 150-600 is the tamron AF-S type lens.
Everything else is AF-D. 18-35, 24-85, 80-200, 50mm. everything else I sold.

I figured if I go mirrorless I'd get the lens range from 18ish to 200ish - 1 or 2 lenses. and then just use that for a while. But it needs to have a meade telescope adapter available.

On my big telescope The DSLR cameras when the mirrorslap occurs it makes it wobble ever so slightly. So I have to count to 5. And any slight wind gust or person walking by etc creates a wobble so one has to add a count to 5 after "all is calm". I noticed it even if i slightly shift a bit. So the cameras with only a timer (which is anything less than the d7x000) does not have the correct features I'm looking for. And my camera has all the rubber stuff on it to reduce wobble, but when you really look at far-away stars you can see a slight elongation, which is what I was trying to prevent.
Really, really pixel peeping at that point.

So the shutter has to be via trigger without a timer involved.
and a mirrorless would reduce the weight hanging off the back of the telescope, which should reduce any wobble even further.
at least that's my plan.

 

[astroNikon]

The one of the dew drops with the light hitting them is cool.

That critter looks pretty pissed off... lol

the neighbors yard has dogs in it. S/he was looking over the fence to see if it's all clear. They have a pond with fish and other critters I assume abound. Years ago that's where I saw a gigantic grey heron take off from 25 feet from me when I guess I startled it .. it was after the fish. Pretty mesmorizing. I think that's what got me into birding.

 

[astroNikon]

Good to see you back!

Hope your farming is going well.
it's good to use my rusting away camera. I kept charging the batteries from time to time thinking i'd use it. finally did.

 

[Derrel]

No longer working on the farm....

 

[astroNikon]

The one of the dew drops with the light hitting them is cool.

That critter looks pretty pissed off... lol

the neighbors yard has dogs in it. S/he was looking over the fence to see if it's all clear. They have a pond with fish and other critters I assume abound. Years ago that's where I saw a gigantic grey heron take off from 25 feet from me when I guess I startled it .. it was after the fish. Pretty mesmorizing. I think that's what got me into birding.

Here's the critter looking over the fence at the dogs

 

[astroNikon]

No longer working on the farm....

no more down on the farm ...

Taking pictures of Eggs, plates and forks now ?

 

[Sharpshooterr]

Astro, I hope you get to feeling a lot better!!!
But I have to ask, that first shot of that squirrel, is that Eddie Murphy??? Sure looks like him! LoL
SS

 

[waday]

Good to see you back! Love the second macro shot of the grass.

 

[otherprof]

Hello all the long lost. Oh wait, that's me.

Yup, I haven't really used my camera for a couple years. Had cancer back in 2017 ... so I sold the D500 for more than I bought it for ; sold extra lenses, basically sold stuff. Then in 2018 whilst in my recovery I over exercised my upper body messing up my neck/shoulder muscles, tendons, aggravating arthritis and the like. It was to the point where if I kinked my neck wrong my whole left side would go numb, or limp.

The last couple days I've used my D750 a bit. Yesterday I had fun (see images below).
One of the oddities was my Tamron 150-600 was giving my aperture readings of F/29 to F/90 and would not AF (this copy was purchased from CoastalConn before he had flight to Canon, then back). I lightly cleaned the electrical connectors on my lens and body and that seems to have minimized the problem. It also wasn't really AutoFocusing but is better now. It still has fits where I have to rotate the focusing collar then it will work again. So I'll have to clean those contacts a bit more when I get around to it, a t-shirt isn't the best cleaning method.

I also totally forgot how to change the focusing modes. Drove me batty until I found the answer online of pushing the AF/M button .. oh yeah, I forgot about that one hidden away on the front side. Found the "my custom" menu button up there too. And remembered why I liked the rear Focus Thumb Lock (the one most ppl switch to BBF) so much.

But while very lightly using my D750 & Tamron and Nikon 24-85/28-4 lens yesterday I took a few pictures .. the "from my backyard" pictures. My shoulders/neck were strained while doing this so when I woke up this morning I feel like I have bad arthritis in my fingers, neck hurts too. Oh well, as my doctor keeps telling me over the years .. I'm not 25 any more.

I look forward to going mirrorless at some point to reduce the weight, maybe when more enter the used market. I'd love to get a D500 or D7800/7200 again but I need something smaller and lighter now. Maybe venture off to SONY like I nearly did a few years back, maybe the Nikons. Maybe I'll go cheap and get a D-whatever DSLR to use.

So here are my "from my backyard" shots from yesterday as I use my camera again, maybe.

I've always seen OOF sun shots, so here's mine.
View attachment 189608

I thought this early morning frost on the grass was kewl, at least conceptually.
View attachment 189605


and the frost on the windshield wiper ... well, at least sounded good in my head.
View attachment 189606



And I saw a shimmer of light from the blades of grass a short time later. Took this picture, though my neck I couldn't bend down so took it blindly by putting the camera low and clicking away with my 24-85/2.8-4 in macro mode.
View attachment 189607


and here's one of those ferocious, mini black bears that this area is known for.
View attachment 189609

Welcome back! I really like the grass shot. I'm wondering if the choice of strap could make a big difference. If you are using the original strap, I'd suggest something
like the Bosstrap, which has made a big difference for me. It is a cross-body strap and attaches via one of the strap lugs, not the tripod socket. It is very light and comfortable for me. And one advantage of my a6000 over my d7200 is the tilt screen, for shots like the dew on grass.

 

[astroNikon]

Welcome back! I really like the grass shot. I'm wondering if the choice of strap could make a big difference. If you are using the original strap, I'd suggest something
like the Bosstrap, which has made a big difference for me. It is a cross-body strap and attaches via one of the strap lugs, not the tripod socket. It is very light and comfortable for me. And one advantage of my a6000 over my d7200 is the tilt screen, for shots like the dew on grass.

Thanks for the recommendation.
But in my case a strap around my shoulder or neck would be doubly worse than holding it.

My d750 has a tilt screen. once your neck goes and makes your arms weak it makes everything hard.

I remember several years ago we would make recommendations to people about weight, etc by using a different strap, etc. But now that I have specific issues, I recognize the total and complete inability in relation to weight (and not distribution of weight) that it can cause on a body that has some damage here and there.

For instance, when I lift up my D750 with the tamron 150-600 I know I have roughly 45-60 seconds to take a shot(s) and then put it down. 100% off my body. Otherwise things uncomfortable and painful start happening and I will end up dropping it when my hand/arms goes numb.

 

[astroNikon]

Astro, I hope you get to feeling a lot better!!!
But I have to ask, that first shot of that squirrel, is that Eddie Murphy??? Sure looks like him! LoL
SS