Month: March 2013

Saturday (30-March-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Night Sky in New Jersey. Wide Angle Lens Options for Nikon 1 Cameras.

One of the issues I have had with the Nikon 1 “mirrorless” cameras is the lack of wide-angle lens options. The widest angle available with the initial set of lenses was 10 mm f/2.8 prime. This has a 77° field of view (FOV) equivalent to a 27 mm lens on a full-frame (FX) DSLR camera. I like taking wide-angle panorama landscape images when traveling. In order to do this with the Nikon 1 camera requires taking several images and then stitching them together during post-processing. Before going to Norway, I saw a note on the internet that the Olympus FCON-T01 Fisheye converter uses the same 40.5 mm thread that the Nikon 1 10 mm f/2.8 lens uses. The 0.74x adapter increases the FOV to something like 20 mm on a FX DSLR camera. I took this combo with me to Norway, and published an image of Greenland from 36,000 feet using the combo. (19-February-2013).

Since returning from Norway, Nikon released a new wide-angle telephoto lens for Nikon 1 cameras – the 6.7 – 13 mm f/3.5-5.6. At 6.7 mm this lens has a 100° FOV equivalent to a 18 mm lens on a FX DSLR camera. The following three images were taken with the Nikon 1 V2 camera 1) with the 10 mm f/2.8 lens; 2) with the 10 mm f/2.8 lens and the Olympus fish-eye converter; and 3) with the 6.7-13 mm lens at 6.7 mm. The wide-angle image with the 6.7 mm does not have the fish-eye curvature effect. Indeed, when in Norway I found that when I used the Olympus lens I would need to keep the horizon right at the middle of the image. I think that I will be adding the 6.7-13 mm lens to my light-weight travel kit.

Note: Nikon changed the threading on the 6.7-13 mm lens to 52 mm, so I can’t use the Olympus adapter with this lens 😉

New Jersey Early Spring Night Sky with Moon and Clouds. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/2.8, 10 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Early Spring Night Sky with Moon and Clouds. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/2.8, 10 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Early Spring Night Sky with Moon and Clouds. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 10 mm f/2.8 lens + Olympus Fisheye adapter (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/2.8, 10 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Early Spring Night Sky with Moon and Clouds. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens + Olympus Fisheye adapter (ISO 160, 10 mm, f/2.8, 10 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Early Spring Night Sky with Moon and Clouds. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and 6.7-13 mm lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 20 sec). (David J Mathre)
New Jersey Early Spring Night Sky with Moon and Clouds. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 6.7-13 mm lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 20 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (29-March-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey.

Some images taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and the new 80-400 mm VRII lens (with the FT1 adapter). The lens is much bigger than the camera, but still easy to use hand-held. The field of view (FOV) with this lens is equivalent to 216-1080 mm on a 35 mm (FX) DSLR. The base ISO for the Nikon 1 V2 is 160, and at the base ISO the image of the spring daffodil shows good colors and saturation. At an ISO of 1600, there is significant noise, and the colors and saturation are reduced as seen with the image of the Doe.

Yellow Daffodil in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens with a FT1 adapter (ISO 160, 240 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). Field of view equivalent to 650 mm with a 35 mm sensor. (David J Mathre)
Yellow Daffodil in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 80-400 mm VRII lens with a FT1 adapter (ISO 160, 240 mm, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec). Field of view equivalent to 650 mm with a 35 mm sensor. (David J Mathre)
Scrawny Doe, Early Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 1600, 310 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec) (David J Mathre)
Scrawny Doe, Early Spring in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2, FT1 adapter, and 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 1600, 310 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). Field of view equivalent to 840 mm with a 35 mm sensor. (David J Mathre)

Saturday (16-March-2013) — New Jersey

Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Spring Flowers Caught in Late Winter Snow.

The spring flowers are having problems dealing with late winter snow and sleet. Although the snow is gone within a day, winter has not yet departed.

Late Winter Snow on Dafodill Bloom. Image taken with a D3s and 85 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 85 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Late Winter Snow on Dafodill Bloom. Image taken with a D3s camera and 85 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 85 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Late Winter Snow on Snow Drop Blooms. Image taken with a D3s and 85 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 85 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)
Late Winter Snow on Snow Drop Blooms. Image taken with a D3s camera and 85 mm f/2.8 PC-E lens (ISO 800, 85 mm, f/4, 1/250 sec) (David J Mathre)

Saturday (09-March-2013) — New Jersey

Late Winter Nature in New Jersey. Spring Flowers in the Snow.

Yet another late winter snow storm. The early spring flowers continue to try to find some sun.

Snow Drop Flowers in the Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 170 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Snow Drop Flowers in the Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 170 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Snow Drop Flowers in the Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)
Snow Drop Flowers in the Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/320 sec) (David J Mathre)
Snow Drop Flowers in the Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 250 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Snow Drop Flowers in the Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 250 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Daffodils in Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/7.1, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Daffodils in Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 300 mm, f/7.1, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Daffodils in Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 112 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)
Daffodils in Snow Waiting for Spring. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera, FT1 adapter, and 28-300 VR lens (ISO 160, 112 mm, f/8, 1/500 sec) (David J Mathre)

Friday (08-March-2013) — New Jersey

Home Cooking: Stone Soup and Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread.

When I woke up this morning, it was snowing. There was 4-6 inches on the ground and still snowing. I didn’t need to go out and decided to make some stone soup with leftovers in the refrigerator.

Stone Soup and Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/60, pop-up flash) (David J. Mathre)
Stone Soup and Hearty Rye & Whole Wheat Bread. Image taken with a Leica X2 camera (ISO 100, 24 mm, f/8, 1/60, pop-up flash) (David J. Mathre)

Stone Soup Recipe: 1 Bag (26 oz) Bob’s Red Mill Whole Grains and Beans Soup Mix, Water (8 quarts), Knorr Chicken Flavor Bouillon (8 tbs), 2 Chopped Red Onions, 1 Chopped Celery Heart, 8 Chopped Garlic Cloves, and all of the leftover pork roast, chicken, and rib-roast in the fridge chopped into small pieces. Brought to a boil, then simmered for 4 hours. When done enough to feed an army… More leftovers to be frozen. Someday maybe I will learn to cook for one.