Two-Years Ago (14-May-2011) — Belize

Gone to See Central America and the Panama Canal. Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop II with Michael Mariant. Day 18: Belize.

Solitary Small Island in the Gulf of Mexico off the Coast of Belize. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2011 Enrichment Voyage.

Solitary Small Island in the Gulf of Mexico off the Coast of Belize. Image taken with a Nikon D3s and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)
Solitary Small Island in the Gulf of Mexico off the Coast of Belize. Image taken with a Nikon D3s camera and 70-300 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 300 mm, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec). (David J Mathre)

Friday (03-May-2013) — Gibraltar

Gone to See Europe and North Africa. Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage on the MV Explorer. Ultimate Travel Photography Workshop IV with Michael Mariant. Day 7: Cadiz, Spain and Gibraltar.

Gibraltar Monkey (Barbary macaques) on top of the Rock of Gibraltar. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/8. 1/250 sec).

Gibraltar Monkey (Barbary macaques) on top of the Rock of Gibralter. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/8. 1/250 sec). Semester at Sea Spring 2013 Enrichment Voyage. (David J Mathre)
Gibraltar Monkey (Barbary macaques) on top of the Rock of Gibraltar. Image taken with a Nikon D4 and 14-24 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/8. 1/250 sec). (David J Mathre)

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)

Six-Years Ago (24-February-2007) — New Jersey

Backyard Wintertime Nature in New Jersey.

Turkey Vulture and the Moon. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec).

Turkey Vulture and the Moon. New Jersey Winter. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)
Turkey Vulture and the Moon. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/200 sec). (David J Mathre)

Tuesday (19-February-2013) — Trans-Atlantic Flight

Gone to See Norway 2013 Chasing the Northern Lights. Day 22: Bergen – Copenhagen – Newark Flight Home.

While on the Copenhagen to Newark leg of the flight home we crossed Greenland. Someday I want to visit Greenland.

Southern Greenland from 36000 feet. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens and Olympus FCON-T01 fisheye adapter (ISO 200, 7.5 mm, f/11, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Southern Greenland from 36000 feet. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 camera and 10 mm f/2.8 lens and Olympus FCON-T01 fisheye adapter (ISO 200, 7.5 mm, f/11, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)