A Male Northern Red Cardinal 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 red cardinal shows good colors and saturation. This image was taken hand-held. The new VR-II works well with this lens to stabilize the image. This combo should be good for birding.
Male Northern Red Cardinal in the Sun. Backyard Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon 1 V2 + FT1 adapter + 80-400 mm VRII lens (ISO 160, 400 mm, f/7.1, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
I noticed this stink bug crawling up the wall. I didn’t see as many this winter. Is this the start of a spring invasion? [Note added later. This is not a stink bug, but rather a western conifer bug. The stink bugs are wider and more squat. The conifer bug are longer, and more narrow.]
Stink Bug (not) rather a Western Conifer Bug – Indoor Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D4 camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec) using a Ring Flash. (David J Mathre)
While reviewing some images from 6 years ago, I noticed a spider hiding in a daffodil bloom. It is always fun to go back and review old images – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sometimes to learn from previous mistakes, other times to discover things in the images that I missed. This is one reason that I don’t delete many images.
Spider in a Daffodil Bloom. Early Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)Spider in a Daffodil Bloom. Early Spring Nature in New Jersey. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 105 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 100, 105 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). (David J Mathre)
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 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 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 camera and 6.7-13 mm lens (ISO 160, 6.7 mm, f/3.5, 20 sec). (David J Mathre)
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)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)
