Going Prime

Yes, I am a Nikon shooter... Yes, I am using prime lenses... and yes, Nikon does make fast prime lenses.

Believe it or not, you don't have to be a Canon user to enjoy prime lenses. Yeah you got me on the fact that Canon has some gorgeous f/1.2 lenses out there but Nikon is no slouch either!

As you may or may not know (or care) my wife and I work together and she has been my associate shooter for quite some time now. She was always used to using primes since way back in the day so she kept with that while I shot with almost all zooms... If you are married, and are lucky enough to work with your significant other, then you should REALLY be familiar with the saying; "What's mine is yours."

So, long story short she was a prime hog ;)

That was all fine and dandy until Rebecca took a year off to brew and raise our son, Cameron. It was during that time that daddy got to play!

I fell in love with primes all over again and passed the zoom lenses to the wife for the rest of 2009 throughout...

They are lighter, sharper (yeah that's possible, even with Nikon's über sharp zoom lineup) and allow me to really utilize my camera's amazing low-light shooting capabilities. The shallow DOF (depth of field) is also a great way to help tell a story as well. Take this shot for example:







So you may ask yourself, do I still use the zooms?
Yeah... I do. The only time you will be seeing me with zoom lenses is typically during the wedding ceremony's processional / recessional and at the reception when I am shooting the cake cutting and guest's when they are dancing. I still break out the 70-200mm zoom as well since I still don't have that 135mm prime (can Nikon beef up stock on these please??). So at this time I am probably using prime lenses 75-80% of the time.

MY CURRENT EQUIPMENT LINEUP (As of March 2010)

Cameras:
(2x) Nikon D700 DSLRs
(1x) Nikon D300 DSLR

Zoom Lenses:
(1x) Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8
(2x) Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8
(1x) Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR

Prime Lenses:
(1x) Nikon 24mm f/2.8
(1x) Nikon 35mm f/2.0D
(1x) Nikon 50mm f/1.4G
(1x) Nikon 85mm f/1.4
(1x) Nikon 85mm f/1.8
(1x) Nikon 105mm f/2.8 VR Macro
(1x) Sigma 300mm f/2.8

Speedlights:
(3x) Nikon SB-900
(2x) Nikon SB-800
Alienbee Studio Lighting
PocketWizards
RadioPoppers

I'm still looking for that Nikon 135mm f/2DC Lens and am eying up the Nikon 200mm f/2.0 VR lens to add to my lineup.

Sync Your Camera's Time

There is nothing that I hate more than not having all my camera's time synced together. I have had this happen to me a couple times either with myself or when working with a second shooter. Maybe I was shooting with two different camera bodies or maybe I just got one back from a repair (they reset EVERYTHING on you BTW) but whatever the case may be, it stinks! It is also something that you can easily forget in the heat of the moment.

So here is what I do:
Go to www.time.gov and use that time to sync up your cameras... Yes all of them. Simply set the time on your cameras to the same thing and then hit the OK button when the time.gov website matches your cameras. Done!

When I am working with a second shooter on-location I just treat my camera like the time.gov site and have them sync up to my time. It's very simple yet often overlooked.

If you have more than two cameras then have a friend help you our or do a couple at a time.

Now there are EXIF modifier programs out there but it can be a hassle. Do it right the first time and save yourself the headache!

Thanks for stopping by,
Mike