Why I Shoot Nikon
Tweetby Greg Vaughn
I’ve been shooting with Nikon equipment as a pro photographer for many years. Sure, there have been times when I’ve been tempted to switch systems, but the Nikon stuff keeps working for me, and the ergonomics and controls of their cameras have always fit me better so I stay with them. No question that the glass is first class.
Ruggedness and reliability are also big factors for me. I’m not one to baby my gear, and in fact it gets stuffed into backpacks without much padding, jostles around in the truck while driving rutted roads, gets the vibration treatment in airplane overhead bins, and frequently gets splashed, sprayed and coated with dust.
The cameras and lenses just keep on working, even the “prosumer” class gear that isn’t designed to stand up to heavy use.
However, shit happens, as they say. On a recent trip I clumsily knocked over my tripod while gesturing to a guy who was posing for me. Camera and lens hit the floor with a loud clunk, and without even a lenshood to cushion the fall.
Red-faced, I sat the tripod back on its feet, checked camera and lens for wobbliness and signs of damage. Fired off a few shots, and everything looked normal on the LCD, so I finished the shoot. The next day, I noticed that occasionally there seemed to be a problem with the VR and focusing, so I switched to the backup gear.
When I returned from the trip, I shipped camera body and lens to Nikon, taking advantage my NPS (Nikon Professional Services) membership to get expedited repairs. I decided to send my 17-55mm f/2.8 zoom too, as it’s got a few miles on it after 6 years as the main workhorse.
Eight days later, UPS delivers my repaired gear. The work order for the 17-55mm lens says they repaired impact damage, focusing mechanism and zooming mechanism, replaced cam ring, name ring, zooming ring, lens barrel and bayonet mount. This is in addition to adjusting focus and resolution and giving it a thorough cleaning. The lens is practically brand new, and the bill was all of 150 bucks.
I don’t think I’ll be switching brands any time soon.
Greg Vaughn is a freelance editorial and commercial photographer based in Eugene, Oregon. He specializes in recreational travel, scenic landscape and nature photography. Greg’s guidebook “Photographing Oregon” won the Independent Publishers Association Ben Franklin Award for best travel book in 2010. It is also included in the Top Ten Best Travel Guides for Photographers at http://www.bestphotographybooks.com. Buy it at your favorite local bookstore, or order an autographed copy from http://www.GregVaughn.com/books.html .
If you have similar experiences please leave a comment.
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Greg Vaughn’s Book:
No question the gear can take a licking and keep on ticking. I have read similar stories from Canon pros who have been whacked by NFL players on the sidelines during a play. However, many of us who don’t make a living from photography don’t have the kind of bucks to devote to pro-grade gear and are not able to take advantage of Nikon Professional Services (or its Canon/Hasselblad/etc. equivalent).
I will, however, check out the book, since I love photographing in Oregon — especially Highway 101. I once had an SLR mirror freeze open (finder blackout) when photographing in the Columbia Gorge in December. Had to take it back to the hotel room in Portland and thaw it out in a ziploc bag. I had a second body with me so I could keep going. The popsicle had chrome film, the other neg film.
Nikon gear … when it does hit the floor, you can be reasonably assured that you can pick the camera and lens up and take a picture of the incident. Not that confident about the other guys’ stuff. It’s happened only a couple of times, and they have even managed to fix old gear where parts are no longer available (Nikon EL2 and Nikonos II). Amazing gear and amazing techs.
I have your book already, and I’m planning some trips into Oregon, now that I live in the northern “wet” coast area.
I’ve shot Nikon since the start – 1972. The old FTN was a workhorse that was dropped down a mountain, stomped by horses, dipped in rivers, used as a flail in the middle of a riot in Northern Ireland, and generally abused as the tool it is – and it’s still going strong almost 40 years later.
Digital – now that’s another story – one of my reporters literally turned a D70s into tiny little pieces. The same person also totaled a Nikon 80-200 2.8, a 17-55 2.8, and a D200 body (all at different times). I switched him to the kit lens – took him 20 minutes to come back with it in two pieces. At which point I fired him – couldn’t afford to keep him in camera equipment.
I sent a 300 2.8 Nikkor in for repair – the auto focus was a little sticky, but it still worked great in manual, however it seems my eyes don’t work so good in manual anymore. Came back – not only did the auto focus not work – even the manual focus didn’t work, and the knob for loosening the lens rotating mount was broken right off. It ended up costing over $800 to have it repaired.
Don’t get me wrong – I still swear by Nikon and you couldn’t give me a top of the line Canon. To me Canons just feel like a big brick.