In 2009 I switched from being a Canon shooter to Nikon. I had been conditioned to having a 70-200 f2.8 lens in my arsenal, and naturally, when I began researching the Nikon lens range to accompany my D700, the Nikon 70-200/2.8 was a natural contender.
I did however ask some friends and other professional photographers their opinions, and it was US Nature Photographer EJ Peiker who sold me on the 70-300 f4.5-5.6G VR. And I am eternally grateful that he did.
Most landscape photographers already have the vast majority of equipment necessary to take images at night. Cameras and lenses swallow up the majority of budgets, with some of the smaller accessories often overlooked.
The principle concept of the cable release is to release the shutter remotely that is, without actually using your finger to press the shutter. This helps to reduce camera shake in slower exposures. This, usually in conjunction with Mirror Lock Up, are tried and tested methods to ensure sharp images in landscape photography.
The MC-36 is the “timer” version of the remote release, as opposed to a more simple remote shutter, which just acts as a trigger. Of course, the MC-36 can also be used in this way, but where it really comes into its own is when used with its timer functionality.
This is an essential feature for a number of specialised camera methods like Time-Lapse Photography and creating images for Stacking Star Trails.
When this lens was released a few years ago, I was a Canon shooter, with a full range of lenses including Sigma 12-24 – Canon 24-70/2.8, 70-200/2.8 all the way up to a 600/4. All this on the front of a 1Ds Mark II. In other words, I was committed. For wildlife, I had few issues, generally content with the gear. It was at the wide end I had my problems. The Sigma 12-24 doing a better job than any of the wide offerings from Canon. The 24/1.4 I used however, was amazing, but 24mm isn’t really that wide.
Reviews began to emerge of the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED AF-S, and the word on the street was – For wide lenses, this is the current top lens available. I also read a few reviews from other Canon users who were using an adapter allowing them to use the Nikon lens on their Canon bodies, and I investigated that option also. But, ultimately felt that sacrificing the full aperture range was not ideal either.
