Friday, March 14, 2008

Testing Nikon D60 DSLR at the Zoo


Went to the Singapore Zoo, 2 days back, a Wednesday afternoon.
It was a very dark & cloudy day.
But still I went ahead with my plan of going to the zoo!
After about 1.30pm, it was raining all the way till I left the place at 6pm.
Not a good day for photography I would say!
Well, I can only blame myself because I simply cannot wait any longer to get to the zoo to try out my Nikon D60.
A typical impatient Aries I am!!!
It was actually also quite messy that day as I was carrying a Water bottle, Camera Bag, Tripod Stand, Umbrella & holding a camera.
Plus I was soaking wet from head to toe for hours.


For these pictures you see here, I am using the VR 55-200mm lens on a Nikon D60.
No additional speedlight was used!
(Opps...That's because I don't own one. Hee hee...)
My camera mode was set to either Auto or Portrait.
I usually don't fumble around with the camera controls when taking pictures of animals...
Animals don't wait!

As for the D60 camera, I would consider it to be a very handy and good DSLR.
There's a couple of reasons :
1) I simply love the light weight and size.
2) The VR function (Vibration Reduction).
3) Quick start-up(On/Off)
4) Able to focus on animals in dim or low light conditions.


There is one problem I face using the D60 at the zoo.
Animals like Tigers, Lions, Cats...etc.
Their photographs turned out to have "empty eyes." See these 2 photos!


Something like the red eye effect on humans except that theirs turned out luminous.
Some says it's due to the flash???
Some says it's due to the specific type of animals eye???
Previously, when I was using the Nikon F65 SLR (negative films), zoom lens of 300mm, nothing like this has happened.
Still trying to find out what happened!






9 comments:

heavenabove said...

I like your animal photos. Good to see what zoos are like around the world. I guess we all have pretty much the same kind of animals. I'm going to the Portland Zoo this summer, so I'll have to share some of my pictures.

Cameras always take me a lot of practice-and I only have digital ones!

Astro Galaxy said...

Looking forward for your Portland zoo photos. Have a safe & good holidays!!!

Unknown said...

yup I can say that it's the flash that make the red eyes.Nikon is the best camera.I like to use nikon because they can capture a very sharp object.Did you change the night to ISO 400?Overall you did a great job.Those pics are awesome!

Livingsword said...

Hey considering the weather conditions you got some pretty good images!

Over all what do you think of the Singapore zoo?

My fave photo is the giraffe; it reminded me of an inspiring giraffe at the Santa Barbra Zoo that I created an article about:

http://creationontheblade.blogspot.com/2007/06/inspiring-giraffe.html

Livingsword said...

Hi Heavenabove;

We’ve been to the Portland Zoo several times and for a zoo of its size it is actually quite good, better than Seattle for example.

Astro Galaxy said...

Oh sweetiepie,
I didn't change the ISO settings to 400!I set it at AUTO mode! I'll remember to try it if I shoot in dark places. Thanks!!!

Astro Galaxy said...

Hi Livingsword,

I personally like the Singapore Zoo very much.
I like their different landscaping design for different animals.
Animals areas are kept clean too which I think is good & important.
But there is something I noticed for this visit, I really find that some of the animals(tigers, orang utans, leopards..etc.) grew too FAT!!!

There is one zoo that I would really like to visit is the San Diego Zoo. I got a CD-ROM about this zoo when I was a teenager and remembered spending days & days on computer using the CD-ROM to see the animals. It's seems like an amazing place!!!

Livingsword said...

Hi Astrogalaxy;

I have heard good things about the Singapore Zoo and also for the Bird Park.

The San Diego Zoo is excellent as is the San Diego Wild Animal Park; of course Sea World is also in San Diego.

Further away from you but of equally good quality if not better is the Berlin Zoo and Berlin Tier Park (Wild Animal Park). Berlin like San Diego hosts two world class animal facilities minus the aquarium.

I have been to al these places multiple times and they are very good, the animals are well cared for and their enclosures are very good and the animals are healthy. Both of Berlins facilities are excellent in breeding with many births in animals that need to grow their numbers.

Astro Galaxy said...

Wow livingsword,
It's great that you were able to visit these places!!!
I just did some search on the Berlin zoo and seems to be the best zoo in Europe!Thanks!