UPDATE HISTORY 1999-2001

(Current Year: Go Here)

Update 30 July, 1999: A comprehensive Lens Evaluation section is now added. Here I have compiled my experiences with a large number of (mainly) Nikon lenses. No holds barred - just the plain and sometimes surprising truth is presented here. Click on Lens Evaluations on the Menu bar to the left.

Update 4 August, 1999: The Normalc[it]y Exhibition is now opened.

Update 5 August, 1999: Added a Project and Schedule page.

Update 15 August, 1999: Enhanced the IR Colour Section and Far Side with more images. Getting afocal methods to work better by now - it's kind of fun. Not so funny though that Internet Explorer might fail to re-open image windows. If you get Javascript errors with IE, close all extraneous browser windows and try to open the image window again.

Update 19 August, 1999: Implemented workaround for the IE window-opening bug.

Update 26 August, 1999: Added more links on Links Page.

Update 28 September, 1999: More evaluations have been added to the Lens pages. Also I added my experiences on the exciting new AFS Nikkor 17-35 mm f/2.8 ED-IF. Some people complained that this review wasn't extensive (so I rewrote it to become more informative), or took exception to my original remarks about the Canon 17-35/2.8 L. I hold no grudge against Canon, in fact, they do make some wonderful lenses and in particular their long lenses are every bit as good or even better than Nikon's offerings. However, you have to be blind to miss the optical aberrations of the Canon 17-35 L and in my humble opinion, the fact that Nikon launches a lens devoid of these optical flaws certainly qualifies for calling it "vastly surpassing" the Canon design. Indulge me for stating the obvious - otherwise, even a subjective evaluation is worthless!

Update 30 September, 1999: The AFS 17-35 mm f/2.8 Nikkor review is rewritten again and significantly extended. Also, test shots are presented.

Update 7-10 November, 1999: Completely rewrote the workaround for the IE window-opening bug. In my test runs, neither IE3 nor IE4/5 now could provoke the infamous opening bug which previously lead to Javascript errors (IE evidently corrupts its subwindow reference stack leading to browser crashes). The downside is that you must, at least in the case of IE3, manually close an image window in order to open the next one. Otherwise, the new window will not come to the front to be viewable. For IE4 users, you now should be able to click a new image without closing an existing image subwindow. I also added code to make IE less error-prone on the Mac platform. Hopefully, all Microsoft-induced gremlins and bugs now are eradicated. We'll have to wait and see for Mr. Gates' next "progress" in the browser field.

Update 11 November, 1999: The wait is over: 85 mm f/2.8 PC Micro-Nikkor tested.

Update 11 December, 1999: At last, the full review of the 17-35 mm AFS Nikkor. I'm continue working on in-depth review of the D1, which should be ready in a few days ahead (hopefully).

Update 12 December, 1999: In fact, the D1 story developed faster than I'd expected.

Update 16 December, 1999: A number of Mac visitors complained about their browsers crashing when the Java applet loads. This evidently is a bug in the Java JIT byte-code compiler on the Mac. To circumvent this problem, and additionally taking care of people who don't care about Java at all, I have now redesigned the site so as to avoid loading Java for Macs, or with browsers having Java support disabled.

Update 13 January, 2000: More impressions of the D1 are added to the D1 review area. Many updates to the equipment pages to reflect my entry into the digital era.

Update 15 January, 2000: More UV and IR stuff is added.

Update 21 January, 2000: The more I use D1, the more I like this digital newcomer. But no tree ever grows into the sky, so be sure to read my frequently updated D1 review.

Update 28 January, 2000: The Y2 Gallery is incepted, so please take a look. It will be updated on a monthly basis and will contain only digitally originated images.

Update 3 February, 2000: Expanded and added images to the Far Side section. Also compiled a selection of test images to show how Ektrachrome Infrared (EIR) responds to a variety of filters.

Update 21-22 February, 2000: More info is added to the D1 shooting story. D1 is now my bread-and-butter camera and currently I take 90% of my images with it. The novelty might wear off, but nevertheless, it has been a very satisfying experience so far. Also added some new reviews to the Lens Review pages. The first photographic results with UV and IR images from D1 are presented.

Update 15 March, 2000: Once again, I updated the D1 story. Also, more digital UV images are presented.

Update 20 March, 2000: More on D1 (again). I yielded to pressure and publish the details of my afocal photography.

Update 7 April, 2000: April's Image is up in the Y2K Gallery. Some ambiguities and errors in the lens reviews were straightened out as well.

Update 25-29 May, 2000: Added new information about novel aspects of digital IR Photography. Check out the links found under IR Colour Photography.

Update 17 June, 2000: Added details to a number of reviews.

Update 28 June, 2000: Images of Invisibility: A collection of images obtained using the D1 and UV and IR in combination. No visible light at all, but still pictures can be acquired ...

Update 1 August, 2000: The August Image in the Y2K Gallery depicts the drowsiness of a warm summer day. Nothing to do except for playing around with my D1. So be it.

Update 4 August, 2000: Around 15 % of my visitors arrive at my site with their JavaScript disabled. This might cause problems on some web pages that rely heavily on JavaScript features. In particular, some people follow external links directly to subpages that are specifically designed for Java or JavaScript support. Needless to say this leads to all sorts of nasty problems, images not showing or even browser crashes. Thus, I have decided to redesign a number of these pages in order to offer an alternative for those not wishing to turn on JavaScript for security reasons. For some time now, it hasn't been mandatory to run browsers supporting Java for browsing my site (although having Java enabled does ensure a quicker and easier navigation). The downside of this bow to the visitor's wish is more work for me and more maintenance of the web site. You can't always win.

I also added more details to the D1 story, and did a number of minor updates all over the site.

Update 6 August, 2000: Proved trickier than expected to make the rewritten code run properly with all browsers. These problems should now be sorted out, as the new pages are verified for NetScape versions 2.x, 3.x, 4.x, and Internet Explorer 3.x and above. In particular the earlier versions of IE are nasty to deal with because of all theirs bugs and limitations.

Update 23 August, 2000: The first review of the exciting AF ED-IF 14 mm f/2.8 Nikkor is found at my Lens Evaluation pages. Also added a review of all lenses for the Hasselblad XPan, including the new 30 mm f/5.6 lens.

Update 27 August, 2000: The full review of the 14 mm Nikkor now is presented.

Update 1 September, 2000: September's Picture is up in the Y2K Gallery. My review of the 14 mm Nikkor is extended. Did fine-tuning of the JavaScript code for the opening page to prevent some rare crashes on the Mac platform. Added code to help IE5.x users with erroneous setup of their browser to avoid garbled menus (when *will* Microsoft put their act together?).

Update 3 October, 2000: An article about my autumn mountain venture joins October's update of the Y2K Gallery, so read on.

Update 28-30 October, 2000: Learn the truth about some new and exciting Nikkors in the Lens Review area. The sad story of the AFS 300 mm f/4 Nikkor is illustrated in an updated review. I also updated, in advance, the Y2K Gallery because I have some scientific writing to catch up too in the next weeks, so photographic assignments must rest for a while.

Update 3 November, 2000: In preparation for the 100.000th visitor to my site, I redid the opening page to add a current favourite picture of mine, entitled "Nightfall". Just another digital image from my Nikon D1 and the UV-Nikkor 105 mm f/4.5 lens. Enjoy.

Update 28 November, 2000: Still, some Mac-related bugs in the Javascript code surface, so have simplified the initial page setup to cater for this contingency. Moving on to a more photographic theme, I added a first pointer to the multitemporal technique on my Far Side page.

Update 5 December, 2000: I added some final thoughts and comments to my review of the AFS 17-35 Nikkor. Many people have misread this review to think it is necessary to "cherry-pick" a sample, which simply isn't true. Hence the need for revising my review (the revision does *not* relate to the optical verdict).

Update 7 December, 2000: Discovered Nikon now delivers AFS 300/4 and 80-400 VR Nikkors with a slightly improved tripod collar. Could really my critical review precipitate this improvement? I sincerely hope so ... And finally I was able to put the exciting new 80-400 VR Nikkor though its paces. Read on.

Update 18 December, 2000: The first extensive review of the 80-400 VR Nikkor is published.

Update 15 January, 2001: Added Today's Image to the menu. Plus, I got hold of my own AF 80 mm Nikkor today, so added a review of it to my Lens Evaluation section.

Update 20 January, 2001: The final solution to the AFS 300/4 issue isn't what you think, but never mind: "Shaken, not stirred".

Update 23 January, 2001: Spent some days shooting with an AFS 80-200 mm f/2.8 Nikkor, so an updated review of it was timely.

Update 28 Jaunuary, 2001: The Firewire disaster struck.

Update 9 February, 2001: Some first glimpses of the D1X are published. And the long-awaited list of the Best of the Best (Nikkors).

Update 5 March, 2001: The amazing story of the Burzynski head is given here. I have found myself a new reference standard, something that assuredly won't happen frequently.

Update 9 April, 2001: Added more images to IR section, as well as to the Today's Image Gallery. I've recently decided to retire from my scientific position to spend more time doing Nature Photography. However, the process of bringing my scientific work to a close has taken more time (and efforts) than previously imagined, so less time can be devoted to my web site than usual for the time being. Hopefully the situation will improve and the imminent arrival of my D1X makes this even more important.

Update 6 June, 2001: Finally, I had some spare time to summarise my first experiences with D1X.

Update 22 July, 2001: My time has been preoccupied by bringing a big (and lucrative) consultancy project to an end, so am just adding some info on D1X and my two new lenses, 45 mm f/2.8 AI-P and AF 105 mm f/2 DC Nikkors. I finally got my long-awaited Nikon Multiphot device and with it, the full range of Macro-Nikkors (yes, "Macro" not "Micro") which are reviewed under the Special lens section. I'll shortly be back to shooting and writing as usual.