Photography, Play, Writing

Dear Nikon Camera Corporation

Dear Nikon,

I know you guys are avid readers of my blog, and love my sunset photos. I also know you’re wondering why I’m taking photos using my iPhone as opposed to one of your excellent cameras. A very good question, you guys do ask very good questions !

In a word – budget. Even stretching my budget I’ve been unable to track down a Nikon J4 or V3 locally to where I live here in Thailand.

So here’s an opportunity for you guys …

I’ll do an extensive review of either a J4 or a V3, whichever you think would be more suitable for me, over the course of a couple of weeks.

For me to do the review I need the following :

  • Nikon 1 – J4 or V3 (V3 I think is better, J4 is lighter – either would work for me)
  • Lens – 1 NIKKOR VR 6.7-13mm f/3.5-5.6 (wide angle for sunsets)
  • Lens – 1 NIKKOR VR 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 PD-ZOOM (for general shooting)
  • Lens – 1 NIKKOR VR 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6 (for close ups)
  • Lens – 1 NIKKOR VR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 (I always wanted to play with a paparazzi lens)
  • WP-N3 Waterproof Case, SB-N10 Underwater Speedlight, SC-N10A Underwater Fibre-Optic Cable, SK-N10A Underwater Bracket (for diving photos)
  • Spare batteries – very useful as I often take 600 shots or more in one shoot
  • Bag I already have, but it says “Canon” on it, so some free advertising for you if you have a bag for me. I like to travel light and compact as possible.
  • Lightweight monopod for shooting video, and steadying stills, especially close-ups.
  • Anything else you may think would assist me

In return for your generosity in donating the above equipment to us, the DonCharisma.org blog – I will do a separate detailed blog post for each (including the best photos that I can get) :

  1. Review the camera for taking sunsets with wide angle lens
  2. Review the camera for panoramas, built in function and stitched using Photoshop CS6
  3. Review the camera for general shooting – I live in colourful area of Thailand, so plenty to shoot here.
  4. Review the camera for close-up and telephoto
  5. Review the camera for shooting diving on a shipwreck at approx 20-30M depth
  6. Review the camera for shooting diving on coral at approx 5-10M depth
  7. Review the camera for taking video of beach action, eg kite surfing or banana boat or jetski.
  8. A review the camera for any other purpose which you’d like to see reviewed.
  9. A badge – “Sponsored by Nikon” 256px x 256px for a period of 3 months on my sidebar, which gets shown on every page of my blog, with a link back to Nikon’s global website from the badge. I’m not allowed to do advertising on my blog, but I can give credit to sponsors.

Of our 28000+ followers we have a lot readers who are photographers, some have already expressed an interest in knowing more about compact DSLR-like cameras. Reason is that we like the idea of the quality obtained with mirrorless large sensor, but don’t want to cart masses of equipment around or have to “do photography”. Nikon 1 system seems to be a very good compromise, for enthusiasts and semi-professionals.

I’m a certified PADI diving instructor, so ability to use the Nikon 1 system for underwater stills and video is a huge bonus.

My offer is a massive promotional opportunity for Nikon to promote and spread awareness of the Nikon 1 system and what it’s fully capable of – at a very small cost for the time and skill I’m offering to invest. My readers will get the detail on the Nikon 1 system and what it can do, plus my results get highly ranked in Google. I get the photographic equipment I want, and a project to fully utilise it. So it’s a win all round.

It’s a serious offer – I really do want the camera, and I really would be very happy to give it a full tryout and document how it went, as promised above.

I’ve had a good look at the competition, Canon EOS-M and Sony’s similar offering – my conclusion is that Nikon offer the best and most complete system for what (and how) I want to photograph. Therefore in my opinion the Nikon 1 system seems to me to be best of breed for compact DSLR-like cameras.

Thank you Nikon, you guys rock 😀

Warm regards

Don Charisma

PS Dear blog readers – please do share this, reblog etc hopefully it will reach the right people 😀

Mathew 7:7 – “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”

Resources & Sources

J1 Camera – Nikon.com

Notes for commenters:

Don Charisma Warning Improvised Writing

Comments are invited. BUT you are reminded that this is a public blog and you are also reminded to think before you press the “post comment” button. 

Good manners are a mark of a charismatic person – so please keep comments civil, non-argumentative, constructive and related, or they will be moderated. If you feel you can’t comply, press the “unfollow” button and/or refrain from commenting.

I read ALL comments but can’t always reply. I will comment if I think there’s something that I can add to what you’ve said. I do delete without notice comments that don’t follow rules above. For persistent offenders I will ignore you permanently and/or report you.

Most decent people already know how to behave respectfully. Thank you for your co-operation on the above.

Warm regards, Don Charisma

45 thoughts on “Dear Nikon Camera Corporation”

    1. Agreed, I will have to see what I can do email wise with Nikon, someone suggested their PR department … thanks for the spreading the word !

  3. Good luck, Don, hope you get it. If it were my decision it’d be already in the post.

  4. in my opinion I think Canon is the best…its jut what I think 🙂

  8. Man, you get it Don! What guts it takes to confront a business so head on like this 🙂 I love it!

  10. lol! Not certain that’s what Jesus meant about asking and knocking, but what the heck. I’ll shoot up a prayer just in case – He does have an exquisite sense of humor! 😀

    1. Hey Susan, glad you corrected me on that, and yes I do understand “the real” meaning to do with prayer, although I understand it through meditation … however the surface sentiment is still a lovely one, even though it’s stretching the meaning pretty thin 😀

  12. Don: a good idea for promote your offer would be to contact the PR department at Nikon and send them a link to your blogpost. That is the most fast way to reach them. Good luck 😀

  14. I salute thee oh master of blogging! entertaining post – informative – and frankly helpful too. Free business promo for Nikon right from word go. Loved this post RIGHT to the end. 😉 They would be daft not to take you up on this Dude. 😀
    Gonna reblog a bit laters yeah? Cool.

    1. Thanks Belinda, and put a few humorous bits to keep the flow … reblog is cool Belinda, you’re always free to reblog what you like hun 😀

      3. – slapped it onto other platforms already OK! So there! 😛 (and I have secret agent ones)
        Yes yes – and OH yes – sometimes life really can happen at what feels like the wrong time – but is actually quite the right time…in the end. 😀
        Can’t be following all the rules always ey?
        A little rebellion sometimes does the job.

  15. Tweeted for you. I seriously love my Nikon DSLR. A phone is OK in an emergency, but that’s not a real photo! I sort of put my Nikon on auto and take my chances. Hubby actually knows what all the settings mean and it makes him crazy that on average, my auto shots beat his carefully engineered photography.

    1. LOL … laughed out loud at that one Jane, and yes very often the auto settings seem to produce great results, something I do love about the iphone … I do have a few little tweaks from experience, and I find getting the sun (or light source) behind me is crucial, except for sunsets of course where it’s almost always fore-lit … thanks for retweet, I have my fingers crossed someone at Nikon will see it, it’s a genuine offer, and I think would be a good deal for Nikon 🙂

  17. I was fortunate enough to own a Nikon camera for several years. It took amazing photos. I would love to see what you would be able to achieve with one. Alas, mine took a tumble and it no longer works. The cost of repairs was significantly more than the original camera. Now, I too take photos , albeit much less beautiful than yours, with my phone. But I miss my camera so very much. You, on the other hand, would be a responsible camera owner and never allow such a tumble to occur in the first place. Ask and you shall receive…

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