Nikon D2H Pro Digital SLR:
Harvey Levine used this with
a Nikon 400mm f/2.8 lens
to shoot cycling photos.
[ Photo: Amazon.com ]

John Cloninger asked what camera Harvey Levine used to shoot the photo of me that was taken at the Covered Bridge Metric Century that I featured on Operation Gadget?

Harvey reports that this photo was taken with a Nikon D2H Pro Digital SLR Camera and a Nikon 400mm f/2.8 lens. This is a premium setup to be sure.

I was telling John that you can't get the photo that Harvey took of me, or the photos he's taken at Penn State Football games, without having a long lens with fast focus and excellent sharpness. The Nikon 400mm f/2.8 lens apparently delivers this in spades. According to a review of the lens on FredMiranda.com:

...for what it does, this lens is the fastest and most accurate focusing lens I have ever used. It is also sharp beyond sharp and delivers a bokah {blur outside the depth of field} like a portrait lens. I have used it for field sports and racing. On my D2h body, it will follow a player running at me or diagonally across the field at full speed and it will follow an Indy car coming straight at me at 200 mph. The short {depth of field} when it is wide open, or close to it is wonderful for isolating a subject from its background, and it remains plenty sharp wide open, although it seems a bit sharper at f4.

A review on KenRockwell.com says that the Nikon 400mm f/2.8 lens costs about $10,000 new and $5,500 used. Many people apparently own the D2H body and rent the 400mm lens from a full-service camera store. I don't know whether Harvey owns or rents the one he was using that day.