As I am sure you are all aware, Nikon today announced the D800.
In many ways a great camera, but it’s not a D700 replacement, but more of a cheaper smaller D3X. In many ways it is ahead of the D3X.
At 36MP it’s in medium format quality range. For people who cannot justify the cost of Medium Format is a very cheap alternative.
Its no speed freak, at 4 frames per second but then it is not really targeted at the photo journalist or sports photographer. This is more a studio or landscape camera.
One of the things that makes this camera of interest to me, is that it comes in two version. The standard D800 and the D800E.
As I have mentioned before in a previous post https://brown-family.org.uk/?p=3568, there is a filter covering the sensor on most digital cameras that actually reduces the resolution of the image. Nikon have taken the brave move of releasing a version of the D800 without this filter, this is the D800E. I love studio work but cannot afford or justify yet digital medium format, this could be a viable alternative.
It was a cold commute in today. The temperature gauge on the motorcycle reported a consistent -4C, luckily it has been dry so the roads have been ice free.
At this rate I’ll be breaking out the winter gloves. So far on the short commute I have managed with just my summer waterproof gloves with there liners.
The snow is due to hit us at the weekend so I hope for a good covering but with the roads still clear for travel, so I can get out with the Landscape photographer gear and get some good shots.
I keep reading about people who do 365 projects, and I have certainly been impressed with the standard and dedication. I had a go a couple of years a go and managed about two weeks. In case your wondering a 365 project is where you take a photograph a day for an entire year. Many people take self portraits for a whole year, but I feel that would be too unkind for my poor readers.
Last year I tried a small week long project and just managed to pull it off.
This time I thought I would really go for it. I doubt i’ll pull of the year but I have managed the first month, so here it is, one picture a day for a whole month. Most of them are not pretty but at least I have managed to put something up.
It has been a good day for photography. The weather has been a mix bright sunshine, blue sky’s, dark black clouds and rain and rainbows!
Days where the weather is changeable can bring excellent opportunities, with dark foreboding sky’s but with light brilliantly illuminating your main subject.
Unfortunately today, I was never quite in the right position, but as you can see in the shot above taken a few years ago, sometimes you find yourself in the perfect spot.
This sunlight lasted barely a couple of minutes, but I managed to get a shot while it lasted.
Today we have been out on location scouting for possible landscapes locations.
I took I few snapshots for reference but nothing serious. I did find a couple of areas that fit in with some long term projects, but that’s for the future.
Weather permitting I have a three pictures in mind to shoot tomorrow, two may not be possible. I don’t feel the sun will be in quite the position I need when the tide is right (always an issue when shooting at the coast).
For the third shot I have a good feeling that it will work.
Hopefully I’ll have all three shots either done or ruled out by about an hour after dawn, then it’s more location scouting, to prepare for the next day.
I love being out on location, it can be stressful when it’s a paid shoot and you have to come back with the goods but when your just shooting for personal projects it’s a real joy.
Do you find a lot of your photographs very similar? Do you have a style or are you stuck in a rut?
Sometimes it’s good to try something different.
If your after suggestions try these:
Shoot Black & White
Try digital blending in Photoshop instead of HDR
Try a lens you don’t use very often
Shoot a Portrait with a Wide Angle Lens
Shoot a Landscape with a Telephoto
More firmware updates for the Nikon 1 Series of cameras have been released and I finally got round to updating the body.
The V1 body is now 1.1 while the lens; 10-30mm and the 30-110mm are on 1.02. I do not own the power zoom but I believe the current version is 1.01 for the 30-100mm.
As is usually for Nikon the updates are very easy, just copy the bin file to the root of your memory card, insert the card in the camera and select firmware update from the tools menu. Easy!
Its a shame that all manufactures cannot make it this easy.
Phaseone 80MP back, one of the highest resolution digital backs available
We all want more resolution, and towards this end megapixel counts get higher and higher.
When it comes to resolution though, there are often surprises in store.
The current champion for Small Format (ie 35mm sensors), is the Leica M9 (18MP) with the Nikon D3X (24MP) a close second.
This surprises a lot of people. The general rule is the more megapixels the more resolution, but the Lecia M9, and now the recently announced Fuji X Pro 1 show there is another way.
What many people do not realise is that there is a filter designed to stop Moiré in front of the sensor. An unfortunate consequence of this; is that it reduces resolution. Back in the days when cameras were under 4MP, Moiré was common so a strong anti-aliasing filter was necessary, as megapixel counts increase it becomes less common, and when it does happen it can be corrected in post production.
As most camera users do not do much post production then it is in the camera makers best interest to put in a strong anti-aliasing.
Medium Format Camera Manufacturers expect there cameras to be used by professionals and that post production on the images will be done as a matter of course. So they do not use anti-aliasing filters, thus have very high resolutions, far exceeding what you might expect from there megapixel count.
Now though Small Format Camera Manufacturers are also starting to do this. The Leica M8 was one of the first, followed by the Leica M9. These cameras are targeted at the professional and enthusiast market.
Many people surmise that the new Sony NEX-7 has a weaker then normal filter and Fuji have admitted that this is the case with the new Fuji X-Pro 1.
Lets hope more Camera Manufacturers take note.
As a side note it should be remembered that the more Megapixels then potentially the slower the camera, the slower your workflow, the more storage you need, the bigger and faster your computer needs to be (don’t forget more memory) and in low light the more noise and poorer image quality you may have. There is a reason why many photographers prefer the Nikon D3s (12MP) verses the Nikon D3x (24MP).
Example of Moiré from: