Richard & Caroline's Blog

Every couple of months I pop into Lincoln and have a walk round the Cathedral and Bailgate area of Lincoln.  Its a lovely area and each time I cycle through my cameras.  Trying different types of camera really makes you think, and Street Photography is something that is quite challenging.

So far its been my Nikon Series 1, Ebony Large Format, Nikon DSLR, Leica M4, Hasselblad V Medium Format, and today it was my Leica M8.

Compared to the Ebony and Hasselblad its a very small light and quick camera to use.  I started off in Castle Square, sometimes it has the Farmers Market where I usually shoot people buying goods from the stalls, but today there was a rather good busker.

As you can see in the shot above, I was not concentrating enough on my shutter speed and letting it get a little low, it was a cold winters day, but I had left the camera at the base ISO of 160.  Later when the light levels really started to drop, I upped it a stop to 320ISO.

The Leica M is considered the ultimate street photography camera, but any camera can work and I find it quite a challenge to use my other cameras.  The key is more your familiarity with the camera and to play to its strengths.

It was a fun couple of hours shooting, but a cold day in Lincoln, if your interested in a Leica, then I can recommend the M4 or M8.2 (or M8 with the shutter upgrade like mine).  If you want a classic film Leica but don’t want to have to bother with a external meter (my M4 has no meter), then look for a cheap M6.

If you are after a high end digital SLR camera body at a budget there are two options available to you.

1. Buy secondhand the previous generation top of the range professional camera
2. Buy new the current second best body the manufacture offers.

So today in early 2013 as a Nikon user what options are there and what are the pros and cons.

Well option one is a D3s, though in practice this is such a good camera that finding one second hand is near impossible so the D3 is the one to go for.

Option two is the current D800.  This is a serious high resolution camera and with the same autofocus as the current D4.

So whats the major differences between them?

For a start they are both full frame, but there is a big difference in megapixels.  The D3 is 12.1 MP.  A decent size for most usage but if you crop a lot that soon comes down.  The D800 is 36 MP, more then enough for anyone today and this will allow you to crop a lot if necessary.

So if you don’t need to crop much either is a good option but for those of you who like to crop a lot the D800 wins that round, otherwise there is not a lot in it so far.

On noise levels the D3 wins but not by as much as you might expect, its another story if you manage to get hold of a D3s which is about a stop better then a D3 but this is only critical if you need high iso.

What about focusing.  Well the D800 does have the latest system so this gives it an advantage but if your a sports or wildlife shooter this is not as big an advantage as you may think.  The downside is the frame rates, the D3 can do 9 fps with focus and 11 fps with focus lock.  The D800 can only do 4 fps, but this can be increased with the optional grip and using DX mode.

Buffer size is the same,  at 16 frames, but you might be lucky and pick up a D3 that was sent back to Nikon for the buffer upgrade which the D3s had as standard at 32 frames.

Lastly to consider is weight, size and weather sealing.  If you need a smaller lighter camera then its the D800, but remember you only get the better fps with the grip which makes it a bigger and heavier camera then the D3.

Ultimately I think its down to two things.  Size & Weight and your type of photography.

If its mainly action or situations where you need the better, tougher build quality then go for the D3.  If you into Portraits, Landscapes, and studio work; don’t need the built like a tank build quality of the D3 then the D800 is the better camera.  Lastly there is also the consideration of how the two cameras feel in the hand.  If you have big hands and use big heavy lens it might just feel better in the hand with the D3 then a D800.

What would I pick?  Thats a tough question.  The D800 would be excellent for my studio work and landscape work.  I could also use it as a digital back for my Ebony Large format, with sifting and combining the images in Photoshop one could create huge high quality images.  For my wildlife and action shots there is the D3, plus I like the feel of the larger bodies.

The brain says D800, the heart says D3.

 

 

Yesterday Nikon announced the D7100, this is now there top of the range DX body.

There are a few surprises, the Pro Autofocus system from the D4, and even more surprising no anti aliasing filter like the D800E.  There is no option for a version with the filter.  I assume Nikon think that with 24 MP in a DX crop sensor the resolution is high enough to stop most cases of Moire.

Its a surprising and brave move.

While its not quite a D300s replacement, due to that cameras age it certainly outclasses it in most areas and will certainly have a number of D300s users upgrading to this.

If you want to know more check out the usual websites.

Chris Bennett’s Photo Blog

Nikon

DP Review

Thom Hogan

Yesterday was my third trip of the year to photograph some wildlife. I was intending to visit Whisby Nature Reserve as its now been about eight months since I last visited.

Chris was also going to meet me there but was unable to make it, and I only had a couple of hours as we were meeting my Nephew and Nieces to help eat Ethan’s Birthday Cake later in the morning, so I only had a couple hours and it had to be nearby.

I decided to visit the old faithful site, Hartsholme Park. With it now approaching Spring I expected the Herons to be there repairing their nests.

On parking up I loaded up with the minimum of equipment. Nikon DSLR, a D200 with Grip and extra battery. A TC17 Extender, which multiplies your affective focal length by x1.7 but looses you a stop and a half of light (Nikon also do a TC14 (1 stop loss) & TC20 (2 stop loss). My lens was my new Nikkor 300mm f/2.8, with a Kirk foot and my Gitzo Systematic GT5561SGT Tripod and lastly a Really Right Stuff BH-55 ballhead with B2 AS II clamp.

As you can see a big heavy lens, heavy tripod and a heavy duty ball head. A 300mm f/2.8 is about the biggest lens you can cope with on a BH-55 ball head. If you go any bigger or longer you would need a dedicated Wimberley Head.

Certainly if I wanted to shoot bigger I would hire a lens, but would also have to budget for a Kirk foot and a Wimberley Head, so your first hire would not be a cheap affair.

With the camera and lens mounted on the tripod and the tripod carried over my shoulder, I made my way slowly to the lake. I was distracted for a short while by a small patch of woodland which had a number of finches in it, but due to low light levels and there fast movement I was unable to get a decent shot.

As I approached the lake I spotted a number of Herons in flight so I was hopeful I would get a few good shots.

I soon setup, and once I was ready to shoot the Herons disappeared into the trees. Typical, but in the distance I spotted a couple of Great Crested Grebes.

They gradually made there way towards me and started to display near to the bank on my right. It was a little dim and the overhanging branches gave me a little trouble with my colour balance but as you can see from the very top shot, I managed to get a pleasing photograph of them displaying to each other.

I kept an eye out for the Herons and was eventually treated to a fly past. They seemed to be collecting twigs to repair their nests. Unfortunately they rarely came close so the shot above was about the only decent Heron Photograph of the session.

There were lots of Black Headed Gulls and some Coots and Moorhens but I kept concentrating on the Herons and Grebes. After a while a large number of Canada goose arrived. They were being extremely aggressive towards each other, proving their dominance.

While the Geese were chasing each other I spotted two male and one female Tufted Ducks. Towards the end of my session they gradually worked there way towards me and I managed to get a some good shots of them. I did try to capture one of the males with the female but I could not get them both in focus. A 300mm lens does not have a lot of depth of field so unless there both in the same plane of focus its tough to get the two birds in focus.

A good day and of my three trips out shooting wildlife this year, one of the best. What made it successful was two things. A good selection of wildlife willing to swim and fly close to where I was based and more importantly good light.

The light enabled me to capture a number of shots at the base ISO and at f/6.7 – f/8. One does have to work fast and have ones wits about you. Its one thing shooting a stationary bird in good light at say 1/60s f/8 and 100iso, but moments later you might need to shoot wide open at 1/750s at 800iso or higher. You need to know your camera well and be able to work fast.

It is practice sessions like this that will enable me, hopefully to get some good wildlife shots later in the year when I visit some more exotic locations.

Yes, one last post on the subject of Lens.  In my last post on lens I mentioned four lens which would enable you to do 99% of most photographic tasks.

• Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8
• Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8
• Nikkor 50mm f/1.4
• Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8

Now of these lens I own four of them.  Instead of the 14-24mm f/2.8 I have the DX version a 12-24mm f/4.  When I finally upgrade my DSLR bodies to full frame then the 14-24 f/2.8 will definitely be on the list.

The photograph at the top of this post was actually taken with a consumer zoom set to 70mm before I owned my 24-70mm f/2.8. Many consumer lens are very good if used stopped.

In a studio with mains powered flash head shooting at f/8 where most consumer lens perform very well, is not a problem. What does make things more difficult is that most studios are quite dimly lit.  This is so you can see the affects of the modelling lights, and a consumer lens which at its long end may only be f/5.6 can struggle to auto focus at those low light levels.

The majority of my portraits which I shoot with DSLR’s are taken with two lens, the 24-70mm or like in the shot above the 70-200mm.

So if the lens I listed above can handle 99% of my work, why did I mention the other lens in the original post and why.

Lets remind ourselves what lens I picked.

• 20mm f/2.8 Superwide
• 24mm f/3.5 PC Lens
• 35mm f/1.4
• 85mm f/1.4
• 105mm f/2.8 Macro
• 300 f/2.8

There was also one I missed the 200mm f/2

In many ways the 20mm is the odd one.  Its a lens that I have long coveted but today you are possibly better served by the 14-24mm.  Its advantage is weight, if you want a very wide angle and want to travel light its a better option for some people.  Its a lot smaller and easier to use then the zoom and can use normal filters which the zoom will not take.

The 24mm is a very specialist lens with it being a PC – Perspective Control Lens.  For lovers of Architectural Photography a PC lens is a must for keeping your Angles straight.

The 35mm f/1.4 is a favourite focal length for me and one that I consider my standard lens.  Its also the focal length I use most on my 35mm Leica as well.

The 85mm f/1.4 is the typical focal length for portraiture and with its fast aperture can give you a lovely dreamy out of focus background.

The 105mm is my macro lens, together with my macro flash kit, it enables me to get some stunning close up photographs.

The lens I missed originally was the 200mm f/2, this again is a stunning portrait lens for head shots and with an aperture of f/2 enables you to get the eyes sharp but then have the rest of the face drift gently out of focus.

Lastly I had the 300mm f/2.8 lens on the list.  The longest lens used by fashion and studio photographers, its also the shortest lens for wildlife photography and possibly for most photographers the most affordable fast long lens.  Though affordable is a relative term.

Now this set of posts about lens has been very 35mm DSLR focused.  If I was picking lens for for say a Leica M then my choices would be different.  This series of articles has also been very Nikon biased as I am a Nikon DSLR user, if your after a Canon perspective  then check out Chris’s blog post here at CBPhotoblog.com

I happened to notice that there was a firmware update available for the V1 yesterday.

As usual it was simple affair, just download the update, place it on the root of an SD Card, place card in the camera and select the firmware option on the menu.

So my V1 is now updated from V1.20 to V1.21.

http://support.nikonusa.com