Posts Tagged ‘images’
A Few New Tools
Nikon D800 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G | 1/100 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 (VSCO’s Kodak Tri-X 400)
The weekend was a little busier than I anticipated, but I still managed to squeeze in some time behind the D800′s finder. I also added Lightroom 4 and the newest, D800-compatible version of VSCO to my software tool-kit. I don’t always process with VSCO, but I always love the result when I do:
We also found this little gem at a camera sidewalk sale today. I can’t believe how incredibly fun it is to shoot with the Olympus XA! This thing is going everywhere with me 
_______________
Images: Nikon D800 | 50mm f/1.4G | 24mm f/1.4G
Megapixel Madness
Nikon D800 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G | 1/250 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100
It’s impossible to appreciate fully by simply viewing the downsized images I’m posting here, but from what I’ve seen so far on my monitor at home, files from the Nikon D800 look downright stunning. It seems that the big headline feature of the camera is its 36 megapixel sensor. I guess I can see why, because this thing captures an incredible amount of detail:
Same image as above, cropped. Really really cropped.
Besides the amazing sensor, however, other key elements of this new camera system are really impressing me so far. I can see definite improvements in metering, autofocus, and especially in handling over my older D700. I’m in love.
Happy shooting this weekend
Remembering Puppyhood
I was cleaning out unwanted images from my archives last night when I stumbled upon some old images of Suki when she was a puppy. These are photos that I took long before I started blogging, so I think they deserve their own post today. The original jpegs were pretty flat and needed a little Lightroom 4 Beta love to wake them up, but here they are!
She was such a little rascal back then. In fact, our nickname for her was “Bad Doggy.” Not kidding! Of course, how could you ever be mad at that face?
The images above were taken with my first DSLR, a Nikon D70 with an 18-70mm lens. I borrowed it from my dad to start taking puppy pictures of Suki back in the day, and then hogged it for so long that he just let me have it. Actually, these first few pictures of Suki represent the starting point of my more passionate journey into digital photography, and she and I have both grown a little in our own respective ways since I took them:
I really wish I had more pictures of Suki as a puppy. It was such a short period of our lives, and was documented primarily using the crummy camera built into the original, first generation iPhone. What little we do have, however, we cherish =)
Running Shiba, Gunning Nikon V1
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 15mm | 1/100 sec, f/4.8, ISO 100
Suki and I have been missing on the blog for a while, but we’re back to talk about the Nikon 1 V1!
I must admit, when Nikon first announced the Nikon 1, their first mirrorless camera system, I wasn’t terribly excited. The camera’s design is on the bland side (especially compared to my Fuji X100), and the sensor, while much larger than the ones you’d find in a typical compact, is smaller than one in my Olympus E-PL2 and other m4/3 cameras. Epic fail, right? Not at all.
Nikon D700 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G | 1/125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200
My initial impression of the V1′s image quality is very favorable. The files are detailed, sharp, and clean. All the lenses currently available for the 1 mount (10mm pancake, 10-30mm, 30-110mm, 10-100mm) seem to perform very well. But what intrigued me most about the V1 wasn’t so much the image quality as it was the system’s speed.
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10mm f/2.8 | 1/320 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 22mm | 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 100
The V1 is heavily specified when it comes to speed, especially in auto-focus performance. It has a hybrid AF system that can use phase-detection and contrast detection to acquire and track focus, giving the V1 a significant edge in focus performance compared to other mirrorless cameras. The dog park was a perfect place test this capability out, and I was, to say the least, floored by how fast the AF is.
One thing’s for sure, I never expected to take a shot like this with a camera other than a DSLR:
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 22mm 1/250 sec, f/5, ISO 100
Not only is the AF blazing fast, but the camera is capable of some ridiculously high burst rates. Switching from the mechanical shutter to the electronic shutter, which incidentally has a maximum speed of 1/16,000, allows you to shoot as high as 60fps in full resolution, though at that speed you lose the ability to continuously focus. However, you can do single-point, continuous autofocus at 10fps, which is more than enough to keep up with Suki at the dog park:
In a scene like this, the V1 doesn’t stutter, hesitate, or second guess itself. You hit the shutter release and it just goes. Brilliant.
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200
The dog park is relatively small, and I wanted to up the ante. Suki runs much faster in a bigger, more open area, so we headed to the beach for more Shiba Inu running action. To minimize lens changing in such sandy conditions, I used the 1 system’s super zoom, the 10-100mm VR, though I’m sure my telephoto 30-110mm Nikkor would have performed just as well here:
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 10mm | 1/160 sec, f/8, ISO 100
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/500 sec, f/8, ISO 400
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 40mm | 1/640 sec, f/5.3, ISO 100
Left: Suki at impulse speed. Right: Suki at warp speed.
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320
Again, the camera confidently kept Suki in focus, even when she was running straight at me:
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 220
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/1,000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 220
_
I haven’t done too much video with the V1 yet, but it’s spec’d well in that area as well: 1920 x 1080 30p or 60i, 1280 x 720 30p with full manual exposure control, as well as some high-speed capability at lower resolutions: 400fps at 640 x 280 or 1200fps at 320 x 120. The high speed is played back at 30fps, giving you the ability to capture slow motion video. The one above was shot at 400fps. Pretty cool stuff!
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 10mm | 1/125 sec, f/4.5, ISO 180
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 320
Nikon V1 + 1 Nikkor 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 @ 100mm | 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560
My x100 has been sitting in my carry-everywhere camera bag all by itself lately. Not any more! I can now supplement the Fuji’s excellent low light, high ISO ability with the V1′s high performance video capabilities, fantastic focus and burst speed, and lens changing flexibility. Well, actually…. the Fuji is getting repaired right now (an entirely different story), so the 1 is all that’s in the carry-everywhere bag for now…
Which isn’t all that bad so far. The V1 is flat out fun to shoot with, the build is super solid, the metering is spot on, the image quality is surprisingly good, and boy is it fast. Will return with more impressions =)
