Category : The Learning Center

It’s tough to admit when you’re wrong!  The announcement of the new Nikon D7100 has caused a focus shift in my thinking about sensors. Let’s start a year ago when the D800/800e was introduced. The e version was first met with some skepticism.  I think a lot of us feared that moire patterns would be a real issue.  For that reason I had little interest in the “e” version.  Now I find my attitude kind of strange, since for me, image quality is paramount. I will put up with almost any quirks to get the ultimate in image quality.  It was not until the 800e had been out for several months that I started hearing about how much sharper the images were coming out of that camera, and very few , if any, moire issues!!!  I was till suspicious, but the reports kept pouring in.  I decided to investigate the whole issue.  I got a D800e and did some shooting and was shocked at the difference.  I borrowed a friends Fuji X-Pro1 and was amazed at the clarity of that sensor.  I looked at some work from the Leica M9, same thing, very crisp!!  Now Nikon is introducing another camera with a sensor free of the optical low pass filter.

 

For some time the big medium format cameras like the Phase One and Hasselblads have bee free of these filters.  Something is up here!!!  So I went on a research effort, shooting various cameras, and comparing them to conventional sensor technology. I’ve drawn a few conclusons;

 

1.  All things being equal, sensors that have eliminated the Optical Low Pass Filter, are indeed capable of producing higher resolution and apparent sharper results.

 

2.  I’ve shot the Nikon D800e and the D800 and when I retire I think I will opt for the 800e if I decide to get that particular model.  Is the 800e much higher resolving than a D600 which I particularly like?  Yes, but the D600 is already a very crisp image producer….  It is a personal choice and not an easy one.  In keeping with my quest for the ultimate image quality, it is going to be hard not to own and use a D800e!!

 

3.  While I have not yet seen or shot a D7100, I have no doubt that it will be “the” DX body of choice for me.  I would expect it to be a super camera in the DX range with 24 mega pixels and the new unique sensor arrangement.  I certainly will let you know when I get one to try, test, and shoot.

 

4.  I hope a future version of the Nikon 1 & 2 Series to employ this sensor arrangement, though I know nothing to indicate that this is planned.  I have shot both the Fuji X-Pro 1 and the X-E1 cameras and the X-Trans sensor in them, without Optical Low Pass Filter, performs spectacularly.  

 

5. I do not access to the medium format cameras, but I will accept the word of others that they perform at a high level as well!

 

6,  The images I’ve seen from the very, very expensive Leica M9 confirms my finding so far.

 

Conclusion:  If you are buying a new camera and want the absolute latest technology and highest possible image quality, I would say, if you are a Nikon shooter, the D800e and new D7100 should be at the top of your list.  If you shoot other brands, then the Fuji’s and Leica should be considered. One thing for sure if you go with the M9, get ready to shell out $20,000. for a body  and three lenses!!!!  A little steep for me!

 

The Big Question:  Can you get extraordinary quality without going that route?  Sure, but it’s like football, it’s a game of inches!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

I got a comment from my dear friend, and sister Catherine Martin about gear and I wanted to expand on the issue of the weight of your gear!  Why is weight a factor?  Let’s set some ground rules, if you are young, under 50, and in good physical condition, weight is much less of a factor. If you are like me and not in tremendous condition and well over 60!!!, it is!!!  Only you know how much you can carry without being uncomfortable.

 

Here is what I’ve learned about trying to carry too much weight:  It’s not fun, that’s the short description, the longer version is; when you wrestle to with too much weight, too big a bag, or giant backpack, it makes making images work, sometimes hard work!  The more you have to think about those things the less you will enjoy shooting and the more your vision will slip as you struggle with fatigue.  For me, it’s just not worth it.  I love the fast f 2.8 glass and they make spectacular images, but I’m not willing to trade the joy of shooting for that!  Fortunately I don’t have to sacrifice image quality for back health!  Today some great alternatives exist.  Every camera systems has lighter alternatives to the heaviest gear.

 

Below is an illustration of the two prime zooms from Nikon the 14-24 and 70-200 both f 2.8 maximum aperture, and the 16-35 & 70-300 f 4 and f 4.5 respectfully.  The difference in weight?  The f 2.8s are virtually twice the weight of the f 4 lenses!!!  Multiply this by all the other gear in the bag! You got it, lots of extra pounds!

 

 

The Bottom Line:  If you are young and strong, and love to haul a lot of weight around, by all means go for the fastet glass, it sure has advantages, but if you’re not, think about the less heavy alternatives, it will make your shooting days a lot more pleasant and your images will be better when you’re not having to stop shooting in prime light to go and  try to find a tube of Ben-Gay!!

 

Just imagine how much less a Nikon Series 1 V2 and a couple of lenses would weigh!!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

Over the last year I’ve shared with you about how I’m trying to decide what I’m going to be shooing with when Nikon takes back all their toys!!  Like all thought processes this has been a  moving target as new circumstances have come to bare on the decision making.  I’m getting closer to knowing how to tackle the problem of what cameras and lenses to select.

 

Here are the factors that I’m curenty dealing with:

 

1.  What gear will give me the best possible image quality.

 

This one is pretty easy.  Today the better cameras, pro and semi pro, from everyone are extremely capable!  While the D800 certainly produces files much richer with detail than a D7000, in practical, everyday use, it’s hard to see the difference, the differences between the D800 and D600 are very small indeed.  I’m leaning toward the D600 and D7000 and a two body DSLR system.  I still own a mint condition D700, which I love and works fantastic with  all that old manual glass, so I’m sure I’ll keep that around too!  With a full frame camera and DX camera I can stretch the utility of my longer glass!  For example my ancient but “sweet” Nikkor 400 f 3.5 with the D7000 attached is a 600mm f 3.5, pretty cool!  I have absolutely no complaints about the quality of both of these bodies!  Is a D800 in my future, not sure, budget and needs will dictate that one, but for now the D600 has proven to be about all I could ever ask for!  Except for that bracketing function, sure wish it had 5, 7, and 9 stops brackets!  Firmware could fix that, hope someone is listening in Japan…..

 

2.  How much weight am I willing, and able,  to carry?

 

This one is tougher!  If I use my gear out of the back of my FJ, I can take all the gear I want, but if walking around for an extended period of time is part of the plan, I want  (o.k., need!), to use lighter gear!  I’ve been checking out the use of smaller mirror-less cameras like the Nikon 1 Series the V2 and J2 and the Fuji X10 and it’s bigger  brother an sister.  A number of other folks make mirror-less cameras too,  but I’m not thrilled about the build quality except for Nikons and  Fuji’s.  I’m convinced that with the right amount of care, these cameras can rival the big beefy DSLRs on image quality! For saving your back and making photography more fun again, (for old guys like me), they may just be the ticket!

 

3.  What fits my budget?

 

No one has unlimited funds, well no one I know, so cost is going to have to factor in my decisions. I already own my prime Nikon glass; 16-35, 24-120, 70-300 and a 105 Micro.  I also have a bag full of older manual lenses that I really like to use when I can slow down and take my time!  A mirror-less body and a few lenses will not break the bank and sure will be a welcome relief for travel and general walk around work.  I think I’m getting close on this front.

 

 

4.  What kind of subject matter do I expect to be shooting and what gear is necessary to make those images?

 

Travel, fine art, Americana, and smattering of nature will be about my only kind of shooting in retirement!  No more sports, no more serious wildlife!  High speed cameras, and very long glass, are pretty much off the table for me now.  I’m entering a time in my life that I hope to shoot things that interest me, not editors!!  The nice thing about this kind of work is it is far less “gear dependent.”  I will still do close-up work, but once again, that is a less demanding specialty!  I’ve long believed that with a wide angle zoom, medium zoom, and short telephoto zoom, plus some way to shoot in close, you can do 99% of this kind of subject matter!  

 

Caveat:  None of us knows what is coming next, and that could alter the plan, but I think I’m getting close to solving this riddle!

 

Now, I just want to go out and make some images!!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

Being in the Superdome all week and seeing the players come and go, I was reminded again just how big these guys are!  A typical tackle on an NFL team is somewhere around 6′ 4″ tall and the average weight is around 310 pounds. Why so big?  Because the opposing players are just a big!! You won’t see any 5′ 9″ 165 pound tackles in pro football, because they couldn’t get the job done!   You need what it takes to get the job done!!!!!

 

 

So in photography the question is; “What is the job??!!”

 

 

I think you can break down what we do, and how we approach our photography in three catagories;

 

 

Work for hire.  You must compete, must succeed, the best, or nothing!!!  Do you want to eat, live under a roof, and support a family?  You are making a living or important extra income with this, and it’s serious, it’s work, it’s a job, and their are others out there that want your share of the pie you have to fight to keep your slice!

 

Satisfy your Pixel Peeper Obsessions?  Details are the most important thing to you!  Noise, resolution, dynamic range, D Max, shutter accuracy, frames per second, buffer size, shutter lag, auto focus speed at 10 below zero!!!  You look at every image and 100% and 200% crop factors, you read every test report, you know exactly what the dimensions of a pixel is in any camera, you know what pixel density means, you care and worry about pixel pitch, and micro lenses.  You how may aspherical elements and low dispersion elements you have in each of your lenses and you know exactly what f stops diffraction starts and in what amounts.

 

Girls just wanna have fun! Boys too! You shoot for fun, for the sheer joy of being out there, holding a camera in your hands, finding something that trips your trigger to shoot!!  You do this for the sheer Joy of it!!!!!  You love the sound of a camera firing, can’t wait to see it on the LCD!!! You care about quality, but you are more interested in making the statement, and having a blast!!!!  Photography is a passion for you……

 

We’re all a combination of the three, or at least two of the three:

 

You will have to decide what your percentages are.   Currently, ( because a person evolving, is always a moving target!!!).  I’m probably  20% work, 20% Pixel Peeper, and 60% For Fun!  Warning, if you know you’re more than 90% Pixel Peeper!  You’re not a photographer but a scientist!  Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to be a tech freak, just don’t think that it has a lot to do with actually making photographs!

 

So if you want to make great images,  this experiment is for you!

 

First things first!   This entry will not offer conclusions, only information to allow you to make your own conclusions!  I learned some valuable things as it relates to me, you will have to take what I share and see how it applies to you!  I will share my personal conclusions for my own work.

 

Here are the full details of the experiment.  I went out to the French Quarter during the last hour of daylight and into the early evening.  I took two cameras; a Nikon D600 outfitted with the 24-85 AF-S VR f 3.5.4.5, no tripod, no polarizers.  I set that camera on Auto ISO with a high end limit of 3,200 and a minimum shutter of 1/125th.  Why the D600, it is, in my humble opinion, the best all round Nikon DSLR.  At 24.3 mega pixels it has plenty of resolution, it has very low noise at Hi ISO and it has wonderful ergonomics and sounds an shoots so sweet!  The other camera was the Fuji X10 premium compact camera.  The X10 has something that few other compact cameras have, a zoom lens that goes from 28mm @ f 2 to 112 mm @ f 2.8.  It is built like a tank and has the feel and style of the early Leicas.  For an old guy like me it just feels right.  One last great feature is a 2/3 inch (larger than the typical 1/1.7 sensors) which yields lower high ISO noise and better resolution.  I have, and use many of Nikon’s great compact cameras like the P7100, P7700, and the Nikon 1 V and J series, but this one just suits my style of shooting.  The X10 was set on auto ISO with a high end of 1600 (the practical limit of it’s noise capabilities), and it sets the shutter speed based on lens focal length, which normally works fine. The Fuji has Optical Image Stabilization as well.

 

The mission was as follows, walk, look, find things I liked and, in most cases, hand hold a frame or two with each camera, with approx. the same compositions.  Then process with minimal correcting for color and compare, so let’s get at it!

 

*** To see each example panel larger and more clearly simply clock on it.

 

 

So what did I learn?  Here are some observations, you need to draw your own conclusions, though I will share some of my own just for the record:

 

1.  The D600 is very, very capable of tack sharp imaging,even hand held in poor light.  With the exception of the D800, I’ve never seen sharper images from any of my Nikons!  I also find it outstanding to operate!

 

2.  The X10 is also capable of tack sharp results, but it struggles more as the light goes down.

 

3.  The color of each camera has it’s own tendencies and the user will have to work with the menus to dial in the kind of color they prefer, X10 is warmer out the box, D600 tends to be more neutral or cooler.

 

4.  For just walking around, relaxing, the X10 sure is nice and light, and is hardly noticed by your subject, great for candids.

 

5.  The D600 is not a heavy camera, but, it is not as comfortable for long walks as the little X10.

 

6.  While the X10 is capable of making stunning images, it is not match for the D600 in terms of resolution, and low noise at Higher ISOs!

 

7.  If you put both cameras on a steady tripod, which I have done, though not on this trip, they both make very sharp images, the D600 still is far superior when the ISO goes above 800.

 

* Caveat:  You know whether you are a DSLR person, or a rangefinder/Mirror less kind of shooter, or maybe you are comfortable with either, but this will be the deciding factor in what you will enjoy using in the field and will also decide just how good you can perform with your camera of choice!

 

My personal conclusions:

 

A.  Weight matters.  If you are going to be walking around and carrying all you need to shoot, you want the lightest and most capable camera that you can use.  The X10, Nikon J2 and V2, P7700 and many others are great when weight is key.  You can make wonderful images with all of them, you just have to know what their limitations are, and live within those boundries.  If I was looking for a light weight DSLR, I would start with the D7000 or D90.  Both are very capable and with a small lens system can do fantastic work without a bulging, back breaking bag or pack!  The 16-85 AF-S VR lens is one of my favorites for it’s light weight and sharpness.

 

B. When all out quality matters, and weight is not a de-terming factor. The D600 and D800/800e are as good as it gets.  All three cameras can make files that have almost no limits to what they can do.  The D600 proved that here in New Orleans.  Obviously, the fast and tough D4 is the choice for sports and photojournalism pros.  One other note, buy fewer, but better lenses, always buy the sharpest, highest quality, lenses you an afford, it will pay major dividends in your files!

 

C. For fun shooting is paramount, and all out quality, can take one small step back. Go for a light compact camera, and just treat it like a real camera!  Use a mini or small tripod, or carefully brace the camera for slower shutter speeds, and it will reward you with wonderful images and a back that doesn’t ache near as much!

 

D.  I am leaning toward the following kind of systems;   For serious work where I don’t mind carrying more gear, I think a D800 and D600 with the 16-35 AF-S VR, 24-120 AF-S VR, and the 70-300 AF-S VR would be my three lens stable (I’m thinking hard about replacing the 70-300 with the new and wonderful 70-200 AF-S VR f4 lens).  I always provide myself with a way to do close-up and that could be a 105 Micro, 200 Micro or Diopters, or sometimes automatic extension tubes.

 

E.  When I really want to get away from it all, but still want to be prepared to capture images of a high order!    I am now more prone to consider one of the many great choices in the Mirror less camera arena.  The Nikon 1 series of the J2 and V2  (also the older J1 and V1) joined by the P7700, and P7100 and the X1o tested here all are great cameras that can give you wonderful results with the a little extra care!

 

F.  So, hopefully as I head into the sunset from Nikon in July, I will have two main bags packed, one light and one a little heavier, but both prepared to help me make the images I’m so looking forward to making in the years to come!  Hope some of this information helps you work on you own conclusions!

 

One last note, while it would appear the D600, took top honors, don’t think you can’t do well with the great current crop of compact cameras, these two parting shots really show of the possibilities of the smaller cameras!

 

Great shooting and blessings from,

 

the pilgrim