Mamarazzi’s Got a New Toy!
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We were looking at the files from the test shots we took tonight with my new Nikon D3. As for me, I’m in awe! But Bradley is the one who put it just right when he said, “You can attach it to your face and call it your eyes.” He’s so right!
The thing that’s so fantastic about this camera is that you can shoot at previously unimaginable HIGH ISO levels and still get usable pictures. And the thing is, they’re not only USABLE, they’re FANTASTIC!
The picture above was taken on the ramp to the New Jersey Turnpike, going probably 30 mph. (I was driving, Mike took the picture.) The only light was my car’s headlights. One of the amazing things about this camera is the sensor. The fact that the camera would even FOCUS at that speed and in pitch dark amazes me!
ISO 6400. 1/200s at f/2.8. 14-24 mm lens. Focal length: 24 mm.
Below, more test shots from yesterday and today…
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I took this picture of Bradley in the living room. With my previous camera, a Nikon d200, I would have had to spend at least several minutes removing digital artifacts (noise) from the picture, and that would have made it soft. But I wouldn’t have bothered with that because it’s so dark in my living room this time of year that the camera never would have even taken the picture, having not been able to find a focus point! New Nikon D3 camera: no problem. Snaps away like lighting, and the picture’s as smooth as butter!
ISO 3200. 1/200s at f/2. 135 mm lens.
- This is Kaptain Karl after I got home yesterday morning around 3 a.m. He is laying on the living room floor, facing away from the only light source — the Christmas tree — which is about 20 feet away. Again, I found it amazing that the camera would even take the picture! True, this one is noisy, but honestly, the room is almost completely dark, so noise would be expected here. (Going to sneak upstairs and take pictures of the kids sleeping one day soon!)
ISO 8000. 1/30s at f/2. 135 mm lens.
- I took the camera to work with me last night. This is my buddy Baden. He’s a Nikon man too. He currently has a d80, and he has his eyes on the new D300, also an excellent new Nikon entry, though not quite as efficient at low-light noiseless pictures as the D3 is.
ISO 1600. 1/250s at f/2.2. 135 mm lens.
- Our red metallic Christmas tree at work compliments the huge red wall, no?
ISO 1600. 1/320s at f/2.2. 135 mm lens.
- Fast forward to early this afternoon. I thought I’d try some standard indoor shots. I always had a hard time shooting Karl in his cat tower when he was facing away from the window and also moving. I’ve never really been able to get a natural light picture of him yawning, for example, because the camera wouldn’t focus fast enough in the low light and Karl yawns like he’s afraid something’s going to jump in there. You need a quick camera and quick reflexes to snap this kitty’s teeth!
ISO 1600. 1/200s at f/2.8. 135 mm lens.
- Next I thought I’d go for a walk, see how the camera does on some standard shots at standard ISO levels. Above, man I love this 135 mm lens. The new camera is a full frame camera, meaning its frame is as large as the frame on a 35 mm film camera. This lens is great for taking portraits with blurry backgrounds. On my old camera, my favorite lens for portraits was the 85 mm, but move aside 85, the 135 has replaced you! I also like the dynamic range of this camera. That means that I can take higher ISO pictures (letting in more light) and still have a nice range of colors. Previously, the higher the ISO, the less range of colors and so I always tried my best to keep my ISO down as much as possible. Not anymore, baby!
ISO 500. 1/200s at f/3.2. 135 mm lens.
- He’s a tall boy.
ISO 500. 1/320s at f/2.0. 135 mm lens.
- Nice blue sky in the background. I’m happy to see how easy it is to control exposure so my sky doesn’t blow out. The buttons and menu controls are intuitive, at least they are for this Nikon girl.
ISO 500. 1/200s at f/2.8. 135 mm lens.
- This one I purposefully underexposed, then brought the exposure up on the computer. I shoot everything in RAW format so that I can adjust exposure levels and white balance if I need to. The original, straight-out-of-camera, shot was quite dark, but the photo adjusted nicely. The added noise from bringing the exposure up is not a problem at all. My noise reduction software was not needed.
ISO 400. 1/250s at f/2.5. 135 mm lens.
- That’s a keeper!
ISO 500. 1/500s at f/2.8. 135 mm lens.
- Just an old fallen tree in the woods. I have to say, I really enjoyed my walk with Bradley in what we call “The Small Circle Woods.” Gregory was getting a hair cut. Don’t worry, Mamarazzi will be coming along to Gregory’s basketball game next week so I’ll be sure to post some action shots from that.
ISO 400. 1/250s at f/2.5. 135 mm lens.
- This old tree gets lots of resident spiders in the summer. When Bradley was 4, we used to walk by this tree and he used to be SO SCARED of it! Not any more. He’s gotten so big.
ISO 1600. 1/250s at f/5. 135 mm lens.
- It’s weird to look up to him now. But in a way, not so weird. We always knew he’d be tall.
ISO 400. 1/250s at f/2.5. 135 mm lens.
- He’s an explorer by nature, likes to investigate things closely, like this bubble of sap.
ISO 400. 1/250s at f/2.5. 135 mm lens.
- He was wondering if it would smell sweet, like maple sugar. (It didn’t.) A look up at the branches revealed an alternate branching pattern, and a look at the ground revealed no sugar maple leaves. Sugar maple trees have opposite branches, so it clearly wasn’t a sugar maple tree, though we’re not sure what it was or what caused the sap bubble. I love the light in these pictures. It’s the light of a winter setting sun, softened by the gentle shade of bare forest trees. I’m grateful for the opportunity to test my camera, and be outdoors on a winter day appreciating the details of nature.
ISO 400. 1/250s at f/2.5. 135 mm lens.
- Later, we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Do we look hungry or what? Thanks, Lauren, for the gift card! We throughly enjoyed our salad and breadsticks, and oh yeah, the entree too.
ISO 6400. 1/100s at f/2.8. 14-24 mm lens, focal length: 24 mm.
- There’s Gregory with the new haircut! So cool to be able to get these shots with no flash inside a relatively dark restaurant!
ISO 6400. 1/200s at f/2.8. 14-24 mm lens. Focal length: 24 mm
- They don’t call me “mamarazzi” for nothing. By the way, that little Lego guy that I’m focusing on in this picture is Indiana Jones. He joined us for dinner on his way to chase bad guys or something.
ISO 6400. 1/200s at f/2.8. 14-24 mm lens. Focal length: 24 mm
That’s it for the testing today. Stay tuned for more fun shots while I figure out all the new buttons on my fancy new eyes, as Bradley would say.
NOTE: All the pictures (except where noted) above are straight out of the camera, aside from saving the raw files as jpgs in low resolution format for web display. Some of the indoor shots have a slight white balance tweak, but other than that, I didn’t do any Photoshop work on these. One tidbit: this camera and these lenses are HEAVY. I’m going to need a new neck pretty soon.
I’m so drooling right now….
Comment by beth crook — December 30, 2007 @ 5:08 pm
Was it the mention of Olive Garden breadsticks that got you, or being able to shoot at ISO 6400? Man, I love this camera. (Love Olive Garden breadsticks too!)
Comment by jules — December 30, 2007 @ 5:33 pm
I’ve heard nothing but fantastic things about the D3. Unfortunately I JUST bought the Canon 5D about a week before I saw images from the D3. Grrrrr! I’ve got to remain committed for a while now!
Thanks for the review.
Comment by Amy in SC — December 30, 2007 @ 6:22 pm
Happy new year and congrats on the new camera! I truly enjoyed the 2007 photos. =)
Comment by Parka — December 31, 2007 @ 12:35 am
Good Luck with the new camera. We can not wait until you take our picture with it again.
Comment by Dawn — December 31, 2007 @ 10:57 pm
Happy New Year Julie! Nice camera–lots of luck! I have a Sony Cybershot DSC-F828. You’re right the “big” digitals are heavy. I’ve seen a carrier that straps on like a baby carrier and holds a camera in front of you. It transfers the weight to your shoulders and back rather than your neck. I don’t know who makes it. I think the tree with sap that Bradley was looking at is a Cherry–I have several in my backyard that do the same.
Comment by Bob Langan — January 2, 2008 @ 8:03 am