Question #1; “I shoot outdoor sports only, why would I need high ISOs like 1600, 3200 or 6400?”

Answer/Image #1      Rooster Tail … I of course shoot many outdoor sports as well and find that 1/1000 of a second shutter speed is still too slow to perfectly freeze all the action of many sports. Whether it is dirt thrown from the tires of a motorcycle, grass kicked up by a football player, ice chips spraying from the skates of a hockey player, or as with this image of a water skier, freezing all the water droplets, a higher ISO will enable the photographer to use faster shutter speeds above the usual 1/1000. Flying elements like water, ice, sand, dirt etc tend to look better when completely frozen in mid air. The Nikon D3 introduces the idea of ISO400, 500, 640, or even 800 as being considered LOW ISO settings because there is virtually no noise. A clean higher ISO also enables the photographer to use a larger aperture setting for a broader depth of field which is especially welcome when using long focal length lenses of 400, 500 and 600mm. Nikon D3, ISO1000, 1/3200 at f5.6, Nikon 200-400 G VR Zoom Lens, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

Answer/Image #4      Fog Along the Hoback … I do not consider myself to be an expert when it comes to landscape and nature photography, but I can confidently say that the D3 offers better pixel quality, sharper details, greater Dynamic Range, and more precise color rendering with quality than a D2Xs. I use an Epson Pro Stylus 7600 printer and Epson Premium Luster paper for my in-house printmaking. I make 16X24 and 24X36 inch prints and it was evident that the prints I have made with the D3 look better than those prints made from a D2Xs file. You WILL notice the improvement. This is why I said in the November 2007 Workshop at the Ranch article that the 12.1 megapixel Nikon FX Format CMOS Imaging Sensor is the key to the D3’s success. The file quality that the D3 produces looks more like a file from a 17 megapixel camera. That should be reason enough to consider this camera for any subject but especially for those seeking published magazine covers and double page spreads, and those who make gallery print enlargements. Keep in mind the extremely clean ISO settings of 400, 500, 640 and 800 while even 1000-1600 look fantastic and will enable the landscape, nature and wildlife photographers to work in lower light conditions and use faster shutter speeds or larger aperture settings. Nikon D3, ISO800, 1/320 at f7.1, Nikon 200-400 G VR Zoom Lens, WB 6670K, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

Answer/Image #5      Parrot Profile … No, the TC17E 1.7 Teleconverter and the Nikon 70-300mm Lens do not connect. The two pieces of equipment cannot be used together. I was merely pointing out that lenses with slower apertures will become more useful because the photographer can compensate for the slower aperture by using a higher ISO and not diminish the quality of the picture with excessive noise. Slower aperture lenses are smaller, lighter in weight, and sometimes less expensive than lenses boasting apertures of f2.8 or f2. Photographers who are active in the field hiking, rock climbing, mountaineering, following wildlife, or those shooting from confined locations like a boat, airplane, or even a crowded market place in a foreign country need smaller/lighter lenses but have in the past sacrificed image quality because of the need to use higher ISO settings to compensate for the slower aperture. The 70-300mm G VR Zoom Lens with its variable aperture of f4.5-f5.6 would normally be considered a slower lens but when mounted to a D3 it becomes more acceptable because I can increase the ISO and not sacrifice quality. This profile of a parrot was photographed with the Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G VR Zoom Lens at its maximum focal length of 300mm which results in an apeture of f5.6. There is almost no light left in the day and the dense canopy of trees and vegetation made for a very dark environment. The Nikon 70-300 G VR Zoom Lens worked very well. It is small and light weight. It is very sharp edge to edge even at 300mm and has fast focusing and VR stabilization. Before the D3 came along I would have used a low ISO of 400 to maintain clean publishable quality. The “old” solution would have been a 300mm f2.8 lens and an exposure of 1/30 at f2.8 (that would require a tripod or monopod….more gear/weight.) This is a large and heavy lens for someone to carry for 10 hours while hiking. The D3 allowed me to increase the ISO to 3200 and retain excellent image quality with a small amount of noise that looks similar to a D2Xs file at ISO400. I can now easily hand hold the camera with the smaller 70-300mm lens and shoot at an exposure of 1/60 at f5.6. Nikon D3, ISO3200, 1/60 at f5.6, Nikon 70-300 f4.5-f5.6 G VR Zoom Lens (I zoomed to 300mm f5.6), WB Auto A6 (there are optional settings for the Auto WB mode that can add warmth or coolness to an Auto WB setting, A1-A6 adds warmth; A6 being the warmest, while B1-B6 adds coolness; B6 being the coolest), Lexar 8G Flash Card. For those photographers who require extremely long focal lengths for sports coverage or wildlife adding a Nikon TC17E 1.7 Teleconverter to a lens like a 400mm f2.8 produces a tremendous focal length of 650mm but a slow wide open aperture of f4.8. The D3 allows the increase of ISO which compensates for the slower aperture when adding the 1.7 Teleconverter and still retains great image quality. The use of a teleconverter now becomes useful even for a nighttime sporting event like football and baseball or for wildlife photography under cloudy skies and inclement weather conditions.

Question #6 “Does the D3 Picture Control feature replace Photoshop?”

Answer/Image #6      Church at Trinidad … No, I don’t think the Picture Control options in the Nikon D3 will replace Photoshop or Nikon Capture NX, but I do believe some rendering can be done in the D3 camera at the moment of capture and less enhancement in post processing with the computer. That is a very important time saver for many photographers. There have always been rendering enhancement and color mode options in digital cameras. With the exception of White Balance I, for the most part, have not made use of these options. The reason was two fold for me; 1. Enhancements that were programmable within previous cameras tended to diminish the quality of the image slightly. Extra saturation or extra sharpening seemed to hurt the picture quality more than helping it. Keep in mind I’m talking about pictures that are being published or printed large. The Nikon D200 was the first camera I occasionally used the Vivid setting and was pleased with the results but only with ISO settings of ISO400 or less. 2. Most publications and editors I work with usually require the RAW/NEF file for publication and so there was no point in adding enhancements because the magazine or book would do so on their end. The Nikon D3 has several choices in the Picture Control menu. I have been using Vivid because it seems to replicate Velvia film in its colors and tonality. But if one goes deeper into the menu there are some very precise controls for Sharpening, Contrast, Brightness, Saturation, and Hue. Although I’m still experimenting with these “in camera” rendering tools one thing seems clear, that the quality of the image is not diminished by increasing or decreasing the enhancements even at the higher ISO settings. Perhaps this is because of the Nikon FX Format CMOS Imaging Sensor and the extremely low noise capabilities. At any rate, the proof is in the printing/publishing so to speak and I like the results I’m seeing. If you are a photographer who enjoys laboring over a picture for hours in Photoshop then Picture Control is not for you. I, on the other hand, like to take more pictures and spend less time at the computer. Using Picture Control enhancements will probably be a learning curve for both the photographer and editor alike. The Picture Control menu also offers a Sepia tone and Monochromatic (Black and White) setting, each with a variety of Tone and Filter options. Nikon D3, ISO100(Lo 1), 1/640 at f9, Nikon 24-70 Lens, WB 6250K, Picture Control Monochromatic with Sharpening +3, Contrast +2, Brightness +1, Filter Green, Toning Black & White, Lexar 8G Flash Card.