fbpx
Cameras

Field Review: Nikon D3s (Day 2)

Chris Gampat
No Comments
03/22/2010
3 Mins read

Last Updated on 03/22/2010 by

The other day I took the Nikon D3s and 24-70mm F2.8 ED on the streets with me around Rockefeller Center. I tested out the high speed abilities on two famous street sports: ice skating and hackey sack. The results surprised me not only because of the fast shutter speed but also because of the tracking autofocus system. They worked wonderfully together with the lens to the point where I’m almost considering purchasing a D3s. More after the jump.

As you probably knew already, the D3s has shot many major sporting events. The camera was essentially designed for this purpose in addition to being the photojournalists and wedding/event photographer’s companion. From the High 9 FPS shooting, to the HD video features to the superb tracking autofocus abilities, I would be proud to have the D3s at my side anytime.

Keep in mind that these were JPEGs straight out of the camera shot at ISO 1600. I admit, a bit of overexposure or some flash would have helped but I shot in aperture for convenience sakes.

Tracking Focus With Ice Skating

Tracking autofocusing with this camera was used to shoot figure skaters over at Rockefeller Center having their merry time on the ice in 74 degree NYC weather. No that was not a typo. What you basically do is set the focusing to the zone setting on the back and ensure that it is also in continuous-servo on the front of the camera. Then pick a specific autofocus point. Place the point on your target, lightly press the button down and watch it move through the frame. Also try to keep the point on your target.

While this all sounds very standard and something that we’ve been doing for years, I’ve never seen it done effectively. This goes for even companies like Olympus and Canon who are held in high regard. Nikon got it right and did it damned well. Add onto this that you can shoot at a 1.5x crop and you’ve got yourself a real winner.

Hackey Sack

As a young kid, I always used to love to play hackey sack, so when I saw a group of young kids doing it I couldn’t help but ask if I could shoot them. Once again the D3s didn’t fail. I set the focusing to full auto for this one and really just kept looking for and anticipating those really precise moments. As you can see, I got them. For something where I was this close up to the action, I didn’t need to track a specific point. In fact, I would think it would be near impossible to track such a fast moving small object.

Please Support the Phoblographer

We love to bring you guys the latest and greatest news and gear related stuff. However, can’t keep doing that unless we have your continued support. If you would like to purchase any of the items mentioned, please do so by clicking out link and then purchasing the items as we then get a small portion of the sale to help run the website.

24-70mm f2.8 ED d3s field nikon nyc review rockefeller center shooting sports
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
You might also like
P1000_BK_front34r_lo_t
News

The New Nikon P1000 Has a 125x Optical Zoom with a Laughable 1/2.3 inch Sensor for $999.95

9 Mins read
07/10/2018

Today, for some odd reason, the Nikon P1000 point and shoot camera is being announced. Odd, you ask? The fact that it is a point and shoot isn’t such a big issue at all; but the fact that it’s a superzoom camera being marketed as one with a 125x optical zoom is what’s insane. Kudos to Nikon for being able to do something like this; but then you read the fine print (or in this case, print that’s not even in the press release) and see the bait and switch–this Nikkor lens is having its potential wasted by being placed in front of a 1/2.3 inch sensor.

chris gampat the phoblographer leica m9p review praying (1 of 1)
Features

Opinion: I Dream of a Camera with a CCD Sensor Again

3 Mins read
10/17/2018

Digital photography in my opinion has become too simple; and that’s fine if you’re a beginner but I also think that it breeds a number of bad habits based solely on human laziness. You may call it evolution, but in the world of communications and journalism there is the idea that as we create technology, we become the technology. So we end up just relying on it to do all the things for us. And indeed that is true–I still laugh at my old teachers who told me that I’d never bring a calculator while grocery shopping. These days, I simply order my groceries via Fresh Direct unless I need something specific that I can get a few blocks away.