The review of the Nikon D3s is nearing an end, and of all the cameras I am reviewing at the moment it is the camera that I have been most impressed with so far. I went to PAX East this past weekend and shot a couple of concerts. As you know, I am a concert photographer and have been for some time now. The D3s blew away my expectations for concert shooting. Here’s how.
This past weekend I was PAX East covering the event for my other website, 2D-x.com. The Nikon D3s with 24-70mm F2.8 ED almost never left my side and I’ve really grown attached to the pair. So did the cosplayers and booth babes. Oh, by the way, here’s an image dump of them.
The Nikon D3s coupled with the 24-70mm F2.8 ED is a combo that is most likely already popular amongst wedding photographers. If you haven’t seen weddings shot with it before, know that you’ll be in good hands. I took a trip to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City the other day and tested the camera out in the darkest area of the church. My findings are within the post.
The Nikon D3s and 24-70mm F2.8 ED went along with me to a Pokemon battle tournament at Nintendo World in Rockefeller Center. As News Editor for 2D-x.com, and also a photographer/editor for years, I demand great quality images. This posting is reflection on how the D3s served me at this recent event. All images were shot in JPEG mode and at very high ISO settings. As you may probably know already, many other reviewers have crowned the D3s to be king of the High ISO range. As you’ll be able to see from the JPEGs this is true. However, there is a lot more besides great quality images that goes into shooting events.
The Nikon D300s and the 70-200mm F2.8 ED VR II came out with me to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge recently. Despite the fact that I went at an inopportune time, I still took back some very nice shots in where I was able to test out the features of the camera and lens. More findings after the jump.
Day two of the Nikon D3s field review focused on doing some street photography over at South St Seaport since it was a beautiful day in NYC. Street photography, you say? Isn’t that better served with a smaller camera? To be honest with you, this one worked perfectly fine and some of the new features on it are things that I’m really, really liking. I’ve got a bit of personal problems with it as well, but they’re all just based upon opinion.
Wired has this very interesting article on the creation of a new sensor using Quantum (vs silicon) that will allow for better light sensitivity. Created by InVisage Technologies, Quantum dot-based sensors won’t be more expensive than traditional CMOS-based sensors, which is nice to know. They should be out next year. In his headline, Priya Ganapati is saying in the headline that the sensor will promise wedding photos from your cameraphone.
As a wedding photographer, I’m disgusted. Is a CMOS sensor in a cameraphone better than the one in my Canon 5D Mk II? Additionally, sure they may have lots of light sensitivity, but just wait till every other DSLR manufacturer catches up. NOTHING will replace good lenses.
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.
How would the Canon 80-200mm F2.8 L “Magic Drainpipe” do against the brand new Nikon 70-200m F2.8 ED VR II coupled with the 5D Mk II and D3s respectively? Last night, I was incredibly bored and decided to do just this test. I did not use the D3x because of the high ISO output needed from both cameras needed to conduct it. Here are the conditions of the evaluation.
If you’ve followed my work for a long time, then you probably know that I’ve forever been both a video and photo guy and depending on what the industry demands out of me, I lean more towards one or the other. That being said, I really miss the days where I used to crank out great video. And now that I’ve got the Canon 5D Mk II and temporarily have the Nikon D3s and D300s in my hands, I’m going to try to work on putting together some more videos if possible.
Just sayin’ 🙂