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Archive 2014 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

This weekend had an opportunity to visit a marsh here in Hawaii to test the Nikon V3 and newly released 70-300CX (189-810mm equivalent). I was able to capture a couple of herons and and an egret in flight at 20fps. The problem is the V3 allows a maximum of 40 shots at high speed. Then it takes about ten to twenty seconds to clear the buffer and write to the card. The other problem is trying to maintain a BIF in the viewfinder at 810mm (V3 has 2.7 crop factor) for more than two seconds. Not easy, so some of my sequences have only a few images rather than 40.

The video links below are to the BIF shots at 20fps. Rather than post each individual full size photo I reduced the size and combined them into a video clip and reduced the speed to 6fps.

I'm also posting a handful of heron images below. These are of a heron surprising me and landing on a bare trunk nearby. I turned quickly and managed to fire off a few shots as it landed. The heron then posed for me so I took a few shots. The BIF landing photos are more heavily cropped.

Overall, this mirroless setup worked well. All shots are handheld (weighs less than 2 pounds). Once I had initial focus, the camera maintained continuous focus whether the bird was flying toward or across from me. Pretty impressive. By the way, I'm not a bird photographer and only started taking these type of photos because of the extraordinary capabilities of the V3 and native 70-300mm lens. Hoping to use this setup for surf photography this winter.

Hope you enjoy these.

First Heron BIF

Second Heron BIF

Egret BIF


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s5/v117/p290651145-5.jpg


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s10/v102/p448699384-5.jpg


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s5/v123/p396456331-5.jpg


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s10/v115/p172241288-5.jpg


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s12/v171/p118358352-6.jpg


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s12/v177/p55363091-6.jpg

Edited on Jul 14, 2014 at 11:51 PM · View previous versions

Jul 14, 2014 at 08:33 PM

sanjayg
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

These look amazing! Thanks for sharing. I definitely have more respect for the V3 and new 70-300cx as a birding rig after looking at these.

Jul 14, 2014 at 08:51 PM

OccAeon
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Very nice!

Jul 14, 2014 at 09:53 PM

mshi
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Amazing. What ISO you used for the above shots? How's its high ISO capability overall?

Jul 14, 2014 at 10:24 PM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

mshi wrote:
Amazing. What ISO you used for the above shots? How's its high ISO capability overall?

Thanks everyone. 160 to 400 iso for the above shots. The small V3 sensor is inherently noisy and performs poorly in low light. For birds which require a great deal of detail probably need to keep iso below 800 or so. For street photography I'm willing to sacrifice noise to get the shot so I'll push iso to 1600 or 3200 if necessary and apply a little noise reduction in post.

Jul 14, 2014 at 10:36 PM

Frogfish
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Thanks for posting these Joe.

As a birder I doubt it's of much interest simply because of that 2 second buffer (same reason the 7100 lacks interest), I've hit the buffer limit quite often with the D800E and even a few times with the D3s. Buffer clearing times are very important too and 20-30 secs would be a no-no, especially with just 2 seconds to fill the buffer in the first place.

One question, how far away were the birds in the images above ? Thanks again Joe !

Jul 15, 2014 at 12:35 AM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Frogfish wrote:
Thanks for posting these Joe.

As a birder I doubt it's of much interest simply because of that 2 second buffer (same reason the 7100 lacks interest), I've hit the buffer limit quite often with the D800E and even a few times with the D3s. Buffer clearing times are very important too and 20-30 secs would be a no-no, especially with just 2 seconds to fill the buffer in the first place.

One question, how far away were the birds in the images above ? Thanks again Joe !

Thanks Frogfish. I could definitely see how an endless buffer is ideal. I had a difficult time keeping a BIF in the viewfinder for more than a few shots let alone for two seconds. I have all the respect in the world for birders such as yourself.

Here's how I noticed the V3 buffer works at 20fps. If you press and hold the shutter for any length of time the camera will take 40 images and write these to the card in about 15 seconds. If you press the shutter for two seconds, then release for a second or two then activate the shutter for two seconds and repeat, the camera will save the first 40 images, then about ten images from each subsequent shutter activation. I'm using an extreme plus 64gb Sandisk microSD card.

Distance to the bird in the last shots was about 20 to 30 feet.

Jul 15, 2014 at 01:29 AM

Chris Dees
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Great series!
I guess you can use the V3 at 10fps (like D4/D4s) and get a 4 second burst.
It seems to me a very good travel lens. Would it perform as well on a V2?

Jul 15, 2014 at 01:53 AM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Chris Dees wrote:
Great series!
I guess you can use the V3 at 10fps (like D4/D4s) and get a 4 second burst.
It seems to me a very good travel lens. Would it perform as well on a V2?

Thanks Chris. Good point - a four second 10fps burst is certainly a viable option. Whereas the V3 shoots 20fps with continuous focusing, the V2 maxes out at 15fps and the V1 at 10fps. Not sure but I believe the V2 buffer is less robust than the V3. Someone else may know. The good thing about the V2 is it has a built in grip and EVF whereas the V3 requires these as accessories (or included in a kit). The downside of the V2 is fewer megapixels than the V3 (14 vs 18) and the lack of a AF-ON button (only the V3 has this).

Regardless of V body, the 70-300CX is an amazing travel option if you need 810mm of reach in good light.

Jul 15, 2014 at 02:07 AM

DaveOls
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

These are impressive for such a small sensor. Is the Nikon One system worse at higher ISO's than the Sony RX 100 series?

Jul 15, 2014 at 06:37 AM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

DaveOls wrote:
These are impressive for such a small sensor. Is the Nikon One system worse at higher ISO's than the Sony RX 100 series?

Thanks Dave. Sony Rx100 IQ better than Nikon One regardless of ISO.

Jul 15, 2014 at 02:30 PM

georgms
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Thanks for sharing! I would never have guessed the camera just by looking at your images.

Jul 15, 2014 at 04:41 PM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

georgms wrote:
Thanks for sharing! I would never have guessed the camera just by looking at your images.

I 'm use to great IQ from shooting with a D800, D4, H4d-40, RX1 and so on. Last year I picked up the V1 at 10MP and it was a fun camera but IQ was just lacking. The V3 with 18MP and no AA filter is a definite improvement over the V1 but not in the class of my other cameras. Nevertheless it has its place and I plan to use it extensively during big surf in Hawaii.

Jul 15, 2014 at 09:59 PM

Alex Phan
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Joe,

the buffer is the limitation of the body or the card? is the v3 compatable with the new UHS-II card? like this one?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1030991-REG/sandisk_sdsdxpb_064g_a46_64gb_extreme_pro_sdxc_uhs_ii.html

it can write at 250MB/s. Would that help to speed up the buffer? Also, the buffer max out at 40 raw files? if you taking jpeg, will it make a different too?

Jul 15, 2014 at 11:30 PM

Chris Dees
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Bubble wrote:
Joe,

the buffer is the limitation of the body or the card? is the v3 compatable with the new UHS-II card? like this one?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1030991-REG/sandisk_sdsdxpb_064g_a46_64gb_extreme_pro_sdxc_uhs_ii.html

it can write at 250MB/s. Would that help to speed up the buffer? Also, the buffer max out at 40 raw files? if you taking jpeg, will it make a different too?

No, the V3 uses Micro SD-cards and they are (much?) slower then the present state-of-the-art SD-cards

Jul 16, 2014 at 01:55 AM

binary visions
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Frogfish wrote:
As a birder I doubt it's of much interest simply because of that 2 second buffer (same reason the 7100 lacks interest), I've hit the buffer limit quite often with the D800E and even a few times with the D3s. Buffer clearing times are very important too and 20-30 secs would be a no-no, especially with just 2 seconds to fill the buffer in the first place.

It's a 40 shot buffer, not a 2 second buffer. Just because you can fill it at 20fps doesn't mean you must.

The D3s buffer is 36 images. The V3 is 40. I'm not sure I see the problem here.

It will definitely clear slower, though.

Jul 16, 2014 at 07:24 AM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Thanks Chris and binary visions for answering the questions. I think Nikon made a very dumb mistake by switching to microSD in lieu of the faster UHS-II format. Really would have made this setup even faster. Also, as good as the EVF is in the V3, there is still a bit of lag which makes tracking more challenging. Not a deal breaker just something to keep in mind.

Jul 17, 2014 at 08:09 PM

cyra
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Thanks for posting these, makes me really want to try the lens for birding. And then decide whether I want to invest in a V3 as well to replace my V1.

What aperture where you using? Background could be blurred more, but that is probabely not that easy with the CX system.

My complaint about the V1 are the flimsy on off button and video button which is easily mistaken for the foto button.
Since you have both cameras, is this better implemented in the V3?

I am using the V1 for video of birds. Do you know whether the V3 has better IQ in video as well (since HD is fixed 1920 pixels, it might even be worse due to smaller pixels) - not sure what to think about this.

I am using a Leica 105-280 Elmarit and a 2x APO extender with manual focus, which gives decent image quality on the V1. Wonder how the 70-300 CX will hold up.

Jul 18, 2014 at 03:59 AM

Joe Marquez
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

cyra, lots of good questions.

I try to shoot wide open at 5.6 and I thought background was blurred pretty well. To get more blur would need the ft1 adapter and a faster FX lens such as the 300 f4 or 400 f2.8 for example. But then limited to center point only for focusing.

The V3 with grip feels like a mini DSLR particularly when the AE-AL button is assigned AF-ON. Very nice. I don’t have any problem distinguishing video button from the shutter. What I don’t like about the V3 is the shutter is too mushy. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’ve taken the shot especially in silent mode.

I believe the V3 has better video and but the only video I use is slow motion at 120fps. Works great but maximum of three seconds of real time. Too bad. Might want to ask others to chime in regarding video.

The 70-300CX is an excellent lens and so far I am impressed with its sharpness, speed and handling. I suggest renting one if possible.

Also, just want to re-emphasize this setup is best suited for good light and low ISO. The sensor is prone to noise particularly in shadows. For bird feather details I would hesitate using this in poor light or at high ISO. Here’s an example of a shot this morning. Taken somewhat into the sun at ISO 400. Had to apply noise reduction in Lightroom but it still persists. Hope this helps.


	http://www.thesmokingcamera.com/img/s12/v184/p601344458-5.jpg

Edited on Jul 19, 2014 at 01:56 AM · View previous versions

Jul 18, 2014 at 02:30 PM

Alex Phan
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · BIF with Nikon V3 and 70-300CX at 20fps

Joe,

have you try this card? fast write speed. It will help the buffer?

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-Adapter-MB-MG64DA-AM/dp/B00IVPU88U/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1405752007&sr=8-11&keywords=128gb+micro+sd+card

Jul 19, 2014 at 01:42 AM

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