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Archive 2017 · D610 for concert photography

  
 
Coltrayne
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · D610 for concert photography


Does anyone have any experience with this body for concert photography or is the low light AF that bad?


Jun 25, 2017 at 09:06 AM
sjms
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · D610 for concert photography


When I had the 610 I found the limit to be around 12800 using good external noise reduction in post


Jun 25, 2017 at 10:13 AM
trenchmonkey
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · D610 for concert photography


^ +1
With pro level glass the AF is brisk/accurate in low light. (D600 in my case)



Jun 25, 2017 at 10:17 AM
Coltrayne
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · D610 for concert photography


Ken Rockwell had horrible things to say about its low light AF acquisition. Maybe he was referring to much darker than I am assuming


Jun 25, 2017 at 11:07 AM
morris
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · D610 for concert photography


Coltrayne wrote:
Ken Rockwell had horrible things to say about its low light AF acquisition. Maybe he was referring to much darker than I am assuming


Look at Ken Rockwell's photographs, then judge the value of his comments

Morris



Jun 25, 2017 at 11:25 AM
eke2k6
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · D610 for concert photography


No, no, no, no, no.

The low light AF acquisition is terrible compared to my D750s. I typically dual-wield bodies, and I thought I could get away with the D610 as a second body to the 750.

Every time I'd get home from a wedding, the keeper rate from the reception (low light, end of the night), would be about 1/3 of what I'd get from the D750. I had to get rid of the 610 in favor of another 750

Don't get me wrong, the sensor is great, and usable up to 6400, IMO. But Low light AF is not that camera's strength, and this is with all f/1.4 glass.



Jun 25, 2017 at 11:25 AM
sjms
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · D610 for concert photography


Define "usable"


Jun 26, 2017 at 06:49 AM
Lauchlan Toal
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · D610 for concert photography


I have the D610, and AF does take a hit in low light. But it's not too bad, and if you have a subject with contrast it's still accurate. I've used it with the Nikon 200-500 f5.6 to shoot football games at night and it holds up fine. Of course, it isn't as good as the D750 - but it's not as good as the D750 in good light either.

ISO 8000 is about as high as I'm happy to go. 12800 is still fairly useable for small web images or small prints. Past 12800 the magenta noise just gets worse and worse, and I don't think the quality's good enough for much.



Jun 26, 2017 at 08:32 AM
sjms
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · D610 for concert photography


low light

the second one goes back a ways (2007) of shooting concerts with "lesser" gear.










04/28/2007



Edited on Jun 27, 2017 at 06:21 AM · View previous versions



Jun 26, 2017 at 08:47 AM
CanadaMark
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · D610 for concert photography


D750 is definitely better but the D600/D610 is nowhere near as bad as some people make it sound. When I had a D600 it would quite easily focus in scenarios requiring ISO 4000-6000 / F2.8 / 1/100 and unnatural light. It was both faster and more accurate than my D300 in the exact same scenario with the same lens, despite having the same AF sensitivity rating. If your subjects aren't moving too fast you'll be fine. If you need to capture action, you might want to look at the D750, and the D5/D500 are in a whole other league yet.

Coltrayne wrote:
Ken Rockwell had horrible things to say about its low light AF acquisition. Maybe he was referring to much darker than I am assuming


If I read that on Ken R's site, I would automatically assume it had great low light AF



Jun 26, 2017 at 12:32 PM
No Regrets
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · D610 for concert photography


I use the Df which has the sensor of the D4, but if I remember correctly, it utilizes the autofocus system of the 610. I've shot in plenty of venues with horribly dark lighting and never have a problem acquiring auto focus with my Sigma Art 50 (which many nay sayers have said has poor auto focussing).

Here are a couple from my God Child's performance in the musical Grease...

DSC_3034 by Don Sawall, on Flickr

DSC_3043 by Don Sawall, on Flickr

These were just taken in a very dimly lit jazz club...

DSC_4703 by Don Sawall, on Flickr

DSC_4718 by Don Sawall, on Flickr

DSC_4678 by Don Sawall, on Flickr

So in answer to the OP's original question...
No the autofocus is not "that" bad. Will the newer generation bodies focus better and faster? Absolutely. But they are not necessary.

Best wishes,
Don




Jun 28, 2017 at 10:27 AM





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