Just starting to get used to my D800E. The seagull shots are in DX mode so I could get 6 fps to see how nimble it is. All hand-held. The D4 and 1DX I own are like machine guns in comparison, but the 800 did okay in the focus department. I'm primarily a sports photographer but during the summer when the high schools and colleges are not in session I try other sorts of photography.
Sorry - I should have mentioned that it was Mt. Rainer. First image was taken from Crystal Mountain after taking the gondola up to the top and the rest from hiking above the Sunrise visitors center on the East side of the Mt. Rainer. Wildflowers were fantabulous!
jhinkey wrote:
A few from the past week or so. D800 using 105/2.5 AIS.
The 105/2.5 AIS has become my workhorse of a landscape lens on my D800 due to it's outstanding sharpness across the complete frame from f/4 on up. Even at f/2.5 it's way more than just usable.
Beautiful photos. I still have my 105/2.5 AIS that I bought over 25 years ago and use it frequently - it is a great lens. Outstanding work.
Let me ask you D800 shooters a question. I bought my 800 in the Spring because I was so blown away by the first couple of images I shot with a demo model. I'm using it for most of my architecture (when the Canon 17 TS isn't needed), my air to air photography, and any other place where I think it will shine. Last week I was shooting interior architecture with a 24 PC-E and I found myself pixel peeping at 200% looking for dust. This might be a function of the massive pixel count, but nothing looked very crisp at 200%. I know that's asking a lot, and I'm obviously not looking for waht we would normally consider "sharp" at that magnification. I just wondered if anyone has had a similar experience. Could be the shape of the pixels, or any number of things, but it kind of took me by surprise.
My other gear is Canon, 1D X's, 1Ds MkIII's, so it could be that Nikon files just look different at that magnification compared to what I'm used to. Haven't done any big prints yet, but I'm looking forward to it. What have you found as far as the best sharpening formula for the D800 files?
Great examples of a wonderful tool on this thread. Shows what talented versatile shooters can do with an incredible new camera. Thanks in advance for your impressions.
JW
P.S. My first shot with the demo 800, a Tuskegee Airman (I was hooked the moment I opened that file up on my Mac!)
JWilsonphoto wrote:
This might be a function of the massive pixel count, but nothing looked very crisp at 200%. I know that's asking a lot, and I'm obviously not looking for waht we would normally consider "sharp" at that magnification. I just wondered if anyone has had a similar experience. Could be the shape of the pixels, or any number of things, but it kind of took me by surprise.
There are also the usual acuity-robbing burglars which become more obvious when pixel-peeking a 36MP image: camera shake, mirror vibration, slight focusing errors, diffraction, lower apparent DOF, atmospheric haze, veiling glare, light polarization, etc...
Thanks for the thoughts and link Snapsy. When I noticed this phenomenon, it launched me into an hour long experiment. The camera was on a rock solid tripod and I shot with the mirror locked up, even used the timer function.I varied settings from f/22 down to f/11 to see if that had any effect. When nothing changed, I called my camera supplier and had my son go pick up another 24 PC-E, a Canon 24 TSE, and a Canon 17 TSE. The 1DX images appeared marginally sharper, but I'm guessing that it was simply because it's 18.1 mp, not 36.6.
I'm crazy about the D800, and at $2,995 it's a bargain given it's capabilities. This just threw me when I discovered it. When Nikon demo'd the camera to me they said things like "this camera loves to be on a tripod". Well much of what I shoot is from things going fast, of things going fast, so that concerned me a little. I've shot quite a few aerial perspectives with it and it seems to do just fine, especially if I use AF. The ground glass texture seems a bit challenging to fine focus manually. I end up going through the sharpest point, and then back up to what seems sharpest. Nikon basically agreed that they experience the same thing when attempting to manually fine focus.
