Nikon D700 - High ISO samples

Here are some high ISO samples taken from my new Nikon D700. These were all taken from inside St. Marys Cathedral near Hyde Park. I used my Nikon 50mm and my friend's Sigma 12-24mm.

ISO 3200, 24mm @f/5.6

ISO 3200, 24mm @f/5.6

ISO 3200, 24mm @f/5.6

ISO 3200, 50mm @f/2.0

The following photos were taken during the Chinese New Year Parade in Sydney last weekend. I used my Nikon 50mm and Sigma 70-200mm.

ISO 2000, 135mm @f/2.8

ISO 2200, 122mm @f/2.8

ISO 1100, 50mm @f/2.0

ISO 6400, 50mm @f/1.8

ISO 6400, 50mm @f/2.0

ISO 800, 50mm @f/1.8

ISO 6400, 50mm @f/1.8

ISO 6400, 50mm @f/1.8

I am very impress with the high ISO performance of the Nikon D700. I am just amaze at the quality and cannot help myself from repeatedly looking at them. I cannot believe how clean the images are and the lack of noise compared to my Nikon D200.

Nikon D700 - First Impressions

When Nikon released the D3 in late 2007, I said that I would go full frame when Nikon shrunk it down into a D200/D300 sized body. I had no idea Nikon were going to announce such a beast barely 6 months later. I have been umming and ahhing about getting one since it was announced last July. I finally bit the bullet and picked up my new toy (D700) last week. I guess it is my belated Christmas gift or early birthday present to myself.

Honestly, I started playing with it before reading the manual. If you are familiar the D200, or any Nikon dSLR for that matter, you can navigate around the D700 without any problem. Although, I did spend quite a bit of time reading up on all the new features later on.

The D700 is a little bigger and heavier than my D200. It also has the biggest and thickest Nikon dSLR manual I have ever seen. Both the D70 and D200 manual were both tiny by comparison.


What I like about the D700

• It's built like a brick shit house, very robust

• It has a full frame format or FX sensor

• The viewfinder is much bigger and brighter compared to the D200. I like.

• The built-in dust sensor cleaner

• The incredible low noise performance at high ISOs
  

• Huge 3.5" LCD screen. It's awesome and the ease of zooming in to check whether your shot is sharp or not.
  

• I like the fact that they no longer use screw caps for both the pc sync and the 10-pin port. I am sick of misplacing those little suckers
  

• The other cool thing is that you can create your own menu (My Menu) by grouping all of your favourite custom settings in the one place for easy access. So far, the only thing I cannot put there is the format command.

What I don't Like about the D700

• The door to the CF compartment is a bit on the flimsy side compared to the D200. I'd preferred if they used the same locking mechanism as the D200.

• No dedicated BKT button. For some reason Nikon has decided to remove it from both the D300 and D700. No matter, just reassigned the Func key to do the same thing.

• I don't hate it but I am not that keen on the feel or sound of the new shutter. It doesn't sound or feel as crisp as my D200. I think I am getting used to it and I sure I will learn to love it.

Test Run

I took it out for a test run today. I am very happy with the results as all of the exposures were spot on. No need to fool around with the exposure compensation here. This means minimal adjustments were required in Lightroom, which is what I like as I am extremely lazy.


St. Patrick's Cathedral - Outside









St. Patrick's Cathedral - Inside





High ISO Shots

I also took some high ISO shots to checkout its low noise capabilities and I have to say the shots at ISO 6400 were very impressive.




These were taken straight out of Adobe Lightroom, no noise enhancements applied, e.g. Noise Ninja.


Some BW Shots

Hills Hoist - An Australian Icon

Conclusion

I am very very impress with the D700. I hear you asking, do I really need a D700?

Only if you want to shoot full frame, shoot hand-held in low light at high ISOs (@6400) and you want gorgeous looking images. If the answers to the above questions are all "no" then just get the D300 and save a shit load of money.

You won't regret getting the Nikon D700. It has my highest recommendation.

Check-out more D700 high ISO shots here

Wentworth Falls - Empress Falls Trek (Blue Mountains)

I did the Wentworth Falls - Empress Falls trek yesterday. The climb down to the bottom of Wentworth Falls was the easiest part as it was straight down. The trek from Wentworth Falls across to Empress Falls was not too bad. The waterfall here is definitely more impressive than the one back at Wentworth Falls.

The climb up from the bottom of Empress Falls to the top was a killer. It was toughest thing I have done to date. I guess being totally unfit didn't help. I honestly thought I wouldn't make it back up. I was gone, my legs were like logs I couldn't lift them at all and I was sucking in the big ones and my heart rate was somewhere up there in the stratosphere.

I was totally stuff and had to stop multiple times to regain my energy along the climb. It was embarrassing to see parents with babies strapped to backs effortlessly glide pass up the side of the mountain. Finally, I spotted the kiosk/diner and a feeling of relieve swept over me.

I finally made it after after 5 long hours. First thing I did was buy an ice cold bottle of coke, it was just what the doctor ordered. I also ate some biscuits and rested for about 20 minutes before trekking back to the Wentworth Falls car park, which took about 15-20 minutes.

Here are some photos from my trek. Please enjoy them.

Wentworth Falls (Top)

Path to the bottom of Wentworth Falls

Wentworth Falls (Bottom)

Path to Empress Falls

Path to Empress Falls

Empress Falls (Bottom)

Anyway, you can see more of my shots here.

Turimetta Beach, Sydney, Australia

What a gem, I have never even heard of this beach until two days ago. The funny thing is that I have been to both North Narrabeen and Mona Vale beach on either side of it. We started at the northern end of the beach and worked our way along the beach to the southern end.

The southern end has much more to offer a photographer. I will be coming back for some pre dawn and sunrise shots in the very near future.

Here are some of my shots from the southern end of Turimetta beach.



The walk back to the northern end and the climb back up to where the car was parked was a killer. Next time park at the southern end, less walking and more time for photography.

Middle Head, Sydney, Australia

What an interesting place to visit and photograph. I have always wanted to check this place out. I first saw this place in the Australian movie "Stone". The day started out fine but was overcast by about lunchtime.

So if you live in Sydney and looking for interesting places to photograph. I highly recommend that you get down there. You won't be disappointed.

Will definitely revisit to explore more of the tunnels and get more interesting shots. Here are some of the shots from my visit.




Here are some interesting facts about Middle Head.

The first battery was built in 1871 and was designed by James Barnet, a colonial architect. The fort was built on a strategic location and received many additions until 1911. It formed part of a network of 'outer harbour' defences. They were designed to fire at enemy ships as they entered the harbour. The whole area is linked by an extensive network of underground tunnels, ancillary rooms, gunpowder magazine and a disappearing gun emplacement.

High Speed Photography (Water Droplets)

Here are some of the shots from my first attempt at high speed photography of water droplets. It was kind of a hit and miss affair.

Orphaned droplets

This looks like a little guy praying

This was my goal!

More Orphaned droplets

The next thing I like to do is build a circuit to automate the whole process so I can capture more predictable/consistent results. So stay tune.

Canon G10 - Soft Case (SC-DC60A)

Just received the leather case for my Canon G10. It's a freebie from Canon, part of a promotional offer if you purchased a G10, not sure when the offer runs out. It took forever to arrive, almost given up hope as I've been waiting for over 5 weeks.



It's a soft pseudo leather case, only 44% of the case is leather. It does not have the real leather smell. It's black on the outside and burgundy on the inside. The inside looks and feels like suede but its not. The cheapest I have seen it retail for is about $75 AUD.


The case consists of two halves, the top half attaches to the bottom half via three press studs, 2 smaller ones on each side and a large one on the bottom.

The bottom half attaches to the G10 via the tripod mount using the metal knob. The knob is also threaded so you can mount it on a tripod without having to take the G10 out of its case.


The case really compliments the retro look and feel of the G10. I don't think the case is robust enough to protect the G10 if I dropped it.

I like the look of the case, the fit is snug and now I don't have to worry about scratching the G10 body when I throw it in my bag.


It took less than a minute to get the G10 into the case. Okay ready to roll!


The Canon G10 is getting cheaper.

I bought mine for $619 AUD, from here or you can go to their store, Camera House, in Parramatta Westfields.

You can get them for the following prices:
$575 AUD - scroll down to the last page.
$599 AUD