You may remember my blog posting late last year about the number of newspaper photos I have taken over the years. (Story Here).
Well here is the final tally for 2007:
178 GB of photos, totalling 80,749 files, stored in 1,230 folders.
To recap 2006, 177 GB, 80,647 files, in 1747 folders.
So to do the math, a reduction of 30% in folders, but since the file sizes have gotten bigger (and presumably better), the overall total stays the same.
I dunno, I don't think I did 30% less work! But hey you never know! LOL
Friday, January 25, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
NIKON D300 Report
As I approach the one month anniversary of my acquisition of my Nikon D300, I was asked by my Colorado friend if I was really happy with it.
Before I answer that, I would like to remind everyone of the mantra that I, and my photo friends Bud and Dave, preach - the camera is ONLY a tool. It is the photographer that creates the image, or captures it to film and pixel. Indeed, some of us are Nikon shooters and some of us are Canon shooters and they both do a fine job.
So let me speak about my new D300. Nikon's newest budget ($2100!) camera is a joy to use, and yes, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.
So there I said it. Go ahead, diss me, flame me, yell at me, but I will still stay the same - I LOVE IT. It is the finest digital cmaera I have ever used. The quality is awesome, the colors are beautiful, and the skin tones are just magnificent.
I was specifically asked about the High ISO quality of the photos and I must say that this is where I think this camera really shines.
Many of you know that I do a lot of low-light shooting at High School gymnasiums, wrestling rooms, and ice hockey rinks for the newspaper. Now using my D200 was actually a very nice low light - high iso experience, as long as you maxed it out around 1600.
Well now I shoot all the way up to 3200 and the noise is nearly non-exsistant. Conversly at 200 ISO, which is the bottom iso for this, the results are breathtaking.
So here is a photo, I shot recently at the O'Brien Ice Rink in Woburn, it was taken at 2000 ISO:
Before I answer that, I would like to remind everyone of the mantra that I, and my photo friends Bud and Dave, preach - the camera is ONLY a tool. It is the photographer that creates the image, or captures it to film and pixel. Indeed, some of us are Nikon shooters and some of us are Canon shooters and they both do a fine job.
So let me speak about my new D300. Nikon's newest budget ($2100!) camera is a joy to use, and yes, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.
So there I said it. Go ahead, diss me, flame me, yell at me, but I will still stay the same - I LOVE IT. It is the finest digital cmaera I have ever used. The quality is awesome, the colors are beautiful, and the skin tones are just magnificent.
I was specifically asked about the High ISO quality of the photos and I must say that this is where I think this camera really shines.
Many of you know that I do a lot of low-light shooting at High School gymnasiums, wrestling rooms, and ice hockey rinks for the newspaper. Now using my D200 was actually a very nice low light - high iso experience, as long as you maxed it out around 1600.
Well now I shoot all the way up to 3200 and the noise is nearly non-exsistant. Conversly at 200 ISO, which is the bottom iso for this, the results are breathtaking.
So here is a photo, I shot recently at the O'Brien Ice Rink in Woburn, it was taken at 2000 ISO:
Clicking on the file will bring up the original, from the camera, untouched, photo (caution large file). Please notice her right eye - it is sharp as a tack (remember this is 2000 ISO). Now notice the noise pattern, especially in the shadow areas. WOW. PLEASE NOTE - I only shoot at MEDIUM resolution for the newspaper, so the above photo is about 6.3 MP in size. I am certainly willing to send a 12.8MP file of another high ISO shot to anyone for comparison purposes - just let me know.
Here is a closeup of the area for those who do not wish to download the whole file:
Beyond the high iso quality, I am amazed at the battery consumption of this camera. I would not have, anytime in the past, gone into an assignment with less than 3 batteries for the camera. Well that has all changed. The 300 sips from the EN-EL3 battery pack, and I am routinely getting 1200 - 1400 photos from a single battery on a single charge. As a matter of fact, and my intern Melissa can attest to this, we went to a Girls Basketball game the other night, and I had only 8% of the battery left, per the camera's LCD, and I shot the second half of the game without even thinking about it. Did I have second battery with me? Of course I did - I would be foolish to not have one, but am I confident in this cameras abilty with that low a battry power?? YES I AM!!!
Problems:
OK, now you and I both know that there is no such thing as a perfect anything, there will always be, IMHO, a problem with something, especially with all things mechanical. And this camera I am sure is the same.
But I have not yet found anything to report. Yup, nothing. Everything works as advertised, from the drive, to the sensor, to the flash,l everything is peachy.
I do have one problem with it - and it is probably the best problem to have:
I call it CHOICE OVERLOAD.
There are so many choices to set in the menus that it really is overload. I give the example of white balance: No longer do you choose Sunny, or Cloudy or Flourescent - now there are subsets underneath: Under Flourescent for example, you have White, Cool, Warm, Sodium, Mercury, etc etc. Sheesh - just how the Heck am I supposed to decide?? Ya ya I know - do a custom WB!
Anyway, that is my story and I am sticking to it.
As always, comments and critiques are always welcome.
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