The Nikon D4 owners thread =) (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Will post some stills later, here is a rough cut of some 2.7x crop video with no adjustments SOOC. Sorry for the crappy audio quality, tried using the FCPX reduce noise function and it mostly just made the noise bubbly.

 

[Sam Posten]

ISO 200k SOOC is pretty unusable:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219446146/in/set-72157629967171475
Edited with a little sharpness and noise reduction and it still looks terrible but I bet it would make an OK 4x6:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219446092/sizes/o/in/set-72157629967171475/

 

[Sam Posten]

I think this is my favorite shot with the new camera so far. Just a simple family snapshot of my Mom and niece goofing around:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219448034/in/set-72157629967171475

 

[Sam Posten]

Pretty happy with how Flowers and bugs are coming out, even without using a Macro Lens =)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219447720/in/set-72157629967171475

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219447918/in/set-72157629967171475
I may have juiced the reds too much in this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219448824/in/set-72157629967171475

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219449028/in/set-72157629967171475

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219450256/in/set-72157629967171475

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219450592/in/set-72157629967171475
Kitties!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219449178/in/set-72157629967171475

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7219449928/in/set-72157629967171475
Sadly Mom had to put Trixie down last week, you can see she wasn't doing to well here. Still lots of personality but the cancer had withered her to nothing.... Good to have one last pic of her.

 

[Sam Posten]

D4: Grizzly proof!
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1114874/0

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Nice photos, Sam. It looks like the new camera is a keeper.

D4: Grizzly proof!
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1114874/0

That grizzly obviously was a Canon shooter. Very cool story and photos. Yellowstone is my favorite place to visit.

 

[Cees Alons]

That male grizzly must have felt he was challenged by a certain part of the gear.


Cees

 

[Sam Posten]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm still getting used to it and I will NEVER be the post processing whiz that others are, but so far it's making me happy indeed. I wish there had been a sub 3k option that didn't go to 36 megapixels but since there wasn't I'm determined to get as much value as I can out of this expense. That's not going o change HOW I shoot tho, I still only shoot to scratch my own itch and make ME happy, and if others dig the results so much the better =)
I got the bill to fix my 24-70 today. $587. Guess I will have them send it back and continue to shoot with a busted front end. Lens works perfectly fine as is, will never make that much back if I ever sell it off so I guess I'm keeping it for life or will sell it as is.
I shot the first Live Fire demo at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 21 years today. It was BADASS and I was super glad to have my 10 FPS. There sinply was no other way to hope to catch muzzle flashes from an Abrams Tank than to let it run for 2-3 seconds at high speed and hope you got lucky for the fraction of a second it lit the earth up. Even still I think I only got it in 3 out of 6 runs, still importing now!

 

[Sam Posten]

Still going through the 778 pics I took today but this one was a stand out immediately: Badass American Firepower!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7230366192/in/photostream
Happy Armed Forces Day to the fine Men & Women of the US Army and thanks for putting on a kickass show, the 1st Live Fire demo in 21 years!
Edit:
HOLY CRAP, yes, THIS is the reason I bought a D4.... A few shots later I actually caught the sabot IN FLIGHT!!!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7231457802/in/set-72157629806085244/
Also caught a tracer round in flight too:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/7231456538/in/set-72157629806085244/
Full set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kadath/sets/72157629806085244/with/7231457802/

 

[Michael_K_Sr]

That's a $6,000 shot there. Awesome...

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Super shots, Sam!

 

[Sam Posten]

Thanks guys. I have no idea why anyone wants a 36 megapixel camera, the 12x18" printouts I just made of these 3 are stunning in their detail, i could not want for more and dont need the hassle of files that big...

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The files on the newest dSLR's are certainly getting huge. It first hit me with the Canon 7D, and the 5D3's files are even bigger. The RAW files from a 36MP camera must be gigantic.
I will print up to 20x30, and have been able to do so with each of my dSLR's -- including the 8MP Rebel XT. The higher megapixels help most when you want to crop. If you are not cropping, the resolution of the current cameras are more than enough for any normal size print.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I'm probably doing something wrong, but creating photoshop TIFF files from my RAW files to do editing (mainly cleaning up facial blemishes) results in 90+ MB files, so I'm blowing through hard drive space much quicker these days.

 

[Citizen87645]

If you're just doing spot touch-ups, you might be better off using Lightroom. I only use Photoshop if I have to clone or heal large swaths, or do more graphic-y type things.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Trust me, I needed photoshop on this set of photos (the subject is my currently streaming photos on my Flickr feed, probably NSFW, heh.)...

 

[Sam Posten]

iSO 8-12k shots under the lights. night baseball:

12-BaseballRyanJune1Night-2444 by Kadath, on Flickr

12-BaseballRyanJune1Night-2349 by Kadath, on Flickr

12-BaseballRyanJune1Night-2339 by Kadath, on Flickr

12-BaseballRyanJune1Night-2302 by Kadath, on Flickr

12-BaseballRyanJune1Night-2311 by Kadath, on Flickr
Verdict: Not great but usable. Detail loss as noise smooths out detail is there. No way to shoot AT ALL with the D300 tho so better than nothing. Miraculous to get any shots at all! Aperture priority was not the way to go. Either set speed priority and keep it as fast as you can with auto-ISO or do what I do: Lock at 8k-12k ISO, set shutter speed to at least 200-400, and let it go to fastest aperture the lens allows even if there isn't enough light to take a correct exposure at that speed. Bump exposure in post, the dynamic range allows it.
Similar to 'pushing' film ISO. Doesn't bake in the noise of higher ISOs but still results in lower detail. It's a tradeoff.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

For that high an ISO, those look pretty good Sam. It certainly beats not being able to get the shot with an older DSLR that cannot shoot at that high an ISO.
For settings, since you should have pretty consistent lighting under those circumstances, I would probably shoot in manual mode instead of aperture or shutter priority. Just pick the fastest shutter speed you can within your ISO and aperture limits to get a proper exposure. That is how I shoot ice hockey, ending up with 1/1000sec, f/4 and ISO 6400 using my 70-200 f/4 lens. The lighting is pretty even in the arena. I assign those settings to one of the custom modes on the camera, so I can quickly switch to aperture priority and get a shot at a lower ISO when I do not need the shutter speed.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Also, just for fun, drop the shutter speed down a tad to see if you get get the ball to look like it's a foot long streak.
I'm so used to shooting in manual come hell or high water, I just feel weird about letting the camera do the work in TV and AV mode.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'm so used to shooting in manual come hell or high water, I just feel weird about letting the camera do the work in TV and AV mode.

I never understood this mentality. If you are using the camera's built-in light meter to set your exposure, manual mode isn't really more "manual" than Av or Tv modes. You'll arrive at the same exposure settings with any of the three modes if you are doing things correctly. The only "work" the camera is doing in Av or Tv modes is saving you from adjusting one setting manually to get your light meter needle where you want it. I'll still dial in some +/- exposure compensation when needed in Av or Tv modes, which is no different than getting the meter needle to a +/- EC setting manually.
If you do a lot of spot metering and then recomposing, I could see where manual would be more useful and easier than Av or Tv, but otherwise there's not much difference to me.
I'll use Tv mode when I want to maintain a certain shutter speed in conditions with varying light, such as wildlife action outdoors. I'll use Av mode when I'm primarily concerned about my depth of field, whether it's landscapes or people. I actually do not shoot in manual mode that often, but for the ice hockey I mentioned above it works better due to the consistent lighting in the arena. I probably use Av mode most.
Of course, all of this assumes we are talking about shooting in natural light. When you add artificial lighting, everything changes.