©Oktober 2007

Nikon D3   –-  Nikon is back in the game..!

We had been waiting a long time for Nikon to come with a new competitive professional camera for press and sportsphotography, after years of being behind Canon. We must admit that D2H and D2Hs was long past better days. D2X was, and still is, an excellent, fast and very flexible camera. Up till 800 ISO it was fine, but at higher ISO it was very hard to get sufficiently noise free photos.

There has been a lot of debate in different photography forums on the internet about what we expected from Nikon. I have participated in this debate for years, and have had clear expectations to the new cameras. In January 2007 I wrote my expectations in my 'Wishlist to Nikon'. It is a fact that Nikon was behind in some areas, and Canon f. ex. almost had total dominance of the market of sportsphotography.   

Nikon D3 will change that. I have no doubts. We already see big players in the market of professional sportsphotography switching  from Canon to Nikon.

My expectations for Nikon D3 were already very high. A number of international photographers had already had the camera for tests, and their enthusiasm was echoing out over the internet. So I was aware that it was good, but I had not imagined how good....  It is a fantastic camera - Nothing less.

I will not go into a detailed report on functions and specs. There is already a ton of that all over the internet. That doesn't change my opinion that 9 frames per second in full-frame, the EXPEED processor, Live View, 1 Mpx LCD, Scene Recognition System, Active D-Lighting etc., are enormously interesting. I will concentrate my little review around the practical use instead.

Nikon D3  - The camera

Already at a first glance you feel at home, when you have used Nikon D2 cameras. They have succeeded in making the D3 relatively lightweight and compact, despite the fact that it is a full-frame camera with a sensor double the size of the one in the D2 cameras.

I was happy to see the excellent EN-EL4 batteries continue in both D3 and D300 with MB D10 vertical grip. It is  a relief that the standardization of the batteries is that good.

FX-Format - Full-frame

There has been many photographers who have been defending the cropped sensor formats, and used the argument that full-frame was something old-fashioned from the past. But I have always felt it annoying that my picture was cropped that way by the camera.  And no...You don't solve it by simply picking another lens with a shorter field of view.

I can remember, when I about a year ago, sold my last film camera. I hadn't used it for years. And when I looked in the viewfinder, I got a blow to my stomach.. Oh my, how I had missed that big format and the big viewfinder. I remember there was 'only' a 35 mm. on, and even that seemed pretty wild..

I had the same good feeling when I looked through the big viewfinder of the D3. There is something special and right about a full-frame viewfinder. Wow I had missed that. The lenses now come to play the role they were originally intended for.

I actually always have a DK-17M magnifying eyepiece with me. With that one attached the viewfinder really gets wild. The standard one is of course always on while shooting sports. There you don't want to look around on a big view finder, but you need lightning fast framing and shooting.

It is smart that the viewfinder automatically masks down to DX-Format if you use one of those. I have no DX lenses any longer, but for my use, it is nice to learn that with a full-frame lens you can also choose the DX-format, and thereby quickly crop your picture. A fast push with your ring finger on the FN- button and a turn on the wheel, and there.. you have a fast crop. It is a function I became very happy with on my D2X. During a typical soccer match I probably use that function 100 times..

Ergonomics

I had hoped that Nikon would come with a design that was close to the design of the D2 series. And that is exactly what they did. All the best has been continued and refined even further in D3.

I have used both D1 and D2 and have now started using D3. There is a very intelligent and logical jump from model to model. The use of the cameras is very ergonomic and very intuitive, so you can use the cameras right away. It means that it doesn't take much getting used to, and to achieve routine in the use of D3 in f. ex. darkness. It just sits natural in the fingers.

There was a few small details that could have been better in the D2 series. F. ex. the multi button on the back. Sometimes you needed to press it straight in to confirm your choice. This was difficult without the risk of flipping it to one of the sides. This has now been changed, and there is an independent button in the center of the big button. There is even a small click when the button is flipped to one of the positions. You can feel it very clearly when it is activated. It was not very noticeable with the soft function of the D2 button.

When I used the D2 camera vertically, the AF-ON button which I had set to lock exposure in stead, was placed under the thumb roll. I'm sure that works fine for a woman, or a little Japanese hand, but it was hard for a grown northern European man to fold the thumb down to the AF-ON button without shifting grip. This is changed so that the button is now over the roll instead, and you can use it much more comfortably.

Another little ergonomic detail is that both the thumb roll and the index finger roll are now slightly angled. It seems very logical that you turn the roll up, when you turn up the shutter speed f. ex.

So basically a number of small, at first glance insignificant details. But in daily use it is these small fine ergonomic details that make a difference. I really think Nikon is strong in ergonomics and logical controls. Nice to see that experiences with the products are collected, and when something could be better, you see it implemented in the next model.

The Menus

There is a lot more than in the previous models, but it is still very logical to find your way around in the menus. The user manual alone is about twice as thick as the one for the D2 series. But when you know the previous model well, it is very very easy to set up the camera.

What has changed quite a lot, is the many control options in the auto focus system and in image processing.

You need to be aware that if you engage heavy picture processing in the camera, the buffer capacity will drop a lot. If you are shooting without NR and Active D-Light etc. the buffer will be 52 frames. If you you engage a lot of processing and shoot at 2000 ISO or higher the buffer capacity can be pushed down to 13 frames.

Autofocus and Speed

Yes. The camera is build for speed. And I tell you it sounds good when the new Kevlar shutter is blasting away with 11 frames per second. The setting CH gives 9 fps. in FX-format and 11fps. in DX-format. But you must be careful if using 11 fps. because you shut down the tracking function. It leaves the focus as on the first frame in the burst. So I let it stay on 9 fps. and I find that more than fast enough

I have already noticed the impressive quality of the new autofocus CAM3500-FX with its 51 focus points, were an impressive 15 of them are cross sensors. Something brand new and very exciting is that it measures the color of the subject you are focusing on, and not just the difference in contrast as in any other camera.

But the CAM3500-FX is better than the CAM2000 in the D2's.?

Yes it is. I usually get more than 90% sharp images when shooting a burst on a fast moving target. And I have basically had to change the way I shoot soccer and other sports. I get so many keepers, and with 9 fps. I get a lot to choose from. So I have had to become even more selective before I pull the trigger, and not shoot so much.

I will get more into the autofocus system in the section practical sports photography.

Imagequality and noise

There is already tons of tests and samples all over the internet, were the camera is pushed into critical shooting conditions. I will therefore only describe my views on the general image quality.

The performance, when it comes to noise in high ISO shooting, is wildly impressive. I am talking about performance that is up to 3 stops better than D2X. It really is so, that a well exposed photo shot at 6400 ISO can be used directly without any postprocessing. There will be samples in the bottom of this article when it is finished.

I will be using the camera for both sports, press- and portrait photography, which is why the skin tones are obviously important to me. Nikon has recently  launched emulated D2X color modes. So you can choose to stay with your known workflow, and continue with the old D2X color modes I, II and III, make your own new, or use the D3 modes. I have, after testing it carefully, found that SD, which is default, is an excellent and well balanced setting for my use. I can even sometimes benefit from getting an extra click of saturation. So I have chosen to save my own mode with the chosen settings. I have never gotten so finished and ready to use photos directly out of the camera as I do now. There is time, and thereby money to be saved because of this.

Something else, and to me very important. The colors in the D3 images remain constant all the way up through the ISO scale. On previous models the colors suffered a lot, when you turned up the ISO.

Practical sports photography

On Sunday the 9th of December is was shooting the Danish National Team in handball in a match in Viborg Sports Arena. It was almost dark outside, so only the artificial light inside the arena was helping.

This was the first real pro sports event with this new camera. This was in conditions were I knew it would be pushed out there were it hurts.

There wasn't much light, but it is often like that when the event is not broadcasted live on nationwide television. After a PRE- measurement of the white balance on a white sign, (it is as easy as on D2X), I measured the light and it gave me an exposure of 1/500 sec. at f/2.8 when I was running it on 3200 ISO. Forget any automatics in these conditions. There are way to many disturbing lights in the background, that will force you exposure meter into faults. So put your camera on 'M' and shoot it all manual. The histogram for the red channel reached the right side exactly, not passing it. That way I am sure to expose my shots the best possible way, taking care of optimal noise performance and avoiding any burned out skin tones.

I was shooting at 1/500 sec shutter speed at f/2.8 on my AF-S 70-200/2.8VR and 1/1000 sec. at f/2.0 on my AF-Nikkor 85/1.8D.

Based on my experience with the D2-series, I started setting up the autofocus with AF-C and Dynamic 21-point. (Mid position)

This was, and will also, with this camera, be my favorite setting for handball and soccer. Focus Lock-on was set to 'Norm' as default. Already in the first shots I could see that the speed and reaction was good, but when I later turned Focus Lock-on to 'Off' every shot was sharp....and I mean every shot..!!!

For lightning fast professional sport, were you don't have the time to sit and follow the target for several milliseconds before you shoot a series, I recommend that you turn Lock-on to 'Off'.

I can't recommend using AF-C and Single focus point (Lowest position) for sports. The performance on Group Dynamic 9 & 21-point is simply better.

I also tested the 3D Autopoint AF, the top position. And it gave sharp shots and the camera responded quickly. In many ways it seems to work a little like 'Closest Subject' in D2, just a lot faster. But there was to much automatic feel in it for me. I want to be in 100% control and decide were the camera should focus.

I used the color setting SD(default). That is the setting I have found to fit my needs best for most assignments. And I have never gotten so finished and ready to use photos directly out of the camera. I didn't turn down the sharpness, as I would normally do with a D2Hs or D2X. This way I can use the images directly out of the camera. It is just resizing and final USM, and they are ready for delivery.

It is nothing less than impressive. Almost noise free up to 4.000 ISO, and very usable at 6.400 ISO. I had planned to test with and without High ISO NR, but when I saw how gently the default setting 'Norm' was handling the details in the images, I concentrated on other things. Just leave it on 'Norm' it works just fine.

Pressphotography

It is pretty obvious that Nikon D3 is working well as a PJ-camera when it performs like that in sportsphotography. During a normal week of pressphotography you find yourself in a number of situations with almost no light and need for speed. And the D3 delivers here. Being able to use natural light a lot more instead of using flash, really gives you a lot of creative possibilities.

It is needless to say that full-frame let your wideangles sparkle again..! 

I have found that the AWB (auto white balance) gives very good results in a lot more critical situations, than what I have ever seen before. It was already good in the D2 cameras, but in some situations it got even better in D3. Again the default color mode SD gives very natural and good colors and skin tones. There has however been situations were I have seen inconsistant results, shooting in strong daylight and in the deep shadows. But all in all you feel very confident and secure when using D3. It is nice to concentrate on the motive and feel safe with the gear.

Flash photography is being used a lot less when you start using D3. But when you have to it is a pleasure that it works so well. You don't have to be careful, to chimp and check histograms so much anymore. Just shoot away.. They will be OK. It works just as good and consistant as it did on the D2-series.  

It takes very little time to process the photos when you get home. They are almost ready for delivery right away. If you are shooting in NEF, high ISO shots are best converted in Capture NX. The extremely noise free images can best be achieved when converting them in Capture NX. The converters like Capture One 4 and Adobes ACR didn't give you the same quality in translating white balance, color and noise handling. ACR has gotten a lot better colors since they made it possible to install the specific camera profiles. If you haven't already installed them, do it.  

The image to the right is the well known Danish performer Lars Lilholt from a concert I shot not long ago. It is shot with AWB and at 2500 ISO. It was a raw file that was converted in Adobe Camera Raw without any adjustments. Both the noise and color, especially the skin tones, are just fine. It would have been even better if converted in Capture NX. You can download the full NEF file here: NEF.rar  -  NEF.zip

For pressphotography it would have been nice with the possibility that you could choose a smaller NEF file format in f. ex. size M - (3.184 x 2.120 pixels). You never need the full 12,5 megapixel file for a pressphoto. Your files just fill up your cards and discs quicker.

Portraitphotography

Even though this camera might be specialized for a different purpose, it performs very well in portraitphotography, and especially in wedding photography were High ISO is sometimes needed.

At 200 ISO (you can choose 100 ISO) in studio lighting from my Elinchrom system the files come out in a quality very much like the ones from D2X, only with more data in the 14-bit files. They are tack sharp and the balancing of the colors is a peace of cake, with the new color controls. Here I am using either the old D2X mode I or SD mode, and get very natural and realistic tones.

The best raw conversion might still be made by Nikon Capture NX. It certainly has its strong points with Color Point etc. But Adobe ACR has gotten a lot better since the new camera profiles was introduced. I still think Nikon Capture NX is a little clumsy and slow, so I use ACR almost exclusively since they updated it. Also because I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom a lot, and of course I get very used to the controls in the Adobe system.    

Conclusion

Nikon has created a winner and is back in the game.

It is a pleasure that Nikon has given high image quality at high ISO priority over the number of pixels on the sensor. I wrote in my 'Wishlist for Nikon' that I wanted a bigger sensor, with big noise free pixels, that could crop to the DX-format... And that is exactly what we got.

That it turned out to be the worlds fastest D-SLR camera, a brand new autofocus system, ergonomics and functions continued and refined from the D2 series, that is just extra bonus.

It has to be said that it was about time. It was last chance for Nikon, if they didn't want to get lost completely in the pro segments of the market. Nikon has build up a strong position in the amateur market, since the launch of the Nikon D70 and sit on that market very strongly all over the world. Now they are on their way back into the pro segments too. Major customers all over the world are already in the process of switching from Canon and back to Nikon at the moment.   

In my opinion it is good for us photographers that the balance of power between the two big brands is evened out again. It is good for all of us that the dominance is not with only one brand, with the result that they can act as they please, with no regard to their customers. It now seems like there will be a healthy competition with Canon 1D-III and Nikon D3 as almost equal opponents.  

This article will continue to be expanded with my test observations and images. There will be samples in full resolution. Should anyone wish for something specific to be tested, just send me a mail..

©24. oktober 2007 - Lars Troels  - (Rettelser & tilføjelser 11. november 2008)

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