Nikon D700 Pre-Launch

I was kindly asked by Nikon Australia and Camera Action here in Melbourne to be an integral part of the Nikon D700 Pre-Launch that was held here on Thursday night, 24/7/08. It was a great evening and a great event to launch a great camera. I cannot say how impressed I am with this latest Nikon offering.
Grabbing a D700 from the guys at Camera Action, I walked across Lonsdale Street and into a local cafe. It was quite dark by now, the sun having well and truly set in the wintry Melbourne sky. So, naturally I ramped up the camera's ISO setting to 3200.
The guys in the cafe were happy to oblige me, posing behind the counter for their portrait.
And here it is, fully sized at 3200 ISO. Click on the picture yourself and see if there is enough noise to worry you. It certainly wouldn't worry me. I have seen more noise at 800 in other DLSRs!

What a fabulous beastie this is...
Can't wait to get mine!

Wedding Photography Workshops

I have been looking forward to running my wedding photography workshops at Montsalvat for a long time. Being able to photograph an actual wedding at Montsalvat is a treat in itself, but its never enough. So, teaching wedding photography and being able to do as I pleased was fantastic!It was great to have a few people there who had been to my previous workshops and of course its always lovely to meet new people too. I hope you all had fun and learned more about the fine and complex art of wedding photography!

Nikon's new D700.

Those who know me know that I do love my Nikons. With the release of the latest in their line of fabulous DSLR's comes the new Nikon D700, complete with what Nikon call their FX sensor. This is a 35mm sized sensor that they have correctly referred to as FX and not 'full frame'. Every sensor is full frame. Its just that the size of the frame varies.
I have been kindly asked to host a pre-launch of this fabulous camera in Melbourne and as such have been asked to show how brilliantly the sensor in this camera provides accurate skin tones and how incomprehensibly well it handles in low light. This image was captured at ISO 3200 and, apart from sizing it down, is straight from the camera.

This is a close-up, showing the lack of noise at 3200 ISO.As you can see, there is such little noise that it took me quite a bit of zooming before I encountered anything worth mentioning.
It is said that photographers who have purchased the Nikon D3 rarely see the need to rate their ISO below 800 as it makes little difference to the human eye. That is quite something. I varely rarely like to rate my D200 anywhere above that, with noice becoming quite evident at around 800.
I will be getting a D700. No doubt about it.
For me, a person who likes to 'find the light and put 'em in it', it is an ideal choice of camera. In the brief time I have had to use it I have found that it prepares jpegs with accurate colour and perfect metering, meaning that with the hundreds of images I capture at each wedding there will require less time for post processing, such as white balance and colour corrections. It will save me much time and produce images that can be used straight from the camera. As yet I have not seen a camera produce such beautiful jpegs as I have from the D3 and the D700.

James and Elise

Well, its an odd time for weddings in Melbourne, it being so cold and wintry here. That didn't stop James and Elise from getting married however. Young love...who can stand in its way? Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor wind...And here here I say!Actually, it wasn't that cold for a June Saturday. The main problem was how short the day was, leaving us little time for photography in Melbourne's lanes and streets. By the time we actually arrived in Brighton for the reception the sun had set completely. However, don't let a little thing like lack of light stop a keen photographer. That's why I have and use the Nikon CLS Flash system!This was the second wedding I had my son assist me on. The first was when we travelled to Edmonton, Alberta Canada together to photograph Tyler and Leanne's wedding. I am hoping Nathan wants to keep coming so I can train him up for a photographic future! He has a great eye and the perfect personality for people photography.

Congratulations James and Elise! Thanks for the honour of being a part of your wedding day. I had too much fun!