Wednesday, October 22, 2008

My new Baby

Well, my new Baby has finally arrived. My Nikon D700 is here. And let me tell you this.Apart from perhaps the Nikon D3, I have never used a more impressive picture taking machine in my life! And I must admit, I think I would rather own two D700's than one D3, given the price. It is a beautifully engineered machine with images straight out of the camera that are truly impressive.I have mentioned this often at my photography tutorials website, Five Minute Photographer.
As part of my arrangement with Nikon Australia to procure said Nikon D700, I recently ran a D700 workshop for Camera Action Camera House at Abbotsford Convent here in Melbourne. It was a far less intense workshop than I usually run as of course it was a chance for all recent D700 owners to get their cameras out and simply stretch their legs. On hand was one of my favourite models, Soph, who made sure to keep us all in line.
At the workshop I was also in temporary possession of the new Sony Alpha A900. This is a great camera, and the Carl Zeiss lenses are to kill for. I thought I would give it a comparison test with the D700 at ISO 3200. It was kind of a Sony A900 vs Nikon D700 shootout...but without the animosity!
Now, remember, the Sony A900 has 24 megapixels and the D700 has 12. That being the case, the Sony is bound to have higher resolution, but more noise. And it did.
This is the image of Soph we use to make our comparision.
This is a section of Soph's sweater from the D700 at ISO 3200...And this is straight from the Sony A900, also at 3200 ISO...Clearly there is an obvious difference.
Having shot with both cameras, I can tell you that it is simply a case of 'Horses for Courses'. The Sony A900 is a wonderful camera.The resolution is wonderful. The lenses are incredibly sharp. The Steadyshot is unbelievably effective. But its not designed to shoot at high ISO's - making it a fantastic studio camera and landscape camera. I know. I used it in studio and made large prints from it that amazed me. However,for the available light photographer like myself, it is not the tool of choice.The Nikon D700's resolution is not to be laughed at either. After all, how many pixels do we really need?
Which is why I love my Nikon D700.
I really, really do.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indeed it is a great machine.
And of course - horses for courses is a sentiment every photographer should embrace.
Having just recently trekked the West Highland Way (142km) through Scotland....weight comes into play.
Thank goodness for the light weight of a D90 which gives the same image quality of a D300!
I carried both along with several lenses, flash etc.
Would not fancy doing it with heavier gear!

Charmaine Otto Photography said...

You already have me convinced Shelton...now i just need to cough up the dough...*sigh*
...Char...

The Life, Times and Images of photographer, Shelton Muller

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