If I Only Had A (insert gizmo here)
My friend, Steven, sent me this What the Duck strip the other day.
At first, I wondered to myself, ”What’re you saying, Steve?”
Of course, this has come shortly after my commentaries on wanting to ”upgrade” from my current Nikon D70s camera to a Canon 30D — in the name of better image quality. I’ve done a whole buttload of research into why the Canon is a better choice — why it would allow me to take better pictures.
But, this gentle, somewhat humorous, and probably unintentional nudge from Steven has given me pause to think a little bit. I have seen beautiful pictures made with a D70s in lower-light situations. Could it be that I’ve not fully investigated the options available to me now?
Maybe, just maybe, I need to get off my arse, and take a look at some of the in-camera settings for noise reduction and sharpening. I had been of the opinion — based on information found on the web – that using them was a “bad thing,” and so I basically have these features turned off. Of course, shooting in RAW format allows me to make changes to certain settings after the fact. As I get/make some time in the next couple of days, I’m going to make a concerted effort to see if I can’t improve the output from my present gear — before spending a fortune to switch.
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…….and as he slowly awakens from his nightmare………….he starts to get his common sense back…………….:-)
Well, it was a thought, anyway. As it turns out, there is no in-camera noise reduction to set on the D70s, with the exception of the “Long Exposure NR.” It was already on. Sharpening settings and other image optimizations were also already set pretty optimally.
I’ll continue to see what I can see, but it still appears that I have to try to clean up the noise in post production, obscuring detail as I go. Not a big deal in a small print — most people won’t notice. It’s the big prints that will suffer noticeably.
Remember, the issue doesn’t really manifest itself when I can keep the ISO relatively low. It’s when I have to push that I start seeing the problems. The more research I do — the more I read and talk to people — the more I learn that Canon just does a better job of dynamic range and noise reduction. And, that’s important to me.
The people you talk to wouldn’t be “Canon” owners , would they???
I go to flickr and type in the camera name and look at all the GREAT pics that people are getting. You should be thinking of shooting at 1600 t0 3200 iso anyway…….
Both Nikon and Canon owners. One fellow I spoke with yesterday has a full array of both Nikon and Canon gear (Nikon D2X, Canon 30D). If he’s going to shoot an event or wedding or other assignment where he thinks he may run into low-light situations where he’ll need to shoot at higher ISOs, he takes the Canon gear. Otherwise, it’s a toss-up.
The times where I’m having the problems, I AM shooting at higher ISOs. That’s where the Nikon images really begin to fall apart when compared to the Canons.
Of course a D70s can’t shoot ISO 3200. 1600 is the top end for the D70s.
As long as I have been involved with photography………..and I use to have a wedding business……….I never had to shot higher than iso(asa) 800…………why are you having to shoot so high????
When I was shooting film, I never shot over 400ASA. I used a 50mm f/1.8, and a 135mm f/1.8. Those were my “wedding” lenses. Shutter speeds were around 1/30.
My hands aren’t as steady as they once were, and lenses just don’t seem to be as fast. I’m not comfortable hand-holding at much less than 1/60-1/125. With a 28-75 f/2.8, in order to get the shutter speeds I want, I’ve got to go to ISO 800.
Time to get a VR lens………………
VR lenses are wonderful — if the subject isn’t moving. All they save you from is camera movement. I’d rather be able to shoot at higher shutter speeds, and reduce both camera shake and subject motion blur.
Not true…………I take a lot of sports action shots with a 80-400mm vr……….hand held……….and they turn out great.
What are your shutter speeds, Thom? Certainly not less than 1/125 if the subject is in motion. Otherwise, you will get blur, unless you’re also using flash.
Just sent you 2 exam. with settings.
Look at the shutter speeds (1/640, 1/1000), Thom, and the lighting conditions. Those, I could hand hold, likely without the VR — though this is a good use of VR.
These are not the kinds of situations that I’m having difficulties with. My D70s would do beautifully — and has — in situations like this. Where things fall apart is, as I’ve said, lower-light situations where I have to push the ISO settings. I’m sorry, but the test results show very plainly that the Nikons just don’t do as well as the Canons in the situations I’m talking about.
Well in your case …..you wouldn’t be using a long lens anyway……………..I think a 2.8 is might be your answer to camera shake in low light.
Tamron makes a 24-120 vr with a constant 2.8
Sorry wrong lens………..
Tamron has a 17-50mm that’s 2.8 all the way.
I have a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 — great lens, and it helps. But, I still sometimes have to push it too far. As I said some time ago, there seems to be a reason that most wedding pros shoot Canon…
unintentional, i assure you. i just found it a funny look at more-gear-itis. it’s not just a camera-person affliction, either - guitar players are always lusting after another axe, campers drooling after smaller, lighter goodies at REI, etc. etc. etc.