Pleasant Grove - conference room provided by photographer Jeremy Hall
I don’t want to go having to make a list of ya’ll and stuff.
I want to give you my personal feelings and observations on the D700
No facts just opinions
There’s plenty of sites with specific details on this new camera so i’ll not repeat this but give you a little of my opinion and leave the stats and facts to them.
My Camera background:
I’ve owned the following cameras
D70
D70s
D200
D300
I use lenses that are low light 2.8 or lower.
D300
That being said earlier this year I bought the D300 primarily because I wanted to be able to operate at higher ISO
While I’m happy I have the D300 i must say that I haven’t been operating at higher ISOs with it.
I think I’m getting pickier and pickier and the way they “get rid” of the grain wasn’t to my liking.
So once again I got a new camera hoping that it would work well in those high ISOs.
Problem Solved
And my first opinion is… it most certainly does seem to solve my ISO problems.
To someone taking pictures in darker situations (receptions or indoors anywhere) that’s a big deal and could be worth the $3k
Right now I’m looking at some pictures I took at a reception. It was dark outside they were cutting the cake and I wanted to be at a faster speed to avoid movement blur when they smeared the cake in eachothers face.
125th of a second speed and 1000ISO and the picture was completely useable… and that’s what it’s all about.
I haven’t been afraid to go up much higher than 1000ISO but I haven’t tested exactly the level that I am comfortable with. My guess is I’d probably go all the way to 3200 without too much concern. And if it’s alright to have a moody grainy picture I might even go up to 12k.
UPDATE: I’ve been looking at a lot of the pictures taken at 1600 and I’ll absolutely use them without any hesitation. They look great! They’re somewhat soft and maybe not crisp as most pictures but had I taken them with another camera the grain would have been prohibitive or at a slower shutter speed the pictures might have been very blury (and that’s worse)
Not only was the grain not a factor but the colors were beautiful!
A Pleasant Surprise
I wasn’t expecting that!
It will take some more shoots to really get a handle on it but my first impression is that the color of the pictures might be way better on this camera… which certainly saves me a lot of time in editing.
Enjoyed it more than I thought.
I always considered myself more of a telephoto kind of guy.
So when I picked up the full frame camera and lost that 50% increase in telephoto I thought it would just be alright. But I must say I really enjoyed it. My 28mm lens acted just like my 18mm lens of old.
Now this just means I’ve got to get a 14-24 2.8 nikon lens for $1600 later in the month.
This is my perspective and it comes from my opinions of my D300 and how it compares… If you have any questions ask away.
I’m in search of the best lightroom article that has never been written.
(As far as I can tell)
Here’s a series of twitter messages I sent out this morning.
I figured it might be important enough to put on the blog since more people view it on a daily basis.
Somewhere out in the tubes there’s an article/blog called: “10 things to do to speed up lightroom” I just can’t find it! Please write one!
In that blog tell me what the fastest computer would be and what tips you suggest about how to run the computer etc…
If I do too many pictures in one catalog am I overburdening things and slowing lightroom down? What’s the magic number?
In fact almost everyone writes about the 10 new features they love in LR2
I would but hundreds of people already did it.
And the article is always called “10 features I love in the new Lightroom 2″
Thomas hawk wrote about the new LR2 features
It’s probably my preferred so far. But seeing how they were all the same I stopped looking at them.
In that Thomas Hawk article Sephen Shankland makes a comment that makes it seem like he knows a bit about speed issues in lightroom. Turns out he has a blog over at CNET
- This article needs to be by someone who really really knows what they’re talking about.
- Not written by someone who is simply a user. (Heck I’ve edited tens of thousands of pictures and i’ve noticed trends but I’m certainly not the person to write this because I would only have theories and not solid facts)
- Base their 10 points on facts and not speculation
- Give us the perfect setup
(I have a quad core and that sped up things immensely! But I want more) - Going from picture to picture is where the most annoying lag is.
- In my case I don’t care about the exporting/crunching of images i’m talking about the navigation more so… moving from grid to develope and from picture to picture or applying the edits.
Some lightroom developer needs to do this (maybe they have)
Or someone that likes doing detailed research
I wouldn’t mind Scott Kelby writing this up because he certainly chats with the adobe people a lot and isn’t afraid to ask the questions. Plus everyone seems to read his blog so he can at least pose the question.
Update:
Thanks to Calanan for finding an article that gives 5 apparent ways to speed things up.
Heere’s the twitter message he sent
calanan @jarvie How about 5? http://tinyurl.com/3a3vda
5 tips are great but I want more.
An article not just for the common lightroom user. I want something geared toward huge catalogs and not just focused on speeding up lightroom on an old crappy computer but on an already upgraded computer.
Something that goes more into depth.
I could probably spit out 5 tips to make lightroom faster based on experience.
But i want some really solid stuff going above mere observations and guesses.
Saying get a faster computer and get more ram is cheap because that speeds up every computer. Say that and then explain how it benefits and perhaps give an example.
Am I being too demanding? Lots of people out there blogging and looking for things to write about… just trying to help make the best lightroom article ever.
dwterry @jarvie I have Lightroom store my data in XMP files with the images. That way my edits and my images get backed up simultaneously.
dwterry @jarvie The other advantage is that frees me to blow away my LR catalog any time I want. Which is about every few thousand files or so.
jarvie @dwterry XMP files? that sounds so messy. but i’m willing to listen. Will that make them import into any lightroom with settings in-tact?
Plus i thought one of the points of lightroom was to be more than a place to edit… DAM
DAM - a way to Manage our Digital Assets
If I really had a choice and it worked I would love to have ALL my pictures in the same library… so that might be going the wrong way.
zelph @jarvie I have 17,000+ on my home computer’s lightroom catalog and only about 1,000 on my laptop… I see no noticeable difference
This isn’t what I’ve heard elsewhere, but I’m not sure he’s wrong. I don’t really know if my catalog with 5000 runs faster than those with 40,000 plus.
Now we just need a thousand more people to say what they think and we’ll get down to the bottom of this 
As opposed to…
In the previous post I said why “Traditional” family portraits suck to do. (for me)
Now I’ll say why I think non-traditional family pictures could be the most fun a photographer could have.
What kind of pictures am I talking about?
I’m talking about unique experiences and events with tons of fun stuff going on… and a photographer is there to capture the moments.
A family Reunion
A day at the park
Game Night
A vacation
A Hike
A BBQ
Anything but just standing there in a line
Be creative!
One Possibility for the best pictures ever
I would much much rather show up at a house early in the morning as the family has a wonderfully prepared breakfast, eats together (all traditional like) then they head off to the park or beach or woods together and have a pic-nic and laugh and tell jokes and enjoy eachothers company. Perhaps throw the frisbee around or go swimming. Here and there they can line up so they’re all in the shot, either more formally or in their element. But those shots won’t be the focal point. Then they return home and all individually do the things they like doing. Dads fixing the old project car and getting greasy, mom is cooking, sewing, planting or vice versa. The little kid is playing with his cars. The young girl has her ballet outfit on. The teenager is playing his/her favorite sport, talking on the cellphone or using the computer haha… of they invite some of their friends along to do stuff. They have a BBQ and a party or what not….
The possibilities are limitless
I’m just coming up with this stuff on the spot… who knows what it could be… the possibilities are limitless.
What do you do with the pictures?
Again… Be creative.
Make a book.
Use on Blog, emails, websites
To REALLY document your family… not some stiff portrait
have lots of pictures for the walls… pick the best of each person
An EXAMPLE
I reconfirmed this theory by doing a 3 day family reunion with my family 3500 pictures later!!!
Check out the next couple of posts.
Continue reading about Non-Traditional Family Pictures… fun for This photographer
I wish I could recommend foresters camera service in SLC.
I enjoyed talking and working with the guy at Kew’s Camera service in Provo…
and would recomend him as he has great prices.
Even though he gave my D200 back to me and said there were no prices. (didn’t charge anything)
And replaced the grip for like 25$
And there was most certainly a problem… backfocusing… but his type of test would have never found it.
FORESTERS
Then i called nikon and they said send it here or take it to an authorized fixer upper.
So i drove to SLC and left it there.
They promise to call back within 48hrs… First off that’s a Bold Faced LIE!
I called back instead the first time.
They thought they might have the machine to fix it… they don’t so they would send it to Nikon and take care of things. I paid them money to ship it… i like that convenience for me.
But this is where it went down hill… that was like 2+ weeks ago.
I’m suppose to get a call back giving me an estimate on cost to fix.
Let alone the fixing time! NOTHING. I called and they’re closed…
I will call back tomorrow and then let you know what’s up.
I’m on the list for a D700… but I don’t know if I really was going to get it.
Now I might have to! Now if I only had the $3000 to actually get it!
I really had hoped I could recommend them in good faith… but foresters has let me down terribly.
Concerts are so dark that you pretty much need to constantly adjust and play with lights and stuff.
There’s all sorts of crazy lighting schemes going on and often the band can be drenched in red light or in almost total darkness.
What comes out in pictures is more emotive and artsy stuff than clear crisp pictures.
Almost every picture I like had some kind of colored light shinning in the background, or colored light covering from head to toe.
But concerts are nice because even though you might take 700 shots you don’t have to edit nearly that many because half of them are complete crap and you end up with a mear 300-400 that are bareable and in the end push out 200 that could be likeable because you realize fans really are fanatic and will love almost anything and everything. And that’s mostly who they’re for anyway.
Who knows what other concert photographers are doing, I’ve never looked at another concert photographers pictures a day in my life… but it could be fun do it more often.
My concert tips would be these:
- Have a nice fast camera with great ISO (less grain)
- Get close… preferable front row next to the stage. (Many reasons why most other places aren’t nearly as good… including backstage)
- After you take all your front row pictures try a few other spots towards the end of the show.
- Have a press pass because most places won’t let you take pictures with a nice camera unless you do.
- Edit them to be interesting or artsy. (Like a concert photographer not a photojournalist.)
- Ear plugs… you’ll probably be right next to really big speakers. Besides it’s not like they’ll block the music… just dampen.
- Get close and zoom in.
- Fast Lenses. (1.8 or 2.8 is pretty good)
- Use a flash and set it to low output. (you want the flash to freeze their actions but you want the background colors to come out well.)
- Sometimes don’t use flash and set the shutter speed high.
- If you want good pictures get their early because you really do need to be front row(unless you spent thousands on fast telephoto lenses)
- Get a fast prime lens. (i had a 28mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.8 a 80mm 1.8 would be great and obviously the faster the better)
- Take a ton and then delete a ton. (You’re experimenting at first and you’ll delete a lot of them)
- Even it technically fails you can rescue it as an emotive artsy kinda picture. (meaning think twice before getting rid of all blurry pictures)
- Get tips from A Real Concert Photographer… because i’m not one.
BIG TIME ADVICE
As you look for photographers it’s an overlooked thing but talking to past clientel can be extremely helpful.
Try to make sure it’s open and not canned (where they give you one name only)
Make sure that you feel like you could talk with anyone and have a truthful knowledge of what that photographer might be like.
Satisfaction 100%
I have never had an upset or dissatisfied client and they often vigorously recomend me but the world and even the state is a large place and we are not as interconnected as we believe.
Getting the word out
Therefore… To better help me in this area of informing potential clients…
I just started a Business Page on FaceBook 3 days ago
I welcome reviews of every type
I feel confident that anyone could message anyone of the registered fans and ask them what they think about me and my work.
Right now past clients and other fans are trickling in and joining more and more every day.
This page also will be another option to display my work and keep in touch with the admirers of my work