Comments on: Nikon D700 : preview

By: Neil vN

Neil vN — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:49:36 +0000

Zach .. that’s a tough choice.
Both of those items – the D700 and the 70-200mm f2.8 zoom will change your photography, and what you’d be able to achieve.

The one which will have the most immediate impact though, would be the lens, in my opinion.

While the D700 will open a whole new world to you with clean high ISO settings, the telephoto zoom will allow you to reach subjects you couldn’t before.

Neil vN

By: Zach

Zach — Sun, 09 May 2010 22:49:52 +0000

Neil, your professional expertise would help me here.
I’m thinking about buying a D700 or the 70-200 2.8G VR II as my
next equipment purchase. I’m working with a D60 and the 24-70 2.8G
(love it!!) as of now. Should i continue to concentrate on more lenses
or a better camera since these 2 items are around the same price?

I appreciate your input!

By: Neil

Neil — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:29:55 +0000

Adam … I am loving the camera even more now. I’ll be so bold to say that right now there is no better camera on the market than the Nikon D700 if you look at quality vs cost.

Neil vN

By: adam

adam — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:29:15 +0000

So what is your verdict now that you have had the D700 for a while ?

By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:47:22 +0000

Hi there Jaime …

I can’t remember if I wore grey … but I look like this. ;)

Neil vN

By: Jaime Kae

Jaime Kae — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:52:13 +0000

That is very impressive.

I was wandering around Time Square that same night. I wonder if I saw you? I always notice photographers when I’m out and about. Were you wearing grey, perchance?

I was too lazy to bring my big camera, so my brothers got shots of the Star Wars peeps with my point and shoot.

My flashy, noisy picture of the same event is here:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3192/2726455863_08150b5d4d.jpg?v=0
(Yes, that’s my husband… )

By: Stephen

Stephen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:45:54 +0000

Hi Neil,
Thanks for the reply.

I’ve been using your histogram method on subjects that do not have white in them. I was interpreting your notes literally when you mentioned “brightest relevant tone,” so I always targeted the brightest dominant color in the subject, but the resulting photographs always had colors that were slightly off.

Now that I think about it, your histogram method was based on the concept of aligning white correctly in the zone system (that spectrum you printed in your tutorial papers you gave me). I guess that when I meter off something other than white, I end up shifting the white in that spectrum, so that makes the entire image look off.

More practice for me!

By: Neil

Neil — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:01:11 +0000

Stephen,

In this case there isn’t a predominant tone that is white, so using the histogram as I’ve explained elsewhere, wouldn’t really work. But there are other methods in achieving accurate exposure.

In this case, simply zeroing the needle in manual exposure mode did the trick. With the mix of brighter tones and darker tones, and the use of matrix metering, the camera metered correctly. (I would’ve had the same exposure if I had used an automatic metering mode.)

Neil vN.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 19:03:11 +0000

Neil,
I forgot to ask this. Where is the brightest relevant tone in this image for purposes of exposure metering? Other than the subject’s eyeballs, there is not much relevant white in the photograph.

I typically have trouble trying to figure where I should meter when it comes to subjects that do not have white. Thanks.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:48:21 +0000

I bought a D300 two days before Nikon announced the D700. I have bad timing.

I do not see much graininess in the 100% photo you took. That is impressive low-light sensitivity of the camera. I guess the Canon 5D is dethroned? And of course, your composition is excellent as usual.

I am also curious how the SB-900 works. I was interested in replacing my SB-600 with it, so I would enjoy hearing your thoughts on it.