Why I haven’t upgraded from D200 to D300s or D700 but will upgrade to Nikon D800

If anybody reads www.nikonrumours.com then they will have also heard that Nikon is probably going to launch the D800 anytime soon.  It is expected to have some amazing features a lot of which I have been wanting in my D200 for the last 6 years.  But the D200 is an amazing camera and I have produced some great photos – many of which are on this site or can be found on my gallery on 500px and flickr

There have been so many rumours about the Nikon D800 and many sites have reported that it will be a 38MP monster.  I don’t know if any of this is true but there are some things that are certain if Nikon are to keep up with Canon.  It will definitely have a high Megapixel count, it will be fast, it will have good low light performance and it will have a HD movie mode.

So why do I think that the D800 will be the camera that will move me away from my trusty D200? The photography that I mainly undertake is Landscape Photography and this needs

• Megapixel count
• Good dynamic range
• Excellent colour range
• Robust camera – as often work in difficult conditions
• Wide angle!

However – I also want more flexibility in my next camera and also want to start to take high quality video diaries of my landscape photography trips in the UK. Things that my next camera must do is

• Be able to take movies
• Have better low light performance
• Better autofocus

The D200 has been a trusty camera since I bought it in December 2005 and I have created many amazing photos.

There are quite a few things I don’t like about the D200 though.

• Dust on the sensor – I have to get it cleaned every 4 months
• Screen - it is poor quality and makes it difficult to review images
• Focus problems - I have had a few focus problems on fast moving subjects and in low light
• Battery life – it is poor and only good for 250 photos

The key area though is the sensor.  I have been looking to move to a full frame sensor as this has many added advantages to a landscape photographer.  I have never consider this a must though and have looked at other camera over the last few years including

The D300s – Not a great improvement for my type of photography

• ASP sensor
• Poor movie mode
• Not a significant increase in megapixel count – only 12.3 MP

The  D700 – Great low noise but one main problem

• Doesn’t offer Movie mode – so that was ruled out
• Not a significant increase in megapixel count – only 12.1 MP

The D7000 – Amazing camera, good 16.2 MP

• ASP sensor
• Didn’t feel robust when I tried it

The D7000 is an amazing camera.  It has great low noise and is priced very competitively.

This is a great site - http://snapsort.com/compare – where you can compare 2 cameras – take a look for yourself – it has all the important specifications for each camera.

The big issue from going to ASP to full frame is the lens issue. I have a lot of lenses and bought these to match the 1.5x magnification factor.  The lenses that I have are

Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 DX (A problem as designed for 1.5x sensor)

Sigma EX 50mm f.4 DG (OK for Full frame)

Nikon 17-55mm f2.8 G DX ((A problem as designed for 1.5x sensor)

Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 VR (OK for Full frame)

So I will have to invest in 2 new lenses with the D800 for landscape photography.  They will need to be excellent quality lenses too if the megapixel count the D800 is to have is to be believed!

In addition to all this I just like new tech! I have had my D200 now for 6 years and can’t wait to try something new.

So I keep searching google for Nikon D800 in the hope that sometime very soon they will release this much anticipated camera.

Kinder walk and a sunrise

I have been planning a sunrise / sunset trip to the Peaks for some while now.  I don’t get a lot of spare time so decided to have a Monday off work and set off early to Edale and take in Mam Tor on the way for Sunrise and then do a reasonable walk on Kinder – finishing with the sunset over the Cheshire plain and over Bosley Cloud.

Mam Tor is a fantastic place to shoot the sunrise or sunset as it is easily reached from the road into Edale.  It is a short 10 min walk to the top.

I arrived at the top in almost complete darkness and found a good vantage point for what was to prove the best photo I took all day.  I now find that I use the Tokina 11 – 16mm lens more than any other and if you are careful you can get some stunning results with it.

Sunrise from Mam Tor

I then parked in Upper Booth and set off up Kinder via Crowden Clough.  This is a steep route up Kinder and more of a scramble up a river bed than a well marked path.  The clouds were very low though – so no luck with any great photos.  I did take a few videos on my iPhone which I thought I would share

Walked from Upper Booth over Kinder Scout and back down Jacob’s ladder (8 miles)

At the top you really need to be careful and try and follow the river bed – if you go off track (as you can see I did from following my track above in the map) if is easy to be knee deep in peat!

At Kinder Low the views are impressive as are the rock formations – definitely one to come back to at sunrise!

 

Edale valley

 

Cornwall Coast

I have just returned from my family summer holiday to Cornwall.  This year I actually pushed myself to get out in the evening and explore the coast between Lands End and Cape Cornwall.  We were staying near Sennen Cove (a magnificent beach and great for Surfing).

I decided to try out my new Tokina 10-17mm f3.5-f4.5 AT-X lens.  I also have a Nikon 17-55 f2.8 lens which is great but when shooting landscapes I often wanted the extra wide angle the Tokina gives.  So I left the Nikon at home so I would be forced to use the Tokina.

Lands End RSPB lookout (Nr Sennen Cove, Cornwall)

The image above shows the advantage of using the 11mm lens.  However, you do need to be careful with verticals – such as the ones on this lookout.

Heather at Lands End, Cornwall

I had walked over the path between Sennen Cove and Lands End the day before with my family and seen the potential in the vibrantly coloured heather.  It wasn’t an easy shoot to get though as I needed the golden light on the heather, background interest, control the dynamic range left to right as well as vertically and avoid scattered light on the Lee filters. The 11mm lens allowed me to get great foreground detail.

Crabbing at Sennen Cove, Cornwall

In Sennen Cove I had noticed that the sunset created a great opportunity for some silhouette images.  I didn’t manage to get the shot I was after but the above is the best of the bunch.  If the guy that is crabbing was the other way around that would have been perfect.  This images was taken with a 70-200mm F2.8 Nikon VR lens mounted on a tripod.

I did find the 11mm end of the Tokina lens very very good.  Care needs to be taken with verticals and the horizon as it does create convergence, however it is sharp and produces some crisp images.  One problem I did find was the Lee Polarising filter I have can be seen at the widest end of the lens.  I got round this by using a direct lens mounted filter to polarise the light.

The area between Cape Cornwall and Lands End is amazing – I only wish I could have spend more time there!

 

Photography isn’t about the camera

It is amazing how many times people say to me ‘yeah, but you have such a good camera’. What I always say is that it isn’t about the camera. Most of the time nobody believes me and thinks if they get a better camera with more megapixels and bigger a lens they will take better photos.  That isn’t true, successful photography is about 3 basic things.

- The light - the most important thing to create a stunning image.  95% of my photos are taken at sun rise or sun set.  The light in an image makes a massive difference and saturates the colours and creates a more dramatic image.

- The composition – All good photos have great composition.  Photos should be easy to look at and your eye should be guided around the image.  Great photos have great composition

- Timing – even landscape photography is about timing.  This maybe the time of year, time of month or time of day.  Timing is crucial – sometimes you have to wait for the correct light, the correct weather or the position of the sun and moon. 

I often take photos on my iphone – to record a location I want to go back to.  Ok – the iphone is never going to be great for creating an A2 print.  But – it is amazing the quality of photos that you can get.  Take a look at 3 photos I have taken recently… 

St Ives at dusk - Taken with iPhone 4 

Millenium Wheel, London - Taken with the iPhone 4

Coniston, Lake District – Taken with iPhone 4

All these photos were taken with an iPhone 4 and only cropped – no other editing was done.  They all follow the 3 rules above – light, composition and timing.  So – don’t go and buy a new camera or lens – use what you have got and concentrate more on your technique – you may be suprised!!

One foggy morning

I have finally decided to push myself and get up that little bit earlier and make the most of the morning light on a regular basis.  It is amazing how much photography you can get done when you put your mind to it!  I have found a great  location really close nr Wincle and Bosley – but still haven’t had any great light.  Today wasn’t much different – but the mist started to clear and I managed to get some great long lens shots.  I actually thought when I was stuck up on the top that I had miss timed it by about 10mins but when I got back and look at the photos I found a great shot.