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Think Tank Signature 13 Camera Shoulder Bag Review

07 Jun

There are certain features most people would expect to find in any camera bag, such as spacious areas for holding gear, a shoulder strap, and pockets in and around the bag for carrying smaller items like memory cards, a flash, or even car keys. Judged by those standards, the Think Tank Signature 13 Shoulder Bag excels admirably. But handing out that kind of compliment for a camera bag is like giving kudos to a car company for including seats and a steering wheel on one of their latest sedans.

Pick nearly any camera bag on the market and you’ll find options and features similar to what you might see in Think Tank’s latest creation. But evaluating a bag like this by talking about a bulleted list of features kind of misses the point. This is one case in which the whole truly is much more than the sum of its parts, and the result is a capable and refined camera bag that will suit the needs of most photographers quite well.

Think Tank Signature 13 Camera Shoulder Bag Review

The Think Tank Signature 13 Camera Shoulder Bag

I have owned and used many camera bags over the years, from freebies that were included with a camera to expensive models uniquely suited to specific purposes. In my closet right now I’ve got backpack-style bags, messenger-style bags, over-the-shoulder bags, sling-style bags, and even one small little oddity whose purpose I can’t even articulate clearly. The Think Tank Signature 13 easily rests at or near the top of this relatively crowded consortium. Not necessarily because it has one single standout feature, but because it does many things so well and with a level of craftsmanship and refinement that I don’t often see especially on less expensive bags.

Design and appearance of the Think Tank Signature 13

The first thing I noticed when I got this bag, which held true for everyone to whom I showed it, is that the Signature 13 looks fantastic. Not that a nice-looking bag will help you take better photos or protect your gear, but if you value style then the Signature series is definitely worth a look. I have the Slate Gray version. It also comes in a greenish color called Dusty Olive, which I didn’t see in person although online it seemed a little too dull for my taste.

Bold leather accents and thick metal clasps made some heads turn when I brought the bag to my office. But these flourishes could also send a message to would-be camera pilferers that inside the bag is a lot of gear worth stealing. It’s not a drawback of the Signature 13 per se but is a reality of using a nice-looking camera bag. It’s also one of the reasons my father continues to keep his camera gear in what’s basically an old padded lunch sack. I do think even he would be tempted by the Signature 13 though, and it’s certainly a cut above some of the black and gray monochromatic nylon bags in my closet.

Details

Small, but significant, design touches abound, and you’re not likely to find a zipper, clasp, or velcro that isn’t a cut above what you’re used to seeing. The material from which the bag is made feels quite soft and yet surprisingly durable. My wife remarked that it felt a little bit like wool even though it’s actually a blend of nylon and polyester. In terms of overall appearance I like the way the fabric is accented with thick leather trim, hefty and durable clasps, and a generously-padded shoulder strap that distributes weight quite nicely. One of my coworkers stated that this bag would easily be suited to a professional environment such as business travel or public presentations, even though its primary function is to hold camera gear.

Detail of the Think Tank Signature 13

Size

The Signature series comes in two sizes. A smaller Signature 10 is designed for mirrorless systems or those without a lot of camera gear, and the larger Signature 13 which can accommodate more equipment and even a 13″ laptop. I have the latter version which I found more than adequate for my camera kit on any given day of shooting. Although if I wanted to put all my gear inside it probably wouldn’t fit.

A bag like this is not really comparable to something like my Everyday Backpack 30L whose cavernous compartments can swallow up cameras, lenses, laptops, batteries, and a myriad of other accessories all at the same time. The Signature series takes a more measured and thoughtful approach to gear transportation. Instead of lugging everything you own, it’s ideally suited for the times when you want a bag that is small enough to hold the essentials, yet large enough that you can take what you need without having to worry about trade-offs.

Think Tank Signature 13 Camera Shoulder Bag Review

Practicalities of the Signature 13

In terms of regular daily usage there are lots of little details that make the Signature 13 bag pleasant to carry, with a couple of small nagging items that cast a shadow on an otherwise outstanding product.

Shoulder strap is a cut above

The main shoulder strap is, and I hope I don’t come across as overly effusive, exceedingly comfortable and ideally suited to carry a bag of this size with whatever gear you choose to put in it. Plenty of the bags in my collection seem to treat the shoulder strap as an afterthought, with basic nylon construction and perhaps a small sliding pad to keep your shoulder from hurting too much. The shoulder strap on the Signature 13 bag is almost worth the price alone, with thick luxurious (I’m serious, it’s really nice) padding running a full 20 inches throughout the length of the strap and a classy leather accent to boot. It’s a huge improvement over most other shoulder straps and makes carrying the bag an easy and pleasant experience.

There’s also a traditional handle for times when you want to grab the bag with one hand. While that isn’t generally how I use my camera bags I did find it to be sturdy and comfortable.

These clasps fasten securely but I did sometimes have trouble opening them quickly.

Bag flaps

Inside the bag are other equally thoughtful considerations that are quite well suited to the needs of photographers. The main protective flap closes securely with two metal clasps on the front of the bag. They work just fine but did leave me frustrated a few times when I needed to open the bag quickly or close it without looking down.

The flap opens to reveal a front pouch with a dual-position strap to hold it shut, and an additional zipper pouch behind it for thin items like a cell phone, memory cards, shot list, etc. I did find myself fishing around in both of these front pouches a bit more than I thought I would, but it’s not really a design flaw so much as it’s a result of the pockets being so deep. There’s also a zippered top for the main storage compartment that acts as a second layer of protection if you’re a bit nervous at the thought of only using the main flap to keep your gear from tumbling out. But fortunately, this flap can be either buttoned to the top flap or tucked away altogether so it stays out of your way unless you really need it.

Signature 13 interior

The main cavity of the Signature 13 bag is, in many respects, standard fare for this type of storage device. Look inside and you will see a deep and well-padded chamber with plenty of velcro-style dividers that you can customize and reposition to your heart’s content. Some people like this style of bag and others don’t, so I can’t say whether this will specifically work for every photographer. But if you are the kind of person who likes to use velcro dividers to separate your gear then the Signature 13 will certainly work very well for you.

It’s not so much the functionality of this bag that differentiates it from others on the market, but the thoughtful construction and design choices made when creating it. One example is the quilted nature of the inner pocket and dividers which help them feel strong, sturdy, and quite durable. I found the dividers just as easy to use and reposition as any bag of this type, but they did have a more solid, confident feel than most others.

Detail inside the Signature 13

Bottom of the Signature 13

Rounding out the design of the Signature 13 is a massive leather base that extends the length of the bag and wraps about an inch up on either side as well. I don’t know if it’s because of this leather base or the sidewall construction, but I never had issues with the bag tipping over when I set it down regardless of whether it was empty or stuffed with cameras and lenses. Combine this with the nicely padded exterior and I would feel quite comfortable taking this bag on an extended trip, knowing my gear would be safe whether tossed in an overhead luggage bin or sitting among suitcases in the trunk of my car.

The Verdict

It probably sounds like I’m heaping compliments on this bag and to some extent that’s true. But I feel like praise is best given when it is well earned and that is certainly the case here. Still, I do have a few issues with the Signature 13 and would be remiss in not pointing them out for other buyers.

Con – the bag is not waterproof

For one, the bag is not entirely waterproof which could be a major drawback for some photographers who carry their gear in all kinds of weather. I do believe it would keep things dry well enough (though I must admit I am loathed to take it out in a rainstorm to test this out) but even so, the copious amounts of leather accents would likely get damaged or at least discolored in heavy amounts of rainfall. According to Think Tank the polyester/nylon shell is water resistant, so in theory, it should keep your gear safe and dry. It also comes with a collapsible nylon shell if you do find yourself caught in a downpour.

The Signature 13 easily accommodates a DSLR body, 70-200 f/2.8 lens, external speedlight, and an iPad with some room to spare.

Con – clasps can be a bit clunky to use

I also think the dual front clasps are a bit impractical, and at times I found myself getting a little frustrated when trying to release or secure them in a hurry. They work just fine for what they are, but I tend to prefer magnetic or snap-based closure mechanisms that are easier to use with one hand or without looking.

Con – large price tag

One other potential drawback is the price which, at $ 249 for the Signature 10 and $ 279 for the Signature 13, is not exactly cheap. For that price, you are certainly getting a high level of quality, but you are also paying for some of the appearance and design elements that just might not matter to some photographers. If the price is your primary consideration you might want to look elsewhere as there are certainly less expensive bags which perform most of the same functions as the Signature series. But you are also not likely to get a bag with such pleasantly pervasive flourishes and design touches.

A sturdy leather base helps the bag sit upright whether empty or stuffed with gear.

Overall I have found the Think Tank Signature 13 Shoulder Bag to be outstanding and a fine addition to my carrying collection. It’s not revolutionary in any one single way, but it takes the concept of a shoulder-style bag with velcro dividers and enhances it to a level of refinement and craftsmanship that I don’t see in a lot of other bags. If you’re the kind of photographer who likes this type of bag, I heartily recommend the Think Tank Signature 13.

Rating (out of five stars)

Design: 5
Ease of Use: 4.5
Comfort: 5
Durability: 4.5
Functionality: 5
Overall: 4.5/5

The post Think Tank Signature 13 Camera Shoulder Bag Review by Simon Ringsmuth appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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LG G6 camera review

04 Jun

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The G6 is LG’s latest flagship smartphone. For the new model, LG has abandoned the G5’s modular concept and has instead designed a device that offers a water- and dust-proof body and a 5.7″ QHD+ display with an unusual 18:9 aspect ratio.

In the camera department, LG sticks with the G5’s dual-camera concept but both sensors now offer the same 13MP resolution. The wide-angle lens comes with a 71 degree angle of view and F1.8 aperture while the super-wide-angle offers 125 degrees and a slower F2.4 aperture. OIS is available on the wide-angle. 4K video capture with stereo sound recording and a laser-assisted AF system are on board as well.

Other specs are flagship-worthy too. Android 7.0 is powered by last year’s top-end chipset Snapdragon 821 and 4GB of RAM. 32 or 64GB of internal storage are expandable via a microSD slot. And unlike some of its competitors the G6 still offers a 3.5mm headphone jack.

With improved camera specs, the interesting new display format and the waterproof body, the LG G6 looks like an appealing option for mobile photographers. Read the full article to find out how it performed in our test.

Key Photographic / Video Specifications

Dual-camera with two 1/3″ 13MP sensors
Wide-angle, 71 degree angle of view, F1.8, 3-axis OIS
Super-wide-angle, 125 degree angle of view, F2.4
Laser-assisted autofocus
4K video with stereo sound recording
5MP front camera with 100 degree angle of view, F2.2
Dual-LED flash

Other Specifications

Android 7.0
Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset
4GB RAM, 32/64GB storage
microSD support up to 256GB
5.7″ 18:9 QHD+ IPS display, 2880 x 1440 resolution, 564 ppi
IP68 certified, water and dust resistant
Fingerprint reader
Google Assistant
3300 battery with Quick Charge 3.0

DPReview smartphone reviews are written with the needs of photographers in mind. We focus on camera features, performance, and image quality.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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AI-guided camera assistant Arsenal blows past Kickstarter funding goals

03 Jun

Last week we wrote about Arsenal, an intelligent camera assistant currently looking for crowdfunding. Since then, the Kickstarter campaign has enjoyed huge success, with over $ 700,000 pledged and still plenty of time left to raise more funds. Arsenal’s creator has issued an update announcing that as stretch goals have been met, additional camera support will be added for launch, along with live histogram and night focus features.

A new stretch goal for $ 1,000,000 has also been set. If that funding level is met, Arsenal’s creators promise it will ship with remote video control and remote video playback.

Below are the cameras added for launch. The video above, posted recently, showcases Arsenal’s time-lapse capabilities.

Sony a77
Sony a77ii
Sony a99
Sony a99ii
Nikon d500
Nikon D3000
Canon 760D

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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VENQUE Transformer A modular backpack has an expandable camera bag

02 Jun

Newly launched on crowdfunding website Kickstarter is a modular, ‘transformable’ backpack called VENQUE Transformer A. The team behind the product describes Transformer A as an ‘advanced backpack’ that can be transformed into various types of bags, including a camera backpack, a messenger bag, and a ‘travel pro’ bag. Among the backpack’s many features is an expandable camera bag that is separate from the main component.

VENQUE designed the Transformer A to meet a variety of needs in different situations and environments, and the end result is a bag with built-in USB charging, a hidden compartment for expensive electronics like laptops, a dedicated compartment for a tripod or water bottle, straps to hold a yoga mat, as well as anti-theft features, a secure buckle, YKK zippers, and an RFID security pocket.

The expandable camera bag can be used as part of the main backpack or separately as a smaller, lighter day pack. Transformer A measures 47 x 34 x 16.5cm (18.5 x 13.4 x 6.5in) and weighs 0.7kg (1.5lbs), while the camera bag measures 25 x 23 x 7.6cm (10 x 9 x 3in) and weighs 0.3kg (0.7lbs). VENQUE doesn’t estimate how much camera gear the expandable bag can accommodate, though one image shows it with a Sony a7 body, one lens, and a couple camera accessories.

The company is currently offering the Transformer A backpack as a reward to backers who pledge at least $ 239 CAD / $ 177 USD for the campaign. Shipping to backers is estimated to start this August.

Via: Kickstarter

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Extended Spring Roll Camera Jacket launches for mirrorless cameras

02 Jun

Japanese company Extended has launched a new protective case for select cameras, the Extended Spring Roll Camera Jacket. This case is compatible with the Leica M series, Leica Q, Fuji X-Pro series, and other similarly-sized cameras. As the product’s name suggests, the Spring Roll protects cameras by wrapping around them; two small snap clasps are used to keep the case closed.

According to the company’s website, Spring Roll measures 155mm x 290mm when open; the lens cover has a 70mm diameter and a 55mm length. Extended Photographic recently launched the Spring Roll Camera Jacket on its website, where it is priced at ¥12,800 / $ 110 USD with shipping to the US being an additional ¥2,000 / $ 18.

Via: LeicaRumors

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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It’s a photo album… and a camera: the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-N1

01 Jun

In the mid-2000s camera manufacturers had to find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. Kodak brought Wi-Fi to the camera world with its EasyShare One, Panasonic released the DMC-LX1 that had a 16:9 sensor and Samsung put selfie mirrors on the front of its compacts. Not to be outdone, Sony released its Cyber-shot DSC-N1 in October 2005, which was a compact camera and a 500-shot photo album in one.

On the front panel, the N1 had an 8.1MP, 1/1.8″ CCD with a top ISO of 800, a 38-114mm equivalent lens, 5-area AF system and a battery that lasted for roughly 300 shots (which is quite respectable). Images and VGA video could be saved to internal memory or a Memory Stick Pro Duo slot.

Photo quality was typical for 2005, which is to say, good until about ISO 400 or so.

The real action takes place on the back of the DSC-N1, where you’ll find a 3″, 230k-dot RGBW LCD. The display was touch-enabled and offered features that we take for granted today, like touch AF, menu operation and image playback.

Enough beating around the bush: here’s what made the DSC-N1 unique. Every time you took a photo, a VGA-sized version would be saved to the camera’s internal memory bank. Album photos are saved ‘first in first out’, which means that older photos will be automatically deleted from the album if you don’t protect or copy them first.

Images were organized by date and time and you could view slideshows of images from that date or the whole album. Slideshows were accompanied by fancy transitions and generic background music. One nice thing was that you could replace the built-in music with your own, drawing from CDs or MP3s.

As the photo above says, you could ‘paint’ on top of a photo using an included stylus. You could pick a color and a line size and draw away or add ‘stamps’. Thankfully, an eraser was also available.

Sony offered an optional dock, known as the Cyber-shot Station, which let you charge the battery or display your slideshows on a TV.

Read DCResource DSC-N1 review

Sample Gallery

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Did you have a Cyber-shot DSC-N1 or the DSC-N2 that followed it? Share your memories in the comments! As always, suggestions for future tbt’s are appreciated.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Hands on with Halide, a new gesture-based iPhone camera app

01 Jun

What do you get when a former Apple designer and a former Twitter developer combine forces? You get Halide — a brand new gesture-based iPhone camera app designed for those who want more control over the picture-taking process.

Designed by Sebastiaan de With, developed by Ben Sandofsky, and released yesterday, Halide — a name reminiscent of film-based photographic processes — is designed with the aim that anyone from an amateur to a pro can achieve advanced results with minimal effort.

Advanced apps like Camera+, ProCam, and ProShot offer vast shooting flexibility and go beyond the basics provided by Apple’s stock Camera app, but come with a higher learning curve. Unless you use such apps consistently, it’s hard to remember the location of various controls for a quick shot. In urgent situations, many shooters resort to the app they know best — the default Camera.

Halide aims to be the ideal, elegant middle ground between ‘too simple’ and ‘airplane cockpit,’ peacefully co-existing with the iPhone’s default Camera app and perhaps occupying at least some of the same muscle memory space.

Halide lets you compose your shot in portrait or landscape orientation.

Halide starts out shooting in smart auto mode, but a single tap calls up a manual mode where you can adjust ISO, shutter speed and white balance. The same gestures you use with the iPhone’s native camera work for Halide, though with some variations. The zoom gesture, for example, does not work for some handset models, but instead adjusts exposure, which is similar to the original Camera app’s vertical swipe gesture.

Toggle controls let you switch between automatic and manual settings, and the grid lights up when the camera is level. Tap focusing also works.

Moreover, Halide’s sole concentration on shooting still photos gives it wider latitude within that narrow task. Halide doesn’t do panoramas, video or other special effects like HDR, but it does give you an optional, real-time live histogram, Raw capture and a friendly visual interface. It’s not an editor, so you can’t use it to open a photo from your Camera Roll.

Halide focuses on three major points of interest: tactile controls, focus peaking and instant review. Smart Auto picks your ISO and shutter speeds while an EV feature lets you flick up or down to adjust exposure. Focus peaking automatically highlights in red the sharpest areas in the scene. You can enable an optional overlay grid that doubles as a level – the center tile glows when your camera is level – to help align your shot.

Automatic and manual focus and focus peaking.

Controls at the bottom of the interface let you tap to switch between auto and manual focus, as a toggle evokes focus peaking. You can also tap to focus. Finally, you can choose to shoot JPEG or Raw and customize which controls appear on screen.

When you’re ready to check out your shots, Halide lets you view your recent captures via 3D touch and quickly swipe left or right to either favorite your picks or discard rejects.

Halide runs on iPhone 5 and above — essentially any iPhone that can run iOS 10, but it works a little differently, depending on which device you own. The iPhone 6s and up supports both the real-time histogram and focus peaking. The test sample shots in this story are from an iPhone 6s.

The single layer of controls at the top are customizable. View, save or discard shots right away.

Halide is available from the App Store now at a discounted price of $ 2.99. It is available in English, with Spanish, Dutch, German, and French localizations in progress. On June 6, the price goes up to $ 4.99. There are no plans for an Android version at this time.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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Avoid These 5 Common Camera Setting Mistakes Made By Beginners

31 May

Over the years, I’ve taught many new photographers and observed how they used their cameras. I have noticed a handful of common mistakes that many of them make. While there is a lot more to learn about photography, if you can avoid or fix these issues alone, you will find that your photographs will be much sharper and of much better quality.

Avoid These 5 Camera Setting Mistakes Typically Made By Beginners

1. Not raising the ISO high enough

It used to be commonly taught that you always needed to go as low as possible with the ISO for digital cameras. This was because early digital cameras had horrible noise at higher ISOs. These days, that has completely changed. Newer digital cameras can shoot with incredible quality at ISO 800, 1600, 3200, and even 6400 for higher end cameras. The noise is much less noticeable than it used to be, and it is much more pleasant looking.

Avoid These 5 Camera Setting Mistakes Typically Made By Beginners

This has changed how we can shoot. While your ISO should still be as low as possible when the camera is on a tripod when you’re shooting handheld you will often want to raise your ISO up much higher. Unless I am purposely shooting with a very large aperture such as f/2.8, I typically keep my ISO at 400 in sunlight, 800-1600 in light to dark shade, and 3200 and 6400 when handheld at dusk or at night. This allows me to use a faster shutter speed to offset handheld camera shake or motion in subjects, along with a decent depth of field. My shots are much sharper because of this.

Unless you are shooting in Manual Mode, I suggest taking your camera off of auto-ISO. You never want to let your camera choose two of the three settings (shutter, aperture, and ISO) because it will mess up your photographs a lot of the time. The camera should only be choosing one of those three settings for optimal use.

2. Using a shutter speed that’s too slow

Avoid These 5 Camera Setting Mistakes Typically Made By Beginners

To offset the handheld camera shake, the shutter speed always needs to be ONE over the focal length of your lens. So if you are shooting with a 50mm lens, your camera will need to be at 1/50th of a second (or faster) to make sure the image is sharp. This comes even more into play with a zoom lens because a 300mm lens will need a 1/300th of a second shutter speed in order for the image to not look blurry. This is because slight vibrations are much more noticeable when you magnify a small area in the distance. This is also why I will often raise my ISO when zooming at far distances.

For subjects in motion, you will need a fast enough shutter speed to freeze them. I prefer a minimum of 1/250th of a second to freeze people walking. You will need an even faster shutter speed as you get to subjects such as cars.

3. Not using exposure compensation (+/-) or the right meter mode

Avoid These 5 Camera Setting Mistakes Typically Made By Beginners

If you are using Aperture or Shutter Priority mode, Exposure Compensation is your best friend, particularly in scenes with tricky lighting. Your camera’s light meter is not creative – it wants to make everything look a neutral gray, but that is problematic in images with lots of dark or bright tones. Maybe you want those tones to look gray for creative purposes, but most likely, you will want them to be true to the scene. This is where Exposure Compensation (+/-) comes into play.

For instance, in scenes with lots of bright snow or a bright sky, this could trick the camera into thinking that it needs to overly darken the image to make those white areas look gray. Or if you are shooting at night, or in a dark alleyway, the camera’s light meter will try to make those dark tones look like a lighter gray, thus brightening the image too much. Similar problems can also appear when shooting in areas with both bright highlights and dark shadows, or if your subject is backlit.

On a related note, many photographers keep their camera on the wrong metering mode. There are three main metering modes; Evaluative, Center-weighted, and Spot metering. Evaluative will expose for the entire scene, Center-weighted will expose based on the spot that you focus on and an expanded area around it, and Spot metering will measure the light based on only the spot that you point to. I personally find Evaluative to be too broad and Spot to be too focused, so I mostly use Center-weighted metering mode.

Read more here: Cheat Sheet: Understand Metering Modes On Your Camera

4. Not getting the focus point right

Avoid These 5 Camera Setting Mistakes Typically Made By Beginners

Some photographers leave their focusing completely up to the camera. This is a terrible idea as the camera will often focus on the wrong point, ultimately ruining your image. You need to be in control of your focusing and put the focus on the most important subject in the image.

On a similar note, it is common for photographers to get that new 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 lens and immediately think that they need to shoot everything at f/1.4 because they can. Some situations will be good for f/1.4, but it’s important to realize how shallow the depth of field is at that aperture.

If you are shooting with a really shallow depth of field, the focus needs to be perfect and exactly right on the most important subject. If you are photographing a person and you put the focus point on the person’s ear or nose instead of their eyes, it will be noticeable and it will mess up the photograph. Often, I prefer to shoot portraits like this at f/4 instead of f/1.8 or f/2.8. There is still a beautiful background with bokeh, yet more of the person is in focus. This minimizes any focusing mistakes as well.

5. Using image stabilization when using a tripod

Avoid These 5 Camera Setting Mistakes Typically Made By Beginners

The image stabilizer in your lens or camera will make your photographs sharper when handheld. However, it can also create minor vibrations while keeping the camera steadier, and these vibrations can actually backfire when you are on a tripod. Sometimes they will introduce blur. So always make sure to turn the image stabilizer off when you are using a tripod. If you ever notice your photographs on a tripod are slightly blurry, this issue and wind are the most likely culprits.

Conclusion

There you have it. The bottom line is that if you can learn to conquer and avoid these five common beginner mistakes, you’ll be on your way to better photography.

The post Avoid These 5 Common Camera Setting Mistakes Made By Beginners by James Maher appeared first on Digital Photography School.

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Nikon D3: The camera that changed everything

28 May

In 2007, after several years of lagging behind Canon in the enthusiast and professional DSLR market, Nikon was doing alright. Not spectacularly, but they were hanging in there. The D200 was a popular and capable enthusiast model, and the professional D2x was a significant advance on the muddled ‘h’ and ‘s’ releases of the past. But it was their biggest competitor that seemed to have all the momentum. While Canon had been using APS-H and full-frame sensors for years, none of Nikon’s DSLRs offered sensors bigger than APS-C, and Canon still ruled the roost in terms of autofocus¹ and high ISO imaging capability.

But around that time, we had an inkling that Nikon had something big on the way. Not a company prone to grand gestures, Nikon invited the world’s press (and I do mean the world’s press) to Tokyo, in the sapping humidity of a Japanese heatwave for a top secret announcement…

The magnesium alloy-bodied D3 was as tough as anything that Canon ever brought to market, but offered a combination of speed, sensitivity and autofocus performance that the industry had never seen before.

Ten years ago, camera technology was advancing continuously, and quickly. For quite a long time, it seemed like every new generation of digital cameras was better than the last in ways that camera buyers (and reviewers) actually cared about. Obviously, each new cycle brought more megapixels, but equally as important were the ergonomic and performance improvements that made each new generation of cameras easier to use, and more effective than the last.

Buzz Aldrin, in London to mark the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.

Nowhere were these advances more obvious than in the professional DSLR segment. Compare the original EOS-1D of 2001 to the EOS-1D Mark IV of 2010. They look similar, but in terms of usability and image quality they’re worlds apart.

Let’s take usability, to start with. If we look at just the screen interfaces alone, in less than a decade, LCDs got bigger, and much sharper. Live view became standard, and, camera menu systems evolved from messy lists that looked like Windows ME error messages to friendly tabs and mobile-inspired icons.

My personal D3S, nestled alongside a D810 and several lenses in a Pelican case. It’s still great, and I still use it.

The 4MP Canon EOS-1D is still capable of turning out decent-looking images for web and limited print use, and it can do so impressive quickly (8 fps ain’t bad for a sixteen year-old DSLR). But the EOS-1D Mark IV offered four times the pixel count, better image quality across the board, including a far superior high ISO imaging capability, a faster continuous shooting rate, and a much more sophisticated autofocus system – plus live view and movie mode.

High Barn, not far from where I grew up, in North Yorkshire. 12MP might not be much by 2017 standards, but it’s enough for a high quality 13-inch print.

All of this is by way of preamble. The point (finally! He gets to the point!) is that even by the fast-paced standards of the professional DSLR market in the mid 2000s, the Nikon D3 was a major technological achievement. Arguably, (and I admit it’s a big ‘arguably’) the EOS-1D Mark IV and its successors might not have been quite such advanced cameras without the technological game-upping that Canon had to do in the years following the launch of the D3.

Nikon D3 Sample Images (2008)

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As a working photographer and photography writer at the time, the D3 was (and remains, actually) the single most impactful product to be released during my career. Before Nikon’s presentation in Tokyo had even drawn to a close,² our industry’s expectations of what a DSLR could do had been shifted.

Until the D3, you could either have a fast cropped sensor DSLR, or a slow full-frame one – not both. Until the D3, the maximum ISO sensitivity setting that you might be able to shoot at was either 1600 or 3200 (depending on the model), and even then, not particularly confidently. Until the D3 (and its sister model the D300) came along, if you wanted the best autofocus performance, there was no question – you bought Canon.

Melody Gardot, performing in London. The D3’s shutter sounds like someone just dropped a cribbage board onto a marble floor, but the D3S introduced a fairly discreet ‘Q’ mode.

I was happily shooting with a Canon EOS-1D Mark II when the D3 was released. For the kind of photography I was doing at the time, the Mark II was one of the best cameras on the market, and did the job perfectly well – or so I thought. I felt the same way about the 1D Mark II in 2007 as I did about my Nokia 3210. Solid, reliable, and elegant in its own way. A useful and streamlined tool.

At risk of overstating the point, the D3 was to my EOS-1D Mark II what the iPhone was to the Nokia 3210: a paradigm shift.³

Florence Welch, shot with the D3’s successor, the D3S. The D3S added some welcome tweaks over the D3, including in-camera sensor cleaning, and slightly improved high ISO image quality.

Using the D3, I could shoot quickly and without a crop factor for the first time. I could capture full-color images in light so low that my own eyes couldn’t fully discern what I was looking at (and the AF could usually keep up). I could shoot at ISO 6400, and marvel at the moderate film-like grain – a grain pattern that wasn’t distracting at all, and showed no banding. The D3’s autofocus system was at least a generation ahead of what I was used to in terms of tracking too, allowing me to reliably use AF-C, even with off-center AF points in poor light.

Nikon D3S Sample Images (2010)

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In practical terms, this meant that I could capture images of performers in light so marginal that none of the other photographers working alongside me were able to get a sharp exposure.

A couple of times during my first few months of shooting with the D3 (when I had the camera for review, but before it was shipping in significant numbers) I found myself alone in the photo pit at a small venue, still shooting in punishingly low light after the other photographers had given up and left.⁴

But it wasn’t just performance photographers that were amazed by the D3. Wildlife photographers, too, were raving about this amazing new camera that let them shoot in full color, in situations where previously they would have been limited to infrared. Like I said, it was a paradigm shift.

The D3S has accompanied me on a few shooting trips in 2017, including a protest against the Trump administration’s attempted travel ban, back in January.

So of course I bought one. I sold all my Canon gear, took a hit on the exchange, ate tinned food for a few months and picked up a D3 with a 24-70mm F2.8. I added more lenses over the following couple of years when I could afford to, and ultimately traded the D3 for a D3S. The D3S added in-camera sensor-cleaning (one of the D3’s few deficiencies), even better high ISO image quality and a basic HD video function. That was around the same time I started to write for DPReview, and about a year after that we moved to America and I mostly stopped shooting live music.

My life has changed a lot since then, but I still have my D3S and I still use it – mostly now as a second camera for event photography. And no, Dan Bracaglia – I’m not selling, so stop asking.

A still from a commercial shoot for a young singer-songwriter, Anna Sinfield, in 2008. She’s a producer, these days, for UK radio.

One last anecdote…

Not long after the D3’s launch, back in London, I spoke to a young Nikon engineer who had been heavily involved in the design of the new camera. He was visiting from Tokyo. He brought with him two sets of prints – one set from the then-current Canon EOS-1D Mark III, and an equivalent set from the D3. Pointing to the shots from the Canon, he said “in my opinion, these look like digital images”. Turning to the images from the D3 he said “but these look like photographs”.

That might sound like hyperbole, but the thing is – he was right.

1. Setting aside the much-reported and in my opinion overblown autofocus woes of the EOS-1D Mark III.

2. In addition to the cameras, the presentation was also memorable for a closing appeal from a very senior Nikon executive to the assembled US press. Please – he requested – please pronounce ‘Nikon’ correctly as ‘Nick-on’ not ‘Nye-con’ – a plea that was of course completely ignored by all concerned. That trip was also the first time I encountered a Geisha (it would not be the last).

3. If the D3 had come loaded with ‘Snake II’ it would have been perfect. Actually, given the amount of time professional photographers spend just waiting around, I’ve always wondered why simple arcade games weren’t pre-loaded on professional DSLRs.

4. The Pogues – I’m looking at you. Or rather, I was trying to…

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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How do you know you need a new camera?

27 May

Introduction

For the vast majority of shooting I do, even on weddings, I find my aging DSLR is still more than enough camera for the job. After all, it’s the photographer, not the camera, right?
Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1000 sec | F8

‘Do I need a new camera?’

Unsurprisingly, I get that question a lot. I also ask myself that question a lot, especially after working at DPReview for the last eighteen months. My answer has always been ‘no.’

Until now, that is.

You see, I shoot all my personal work on a Nikon D700. Why is that, you might ask? Well, I was handed-me-down a Nikon D80 way back, built up a collection of lenses, and followed the (questionable, these days) full-frame upgrade path. And once I got there, to my used (and abused) D700, I abruptly stopped. What on earth did I need more camera for?

I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of this D700 because a) it’s covered in tape to hold it together, so its ugly and therefore worthless to most resellers, and b) it’s been around the world with me and back again, and hasn’t missed a beat.

It still shoots 5fps, and that’s usually enough for weddings and events. Exposed properly, ISO 6400 is perfectly usable. It’s stood up to everything I’ve thrown at it (and accidentally thrown it at). And, most importantly, I’ve become familiar with all of its ins and outs, and how to work around its limitations. I am able operate it completely by muscle memory and, despite its aging tech, I’ve been confident that if I didn’t get the shot, it wasn’t the camera’s fault – it was mine.

With my flash and exposure set, focusing and grabbing this image of a soloing saxophonist on the dance floor didn’t pose much of a problem for the D700 and an 85mm F1.8 D lens I was using – but that wasn’t always the case.
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F1.8

But as I was shooting a recent wedding, the Nikon D5 kept popping up in my mind. I was lead reviewer for that camera, and this nagging voice kept saying ‘the D5 could make this so much easier.’ And when a camera makes the task of capturing an image easier, my mind is that much more free to focus on composition, lighting, posing, and so on.

So am I buying a D5? Well, not without selling my motorcycle and my car, which would be a problem for getting to gigs since Nikon hasn’t included teleportation into their $ 6500 flagship. But now I’m finally looking at something a bit newer, and not just because I think it’ll make things easier for me.

Megapixels do matter

Sometimes, anyway.

For my own casual photography, for when I want to just take a camera along and document a camping trip, a friend’s barbecue or snap some photos at Thanksgiving, 12 megapixels is plenty. No one’s printing these photos big, and friends and family are just going to put them on Facebook or Instagram anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I might make some 4×6’s.

It’s for these sorts of wider group shots that I really came to lean on my second shooter’s higher megapixel cameras.
Canon 35mm F2 IS
ISO 100 | 1/1000 | F3.5
Photograph by David Rzegocki

Then my second shooter and I were wandering around the grounds of the University of Washington in Seattle with the bridal party, and shooting some more expansive group shots; shots that I knew that if people zoomed in to their faces on my D700 files, they could be disappointed. So I borrowed my partner’s 6D (or just let him frame up the shot) to make sure that, should they want to make some prints, or just take a closer look at their dresses and suits, they had the resolution they needed.

Now, I said they could be disappointed. There’s every chance that they wouldn’t care. But I’m reaching the point in my freelance career that it just wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

‘What? The autofocus missed?’

Now don’t get me wrong – the pro-grade autofocus system in the D700, lifted directly from the D3, is still pretty fantastic. Most of the time. But I’m increasingly realizing that I want a system to be fantastic all of the time – there were a few strange autofocus mishaps I experienced that cost me a shot I was hoping to nail.

Surely it’s more about the mixed, dim lighting and old screw lenses than the camera in this case, right? On the contrary, I knew from my time with the D5 that Nikon’s newest autofocus system absolutely sings even with older lenses like mine, with a level of precision in marginal light that I’d expect from the D700 in bright daylight.

All I wanted a quick candid of the back of the bride’s necklace. It looks okay at 590 pixels, but zoom in any further and it’s soft, despite the lens being stopped down and the autofocus point having been placed over the necklace (so plenty of contrast).
Nikon 85mm F1.8 D
ISO 200 | 1/320 sec | F2.8

Lastly, as many times as I have insisted to our technical editor Rishi that 3D Tracking works ‘just fine’ on the D700, I shall now be unceremoniously cramming those words into my mouth. It was so unreliable compared to the newer models that I fell back on manually placing my autofocus point. I’d been doing this for years before I experimented with tracking on the D700, so my muscle memory came back pretty quickly, but I still knew I was taking a step backward and making just a little more work for myself.

Plus, that eight-way controller on the D700 is like an undercooked banana loaf; it’s just a mushy mess.

So what’s next?

Nikon 35mm F2 D
ISO 200 | 1/1600 sec | F8

I have officially sold one of my two D700’s (the one that’s in mint condition, not the one that’s dented and covered in gaff tape to keep the grip rubber on). And as for now, I’m not really sure what’s next – Nikon would probably be my first choice, as I still have plenty of lenses, but I’m totally open for some camera-brand soul searching.

One thing’s for certain, though. I’m going to take my time with this one. That’s because I want the next ‘main camera’ to be one that I can keep and be as satisfied with as long as possible, just like the D700. This may sound odd coming from a camera reviewer, but I just don’t want to upgrade all the time. I want to build up the same level of muscle memory I had with my old Nikon, and besides that, I have enough other interests and expenses that if a new camera won’t make a really measurable difference for my style of photography, it’s best to just skip it.

But then again – if I hadn’t had the opportunity to experiment not just with the Nikon D5, but also cameras like the Nikon D750, Canon EOS 5D IV, Sony a7R II, the Olympus E-M1 (original and Mark II), Panasonic GH5, Fujifilm X-T2 and many, many more, I wouldn’t have known what I’m missing.

Nikon 50mm F1.4D
ISO 6400 | 1/200 sec | F2

Now, for better (for my photography) or worse (for my bank account), I do know what I’ve been missing. After having so many opportunities to try out all those alternatives, I unequivocally know that a newer, updated camera could really benefit me as a photographer. And that’s how, finally, I know that it’s a good time for a change.

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

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