Tag Archives: DLSR

New Nikon D750 and 20mm Lens

The Nikon D750: 24MP 6.5fps FX-format DSLR body.

Last night, Nikon announced their latest FX-format (36x24mm) DSLR body, the Nikon D750. They also announced a new 20mm f/1.8 AFS G Nikkor lens. Here are my initial thoughts on these announced products. Note that I haven’t tried or tested these items; these are my opinions based on the specs I’ve seen so far. Continue reading New Nikon D750 and 20mm Lens

D800 Sharpness: Diffraction

I previously discussed how camera shake and focus accuracy can affect maximum image sharpness with the Nikon D800 (or any DSLR, for that matter). Another contributing factor to image sharpness is lens performance, especially with respect to aperture. While the primary use of aperture is to control depth of field, most lenses just aren’t quite at their sharpest when used at their extremes.

Wide-open, most lenses will have sub-optimal performance. Contrast and sharpness will be reduced, and you might also see light fall-off (corner shading). As you stop the aperture down, both sharpness and depth of field increase, and light fall-off diminishes. How much you need to stop down to get razor-sharp images is related to the quality of your lens. Some of the telephoto prime lenses, like the Nikon 300mm f/4 lens, are very sharp wide-open, especially compared to a consumer-grade counterpart, like the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR Nikkor (a good lens, but not nearly as sharp wide-open). Higher quality lenses usually require less stopping down to get optimal sharpness.

However, beyond certain apertures, images will actually start to soften due to the effect of diffraction. Diffraction softening is a physical function related to the size of the pixels on your camera sensor. The smaller the pixels, the more noticeable diffraction effects can become. Continue reading D800 Sharpness: Diffraction

Nikon D4: Field testing and other notes

Nikon D4 image, under-exposed at -2.7EV compensation (click to enlarge)
Under-exposed Nikon D4 image after processing (click to enlarge)

My Moab photo safari last week was the first real field test of my new Nikon D4. I had absolutely no issues with it in the field, and I captured over 1500 frames (NEF). Some testing requires extended use, and with that, here are some more observations about the Nikon D4. Continue reading Nikon D4: Field testing and other notes