Art of the Image: October 2010

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Speedlite Softbox Halloween Spook-tacular Sale!

We just received a new shipment of Art of the Image Speedlite Softboxes in time for our Speedlite Softbox Halloween Spook-tacular Sale!

Just $88 each for a limited time (plus shipping).

Buy one for a friend, or buy two with a friend and save on shipping! We'll combine shipping, and you pay only the one shipping fee!

Hurry and get yours before the Speedlite Softbox Halloween Spook-tacular Sale is over!

Nikon D7000 First Impressions After a Few Hours of Shooting

After the unboxing and once the battery was charged, I took the Nikon D7000 for a photo walk around the house and the yard.

I shot with the Nikon 50mm f1.4G, the Nikon 105mm f2.8G VR, and the Nikon 70-300mm VR to see how a variety of lenses performed.

I also shot the D7000 at a range of ISO settings, including 6400 ISO, to see how what kind of image quality and high ISO performance the Nikon D7000 is capable of.

While I was shooting, I was paying careful attention to auto focus, shutter lag, and over-all camera response of the D7000 to see how it compared against the Nikon D90 and even my Nikon D700.

Quick summary... the Nikon D7000 ROCKS! It's built like a tank. Feels like a smaller D700. Auto focus is quick and accurate. I'd say it's likely the equal of my D700 from my initial impressions.

The D7000 image quality is fantastic. Could be close to the Nikon D700 from what I'm seeing, but I plan on doing some head to head comparisons to see for sure.

Over-all, I'm very impressed! Watch the video for more of my thoughts and observations, but it's safe to say the Nikon D7000 is a HUGE SUCCESS!

Nikon D7000 Unboxed Video

My Nikon D7000 came in! Check out the unboxed video I did, showing off the D7000, what's in the box, and discussing new features and specs of the Nikon D7000.

I also discuss the up-coming tests and comparisons I'm going to be doing on the D7000 to see how the auto focus performs, how the high ISO measures up, and how the overall image quality of the Nikon D7000 compares to other Nikon DSLR's such as the D90, D3100, and the D700.

I'll also be doing more comparison shoot-outs with the Nikon D7000 against the Nikon D90, D3100, D700, and the Canon T2i.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G RAW Comparison Using Nikon ViewNX 2 vs Lightroom 3.3 RC

I have to admit, I jumped a little in my chair when I saw that Lightroom 3.3 RC was out, then I downloaded it as fast as I could.

Nikon ViewNX 2 has been just awful to work with for processing RAW files from the Nikon D3100. It's kinda like having someone poke you in your left eye with a hot poker while at the same time twisting your arm up behind your back until it feels like it's going to pop out of the socket.

Sure, ViewNX2 yields some nice results, but the pain you have to endure to get them almost intolerable.

So, yeah... I was more than a little excited to see Lightroom 3.3 RC come out with support for the Nikon D3100.

The next thing on my mind was how they compare... not so much for workflow as I know Lightroom is the best software out there for RAW processing workflow, but I wanted to see how close the image quality was.

A while back I wrote a piece called Lightroom vs Nikon Capture / View comparing Lightroom to Nikon Capture and Nikon View. I figured it was time for an update to see if there was anything had changed, and if there was any reason to keep this clunky, piece of crap software, ViewNX 2, on my computer.

The short answer is, no.

Lightroom 3.3 RC handles the Nikon D3100 RAW files beautifully. When you set the camera profiles to match those used in camera, you pretty much can't tell the difference. The odd file is slightly different, but not in a bad way... just not exactly identical as the one from ViewNX 2.

Maybe 1in a 100 images might turn out just ever so slightly nicer out of ViewNX 2, but even then it's so close as to be hardly worth mentioning.

I did a photowalk around the house with my Nikon 35mm f1.8G on my Nikon D3100 and shot random images of my kids at different settings and ISO values to run some tests between Lightroom 3.3 RC and Nikon ViewNX 2.

I then ran the RAW files through both pieces of software and compared the results. With the camera profiles set to match the file as shot, Lightroom is practically indistinguishable from ViewNX 2 for color and look.

In fact, if there was any minor difference, I usually preferred the Lightroom file.

Images were saved as High Quality in ViewNX 2 (once setting below the top), and to 60% in Lightroom 3.3 RC which works out to about equal compression settings.

So, my conclusion... Lightroom 3.3 RC ROCKS for processing Nikon D3100 RAW files! I'll probably still keep ViewNX2 on my computer, but I doubt I'll use it much if at all. It's just WAY TOO BAD for workflow. ViewNX 2 has got to be one of the worst, if not the worst, piece of imaging software I've ever used.

Here's some photo samples for you to see for yourself how Lightroom 3.3 RC measures up against Nikon ViewNX 2. Click on the photos to see the full size file.

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Nikon ViewNX 2

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Lightroom 3.3 RC

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Nikon ViewNX 2

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Lightroom 3.3 RC

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Nikon ViewNX 2

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Lightroom 3.3 RC

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Nikon ViewNX 2

Nikon D3100 + Nikon 35mm f1.8G processed with Lightroom 3.3 RC

More over at the Lightroom 3.3 RC vs Nikon ViewNX 2 Flickr page.

Related posts...

Lightroom vs Nikon Capture / Nikon View

Lightroom vs Canon DPP

Lightroom Workflow : Import Photos : How To Get Your Photos To Look Like They Did On Your Camera LCD

Lightroom Tutorial - Renaming Photo Folders During Import

Monday, October 25, 2010

Nikon D700x / D800 Status

Nikon D700x / D800 DSLR

For those of you that have read Nikon D4, D4x, 700s, 700x 2011 Lineup, you'll know I expect to see the Nikon D700x in 2011.

Perhaps one of the most written about, sought after, dreamed of DSLR cameras to date, the D700x / D800 will be the perfect camera for a lot of photographers. I know I want one!

The Nikon D700x, also referred to as the Nikon D800 and Nikon D900, will feature the sensor from the current DSLR King, the Nikon D3x. That means we'll be getting the 24 megapixel goodness in the wonderful D700 body, the perfect mating of performance and ergonomics for many shooters.

The Nikon D3x is the BEST camera in a 35mm DSLR that money can buy at the time of this writing. Check out DXOMark to see why.

Now take that BEST ranking and drop it into a smaller, lighter, more ergonomically friendly body, and it's easy to see what all the fuss is about.

The question on most people's minds is "Where is it?" or "Why hasn't Nikon released it yet?"

I touch on this in Nikon D4, D4x, 700s, 700x 2011 Lineup. Basically, I think Nikon didn't want to cannobilize D3x sales until they were close to releasing the D4x.

The Nikon D4x is expected to have a new 38 megapixel sensor, and when it's out, Nikon should have no fear of releasing the Nikon D700x with the D3x's 24MP sensor. The D4x will have no need to fear losing sales to the D700x as it'll be significantly more advanced with signficantly more resolution.

Nikon will have the best of both worlds. The D4x will sell well to those needing the BEST, and the D700x will sell like crazy to the rest of us who want the next closest thing to the BEST at a MUCH BETTER price.

When, in 2011, Nikon releases the Nikon D700x /D800 is dependant on a couple of things.

First off, it'll depend on whether Nikon chooses to release the D700x / D800 just before or just after the Nikon D4x. This could go either way as Nikon could benefit from either choice, especially if they leak info on either camera prior to releasing the other.

For example, let's say Nikon chooses to release the D700x /D800 before the D4x. If they leak info, images, arrange public sightings of the D4x in use, the D700x /D800 will sell very well and not hurt any sales of the D4x as those who would buy the D4x will know it's coming from the leaks.

Conversely, the same strategy could be used if the D4x is released before the D700x /D800.

I think we'll see the Nikon D4x released, or at least announced, first, followed by the Nikon D700x /D800.

When you say?

I expect we'll see the Nikon D4x announced by March 2011, and the D700x /D800 shortly after.

In the meantime, let me know by posting a comment or emailing me if you have any info to share on either the D4x or D700x /D800.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Sony NEX-5 vs Nikon D90 Comparison Contradicts DXOMark Nikon D3100 Test Results

Following my previous post Nikon D90 Beats Nikon D3100 at High ISO where I discussed the DXOMark test results of the D3100 vs the D90, a reader posted this Cameralabs comparison of the NEX-5 vs the Nikon D90 showing conflicting test results.

In the Cameralabs tests of the Sony NEX-5 vs the Nikon D90, the NEX-5 clearly beats the Nikon D90 at higher ISO settings.

Considering the Nikon D3100 uses a similar sensor to the Sony NEX-5, this adds to my thoughts that something is out of whack with the DXOMark test results.

If anything, the Nikon D3100 will perform better than the NEX-5 as Nikon has always delivered superior image quality compared to the Sony DSLR cameras.

Factor in Thom Hogan's and my own initial findings that the Nikon D3100 is better than the Nikon D90 at high ISO settings, and the evidence is piling up against the DXOMark results.

The question is why?

In the past, I've always found the DXOMark results to be quite accurate and reflective of my own findings, so I'm curious why that isn't the case with the D3100.

If you come across any other NEX-5 or Nikon D3100 high ISO tests or comparisons, please post them in the comments section as I'd like to see them. Thanks!

Related posts...

New Video Post: Why to Buy the Nikon D3100 Over the Nikon D90

Video Post: Why to Buy the Nikon D90 Over the Nikon D3100

Nikon D3100 Auto Focus First Impressions

Nikon D3100 at ISO 3200 with Bounce Flash Dialed Down

Nikon D3100 Comparison of ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, & 12,800

Nikon D3100 High ISO Wedding Images

Nikon D3100 Unboxed

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Nikon D90 Beats Nikon D3100 At HIGH ISO!

I was surfing around the photo world online last night and was surprised to see DXOMark has the test results for the Nikon D3100 up already.

I was even more surprised to see that when I ran the Nikon D90 against the Nikon D3100, the D90 kicked the D3100's butt by a significant margin at HIGH ISO. This morning I see 1001 Noisy Cameras has done a similar comparison stacking up the Nikon D3100 against the Nikon D5000, Nikon D90, Nikon D3000, and Nikon D300s.

The DXOMark test results surprised me as it isn't what I've been seeing from my tests. Thom Hogan has also said that from his testing, the D3100 "seems to beat the old 12mp sensor cameras in my low light tests (but only by a small amount)."

So what is going on here?

Why are mine and Thom's initial findings on the Nikon D3100 not jiving with the DXOMark sensor evaluation?

Could it be software related? I don't think so as I've been processing both D90 and D3100 photos I've been using for comparison in Nikon ViewNX2.

I'm drawing a blank at the moment for other possible reasons. Thought about bit depth, but that shouldn't be a factor. Thought about noise reduction, but again, not a factor as shot in RAW and processed with the same software.

The good news is that the Nikon D90 is holding it's own very nicely.

The bad news is that these aren't the same observations I've seen when shooting my Nikon D3100 against the Nikon D90.

I'm hoping Thom will comment on this as he's sure to see the DXOMark results and be questioning them as well.

New Video Post: Why to Buy the Nikon D3100 Over the Nikon D90

Following up on my previous Video Post, Why to Buy the Nikon D90 Over the Nikon D3100, here's the flipside.

I'm still getting lots of people writing in to ask about which camera they should buy... the Nikon D3100 or the Nikon D90. Hopefully these video posts will help make the choice a little easier.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

New Video Post: Why to Buy the Nikon D90 Over the Nikon D3100

I'm getting lots of people writing to ask about whether they should buy a Nikon D3100 or Nikon D90.

While I've written about this previously in my post 3 Reasons to Buy the Nikon D90 Over the Nikon D3100, it seems many are still up in the air about choosing between the two.

So I decided to do a video explaining why you might want the Nikon D90 Over the Nikon D3100!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Little Things Photo Contest Begins Today!

Good Morning Photographer Friends!

Once again, it's time to get your cameras out, check them over, charge your batteries, make sure you downloaded and backed up your last shoot before formatting your memory card, clean your lenses, and start your engines!

The subject of the October/November 2010 Art of the Image Photo Contest is Little Things. Thanks to Paul Doelken for the suggestion!

The contest is FREE to all. There is NO CHARGE to enter. Each person can submit up 10 photos each for consideration. The contest starts today and runs until the end of November 2010.

We'll be posting some of our favorite photo entries through-out the contest to show off some of our favourite photo submissions.

The winner will be selected during the first week of December and will be receiving the grand prize. For the Grand Prize Peter Gregg has generously agreed to donate one of his awesome A Better Bounce Cards, and Art of the Image will be adding your choice of any DSLR battery we carry to sweeten the pot!

That's right folks! Top prize to the winner will be an A Better Bounce Card and your choice of any DSLR battery we carry!

To submit your photos, just head on over to the Little Things Flickr Group and submit your photos. Remember, 10 entries per person is the limit.

If you missed the last post where we announced the Days of Summer Photo Contest Winner, check it out!

Days of Summer Photo Contest Winner!

Well, it took longer than I thought to go through all the great photos submitted for the Days of Summer photo contest, but we've finally got a winner!

There were a LOT of great photos submitted. It's always fun to see other people's photographic vision and have a peek into their photographic psyche. :-)

That said, it's a lot of work going through all the photos and trying to decide on a winner! Mostly because there were so many we liked.

In any case, there can be only one as the Highlander once said (great movie if you haven't see it!), and the winner is....

Drum roll...

Ballon Festival in Lancaster PA by Debbie Saull

Debbie wins the grand prize... an A Better Bounce Card, generously donated by the brilliant photographic inventor Peter Gregg, and her choice of any DSLR battery we carry!

Thanks to everyone who entered for all the great submissions, and start your cameras for the October/November 2010 Little Things Photo Contest!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 High ISO Shoot-Out

I shot the Nikon D3100 against the Nikon D90 to see how the high ISO noise and image quality compares side by side.

I shot the Nikon D3100 with my Nikon 50mm f1.4G, and my Nikon D90 with my Nikon 50mm f1.8D. Shot them both at f2.8, as both lenses are tack sharp and virtually identical for sharpness by f2.8.

Lighting is fairly low, from overhead compact flourescent bulbs. I've left the images with the color as shot out of camera. No color correcting for white balance has been done.

The conclusion from these samples and all the shooting I've been doing in the last couple weeks... the Nikon D3100 is about a stop better at high ISO. Maybe not quite a full stop, but bear in mind the D3100 has an extra 2 megapixels on the D90, so close to a stop better is VERY impressive.

Also, at the higher ISO settings I find myself liking the image color better out of the D3100. The color from the Nikon D3100 at higher ISO settings seems to hold together a little better than the D90 colors.

Here's some side by side composite images I put together from D3100 and D90 images at ISO 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400. The full size images are over at my Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 Flickr page.

The images are all processed in Nikon's ViewNX2 as Lightroom 3 doesn't support the D3100 at this time. Images are all as shot, no editing done, and saved at the High Quality JPG setting. They were cropped at full resolution, and as you can see, no re-sizing has been done, so the D3100 images are a little bigger than the D90 images.

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 @ ISO 800

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 @ ISO 1600

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 @ ISO 3200

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 @ ISO 6400

Here's the full stack of ISO 800 through 6400 from the D3100. Feel free to download it from the Flickr page and compare it as you will against the D90 stack below.

Nikon D3100 High ISO Comparison - 3 Little People

Here's the full stack of ISO 800 through 6400 from the D90.

Nikon D90 High ISO Comparison - 3 Little People

These images are cropped from the full size image. The full size images on the Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90 Flickr page have more in the photo to compare if you want to do further pixel peeping.

Related posts...

Sony NEX-5 vs Nikon D90 Comparison Contradicts DXOMark Nikon D3100 Test Results

Nikon D90 Beats Nikon D3100 at High ISO!

New Video Post: Why to Buy the Nikon D3100 Over the Nikon D90

Video Post: Why to Buy the Nikon D90 Over the Nikon D3100

Nikon D3100 Auto Focus First Impressions

Nikon D3100 at ISO 3200 with Bounce Flash Dialed Down

Nikon D3100 Comparison of ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, & 12,800

Nikon D3100 High ISO Wedding Images

Nikon D3100 Unboxed

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Nikon D3100 AF-F Continous Video Auto Focus... Not So Good

I've had a chance to play around a bit now with the Nikon D3100 video. Specifically, I was interested to see how the AF-F continous video auto focus (full-time-servo AF) stacks up.

The short answer is, not so good.

It's choppy and intermittent. It struggles to maintain focus, often losing focus and having to hunt to regain it. Basically, I consider it close to useless.

That said, these results are from indoor tests, not dark but somewhat subdued lighting. To quantify, we're talking normal indoor lighting that my Canon HF200 camcorder has zero problems with. The D31oo doesn't even come close to performing on the level of my HF200 for auto focus.

Perhaps the Nikon D3100 AF-F is better outdoors in bright light, but indoors, I won't be using the AF-F auto focus. It stinks.

The question now that comes to mind is whether the Nikon D7000 will have better AF-F full-time-servo auto focus???

It's likely that Nikon is not equipping their low end DSLR with the best of the best of their new AF-F auto focus. Perhaps the D7000 will shine in this area. Let's hope so!

So, Nikon, I love ya, and while my D3100 is a fantastic little DSLR, the AF-F just doesn't cut it. I'm giving you an F in this department. Hopefully you'll blow me away when my new Nikon D7000 arrives.

Related posts...

Nikon D3100 Auto Focus First Impressions

Nikon D3100 at ISO 3200 with Bounce Flash Dialed Down

Nikon D3100 Comparison of ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, & 12,800

Nikon D3100 High ISO Wedding Images

Nikon D3100 Unboxed

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90

Monday, October 4, 2010

Nikon D3100 Auto Focus First Impressions

I've been shooting a lot with my new Nikon D3100 over the last few days to get a feel for it, how it performs, and whether or not it's going to meet my needs as a light-weight prime camera.

So far, I'm fairly impressed with the venerable little Nikon D3100. Image quality is second to none for a crop sensor DSLR. ISO 6400 is usable. For a $500 DSLR, the D3100 is incredible.

That said, my first impressions on the auto focus aren't as good as I was hoping.

Let me qualify that. From the specs, it would seem the Nikon D3100 inherits the excellent Nikon D90 11 point Auto Focus system, hence I expected the D3100 to be on par with the D90's excellent auto focus performance.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case.

The D3100 hunts more than my D90 when focusing, especially indoors and in lower light situations. Obviously this type of observation is very hard to quantify. I can't stand there and shoot the same subject with both cameras at the same time, so I'm the first to admit my observations are subjective.

That said, I've shot thousands of images with my Nikon D90, and I'm intimately familiar with it's auto focus performance in all lighting situations. I've now shot over 500 images with my Nikon D3100, and I'm getting a good feel for how the auto focus performs. My initial impressions are that the D3100 is slower to focus than the D90 in all but the best of lighting conditions. Indoors in lower light situations, this is even more pronounced.

I've been shooting the Nikon D3100 exclusively with my Nikon 50mm f1.4G AF-S lens to this point. Prior to getting the D3100, in the last few weeks I've shot my D90 exclusively with the same Nikon 50mm f1.4G AF-S lens, so I have a very good feel how the lens performs on both cameras.

I've been thinking about why the D3100 would be slower to focus when on paper it should be the equal of the D90, and I think it might be battery related. The bigger 1500 mah battery in the D90 may be deciding factor. The D3100 battery is only 1030 mah so it may not be able to drive the AF-S motor in the lens as fast and sure as the D90's bigger battery can. Just a guess, but all else be equal, it's the only explanation that comes to mind.

Don't get me wrong though folks... the D3100 auto focus is VERY good. It's better than my Canon T2i in every lighting situation, and almost as good as my D90 in most lighting situations.

The Nikon D31oo auto focus is likely best in class. I'm making comparisons to a whole different class of camera, and keep in mind these are my first impressions.

Stay tuned for more on the Nikon D3100 as I continue to put it through it's paces!

Related posts...

Nikon D3100 Comparison of ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, & 12,800

Nikon D3100 High ISO Wedding Images

Nikon D3100 Unboxed

Nikon D3100 vs Nikon D90

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Nikon D3100 @ ISO 3200 with Bounce Flash Dialed Down

Here's some more samples from the Nikon D3100. These are shot at ISO 3200 with some bounce flash off the ceiling or wall.

The flash is the Nikon SB-400 and is dialed down to create a more subtle mix with the ambient.

Over-all, the image quality I'm seeing from the Nikon D3100 is superb. ISO 6400 is quite usable. I'd say the D3100 is about a stop or more better than the Nikon D90 at high ISO.

For a $500 crop sensor DSLR, the Nikon D3100 is really amazing!

Click on any of the images below for a larger photo. Full size jpgs at my D3100 Flickr page.