D800 Sharpness: Focus Accuracy

If you are using a Nikon D800, chances are that you want to make big prints or crop aggressively. To get the kind of sharp images that can stand up to these stresses, you need a tack-sharp image. Focus is a big part of getting sharp images.

As I mentioned yesterday, camera shake is a critical factor in determining image sharpness. For best results, you want to use either a very fast shutter speed or a tripod to eliminate camera shake from softening your images. Today, I’ll take a quick look at focus accuracy and how you can maximize it with your Nikon DSLRs. Continue reading

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Testing the Nikon D4: Performance with the 70-300mm VR Nikkor

Otter, comin' atcha! Nikon D4 with 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AFS G VR Nikkor lens

The 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AFS G VR zoom Nikkor is one of those lenses that is often overlooked by professionals as a viable telephoto option.  Why? For starters, it’s relatively slow maximum aperture (f/5.6) means that you really need to shoot it at f/8 to get maximum sharpness. For sports and wildlife shooters, who require fast shutter speeds, that meant using the lens either in bright conditions or with very high ISO settings. That equation changed with the release of the Nikon D3, which allowed very high ISO shooting with clean results. In fact, I recall Dave Black saying how he could use the 70-300mm with the D3 as a viable option. Continue reading

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Nikon D4 Autofocus Test

He's coming right for us! (click to enlarge)

Here’s a quick AF test with the Nikon D4. This is a continuous 39-shot burst at 10fps using the 70-200mm f/2.8 AFS G VRII zoom Nikkor. Out of 39 shots, only two seemed too soft to really use. That’s good enough for me!

See the full image sequence here

Test conditions:

  • Servo Mode: AF-C (continuous)
  • Area Mode: 9-point dynamic
  • Tracking (Custom a4): Normal (3)
  • Exposure mode: Manual 1/1000s @f/4.0
  • ISO: Auto
  • VR: On (normal)
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