gavinlg
Veteran
Well, despite previously owning one of the extremely highly regarded canon DSLRs - the 5d, curiosity got the better of me and I had a quick look at the new d300. After just 2 minutes or so, I had nearly soiled myself over how damn quick and intuitive it felt! I could change all major settings with a dial or switch, rather than a menu like my 5d, and the camera felt so good in my hand.
After much personal debate, I sold ALL my canon gear - every last bit, and picked up a brand new d300 w/18-200. Once the canon gear was all gone, I then contacted the good Sir at matsuiya store in Japan and instructed him to send me a nice new Zeiss 50 Planar.
Turns out I got that lens today, and as such I took the camera for a decent walk through my side of the woods here in hot sunny Australia.
First impressions:
D300 -
After 2 nights of reading the massive instruction manual over and over and over, I have finally started to get the hang of all the custom banks and modes. It's really amazing - the interface just literally digs a hole for the canon interface and then buries it. The menus are great, the external interface is amazing. By the end of this afternoon I was using the camera like an old trusty friend. It actually feels like the DSLR version of a nikon f3hp, in some weird and wonderful way.
The pictures aren't pixel sharp like the 5d, but so far i've found the overall look and feel of the image is much nicer - more film like, less digicam like. I'm almost ashamed to say I've been using JPEGs - the JPEG processing on the camera is pretty amazing.... I've compared raws run through ACR and jpegs out of the camera, and the jpeg files so far have had more pleasing colors and seem to be sharpened very very well. Features like A- Dlighting actually work, ad work well.
Camera is more noisy than the 5d at higher ISOs, HOWEVER I don't mind the noise at all - it's less smeary color blotches and more grainy texture. I know its a cliche, but it's closer to a "film look". Without testing this yet (I will) I'm happy using up to 1600iso for big prints, and up to 3200 for medium sized prints. 6400 isn't bad, but color goes a bit funny.
Color is much nicer than my 5d, though not as subtle. I think the 5d would be better for say a fashion photographer - I think I prefer the nikon color though.
18-200 VR -
WOW this thing is pretty damn good for having such a long zoom range! VR very effective, build quality good. Bokeh above average, especially for the range. Zoom and focus ring round the wrong way, but I got used to it easily.
Zeiss ZF 50mm 1.4 planar -
This was a big thing for me - the canon L primes are excellent, and I love primes. Nikons primes can be a little outdated, so the zeiss primes are my main option.
Taking this lens out of the box was a joy. It's heavy like a rangefinder lens and beautifully made. Ken Rockwell said that the lens wasn't well built, and that the focus ring felt cheap. All I have to say is that Ken Rockwell must have been smoking crack when he tried it - the build is absolutely top notch.
On the camera it balances exceptionally well - feels like a film camera almost. Upon going for a walk I snapped off quite a few shots wide open and slightly stopped down. I knew from MTF charts that wide open the lens is a little soft, so I didn't spend too much time around f/1.4. It was very easy to focus with the d300.
No doubt the Canon L primes are excellent, but for me, this planar just has a much much nicer overall "feel" than the 50 1.2L or the 1.4. The planar can have busy bokeh if in very busy situations, but most lenses do. The best way to prevent this is to stop down just a little and it becomes much smoother and more controlled. In terms of sharpness it beats both canon lenses pretty easily, and the images have more more of a "3d" effect to them.
The micro-contrast is very very high - the look is not unlike the g series contax lenses of the film years.
I'll be adding more ZF lenses to my arsenal very soon.
In the mean time, here are some quick snap results. All are with d300, planar 50 1.4
I use this spot all the time to test cameras:
After much personal debate, I sold ALL my canon gear - every last bit, and picked up a brand new d300 w/18-200. Once the canon gear was all gone, I then contacted the good Sir at matsuiya store in Japan and instructed him to send me a nice new Zeiss 50 Planar.
Turns out I got that lens today, and as such I took the camera for a decent walk through my side of the woods here in hot sunny Australia.
First impressions:
D300 -
After 2 nights of reading the massive instruction manual over and over and over, I have finally started to get the hang of all the custom banks and modes. It's really amazing - the interface just literally digs a hole for the canon interface and then buries it. The menus are great, the external interface is amazing. By the end of this afternoon I was using the camera like an old trusty friend. It actually feels like the DSLR version of a nikon f3hp, in some weird and wonderful way.
The pictures aren't pixel sharp like the 5d, but so far i've found the overall look and feel of the image is much nicer - more film like, less digicam like. I'm almost ashamed to say I've been using JPEGs - the JPEG processing on the camera is pretty amazing.... I've compared raws run through ACR and jpegs out of the camera, and the jpeg files so far have had more pleasing colors and seem to be sharpened very very well. Features like A- Dlighting actually work, ad work well.
Camera is more noisy than the 5d at higher ISOs, HOWEVER I don't mind the noise at all - it's less smeary color blotches and more grainy texture. I know its a cliche, but it's closer to a "film look". Without testing this yet (I will) I'm happy using up to 1600iso for big prints, and up to 3200 for medium sized prints. 6400 isn't bad, but color goes a bit funny.
Color is much nicer than my 5d, though not as subtle. I think the 5d would be better for say a fashion photographer - I think I prefer the nikon color though.
18-200 VR -
WOW this thing is pretty damn good for having such a long zoom range! VR very effective, build quality good. Bokeh above average, especially for the range. Zoom and focus ring round the wrong way, but I got used to it easily.
Zeiss ZF 50mm 1.4 planar -
This was a big thing for me - the canon L primes are excellent, and I love primes. Nikons primes can be a little outdated, so the zeiss primes are my main option.
Taking this lens out of the box was a joy. It's heavy like a rangefinder lens and beautifully made. Ken Rockwell said that the lens wasn't well built, and that the focus ring felt cheap. All I have to say is that Ken Rockwell must have been smoking crack when he tried it - the build is absolutely top notch.
On the camera it balances exceptionally well - feels like a film camera almost. Upon going for a walk I snapped off quite a few shots wide open and slightly stopped down. I knew from MTF charts that wide open the lens is a little soft, so I didn't spend too much time around f/1.4. It was very easy to focus with the d300.
No doubt the Canon L primes are excellent, but for me, this planar just has a much much nicer overall "feel" than the 50 1.2L or the 1.4. The planar can have busy bokeh if in very busy situations, but most lenses do. The best way to prevent this is to stop down just a little and it becomes much smoother and more controlled. In terms of sharpness it beats both canon lenses pretty easily, and the images have more more of a "3d" effect to them.
The micro-contrast is very very high - the look is not unlike the g series contax lenses of the film years.
I'll be adding more ZF lenses to my arsenal very soon.
In the mean time, here are some quick snap results. All are with d300, planar 50 1.4
I use this spot all the time to test cameras:
kipkeston
Well-known
looks fantastic
mfogiel
Veteran
Put the 100/2 Makro Planar high on your list.
trev2401
Long Live Film!!!
Nice test pics, and welcome to the dark side! muhahah...
Still contemplating the switch though.
Still contemplating the switch though.
gavinlg
Veteran
mfogiel said:
I believe you.... I've heard that as well. Put some shots up if you own one!
gavinlg
Veteran
trev2401 said:Nice test pics, and welcome to the dark side! muhahah...
Still contemplating the switch though.
Contemplating the switch from Canon to Nikon?
I'm very happy with my decision personally but thats thats half the problem - its your decision!
I never had to make the switch, so it's easy for me to agree. Having gone from F2 to F4 to F5 to and then to various DSLRS, the D300 does indeed feel and work like a film SLR.
I haven't tried any Zeiss, but I tried manual focus with a 50/1.4 and had difficulty...any tips you can offer? I was thinking of getting the Katzye focusing screen.
Having gone from F2 to F4 to F5 to and then to various DSLRS, the D300 does indeed feel and work like a film SLR.I haven't tried any Zeiss, but I tried manual focus with a 50/1.4 and had difficulty...any tips you can offer? I was thinking of getting the Katzye focusing screen.
zgeeRF
Established
How different than the D200 does it feel ? (I know of the improvements etc in specs).
Nice pictures Gavin! Enjoy it.
Nice pictures Gavin! Enjoy it.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
That's a very interesting read Gavin ... now you know why I'm considering the same camera. The 18-200 VR you commented on is very good ... I use one on my D70 and have been impressed so far.
The low available light event I have to shoot on tusday night will be the maker or breaker of my M8 I suspect and if the rangefinder leaves me with seeds of doubt I think I will be heading in the DSLR direction for this type of work in future. I like your impression of the Zeiss lenses and those sample shots are very nice indeed!
ps ... what ISO ceiling do you think would be viable with the D300 for the type of usage I have in mind?
The low available light event I have to shoot on tusday night will be the maker or breaker of my M8 I suspect and if the rangefinder leaves me with seeds of doubt I think I will be heading in the DSLR direction for this type of work in future. I like your impression of the Zeiss lenses and those sample shots are very nice indeed!
ps ... what ISO ceiling do you think would be viable with the D300 for the type of usage I have in mind?
Frank Petronio
Well-known
My latest stuff has been with a D300 w a 50/1.2 AIS Nikkor -- couldn't be happier, especially at high ISO.
mfogiel
Veteran
Pablito
coco frío
it is precisely because of the interface that I have always used the Nikon DSLRs. D300 on the way. D200 will become 2nd body, D70 looking for new home.
gavinlg
Veteran
digitalintrigue said:I never had to make the switch, so it's easy for me to agree.
I haven't tried any Zeiss, but I tried manual focus with a 50/1.4 and had difficulty...any tips you can offer? I was thinking of getting the Katzye focusing screen.
It's not super easy to do, but basically what I do is start fairly out of focus, and then smoothly bring it into focus. When it pops the most I just stop straight away and take the picture. If I think I've gone past the point of optimum focus, I'll keep going until well out of focus and then go back until it pops into focus again.
On the d300 theres a little focus indicator on the left bottom of the viewfinder - when it's a solid green circle the lens is in focus to the selected focus point (can move it with the multi-controller). This is generally acceptably accurate.
The katzeye screen is meant to be great - I'm going to see how I go before I order one. I am a HUGE sucker for split screens though!
gavinlg
Veteran
zgeeRF said:
Not hugely different in the hand, however some buttons are different, the menus are different and the functions are a bit different. It's certainly a decent improvement over the d200
gavinlg
Veteran
Keith said:That's a very interesting read Gavin ... now you know why I'm considering the same camera. The 18-200 VR you commented on is very good ... I use one on my D70 and have been impressed so far.
The low available light event I have to shoot on tusday night will be the maker or breaker of my M8 I suspect and if the rangefinder leaves me with seeds of doubt I think I will be heading in the DSLR direction for this type of work in future. I like your impression of the Zeiss lenses and those sample shots are very nice indeed!
ps ... what ISO ceiling do you think would be viable with the D300 for the type of usage I have in mind?
Keith - I think you'll eventually get it - it's an excellent camera.
I think your m8 will do fine on tuesday night, it's proven through good photographers to be quite a good little low light cam. The 5d is probably the best for the money, but all canon cams have a certain way of producing extremely flat looking pictures. I love the way the d300 blacks are actually black at night, not flat dark grey.
I've so far done a little bit of low light shooting and I think for a large company hiring me for event coverage I'd set the maximum ISO as 2000. If you really needed it you could push up to 3200, the results are certainly still quite good. (not like the d200 or d2x which were very very harsh)
The d300 is an excellent JPEG machine. I have a feeling that for most personal work (besides landscapes) I'll be using JPEG shooting, because it's just so good! It's weird because at high ISOs, jpegs with noise reduction on low are brilliant! I usually hate all kinds of noise reduction, but it keeps almost all detail, and reduces most of the noise - not to a smudge - but more to a fine grain. It's very interesting - I haven't been able to achieve RAW results as nice as JPEGs with NR on low yet.
Heres a photo @ 2000iso shot in JPEG, NR - LOW, zf 50 planar @ 1.4, 1/80th (quite dark!)
gavinlg
Veteran
mfogiel, Wow that ZF 100 looks seriously sharp. I love the rendering of zeiss glass - it all has a family "look." Love the Nardi steering wheels too - fantastic wheels.
fdigital said:
After I installed a Katzeye screen in my D200, I compared the accuracy of the green focus light to the Katzeye using a Zeiss ZF 85/1.4. I got ok results at f2-f2.8 with the green light, but it didn't cut it at f1.4. The Katzeye, on the other hand, was a revelation!
fdigital said:
If you like manual focusing, I really recommend getting one. I got the standard non-brite treated screen and it works great. I like it so much I sold my 18-200mm and now use my D200 almost exclusively with MF lenses.
Jon, was the screen difficult to install?
The green light focus indicator is too sensitive for me; too digital, if you will. I think a Katzeye is in my future.
The green light focus indicator is too sensitive for me; too digital, if you will. I think a Katzeye is in my future.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Wow, bro.. that's a big switch!
IMHO, you're getting closer to the ultimate one:
http://a.img-dpreview.com/news/0610/zeisszfwide.jpg
Pick one, any of them will do
IMHO, you're getting closer to the ultimate one:
http://a.img-dpreview.com/news/0610/zeisszfwide.jpg
Pick one, any of them will do
digitalintrigue said:
It's pretty straightforward. If you've ever changed an FE/FE2/FM2/FM3a focus screen you'll feel right at home. I used the tweezers that came with an FM3a screen and they were perfect for the job. The trickiest part is pushing the retainer clip back into place after you've switched the screens. With a bit of patience and care, its easy enough though. There's also some shims (can be 1 to 3 in there) under the focus screen that have to stay in place to keep the focus screen on the correct plane. They can be a little tricky to keep in there if the camera isn't held so they fall into place.