I love the matrix metering on my D700.

[noimmunity]

There are so many ways in which a D700 would fit the bill for some--not all by any means--of the things I've tried to do with rangefinders--and failed at!

But the idea of selling off a bunch of stuff and starting a whole new system is so daunting. I don't know how you did it, Keith?

 

[Keith]

There are so many ways in which a D700 would fit the bill for some--not all by any means--of the things I've tried to do with rangefinders--and failed at!

But the idea of selling off a bunch of stuff and starting a whole new system is so daunting. I don't know how you did it, Keith?

But it's only one camera body and two lenses ... 50mm and 35mm! I seldom venture outside of those two focal lengths and the whole setup with glass cost me $3000.00 ... It's a lot of camera for that figure IMO and both my lenses are used ZF Zeiss!

It's only for paid work really ... I still prefer my Oly's or M mount bodies and black and white film for personal photography but this thing makes photography on the 'dark side' stress and fuss free! That said if I was to go all digital though I don't think I'd want anything else.

 

[Ezzie]

As a lot of people have said, the only problem with the Nikon D3, is the D700.

 

[ebino]

In a lightning situation such as in the sample photograph, the matrix metering tried to evaluate all the areas in the frame and come up with an exposure value; however, all the dark spaces which are essentially useless get factored in as well which means the camera thinks its a lot darker place than it actually is. So, the best way to expose for such lighting is to use camera's spot meter, meter for the faces or areas you want expose for and that usually allows one to work with higher shutter speed if not low ISO.

 

[SolaresLarrave]

Keith, where did you meter and focus in the first shot (the one of the couple watching the screen)?

Just wondering... Matrix has its quirks, but more often than not it nails the exposure at the first try. I don't think I would have been able to get that one right... Good job!

And yes, I too love the matrix metering in my Nikon bodies (F100, F5 and D700)! 🙂

 

[tlitody]

If you're careful you can hand hold the thing down to shutter speeds that I thought were Leica territory and still get very usable results. This was 1/5 second and although it's not perfect it's pretty decent ... I think the weight of the camera helps!

I agree with this observation on cameras in general. I've never understood the idea that small lightweight cameras can be held steady more easily. Simple rules of physics for inertia tell us that a heavier weight takes a lot more initial energy to get it moving(and to stop it). Sure a big lens on an slr takes some keeping still but the critical time is when you press the shutter and a heavier camera will be more difficult to get moving.
If you are comparing the time you hold a camera upto your eye then a lighter camera will be less tiring on the arms but that doesn't mean stillness. And wedging it against your face might fix it there but your whole body moves too. But pushing the shutter will move the camera regardless.

 

[ramosa]

Keith,

I find your posts interesting--in your having moved from the M8 to D700 and offering sound comparisons and explanations of both experiences. I have an M8 and pondered the same switch about a year ago. But, for me, that wouldn't have been the right course. I have only had one RF in my life (the M8 for almost three years), so I'm still learning so much about RFs and don't want to stop now.

How long did you use RFs before your change to the D700? (That would give me a better context for your change.)

Keep up the good work with your (evil 😉) DSLR!

R

 

[noimmunity]

But it's only one camera body and two lenses ... 50mm and 35mm! I seldom venture outside of those two focal lengths and the whole setup with glass cost me $3000.00 ... It's a lot of camera for that figure IMO and both my lenses are used ZF Zeiss!

It's only for paid work really ... I still prefer my Oly's or M mount bodies and black and white film for personal photography but this thing makes photography on the 'dark side' stress and fuss free! That said if I was to go all digital though I don't think I'd want anything else.

I could do with just one normal lens, but would need something like the 70-200 VR to go with it 😱 (for concert photography), so the cost to me would be a lot higher.

I'm waiting to see what the X100 is like, since that may be all I need for a lowlight digital normal setup.

 

[smile]

I lashed out and got a couple of Zeiss lenses ... a used 50mm f1.4 Planar from Matusiya and a 35mm f2 Distagon from our classifieds ... both really very cheap for what they are IMO ... the 50mm in particular is an amazing lens and I got the 35mm for using at gallery openings

just wondering if those old zeiss lens are fine for nikon/canon FF sensors? i recently tryed Carl Zeiss Planar 1.7/50mm f. Contax Yashica on my 5dmk2 and noticed that there was something wrong with colours and noise doubled :bang: hmm.. i probably do something wrong? or is it used for BW only? any advise?

Smile

 

[Keith]

Keith, where did you meter and focus in the first shot (the one of the couple watching the screen)?

Just wondering... Matrix has its quirks, but more often than not it nails the exposure at the first try. I don't think I would have been able to get that one right... Good job!

And yes, I too love the matrix metering in my Nikon bodies (F100, F5 and D700)! 🙂

I just went and checked all the raw files, which haven't been post processed as yet, and looked at the exif data. That was one of two identical shots three seconds apart ... one focused on the screen (shown) and the other focused on the couple. The people I do these for are generally more interested in what's on the screen but often if I have time I'll give them one of each so they can decide for themselves. There was no compensation applied and both photos have identical specs ... amazingly this was purely a matrix decision which is impressive taking all that dark space into consideration. Quite often if I think the dark space is going to influence exposure to the point where it blows the screen out, which is a no no, I'll bias my framing slightly more towards the screen, lock the AE button and recompose ... very simple! The M8 was very tricky in this situation and it was very hard to guage the influence of the screen with a center weighted meter ... not to mention the screen is constantly changing it's light intensity.

Someone above suggested spot metering on the faces of the subjects which is all very well if they're your prime target and you have that sort of time, which I often don't. Also depending where they are in relation to the screen they may not be getting much light ... meter on them and the screen will blow out every time!

It's an exposure tightrope that the Nikon walks amazingly well considering the difficulty. As I said earlier the D700 has made my life considerably less difficult in this situation ... which isn't to say I wasn't getting OK results with my Leica ... they were just a lot harder to achieve and shots were often lost due to exposure errors. 🙂

 

[smile]

oops.. the file is too big

 

[Keith]

Keith,

I find your posts interesting--in your having moved from the M8 to D700 and offering sound comparisons and explanations of both experiences. I have an M8 and pondered the same switch about a year ago. But, for me, that wouldn't have been the right course. I have only had one RF in my life (the M8 for almost three years), so I'm still learning so much about RFs and don't want to stop now.

How long did you use RFs before your change to the D700? (That would give me a better context for your change.)

Keep up the good work with your (evil 😉) DSLR!

R

Hi Ramosa,

I used the M8 for about two years doing these gallery shoots and I can tell you switching to the Nikon was a very hard decision that spanned several months before I finally bit the bullet and got the D700. The other thing that pleases me is I can now use a focal length that suits the situation which is 35mm ... on the Leice I was using my 35mm f1.2 Nokton because anything slower was useless at 320 ISO in that sort of light. With the crop factor it became 47mm which meant I spent all my time walking backwards into people! 😛

Being able to get usable results at 6400 ISO means ultra fast glass isn't essential which enabled me to get high quality lenses with their priority not being their speed.

 

[Keith]

just wondering if those old zeiss lens are fine for nikon/canon FF sensors? i recently tryed Carl Zeiss Planar 1.7/50mm f. Contax Yashica on my 5dmk2 and noticed that there was something wrong with colours and noise doubled :bang: hmm.. i probably do something wrong? or is it used for BW only? any advise?

Smile

Hey Smile, 🙂

Both of my Zeiss lenses are current generation ZF's (Nikon mount)

Not hugely expensive second hand and probably as good as anything out there IMO!

Cheers ... Keith.

 

[tlitody]

just wondering if those old zeiss lens are fine for nikon/canon FF sensors? i recently tryed Carl Zeiss Planar 1.7/50mm f. Contax Yashica on my 5dmk2 and noticed that there was something wrong with colours and noise doubled :bang: hmm.. i probably do something wrong? or is it used for BW only? any advise?

Smile

The ZF and canon equivalent(ZE ?) are new Zeiss lenses. Not very old at all. Brought onto the market since contax ceased. They look like updated versions of some of the Contax lenses using latest glass.

 

[smile]

Thank you, Keith
tlitody, u think they use new glass? i thought they just converted old ones to nikon/canon mount. i'd better buy a new one then) or find something else if there is an alternative

 

[tlitody]

I don't think they are straight conversions. There are differences and some of the newer ones are faster and aperture has more blades I think.

 

[scorpius73]

Hey Smile, 🙂

Both of my Zeiss lenses are current generation ZF's (Nikon mount)

Not hugely expensive second hand and probably as good as anything out there IMO!

Cheers ... Keith.

I would love to get a Zeiss 35mm f2 for my D700. I do have the Nikkor 50mm f1.2 AIS. I absolutely love it.
Debating the Nikon 50mm f1.8D and the 50mm f1.2 AIS for my Turkey/Italy trip. What I'm thinking is the speed of focusing with the F1.8D or the bokeh of the f1.2 (which I like).

 

[dbarnes]

We need Nikon and other Cosina customers to require matrix metering in their cheap SLRs, giving us a shot at that meter in Bessa rangefinders. Functionality wouldn't have to be in the same class as the D700; even what the Nikon FA could do would be a big step forward.

(Well, I can dream!)

 

[ebino]

Someone above suggested spot metering on the faces of the subjects which is all very well if they're your prime target and you have that sort of time, which I often don't. Also depending where they are in relation to the screen they may not be getting much light ... meter on them and the screen will blow out every time!

It was I actually, was trying to be helpful didn't knew it will make you defensive.

But anyway, spot metering on human faces was just an example, i thought you would know the function of spot meter, so i did not go into detail, for example using spot meter with manual mode and adjusting accordingly, spot metering and locking exposure, recompose and shoot and many other basic tricks that the manual of D700 will explain very nicely... Also the picture which you posted is overexposed, probably due matrix meter evaluating the scene as much more darker because of the black walls.

 

[Keith]

It was I actually, was trying to be helpful didn't knew it will make you defensive.

But anyway, spot metering on human faces was just an example, i thought you would know the function of spot meter, so i did not go into detail, for example using spot meter with manual mode and adjusting accordingly, spot metering and locking exposure, recompose and shoot and many other basic tricks that the manual of D700 will explain very nicely... Also the picture which you posted is overexposed, probably due matrix meter evaluating the scene as much more darker because of the black walls.

I'm open to suggestion! 😛

The problem is the only light that's being cast in this place is coming of the projection screens and as I was saying what ever light is being radiated around the gallery changes when what's actually on the screen changes, so a second or less after I meter manually on anything it can all alter totally. The matrix metering is a compromise I agree but it seems to be my best chance nine times out of ten and luckily for me the Nikon's files are pretty forgiving.

I'm still curious as to how spot metering on a face in manual mode or locking the exposure with AE is going to save me from a blown out screen that is usually provdiding the light falling on that face ... or have I misunderstood your explanation sorry? I have tried using spot metering in the ways you describe but the results weren't great ... maybe it was me! 😀