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:

