Let me start off by saying that the D800 is not a dream camera for street photography. It’s bulky, indiscreet, and the shutter is pretty loud. I usually would be using my GF1 while walking to the office, but I happened to be carrying the D800 and 85mm 1.8g to get a little time with both. I had just taken the shot in the previous post of the wine bottle corks. As I turned to move on, I caught this lady and her two dogs. I quickly took the shot, and started walking. As I walked over the same curb where she was crouching, I twisted my ankle, and fell into a push-up position in the street. A cabbie waiting the light was having a good laugh at me… luckily the camera was already in my bag and was not harmed. I call “Karma” on the situation… I had my laugh at the scene in the photo, and the cab driver had one at my expense.
Tag Archives: NYC
D800 Diary – Crop Potential
I had to come into NYC on Saturday, so I brought in the D800 and a few lenses. I was hoping to catch some of the tall ships that were in for Memorial Day weekend, but the ones that were in port were not docked in the greatest positions. I decided to walk downtown from the Intrepid Museum, along the Hudson River Park. I came across a tiny nature preserve near Pier 66. It is a tiny fenced in area that you can’t walk through… so it was not easy to get the best angles. I spent about an hour trying to get some shots of the few butterflies that were in the area.
I took the above shot with my old 300mm f/4 EDIF. The auto-ISO feature is turning out to be one of my favorite features. I have it set shutter speed to 2x the focal length, and max out at ISO 3200. The camera only only had to go up the ISO to 200 to get the 1/640th sec shutter speed at f/5.6 in the slightly overcast skies. Since the noise performance of the D800 is so good, i will probably be leaving the camera set this way for handheld shooting.
Since I could’t get closer to the butterfly, and my 300mm lens is my longest, the crop potential of the D800 was a great benefit for this situation. This crop came out to 4436×2958… roughly one third of the available resolution.
Just for kicks, I posted the full resolution crop. I know its not macro-lens/tripod sharp… but all i can say is WOW. I have also been impressed with the focus speed of the D800. All of my current lenses are screw-drive versions, and the camera seems to focus much faster than the D200.
Welcome to NYC!
I had been watching the scheduled arrival of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, with the hope that I would be able to get a few photos. I work a few blocks from Pier 40 on the Hudson river, so myself and a few co-workers took a quick morning break to capture this bittersweet flyby. To get the Shuttle “Money Shot” you needed to be on the Jersey side of the river, in a helicopter at a slightly higher altitude so you could get the skyline and the shuttle in the frame. This shot is my favorite.
After stopping at JFK Airport, the Enterprise will find its final home at the Intrepid Museum. While there is some controversy about NY being one of the states to receive a retired shuttle, I have a feeling that it may become one of the most visited one.