Nikon D3, D300 Announced
Following on from Canon’s announcement of the new EOS 1Ds MkIII and EOS 40D earlier in the week, Nikon have finally unveiled what has been the subject of much speculation, the full-frame D3 and DX-sized D300. There also some new lenses including three VR-equipped super telephotos.
The announcement of both new camera bodies is exciting enough, but the pricing of $4,995 and $1,799 also bodes well for a reduction in price for both the D2xs and D200. Previews are available on Rob Galbraith DPI. There are also previews of both models on Digital Photography Review.
Onnik, how do you make the camera autofocus on clouds in the dark? Do you switch to manual mode?
Comment by nazarian — August 24, 2007 @ 7:10 pm
Funny question. Well, assuming you can’t actually see the clouds which kind of seems a bit weird given that I assume you want them to be visible in any photograph you take or the auto focus is “hunting,” sticking the lens on to infinity should do it.
Comment by Onnik — August 24, 2007 @ 8:38 pm
Thanks. I am working on taking nature pictures during the night. I can’t really focus properly through the viewfinder (since it’s dark) and the lens kept hunting for focus. It can focus on the trees in the foreground but the clouds and stars in the background are out of focus then. Infinity causes the foreground to be out of focus.
The only solution is to switch to higher ISO and lower aperture. I’m using ISO 100 and f5.6
Comment by nazarian — August 24, 2007 @ 11:31 pm
Mount it on a tripod, set the aperture to f8 or smaller and use a slow shutter speed?
What you’re talking about it finding the right hyperfocal distance and aperture, something I used to do in the days of manual focus cameras for photojournalism even if most people generally talk about it for landscapes.
See the following URLs:
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/hyperfocal-distance.htm
http://www.vividlight.com/articles/2314.htm
Actually, try a Google search for more information. I think it will solve your problem. Some lenses feature handy markings for such things, although not on my Nikon G-series lenses.
Comment by Onnik — August 24, 2007 @ 11:48 pm
My lenses don’t have markings either. I guess not a lot of people do manual focus.
Comment by nazarian — August 25, 2007 @ 12:08 am
Probably and I have to say that up until June when I was shooting almost entirely on a Nikon F5 I was actually manually focusing a lot, but since getting my D200 which has more focus points I rarely do. I was also using manual focus on Hetq Online’s Canon EOS 20D when I was there mainly for the same reason and the fact that the auto focus was so damn slow.
Still, I do manually focus even on the D200 from time to time, but not so often because there’s never usually any need (for off-center subjects, for example). However, with a 51-point autofocus system, I doubt that’s hardly ever going to be the case for the D3 and D300 if the 11-point autofocus on the D200 is anything to go by.
It’s just so good compared to what I’ve been used to before, and that’s even if it’s not quite as good as the D2xs’.
Comment by Onnik — August 25, 2007 @ 12:19 am
Thanks for the websites. It would have taken me a lot of time to figure out what to keep in focus in landscape photography.
As for the 51 point autofocus - it will probably become a pain to choose which points to use for the autofocus if you decide to override it. As far as I remember, mine has 11 and it focuses on the closest object in the frame. Works fine for the composition most of the time.
Comment by nazarian — August 25, 2007 @ 6:19 am
Oh, I always manually select the auto focus area. Always. Would never allow the camera to choose it for me.
So in a sense, I am manually focusing in your sense of the terms, perhaps, because I’m choosing the focus point myself, but simply turning the focusing ring.
But yeah, I suppose 51 points do sound an awful lot, but there are so many options to choose the focusing system that works for you on the D200, D300 and D3 that I don’t think it will be an issue.
Comment by Onnik — August 25, 2007 @ 12:14 pm