These are some photos from a recent day I spent in and around Sydney. Occasionally I have to remind myself that I am living in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. What better place to catch up on the Nikon D-300s camera than photographing iconic scenes around Sydney.
You might remember a couple of months ago I was vacillating between several compact cameras. What I was looking for was something that could work as a small discreet street camera. I reviewed many point and shoot type cameras and I decided the Leica X1 was tops for resolution and will fit in your pocket as well. But the Leicas limitations including slow focus and a fixed lens had me looking again at SLR cameras. I finally decided on the Nikon D-300s. The Nikon-D-300s will not fit in even a large pocket, but you get so much more for the same money spent on the Leica X-1 (I paid about $2,000 USD for the Nikon with a 35mm 1.8 lens).
Why an SLR? I have been using SLR cameras with a gazillion functions, plus auto focus and interchangeable lenses for years so I decided why should I accept the limitations of a fixed lens range finder or point & shoot camera. Simply put a great shot only comes along once in awhile and I knew the SLR camera gives me the best chance of capturing that image.
The D-300s is not the D3s, but it's fast, compact and reliable and really the perfect SLR for street photography. I saw these Marilyn Monroe look-a-likes on George Street. Taken with the D-300s 35mm 1.8
lens (that's a 50mm since the sensor in the camera is cropped) settings are ISO 640 1/50 sec. f 8. There's just a hint of motion blur, but not bad for a quick street photo. Also I might mention this was one of a 4 shot burst I shot at 7 frames per second. I like that!!
The camera seems to make decent photos up to ISO 800 and I would push it to ISO 1600. It's not as crisp as shooting at ISO 200, but no major problems with sharpness and noise at that ISO. The photo below, of people waiting in line for the Australia release of the iPhone G4, is shot at ISO 640 1/50 sec. f11 with the 35mm 1.8 lens. This is a seriously cropped image. My editors crop my photos all the time! That's the facts of life for a magazine photographer. If you look at my photo on the cover of this months Australian Geographic Outdoor magazine (Sept/Oct 2010) it's a horizontal image that has been cropped to a vertical. That is a serious crop!!
Below is the original uncropped photo, you might notice how I can't even hold the camera level. The photo below this photo is a close-up at 100% view of the same shot. At ISO 640 there is just a little color noise and it's still very sharp that's partly to do with the camera's great sensor, but probably more to do with the Nikkor 35mm 1.8 lens on front of the camera. I found the 35mm 1.8DXG lens to be very sharp and it cost only $250!!
Below is the photo viewed at 100%
So my walk through Sydney taking street photos with the D-300s is nothing like the kind of in depth review you would find for the D-300s on dpreview.com.
This is the last photo in my review, it's a photo of bridge walkers viewing the sunset from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, shot from the Sydney ferry while we were motoring to Neutral Bay. It was a great day in the city and I was pleased to come away from the experience with a few photos of Sydney's iconic landmarks.
As a reminder Nikon doesn't pay me for this plug and I receive no gifts or money from the Sydney City Council.
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Posted by: oil purification | February 10, 2011 at 03:37 AM