D4 does basketball

[DRGSin]

Hi George.I bet you have said to your self.WHY DID I POST THESE SHOTS?
You could be out making wonderful pictures.Thanks for posting then
Regards.
Mike

haha, no not at all Mike. Im just trying to put out there what i would have found important, had I been contemplating going from the D3 to the D4. Theres a lot of hype (rightly so) for the D800 and not much for the D4 right now. i owe that to the fact that mostly NPS members received them so far. I dont mind at all!

 

[RKnecht]

Thank you. I fired bursts of 7-8 shots when trying to test the higher ISOs. I had more keepers per burst than with my D3, esp when the player was coming towards me. So, it locks on faster and adjusts faster as the subject moves in noticeably better than the D3.

One shot Ive had difficulty in capturing with the D3 and the 70-200 is in high school basketball. I shoot from the corner at the baseline. When the dribbler approaches the corner quickly and shoots a jumper, the only way i can capture that is if i can lock in on him early on and if hes not at full speed. If he's at full speed or relatively close, itll be out of focus. The D4 nailed that shot 3 times.

That's excellent news, as that is where my main gripes are with the AF in the D3/D3s. When subjects are approaching me in poor light, the camera really has a hard time with tracking them in my case it's dogs not people. This problem is further amplified when using the 200/2 wide open. My D3 has been a real workhorse and whereas I thought about selling it, I think it's going to be a back up for my D4.

 

[DRGSin]

That's excellent news, as that is where my main gripes are with the AF in the D3/D3s. When subjects are approaching me in poor light, the camera really has a hard time with tracking them in my case it's dogs not people. This problem is further amplified when using the 200/2 wide open. My D3 has been a real workhorse and whereas I thought about selling it, I think it's going to be a back up for my D4.

ESPECIALLY with dogs, theyre MUCH faster. Thats what ive done. kept the D3 for a second body. I will probably upgrade it next go around. right now Im using the D3 with my 24-70 for baseline, fan and reaction shots. The D4 has the 70-200 for close ups and far court shots. During football Ill use the 70-200 on the D3 and the 400 on the D4.

 

[truronion]

Those are ridiculously good at that ISO range. Now can you go home and grab your D3 and take the same shots so we all can see the differences. Thanks. :biggrin:

And put a broom up your butt!.

 

[DRGSin]

And put a broom up your butt!.

must be a British thing

 

[James1Usa]

Hi George, very impressive shots and not just from a high iso standpoint!

You mention you apply the noise filter in post, I am amazed by the reduction of noise in some of the comparison shots. What noise reduction software do you use?

Thanks

James.

 

[DRGSin]

Hi George, very impressive shots and not just from a high iso standpoint!

You mention you apply the noise filter in post, I am amazed by the reduction of noise in some of the comparison shots. What noise reduction software do you use?

Thanks

James.

Thank you James, I use Noiseware

 

[StephanieHelen]

Thanks George for the images and the information, much appreciated.

 

[DRGSin]

Youre welcome Stephanie

 

[DRGSin]

Well, the indoor shooting season is over. I shot the boy's state championship game last weekend with the D3 and D4 and these are my impressions, the second time out.

The D4 feels more comfortable and lighter in my hands than the D3, although the D3 feels more familiar, if that makes sense. My first go around, i inadvertently changed the shutter speed on a couple occasions but this time that didnt happen. Perhaps i was aware of it subconsciously? I still need to determine which button i will use to lock it.
I miss a second CF slot. ive never run out of space shooting a 16 and an 8 gig card with the D3. Just put them in and forget it. I dont have a usb 3 port on my computer yet so i havent used the xqd, dxq, qdx or whatever the heck it is. Frankly, I hate the thought of having to deal with a second type of card. Big negative for me.

The AF is amazing compared to my D3.

My usual work flow is NX2 for post with only in camera sharpening, and I save and store the full processed jpeg along with the raw file. Then I size the jpeg to 1100 and sharpen if necessary. In the past, inevitably, i would have to selective sharpen about 10-15% of 150-200 shots because the D3 didnt maintain focus while tracking or the player was too close to me with the 70-200. In my second processing session Ive only had to selective sharpen three images out of 450. Amazing!

This is the type of shot the D3 would rarely capture with that lens.

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

The D4, hasnt missed this yet.

100% crop. D4, 70-200 at f/2.8, 1/1000sec and ISO 5000. No NR

View attachment 1023800

 

[siinjen]

Hardly noise to be seen..WOW!!!