Robert Serra wrote:
> The D3 camera review can be found at the
following link:
Well done, Scott - thanks!
I have one question regarding the noise reduction
for long exposure shots -
you write:
-- This (Long Exposure Noise Reduction) means that
if you shoot a 15 second
exposure, you¹ll be unable to shoot another one for
at least 15 more seconds
while the camera does its matching dark exposure and
noise reduction
calculations. ---
Sure? With my Canon 5D i can continue shooting while
the processor is doing
the NR calculations. You're sure, that you can't do
the same with the D3?
It's very important in some situations (p.e. blue
hour shots when the light
changes within seconds) ...
Robert,
You have the option of turning this long exposure NR on or off with the
D3, but if it's on, it does prevent the camera from taking further exposures
until after it has finished processing. It has to be this way, because
the camera is actually doing a "dark" exposure on the sensor for the same
length of time as your real exposure, in order to get accurate data on the
amounts and location of the sensor noise at the time and for that particular
exposure duration in order to be able to subtract this from your real
exposure. The sensor is already occupied doing a second exposure, so it
can be made available to do another one at the same time. So an 8-sec.
exposure will require another 8-sec. of NR before you can trigger the shutter
again -- if you have this NR feature turned on.
I'm not aware of how the Canon noise reduction system works, so I can't
really comment on which one might be better. But I do know that the
Nikon D3 system is very effective. I make sure this menu option is
always set to "on" on my D3.
The other factor that plays into this so well with the D3 is that its
high ISO capability (with such good quality) allows you to do these dusk types
of shots ("blue hour, as you call them) at much faster shutter speeds.
At ISO 3200 or 6400, your shutter speeds are likely to still be less
than a second, and very easily less than several seconds. That's
probably as much time as it takes to pan the camera to the next pan increment.
The post exposure NR doesn't really slow you down all that much.
Where it *does* slow you down is on the much longer exposures... 15
seconds, 30 seconds, and more. But you probably won't be doing much of
this unless you are intentionally shooting at lower ISO's at night. If
you spend a lot of time doing this kind of work, film is still an excellent
option (of course, you WILL need to deal with reciprocity shifts and exposure
adjustments... and there's that nasty delay while you wait for the results to
come back from the lab...).
For me, the tradeoff for the higher quality imagery of the D3 at high
ISOs is well worth it. I ordered my own D3 within a couple of days after
having to return the one loaned from Nikon. It's been a long time since
I've really been "wowed" by the capabilities of a camera. However, with
the latest crop of Nikon and Canon pro D-SLRs, we're starting to see the
benefits of all those years of sensor and processing R&D that we all
funded when we bought so many overpriced and underperforming digital cameras
early in the game (grin).
Regards,
Scott Highton
Author, Virtual Reality Photography
