D3X's DR is simply amazing...

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Stany Buyle
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D3X's DR is simply amazing...

Post by Stany Buyle »

In a recent thread on Dpreview (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read. ... e=30683687 )there was an input by Bernard Languillier with a very well chosen sample which demonstrates the really amazing DR of the D3X with a link to the original picture .
Here is the link to the original file:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bernardlan ... 1/sizes/o/
I'm sure Rudy can provide us more information and samples about this....
kindest regards,

Stany
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Re: D3X's DR is simply amazing...

Post by Lil Judd »

That is amazing Stany,

kind of makes me regret just ordering the D700. I have to wonder how long before the D700x, or whatever they'll call it, will be announced. But now I see people are starting to rumor about a potential D400...... I know this much, I'm tired of my D200 & it's nine focus points.

Lil :-)
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Re: D3X's DR is simply amazing...

Post by James »

I thought that you used a D300 Lil, or are you talking about as a back up camera?
pam.meier
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Re: D3X's DR is simply amazing...

Post by pam.meier »

Lil Judd wrote:That is amazing Stany,

kind of makes me regret just ordering the D700. I have to wonder how long before the D700x, or whatever they'll call it, will be announced. But now I see people are starting to rumor about a potential D400...... I know this much, I'm tired of my D200 & it's nine focus points.

Lil :-)
Hi Lil, the D700 surely is a great choice. Believe me with 24 Mpix one will rarely hand-hold any more, a tripod is essential. The D700 is a wonderful allrounder. And its dynamic range is fantastic, too. Thom Hogan sees the D3Xs dynamic range slightly behind D3 and he does test thoroughly. And then dynamic range and tonality is a thing of good pp.
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Re: D3X's DR is simply amazing...

Post by bernardlanguillier »

pam.meier wrote: Hi Lil, the D700 surely is a great choice. Believe me with 24 Mpix one will rarely hand-hold any more, a tripod is essential. The D700 is a wonderful allrounder. And its dynamic range is fantastic, too. Thom Hogan sees the D3Xs dynamic range slightly behind D3 and he does test thoroughly. And then dynamic range and tonality is a thing of good pp.
The D700 is definitely an excellent choice, no need to have second thoughts on this one (see this fascinating speech http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/barr ... hoice.html on the topic of second throughts :)).

Regarding shooting 24 MP handheld, most of my work is done on tripod, but I have had quite a few tack sharp images handheld with the D3x. Those were typically shot at at least 1/(2*focal lenght in mm), meaning 1/200 sec for a 100 mm lens. The image linked to by Stany above was shot handheld and it is pretty sharp, although you could get probably an additional few % of sharpness with a good tripod/head/technique. So it can be done, but the shooting conditions in which this makes sense are indeed faily narrow, basically bright days outdoors with a sharp lens and when a lof ot DoF is not needed. The built-in stabilization of an A900 would have tremendous value here.

Overall though, I agree totally that the D700/D3 is a better solution for PJ style alround shooting. The D3x does indeed only make sense when shot at ISO100 on a sturdy tripod.

Regarding dynamic range, I am not sure to agree with Thom's preliminary thoughts on this one anymore. At base ISO, it is probably in the same league as the D3, if not a tiny bit better. From ISO 200 up, the D3/D700 clearly provides more flexibility with highlights/shadow handling. This really depends on the raw converter used. Although I prefer the sharpness delivered by Raw Developper, C-1 4.6 is probably the best overall solution to tap into the D3x's DR while getting a good deal of detail.

Cheers,
Bernard
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Re: D3X's DR is simply amazing...

Post by pam.meier »

bernardlanguillier wrote:Regarding dynamic range, I am not sure to agree with Thom's preliminary thoughts on this one anymore. At base ISO, it is probably in the same league as the D3, if not a tiny bit better. From ISO 200 up, the D3/D700 clearly provides more flexibility with highlights/shadow handling. This really depends on the raw converter used. Although I prefer the sharpness delivered by Raw Developper, C-1 4.6 is probably the best overall solution to tap into the D3x's DR while getting a good deal of detail.
Yes, I get the impression that RAW conversion gets more and more important with such high resolving cameras. Glad to hear, you are happy with the D3X in that regard. I consider myself a Dynamic Ranger (think Fuji S5) and I´m always hoping for sensor technology to better it. Eventually, I will go for the "D700X" as many others who are waiting for it, so I´m looking forward to your images.
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