A 3 minutes play with Nikon D3 at ISO 6400

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Played for 3 Minutes 
~ Nikon D3 + AF 50mm F1.4D ~



Went to an electronic store today (in Japan) and got the chance to test and play play with a Nikon D3. I got my new TEKQ Professional 233X Ultra Pro CompactFlash (CF) 8GB Memory Card (Lifetime Warranty) with me, so was able to slot it in and do some test shots and bring them home. 

My best model, Megumi was just beside me. Her mum was shopping in a store nearby.

The camera was set to ISO6400 by the previous user or store owner, I did not check the initial setting before taking shots of Megumi…but I think it is great that it is set that way and I can see how good the D3 performed at such ISO! Lens used is Nikon AFD 50mm F1.4.

All photos below are none edited or sharpen in my computer. Only resized and cropped for web sharing purpose.

Here’s a shot that I took (resized for web purpose):


Below are 100% crop (click to view in full):






I must say that I am very very impressed! Not only details are still pertained, but colours are very well and no shift to weird colour matching at this high ISO! (which is always a problem in my Nikon D200)
You can see that the noise at the dark area are still very little, and the patterned / textured cushion of the baby car is still very well recorded with no weird pattern or shirt of line!

Ok…you might ask…how about a more colourful subject? Here you go…

Resized photo:


100% Crop (click to view in full):




In my opinion, the colours of red, green, blue, yellow…etc. all retained very well!

You might want to say that the colours are a bit dull, but I would rather the original file to be that way so that I can later edit and punch in the contrast via PC, which can be done easily to my taste. See below:



One of the problem that I faced when testing the D3 for a few minutes is that the “smart” AF seems to outsmart my brain. It tends to focus on area which I do not want it to be focused on. Obviously, I want Megumi’s eyes to be in focus, but the D3 focus wrongly.

In the photo below, I want Megumi’s eyes to be in focus, but it focus slightly behind (on the hair) (this photo is at ISO 250):



(Megumi scratched her face which her fingernail the night before…)


Can you see the hair in focus while the eyes are not?


I must say that this is just my few seconds test shots with the D3. I am sure it is a very good camera, and I will not hesitate to replace it with my Nikon D200 if someone is generous enough to give one to me for free…but if I were to buy one for my own use…hmm…hmm…hmm…

Thanks for reading… 

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Dr Koh Kho King
Wise men still seek Him!
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