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Nikon D300 Examples: November 2007.
all © 2007 KenRockwell.com
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More Examples: Tower 29 Sunset and full-resolution moonlight shot made with 24-70mm f/2.8 at 70mm and f/2.8! To those of you who know lenses, this wide-open tele shot should say it all. Focus is on the nearer row of houses, not infinity, and of course trees blow in this 15 second exposure at ISO 200. The D300 autofocused easily all by itself.
Here are my first few shots from my Nikon D300. The colors are exceptional, especially considering that the subjects weren't. The colors are loud, but not distorted.
It is intriguing that these shots aren't winners and they weren't made the usual way I make color, which is to look for especially colorful things and take their picture.
Most of these were made at lunch in La Jolla over the space of less than an hour mid-day. Nothing was exceptional (except of course La Jolla's year-round every day is like the first-day-of-spring weather).
I'm impressed at the colors, and especially at the rendition of highlights without any of the usual nasty color shifts that scream "lousy digital capture!" These look great, even if I have the color cranked up in my D300 about as far as the sound levels at any decent heavy metal concert.
These are all exactly as they came from my Nikon D300 and 18-200mm VR lens: no cropping, no level changes, no nothing except sizing and branding for the Internet. The key to getting this color is in setting your D300 to do this. Mine is cranked to the limit for saturation. I always use Active D-Lighting (MENU > SHOOTING MENU > Active D-Lighting > NORMAL), Nikon's newest attempt at solving the dynamic range problem. I'm loving how it makes the highlights look exactly as they should, and doesn't slow down my camera.
Most shots outdoors were made at -0.7 exposure compensation. Unlike other digital cameras other than the Fuji S-5, even when exposure was too much, the colors didn't have bizarre shifts. This is great!
How to see all these photos: You may scroll up and down the usual way, or try my NEXT buttons to save scrolling.
Be careful: if you accidentally hit a NEXT button above an image, instead of the NEXT button at the end of the commentary, you'll skip past that image.
Here's your first link: skip to first image.
Ryan Rockwell.
I have the colors cranked beyond the legal limit for people. Look at the toys; they are brighter than life. Oddly, Ryan's baby skin looks smooth and pleasant. I don't shoot people seriously, so I haven't played with skin tones. If they look this good set the wrong way, I wonder how good they could get set intelligently? This is shot with the newest 24-70mm f/2.8; the rest of this page is with my 18-200mm VR. Exactly as shot in JPG, Auto ISO chose ISO 640, 1/60 at f/2.8. Next Photo >>
La Jolla Post Office, La Jolla, California.
My local post office. Sorry for the lame plants; there used to be two huge magnificent eucalyptus trees, but they got so big that the city murdered them. I popped up the built-in flash, and the Auto WB turned a bit warmer to give a nice yellow to the walls. Exactly as shot in JPG, 18-200mm VR, as are the rest of the shots on this page. I shot at the 24mm setting to avoid any distortion. Next Photo >>
Junk Racks, La Jolla, California.
I love the wilder-than-life colors, Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Palms, La Jolla, California.
Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
In His Spirit, La Jolla, California.
I'm loving how light stucco looks. The shifts in color you see are how the building looked. There are none of the usual nasty color shifts as things approach wash-out. Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
The Athenaeum Library, La Jolla, California.
Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
La Jolla, California.
Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
The La Valencia Hotel, La Jolla, California.
I love the way this looks. It's difficult to render the pink of the La Valencia digitally, and the D300 is doing a great job of it. Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
La Jolla, California.
Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Gulls, La Jolla, California.
I love how the water rendered as shades of cyan and green. It didn't look this good in person! Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Children's Pool Railing, La Jolla, California.
Whoa! Look at that orange! Along with the water as shown above, these are shots made on a typical dull mid-day, and they rendered extraordinarily well. Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Pelicans, Children's Pool, La Jolla, California.
Look at the rock! It looks pretty dull in person, and likewise La Jolla's pelicans, a favorite of bird photographers world wide, look to be in full yellow breeding plumage. Actually, they didn't look this good in person; their peak of color is January. Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Planter, La Jolla, California.
Wow, this looked ho-hum in person, and my settings of my D300 rendered it as interesting. God only knows what would happen if I took a D300 set this way to San Miguel de Allende. Exactly as shot in JPG. That's not grain or noise on the dark wall, that's its texture. Next Photo >>
La Jolla, California.
Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Planters, La Jolla, California.
Looked boring in person, and as I realized, my D300 quickly pumped it up into interesting. Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
La Jolla, California.
Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Curb, La Jolla, California.
My D300 is adding warmth to my images, exactly as I'd like it to. Remember, this is only one fast walk around the block at lunch in La Jolla, and I'm seeing things no digital camera has done before. Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Curb, Solana Beach, California.
I should have reduced the exposure a bit. In reality I was doing something else with someone else waiting for me, so no time to shot again as I ran through a parking lot. Of course I could have jacked with it in Photoshop, but not for lazy me. This is at -0.7 stops as are most of the shots on this page; it probably needed -1.0 or -1.3 stops. This is also exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
Sunset, California Coast.
Decent sunsets always look colorful when photographed, but in digital they often grow distracting rings of sickly colors around the sun. Not here, this looks as delicious as film. Exactly as shot in JPG, 18-200mm VR at 175mm. Next Photo >>
Sunset, Pacific Ocean.
Yes! OK, for this shot I whipped out my Nikon 80-400mm VR racked out to 400mm. See the lack of bogus bands around the sun? I wish all digital cameras could do this. Bravo Nikon! Exactly as shot in JPG. Next Photo >>
November Sunset, California Coast.
Exactly as shot in JPG, 18-200mm VR at 62mm. Next Photo >>
November Sunset, California Coast.
Exactly as shot in JPG, 18-200mm VR at 35mm. Next Photo >>
Trailer Park Sunset, California Coast.
Exactly as shot in JPG, 18-200mm VR at 22mm to avoid any distortion.
That's it!
More Examples: Tower 29 Sunset and full-resolution moonlight shot.
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