Monday, April 28, 2014

REVIEW: Nikon D4s–The Greatest AF Performance I’ve Ever Experienced (Part I)

Nikon D4S DSLR Camera
Nikon D4S DSLR Camera

I’ve shot nearly 2000 shots with this amazing camera and I can’t wait to share the results with you. This is, without question, the best Nikon I’ve ever used – by far, and it even has me looking at my Canon gear wondering why it can’t be this good! I’ll explain why I feel this way in my full review, but here’s a few nuggets to hold you over until then.

Swing Test


D4S, f/2.8 @ 70 mm, 1/1600, ISO 450, No Flash, Shade WB, 70-200mm lens

When I test sports cameras, I like to do a swing test as it is one of the toughest challenges for an autofocus system. My son was in wild form and in a different series (not shown here) he gives this system the ultimate focus test, and the results blew me away. If you like swing shots this clear, you are going to like what I have to say.

Dynamic Range and High ISO


D4S, f/7.1 @ 70 mm, 1/640, ISO 25600, No Flash, AWB

The results I got will remind you why full size DSLR’s still rule and demonstrate how far the mirrorless systems have to go to get this kind of performance. Without question this camera is expensive, but it definitely proves that you get what you pay for in this case. It’s definitely solid up to 25,600, but come back to see about the higher ISO’s to learn if they are actually usable or just marketing hype.

Paired with the 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II Lens

A sports camera must be paired with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens as they are a combo that are made for each other. While I’ve been critical of the Nikon 70-200 as it’s left me very underwhelmed compared to its Canon counterpart, this copy (provided directly by Nikon) when paired with the D4s had my jaw dropping!

Keeping track of a kite against an impossibly busy background – virtually flawless…


D4S, f/2.8 @ 200 mm, 1/800, ISO 100, No Flash, 70-200mm Lens

Handheld at 1/15 sec, no problem…


D4S, f/2.8 @ 200 mm, 1/15, ISO 320, No Flash, Handheld

Paired with the 50mm f/1.4G

While there’s no question that the D4s is an amazing sports camera, I thought it would be fun to test it as a portrait camera. While I haven’t shot my studio shots yet, I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen thus far. I think you will be too!

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G Autofocus Lens

While not my best shot by a long shot, I was impressed with the overall image quality of this shot as it clearly demonstrates the caliber results you can get with this camera when paired with a good portrait lens.


D4S, f/1.4 @ 50 mm, 1/320, ISO 100, No Flash, 50mm Lens

Real World Images


f/4 @ 105 mm, 1/320, ISO 1400, No Flash, Vivid Picture Style

I’ll feature more real world images in future installments of my review. All of the images featured in this article are straight out of the camera with ZERO post-postprocessing. They are the original in-camera JPEG images that have been renamed by Lightroom but not modified in any other way. I’ve got over 300 more I’ll be sharing in future articles as well!

Conclusion

Lot’s more to come in the future articles for this review, but rest assured that this is going to be a VERY highly recommended camera. I was a big fan of the D600/D610, and D7100, but the D4 had left me very unimpressed due to poor focus performance. The D800 left me underwhelmed due to noise and usability challenges with all those megapixels. However, this is the dream camera that we’ve all been waiting for and it lives up to being worth its mega price tag. If you shoot Nikon and want the best, THIS IS IT!

Here’s the rest of the articles associated with this review:

Where to order

Click here to learn more or order the D4s on the B&H web site.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.

If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!

This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.

The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity

Thursday, April 17, 2014

GUEST BLOG: Bella Dahl Jeans Girl by Vincent Versace

Copyright (c) Vincent Versace - All Rights Reserved - Used with permission

Copyright (c) Vincent Versace - All Rights Reserved - Used with permission

Yet another blast from the past that I found as I populate my new back-up server. THIS ONE was from the Coolpix 850. I get a call from the then  director of marketing of Nikon telling me she wants a picture for PhotoEast that they can blow up to 8 feet by 10 feet shot with the to be announced at the show Coolpix 850 and she wants me to shoot it. It is a Monday. I say "COOL".Then she says find me a very well endowed model, and I want her to be blond. I say "SURE!" (here reasoning was computer geeks and dweebs did not get out from behind the computer screen much) . She then tells me the camera will be at my studio late Friday afternoon, hand delivered from Japan. I say "OK...." She thinks some of the menus will be in English. Again "ok......." Then she's says I need camera ready art, scaled and on my desk Monday 9am EST or 6am PST. I say "........o......k......"

So I go into the office of Altamira Group, late, get yelled at for showing up late, (I was the Artist In Residence at Altamira Group, the developer of Genuine Fractals now known as Perfect Resize from onOne) I tell them the story of the morning, the the CLO (Chief Legal Officer) say "GREAT!!! My wife has just started this company called Bella Dahl Jeans, and I'm sure she will let you shoot the promo pictures (as a favor.... for no fee being the implied thought here) and your tardiness will be forgiven! 

The camera a arrives at 7pm Friday, it hat most of the menus operational. The ones that had text were 50% Japanese and 50% Spanish. No English. Japanese I get, Spanish left me scratching my head. The prototype  only shot jpeg or tif. Tiffs had a 7 second shutter lag time from pressing the trigger to the camera taking the shot and a 48 second write time to card before you could shoot again.  The model I got through an agent friend of mine would strike a modely "pose" every time she thought we were taking a picture. For the first two hours I got pouty lips and half open eyes the only thing missing was someone saying "ooo la la." So to get the shot I wanted I would tell her I was going to take the shot, she'd hold her pouty lip half eye opened ooo la la pose tell her the shutter clicked (why she could not hear it was because it was an electronic shutter, the click sound she was hearing after I took "the picture"  was the camera advancing the digital film) then she'd relax into these really cool poses which I then took the shot. I told her we had to wait a two minutes for the camera to process, so she would think I was not going to shoot her and she would strike another very beautiful natural pose while stealthily  I'd snap another frame. This went on ALL day Saturday for 11 hours.

This image was lit using a thermonuclear device (the sun) as the point light source (no batteries harmed in the production of this image) a Westcott Scrim Jim 3'x6' diffuser and a Westcott Sunlight reflector (I built my "Hollywood" lighting career with just these two light modifiers).

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this. This image was submitted upon request by Vincent Versace and used with his permission for this article.

NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.

If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!

This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.

The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

I’m back–sort of…

After a few weeks break, I'm planning to return with some articles as I discussed in my April 1st article. My goal is to have one to two articles per week for the near term as I catch up on previously promised articles. Articles will include cool products like the Nikon D4s, Fujifilm lenses, a cool new 4k display, paper reviews from Canon, Epson and Breathing Color, and much more. Thanks for your patience during this break and new schedule, and please be sure to stop by from time to time to see what's up.

My friends at Topaz Labs have asked me to share with you a special deal they have going on this month. From now until April 30th, they are running a 50% promotion on Topaz Detail, with coupon code aprdetail.

Click here to learn more!

Conclusion

I’m looking forward to getting back in the saddle again to bring you some new reviews. Thanks so much for all of your support during this transition period!

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.

If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!

This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.

The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Back to Photography

Natasha
Natasha
Canon 1D X 1/160 sec at f/10, ISO 100 at 125mm (70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM)

In the first week since I decided to stop working evenings on the blog, I’ve enjoyed what amounts to a great vacation since I actually get to sleep at night. I’m happy, the family is happy, so all is good. Now that I have a little “me time”, I’m looking forward to editing some photos again.

Here’s a photo that was part of my Nikon D610 review. I enjoyed working with this model so much that I pulled out my 1D X when I was done with my “work” and shot with my personal gear.

This was lit using my lighting setup with the Elinchrom 39" Rotalux Deep OctaBox to the left and 27x27 Softbox to the right. The background was lit with my Quadra S lights.

Processing was basic Photoshop touchups with Portraiture for skin and Color Efex for the final punch on the shot.

It was fun to go back to just doing what I love most with photography.

I’m working on a plan to do a weekly article of items on my to do list here in the future.

Other articles you may enjoy

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy these:

Disclosure

If you make a purchase using links found in this article, I may make a commission. It doesn’t cost you a penny more, but it does help to support future articles like this.

NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.

If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!

This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.

The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Thanks For Everything! (Not an April Fools’ Joke)

RonAndMoonheeCartoonKyoto2012
Moonhee & Ron Martinsen
Copyright Unknown Artist – Kyoto Japan

In 2006 I went from a millionaire with a family to single and homeless, so I turned to friends to stay alive. They carried me long enough for me to rediscover a long lost passion for photography, so in March 2007 while facing over $5000/mo in legal bills I did something really stupid – I bought my first digital SLRCanon Rebel XTi. This awoke the fire and passion inside of man who started working as a 10 year old boy for $2.50/hr to become fully vested in Social Security by 22 and a multi-millionaire by 29. That selfish man died in 2006, but that rebirth of someone more caring of others was fueled by photography.

A Nice Glass of Scotch - The Birth of ronmartblog.com
A Nice Glass of Scotch - The Birth of ronmartblog.com

Later in March 2008 I picked up Color Efex with $250 I couldn’t afford to part with.  After a really bad attempt at a Strobist shot I used Color Efex to save a really ugly photo taken from my messy bed with very little equipment. This gave birth to my goal oriented desire to learn and help others from making the same mistakes I made during my transition to digital photography.

I didn’t have much money and I was frustrated by buying cheap products that failed me. I hated the reviews that made everything sound great when a lot of it was total garbage. I was tired of wasting what little money I had, so I wanted to shout from the rooftops when I made an investment in equipment or software that paid for itself. What started off as giving advice to friends at work in email evolved into the blog, and in March 2007 ronmartblog.com was born.

2013 was a fantastic year that almost caused me to quit my day job, but the Nik Software merger to Google and the subsequent Google ending the affiliate network took a big financial toll on the blog. This past January’s unexpected merger of KelbyTraining and NAPP into KelbyOne took another source of income off my plate. The net result of these two events and a downturn in others has significantly impacted the financial viability of this blog. I thought donations might save it, but with only $250 donations this year it’s clear that this blog can’t be my primary job.

image
ronmartblog.com – it’s bigger than many people realize!
Snapshot taken March 31, 2014 from Alexa.com

For 6 years I’ve worked from 10 PM to 4 AM (and sometimes as late as 7 AM) on Sundays through Thursdays while still maintaining a 50+hr/week day job to bring my articles to you. It’s taken a significant toll on my health and my family, but I did it with the desperate hope that I could turn this blog that I love so much into my full time job. Despite enjoying up to 90,000 visitors per month from over 190 countries per month and surpassing the Alexa ranking of photography legends like Joe McNally, it simply wasn’t enough.

I have no corporate sponsorship, no advertising and I only make a small commission when I inspire you to make a purchase using links on this blog. Despite this, I spoke from the heart and was a straight shooter – even when it cost me sales. Great partners like B&H helped me to get the camera gear I reviewed and many other great partners supported me by allowing me to review their products – even when my reviews weren’t always favorable. Only two companies have ever asked to see an early preview of my reviews and only one of those has challenged what I had to say. As a result, I can say in good conscience I’ve brought you my unbiased opinions based on how I see things without any external influence or motivation.

I’ve never retaliated against partners like Google (via the Nik Collection) and others who left me out in the cold with no commissions as you can see in my What plug-ins should I buy? (for Photoshop & Lightroom) article.

I’ve received numerous emails of support and a handful of really hateful emails, but I feel very good about what I’ve accomplished with this blog. I thank each and every one of you who have visited, and I especially thank those of you who have supported me via using my links, donations, and spreading the word about my blog.

Moving Forward

Effective immediately I’m scaling back my effort for this blog. I am NOT shutting it down or quitting, but rather returning it to the status of a fun side job – rather than a 2nd full-time job. While I will fulfill my commitments to existing partners to which I’ve promised to do reviews, I will take a break from accepting any new products until I’ve completely cleared my backlog and reassessed things.

Without the financial support of my partners, advertising and sufficient donations from my readers I have to rededicate myself to my daytime job. This also means that I have to get a good night sleep and work at being a more devoted father and husband to the people I care about the most. I just simply can’t keep doing two full time jobs like this anymore, and the finances just aren’t there for this blog to allow me to do this full-time (as much as I wish it was).

Moving forward you can expect new articles, but they will most likely be shorter and less frequent than you’ve seen in the past. Your support by sharing links to your favorite articles and using my links when purchasing will be appreciated more than ever before, so please do not stop doing that!

After spending some time just enjoying photography again as a normal guy and not a gear blogger, I hope to clear my plate and get my life and health back in order. At that point I’ll reassess the performance of this blog and my return on my time investment to see what’s next for me.

Your Support Is Greatly Appreciated!

My Personal Wallpaper
My Kids – It’s time for me to start spending more time with them again!

I hope to be back at this full steam ahead one day, but until then I need your support more than ever by using my links when making a purchase. You can use the links in the articles, my discount coupon code page, the B&H search box or contact me if you need help ordering. You can also continue to show your support by bookmarking this site and sharing links to this blog so that it doesn’t fade away during this time of reduced activity.

To the 2.6 million people who enjoyed over 4.3 million page views from over 227 countries (many of which I’ve never heard of like Nauru) – thank you!

Thanks,
Ron Martinsen

P.S. Just so there’s no conspiracy theories, this was not motivated by any recent review or activity at my day job. This was a personal decision that purely had to do with my family. More importantly, this is NOT an April Fools’ Joke – it’s a coincidence this just happened to occur on April 1st.

Other articles you may enjoy

image

Please use the index on the right side of this blog and the previous post archive at the bottom right (photo shown above) to see my past articles. Don’t forget the blue header bar at the top either (shown below)!

image

Disclosure

This blog is funded by donations and commissions when you order products using my links. It doesn’t cost you a penny more. If you don’t give it here you’ll give it to someone else – someone always gets the commission on the web!

NOTE: This site requires cookies and uses affiliate linking to sites that use cookies.

If you enjoyed this article, please support future articles like this by making a donation or saving money by using my discount coupon codes. Either way, your support is greatly appreciated!

This blog is intended for freelance writing and sharing of opinions and is not a representative of any of the companies whose links are provided on this site.

The opinions provided are of Ron Martinsen alone and do not reflect the view of any other entity