David Salem
05-07-2018, 11:59 PM
Sorry my fellow Canon shooters but I too have sucumb to the dark side!! It wasn't an easy choice but I had been contemplating it for quite some time, actually a few years. Even though I am one of the late ones to switch amongst some of my friends, I was actually their instigator.
My good friend and great shooting buddy Glenn Conlan has been a Nikon shooter for all the years we have been shooting together. Years ago he was at a severe deficit compared to us Canon shots as the Nikon gear was heavy and the autofocus was slow and wasn't nearly as good.
We shoot together as much as 2-3 days a week and we are shooting the same scenario out of mine or his truck almost frame for frame. Early on when something with action would happen, Glenn was struggling due to the gear and he wasn't getting the same frames as I was. Also when we shot ducks, falcons or grebes handheld, he was stuck to a tripod due to the heavy older Nikon 600. Then one day he got a new body, the 5D. I didn't think much of it as it had just come out and he had a D300 and D4 so I figured it might help out with better ISO performance and I think the shutter speed was a bit faster too. Never even thought about the autofocus and I was already driving a Ferrari, so who cared.
Then something started to happen. When we used to have some action happen, I would show Glenn my frames on the LCD and he would shake his head call me a name I can't mention here! After he got the D5 I was showing him my frames and he was handing me his LCD with the exact same frames.
I figured he was just getting better. A lot better.
Then I started showing him frames and he would have all those ones, and others I didn't have. What the $%#@!! Head on action shots coming at us fast and flight shots. I would be lucky to get the first frame of a take-off sequence, with the rest of the frames being soft, and he would get 3-5 great flight shots along with the killer take-off shot!!
I knew he was getting good, but this was getting ridiculous:e3.
Then Nikon came out with the new lighter 600. A huge game changer again for Glenn and he cut the umbilical cord from the tripod and started shooting action and flight exclusively hand held. More great stuff coming out of his camera!!
One day a few years ago we were shooting Terns at a location that had a lot of Tern activity and it was repeatable. I asked him if I could try his rig for a few minutes. Since I had been driving my Ferrari (Canon) for years, I knew it like the back of my hand and anything different, better or worse, I would probably notice.
To put it mildly, I almost soiled myself:Whoa!: It was not just different or better, it was seriously better!! I HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO TRACK A BIRD SO EFFORTLESSLY!! I was blown away. What it dose is actually what it should do. It actually tracks the bird. Once I locked on, if I keep the bird relatively centered, no matter where the bird went, it was in focus. In the sky, then a varied background and then back over the water. I could now follow the bird, without struggling to keep it in focus, and take the shots I wanted at my leisure. Glenn shot my Canon and thought something was wrong with my gear as he couldn't get anything.:bg3: I laughed and told him this is what I am working with compared to you. That is Canon's autofocus and unless you are dead center the whole time, and still that's not always for sure, you will lose focus quickly. And it doesn't recover focus easily either.
I didn't do anything at the time like selling everything and get new Nikon gear, but I did tell some fellow IF shooters about it and how good it was.
A few months later and I find myself, Glenn, Doug Brown, Arash and Tim Foltz all standing at the same Tern spot shooting together. I asked Glenn to let the guys try his rig. Doug and Tim saw the difference right away and Arash might have changed the AF setting and wasn't quite as sure, but did notice quite a difference.
The following year, which was last winter, Doug Brown called me and wanted to do a real world field test with the Nikon gear. He figured if he was going to seriously contemplate making the change, why not rent some gear and put it through it's paces. He rented a complete setup including a D5, D850 and a 600 and extender and headed to my house for three days of shooting trials. After the trials we knew the AF was better but in my are there wasn't enough repeatable continuous action to get a real good sense of the AF. We were still unsure but the Nikon did have a serious flaw, at least for me. It doesn't find a bird on a stick in a varied BG that well and we fiddled with all the settings and couldn't get it any better. Not nearly as well as my Canon.
We parted ways still not 100% sure. I was headed to Cancun Mexico on vacation the next day and Doug was going to Bosque in New Mexico to keep shooting the gear shooting ducks and cranes. We figured we would talk when I got back and make some concrete decisions about the gear.
As soon as I got back I was already hearing through friends that Doug had sold all his Canon gear in a day and had ordered all new Nikon gear. I called him and said what the heck happened. He said as soon as he went to Bosque and shot ducks in flight, it was a no brainer. Huge difference.
Still I hung on to my gear contemplating what to do and worrying about making the wrong move. What if Canon comes out with the new 600 DO just after I spend $20,000 on new Nikon gear??? Could that be a big game changer for a action/flight shooter like myself??
Next Arash started calling me because he had meet a new shooting friend that had a D850 and a 500 and he tried it out a few times. He now really saw the difference. A month later and he is selling everything and making the change.
I finally succumbed and decided to make the change also. I couldn't fathom another Peregrine season without this gear. It's perfect for this kind of shooting, fast birds in flight in varied Backgrounds, and Canon isn't
I went out yesterday to a Peregrine eyrie to do my first real shoot with my new gear. In the first few seconds I could see the big difference and even though it wasn't very active, I managed to get some of the best images of Peregrines that I have and I have been shooting them for years!!. It was great being able to get locked on and then just "let her rip"
I have never had my Canon gear stay locked on for a long burst to often. It might seem to be at the time of shooting, but upon closer inspection you will usually find that it is in and out of focus a little leaving a good percentage of the sequence just a bit soft. Especially the one with the killer wing position and the look right at you. Very rare to get a great sequence with a ton of sharp ones. Probably a handful of times over the years, and I shoot a lot of flight stuff!
Unless I totally screwed up yesterday, every frame in the sequences were sharp. Even ones coming right at me at high speed and going from the sun into the shade. Not doable with Canon.
Sorry for the long read but we have all been friends for quite a few years and I figured some of you might like to know the story of why I and so many people are making the change. As most of you know, Artie has made the change also and in now getting flight images that he never even had a chance to get before. I know he is ecstatic.
So here is the deal. If you are into shooting songbirds on perches or ducks on the water or shooting shorebirds standing on the beach, then don't worry about changing. It's not going to make that much difference. But if you like to shoot action and flight, even 30-50% of the time, then you may seriously take a closer look at he Nikon gear.
Here is a beautiful adult female California Anatum Peregrine I caught in nice morning light. She currently has chicks about 3-4 weeks old and came out of the eyrie a few times to get food from her mate. I can't wait until the babies fledge!!
D5---840mm---f5.6---ss1/2500th---ISO2500---Handheld@8:40am---40% crop
Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.
David
My good friend and great shooting buddy Glenn Conlan has been a Nikon shooter for all the years we have been shooting together. Years ago he was at a severe deficit compared to us Canon shots as the Nikon gear was heavy and the autofocus was slow and wasn't nearly as good.
We shoot together as much as 2-3 days a week and we are shooting the same scenario out of mine or his truck almost frame for frame. Early on when something with action would happen, Glenn was struggling due to the gear and he wasn't getting the same frames as I was. Also when we shot ducks, falcons or grebes handheld, he was stuck to a tripod due to the heavy older Nikon 600. Then one day he got a new body, the 5D. I didn't think much of it as it had just come out and he had a D300 and D4 so I figured it might help out with better ISO performance and I think the shutter speed was a bit faster too. Never even thought about the autofocus and I was already driving a Ferrari, so who cared.
Then something started to happen. When we used to have some action happen, I would show Glenn my frames on the LCD and he would shake his head call me a name I can't mention here! After he got the D5 I was showing him my frames and he was handing me his LCD with the exact same frames.
I figured he was just getting better. A lot better.
Then I started showing him frames and he would have all those ones, and others I didn't have. What the $%#@!! Head on action shots coming at us fast and flight shots. I would be lucky to get the first frame of a take-off sequence, with the rest of the frames being soft, and he would get 3-5 great flight shots along with the killer take-off shot!!
I knew he was getting good, but this was getting ridiculous:e3.
Then Nikon came out with the new lighter 600. A huge game changer again for Glenn and he cut the umbilical cord from the tripod and started shooting action and flight exclusively hand held. More great stuff coming out of his camera!!
One day a few years ago we were shooting Terns at a location that had a lot of Tern activity and it was repeatable. I asked him if I could try his rig for a few minutes. Since I had been driving my Ferrari (Canon) for years, I knew it like the back of my hand and anything different, better or worse, I would probably notice.
To put it mildly, I almost soiled myself:Whoa!: It was not just different or better, it was seriously better!! I HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO TRACK A BIRD SO EFFORTLESSLY!! I was blown away. What it dose is actually what it should do. It actually tracks the bird. Once I locked on, if I keep the bird relatively centered, no matter where the bird went, it was in focus. In the sky, then a varied background and then back over the water. I could now follow the bird, without struggling to keep it in focus, and take the shots I wanted at my leisure. Glenn shot my Canon and thought something was wrong with my gear as he couldn't get anything.:bg3: I laughed and told him this is what I am working with compared to you. That is Canon's autofocus and unless you are dead center the whole time, and still that's not always for sure, you will lose focus quickly. And it doesn't recover focus easily either.
I didn't do anything at the time like selling everything and get new Nikon gear, but I did tell some fellow IF shooters about it and how good it was.
A few months later and I find myself, Glenn, Doug Brown, Arash and Tim Foltz all standing at the same Tern spot shooting together. I asked Glenn to let the guys try his rig. Doug and Tim saw the difference right away and Arash might have changed the AF setting and wasn't quite as sure, but did notice quite a difference.
The following year, which was last winter, Doug Brown called me and wanted to do a real world field test with the Nikon gear. He figured if he was going to seriously contemplate making the change, why not rent some gear and put it through it's paces. He rented a complete setup including a D5, D850 and a 600 and extender and headed to my house for three days of shooting trials. After the trials we knew the AF was better but in my are there wasn't enough repeatable continuous action to get a real good sense of the AF. We were still unsure but the Nikon did have a serious flaw, at least for me. It doesn't find a bird on a stick in a varied BG that well and we fiddled with all the settings and couldn't get it any better. Not nearly as well as my Canon.
We parted ways still not 100% sure. I was headed to Cancun Mexico on vacation the next day and Doug was going to Bosque in New Mexico to keep shooting the gear shooting ducks and cranes. We figured we would talk when I got back and make some concrete decisions about the gear.
As soon as I got back I was already hearing through friends that Doug had sold all his Canon gear in a day and had ordered all new Nikon gear. I called him and said what the heck happened. He said as soon as he went to Bosque and shot ducks in flight, it was a no brainer. Huge difference.
Still I hung on to my gear contemplating what to do and worrying about making the wrong move. What if Canon comes out with the new 600 DO just after I spend $20,000 on new Nikon gear??? Could that be a big game changer for a action/flight shooter like myself??
Next Arash started calling me because he had meet a new shooting friend that had a D850 and a 500 and he tried it out a few times. He now really saw the difference. A month later and he is selling everything and making the change.
I finally succumbed and decided to make the change also. I couldn't fathom another Peregrine season without this gear. It's perfect for this kind of shooting, fast birds in flight in varied Backgrounds, and Canon isn't
I went out yesterday to a Peregrine eyrie to do my first real shoot with my new gear. In the first few seconds I could see the big difference and even though it wasn't very active, I managed to get some of the best images of Peregrines that I have and I have been shooting them for years!!. It was great being able to get locked on and then just "let her rip"
I have never had my Canon gear stay locked on for a long burst to often. It might seem to be at the time of shooting, but upon closer inspection you will usually find that it is in and out of focus a little leaving a good percentage of the sequence just a bit soft. Especially the one with the killer wing position and the look right at you. Very rare to get a great sequence with a ton of sharp ones. Probably a handful of times over the years, and I shoot a lot of flight stuff!
Unless I totally screwed up yesterday, every frame in the sequences were sharp. Even ones coming right at me at high speed and going from the sun into the shade. Not doable with Canon.
Sorry for the long read but we have all been friends for quite a few years and I figured some of you might like to know the story of why I and so many people are making the change. As most of you know, Artie has made the change also and in now getting flight images that he never even had a chance to get before. I know he is ecstatic.
So here is the deal. If you are into shooting songbirds on perches or ducks on the water or shooting shorebirds standing on the beach, then don't worry about changing. It's not going to make that much difference. But if you like to shoot action and flight, even 30-50% of the time, then you may seriously take a closer look at he Nikon gear.
Here is a beautiful adult female California Anatum Peregrine I caught in nice morning light. She currently has chicks about 3-4 weeks old and came out of the eyrie a few times to get food from her mate. I can't wait until the babies fledge!!
D5---840mm---f5.6---ss1/2500th---ISO2500---Handheld@8:40am---40% crop
Thanks as always for looking and for your input. I appreciate it.
David