First Post with Nikon

[David Salem]

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.

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 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. 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

[David Salem]

Sorry I didn't post a 1200px frame but I figure it being a vertical it should be easy enough for most to view.

[Tim Foltz]

Dave, I have to admit there is a difference... but for me I will remain a hardcore Canon shooter. I've always stuck with back button focus and although
maybe not as high a keeper rate as with the new Nikon gear I've always been happy with my results. I've been using Canon since the 70's and I'm stuck in my old ways
I'm glad you're happy with the new gear and I'm looking forward to more outings when Glenn, you and I and Doug get together and shoot. It is a bit odd being the only Canon guy now

Nice IF of the peregrine, nice details, HA and wonderful Pacific BG.

-Tim

[David Salem]

Thanks Tim. Not that I wasn't happy with my results and I have been getting lots of great stuff over the years with my Canon gear, just when you try something that is a huge difference better, it becomes much more compelling. None of these guys weren't getting great frames with their gear, just that it's that big of a difference.
I wasn't overly invested in Canon but some of these people are heavily invested and are so enamored by the new gear that they will sell $50,000 of Canon gear and make the change. Thanks for the comment

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Welcome to dark side :-)

Beautiful Image. I really like the wing position and head angle.

Thanks for sharing.

[Glenn Pure]

Well all I can say is this works a treat. Really gorgeous detail and beautiful colours in that background too. Love the pose and dorsal view including that beautiful fanned tail.

[gail bisson]

What a stunning frame! Love the eye contact, IQ and colors in the BG.
Thank you for walking us through your decision making path re: Nikon. I want to copy and paste your post and send it to Canon executives to shake them up!
Gail!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi David, well no going back now and I know the move wasn't taken lightly. However, like Tim, (I think we have shot Canon for about the same length of time, albeit 1979 for me with F1), I too am too entrenched to change. Both company's will go their own 'chartered' ways irrespective of what their Customers say, (Historical) and I think there are a lot of pro & cons for both sides, my only wish is that Canon supply uncompressed files like Nikon, a simple Firmware update.

All I can do is wish you well and look forward to enjoying more of your images irrespective David...

Enjoy your new kit.

[Doug Brown]

So glad that you're happy you made the switch Dave. It's a big decision to be sure. I'd been a Canon shooter for 40 years, and was heavily invested in Canon bodies and lenses. But the Nikon AF proved to be too good to resist. Excellent first frame BTW!

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Dave, it seems it doesn't matter what you shoot with, you still nail the shots. Great dorsal view here, great inflight HA, tack sharp, and with good DOF throughout the Peregrine. Killer BG too.

Congrats on your new kit, and I wish you success with Nikon going forward.

Your intro made interesting reading.

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone. Glad you like her and thanks for the well wishes with the new gear.
Glad you are ok with the "Story" I wrote last night. I thought you would like to know how this all came to be. Its amazing how fast your thoughts can be translated with a good talk to texted program. A late night beer and I was just rambling away
Thanks again

[arash_hazeghi]

nice first Nikon post Dave, you nailed this one. In addition to the superior AF Nikon have the D850 which I find really useful for shooting smaller birds, for some shots 20 mega pixel is just aint enough. the tide has turned, last year Glenn was the only Nikon guy now Tim is the only Canon guy hehe

[annmpacheco]

Holy Smokes, Congrats Dave, this is a killer frame and I appreciate your time explaining the backstory to the "switcharoo" I am really disappointed and frustrated with my inflight images for all of the same reasons you have mentioned above. I am hoping to "test drive" some Nikon gear soon. Wonderful peregrine, glad you are not looking back!

[Arthur Morris]

Sweet. Been there, done that. Folks understand that David will always be among the best flight photographers in the world whatever the gear. But for flight photography, for me, it was no contest. I switched after a 10 second tryout. And though I will never be 1/20th as good as Dave, I am twenty times better than I was with Canon. No worries though, there are lots of things about Nikon that suck :) with love, artie

ps: See the blog starting in late January for my Nikon flight photography images ...

[John Mack]

Great read. Whatever works works. Nice and sharp with a good dorsal view. Excellent background.

[Isaac Grant]

Super Dave as I already told you about this shot. Love the colors of the bird and the water. Maybe one day you will convert Jackson also!!!

[David Salem]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments and thanks Artie for the super nice complement. I greatly appreciate it!!

[Glenn Conlan]

Maybe now you will stop cussing in my ear after showing me your frames where your focus point was directly on the eye but out of focus. The camera may help a little but the credit goes to the operator. It is strange not being the sole dark side person anymore. Now get the 850 and be amazed at new details

[sasan nejadi]

Welcome to dark side

Beautiful Image, I like the wing position and head angle and i love eye cantact.........TFS

[David Salem]

Maybe now you will stop cussing in my ear after showing me your frames where your focus point was directly on the eye but out of focus. The camera may help a little but the credit goes to the operator. It is strange not being the sole dark side person anymore. Now get the 850 and be amazed at new details

Thanks Glenn. Gosh knows how many times I showed you this same scenario of OOF frames while I was right on the bird for many frames. Very frustrating, as your fragile ears know D850 soon!!