Day 2, Buzzard Flight Test. with D3X

Taken today during a quickish flight test session with Pringle, a European Buzzard, this is a follow on from yesterday's upload. Would love to had a bit more time but was tied up a bit with some nice visitors.

Results in the short period were quite amazing, tracking & focus lock worked brilliantly. Very pleasing indeed even though the weather became a bit too overcast.

Here is one shot many taken during the session. More or less full frame with just a slight tweak using photoshop 6.0, CS3 as packed up on my PC for some reason which is a bummer.

D3X
300mm AFS II F2.8 VR
ISO 400
1/1000th sec
F3.2
Shutter Priority
Handheld.
JPEG Setting

I see that you are making the most of your new bit of kit, be it on loan. Don’t forget that 80% of any photograph, is the person behind the camera, if that helps with the bank balance.

Now stop looking in that mirror, and saying to your self, "I've been a good boy, and I deserve it".

An excellent shot by any standard. Well seen and taken.

It certainly looks sharp. I would be interested in some of the other settings. Some of the snow in the background is overexposed (not a criticism); is this shot with spot metering or centre-weighted? As it is shot as a jpg, it is an 8-bit file. Have you tried shooting in raw with 14-bit colour selected? I would be interested to learn how you think the camera performs for wildlife action shooting set-up to shoot 14-bit colour. I suspect it is going to feel too slow and frustrating, but maybe not if all of the captured images are as sharp as this.

Hi Phil, Below is the iExif Data. Over the week I hopefully will be learning a bit more about what all this info means, it is all new to me really because when I take a shot I guide the exposure on that slider balancing thingy in the view finder, when it is lined up I then take the shot & hope for the best. Sounds more frightening by saying it this way, I sorta know what I am doing, I think lol. I normally shoot in manual mode than shutter priority, I find it easier.

Need to take it out to a feeding station or to a Barn Owl site I think to test it out on wildlife

I hope the below is of use

Vince

[Image]
Make = NIKON CORPORATION
Model = NIKON D3X
Orientation = top/left
Software = Ver.1.00
Date Time = 2009-02-08 14:13:04

[Camera]
Exposure Time = 1/1000"
F Number = F3.2
Exposure Program = Shutter priority
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Exif Version = Version 2.21
Date Time Original = 2009-02-08 14:13:04
Date Time Digitized = 2009-02-08 14:13:04
Exposure Bias Value = ±0EV
Max Aperture Value = F2.83
Metering Mode = Pattern
Light Source = unknown
Flash = Off
Focal Length = 300mm
Maker Note = 35072 Byte
Subsec Time = 0.83"
Flashpix Version = Version 1.0
Color Space = sRGB
Exif Image Width = 6048
Exif Image Height = 4032
Sensing Method = One-chip color area sensor
File Source = DSC
Scene Type = A directly photographed image
Custom Rendered = Normal process
Exposure Mode = Auto exposure
White Balance = Auto white balance
Digital Zoom Ratio = 1x
Focal Length In 35mm Film = 300mm
Scene Capture Type = Normal
Gain Control = Low gain up
Contrast = Normal
Saturation = Normal
Sharpness = Normal
Subject Distance Range = unknown

[Thumbnail]
Thumbnail = 160 x 120

[MakerNote (Nikon)]
Makernote Version = 0210
ISO Speed Used = 400
Quality = FINE
White Balance = AUTO
Focus Mode = AF-C
Flash Setting = NORMAL
Auto Flash Mode =
White Balance Bias Value = 0, 0
White Balance Red, Blue Coefficients = 562/256, 382/256, 256/256, 256/256
000D = 00, 01, 06, 00
Exposure Diff = 00, 01, 0C, 00
ISO Speed Requested = 400
Flash Bracket Compensation Applied = 00, 01, 06, 00
AE Bracket Compensation Applied = 0EV
Lens Type = Nikon G series Lens
Flash Used = Flash Not Used
Bracketing & Shooting Mode = 1
Noise Reduction = OFF

Thanks, Vince. It is interesting that the 3-D metering has picked out the subject and set the exposure for that, rather than picking up the white snow in the background, exposing for that and under exposing the subject.