This is going to be interesting to watch. At $6k each, are they that much "better" than current bodies costing half as much? Is the day coming when flagships have priced themselves out of the market?
We're bidding a huge photo job this summer, requiring full time work for two photographers for two months. We have decided that if we get the contract it will be time to re-camera. Faced with buying four of the D4's or something else, Nikon is going to have to pitch me really hard to drag $24,000 from the budget for the project.
Hank if where you Id be looking at buying some cherry D3's on eBay or somewhere from all the people that will be dumping that camera to get the new one. Unless your doing video or need to work as a wire service shooter and use the eithernet or wireless transmission options of the new rig its a why upgrade kind of a deal. Im sure the file will be cleaner on the D4 but the D3 produces a really solid file and if I had to run out the clock with the D3 Id be fine with that. The one thing I will say is that by the time the new camera hits the street the price will reveal itself, that price will not stay that high. As far as flagships cameras having priced themselves out of the market? I dont think so.
We're pro shooters Douglas, and gear purchases are purely a business decision. The gear has to meet our needs and pay for itself- and the quicker the better. If there's an alternative that meets our needs while costing less, the price difference translates into money in our savings account or payments on our studio mortgage.
There's some strut among photographers for being seen with flagships, but if owning the gear detracts from rather than adds to our bottom line, it's a bad investment. Based upon conversations with other full-time pro photographers I know and work with, the price of flagship cameras weighed against features may well be relegating them to the realm of well-heeled recreational shooters rather than working pros.
Yep I agree completely which is why if it where my money and not company cash Id be looking at the D3's that will flood the market shortly. It’s a great camera and mine have seen heavy action for over 3 years now and have never been in for service! I don’t think a D700 would have held up in environments like Iraq or other places that are really harsh on electronics and that’s a chance I cannot take when the company is spending 15 grand to send me somewhere it would be a deal breaker to miss an event because I cheeped out and went with a lesser model. As far as using the flagships there are reasons like where you do your shooting and the demands of the publication your shooting for if I could get away with using the D700 I would. Its light weight and does the same thing my D3 does. Sometimes you cannot chance using a pro-sumer model and have it go down because it’s not as sealed as a top shelf pro model. Sounds like you have a pretty cool project in the making up there hope it comes through Ill be interested to see what you do for gear. If you need a second shooter;-) Ill be headed to Alaska this summer for a two month ride on my motorcycle………hint, hint;-)
I bet the company isn't sending you on that bike ride!
As for alternate cameras, no kidding. We have to make some decisions in the next couple of months, all guided by our business plan of course. Over the last 20 years we've used mortgages as "enforced retirement savings accounts," and the mortgage on our studio will be paid off before summer. Now, do we invest in more real estate, buy D4's or sell the business?
No its coming out of my pocket.............Actually they sent me up last year to cover a Lisa Murkowski event and I had such a good time I’ve decided to come back on my own and take my time. I’ve always wanted to ride to Alaska on my bike and see the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and ride the Dalton Highway on my bike as its one of Americas last adventure rides. Anyway would love to swing by a put a shadow on your door.
Let's stay in touch, and depending on what you want to shoot we can zero in on the best time period. The arbiter is whether we take that big photo job, which would drag us away from home for weeks at a time over the course of the summer. I'd still really enjoy hooking up in any case, but we'll have to work around a schedule that won't be nailed down till May.
Posted by Douglas Graham on February 28, 2012 at 10:39 AM
So we had the NPS rep in to our photo department at work this past week and we got our hands on the D4 and it’s really a jump ahead of the D3. I don’t get that excited about new cameras even the D3 was for me more of a “well its about time” vs. “Holly Hell this is impressive” Well the D4 is a blow your hair back impressive camera. AF is so fast and so accurate it’s hard to put it into words. The layout of controls is really well thought out and a giant leap from the D3. Image quality in low light is also a giant leap. Expect D3 800 ISO results at 2000 ISO on the D4! I’m being really conservative here about the low light quality of the files. The thing that impressed us the most was the new HTTP Server mode. In the HTTP Server mode you can control the camera from a web browser using your iPhone, iPod, or laptop. Not just firing the camera but all of the functions. So for natural history shooting remote photography takes on a whole new appeal as the guesswork is all been removed. You can focus, change exposure settings and watch for the decisive moment vs. hopeing your hitting the mark. We have ordered a few for the department and by the time the National Presidential Conventions roll around at the end of the summer we will have changed over to the D4. Also the D800 video is going to punt the 5D and set the new standard for DSLR video.
Video on HTTP Mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0DnEoqm-wc&feature=player_embedded#!
Discussion
11 replieshttp://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-11673-12223
We're bidding a huge photo job this summer, requiring full time work for two photographers for two months. We have decided that if we get the contract it will be time to re-camera. Faced with buying four of the D4's or something else, Nikon is going to have to pitch me really hard to drag $24,000 from the budget for the project.
There's some strut among photographers for being seen with flagships, but if owning the gear detracts from rather than adds to our bottom line, it's a bad investment. Based upon conversations with other full-time pro photographers I know and work with, the price of flagship cameras weighed against features may well be relegating them to the realm of well-heeled recreational shooters rather than working pros.
As for alternate cameras, no kidding. We have to make some decisions in the next couple of months, all guided by our business plan of course. Over the last 20 years we've used mortgages as "enforced retirement savings accounts," and the mortgage on our studio will be paid off before summer. Now, do we invest in more real estate, buy D4's or sell the business?
Let's stay in touch, and depending on what you want to shoot we can zero in on the best time period. The arbiter is whether we take that big photo job, which would drag us away from home for weeks at a time over the course of the summer. I'd still really enjoy hooking up in any case, but we'll have to work around a schedule that won't be nailed down till May.
http://bythom.com/d4intro.htm
Video on HTTP Mode: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0DnEoqm-wc&feature=player_embedded#!