Nikon D4 - what do you want to know??

Chris HChris H Registered Users Posts: 280 Major grins
edited April 13, 2012 in Cameras
Howdy folks. The lovely DP Magazine in the UK has asked me to review the Nikon D4 for them, and the even lovelier folk at Nikon delivered one to me yesterday.

First impressions are pretty damned impressive. I'll be putting it through it's paces over the next two weeks, I've a couple of architectural shoots to do and will be seeing what it's like at low light / speed work too.

So what do you want to know?? icon_biggrin.gificon_biggrin.gif

Cheers

Chris
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Comments

  • skippy77skippy77 Registered Users Posts: 131 Major grins
    edited March 24, 2012
    everything
    www.fuerteshoot.smugmug.com
  • ziggy53ziggy53 Super Moderators Posts: 24,133 moderator
    edited March 24, 2012
    I place a great deal of interest in the autofocus system of any potential camera purchase.

    How does the AF of the Nikon D4 compare to the previous D3s? In good light and in poor light? For sports and action (including active kids?) How is the AF at differentiating subjects near each other? Shooting through cluttered foreground? When a distractive object moves in front of the subject momentarily during tracking? Speed and accuracy are both valuable metrics for the above.

    High-ISO characteristics and examples? Banding issues? Specular highlight treatment?

    What are the battery characteristics? Power utilization of still and of video?

    How does the video look? Under what lighting? Video acquisition options? How do different lenses respond in video mode? AF speeds in video?

    Ergonomics of D4 vs ...? User interface? What changes and what stays the same? What do you like and what do you dislike? What "should be" that still isn't?

    That should get you started, but I hope that you post the results of your review back here.
    ziggy53
    Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
  • Matthew SavilleMatthew Saville Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,352 Major grins
    edited March 25, 2012
    I want to know if you can send it to ME...?
    “My first thought is always of light.” – Galen Rowell
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  • Chris HChris H Registered Users Posts: 280 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2012
    Skippy..... I'll try!

    Ziggy..... thanks for that early indications are that the autofocus system is pretty amazing, face recognition is a bit hit and miss when there's more than one face in the scene and it has to guess which one you want to focus on. I'll get working on the rest!

    Matthew...... I wish I could keep it for myself! :-)
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  • lifeinfocuslifeinfocus Registered Users Posts: 1,461 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2012
    ziggy53 wrote: »
    I place a great deal of interest in the autofocus system of any potential camera purchase.

    How does the AF of the Nikon D4 compare to the previous D3s? In good light and in poor light? For sports and action (including active kids?) How is the AF at differentiating subjects near each other? Shooting through cluttered foreground? When a distractive object moves in front of the subject momentarily during tracking? Speed and accuracy are both valuable metrics for the above.

    High-ISO characteristics and examples? Banding issues? Specular highlight treatment?

    What are the battery characteristics? Power utilization of still and of video?

    How does the video look? Under what lighting? Video acquisition options? How do different lenses respond in video mode? AF speeds in video?

    Ergonomics of D4 vs ...? User interface? What changes and what stays the same? What do you like and what do you dislike? What "should be" that still isn't?

    That should get you started, but I hope that you post the results of your review back here.

    That is an excellent outline for an article.

    Phil
    http://www.PhilsImaging.com
    "You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
    Phil
  • jmphotocraftjmphotocraft Registered Users Posts: 2,987 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2012
    I want to know how it compares to the D800 at high ISO. I imagine you don't have a D800 lying around, but if you can get one somehow I think that would be useful information.

    Also, how is the AF for sports.
    -Jack

    An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
  • lifeinfocuslifeinfocus Registered Users Posts: 1,461 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2012
    Compare HI ISO to Canon 5D Mark III
    I would like to see a comparison of high end native ISO of DS4 to Canon's 5D Mark III. You probably don't have the Canon, but if you can find reliable research results and reference in the article that would be most useful. Would also like to see how good the Canon's higher native ISOs ratings that are above the D4s.

    Phil
    http://www.PhilsImaging.com
    "You don't take a photograph, you make it." ~Ansel Adams
    Phil
  • MJRPHOTOMJRPHOTO Registered Users Posts: 432 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2012
    When will I be getting mine?
    www.mjrphoto.net
    Nikon D4, Nikon D3, Nikon D3
    Nikon 14-24 f2.8, Nikon 24-70 f2.8, Nikon 70-200 f2.8 VR II, Nikon 50 f1.8, Nikon 85 f1.4
    Nikon 300 f2.8 VR, Nikon 200-400 f4.0 VR II, Nikon 600 f4.0 II, TC-1.4, TC 1.7, TC 2.0
    (1) SB-800, (2) SB-900, (4) Multi Max Pocket Wizards
  • thegridrunnerthegridrunner Registered Users Posts: 235 Major grins
    edited March 26, 2012
    I cancelled my order for the D4 today. When I saw the video resolution of the camera uncompressed, I was greatly disappointed. I wanted to use the camera with my filmmakers group and thought the three video crop factors would awesome. But when I saw how soft the image was in full crop and 1.5 crop modes, it killed all interest in getting the camera. Only 2.7 crop mode was usable. What the heck Nikon, I thought you would do better for a $6000 camera.
    I am thinking about getting the d800 now or the Canon 5Dm3. Will have to think about it for a little while.
    Nikon D800, D7000, 14-24,24-70, 70-200 Nikkor and stuff
    http://www.youtube.com/user/NYCFilmmakersGroup
    http://www.meetup.com/NYC-Filmmakers-and-Actors-Meetup-Group/
  • Chris HChris H Registered Users Posts: 280 Major grins
    edited April 12, 2012
    Have you seen this video? http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/08/nikon-d4-dslr-1080p-amazing-sample-video/

    Looks pretty amazing to me, although granted it is full HD not crop.
    Chris Humphreys Photography


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  • jwwjww Registered Users Posts: 449 Major grins
    edited April 13, 2012
    I guess I would be mostly curious to know what would make me want to sell my 2 D3's to get 2 D4's. Call me a purist, but being able to shoot video doesn't interest me at all. Basically quite a bit of what Ziggy was asking, well except for the video stuff that is. lol
    jww - www.jwwPhotos.com - www.jwwWebDesign.smugmug.com
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