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Switch time.. maybe

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
I am a pro and shoot Canon for quick stuff, Hasselblad in the studio, and I shoot Fuji sometimes too.. But I have been talking to Nikon about gear that can do all my jobs and they have kindly lent me a couple of big cases full of gear.... A D4s and a D810, 24-70, 70-200, 35 1.4, 851.4 and the 400 f2.8 and some speedlights.

I have to say I am impressed so far... had a week of getting to know the menus etc and tomorrow I am covering the IPC (paralympics committee) World Cup Finals (nordic skiing and bialthlon events) The AF performance on both these bodies is extremely good. The D4s is not at all left wanting by my Canon 1Dx. The D810 may just be the perfect allround camera. I have tested it in the studio, on the ski slopes and here are a couple of shots with the D810 and the 400 f2.8 VR II Shot straight into the setting sun...



 

Swissblad

Well-known member
Nathan, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Back in SLR film days, we Nikon devotees longed for a 150-600mm zoom like Canon had - in DSLR times Canonites lusted after the Nikon 200-400mm and 14-24mm....... ;)

Either way it would be nice to welcome you in the Nikon camp....... and I'm sure you'll find some friendly folk here - just don't neglect your Fuji!
 

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
Nathan, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Back in SLR film days, we Nikon devotees longed for a 150-600mm zoom like Canon had - in DSLR times Canonites lusted after the Nikon 200-400mm and 14-24mm....... ;)

Either way it would be nice to welcome you in the Nikon camp....... and I'm sure you'll find some friendly folk here - just don't neglect your Fuji!
Thanks, though not really a case of grass is greener. :) Especially with the 5Ds about to come out.. many might wonder why jump ship now... Well For my commercial customers that need the file size the hasselblad is king, but its expensice to maintain and upgrade. Dont want this to ne a MF vs 35mm discussion because I am fully aware of the things I can do with MF vs 35mm :)

I was talking to a my dealer at a recent seminar about borrowing a 400 f2.8 to cover the papralympics world cup finals when Nikon Norways sales boss, who was sitting at the same table as me, piped up and asked if I have ever tried Niikon.. more as a joke to behonest, but the conversation turned more serious later and via e-mail. The D4s will do exactly what my 1Dx does. no problem. But the d810 will do just about anything and at a third of the cost of the hassy upgrade from H4D to H5D.. and my H4D is WELL used... time for it to go :)
If the tools for the job are right, it dpesnt matter what the name on the front says... :)
So I am now waiting for a trade in deal from my dealer... only then will I make the choice.. Nikon have said they are working with my dealer to give me the ebst possible offer... :D Sounds interesting! :)

Here is one with the 400mm, this time with the D4s attached...
 

fotografz

Well-known member
I totally get it Nathan.

If it is time to re-up the Hasselblad, then it just becomes a business decision. So much of what is done today rarely needs the special attributes that MFD brings to the party. There is internet reality, and then there is the real-world reality that Pros face.

I had to make a similar decision when the H5 was introduced ... and I chose to consolidate with my Leica S system and Sony 35mm DSLR, and opted out of Hasselblad. Loved the H, but the work demands had changed and it was time to move on.

Now I question continuing with Sony as they seem to have placed all their eggs in the little mirror-less segment with EVF in a jumble of different bodies, and weak lens support .... but more importantly Canon/Nikon seem to always get the cool third party stuff (Like Profoto's B1 and B2 TTL strobes).

If I were to swap out (again), it'd most likely be to Nikon just for the speed and OVF.

- Marc
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
The D810 is the best all-round camera I've ever had. It does high res, action (not perfect, but good enough), low light (not perfect either, but again...), shutter is silent enough, ISO 64 is truly amazing, the viewfinder has proven to be good enough for manual focusing, at lest for me, etc. After I bought it, I've started selling off all my non-Nikon gear except some film stuff that I keep just for fun. I consider selling my other Nikon bodies as well and buy another D810. That's all I need for the rest of this decade... or longer.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
If the shoe fits, wear it :) You are an excellent imagist, and can likely make great images with anything. For me, I made the switch 2 years ago. At the time, I wanted to see how well the higher MP count would actually perform in a DSLR. I was immediately impressed. After a week of dorking around with my first D800, I realized how little I was actually thinking about the camera when using it, it was just natural... So much so, I bought a second body and a slew of glass and sold off most every other system I owned the following week. Two years later and I still feel the same way or more --- the D810 is without question the finest do-it-all camera I've ever owned.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Hi there,
I would be interested which are the main factors for you if you switch. What would you get in the D810 what you do not get from the 5dIII(s)?
Is it mainly DR or are there other things?
 

Thorkil

Well-known member
hmmm...
sometimes I'm just longing for the effectivity in my old Nikons, metering was always spot on, AF too...
just, in my weak moments, considering a humble D610 + 18-35 and a 24-120 + some of the left lenses on the shelf. Don't want or need the huge files from D810 and the careful shooting mode needed there. And 610 would be bulky enough to me :)
thorkil
Any positive experience from the 18-35?
 

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
Hi there,
I would be interested which are the main factors for you if you switch. What would you get in the D810 what you do not get from the 5dIII(s)?
Is it mainly DR or are there other things?
I do alot of location work with flash. The ability to have 1/250 and a natural 64 iso gives me nearly a stop more than 1/200 and iso100 that the canon gives (my 1Dx is 1/250 , so why not the 5Ds!?
That is one of the things I love about Medium format. sync all the way to 1/800 :)

The files I am getting from the D810 are incredble . I am a Canon shooter. have been since film. But this D810 impresses me!

The D4s is on par at least with the Canon 1Dx (ok 1 fps slower---- and 2 mpx less.. but really I love how it sits in my hand)
 

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
If the shoe fits, wear it :) You are an excellent imagist, and can likely make great images with anything. For me, I made the switch 2 years ago. At the time, I wanted to see how well the higher MP count would actually perform in a DSLR. I was immediately impressed. After a week of dorking around with my first D800, I realized how little I was actually thinking about the camera when using it, it was just natural... So much so, I bought a second body and a slew of glass and sold off most every other system I owned the following week. Two years later and I still feel the same way or more --- the D810 is without question the finest do-it-all camera I've ever owned.
Thanks Jack :)

I have to agree--- the D810 is reall a jack of all trades and master of most of them. I am impressed.
 

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
I totally get it Nathan.

If it is time to re-up the Hasselblad, then it just becomes a business decision. So much of what is done today rarely needs the special attributes that MFD brings to the party. There is internet reality, and then there is the real-world reality that Pros face.

I had to make a similar decision when the H5 was introduced ... and I chose to consolidate with my Leica S system and Sony 35mm DSLR, and opted out of Hasselblad. Loved the H, but the work demands had changed and it was time to move on.

Now I question continuing with Sony as they seem to have placed all their eggs in the little mirror-less segment with EVF in a jumble of different bodies, and weak lens support .... but more importantly Canon/Nikon seem to always get the cool third party stuff (Like Profoto's B1 and B2 TTL strobes).

If I were to swap out (again), it'd most likely be to Nikon just for the speed and OVF.

- Marc
Yep Marc, its all about the money :) If I can swap to full Nikon kit by trading in all Hassy and Canon gear for less than the getting the Canon and trading my hassy gear then its a done deal :)
 

Bryan Stephens

Workshop Member
Another very long time Nikon user. My first camera was the Nikon EM that I got for my 13th birthday. I have had the FM2, FE2, F3, F3HP, F4s, F5, D200, D300, D700, D800, D800e, D810 and the D4.

I just recently switched to the Canon as MOST of my dslr shooting was for fast action sports, and I found that the 1Dx had a better focus tracking system than the nikon, and the extra 2 fps helped a bit too, especially with baseball and hockey.

I do however really miss the D810 files as they were second only to my MFDB files.

If it had a faster fps, I would have made it my all around go to camera. If the Canon 5DSR doesn't measure up, I may be severely tempted to come back to Nikon as I love their cameras, and the menus are now second nature to me, whereas I have to basically re-teach myself the Canon system.
 

trioderob

Member
I shoot Nikon but on thing about Canon is the TS24 lens.

if you shoot landscape there is no Nikon lens as good.
(my zeiss 21 is not bad tho)
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
I am a long time Nikon shooter as well, although all my Nikon gear is currently sold - but this is just me and that is a different story.

I have been shooting Nikon most of my life (also in the analog days since the 70's) with short interruptions through Canon, Olympus, Leica, Pentax, Hasselblad, .... but always came back to Nikon again and it always felt like home. Especially since the D800E I felt pretty much home with Nikon - I do not want to bore anyone here with explanations why I left again.

Currently I am looking to get back into the Nikon system with the Df and a few selected primes (1.8 as I want to go the lighter way) and later will add whatever Nikon brings as D810 replacement. Not that the D810 is a bad camera by any means but simply because I think the next incarnation will just fulfill my needs even better and life cycle of D800/D810 should end kind of in a year from now - till then I will be able to happily survive with the Df and my beloved Olympus EM1.

Just for those who are interested - I plan to get rid of my Fuji XT1 and selected lenses to fund my step back into Nikon - main reason is that one mirrorless system based on the EM1 is enough, the EM1 and Olympus m43 system suits my needs better than the Fuji X System and I am really missing a great OVF!
 
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segedi

Member
My first decent SLR was a Nikon N70 and I sold that and went Canon for 12 years. Been using various other systems, but recently bought a Nikon 85mm/1.8, F100 (now sold), Voigtlander 28/2.8, Petzvar 150mm/3.5, Sigma 150mm Macro (traded my last Canon lens) D750, and 50mm/1.8 in that order. I knew I wanted to get back into Nikon and went the small and light route, mostly. Except for the flare issue, I've very been happy.

Not comparing image quality or size of the gear, my two lens Leica kit, M240, CV 35/2.5, Summilux 50mm vs the D750, CV 28/2.8 and Nikon 50/1.8, the weight and cost difference are both surprising. The Leica kit is a scant, 0.13 lbs/58 grams lighter and costed me $7555 more to acquire. Nikon was a waaaay better value. And sometimes you need fast AF and an OVF.
 

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
Well its a done deal. :)
Friday I travel to Oslo, lunch with my dealer and Nikon... I will be losing the Hasselblad H4D-40 and 4 lenses and My Canon line up and picking up :
D4s, D810, 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 (all 2.8) 58mm f1.4 300 f2.8 and two SB910s and a commander. :O
 

ptomsu

Workshop Member
Well its a done deal. :)
Friday I travel to Oslo, lunch with my dealer and Nikon... I will be losing the Hasselblad H4D-40 and 4 lenses and My Canon line up and picking up :
D4s, D810, 14-24, 24-70, 70-200 (all 2.8) 58mm f1.4 300 f2.8 and two SB910s and a commander. :O
Nathan,

great to hear that it works out so well, I am happy for you! I think overall a very good decision!

What about your Fuji gear, will it also go?

Best regards

Peter
 

Nathan W. Lediard

New member
Nathan,

great to hear that it works out so well, I am happy for you! I think overall a very good decision!

What about your Fuji gear, will it also go?

Best regards

Peter
Thanks Peter!
For the moment I will be keeping my Fujis. Not least because I am 75% of the way through a book project and I don't want to switch systems for that project. After that we will see... I can see me getting rid of the the two X-T1 bodies and my zooms and just keeping the x_pro1 and 14, 23, 35 and 56 primes. Perfect light travel kit when I have a free day and don't want to lug the big guns around.
 
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