[Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

[Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

Yesterday I shot a full wedding with the new Nikon D4 that LensProToGo was kind enough to send me since mine isn’t here yet. I was extremely pleased with the way that the camera performed and although I haven’t gone through the images yet, I picked out 6 random shots that were taken at high ISO so that you guys can see the noise in real world situations.

Both of my shots taken at 12,800 ISO are still under-lit and they have motion blur meaning that these are very poor examples of the cameras quality at this setting. In my opinion ISO 12,800 is totally usable and I will go even higher the next chance that I get.

We should have a full review of this camera compared to the rest of Nikon’s fleet in the next few days.

DSC 0667s [Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

DSC 0404s [Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

DSC 0132s [Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

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DSC 0570s [Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

DSC 0855s [Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

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http://twitter.com/Gordon_Burns Gordon Charles Burns
It truly is a wonderful camera…. and I heard it takes amazing photos of the inside of your lens cap too.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
I’ve been a professional photographer for 7 years now but this is actually my first true “professional” camera. As a wedding photographer I don’t want a $6k sports camera but since Nikon made the D800 a studio camera, I don’t have much choice. Most of the design features about this camera I love and some I absolutely hate. I guess it’s all what you get used to.
muchoja
nice one…..can’t wait to see the rest of your shots
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=845015156 Jon Schanz
Which parts do you hate?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Cristian-Troncoso/708395851 Cristian Troncoso
Great ! thanks for sharing …
David Arthur
so what do you hate about it?
jpincali
Lee, please elaborate on the love/hate issues. Looks like hi-iso performance is great.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Andy-Kawa/185103904 Andy Kawa
I’m curious as well, which do you hate?
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
For one thing the ergonomics of actually shooting video are very bad. The live view button forces you to take one hand off of the camera to flip the switch. The video “zoom” feature that I was so excited about requires you to to into 1 menu for 1 zoom and then a completely different menu for another zoom (I will create a video explaining this). Also, this camera doesn’t have a flash (which I was prepared for) but it also does not have a AF assist light. At many receptions I will shoot with a pocketwizard on the top of my camera and use the AF assist light on the camera to focus. You can’t do this on the D4, you MUST have an SB-800 on top of the camera in dark situations. Nothing is a deal breaker, its just annoying once you get used to a system, you spend 5 times more money, and they remove simple features.
Tracy Hoots Hoexter
As a new photographer, I have a question: when I see the ISO changing for various indoor shots that seem to all be at the reception… are you changing it manually each time? In a ‘live event’ like that, how do you make these decisions quickly? Thanks!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Anthony-Hayes/100003561878067 Anthony Hayes
gimme the D4 with the mp’s of the D800 … then we’ll talk …
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=500898214 Richard Gottardo
perhaps I can answer this as I’m sure Lee is a busy man and I am sitting on my couch eating pringles for breakfast. When shooting wedding receptions it is usually pretty low light and when taking a shot I usually know which aperture I want to use and what the lowest shutter speed I can use without getting undesired motion blur. I then adjust ISO on the fly to compensate. I’m sure most do the same.
http://www.facebook.com/ZeroTank Danny Mendoza
Lee has been shooting for 7 years and sometimes it is second nature especially on the job, your hands and brain move in sync and you can change your iso rather quick as you know what will work in what situations. I have only been shooting for 3 years and i find myself doing it rather quickly.
Clément Barthes
The AF assist combined with radio triggers is a real pain, especially for Canon shooters (cause AF sucks to begin with…).
If you don’t mind the silly look, you can attach the PW to the flash with a velcro strap. Then you keep the flash in Manual at 1/128 in order to get the AF assist, and you plug the PW to your sync port.
http://www.facebook.com/pkennethv Poradis Kenneth Vinyaratn
Nikon flashes allow you to just use the AF assist light on the speedlight unit without the flash going off on the unit at all, should you choose (so no need to even set the power at 1/128).
Velcro works wonderfully though :)
(although if you’re using the PW TT5/TT1, you wouldn’t need any velcro as it’s got an additional hotshoe mount)
http://www.facebook.com/hotduckz Thanatham Piriyakarnjanakul
Is face detection with metering work? Thank you~!! :)
hispeedchase
That kid in the first picture is a future model. Head tilted slightly back and to the side, 3/4 turn, front shoulder dropped. However that baby in the 5th shot will never have a career in modeling. He thinks the camera is on the ceiling. Better start studying kid.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Anthony-Hayes/100003561878067 Anthony Hayes
ROFLMAO
http://www.facebook.com/chitran247 Chithanh Tran
When shooting low light, I usually set my cam to the largest aperture, then set the shutter to the slowest I can go without motion blurr, then those are locked in.. the only thing left to adjust is the iso. I set the iso to Auto and let the camera take over like it was in Shutter or Aperture priority.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
I was actually really excited about face detection but from what I can tell this feature only works in live view mode which makes it worthless to me… I’m still not 100% sure about this though.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Yes I do constantly change my ISO. I shoot 95% of my weddings at an aperture of 2.8 so that usually remains a constant. I set the ISO a little high for my shooting condition and then I play with shutter speed as I change my shooting direction in a given location. If I am bouncing flash then I will also play with the exposure compensation to change the flash output. Last night I was shooting in a barn and TTL was not working well so I shot the entire night with my flash also in manual mode. This was the first wedding of the season for me so I was fairly slow at this but after I have done this week after week for a few months I can usually tell you what my ISO should be in any situation just from looking at it.
Nobody is good at this at the beginning but the only way to learn is to always shoot in manual. Sometimes P mode is called for but I only use it 1% of the time.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Yes I always dangle the pocket wizard from the flash unit just so that I have the AF assist. It’s just nice to have the option of the built in AF assist on the camera too IMO. I never ended up buying the TT5s but I may need to just for this situation.
Michelle Alger
This quality of the pictures looks great though even at the high ISOs. Since everyone is focused on the negative, I’ll bite and ask what do you LOVE about the camera?
http://www.facebook.com/Col1nMC Pasha Kyrychenko
Come on!! With invention of EXSPEED 2 every Nikon DSLR gives yellowish-carrot-greyish tint to every picture!!!!Even this expensive shit!
I own d7000,so you know im not a stranger
Because of this feature i have to shoot always in RAW and then almost every time fix this tint. I’m not complaining,no, but i’am very dissapointed that NIKON is not fixing this issue in every new product since d90 i suppose…
6000 bucks for cool technologies and stuff, but with this tint issue in every image.
It’s not a simple tint, it’s affecting almost everything in weird way, especially, sometimes unfixable, skin tones.
I always advised people to buy NIkon stuff, because i liked it with my d40x (d60 including) before. But today i advised Canon to my friend.
Clément Barthes
You should give a try to the TT5+SB800 configuration before buying it. I’ve never tried it, but I used to have a Sigma flash with a high AF assist lamp. Less than 5ft away, the light wasn’t hitting the center AF point. Real pain in the boot. I suspect you could have the same issue by putting the flash high up on a TT5.
http://www.facebook.com/johnpesina John Pesina
Lee, why would you choose the D4 over the D800? Why is the D800 a “studio camera”? And wouldn’t the larger megapixels make up for the noise you get at higher iso’s? With the ability to crunch down in post from a larger raw file the noise seemingly disappears. I experienced this with another photographer that shot a wedding with me all in 6400 on Mark II, while I shot with a D700.
raveem
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amanduca
Do you have a calibrated monitor? lol
http://WWW.LIFEASCINEMA.BLOGSPOT.COM SEAN SHIMMEL
What?
Not sure what you’re talking about. And Nikon wouldn’t pick up on this? I’m not at all convinced there’s even a hint of an issue with this.Even if so, then go to Canon’s ambassador Jeff Ascough and his review of the 5DMKII and look at the sample video… so yellow it makes tungsten look white. I’m sure in his excellence it was intentional on his part, but goes to show that (possible) color abberation abounds (if at all):http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/eos_5d_mark_ii_jeff_ascough.do(take a look 35 seconds in)
http://WWW.LIFEASCINEMA.BLOGSPOT.COM SEAN SHIMMEL
Interesting to note that wedding photographer Jeff Ascough shot numeruous weddings exclusively with the 5DMKII and it’s “lowly” 3.9 fps.
It’s funny and more importantly helpful to go back to “old” reviews and see what has been said by great photographers about great equipment and then compare it with complaints of supposed grievous limitations today:
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/education/technical/eos_5d_mark_ii_jeff_ascough.do
http://www.facebook.com/gvanniekerk Gillian van Niekerk
looks like a fair amount of CA 12800, although that could just be the situation. I personally still have a phobia of anything over 400, but I’ve been forced to shoot up in the 3000s on my D700. I keep the ISO in third stops just so I can go up in smaller increments.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670836252 Marc Pagani
Shot this today with the D4. The 3D Tracking is pretty fantastic.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670836252 Marc Pagani
It is working for me. It only works in live view mode, but when you’re shooting stills, and you review the iamage in your monitor, a little white square surrounds each face in the image. the 3D tracking works great. Shot a wedding and a bike race this weekend, and both in low and bright light, the tracking worked very well.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670836252 Marc Pagani
John, the D4 and D800 (I have the D4 now and the D800 is on order) are really different beasts. The D4 is a really great tool for sports, action, wedding, live music, and low light shooters. Increasing the number of pixels on the same size sensor causes each pixel to be smaller, hence the increase in noise. So, the D800′s gonna be great for in studio work with ample light control, and for landscape images in good light. I will be happy if it does well at 6400 iso, whereas I’ve shot the D4 up to 25600 with good results this weekend.
Sam Dickinson
I’ve had the chance to play around with one over the weekend. Going to be hard giving it back on Tuesday though. My thoughts:-
Hate:-
* little joystick/nipple things are really annoying to use, I find I’m constantly clicking in on it rather than say up
* AF at the outside edges a little dodgy, but that could be the old 24-120 I was using on it. 70-200 and 50 1.4G were brilliant.
* price – I’ll never be able to actually afford one.
Love:-
* Everything else.
I never used anything apart from my D5000, so other Nikons may have this, but love the soft shutter button. I’m able to slowly press it rather than clicking it reducing any blur.
At ISO 6400, to me it looks cleaner than my D5000 at ISO 400.
Aaron Yeo
Skin tones seem a little pinky to me – or maybe they’re all just getting drunk.
But seriously, it does have that almost signature nikon pasty-pink skin tone.
http://www.facebook.com/jasonwaynelee Jason Lee
WooT! 12,800 looks so crazy clean WOW. I was shooting at 1600 with my 5100 (diffused direct flash), maybe i should have let it climb a little further. You know when you let me test drive the D4 last night i was so giddy about it that i just started snapping and didn’t pay any attention to any settings whatsoever. For all i know it could have been on single point focus and every shot was out. The previews seemed ok so i just kept snapping… what a blast that was. The samples look great and I know Jason and Katie will be thrilled!
http://www.facebook.com/stephanie.dyar Stephanie Dyar
Thanks so much for this review! it is SUPER helpful! =) I’m anxiously waiting for my D4 to arrive and I’ll be shooting my very first wedding with it. So your article and comment below were very informative! Love FStoppers! I always get such great inspiration from your videos/articles/tutorials! Thanks for making the behind the scenes of photography so tangible and attainable!
jorge pastrana
wow!!
http://twitter.com/photobyleighton Jr. Miller
I appreciate your mini-test but it doesn’t really look like you pushed the new camera very far…I would have a hard time telling the samples from images produced with the D3s…
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
If the D800 can take quality shots at 6400 then I’ll be happy to sell my D4
Stonia
A comment from Marc Pagani above stated: “the D4 and D800 (I have the D4 now and the D800 is on order) are really different beasts.”
Apart from the D800 having 36mp w/4fps and the D4 having 16mp/11fps, these two cameras are pretty much identical as far as picture quality/auto focus/video is concerned, no ? The guts/sensors are the same, autofocus/tracking …etc. the same, video the same. How are these really different beasts ? I realize the D4 has the new XQD card, ethernet, WT-5 …etc., but when it comes to actual picture quality (ignoring upsampling or downsampling commentary), please explain the differences between the two, apart from the obvious 36mp vs 16mp. If I were not interested in the XQD, ethernet, I’d have a hard time justifying an extra $3000.00 just for the added fps.
I’m not picking a fight or trying to be facetious, just trying to figure out why one would spend an extra $3000.00.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=670836252 Marc Pagani
Only time will tell (no, I’m not quoting Asia tunes now), but from what I’ve seen, the D800′s high ISO performance is comparable to the D3. Much of the photography that I do requires better high ISO performance than the D3, so I need the performance of the D3s and D4. I think you also answered your own question in a way, by quoting the specs. 4fps vs 11fps is a big deal when you shoot action. Also, I don’t think the sensors can really be called “the same” when one is 16mp and the other is 36mp. Believe me, if I could get away with using a d700 or d3, or d800 alone, I would. I think the D4 is great so far, my D3s has been fantastic, and combined with the D800 for portraiture, landscape, and studio work, I will be set for a few years
Stonia
According to Nikon.com – the 91K-pixel RGB sensor is the same on both cameras, the Expeed 3 processor is the same, the sensor photo detectors (36mp vs 16mp) may be different, but from what I can see, both cameras will produce the same image quality regardless of ISO (disregarding any upsample/downsample commentary) ? With regard to high ISO, the general consensus seems to be that the D3/D700 is 1.5 stops worse than the D3s. The D3s is equal to the D4. The D800 is supposed to be 1.5 stops better than the D3/D700. With that said, the D800 looks to be equal to the D3s and therefore the D4. Essentially, if one were not interested in the XQD/ethernet/WT-5 and only wanted the added fps, they would be paying an extra $3000.00 for the fps alone. For those of us who aren’t working professionals, it’s a hard pill to swallow when the lower fps was the only thing holding them back from the D800 (I’m used to the D700 at 8fps). I hope you see what I mean ?
Stonia
P.S. I really liked the image you uploaded today/above of the biker.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Lutfi-Lokman/794078953 Lutfi Lokman
i like ur comment! hehehe
Fabian Gasperl
It does work in the viewfinder. you just have to set the af-dynamic-field (sry, don’t know what’s that called in english exactly) to auto. So that it’s neither 9/21/or 51 points but auto. than it will focus for the nearest face, which i find works well. it even focuses on eyes… hope you understood what im saying.
http://www.facebook.com/GhislainLeduc Ghislain Leduc
Lee, wouldn’t the best combination be the following for you?
1 x D700 for Hi ISO pictures,
2 x D7000 for video and your assistants
1 x D800 for Studio work? D4 seems overkill for Wedding but that’s just me… :)
http://www.patrickhallphotography.com Patrick Hall
give us a few days :)
Stephen Muza
Having also used my newest tool for a couple of assignments the past few days I would agree there are a few minors annoyances with the D4 when coming from a D700. The images are amazing off this camera and the images taken at 12,800 iso are indeed deliverable to a client with minor noise reduction. The thing that has impressed me the most so far is the autofocus. It is FAST! Way faster than the D700, D300s, or D7000. The annoyances really are related to video ergonomics. I don’t like the placement of the record button as it moves the Mode button over a bit too much (and I have large hands) and a few key features are buried into different menu systems (simpler fix with My Custom Menu). The weight was expected but it really is a beast for an entire wedding day and I had to start using my R-strap again. I have to reiterate how fast this thing is at focusing in all lighting situations. I look forward to your full review latter on!

[Pics] Real World High ISO Images From The Nikon D4

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