Micah Walter

Ever since the Nikon D3 was announced I have been thinking about whether or not full-frame cameras have really come into their own. For a long time Canon has been the only full-frame player in town with their 1Ds line of cameras and their very affordable and popular 5D.

But now that Nikon has their D3 on the horizon, I have to wonder which camera maker is on top of things at the moment, and really, if full-frame cameras are really there yet in terms of the specs that matter to me.

Below is a quick comparison I put together that includes the current full-frame models as well as the Canon 1D Mk III. I wanted to look at the technical specs that really interest me the most. I’m not looking at image quality at all, and just sort of assuming that all cameras produce great images at high ISO. (I will get to that topic on another post.)

To be fair, no one really knows what the Nikon D3 will boast in terms of frame buffer. The pre-production models that are floating around seem to have room for about 9 RAW frames, which in my opinion is really too low.

The Canon 1D Mk III, while still a 1.3x sensor, seems to have some pretty good numbers with 10 fps, 10 mpix and a RAW buffer big enough to hold 30 frames. That’s nearly an entire roll of film!

If you have the money, the 1Ds Mk III looks pretty viable with 5 fps, and a 12 frame RAW buffer. But wait a second, that’s 12 frames of 21 mpix images! I wonder if that equates to 30 10 mpix frames on the 1D Mk III!

If Nikon ships the D3 with a larger buffer it will really be a viable Canon killer. Full-frame shooting, 12 mpix, and 9 fps for only $5000. It seems to me that all they need to do on this camera is up the buffer to match the 1D Mk III.

And what about an update to the 5D? Maybe a 6D? This camera has been so popular in the pro and pro-sumer market since it was introduced, but it hasn’t seen an update at all. Maybe Canon is following the old adage that if something aint broke, don’t fix it.

Upgrading the 5D to add 5 fps, a few more frames in the buffer, and better weather sealing would really be nice. 5D Mk II?

I’m really dying to shoot full-frame, but I think my minimum requirements are as follows:

5 fps
12 mpix
12 frame RAW buffer
A price tag less than $5K

Hmmm, maybe a used 1Ds Mk II would be a good choice, it comes pretty close.

What do you think?

Rob Galbraith has a cool article up on his site with a number of sample images from pre-production Nikon D3s. These cameras were given out to a handful of lucky pros who put them through their paces in real life situations. The results? Total camera lust.

Just skip past all the ISO 200 shots of the baseball fields (though note that they were shot with the new 14-24 f/2.8 lens) and find your way down to the bottom. You can download the full resolution images and zoom in all you want on the cheerleaders, but man oh man, ISO 25,600?!?!

This is absolutely incredible. Now, I already know what some people are going to say. Uh, there’s lots of noise at 25,600. For those of you who just said that, please, leave this website immediately, go to the kitchen and smack yourself in the head with a rolling pin. We did say twenty-five THOUSAND six-hundred, right?

One of my favorite films back in the college days was Tmax P3200. I loved the grain, and the sort of shot-in-the dark look it produced. I feel like the new Nikon at 3200 has leaped over Tmax P3200. I can’t wait to try out some black and white conversions from some of these files. Wait, what am I saying? I shoot Canon!

I’m leaving for the airport in a few hours. So, I thought I would write a short article about my travel bags. People are always asking about traveling as a photographer and specifically how to pack all the right gear. There have been hundreds of articles on this subject already. So, for my version, I thought I would take this approach. Whenever I travel, I tend to pack differently. It is ALWAYS based on the trip at hand. I usually make up my packing system a few days before the trip based on what I think I will be doing and what I will need when I get there.

A good friend of mine once told me this easy to remember rule of thumb. Pack in your carry-on bag, EVERYTHING you will need to complete your assignment. Now, this can be as simple as a single camera and your laptop, but don’t forget to include those important items like battery chargers and card readers. Remember, think about where you will be going, how and when you will need to transmit/transport your images, and all the little pieces that are required to make your system work.

For this trip to PhotoPLUS, I really don’t need much. My main ingredient will be my laptop, and I am planning to make some pictures over the course of the trip for a few of the blogs that I write for. I will only be gone for a week and I will be in places that will have Internet access and camera stores. Heck, I will be staying at a hotel just down the street from B&H!

So, I am packing pretty light. I have one carry-on bag and one checked luggage. The checked luggage is just a medium sized bag that will hold my clothes and my various odds and ends that are fairly un-necessary and easily replaceable. My carry-on is a backpack made by LowePro. It is called the LowePro Stealth and it’s the original model that doesn’t quite fit my 15” laptop. The newer version is better sized for a 15” MacBook Pro, though mine just barely fits.

I have been living with this bag for quite some time and it is my standard bag that I use for brief trips. The big plus for this bag is that I can stuff just about anything I want into it. It is basically a bottom less pit. If I want to go a little heavier on the camera gear I can rip out the laptop case and sue the space for cables, cords, or even a large satellite device like the bGan Imarsat.

The downsides to this bag are many, but the main two are that it hardly will protect your gear, and it is pretty awkward on the back. They placed the lens pouches at the top which means it is usually pretty top heavy, and there is no back support built in at all. Maybe the new model is better, but if you have to take this thing on a hike, you will be hating life after a short while.

That said, this bag usually doesn’t go much farther than the house to the car and then the car to the airport. On the upside, it is pretty small and flexible and can fit into any overhead storage bin on just about any airplane. It also can typically fit under the seat in front of me, which is especially handy on small puddle jumpers like the Dash-8s that they use down here in the Caribbean.

In my bag this time, I have the following:

Canon 20D and Battery Grip with two batteries
Canon 10-22 f/3.5-4.5 EF-S
Canon 17-35 f/2.8
Canon 70-200 f/2.8 IS - This lens just barely fits in the center pouch
Canon 550EX Speedlight
Canon ST-E2 Wireless Transmitter
Canon 220 Speedlight

MacBook Pro and Power Adapter
Battery charger for the 20D
CF Card Reader
CF-Cards

Firelite 80G USB Drive and cable

Passport, Plane Tickets, Wallet, iPod
A few other odds and ends…

This is a pretty decent setup for this trip. I also have packed in my checked luggage a Mini-disc recorder and all the extras for that, and a few other smaller items that I don’t really need. I will probably use this same configuration on the train up from D.C. to New York, or perhaps I will lighten it up even further by using a duffel for my clothing. We shall see!

Well, my plane leaves this afternoon and I will be back in D.C. by midnight. I plan to head up to New York for the show on Wednesday afternoon. Hope to see you all there!

To discuss the LowPro Stealth in the new Forums section click here.