J
John-G
Guest
I've been using a D30 since they first come out. Prior to that I was shooting film with a 1V and Elan II.
I've been generally happy with the image quality from the D30 but the focus has driven me crazy. It is great for scenics and such but baseball, soccer, etc.. it's a struggle.
So I finally bit the bullet and sprung for the 1D. Finally, a digital SLR which resembles my beloved 1V. It arrived Wednesday and Thursday I did a bit of testing after the batteries were charged. So far so good. Friday it was off to shoot something I've done with the D30... a dog show. This report is based on Friday's experiences. The lens choices for Friday were the EF28-135, EF70-200/2.8 and EF100-400. I used Color Matrix-1.
1. The D30 has given me fits at an indoor dog show. Indoor usually means the 550EX flash is mandatory. Lots of light and dark shape-less blobs (dogs). Lot's of focus hunting. Lot's of missed shots. Right off the bat the 1D focus was instantaneous. I have it optioned for 11 selectable focus points linked to spot meter. Even when using one of the outer focus point the focus rarely hunted. The venue was a livestock barn at a County Fairgrounds. Poor light, very poor.
2. My 1D shutter seems to have a hair trigger. I used single-frame all day and on several occasions the camera fired a couple shots on one depression. Perhaps I'm being too light-fingered. The camera is so quick that you barely notice the mirror black out and in a noisey room you can take a shot and almost not know it. I didn't have the same problem with the vertical grip. Perhaps my shutter button is acting up. Time will tell.
3. Batteries... one area where the 1D can't hold a candle to the D30. I managed to do one refresh before leaving for the show. Refreshing two fully-charged batteries takes a good 24 hours. The 1D has a four-level battery indicator. Full, Low, Exhausted soon and Recharge-now.
My first 1D battery went to low after 250 shots. However, this was 250 shots over a period of 5 hours using IS and lots of LCD review. Is this good ? Don't know. I swapped in the 2nd battery just to be safe and shot another 100 shots. Gone are the days of filling the Microdrive on a single set of batteries.
4. Weight... knew this going in. It's a bit heavier than the D30 but not so that you REALLY notice. I was using a folding stool most of the day. Had I been carrying the 1D/100-400/550EX combo all day I'd probably be hurting.
5. The dog show gave me exposure fits. I really can't blame the 1D. The D30 usually did worse. It's very dark. I shot ISO 400-500 to keep a fair amount of ambient light. This allowed for 1/180 shutter... barely enough to eliminate movement blur.. especially with the 70-200. DOF with the 70-200 at 2.8 was razor shallow at these close distances. My last show had a bit more ambient light and life was great. This was photographers he* . I was tempted to shoot ISO 800 but don't have a good measure on how it stacks up yet. I ended-up with about 180 great keepers.
6. For the first time I noticed extreme red-eye this time. I was ready to blame the 1D (has to be the camera, right). I then started thinking that perhaps due to the extra dark conditions it caused everyone's pupils to be large and creating more red-eye ? Didn't have this problem last time.
7. The 1D doesn't estimate the Microdrive capacity well. It initially said 377 shots. I ended-up getting 500 with a bunch to spare. I don't remember the D30 being so far off.
8. The dual exposure meters were great! I could constantly monitor the ambient light and at the same time monitor my flash exposure. I found that neutral scenes could use about +.5 exp. comp. on the flash.
9. I don't remember reading in any of the reviews about the feature that displays the active focus point on the LCD review screen. That is a GREAT feature. I recommend turning it on if you haven't already.
10. These 1D images seem to accept a lot more sharpening than the D30. I found I could apply 130-150% of USM with no degradation. Never could use that much on D30. All images seem to need some. I do know that I was using WAY TOO SLOW of shutter speeds. I should have just increased the ISO to 640 or 800 and been done with it. IS or no IS you can't shoot 400mm at 1/60th.
11. Dumb stuff department... I prefer the smooth finish of the 1V as opposed to the crinkle finish of the 1D. Nuff said.
12. Navigating the menus on the 1D is way different. I found though that after just 45 minutes of use I was navigating the manus on the fly like I've owned the camera for years. The re-learning curve is very short.
13. Since I was already a long time 1V user I didn't have to relearn all the buttons and dials. Changing the ISO on the fly is nearly as fast as the SET button on the D30. The ISO on the 1D is in stop increments... 200-250-320-400-, etc. Unlike the fixed 100-200-400-800- of the D30. I optioned mine for 1/2-stop steps. Why ? Dunno... just more comfortable for me.
14. I used AI Servo at the show quite a bit. While the 100-400 had a bit of trouble keeping up with a dog running towards me, the 70-200 worked quite nicely.
I can't get over the speed of this camera. It's almost two fast as in a noisey room you hardly notice that you've tripped the shutter. The overly sensitive shutter button has me a little concerned. It could be me being too light on the shutter. The camera is so fast it can take multiple shots in one-shot mode as fast as you can press the shutter. It is also very fast on power up and image review.
That's all for now. It was a good first test as it pushed the camera to it's AF limits due to the poor lighting. I'm anxious to test it under better conditions. I need to go now and clean the dog hair off of everything. I hope I didn't pick-up any dust... I was changing lenses constantly. At least no dogs licked the lens (happened last time).
-- John
I've been generally happy with the image quality from the D30 but the focus has driven me crazy. It is great for scenics and such but baseball, soccer, etc.. it's a struggle.
So I finally bit the bullet and sprung for the 1D. Finally, a digital SLR which resembles my beloved 1V. It arrived Wednesday and Thursday I did a bit of testing after the batteries were charged. So far so good. Friday it was off to shoot something I've done with the D30... a dog show. This report is based on Friday's experiences. The lens choices for Friday were the EF28-135, EF70-200/2.8 and EF100-400. I used Color Matrix-1.
1. The D30 has given me fits at an indoor dog show. Indoor usually means the 550EX flash is mandatory. Lots of light and dark shape-less blobs (dogs). Lot's of focus hunting. Lot's of missed shots. Right off the bat the 1D focus was instantaneous. I have it optioned for 11 selectable focus points linked to spot meter. Even when using one of the outer focus point the focus rarely hunted. The venue was a livestock barn at a County Fairgrounds. Poor light, very poor.
2. My 1D shutter seems to have a hair trigger. I used single-frame all day and on several occasions the camera fired a couple shots on one depression. Perhaps I'm being too light-fingered. The camera is so quick that you barely notice the mirror black out and in a noisey room you can take a shot and almost not know it. I didn't have the same problem with the vertical grip. Perhaps my shutter button is acting up. Time will tell.
3. Batteries... one area where the 1D can't hold a candle to the D30. I managed to do one refresh before leaving for the show. Refreshing two fully-charged batteries takes a good 24 hours. The 1D has a four-level battery indicator. Full, Low, Exhausted soon and Recharge-now.
My first 1D battery went to low after 250 shots. However, this was 250 shots over a period of 5 hours using IS and lots of LCD review. Is this good ? Don't know. I swapped in the 2nd battery just to be safe and shot another 100 shots. Gone are the days of filling the Microdrive on a single set of batteries. 4. Weight... knew this going in. It's a bit heavier than the D30 but not so that you REALLY notice. I was using a folding stool most of the day. Had I been carrying the 1D/100-400/550EX combo all day I'd probably be hurting.
5. The dog show gave me exposure fits. I really can't blame the 1D. The D30 usually did worse. It's very dark. I shot ISO 400-500 to keep a fair amount of ambient light. This allowed for 1/180 shutter... barely enough to eliminate movement blur.. especially with the 70-200. DOF with the 70-200 at 2.8 was razor shallow at these close distances. My last show had a bit more ambient light and life was great. This was photographers he* . I was tempted to shoot ISO 800 but don't have a good measure on how it stacks up yet. I ended-up with about 180 great keepers.
6. For the first time I noticed extreme red-eye this time. I was ready to blame the 1D (has to be the camera, right). I then started thinking that perhaps due to the extra dark conditions it caused everyone's pupils to be large and creating more red-eye ? Didn't have this problem last time.
7. The 1D doesn't estimate the Microdrive capacity well. It initially said 377 shots. I ended-up getting 500 with a bunch to spare. I don't remember the D30 being so far off.
8. The dual exposure meters were great! I could constantly monitor the ambient light and at the same time monitor my flash exposure. I found that neutral scenes could use about +.5 exp. comp. on the flash.
9. I don't remember reading in any of the reviews about the feature that displays the active focus point on the LCD review screen. That is a GREAT feature. I recommend turning it on if you haven't already.
10. These 1D images seem to accept a lot more sharpening than the D30. I found I could apply 130-150% of USM with no degradation. Never could use that much on D30. All images seem to need some. I do know that I was using WAY TOO SLOW of shutter speeds. I should have just increased the ISO to 640 or 800 and been done with it. IS or no IS you can't shoot 400mm at 1/60th.
11. Dumb stuff department... I prefer the smooth finish of the 1V as opposed to the crinkle finish of the 1D. Nuff said.
12. Navigating the menus on the 1D is way different. I found though that after just 45 minutes of use I was navigating the manus on the fly like I've owned the camera for years. The re-learning curve is very short.
13. Since I was already a long time 1V user I didn't have to relearn all the buttons and dials. Changing the ISO on the fly is nearly as fast as the SET button on the D30. The ISO on the 1D is in stop increments... 200-250-320-400-, etc. Unlike the fixed 100-200-400-800- of the D30. I optioned mine for 1/2-stop steps. Why ? Dunno... just more comfortable for me.
14. I used AI Servo at the show quite a bit. While the 100-400 had a bit of trouble keeping up with a dog running towards me, the 70-200 worked quite nicely.
I can't get over the speed of this camera. It's almost two fast as in a noisey room you hardly notice that you've tripped the shutter. The overly sensitive shutter button has me a little concerned. It could be me being too light on the shutter. The camera is so fast it can take multiple shots in one-shot mode as fast as you can press the shutter. It is also very fast on power up and image review.
That's all for now. It was a good first test as it pushed the camera to it's AF limits due to the poor lighting. I'm anxious to test it under better conditions. I need to go now and clean the dog hair off of everything. I hope I didn't pick-up any dust... I was changing lenses constantly. At least no dogs licked the lens (happened last time).
-- John