PHOTOGRAPHY BLOG

See a story from a commercial photographer:

Nikon and Leica have been my exclusive 35MM partners in making images during my entire 34 year career. When 35MM type cameras were film based, the feel of the camera and quality of the glass were all that mattered. The final image quality was up to the talent of the photographer and the film chosen (primarily color and speed).

I shot thousands and thousands of images on Kodachrome 25, and later Fuji Velvia 50. Clients that were not happy with this could choose Hasselblad or my Sinar 4X5 or 8X10.

Fast forward to today. Everyone expects digital will be used and the two prime questions are, what is your day rate and what kind (size) files will you deliver. Sometimes rights usage is bantered about but this is generally later in the conversation.

I’ve noticed that in the last 6 months, agencies are asking what camera is used, what software will process the images and if the image is native (not up-sampled).

For those of us that make a living in the commercial world, size does seem to matter. I currently use Nikon D1x and D2x and recently lost two jobs because of file size. Client was a large grocery chain that wanted end cap blow up’s and the other was a catalog for beauty products for women.

Bottom line, if Nikon cannot (or will not) make a full frame camera available soon, I may be forced to move to Canon. This is painful for me as I never liked Canon. Problem is, those that make a living must please their customers. Many times I was forced to shoot 8X10 when 4X5 would do, but the client insisted.

I spoke to the local Canon tech rep and he said there would be no improvement for Canon 1DS MK2, at least not until Spring 2007 (earliest). Both Canon and Nikon are hoping to suppress Sony and others coming into the market and are concentrating on sales of popular cameras (not the highest end pro models).

This makes sense, Nikon and Canon probably sell 500 of their other cameras to every D2X or 1DS MK2 and after all, they have to make a living too.

This is tough for me. Tough for many pro users in my market who I speak with. Most of my friends have moved to Canon full frame 1DS Mk2, even the dyed in the wool Nikon guys like me.

A local friend who’s daughter is a rep for Nikon says he does not think a full frame digital Nikon will come anytime soon. I plan on waiting until Photokina to see what is introduced and try to make a decision then.

Meanwhile, I wish I had two cameras with identical capabilities, one with the Nikon nameplate and one with the Canon nameplate. Then the decision would be easy, I love my Nikon and have a deep respect for the company.

For the first time in 34 years of making my living in photography, I may be forced to buy a camera I don’t want, so I can continue working as a pro. I hope Nikon gets the message and makes the necessary upgrades, even if it requires an entire new line of lenses.

Yes, if the smaller chip crammed equal resolution to full size Canon there would be no issues. It’s typical for publications to have a job shot without art direction and decide later what part of the image will run. The greater the number of pixels (must be native resolution, NOT up scaled) the more crop it will tolerate.

Typical publications want 300 or 320 DPI at final resolution, usually 8.5 X 11 inches. If the jobs going through an advertising agency they want to cover their butt, regardless of what their client want to do with the images “after the fact.” If the agency asks for the maximum quality possible and later the client wants to do a large display at a trade show or crop heavily for another use the agency looks good.

Bottom line, the photographer is under pressure to deliver the maximum resolution available without charging too high a day rate. If money was not a problem, we could all buy the 40K Hasse system with 39MP and be good to go, regardless of what was called for.

Problem is, the clients want us pro’s to work for the same day rate as always, just when cameras are becoming like computers, out of date technology that no one want’s in a very short time. That’s a real problem if you must invest 30K -40K to be at the top and hope to pay for the equipment without raising your day rate where you loose jobs.

The Canon is definitely the highest resolution right now for the money. I’m just not a fan of Canon and depressed that Nikon doesn’t seem to be able to produce equal resolution.

Just an opinion, but Nikon has always been a very conservative company. They evolved designs, improved optics and reliability and yet maintained the original lens mount for decades. They respected our investment and offered superb service to those that relied on their equipment to make a living. I want to continue to use their cameras but it’s becoming difficult.

It finally comes with the break through of AI technologies the manufacturer is so proud of this feature that claims it defines a new edge of photography for the new century – the camera now provides a “WOW Mode” which always produces a picture in WOW effect (inspiring to human) regardless of the level of art senses nor technical skills of the users, all you have to do is to make sure the shutter release was pressed.

See some other new specifications for Nikon D90 Specifications Revealed and Rebel XT replacement specs.