Photoshop Insider

Nikon D3’s on the NFL Sidelines. (Nikon on the NFL sidelines??!!)

By Scott on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 6:04 am | updates.

Last year when I shot the Chicago Bears, I was literally the only Nikon shooter on the sidelines (believe me, I checked). It was a sea of gray glass, so I stuck out like a sore thumb. When I shot the Tampa Bay Bucs a few months back, there was actually one Nikon shooter out there, so I wasn’t totally alone (but almost).

But last Sunday I was at the Bucs vs. Giants playoff game (my buddy Dave bought me playoff tickets for Christmas; 35 yard line—2nd row. It made our embarrassing loss even more vivid—kudos to the Giants though, who played a really great game). Anyway, it was about 15 minutes before kickoff, and two photographers were standing just off to our right, and son-of-a-gun if both of them weren’t shooting Nikon D3s (with long glass). I had to point it out to Dave, because this was 100% more Nikon shooters than I had seen just a few months before, and while Dave and I were pointing in disbelief, another guy toting a D3 walks by. We were just about speechless.

Of course, a few minutes before game time a sea of gray Canon glass began to form, and soon greatly outnumbered the Nikon shooters, but there’s a bigger point here—there were Nikon shooters shooting the NFL! In fact, at one point I saw a Canon shooter walk by with a gray Canon 400mm f/4 lens on a monopod, but he had a Nikon D3 around his neck (with some shorter glass). Again–stunned.

Now, this isn’t a scientific study by any means—-just an observation, but I could see that the D3 is already starting to have an impact. Anyway, just sharing what I saw at the game (I haven’t gotten to shoot enough with my D3 yet to post a full review, but as soon as I get a chance to shoot in some serious low-light situations, and put a few thousands images through it, I’ll give you my full report).

One last thing; I know that in the headline above, it really should read “Nikon D3s” (plural) instead of “Nikon D3’s” (possessive), but when I wrote it, it looked like the name of the camera (like a Nikon D2Xs) instead of just being plural, so I broke the rule (which drives my Editors crazy, but at least by now they’re used it).

Comment form for this post

^#1

Not surprising when you consider that the MK3 canon has/had some auto focus issues that some people would switch

Evil9 on January 10th, 2008 at 9:59 am

^#2

Nikon is quickly getting some converts back with the D3 for sure…I admit it’s a serious body! I’m a Canon guy, and got my first experience with a RedFinger (Nikon) last week when a buddy of mine brought in his new D300. I knew Canon and Nikon did some things backwards/different (lens mounts counterclockwise, mode dials, lens controls, etc) but I didn’t know that practically EVERYTHING was backwards between the two manufacturers! I don’t think they will ever have to worry about patent infringements if the engineering stays as it is today! I was amazed, and got a new appreciation to guys shooting both at the same time (like the one you mentioned above Scott). But I’m cool with whoever shoots what, at the end of the day, everyone gets to enjoy some great captures!

Tyson Hofsommer on January 10th, 2008 at 10:03 am

^#3

It also didn’t hurt that Popular Photography named the D300 as Camera of The Year…. Check out their site for a little video of the selection process.

Harold on January 10th, 2008 at 10:34 am

^#4

“Gray glass”?!? The heresy!

Canon sells “White” touch up paint for the lovely L-glass, and while I think it’s a bit more taupe than pure white, I would never use the word “gray!” Gray sounds so cold and sinister and unappealing. Warm, white, wonderful glass should not be talked about in such terms!

All joking aside, I’m glad the D3 is kicking some tail. Now Canon has to respond, which means we benefit…right?

GKB on January 10th, 2008 at 10:50 am

^#5

I was raised “Nikon” and will always use Nikon. I can only dream of a D3.

Susan Peden on January 10th, 2008 at 4:33 pm

^#6

I am very good friends with a sports photographer out of Miami that shoots only Nikon. She has been a professional sports and news photographer for 20+ years and never has shot anything but Nikon.

I am a Nikon shooter as well, but am a little pissed that the D3 forces you to buy new glass to take full advantage of the full frame sensor. If I upgrade, it will probably be to the D300 as I don’t have the deep pockets to replace all of my glass!

Robert Mann on January 10th, 2008 at 4:59 pm

^#7

By the way Scott, I think your time stamp is still on the old time. It is now 2:00 Colorado time and my last post date stamped at 4:59 not 3:59.

Also - I hope you read this post - when are you bringing the lightroom tour to Denver. I know of a number of photographers in my area that are chomping at the bit waiting for you to make an appearance in Colorado!!!!!

Robert Mann on January 10th, 2008 at 5:01 pm

^#8

All I can say is Nikons D3, Is Awesome. I use canon. I saw the camera at the javit center NY and i couldn’t believe the image quality. It also has high iso without the digital noise.

Mike

Please check out my website, click on my name below. thanks

Michael C on January 10th, 2008 at 5:57 pm

^#9

I don’t know about outdoor sports, but I bet we’ll see more Nikon at indoor arenas. I’ll look around next time I’m at the NHL game.

FYI - Your “Digital Photography Book 2″ was shipped today by Amazon. Look forward to it.

Ivan Makarov on January 10th, 2008 at 8:15 pm

^#10

Hi Scott,

Happy to read that, I’ve been a Nikon user for many years now, except for a couple of years after the Barcelona ‘92 Olympic Games because even that the official sponsor for the Olympics is Nikon, Canon did a strong campaign outside the Olympic facilities with a bunch of us shooting there from all over the world.
After that I gave it a try to find out that I was with the right brand for me and sold all the Canon gear I had bought.

Now that you told us that you read all us, (thank’s a lot) I want to tell you that I just received my/yours 7 - Point System book and started to read and I’m really pleased with what I’m finding there, and I want to encourage you to write or make a class with a subject that will enrich the 7 point system further more.

I explain my self.

You start with white balance, and it is not a by a spin of fait, and Adobe did not put that at the top of the raw tools just because it looked right, and we are not buying monitor calibrators for the fun of it, but because it is the main step to track up our photos to a good end.

Now I’m using and old Kodak gray card, and it helps me a lot but things had changed and there are new products like the “Expo Disc” or the “WhiBal” gray card, so it would be wonderful if teach us how to incorporate some of these products to your 7 system, and as a consecuence to our workflow, I think they will match up ¿ don’t they ?

Fernando Franco on January 10th, 2008 at 8:36 pm

^#11

I was at the Charger / Lions game in December and even though i was not on the sidelines, I had a great seat and a Nikon D2x and the new Sony A700.
I noticed that there were a bunch of Nikon shooters on the field.

You might enjoy this shot of two guys with 4 Nikon bodies between them

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shotlivephoto/2183675717/

Alan Hess on January 10th, 2008 at 9:10 pm

^#12

Hi Scott,

I went to see my beloved Aston Villa against Manchester United in the FA Cup over here in the UK last week ( we lost too =[ ), and I too saw two Nikon D3’s and lots of very long glass amongst the array of Canon.

- Chris

Chris Hepburn on January 10th, 2008 at 9:21 pm

^#13

Hi..I’am over 40 yr Nikon shooter Still have my first F with a Remo pack (motordrive)….you can buy Nikon “Gray” lens today..not sure if the new ones come in gray though….(and not gray market either)

nicholas von staden on January 10th, 2008 at 10:40 pm

^#14

Hi Scott!

I’m a Nikon shooter who owns a D80, and I’m as excited as you are about the D3 and D300.

It’s very interesting to hear how the Nikon D3 is being taken up by many photographers (including yourself) over there in the US. I haven’t seen anyone here in the UK with one yet, although I’m sure the camera’s popularity will grow significantly here too over the coming months. The gloves most definitely are off now in the Nikon vs Canon wars!

I very much look forward to your review of the D3, and even though I probably may never be able to afford one, it will be interesting all the same to hear what you have to say about it.

The D300 on the other hand is a different story I can see myself owning one before the end of this year, even the Camera Body only if I have to!

See ya next week on Photoshop User TV!

Paul Guy on January 11th, 2008 at 8:48 am

^#15

I think you might have been right the first time. The acronym rule is to omit the apostrophe when pluralizing and acronym that does not use periods.

On the other hand, an apostrophe can be used to form some non-possessive plurals including that of letters, symbols, and digits. D3 is arguably more an alphanumeric that should be pluralized with an apostrophe than an acronym that shouldn’t.

William C Montgomery on January 11th, 2008 at 11:28 am

^#16

I’m on the D3 waiting list, even though the thought of being made to wait to give a manufacturer my money just seems a bit silly to me Anyway, as I wait, each word of praise, each review of the D3 brings me pain I can only hope Nikon finds it in their hearts to send my dealer a D3 with my name on it before your review comes out, so I can avoid the anguish of my continued wait. I DO look forward to your review, however.

Steve on January 11th, 2008 at 3:31 pm

^#17

Ok, have anybode heard what the best way to applie noice reduction for D3/D300 is? You have the opition of using Photoshop or you have Nikons own software (NX and Dfine). I have heard people saying that Nikons own software (NX) is better that photoshop at noiceredution for the new cameras. Is this correct or what is the deal with noice reduction?

Mattias Richter on January 12th, 2008 at 1:28 am

^#18

Alan Hess - how did you bring fancy cameras to the game? I thought they will not let you bring anythinf fancier than a subcompact to the game? Did you have some sort of credential to bring your gear to the stands?

Tom on January 14th, 2008 at 1:47 pm

^#19

Hi tom.
Actually, they had no problem with either of the Nikon D2x with the 70-200mm lens or the Sony A700 with the 18-200mm lens.

They did have a problem with my backpack, and I was very glad that I didn’t bring a nice camera bag. I had to return the bag to the car, but the cameras were ok.

I was shooting from a private suite looking down at the end zone. I wasn’t there to shoot, but I just can’t help myself. I usually have at least one camera with me.

Alan Hess on January 14th, 2008 at 8:40 pm

^#20

Is it true that the D3 has remarkably lower noise at ISO 6400 than the mark 3? And if this really is true then I predict in the near future there will be a lot more D3’s at indoor games. Do you guys agree?

Mike on January 14th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

^#21

D3’s is correct. D3s is not. When the word is a proper noun without a standard plural, you cannot pluralize just by adding an s at the end of the plural. An apostrophe before the s denotes it’s a non standard plural.

So , Nikon’s , Canon’s …etc are correct. Nikons, Canons.. etc are not.

Tim on January 14th, 2008 at 10:52 pm

^#22

Minor correction — The sentence in my previous post should read “..by adding an s at the end of the WORD..”.

Also , an apostrophe can denote “possessive” AND also plurals of proper names.

Tim on January 14th, 2008 at 11:08 pm

^#23

Scott,
I have been shooting Nikon for over 20 yrs and almost sold all my stuff. I am a wedding photographer and try to shoot available light as much as possible. After attending a Joe Bussink retreat this past Spring I knew I was in trouble when I saw some Joe’s recent available light images (ISO 3200) from his new Canon 5D system. Joe too “was” a Nikon shooter and recently sold ALL his stuff. Fortunately a friend of mine told me last Oct about the D3 & the D300. I quickly ordered each from a local store here in NC. After getting my order registered with NPS (critical because Nikon ships to NPS members 1st if your order is registered) both came in Dec. I’ve been shooting @ ISO 6400 & 12,500 w/ the D3 and the results are AMAZING..ISO 3200 w/ the D300

Bill on January 14th, 2008 at 11:27 pm

^#24

I went back through the photos from that day and found another from the NFL sidelines showing the Nikon gear.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shotlivephoto/2194538494/

Alan

Alan Hess on January 15th, 2008 at 12:56 am

^#25

Nikons is not correct. There were 3 Kates in the room is wrong. The house was built in the 1930s is….http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutspelling/pizza

Don’t editors and proofreaders use style-guides which may vary from publication to publication to set policy (among other guidelines)?
If so, how can we make these universal rules? And why would Scott’s editors be driven crazy? Don’t they unnerstan’ the rules?

Dan Tinder on January 15th, 2008 at 9:25 am

^#26

Susan Peden - New glass to take advantage of full frame? Many of us like your friend have shot Nikon for decades and already have tons of full frame lenses. DX forced us to buy new wide angles. Full frame finally lets us use our old lenses the way they were intended to be used. The auto chromatic aberration fixing in the D3/D300 actually makes those old lenses great again.

Walt on January 15th, 2008 at 11:31 am

^#27

So pleased Nikon came out with a full frame body. Even though my Canon 5D is all I need, the competition is most welcome. However, I see no need for people to switch systems. It’s really about lenses, right? Which is why I feel sorry for those who invested so heavly in Nikon crop glass. Now, one has to buy all new glass to fully take advantage of the D3. Why use crop glass at 5mp on D3 when you could have 12mp with D300? Nikon kept saying ‘crop is better’ so people bought crop lenses. Then they come out with full frame body. That stinks, and shame on Nikon for saying that for so long. The D3 is an excellent body, so to all those who can afford one with full frame glass, congrats..

Andre on January 15th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

^#28

The D300 is essentially the same camera as the D3, without the full-frame, and the faster FPS. (Check Ken Rockwell’s page for more on this - he’s shot 10,000+ captures with them and done lots of comparisons). I have a D300 and love it. Sure, I would love a full-frame D3, but the glass I have for the DX series cameras are more than enough for my needs, and if anything, better glass will probably accentuate my errors and such.

On the apostrophe issue, as a former major news publication editor, I can attest that the apostrophe is never, ever used for a plural in any case. It is strictly for the possessive. (This is from the world-standard grammar and style manuals, and accepted by such organizations as the NYT, WSJ, etc.) You can say “The D3’s color settings are…” but not “it performs as well as the D3’s.” Better to say “as well as the D3 models” or “the D3 series”. The headline could have read “Nikon D3 Users (Shooters?… Converts?…) On The NFL Sidelines??” (also need to capitalize all words in a title… even prepositions, indefinite and definite articles, etc…)

Scooter on January 15th, 2008 at 10:07 pm

^#29

I was at the last Oakland Raider game vs. the San Diego Chargers. I saw a guy shooting with a Canon and a Nikon D3.

ALBERT on January 16th, 2008 at 1:18 am

^#30

Scooter, There is one big difference between the D300 and the D3, and that is the actual sensor in the camera.
The sensor in the D3 put the same amount of pixels on a bigger surface which gives the D3 the better low light / high ISO results.

Alan Hess on January 16th, 2008 at 1:42 am

^#31

Pros have always shot what works. It’s no secret. Canon has had the better cameras for the last few years. If the Nikon’s are better now, then that’s what people will start using. I’m sure half of those gray lens shooters are former Nikon users who felt that Nikon wasn’t giving them a proper pro camera. Argue all you want, but a crop sensor camera is NOT a pro camera, I don’t care what special 2x crop 8fps mode it has or how nice the ergos and grip are. I feel really let down by Nikon. Unlike Canon, who has kept their pro line full-frame, and their “prosumer” line EF-S, Nikon actually got suckers to pay for DX variant pro lenses that will mount on a D3 to give you a whopping 5mp. What a joke. People have been waiting and waiting for Nikon to get with it and I honestly don’t think that the D3 is going to convince me to not buy a Canon for my next rig. I don’t trust Nikon to do things “professionally” anymore. Canon just seems more on the ball. Fast prime lenses galore, IS on many lenses, free raw converters with cameras (that’s new for Nikon…I don’t qualify as I only spent $1600 for my D200, thanks for backdating it Nikon). As soon as the D200 I have is dead, I’m buying out of Nikon. Kind of sad really as I look over at my FM with MD-12 Motordrive.

Mike on January 16th, 2008 at 5:39 am

^#32

RE: The headline

When I saw the headline, the first thing I assumed was you were saying “Nikon D3 IS on the NFL Sidelines”.

I understand, though, why you would put the apostrophe there.

It’s good to hear that Nikon is making some inroads in this area, no matter how few…

Jeff on January 16th, 2008 at 11:25 am

^#33

You can get to the same ISO/low light performance of the D3 with the D300 by turning the default noise reduction (on, in the D300, out of the box) fully off; the full-frame sensor of the D3 does have a technical advantage but by adjusting the D300 in this way, the comparison shots show very little difference unless you’re looking at huge magnifications of what would be 3 by 3 foot prints. That said, the D3 is awesome and of course I want one… but the good lenses you need to complement it (i.e. new 14-24) are big bucks, and by the time you get a few you’re in for 8 or 9 grand. If you have deep pockets, go for it!

Scooter on January 16th, 2008 at 11:05 pm

^#34

just purchased nikon d3. i am a product photographer and always shoot tethered to my computer. i am a little annoyed that they discontinued the nikon editor software. with the d2x, you were able to shoot a photo containing a grey card, do a white balance using a grey point, make some adjustments and then load the adjustment as a custom white balance preset from the computer directly into the camera and then continue shooting using the new custom white balance preset.

Have not been able to determine how to do this with the d3 and their new software. Have called tech support and they don’t seem to know either.

ilene kulk on March 9th, 2008 at 5:02 am

^#35

I just got back from the French Open, and the pit was full of Nikon D3’s, very few Canon shooters.

Nadal won the match, and Nikon captured the moment.

Canon is in serious trouble with the D3 becoming the standard.

Billie Bob on June 10th, 2008 at 3:58 pm