Tag: D4

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Review: The Rapid Box Strip by Westcott

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Here I was completely happy with my Westcott Terry White Travel Portrait Lighting Kit and then I went to Photoshop World Vegas. I brought my 26″ Rapid Box Octa with me and had a great shoot at Red Rock Canyon before the show even opened. However, once I got to the Photoshop World trade show floor and over to the Westcott booth, I noticed a “different” Rapid Box. I had no idea that they had a Rapid Box Strip! I use strip bank softboxes all the time in studio for rim lighting. When I saw the Rapid Box Strip it was pretty much an immediate “must have” situation for me. Now with a couple of speedlights and a couple of Rapid Boxes I could really have some fun on location.

It’s as easy to set up and just as compact as the Rapid Box Octa

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When I took it out of the box and looked at the carrying case it looked identical to the Rapid Box Octa. It was also just as easy to set up. Basically pop it open, put it on the supplied tilting bracket, put the 1-stop diffusion cover over the front, slide on your speedlight and you’re ready to shoot.

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While I haven’t had a chance to take it on location yet, I did a quick impromptu shoot with Scott Diussa from Nikon who was visiting my studio. He was also impressed by the ease and quick set up. Disclaimer: Scott is not a professional model. He is a professional on the other side of the camera and a great musician 🙂 He humored me as a friend.

The Bottom Line

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If you’re looking for good quality, easy to set up and use softboxes for travel, I can’t recommend the Rapid Box line enough (no, I don’t get paid a dime by Westcott to review or recommend their products). They’re my primary light modifiers when I’m on the road! I love the “octa” shape and “strip” shape in studio and now I have them on the road too.

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You can get the Rapid Box 26″ Octa here

You can get the Rapid Box Strip 10″x 24″ here

You can get my Westcott Terry White Portrait Travel Kit here.

 

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The Nikon D800/D800E is Official and I Stand By My D4 Decision

Yesterday Nikon made the long awaited D800 announcement and for the most part the rumors were true in terms of the specs. It's a 36MP camera! Wow! That's awesome for studio photographers, people that do weddings and commercial photographers. It's Nikon's highest megapixel DSLR to date. If you think about it, it's approaching the resolution of a medium format camera at a fraction of the price! While I can certainly understand the benefits for the intended market, (In my Obi-Wan Kenobi voice) this is not the D700 upgrade that I was looking for. Nope, this is a brand new camera aimed at a very specific set of customers. I get it! It's not for me. As I stated when I pre-ordered my D4, that while I don't need a D4 for the type of work/photography I do, I'd rather have the lower megapixel count for my portrait photography.

While I can certainly understand the desire to have more megapixels in terms of potential image quality, enlargements and being able to crop and still have a ton of data, I just don't want every frame I take to produce a file that large. On a positive note (according to the specs) the image size does appear to be selectable. If I'm reading this right you'll be able to choose between (L) 7,360 x 4,912, (M) 5,520 x 3,680 and (S) 3,680 x 2,456. That sounds great! In theory you would be able to dial up or down the MP count as needed. However, for me that would mean having it dialed down to "M" the majority (99%) of the time as I can't think of too many occasions where I would ever dial it up. The "M" setting would be a 20MP image, which is still larger than I need and "S" would be around 9MP, which is less than I'm used to now. Also knowing the way things work, I'd have that one magical shot at the lower setting and wished I had had it dialed up for that shot. While this is all theoretical for me at this point, I stand behind my decision to go with the D4. Once the D800 is out in the wild and the reviews (and sample images are in at the various sizes) are in perhaps my opinion will change. If that did happen I could always sell my D700 and go up to a D800 as a second/backup body to my D4. For now I'll be watching the D800 from the sidelines. Cheers to those who have been waiting for and dreaming of a 36MP DSLR!

One more thing… I should also point out that the D800 has two card slots (something I really wanted). CF and SD. That means that having an Eye-Fi card in the SD slot for wireless transfers to your computer, iPad, Android or iPhone while you're shooting is a possibility. I would shoot RAW to the CF and basic JPEG to the Eye-Fi card. The client could be reviewing shots off to the side as I take them. Sweet!

You can pre-order a Nikon D800 here or here You can pre-order a Nikon D800 (low pass fiter with anti-aliasing removed!) here or here.

 

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Yes, I pre-ordered a Nikon D4!

Usually when something big in tech or photography happens my friends start asking me "did you order one?" This time the big news is the newly announced Nikon D4 DSLR camera. Let me start by saying that I've always had Nikon D3 envy, but just couldn't justify the price. I don't need the high speed because I don't shoot sports. My D700 has served me quite well and I really have no complaints with it. My desire to replace it only stems from the desire of having a full-frame camera that also does video. I have a Nikon D7000 for travel and currently a D5100 in studio for doing video. However, I find that I don't shoot much video with it because what I realized is that the times I want to shoot video is usually while I'm shooting stills. This would mean putting down my D700 and walking over to my D5100 and shooting video. In reality the moment would then be lost that I wanted to capture on video. What I want is one camera that does both. I've been waiting for the D700 replacement (the rumored D800). However, there's one problem with the D800 and that is according to ALL the rumors it will be a 38MP camera! While I'm assuming that Nikon will allow you to "turn down" the megapixel setting to a lesser resolution, it would mean that for me 99.9% of the time I would be shooting at that lower resolution as I have no desire/need to process or house 38MP RAW files. Since the D4 is here (shipping in February) I started looking at it as the answer to my quest. 

 

I don't need a $6,000 body!

Let me be the first to say/admit that I DON'T NEED A $6,000 CAMERA BODY! Nope, not on any level. It won't in any way positively affect my photography enough to offset the cost. The rumored D800 will likely be half the price and more in line with the D700 pricing that I'm used to. With that said, I'm going through with it and have ordered a D4 anyway. Another thing besides all the D4 goodness and video capabilities that intrigues me is the New Nikon WT5 Wireless Transmitter. Not only do I have a desire for a full-frame Nikon 1080p video capable DSLR, but I definitely have a strong desire for getting fast wireless tethered shooting! This video really got my attention and it's probably what pushed me over the edge:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0DnEoqm-wc

 

I'm doing it anyway! – FAQ

Q. Couldn't you just wait and see what the D800 really has to offer and make your decision then?

A. Asking me that question shows you don't really know me. I rarely wait to see what's coming if there is something in front of me that does everything I want.

 

Q. Will the D4 make you better photographer?

A. Nope

 

Q. Is video really that important to you? 

A. Hmmm… yep.

 

Q. Are you going to sell your D700

A. Normally that would be the plan, but I've decided at least for now to keep the D700 as my backup body in studio. I may change my mind down the road. However, since I won't have any need for the D5100 anymore my buddy has already called dibs on it.

 

Q. Don't you get all your gear for free anyway?

A. LOL, you don't really think that do you? Um no! I wish!

 

Q. You're not even a full-time photographer. Isn't this overkill.

A. Yep and your point?

 

Q. I thought photography was just your hobby and you do it for fun.

A. It is and I like to have a LOT of fun.

 

Q. Couldn't you find a better use for that money?

A. Yep. Life is short, might as well get what you want when you can.

 

Q. I don't really see how you can justify a D4 given that you don't make your living as a photographer.

A. I know, right?

 

Q. If you couldn't justify a D3 then how can you justify a D4?

A. Good question. The D3 never offered enough features over the D700 that I would use to justify the difference in price. The D4 does against the not yet announced D800.

 

Q. There's no reasoning with you on this purchase is there?

A. Not really.

 

Q. Where did you pre-order it from?

A. Right here at B&H Photo.