I have been appointed as the photographer for the Belfast Giants Hockey team and have a D800 and a 24-70F2.8 and 70-200F2.8 and need another body with a better FPS rate. I have to stay with Nikon as the lenses are good enough but need to hear what people have experience of body wise in their range that they feel would do the job....HELP PLEASE!!!
@andysg hi Andy, can't specifically help as I don't shot Nikon, but might be worth contacting someone like Chris Callaghan (@ccphotographic on Twitter). He shoots for Bracknell Bees and I think he's a Nikon user.
The D810 will get you 5 frames/sec for about 10-11 shots with 14 bit uncompressed raw, your D800 is rated at 4 but the buffer fills up much faster for you might get 7 or 8 before the buffer overflows. It may be you need a faster card, but the limited buffer depth is surely the limiting factor. The D750 is rated at 6/second, but the buffer depth similarly will (probably) not allow you to get more than 10-11 uncompressed raw. The D7200 will get you similarly about 5/sec 14 bit, 6 at 12 bit, and unlike the D7100 has sufficient buffer depth to get you 17-18 12-bit-raw before buffer overflow.
One thing to remember, too, about rapid shooting rates with your large sensor D800, repeated shutter shock could affect sharpness at a relatively low shutter (~1/200 second or slower) where you will (probably) be shooting in low light indoors. The VR of the 70-200 can even (unfortunately) exaggerate this. I naturally assume you are not shooting in Live View, or hassle with the "mirror up" mode to slow you down.
Have you thought to shoot in DX mode on the full frame cameras? Or jpegs? You'll get a lot more.
If none of this satisfies you, you are left with the D4/D4s at 11 fps with gobs of buffer space as your only new Nikon "professional" sports camera. And its 16mp sensor (not 34) will doubtless do a lot to mitigate shutter shock too, one reason these "pro sports" cameras don't play the mp-game. But at $6.5k new, really? It probably converts to 10K pounds or more.
Maybe a used D3/D3s for 9/second? A 12mp sensor, btw. Probably less than $2k on eBay. I'd say that would serve your specific needs best.
@frankhymus Thanks Frank and the D4S retails for £4.5K but I'm not in the major leagues yet but would love to even just try it but then if I fell in love would regret it as I couldn't afford the £....ah will have to dream for a little longer.
@andysg Right. Got my exchange rates backwards, sorry :) A used D3 or D3s? I'd really look into that.
@dbj The D750? A superb general purpose camera at less than $2k, incredible AF and subject tracking (if the limited focusing area isn't a problem), great high ISO, color depth and tonal range... But not a "pro sports" camera if by that you want continuous shooting of more than 12 or so consecutive frames (in 14-bit-raw) at 6+ fps.
@dbj But it was fast, continuous shooting that he was wanting, something his D800, the D750 and any Nikon with the exception of the d3/d4 group for that matter, won't give him, 12+ continuous (raw) frames at 5/6+ fps. That's what he was after.
@andysg Andy buddy you have to come over to the dark side, not full frame but my 7Dii has 10 fms & is awesome using shutter priority for fast moving stuff :) :) :)
@frankhymus Hi Frank I am starting to lan towards the `D810 as I love my D800 but know the focus system is better on the 810 amongst other factors. The 810 also has a burst rate up to 7FPS if I use the crop mode but would be interested to hear your thoughts.
The D810 is a significantly better camera than the D800, which itself was revolutionary three years ago. The frame rate is a little faster and the buffer depth is a little larger. I was at the camera store this pm and put the Nikons through the "continuous shooting" exercise so that I now have experience data and not just speculation and repeated information from others. The D810 (and the Class 10 card it was loaded with) shot 13 14-bit-uncompressed-raw frames before pausing, 18-19 in 12-bit mode and 35+ or more "fine" jpegs. I didn't test it in DX crop mode, unfortunately, but I would expect it to come in about 25+ or so (raw) before pausing to write to the card. The camera even has a 9mp "raw "S" size too that could probably get you more.
The D810, too, has had a lot of engineering to reduce shutter shock that I spoke of. The Electronic Front Curtain option too should help even more. I did not check that it is available in continuous high mode.
Add the battery grip and I think it can even do better.
The D810 is, currently, the leader in the DxOMark Race, (significantly outperforming the Canon 5DS which comes in at number 21). Yes, yes, I do know that a camera is more than the sensor, but still... You can check that out here too. http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Ratings
Best of shooting with the D810. I envy you.
Sorry about the DbJ unpleasantness. I didn't think I said anything exceptional, and I was speaking with *facts* to back me up. Oh well...
@sjodell Hi Sarah. Yes the 7Dii is significantly better and deeper as regards continuous shooting than the Nikon D7200, which itself is no slouch. I guess it is one of the main reasons it is classed as a "pro APS-C" body, at least in the literature. I do like the D7200 for other things better though, the -3EV AF and 3-D tracking especially, but even in the AF area, the 7Dii does have all cross sensor points that the Nikon doesn't (the center 15 only).
I hope you are seriously enjoying your camera though. :)
@frankhymus Hi Frank and just a quick update to say I have bitten the bullet and bought the D810. I shot my first game last weekend and have now been given the rest of the season with a home double header this weekend. Thanks for all your assistance. I have another question that you might be able to answer for me. I have to use flash for the puck drop at the start of the game. What are my ideal settings for a quick solution? I always shoot manual but the meter settings seem to go out the window when focussing so really need help with this one.
@andysg How close are you to the drop? If you are more than about 25 feet, flash probably won't help much at all. if you want the details of how "guide numbers" work and if you tell me what flash you will be using, I can go into more details.
If you are in the range of the flash you will be using, "M" and a fast shutter will cut the background (beyond the reach of the flash) illumination, "M" and a slower shutter will give you some background detail. The shutter has nothing to do with how well the foreground is lit. (Not quite true, but good enough to start with). If you go for a shutter speed faster than 1/200 second, you'll have to set your flash to "fast synch." Customer Settings | Flash (section e) and the Flash Synch Speed item and choose one of the Auto FP settings.
I'd go with the TTL metering the camera and flash choose (that's the default) until you get comfortable with Flash Power and such things - "Manual" flash mode, which indeed I have little need for, not shooting lot of complex flash.
Also, if you go with a fast shutter speed, above the synch speed of the camera which I think is something like 1/250) make sure "electronic front curtain" is turned OFF.
Enjoy the camera, it is a fabulous one. Good shooting and good luck with the hockey.
HI Frank I will be on the ice and can get as close as I want and I will be shooting with the SB910. The bit I struggle with is setting the numbers so that its exposed correctly. I shoot all my landscapes maually but the meter seems to go out the window when you put the flash on. I get 1 go to get the puck drop and need to know a fail safe setting. THANKS for your help!!
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One thing to remember, too, about rapid shooting rates with your large sensor D800, repeated shutter shock could affect sharpness at a relatively low shutter (~1/200 second or slower) where you will (probably) be shooting in low light indoors. The VR of the 70-200 can even (unfortunately) exaggerate this. I naturally assume you are not shooting in Live View, or hassle with the "mirror up" mode to slow you down.
Have you thought to shoot in DX mode on the full frame cameras? Or jpegs? You'll get a lot more.
If none of this satisfies you, you are left with the D4/D4s at 11 fps with gobs of buffer space as your only new Nikon "professional" sports camera. And its 16mp sensor (not 34) will doubtless do a lot to mitigate shutter shock too, one reason these "pro sports" cameras don't play the mp-game. But at $6.5k new, really? It probably converts to 10K pounds or more.
Maybe a used D3/D3s for 9/second? A 12mp sensor, btw. Probably less than $2k on eBay. I'd say that would serve your specific needs best.
@dbj The D750? A superb general purpose camera at less than $2k, incredible AF and subject tracking (if the limited focusing area isn't a problem), great high ISO, color depth and tonal range... But not a "pro sports" camera if by that you want continuous shooting of more than 12 or so consecutive frames (in 14-bit-raw) at 6+ fps.
The D810 is a significantly better camera than the D800, which itself was revolutionary three years ago. The frame rate is a little faster and the buffer depth is a little larger. I was at the camera store this pm and put the Nikons through the "continuous shooting" exercise so that I now have experience data and not just speculation and repeated information from others. The D810 (and the Class 10 card it was loaded with) shot 13 14-bit-uncompressed-raw frames before pausing, 18-19 in 12-bit mode and 35+ or more "fine" jpegs. I didn't test it in DX crop mode, unfortunately, but I would expect it to come in about 25+ or so (raw) before pausing to write to the card. The camera even has a 9mp "raw "S" size too that could probably get you more.
The D810, too, has had a lot of engineering to reduce shutter shock that I spoke of. The Electronic Front Curtain option too should help even more. I did not check that it is available in continuous high mode.
Check out what DPReview said about that too.
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikon-d810
Add the battery grip and I think it can even do better.
The D810 is, currently, the leader in the DxOMark Race, (significantly outperforming the Canon 5DS which comes in at number 21). Yes, yes, I do know that a camera is more than the sensor, but still... You can check that out here too.
http://www.dxomark.com/Cameras/Ratings
Best of shooting with the D810. I envy you.
Sorry about the DbJ unpleasantness. I didn't think I said anything exceptional, and I was speaking with *facts* to back me up. Oh well...
I hope you are seriously enjoying your camera though. :)
If you are in the range of the flash you will be using, "M" and a fast shutter will cut the background (beyond the reach of the flash) illumination, "M" and a slower shutter will give you some background detail. The shutter has nothing to do with how well the foreground is lit. (Not quite true, but good enough to start with). If you go for a shutter speed faster than 1/200 second, you'll have to set your flash to "fast synch." Customer Settings | Flash (section e) and the Flash Synch Speed item and choose one of the Auto FP settings.
I'd go with the TTL metering the camera and flash choose (that's the default) until you get comfortable with Flash Power and such things - "Manual" flash mode, which indeed I have little need for, not shooting lot of complex flash.
Also, if you go with a fast shutter speed, above the synch speed of the camera which I think is something like 1/250) make sure "electronic front curtain" is turned OFF.
Enjoy the camera, it is a fabulous one. Good shooting and good luck with the hockey.