As good as D70s served me I did have a few issues with it.  Most notable was a tiny viewfinder and relatively in-flexible AF system.  In addition the high ISO noise was not something everyone would be comfortable with, but I learned how to shoot dance at 800 ISO, which produced decent photos.  For the most part the noise at high ISO was not as much of a problem as the loss of contrast was.  As soon as I bump the D70s to 800 ISO or past it, the photo contrast, vibrance and general color reproduction go to hell.   When this is coupled with a plethora of dance photos I take it really bums me out when I loose a lot of color dynamics from the stage lights.  This was good enough for me to force an upgrade.

Initially I was thinking of getting a D700.  This would’ve been a major upgrade and it would get rid of all the problems I have.  The issue was that this is a full-frame camera and I didn’t have the set of lenses needed for it.  All of my lenses are and always have been full-frame lenses, but the focal range I have is perfect for a DX sized sensor and the situations I shoot.   For instance my main lens a 17-35 f/2.8 has shown to be perfect for stage photography. It gives me that medium range of full-frame cameras (25-55mm) and my other lens, a 50mm f/1.8, is a perfect portrait lens on a DX sensor.  As such I didn’t get the D700 since it would warrant a purchase of a 24-70 f/2.8 or similar lens, and that would make the cost ridiculous and as such not worth the upgrade.

I chose D300s since it seemed most appropriate for me as the pro-sumer camera that will allow me to get used to the feel of higher level cameras at a lower price point.  A difference between the older D300 and D300s is slight.  With the addition of video, which I’m not crazy about, there isn’t much, except one thing, a center AF button.  I find myself wanting this button all the time, to quickly activate my center sensor on AF.  At the speeds I have to work at I find this extremely important, especially if I have 51 focus points and need to go to center, sometimes it can take 3-4 clicks which at times it feels like it can take forever.  This was less of an issue with D70s due to a lower number of AF points, but I still would’ve loved to have it, since under all the confusion of shooting it comes in useful not to have to think about which sensor is active and what I need to do to get it to the middle.

My first outing with D300s was to the Cougar Mountain Zoo.  I went to check out the baby tigers and to see how well the camera works.  In essence there was no great surprises.  Everything worked fine and at 200-400 ISO I would be hard pressed to spot any major differences between D70s and D300s.    Of course this is all considered after post-processing, D300s provides slightly better looking images right out of the camera.  After this I couldn’t wait to try the D300s under more serious conditions.  I didn’t get any major chance until Rex’s rehearsal for Physical Poetry dance show.

I did the rehearsal last Wednesday and I’m getting ready to do the real show tonight.  I didn’t have a chance to really study the pictures from the rehearsal, but just a quick look showed me that D300s does a great job and I’m able to push it to ISO 1600 without having to worry too much about noise and loss of contrast.  At ISO 800 it looks stellar.  The viewfinder is amazing.  I used D300s with 17-35mm lens and the D70s with a 50mm and the difference is stagering as I switch back and forth.  Everything about D300s makes it give you much more control, yet faster access to changing settings.  I don’t think I had to take the eyes off of the viewfinder at all the whole time I was shooting.

After the show tonight I’ll spend some time editing photos and will try to write a continuation of this article with some examples and show major differences between my old and new cameras.

Tomorrow I’m off to a cheese festival and then I should be making some Bosnian pies.  I hope they come out good, it will be my first time making my own philo dough.  I should also continue my plasma posts tomorrow.

I purchased what’s supposed to be the center piece of the darkoom 2 days ago.  It’s an Omega C-700 enlarger.  I got in on Ebay for $28.  Can’t beat that price.  I’ve been looking at chemicals I need, and it looks like I could have everything I need for the darkroom for under $100.  I like the enlarger since it has the color head and there is no need for sheet filters, everything can be just dialed on the head, much easier.  I hope to get it sometimes after the Christmas rush and test it out.  It should also be easy to fold it up and store it when not in use.

The plan was to go shoot some film in the next few days and try and develop it, but the weather has been ridiculous and I don’t want to drive around unless I really need to.  I will be posting some progress of the darkroom once I get the enlarger.  I hope to be able to take some awsome B&W photos of the dancers and print them on large sheets, talking bigger than 11×14.

To check out Winslow photos click here.

The plan is to work on the pictures throughout this week and hopefully have them done on the weekend.  The problem is that I’m currently out of space and my 1TB fileserver is not ready yet, so I’m hopping to get it up and running ASAP.