Nikon today announced their new pro camera, the D4. Among the new features (over the D3/D3s) that might be handy for astrophotography is an incredible maximum ISO rating of 204,800 and internal time lapse shooting!
Nikon states - "Time lapse shooting - This new feature combines a selected frame rate and “shooting interval” in a dedicated time lapse photography menu. Playback can be achieved with a wide variety of speeds from 24x to 36,000x while producing a fully finished movie file output for faster multimedia workflows."
I think I want one... only catch it's $6000 in the US!
But they strangely stick to CF cards why not SD(HC/XC) cards ? But this is to overcome with an adapter.
Fortunately not too many MP 16 is enough and has the advantage to push to ISO200k.
Now the next FF beast, the D800 is yet to come .....
Has it officially been announced, or is it just a reiteration of the Nikon Rumors site?
It's essentially Nikon's answer to the 1D-x which Canon announced months ago (albeit with Nikon having 2 megapixels less density). No real surprises there. Both cameras suited for photojournalists and sports photographers, just in time for the Olympics.
So, the megapixel wars will be fought out with the 5D Mark III and D800.
It's going to need a lot more new features for me to upgrade from my D3 which cost 7K 2.5 years ago. Usable ISO is what is important for me. I am supposing it will be around the 12,000 mark without much noise. That would be a nice improvement. Talk of ISO200,000 is really not usable. Far too much noise for my taste, but the lower end will be a marked improvement and that is what attracts photographers.
Haha I didn't think you would be upgrading your D3 just yet! And yes you're right, the ISO 200,000 really won't be usable but hopefully the 12,800 and maybe slightly above that will be better. I hope some of these features filter down to new mid range models, such as the anticipated D800!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Haese
It's going to need a lot more new features for me to upgrade from my D3 which cost 7K 2.5 years ago. Usable ISO is what is important for me. I am supposing it will be around the 12,000 mark without much noise. That would be a nice improvement. Talk of ISO200,000 is really not usable. Far too much noise for my taste, but the lower end will be a marked improvement and that is what attracts photographers.
Consider the ISO 200k as an 'emergency' option, not for astro imaging. You'll get newspaper images. This is also possible with other SLRs, I pushed my 40d to ISO 200k as well with the 'Exposure' option of Photoshop.
Although, I wonder what would happen if you modded a D4 or 1D-X and cooled it as well. It would make a difference, but why go to the trouble when a CCD would be better and cheaper. Mind you, a CCD with as many MP's would cost even more than the cameras!!!!. Plus, you'd be nuts to mod those cameras in the first place!!!.
In any case, at ISO200K, out at a dark site and with a fast lens (say a f/1.8 or f/1.4) around the 18-50mm mark, you'd overexpose the piccie just running the camera with a normal shutter speed, never mind sticking it on bulb!!!!
