PHOTOGRAPHING WITH THE NIKON D700 IN SOUTH AFRICA

NIKON D 700, 50mm NIKKOR F.1,8, 3.200 ASA, 1/30 F:2,8

Here is some examples of photos taken on my recent trip to South Africa with the Nikon D700 and my opinion about the camera. In this picture we see a lion cub, part of a lion’s pride starting a hunt at night besides Kruger Park. It is an impossible picture almost for any other camera. The darkness was total, and two all-terrain vehicles followed the group. The animals of the park have become accustomed to cars and act as if they did not exist. The lion is illuminated by a torch from the vehicle and I photographed it with a 50mm f: 1.8 at a speed of 1 / 30 and 3200 ASA. The incredible capacity of the D700 to shoot, with little detriment to the quality, at ISOS so high, as does her older sister and much more expensive D3, is a major revolution in photography.

NIKON D700, 300 mm NIKKOR F:4, 1.600 ASA. 1/500 F:4

NIKON D700, NIKKOR 300 mm F:4, 200 aSA, 1/500 F:4

The Nikon D700 camera is very solid and sturdy, easy to use and incorporates new developments that were of great help to me as the dynamic AF area autofocus with which the camera automatically detects the subject and selects the focus point. It is very useful for moving subjects and was crucial to photograph this couple of impalas. It was 7 am and there was little light, the power to shoot at a 1600 ASA was key. In continuous shooting mode you cab take up to 5 per second photos. Later in the day, the light grew, and I was able to photograph this family of warthogs at 200 ASA.

NIKON D700 ,NIKKOR 28 mm F:2,8, 3.200 ASA, 1/15 F:2,8

Dinner outdoors in Makakatana Bay Lodge, inside the natural reserve of St Lucia. On similar occasions, with another camera, I would not have taken the photo. After getting up so early in the morning, and a whole day of work, you want to relax and quietly enjoy the delicious food accompanied by a good South African wine without disturbing all the guests. I could have used a strobe, with the power reduced to a minimum but, even so, I would have destroyed the warm and intimate lighting. If I had to take the picture I would have used the tripod with all the hassle involved, but with the Nikon D700 I simply adjust the sensitivity to ASA 3.2oo and shoot.

NIKON D700, NIKKOR 20 mm 2,8, 1.600 ASA, 1/30 F:4

It was my room imitating a Zulu hut, although much more spacious, in Stewart's Farm. If not within the story, sometimes I take the photo and others I don't. I need to mount the tripod, level it ... It takes your time. Here, as in the previous photo, I just set the ASA dial to 1600 and shot with a 20 mm. lens. Because the D700 is full frame, the 20 mm covers a very wide angle. It is incredible: it seems that the photo is taken at 100 ASA.

This is a very small sample of the possibilities of the D700, but the best images are saved up to the moment to be published in the magazine that has the rights.

PACO ELVIRA, KARKLOOF, SUDÁFRICA . FOTO: CARLOS FERNÁNDEZ