Friday, March 6th, 2009

D3X goes Surfing

Over the last few days I’ve been shooting at the Quiksilver Pro and Roxy Pro International Surf Championships at Duranbah Beach and Snapper Rock, Australia (I’ll be sharing some of the shots from these events in a separate post).

For these events, NPS (Nikon Professional Services) have sent me a brand-new Nikon D3X, to try out…

If you’re a Nikon Insider and know your cameras, you might ask: “Why use a D3X for sport?“. The answer is easy: “To truly test a camera, you have to push it to its limits“.

The D3X has produced amazing images in the studio, 24.5 mega-pixels with impressive colours and contrast. This makes the D3X a brilliant candidate for studio work (fashion, still-life etc) as well as landscape photography. For sport however, the D3 is faster (frames per second) and has a better high-ISO performance, and for any night shoot, stadium- or indoor event, the D3 remains unbeatable. For a day event however, the extra pixels of the D3X can produce amazing results, and as I rather anticipate the moment than to shoot in burst, I had an absolute blast shooting with the D3X today. The amount of spray, water drops and fine detail i was able to capture during these surf championships is simply astounding.

Is the D3X worth the price tag? I guess, if you ask this question, you’re probably not the right candidate for this camera. If you are a pro fashion shooter, you’ll have this beast paid with the next assignment, and you will enjoy the advantages (and ease-of-use) of a DSLR with the resolution of a medium format camera. For me personally, the D3 remains my favourite as an all-around body, however I must admit, I am very impressed by the details this camera captures!

I’d like to thank Robert and his team from NPS (Nikon Professional Services) Australia for their continuous support. You do a terrific job, and I truly appreciate it. Thank you!

Photo above:
Shooting at Roxy Pro. Photo by Mohan Mali (website).

Photos below:
L: D3X test shot: “Moon” (Gold Coast, late afternoon)
C: Explaining the feature of the D3X at Quiksilver Pro (Photo by Mohan Mali)
R: Another photo of me at Quiksilver Pro (Photo by Mohan Mali)

Gear: Nikon D3X with Nikon 600mm F4, Hoodman Loupe (hanging on Manfrotto Tripod), and – very hightech – a no-brand towel for sun protection (not fancy, but effective).

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