A number of claims are circulating regarding the high ISO performance of the D4 compared with the D3 and D3S, notably that the D4 offers around a one stop advantage over the D3S despite the former's higher pixel pitch.
My own tests suggest in general terms the D4 actually offers around the same noise levels across the image as a whole as the original D3. This is by no means a poor performance, the D3 continues to be an excellent high ISO camera. So what is the basis for claiming the D4 offers a one stop advantage? Remember the D4 offers around 40% more resolution than the D3. Once the D4 images are downsampled to match the resolution of the D3, the D4 emerges as the better performer, possibly rivalling the D3S, but not exceeding it. Looking closely at the character of the noise, the D4 has more chroma noise and Capture NX2 reports the camera is always performing some noise reduction at high ISOs on NEFs, even with 'off' selected in camera. Significantly though, the D4 does have far less noise in the blue channel than the D3, meaning high ISO shots under tungsten light sources will have lower noise.
At the other end of the scale though, noise levels at lower ISOs are virtually non-existent. Overall, it looks as though Nikon has delivered its promise to produce a more rounded camera with a better balance of high ISO performance versus resolution.
Tom Parkes is a London based corporate and editorial photographer
Friday 6 July 2012
Wednesday 4 July 2012
D4 Firmware Update 1.02 - It's Tough Being Green
Released this morning, the D4 firmware update 1.02 attempts to address the monitor problems detailed in the previous post:
"Gamut for Adobe RGB images displayed in the camera's monitor has now been changed. This enables more vivid display of images."
I've updated my D4 and can confirm the monitor display has improved somewhat, particularly in relation to the rendering of skin tones. The overall green tint is still visible but appears reduced.
My D4 was supplied with firmware v1.01 installed and it's worth noting that the installation process has changed somewhat from earlier cameras. Full details are available on Nikon's support site. The update took a fair while to instal itself, with no visible progress for several minutes after the progress bar had completed its journey across the screen. Just leave it alone and it will complete.
Two things are particularly interesting, first that Nikon appears to be rapidly addressing snags in the D4 and second, for the first time ever, Nikon actually emailed me to inform me of the availability of the update. If you haven't registered your camera on-line with Nikon then its worth opening an account. As an added benefit you will have instant access to the serial numbers of your equipment should anything be lost or stolen.
"Gamut for Adobe RGB images displayed in the camera's monitor has now been changed. This enables more vivid display of images."
I've updated my D4 and can confirm the monitor display has improved somewhat, particularly in relation to the rendering of skin tones. The overall green tint is still visible but appears reduced.
My D4 was supplied with firmware v1.01 installed and it's worth noting that the installation process has changed somewhat from earlier cameras. Full details are available on Nikon's support site. The update took a fair while to instal itself, with no visible progress for several minutes after the progress bar had completed its journey across the screen. Just leave it alone and it will complete.
Two things are particularly interesting, first that Nikon appears to be rapidly addressing snags in the D4 and second, for the first time ever, Nikon actually emailed me to inform me of the availability of the update. If you haven't registered your camera on-line with Nikon then its worth opening an account. As an added benefit you will have instant access to the serial numbers of your equipment should anything be lost or stolen.
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