5 Frames with a Nikon D800 and the Voigtlander f1.4 58mm Nokton

A couple of years ago, when I came into some spare cash and decided to buy a new camera, I found myself faced with the problem of narrowing down my choices from the wide array of gear that’s available on the internet.

Although I also shoot film, I knew I wanted the new camera to be a full frame digital model – to replace my ageing, but still capable Canon EOS 5D Mark II (which in turn had replaced my original EOS 5D). Perhaps out of a certain contrariness, but, more seriously, from the understanding that Nikon offered products of an equal footing, I opted for the Nikon D800.

I remembered the attention that this camera had attracted when it was first released, back in 2012 – the leap up in the megapixel count being one point of interest (36.3 million effective pixels). Its dynamic range (14.4 stops) and the flexibility it offered in producing beautiful rendered colour files that made for tremendous b/w conversions, appealed to me greatly. The control of noise was also a strong persuader: indeed, on those occasions when I shoot at ISO4000 the ‘noise’ is not simply unobjectionable, but aesthetically pleasing.

Through a friend, I obtained a Voigtlander f1.4 58mm Nokton. It was not in the best of condition, having some fungus behind the front element, but it was available and cheaply priced. Fortunately, some preliminary tests (of typical subjects) showed no sign of the fungus affecting its ability to produce high quality results.

All of the 5 shots featured here have been edited in a variety of programs, but chiefly Photoshop, which I first started using back in 1998 (Version 4.0).

I was able to react quickly when I saw the boys running because I knew the lens was already at infinity, and that the aperture I had already set would guarantee a fast enough shutter speed to freeze them in place. Careful timing and ensuring the horizon was as straight as possible were all that was needed.

A hot day and a scene with a wide subject brightness range. Overhead lighting usually makes for dull tones, but there is also something very Australian about this quality of light. Post production helped impart something of a glow to the file.

As is often the case when I’m using this camera, I selected the 4/5 aspect ratio or “Image Area” (in the menu).

Nikon’s pattern metering did a great job with this exposure, and the sensor provided an image with plenty of info that could withstand the rigours of what turned out to be a long editing session.

I find it’s helpful, when I want to take a photo of someone doing something, if there’s an action or a gesture on their part, a movement of some sort, that they repeat at intervals. This was the young man’s second attempt at performing a handstand – so  I was watching him closely. The boy   entered the frame at the peak of the action, and I felt it was the right time to fire the shutter (chance favouring the prepared mind).

At some point in the future, I’d like to feature photographs that concentrate on the bokeh of some of the lenses I use. Here,  I’d like to point out the versatility of the 58mm focal length lens (for full frame cameras) – it might not seem like much of an extension on 50mm (perhaps subjectivity plays a role here) but, using it I feel more comfortable composing subjects that are in the mid-distance or at infinity.. 

Of course,  the large file size delivered the D800’s sensor also plays a role here. Cropping, if needed, is possible with minimal effects on the final print size (such was the case with the shot of the young man performing a handstand – I was unable to move in any closer, and had to crop from the base, top and one side).

Couple that with the ability to blow files up to ever increasing sizes, and you have a workable proposition to cover a range of situations.

All in all I am very pleased with the purchase – the D800 was significantly cheaper than buying into a mirrorless system, while the fact that it is a DSLR does not mean it produces images that are inferior in value.

I can foresee using it well into the future.

John McManus

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