Nikon D5 test. Flying into space in dreams and dreams

The entry, announcement, even the slightest hint at the appearance of a similar camera of the highest level immediately turns into a mass of speculation, speculation, posts on professional forums and on social networks. The range of buyers of such equipment is not the widest – reporters, major editions, sports photographers. Such people from the first announcement of a new flagship in detail follow all the news and calculate whether it is worth spending half a million Dollars on this spaceship of the world of photographic equipment. This is how the top novelty in the Nikon lineup, the D5, was followed. The company promised to release a photomonster. So, the Nikon D5 is already here. Let’s look at the result of the work of Nikon engineers.

For those who are used to flipping through the test and jumping to conclusions: this camera has everything and the best.

Full review and gallery of the Nikon D5 – go to

Specifications

Sensor – CMOS-matrix format FX size 35.9 x 23.9 mm with a resolution of 20.8 megapixels and a maximum frame size of 5568 x 3712, a system of cleaning the sensor from dust, reference data to automatically remove dust in post-processing requires Capture NX

Autofocus – Multi-CAM 20K autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection, fine-tuning and 153 focus points including 99 cross-type sensors and 15 f/8 aperture sensors , of which 55 35 cross-type sensors and 9 f/8 aperture sensors are selectable

Autofocus modes – single AF tracking AF-S continuous AF tracking AF-C predictive AF tracking, which switches on automatically according to the state of the object. If you choose manual focus M , you can use the electronic rangefinder

Exposure metering: 180000-point sensor, 3D color matrix III metering, center-weighted, spot, bright area metering

ISO – 100 to 102400 units, it can be lowered down to 50 or down to H1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 equivalent to 3 280 000

Shutter speed range – 1/8000 to 30 s, in 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV increments, handshake, timer shutter speed, X250

Shooting Modes – P, A, S, M

Lenses – Bayonet F Nikon with AF and AF contacts pairing

Image stabilization is absent in the camera, many Nikkor lenses have it

Viewfinder – Direct-view mirror viewfinder with pentaprism with 100% field coverage, diopter adjustment from -3 to +1

Display – 8 cm, 2359000 dots, touch screen

Photo formats – 12-bit and 14-bit RAW, available shooting RAW full 5568 x 3712 , medium 4176 x 2784 or small 2784 x 1856 , available shooting in DX format with auto DX-lens detection. TIFF RGB , JPEG with high, medium or low compression. RAW+JPEG

Burst shooting – single, continuous up to 12fps with tracking focus or 14fps with mirror up and focus off, delayed shutter with 2, 5, 10 or 20 second delay and the ability to shoot a series of 1 to 9 frames at 0.5, 1, 2 or 3 second intervals

Interval Shooting – Yes, flexibly configurable

Video recording – 4K up to 30 fps, Full HD up to 60 fps

Interfaces – SuperSpeed USB USB Micro-B connector 3.0 , HDMI type C, audio and 3.5mm input and output,

Memory cards – two XQD cards or two CompactFlash cards type I, UDMA compatible

Powered by the EN-EL18a battery

Dimensions are approximately 160 x 158.5 x 92 mm

Weight – approximately 1235 grams. Without accessories, battery, memory cards and covers, about 1,415 g with battery and two CF memory cards.

The look, the design, the controls

The flagship’s body hasn’t changed much since the Nikon D4s. For those who have worked with Nikon’s top-of-the-line cameras before, everything will be absolutely familiar – the company has kept the camera body intact. The same maxi-size, dual knobs, redundant mode wheels and four-position joysticks for easy shooting in both landscape and portrait orientations.

If you’ve only worked with the company’s smaller cameras before and are eyeing Nikon’s flagship, don’t worry about ergonomics. The camera is big, unaccustomed to the size of other cameras by the manufacturer. It won’t fit in every photo backpack, you’ll have to adapt your carrying systems for it. Still, a bulky camera feels great in the hand. Deep wide grip fits even people with large hands. All controls are laid out so that they are easy to operate in either orientation of the camera. Buttons and joysticks are clearly distinguishable, with soft optimal stroke. In all my time with the camera, I have never pressed a button that I did not want to press or touched something that I did not want to touch.

The camera uses the same EN-EL18a battery as Nikon’s previous flagship model, so you won’t have to upgrade your battery fleet after you change cameras. In their old places multiselector, and a full set of buttons for everything, plus a whole bunch of programmable buttons on which you can hang a variety of functions, from the exposure lock to the mode Bracketing. On one of these buttons you can also set the virtual horizon, which here is not very convenient in my opinion – the deviation from the horizon is shown by the focus point frames. Not very obvious and supersedes the display of the actual focus point.

Still, there are changes in the body. Most importantly, the ISO speed button has moved closer to the shutter button, roughly where the MODE button used to be and has moved to a position above the dial for selecting burst mode – along with the exposure meter and bracketing buttons. Habit makes you look for the buttons in the old places, but you get used to the new layout very quickly and soon you start to think it’s the only right one.

Nikon engineers added an extra programmable button on the left side of the lens when viewed from the front of the camera next to the function button and the aperture repeater button. Not to be confused with these three, the middle one is concave with a dimple that can be felt very well with the fingertips.

Another new feature of the D5, which before was mostly used in amateur cameras, is the touch screen display. Now with a tap you can flip and zoom in/out, and select the point of capture in LiveView mode. It allows you to review your footage faster and save a bit of time shooting. You get so used to the touch screen that you want to use it everywhere and anytime – for example, to choose options in the traditionally huge Nikon menu. But for now, unfortunately, this feature is not supported.

The camera body is made of durable magnesium alloy and protected against moisture and dust. I³’ve taken photos with my Nikon D5 in the dusty Kazakh steppes and desert, on a racetrack and moto-triangle track, in a swamp and in the rain for many hours. And it felt much worse than the “five”. You can safely use this camera in the harshest of weather and climate conditions and focus solely on taking pictures, not on how to keep the camera in working order.

Matrix

The heart of the Nikon D5 is a new 20.8-megapixel full-frame sensor made in-house. Good news for travel photographers who previously had to take the D800 or D810 in addition to the D4s for landscapes. Now the resolution of the camera should be enough for landscape shooting. Such high resolution of the sensor also lets you slightly crop the image if you can’t get the perfect framing for the shot. For landscape photographers, extra megapixels won’t be superfluous either. For example, shooting with a stacking technique forces you to crop the frame a bit after stacking, so it wouldn’t hurt to have an extra bit of resolution.

Full-frame sensor lets you use Nikon’s entire line of FX optics with the Nikon D5. And perhaps most pleasing to me, as a landscape photographer, was the ability to take full advantage of the super wide-angle AF-s Nikkor 14-24 f/2 lens.8, one of my main landscape tools. The 14mm focal length is not cropped by the cropping factor, which means landscape photographers can build a spectacular composition with a “heavy” foreground that engages the viewer in the shot.

At the same time, when working with a full-frame camera, the photographer loses a free one-and-a-half-fold increase in focal length, which is very important for telephoto lenses. With a camera like this you have to use big full frame telephoto lenses, which are bulky and expensive. So in addition to the not the lightest camera get ready to carry not the lightest lenses. Alas, pictures of uncompromisingly high quality still require photographers to have stamina and strong legs.

Especially noteworthy is the ability to shoot RAW in its original size 5568 x 3712 , as well as in medium size 4176 x 2784 , and even in small size 2784 x 1856 . This helps save memory card space when shooting fast-paced scenes that require a lot of small pictures. I used a medium sized RAW I shot with TimeLapse to get footage of acceptable resolution, which can be lightly manipulated before stitching the video together. I shoot small RAWs when I solely want my pictures to be published on the web, and the smallest of them. Just remember to set the RAW size back to a large size when you start shooting, which requires high resolution files in the output.

ISO sensitivity

This is what photographers look at flagship cameras for. Even before the release of the D5, Nikon engineers announced some absolutely cosmic values of sensitivity, up to three million. The lower range is at 100 with an option to lower it down to 50 ISO. It’s not quite an “honest” fifty units, as in the Nikon D810, and yet for landscape photography such a low sensitivity comes in handy – get without a neutral gray light filter blurred in the movement of clouds or fuzzy, soft water.

The upper range ends at 102400 ISO, which is already pretty good. But you can increase it to Hi5, which is the same value of three million, whispered about by professional photographers on specialized forums with apprehension.

Nikon D5. Evening series

ISO 50

ISO 80

ISO 64

ISO 100

ISO 125

ISO 160

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ISO 640

ISO 800

ISO 1000

ISO 1250

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ISO 81275

ISO 102400

ISO 129016

ISO 162550

ISO 204800

Even at twilight the camera gives very good results at ISO up to 25600 – the pictures retain details, colors are conveyed more or less naturally. And then the noise starts to grow in bulk. ISO 12,800 and even 25,600 are fine, but anything above that is more of a compromise, better reserved for extreme situations. At the maximum Hi 5 setting, it is almost impossible to make out any kind of scene behind the noise.

It’s time to get down to earth, because everything is cool here. At ISO 3200 to 6400 the camera noise is very moderate. Don’t expect the D5 to look as clean as the D810 – the cameras were built for different tasks. But if you still want to shoot stars at slow shutter speeds and high ISO settings, you’ll get a decent picture.

Nikon D5. Daylight Series

ISO 50

ISO 64

ISO 80

ISO 100

ISO 125

ISO 160

ISO 250

ISO 320

ISO 400

ISO 500

ISO 640

ISO 800

ISO 1000

ISO 1250

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ISO 6400

ISO 8000

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ISO 40000

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ISO 81275

ISO 102400

ISO 129016

ISO 162550

ISO 204800

ISO 409600

ISO 819200

ISO 1638400

3276800

There is one more thing worth mentioning. RAW files of the Five are quite weakly stretched, especially in the shadows. So if you’re used to shooting at high ISO with low shutter speeds and pulling in shadows, you’ll have to get out of that habit because you’ll get too much noise. Working with Nikon D5, I got used to slightly raise ISO and expose the frame normally or with a slight shift towards the light the so called Exposure to the right, or ETTR in order to darken the frame and suppress the noise signal in post-processing.

Deserve special attention flexible setting Auto ISO, which allows you to set the range of sensitivity and conditions of its change. It’s precise and crisp, so you don’t have to worry about aperture ratio in fast-moving action shots.

EXPEED5 processor

EXPEED 5 processor, the most advanced image processing ever seen in a Nikon camera. Processor combats vignetting as well as noise at slow shutter speeds and high ISOs. The camera’s default suppression settings are standard, but they can be changed in a separate menu item for each setting. Unlike previous models, the new processor is quite brisk in handling bulky RAW files.

EXPEED 5 is also responsible for D-Lightning, which is supposed to effectively extend the dynamic range of a frame so that photographers don’t have to deal with over-illumination by applying gradient filters or by stitching together multiple frames using brightness masks. Alas, even at its maximum setting, D-Lightning preserves only a little bit of the detail in highlights. As good as the D5 is, miracles never happen, and high dynamic range images still require long and painstaking manual post-processing.

To minimize image processing the camera has a Picture Control 2 mode.0, which lets you set some basic settings for brightness, contrast, sharpness and color. For example, “Uniform” will maximize the dynamic range of the frame, for easy in-depth processing later. I shoot all of my landscapes in this mode. You can customise the basic Picture Control modes, or create your own, tailored settings to suit your shooting style or situation.

Focus, exposure metering and continuous shooting

Buckle up, we’ve gotten to the fun part, what makes the Nikon D5 really great. For exposure metering in the “Five” is responsible RGB sensor with a resolution of 180,000 pixels – twice as much as on the Nikon D4s and Nikon D810. Add light metering and you get a camera that has a very good and accurate sense of the scene, even at its lowest setting.

The next link in the chain of performance is Multi-CAM 20K autofocus sensor module. 153 focus points, of which 99 are cross-type and 15 at f/8 aperture. Of these, the user can choose only 55 35 cross-type and 9 with f/8 aperture support , but even this set looks and works very effectively. All points, as on absolutely all Nikon cameras, are collected in the central zone. Proponents of Nikon’s system seem to have stopped asking the company to scatter at least a few points on the periphery of the frame, resigned themselves to just living with this arrangement of focus points. To say the camera focuses quickly and accurately is an understatement.

55-point focus. The camera uses all of the autofocus sensors to focus. This is good if the subject is so close to you and moving so fast that you don’t have time to get your bearings. In such situation it is better to give the decision to automatics. The camera will first try to focus on the center spot, and then it will try all the others.

35-point focus. Only central 35 AF points are used. This mode is good if all the action is concentrated in the central part of the frame, but the subjects can make unexpected movements that you also need to keep an eye on. Just like in the 55-point AF mode, in this case, the camera gives priority to the center point and only then tries to focus on the others.

Continuous single-point autofocus is the most predictable way of focusing. You switch the automatic mode off and set the desired point yourself. The method is accurate, but only for static subjects or subjects that move so much that they are in the same part of the frame. An advanced modification of the one-point method – automatic 3D focusing. The D5 tracks a subject’s arbitrary movements precisely based on a set point, making 3D focusing a powerful tool for taking pictures.

Group focus. Five focus points are at work, and you can move them around the frame. The camera analyzes all five, without giving priority to any particular sensor. The mode is good for objects that move predictably in the same direction, and for both large and small. The focus points don’t automatically adjust, so you have to move them manually if the subject has changed its position in the frame.

The Nikon D5 is able to rock even a lens as heavy, clumsy, and completely out of focus as the AF-s Nikkor 80-400. What’s more, thanks to the camera’s very low -4EV low shutter range, it focuses and guides the subject perfectly in continuous focus mode, even in dark rooms and at dusk. The camera logic very intelligently determines the main subject, focuses on it and then holds it very well.

Particularly pleasing was the 3D continuous focus system, which adjusts a single focus point while tracking the movement of the subject. This system, unlike the multi-point focus, lets you precisely select the main subject in the frame and work only with it. So at the racetrack I was able to focus and keep the muzzle of the racehorse in focus, which was first moving toward me, and then started entering the turn and shifted from the central part of the frame to the right. The camera tracked this movement and moved the focus point to follow my four-legged steed.

As with any Nikon camera, you can choose slow or fast burst mode. Slow mode shoots at up to 5 fps. But who needs that when there’s a Ch mode? Continuous shooting at 12 frames per second is, in one word, “Outer Space. This speed makes it possible to capture the most interesting and unexpected phases of movement, and to shoot in long bursts, without having to keep an eye out for that unique moment or worry about missing it.

Remember the photography experience of Eadweard Muybridge, who wanted to see if a horse could get all four legs off the ground when galloping? Back in the 19th century, the mind had to make a complicated construction from several cameras. Today we can make do with just one Nikon D5 model – and repeat this experience to find out – yes, there is indeed such a moment, for a split second the horse seems to fly over the ground. And while you’re at it all, the camera’s autofocus keeps tirelessly tracking your main character.

Nikon D5. 12 fps high-speed burst

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 s, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 s, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 s, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

Lens AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 c, f/7.1 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/2500 s, f/7.1 ISO 500

Continuous shooting at 12fps

If 12 fps isn’t fast enough, the Nikon D5 lets you boost it to 14 fps – just raise the mirror and turn autofocus off. You might get the wrong idea about this being a dubious option, but in situations where the distance from your subject to the camera doesn’t change, this mode can work just fine.

Obviously, you have to store everything you capture at this speed somewhere. Camera has two memory card slots in the same format. This approach is convenient – no need to carry cards of different formats. The camera can be set up to record alternately with both formats on both cards simultaneously or in turn – first one, then the other, or each card will record only one format – RAW or JPEG.

The Nikon D5 comes in two versions – with two CF card slots and with two slots for the new XQD card format. Not many companies yet make the latter, and they cost as much as an airplane wing. But who will remember this when holding a camera worth half a million Dollars?? The undoubted advantage of XQD is their gigantic recording speed of about 125 MB/sec.

It seems that the camera’s claimed speed should clog the buffer in a couple of seconds and then stumble when writing to a flash drive. It should, but it doesn’t. Because it’s very difficult to cram a buffer designed for 200 RAW frames. And while the write speed of even the fastest CF cards can theoretically let you touch the bottom of the buffer, with XQD cards I was never able to reach the edge of the buffer.

To save you the trouble of copying large amounts of photos from the camera to your computer, the camera is equipped with a high-speed 1000 Base T Ethernet port that lets you download files from the camera at up to 400 megabits per second, as well as a high-speed SuperSpeed USB 3.0 with a download speed of up to 5 Gigabits/sec. This also eliminates the need to carry extra cords or card readers – all pictures can be merged through the SS-USB, using the same cord that is used to connect all modern external hard drives.

Nikon D5. Speed Shooting 14 fps

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 s, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4 Lens.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/4.5-5.6 VR, 1/3200 c, f/6.3 ISO 500

Continuous shooting at 14 frames per second

The Nikon D5 shutter is rated at 400,000 guaranteed shutter clicks – a lot of life to ensure accurate shutter speeds over several years of intensive work.

In addition to continuous shooting, the Nikon 5D supports 2, 5, 10 and 20-second shutter release delays, and after that time, the camera can take up to nine shots with up to three seconds between shots. I found it very handy when shooting the starry sky – there are special techniques that allow you to significantly reduce noise in post-processing, but you have to take a series of shots to do this. Nine frames is just enough for a good result.

In addition to the delayed shutter release, the camera allows you to set a 1, 2 or 3 second delay between the mirror being raised and the shutter being released. It is especially important for landscape shooting with a telephoto lens because the mirror flap generates vibrations that can spoil the picture when shooting at focal lengths from 300 mm.

Nikon D5. Continuous shooting is slow

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Continuous Shooting is Slow

Live View

Those who have already shot with Nikon cameras like the D810 won’t find anything new in Live View mode on the D5. The mode is turned on with a small Lv button. There’s also a place to switch between still and video modes. Be prepared for the fact that you can’t start shooting video just by pressing the little red button and the main shutter button – you’ll have to turn Live View on in video mode first, which takes a couple of seconds. If you don’t want to miss a scene, it’s better to turn LV mode on in advance.

AF, which is blazingly fast and very accurate in normal mode, starts to wobble and struggles to pick up subjects in Live View mode. However, this is made up for by the ability to adjust the focus manually, and the zooming in portion of the frame around the focus point allows you to adjust to sharpness as accurately as possible.

Live View mode displays all the key shooting information such as exposure, aperture ratio, shooting mode, focus point and more. Pressing the Info button allows you to replace the shooting parameters with a histogram, a virtual horizon or remove the information from the screen altogether.

Touching the screen with Live View enabled allows you to select the focus point in both still and video mode.

Video

Many advanced features like RAW-Sequence shooting are still the prerogative of professional camcorders, but cameras are starting to get closer to this segment. Nikon D5 can shoot not only Full HD video at 60 fps, but also 4K video at up to 25 fps, which makes it a serious video production tool. Unfortunately, the manufacturer limited the duration of the clip to three minutes, citing the specifics of the file system. But at the time of writing a firmware update has been announced that removes this limitation and allows you to write 4K movies up to 30 minutes long.

All Nikon D5 videos – go to

The camera responds very carefully to changes in light, accompanying it with automatic changes in ISO. But with autofocus when shooting video there are difficulties. Tracking focus mode keeps the selected subject in focus, and a simple touch of the touch screen helps you quickly select a new focus point.

Still, as great as the Nikon D5’s autofocus mechanism is, it starts to behave tentatively in Live View mode. The camera is “yanky”, takes a long time to adjust to sharpness, and doesn’t cling to objects well. If a foreign object slips between you and your character, the camera will refocus on it and then take a long time to regain focus on the main character. Nikon D5 presents a lot of shooting potential, but you can fully unlock it by operating the focus in manual mode.

The camera itself writes sound to a stereo microphone, but for serious work with video is not suitable. An external microphone jack lets you plug in any quality microphone, and a volume meter and the ability to plug in external headphones lets you check the quality of the sound you are recording.

A special mode allows you to flexibly configure the camera to capture TimeLapse, and not just as a series of frames, which then must be stitched. If you want to significantly edit the resulting material, adjust colors, and add a wiring effect to the clip, you can use the interval shooting mode, which is also very flexible. The ability to make RAW files not only of large, but also of medium size will save space on the memory card.

Lens Selection

As I wrote above, the Nikon D5 has gone from a working camera to a traveling camera, the perfect tool for a travel photographer, a travel photographer like me, for example. When traveling, you need to be prepared for absolutely any shooting situation, reacting quickly to life around you. A travel photographer has to bring not just a bunch of beautiful pictures, but also to tell a story, to depict in his photos the diversity of life, culture, life and nature of far away places. That means a travel photographer has to know how to shoot everything. But cleverness alone isn’t enough – you’ll need a set of optics from the widest angle lens to a telephoto with a focal length beyond a reasonable range to accomplish a variety of shooting tasks.

As my main lens I’ve chosen the classic standard AF-S Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8. I shoot two-thirds of my travel subjects with it. 24mm at wide angle enables shooting landscapes, where there is no need to make the foreground more complicated. The overall range of focal lengths allows you to shoot in crowds, such as at a bazaar, and capture both general and close-up shots.

The newly released second version of this lens is equipped with a stabilizer, which greatly extends its capabilities by widening the range of shutter speeds available for handheld photography. If you want to shoot photos and video while traveling, then the stabilizer in the lens will allow you to shoot handheld much more comfortable, work faster, shoot more quick reportage pictures, lively everyday sketches.

The main landscape lens in my kit is the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8. The perfect landscape lens from which I get the most spectacular nature shots. Shooting at a wide angle allows you to effectively work out the foreground, give it volume and texture, through the details draw the viewer into the depth of the picture. Highest sharpness throughout the frame allows you to effectively convey all the details of the scene. High-aperture for a zoom lens allows you to take nighttime photographs with a huge starry sky, which would be impossible if its aperture were even one step lower.

AF-S Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8 G ED

The stock lens can also be used for landscape. It doesn’t pull out the space as much, but it often lets you get rid of unnecessary objects in the background. Here you can see how 24mm helped to cut off unnecessary objects in the background and concentrate the viewer’s attention on the clouds, the mountain that suddenly appeared, and the glow of sunset

This kit complements the perfect AF Nikkor 80-200mm telephoto lens. The old guard, the lens that is loved and respected by professionals around the world. Heavy, razor sharp and just as reliable, it has been with me on many trips. The AF-S Nikkor 70-200 f/2 that replaces it.The 8 is certainly good and is not inferior to it in any way. Except for the size and weight, which is very important for a traveler who has to drag his heavy backpack through the mountains, cross rivers, squash mud and sand on the most difficult trails.

These three main lenses – wide-angle, tripod and telephoto – account for nine-tenths of all the footage. The rest is experimentation territory. For example, you can take the AF-s Micro Nikkor 105 mm f/2 macro lens.8 for exploring the microcosm around. If you get into it, you’ll find enough subjects to forget about the world of big things. Or on the contrary, take a super telephoto with focal length of about 400 mm, which is good not only for photo hunting but also for shooting non-standard landscapes, which have more graphics than classic landscape photography.

Usually lenses with such a great focal length have a big weight and it is not a pleasant thing to lug them around in your backpack just for a couple of shots. Nikon has a pretty good option for that – the AF-s Nikkor 80-400 f/5.6-6.3 VR. This lens can replace both your TV and supertelecams, and a decent stabilizer lets you shoot handheld. The low weight is also pleasant for the travel photographer.

Conclusions

The new flagship is a success. Virtually no “buts”, except for tentative performance at excessively high ISOs. Otherwise, everything about the Nikon D5 is great – autofocus, exposure metering, speed shooting, colors, dust and waterproofing. The new camera has every chance to win its place not only in the backpacks of photographers and sports photographers, but also travelers who have to shoot a wide range of subjects, from landscape to sports, and must do it well, without the right to error and without fear that the camera will fail in harsh climatic conditions, collecting dust, sand and moisture.

This is a spaceship in the world of cameras, where everything is space-perfect. Including, really, the price.

Full gallery of the Nikon D5 – go to

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/7.1, 1/400, ISO 500

Many landscapes abound with interesting details. They look like tiny little touches on the general view, but if you shoot them with a TV you can build a great shot around them

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/9.0, 1/25, ISO 250

Not only diagonals, but also horizontal lines can create an interesting rhythm in your frame. Look for similar lines that create a kind of staircase in the frame

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/5.6, 1/1600, ISO 250

See the world through a super telephoto lens. The landscape will become flat, but you’ll see lots of lines and nature graphics. Look for these lines, the play of light spots and their interplay in your shots

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED f/13, 1.3 sec, ISO 100

Landscapes shot with a wide-angle lens visually draws the viewer’s eye inside the frame

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/5.6, 1/320, ISO 125

Bright spots and repetition of similar elements can create an interesting rhythm in the frame. Very often it is possible to bring such objects together and fit them into one frame only with a TV set which visually compresses the space

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/7.1, 1/640, ISO 500

Experiment with foreshortening. Don’t be afraid to get oblique angles and get your horizon a little too far away. A moderate tilt in the right direction adds dynamics to the shot

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 500

Look for the original angles. In this case the low point of the photo made it possible to show, to bring the motorcyclist almost above the buildings and to emphasize the height of the jump. It’s not enough to be prepared for these types of shots, you need to know what can happen to the athlete at each specific point on the course

AF-S NIKKOR 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR, f/5.6, 1/2500, ISO 1000

Oblique perspective allows to emphasize the dynamics of the race, while continuous shooting captures an interesting moment

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 500

Use the wide angle lens and try to get close to the athletes. These kinds of angles take a lot of risks: you get too close to the athlete, and the wide-angle lens empties you of any sense of distance

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED f/6.3, 1/1600, ISO 500

If you get to practice, you get a chance to talk to the athletes and ask them to play along. Here I had the motorcyclist drive along the very edge of the embankment and literally lay in the air in the corner. I myself was standing literally a meter away from the motorcyclist. If you try to do something like this during a competition, you make the athlete think not about the course, but about how not to run you over. In training, and even by appointment, there is no such pressure over the athlete

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED f/6.3, 1/5000, ISO 1250

Catch the moment, it’s the most important thing in sports

AF-S NIKKOR 14-24 mm f/2.8G ED f/6.3, 1/8000, ISO 1250

A series of 12 frames, only six were used for the final stitching of the series, not every other frame, but in an irregular order. All shots were taken with the same settings to make stitching easier.